What Was The Last Game You Played?

[GAD]

10 minutes ago, BFTD said:

No, and I do keep an eye out for anything that looks like it might be similar. I just couldn't get into Xenonauts. I think John Romero and his wife recently brought out a mafia game that was supposed to be a bit XCOM-y, but it got mixed reviews.

I remember eventually liking a game called Dead State, but it was difficult to get into - a bit of an odd cross between XCOM and the original Fallout games. Kind of live action until you get into combat with zombies, then it becomes turn-based. There's a complete playthrough on YouTube, so maybe take a look and see if it looks interesting.

It's nothing like as good, and you'd need to be OK with 16-bit era graphics, but I quite liked the Space Hulk game that was being made about fifteen years ago. They got a cease and desist letter from the Games Workshop, so had to change certain aspects and released it as Alien Assault in the end. It's free, so it costs nothing to try.

 

Was that Empire of Sin? Yeah, I tried that, but it was pretty crap. I've seen that Phoenix point one as well, but again the reviews are mixed.

I think I'll try that Alien Assault one, if it's free I've got nothing to lose. Cheers BFTD!

[54_and_counting]

29 minutes ago, GAD said:

 

I think one thing we can all agree is Xcom is fucking brilliant.

As an aside, have you guys played anything else Xcom'y that measures up? I tried that "invisible Inc" but I wasn't keen, but I'd love something else similar that is as good.

 

 

8 minutes ago, BFTD said:

No, and I do keep an eye out for anything that looks like it might be similar. I just couldn't get into Xenonauts. I think John Romero and his wife recently brought out a mafia game that was supposed to be a bit XCOM-y, but it got mixed reviews.

I remember eventually liking a game called Dead State, but it was difficult to get into - a bit of an odd cross between XCOM and the original Fallout games. Kind of live action until you get into combat with zombies, then it becomes turn-based. There's a complete playthrough on YouTube, so maybe take a look and see if it looks interesting.

It's nothing like as good, and you'd need to be OK with 16-bit era graphics, but I quite liked the Space Hulk game that was being made about fifteen years ago. They got a cease and desist letter from the Games Workshop, so had to change certain aspects and released it as Alien Assault in the end. It's free, so it costs nothing to try.

 

I had xcom on ps1, glitchy as hell at times but what a fucking game that was, xcom 2 just tops the lot though,

Ive looked for other games like it as well and came up with nothing, shame as a next gen xcom game could be unreal

Off topic a bit but do yous remember the warhammer games on the ps1, i had the dark omen game but played horned rat as well, both were excellent tactical games and really enjoyable in figuring out missions and setting up ambushes etc 

[SweeperDee]

Currently in the deep dark with Elite Dangerous. Played Horizons on my Series S and got quite far in terms of engineering my ship. Took the plunge and got Odyssey for PC and slowly making my way back to where I was on console; unfortunately no cross progression although it is not unheard of to get your credits and some other things transferred, you just don’t get personal belongings transferred so might look into it.

Anyone else play Elite Dangerous?

[BFTD]

2 minutes ago, 54_and_counting said:

I had xcom on ps1, glitchy as hell at times but what a fucking game that was, xcom 2 just tops the lot though,

Ive looked for other games like it as well and came up with nothing, shame as a next gen xcom game could be unreal

Off topic a bit but do yous remember the warhammer games on the ps1, i had the dark omen game but played horned rat as well, both were excellent tactical games and really enjoyable in figuring out missions and setting up ambushes etc 

I've tried going back to the original XCOM games, but time has not been kind!

There's undoubtedly going to be an XCOM 3, so we'll see a next-gen XCOM at some point. For now, they're apparently working on a similar game based on the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, because it's for a wider audience, I'd imagine that'll be more Chimera Squad than War of the Chosen, and probably even more dumbed down than that.

Not that Chimera Squad was a bad game at all, for a filler title. I quite enjoyed the smaller scale and shift of focus to smaller issues rather than saving the world.

[GAD]

8 minutes ago, BFTD said:

I've tried going back to the original XCOM games, but time has not been kind!

There's undoubtedly going to be an XCOM 3, so we'll see a next-gen XCOM at some point. For now, they're apparently working on a similar game based on the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, because it's for a wider audience, I'd imagine that'll be more Chimera Squad than War of the Chosen, and probably even more dumbed down than that.

Not that Chimera Squad was a bad game at all, for a filler title. I quite enjoyed the smaller scale and shift of focus to smaller issues rather than saving the world.

