Basically, I went tear-arsing around an ended up in the city way before I was able to cope with the baddies who inhabit it.
I also completely missed a load of quests in the wastelands which I'm slowly working through - which I see now would have built up my XP and arsenal in readiness for going into the city.

Ah fair enough.


Dead rising 2 confirmed for PS3, 360 and PC

Which city?

I think I may have finally gotten bored of Fallout 3. For now at least. I am on the last story mission of my 2nd playthrough. I think it's because I've reached level 20 now so everything I do seems pointless due to the lack of XP.

I have every acheivement for quests and just have to kill one more behemoth. I don't know if I can be bothered to play through it being neutral karma-ed though so those 3 acheivements will probably remain not done for a while at least.

Thank you. I won't do that now. I'm barely getting time to play it so I've done very little & am really just getting used to it. I haven't really even gone too far astray from Megaton.

So I really don't have to worry about inhibiting my tear-arsing anyway.

Your best bet there would be to cheat a little bit and get your karma to Neutral and level up then load an old save to continue on your bad/good playthrough. Though I guess it's so late for that now...

I went straight into the find GNR quest which is somewhere in what is, I presume, Washington DC. I didn't stay any length of time in Megaton to begin with. Currently, I'm working through the quests linked to the survival guide for the woman at Craterside Supplies.

That's what I did. My second playthrough I did go straight to GNR though and it's full of Super Mutants. No fun when you're at a low level.

Also, what sort of stats do people have when they finish the game because with double points from books and collecting all 20 bobbleheads I have Energy Weapons, Explosives, Lockpick, Medicine, Repair, Science, Small Guns and Speech on 100 and Sneak and Barter around the 75 mark. Combined with some ace weapons and perks it means I can kill almost all things within one lot of VATS if not one hit kill, and at quite a hefty distance as well. I think this has excerbated the boredom element though as there's no challenge to it.

I may have to increase the difficulty but with no XP being earned I don't see the point.

I'm not impressed with Guitar Hero World Tour's method of activating star power on drums (hit both cymbals at the same time, or in the case of rock band drums, the middle two drums). Most songs simply don't let up on the drumming to ever give you a chance to activate it without wrecking your streak... and half the time it doesn't work and penalises you for hitting two drums that weren't charted.

I got a big kick when I killed my first super mutant - I think I did the flicking-your-index-and-middle-finger together thing. Wicked bad

I think I'm also looking at the game in a different way. Intially, I was treating it as an FPS. Now, I'm taking time to explore and try to develop my character's skills - I've found how to make stuff; a bottle cap mine, the only difficulty was I didn't have al unch box as I'd dropped in a previous section to save weight!

Are burned/scorched/damaged books any use at all?

I don't think so, since there's so many of them. "Pre-War books" are useful though, the brotherhood scribe in the Arlington Library buys them off you for 100 caps each so they're well worth keeping if you spot any.

You get 100 caps for every holotag you find on a member of the Brotherhood of Steel so dont get rid of them. When you get access to the Citadel, take them to Scribe Jameson for the caps.

Has anyone played Thief (3): Deadly Shadows? i might go see if it's cheap in Gamestation, I fancy some cool sneaky goodness, maybe on the PC, I'd like to get some Mods on it, like High res textures etc.

Yes, and it has one of the best levels ever in it. Shalebridge Cradle is absolute brilliance, and it will probably make you shit yourself several times.

I've heard that.
I attempted to aquire the game last night but I really couldn't be arsed with cracks and all that. It should only be a coupla quid in Gamestation. I've been wanting to get my sneak on for a while now with Tenchu but I figure I'll try something newer and different.
I played some of the older ones and really enjoyed it.

Well it turns out I've been away from the PC game aquiring scene for far to long and that it's quite easy to get hold of copies that don't need mounting and cracks and all that crap. It runs and i will hopefully get to play a little bit tomorrow, it seems very dark (I set it to to what the sliders on the tutorial recommended, but even so, being in the darkness seemed to be....reeealy dark, maybe I'll mes around with it more tomorrow).

Laid To Rest by Lamb of God is totally kicking my ass on Rock Band drums. The 12/8 time sig makes it bloody hard to get the bass drums and the cymbals lined up right. I don't do triplets well.

I cannot stopped from getting sidetracked from the quest I am currently doing in FO3! I'm trying to get into Rivet City (found it, just don't know how to get in!) and ended up in the History Museum and Underworld accepting another quest to go and kick super mutant ass!

The entrance to Rivet City is just across the water near Anacostia Crossing, you climb up some sort of wrecked building type thing and there's an intercom on the top, they'll just swing the bridge out for you.

^ What he said. Don't know how to get into the pointy end of the ship though.......

Currently exploring areas of the map I haven't touched yet with my buddy Fawkes - make sure you get him - he rocks! Luckily I saved before the final part of the main quest because when you finish the game - that is it!!!

Trying to complete all the side quests and get all the bobbleheads

If you've done Raven Rock already and didn't pick up the bobblehead in there you can never get it again. Same with the one in Vault 101 (after the second visit).

Just to save you wasting your time trying to get the achievement if you didn't pick it up.

Now that I'm done with Fallout 3 I'm at a bit of a loose end gaming wise. I'm not sure what to play now though. I have a load of games on my shelf but none of them take my fancy really. I have a load of gamerpoints on the way from Play though so I may get an Arcade game or two for a while.

Square Enix to buy Eidos? If they try and turn Deus Ex 3 into a JRPG I'm going to go over there and hurt someone.

Yep! Went back to the game this morning and found it straight away. Was messing about in the Lincoln Memorial for a bit, too. I can see something happening with that and the water supply for Rivet City in the offing.
Just now trying to get out of ROBCO in one piece!

Oh Balls! Just have to start over again - I might be EEEEEEVVVVVVIIIIILLLLL this time though, see if the game plays any different

That's what I did and it does play very different. The good thing is that there are enough different side quests so that you can duplicate only the main story quests.

Ooh! Ooh!

Aliens Vs Predator 3!

By the people who made the first one! That's 2 Alien-themed FPSs on the horizon, with SEGA/Gearbox's Colonial Marines game coming "at some point" in 2009.

I'd give a link, but I lost it and it gives nothing other than it's being made.

Actually I believe Colonial Marines has been pushed to 2010, I'm sure I read that Aliens Vs Predator 3 would be the first of 3 new Aliens/Predator IP games released, and that isn't until 2010.

I'll try and find the link I read it on.

Downloading the High Res texture pack, will give the game a proper go soon.

I also played a bit of Harvey Birdman: Attorney atlaw today, it was very very funny, but I'm not sure how long it will keep me engaged, it's like an interactive episode more than anything, it might be fun for whiling away travel time too and from work though.

Heres the link Joe Clicky

AvP2 was far better than the first.

*Sigh* Silent Hill 5 is released the same day as Killzone 2, if it wasn't being released so late and the same date as KZ2 I would play it, but I doubt it will get touched for a looooooong time.

Street Fighter 4 looks interesting, but I won't be buying it, Street Fighters have never been my thing.

Thief Deadly Shadows is quite fun, it has great game mechanics it, the shadows and tools you get (like water arrows to put out flaming torches/lights) are excellent. Looking forward to getting into this a bit more.

How about if I buy Silent Hill 5 and you buy Killzone 2 and we agree to either get together to play co-op or swap once we've gotten bored / completed them? Deal?

That does sound like a good deal...PM to you.

Noo



True, but it's better than if some nobody team had been given it. Colonial Marines is what I'm more interested in, anyway.

You best get SH5 out of the way swiftly,I refuse ot have that game on, with its creepy messed up music, fucking up our newborn childs brains.

You want to do that yourself?

Exactly.

The music in those games is so uncomfortable. If the baby got all used to it, that'd be bad. I can't sing that shit as a lullaby, I'd get scared and have a breakdown.

It is bad enough that the baby is probably going to come out all used to hearing the opening twenty seconds of One Winged Angel full blast every morning.