Just couldn't really get into Chimaera squad, maybe because my laptop is shit and I played Xcom and Xcom 2 on the Playstation so I'm pretty used to the controller rather than mouse + keyboard. I need to give it a better chance.

[BFTD]

2 minutes ago, GAD said:

Just couldn't really get into Chimaera squad, maybe because my laptop is shit and I played Xcom and Xcom 2 on the Playstation so I'm pretty used to the controller rather than mouse + keyboard. I need to give it a better chance.

I could understand that. It's much simpler and a fair bit easier too. XCOM 2 was utterly sadistic at times. Ironman is for lunatics.

The extra narrative was much appreciated by me, and I hope that's what they take away from the experiment, and not the simplification.

[GAD]

7 minutes ago, BFTD said:

I could understand that. It's much simpler and a fair bit easier too. XCOM 2 was utterly sadistic at times. Ironman is for lunatics.

The extra narrative was much appreciated by me, and I hope that's what they take away from the experiment, and not the simplification.

Yeah, I think I liked the complexity of Xcom, and I don't mean that in a wanky way, because I'm the ultimate "casual" gamer, I just think it's a genre that is better with a bit of a learning curve. Easy to understand, difficult to master I suppose! I'll never trust a 90% chance in my life again though...

[Miguel Sanchez]

I enjoyed Enemy Unknown a lot but I never got around to finishing it. Not sure why.

[BFTD]

5 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

I enjoyed Enemy Unknown a lot but I never got around to finishing it. Not sure why.

I'm guessing your squad were stripped to their long johns when the Base Defence mission started and you got your shit rekt by Cyberdiscs.

Never mind, that's the canon ending to the game.

[GAD]

8 hours ago, BFTD said:

I'm guessing your squad were stripped to their long johns when the Base Defence mission started and you got your shit rekt by Cyberdiscs.

Never mind, that's the canon ending to the game.

I hated that mission, but it got trumped by the one with the zombies and the crysalids where you lose your whole squad if they don't get back to the dropship on time.

I lost my whole squad because I didn't get back in time.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

12 hours ago, BFTD said:

I'm guessing your squad were stripped to their long johns when the Base Defence mission started and you got your shit rekt by Cyberdiscs.

Never mind, that's the canon ending to the game.

Not sure I made it that far, but it was quite a while ago now.

[Jack Burton]

I had xcom on ps1, glitchy as hell at times but what a fucking game that was, xcom 2 just tops the lot though,
Ive looked for other games like it as well and came up with nothing, shame as a next gen xcom game could be unreal
Off topic a bit but do yous remember the warhammer games on the ps1, i had the dark omen game but played horned rat as well, both were excellent tactical games and really enjoyable in figuring out missions and setting up ambushes etc 

Was Terror from the Deep I played on the PS1. Never did complete it and only learned much later that it was bugged. If you didn't complete some of the research in a specific order it locked you out of progressing further. The Chryssalid were utterly brutal in Terror from the Deep.

Loved the Warhammer games for the PS1. Can remember them becoming very difficult later on. It wasn't linear and you choose what missions to do and who to recruit plus had permanent death.

It did become a bit trial and error until you knew where all the enemies would attack and could plan accordingly.

The Space Hulk game mentioned previously Vengeance of the Blood Angels for the PS1 was another favourite of mine back then too. Was never a fan of the table top games but loved the computer games.

[54_and_counting]

8 hours ago, Jack Burton said:

Was Terror from the Deep I played on the PS1. Never did complete it and only learned much later that it was bugged. If you didn't complete some of the research in a specific order it locked you out of progressing further. The Chryssalid were utterly brutal in Terror from the Deep.

Loved the Warhammer games for the PS1. Can remember them becoming very difficult later on. It wasn't linear and you choose what missions to do and who to recruit plus had permanent death.

It did become a bit trial and error until you knew where all the enemies would attack and could plan accordingly.

The Space Hulk game mentioned previously Vengeance of the Blood Angels for the PS1 was another favourite of mine back then too. Was never a fan of the table top games but loved the computer games.

Aye the trial and error thing was definitely abundant in they games, especially as there wasnt a million walkthroughs over the internet lol, perma death was a b*****d in warhammer when you tried to retreat a group and they got routed, but again it made you think and plan stuff which was good

Not many games now are tactical like that, a shame 

[Stellaboz]

An hour here and there, I'm playing Hades. Love it, utterly love it. The characters, the art, music and setting. A wonderful game.

I've managed to get as far as Hades himself but not cracked him yet.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

I've been having good fun playing a game called Circuit Superstars. It's a cutesy looking top down racing game, but with sim like handling, tyre degradation etc. It's only about £15, so well worth shot if you want a racing game to pass the time before Grid Legends and GT 7 are out.

[Miguel Sanchez]

2 hours ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

I've been having good fun playing a game called Circuit Superstars. It's a cutesy looking top down racing game, but with sim like handling, tyre degradation etc. It's only about £15, so well worth shot if you want a racing game to pass the time before Grid Legends and GT 7 are out.

As with Art of Rally, I'll be all over it when it's on sale for a fiver.

[Clown Job]

Rainbow 6 extraction 

Decided to pick it up after giving the free trial a bash 

What I will say, the lobbies are a lot less toxic than Siege

Its good fun though. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition (PS4, 2020)

You've played top down shooters, you've played games with zombies in them and you've played games with cars in them, why not condense the experience, save time and play Zombie Driver? You have a vehicle, you have a map, you have an assortment of weapons to attach to the vehicle and some missions to complete.

Gameplay is pretty much as you might imagine, although even after you've finished everything the game has to offer it still feels a bit unintuitive. You use the left stick to steer, triggers for brake/throttle and shoulder button for firing your weapon. Every instinct says you should be using the right stick to aim, but no. Then as you try to aim you need to try and use finesse with a car that feels like using a computer mouse with the sensitivity up too high. It's a slightly counter-intuitive system that never really feels natural even after you've finished everything the game has to offer.

As you might expect in a game where you control a car in a city where zombies roam the streets, you kill a lot of them. Fortunately this is still as easy and satisfying as you'd hope, even with the awkward controls. Weapons range from a machine gun to a railgun and they all do what they need to. You can unlock a range of upgradeable vehicles in the story mode which makes driving through zombies fun too, while still needing a bit of technique to avoid getting bogged down and swamped. There's also enough variety in the types of zombies to make this slightly strategic in certain situations, so it's never so mindless that it becomes boring. Story mode also at least has the sense to include a few missions where you control a tank and a bulldozer, and these are about as fun as you'd imagine.

"Story" mode is perhaps a bit generous, even if this is what it's called. As mentioned there's the city you're in and there's... you, who may as well be a Knight Rider-esque sentient machine. You get orders from a military type at the start of each of the thirty missions, you go out and complete them. Some missions are about saving people from a location and returning them to your base, some are just about clearing zombies out from an area. It's fine. I think the plot alludes to some conspiracy about how the zombies got there. I was genuinely forgetting it even as I was playing. The most memorable thing about these missions are the speeches you get from people you save. Along with the military guy giving you orders I think all of these characters were voiced by one person doing as many different exaggerated accents as possible. It's a bit weird but then you go back to killing zombies and you stop caring.

Is there a thematic point to be made here, drawing parallels between the zombies and the player? I don't want to care about the gameplay or the graphics or the settings or the consequences or any nuance, I just want to kill. Probably. The game incentivises this of course, as you collect money for killing zombies which you use to upgrade vehicles and weapons. If you chain a lot of kills together in a big combo you get more money. Trying to keep this combo going is arguably harder than controlling the car, the game seems surprisingly sensitive and inconsistent about what constitutes an ending to a streak.

There are two other game modes. Blood Race sees you take part in a range of race-type events in a closed circuit. Races are self-explanatory, but there's an Elimination mode where you have to kill as many AI cars as possible while they run the same course as you. There's also an Endurance mode which is effectively a classic arcade time trial where you can extend time by passing checkpoints and killing zombies/destroying the environment. These modes are quite fun and it would be an ideal game for local multiplayer, given how easy it would be to annoy your friends sat next to you while you played.

Slaughter mode sees you in a small area of the map facing waves of more and tougher zombies with vehicle upgrades unlocked as you complete waves. It's exactly what you think it is based on what you've read so far.

This was originally a mobile game and it's both amazing and easy to see this. It's not a deep or an elaborate game but the graphics still aren't great. Neither is the sound. I can't imagine trying to play this on an older system with less-refined controls (although I do also now have the PS3 version thanks to buying this, so I might try it yet) but on PS4, it just about works. There's not a lot to it and while some elements can be annoying, it's straight-forward and satisfying enough that you never really get bogged down or resent it.

One final note - after over thirteen years, there's finally a game on my PSN profile starting with every letter of the alphabet. It was probably worth playing for that alone.

[BFTD]

Try Supercars 2 next, Miguel.

[Stellaboz]

Downloaded Final Fantasy 6 on steam yesterday.