But that means it'll grow up under the false impression the Final Fantasy VII is the best one!

When it's actually VIII.

My kid will know 7 is the best because it is. 8 is emo and gay and disk 4 doesn't work in the PS3 so it is the massive fail.

In all seriousness, I do really like 8 after having played it again, but 7 has much much cooler characters and a much more interesting story. I couldn't really give a toss about Squall, or Rinoa...or anyone in 8.

I actually do prefer the visual style of 7 over 8, but you suckers are both wrong. It is in fact 9 that is the best.













Or is it!

I care slightly more about Vivi, but don't care about anyone else in 9 either.

I need emotional attachment in my JRPG

I just love the "clean cyberpunk" world of VIII, and the music and art style. I really don't see how VII's story or cast is any better than VIII's, and I'm willing to forgive a few teen angst moments (of which there aren't nearly as many as people claim) because of how beautiful it is and how it makes me feel when playing it.

VII is good and all, it just doesn't give me the same feeling VIII gives me. Which is what you feel about VII, I'd imagine.


Oh, and for the record - I like all the cast in VIII. I don't know why, I just do. They're all great.

VIII is the kids from Dawson's Creek save the world. I'm with Chris, IX is my favourite.

IV is the second best, I think.

I freely admit to having bizarre tastes.

You're a spoony bard is what you are.

It'd be interesting to see how many staff who worked on the original still actually work there though. I'd have been more happy if it'd been Monolith doing it.

You're all wrong about the FF games.
FF Legend 3 on the Gameboy was best. Those static black and white sprites and tinny music really dump all over the later efforts...


Finished the first disk of The Last Remnant yesterday so here goes with a review. I'll keep it short for a change though I think.
It's the best of a bad bunch of JRPGs for the 360. In terms of plot it's lacking. The main character fits the mold for almost every JRPG since the Playstation era, brash, young, "cool" and little more. Things kick off with a typical "save the missing family member" type plot and after a lot of slogging things move onto the typical "the whole world is going to end because some evil guy thinks it would be a good idea" scenario. Originality in plotting isn't this games strong point.
Aside from this over arcing story there's a little character interaction here and there, mostly stemming from completing missions related to your team mates. Each of them fits a cliche; bulky, dumb but kind oaf, aloof commander, aristocracy trying to live up to his fathers name, old wise magician type. It's almost all there.
In short, don't expect to be surprised by anything that takes place in this game, apart from maybe the serious gay undertones of the main character and aristocrats relationship.
The gameplay is very traditional in so far as it's dungeon crawling with turn based fights, but aside from those elements it takes a few steps away from the tired formulas of old and manages to have a battle system which is far more complex then your typical turn based affair. Firstly, each turn involves ordering one unit, which can comprise of up to five characters. You collect formations which affect the overall stats of the units as well as making them perform certain actions more regularly, i.e. more potions/magic/whatever. This is crucial because as each unit acts you have a choice of options dictated by not only the formation, but the abilities, location on the field, type of enemy and all manner of other factors. This leads to squads of five executing five individual attacks per order. Deciding which troops to put with others in order to get a rounded selection of moves is a tough choice as, for example, if you need to heal and only one character has a move to do it the rest will stand idly by because they have nothing that fits that particular command. Reading this back it's hard to know whether that makes any sense to someone who hasn't played it, needless to say it's a game that requires some real thought and effort to get a proper grip on the battle system.
The leveling system is also an odd one. Rather than gaining XP after a fight you characters gain stats seemingly at random. I honestly can't figure out what makes you gain particular stats, but boss fights certainly seem to reap more rewards than others. Special moves and techniques are also learned in this random way, with a possibility that a character might pull out something new on the battlefield itself or sometimes after a fight. Sometimes their weapons even get stronger after a fight, how or why I don't know but it works well enough. It does however make it very hard to judge how much stronger you've become over time, with only visits to previous areas available to gauge your damage and defense levels against.
You can see enemies on the screen in dungeons and can provoke them, avoid them or bundle them together to make tougher fights with bigger rewards. You can also combo fights by repeatedly winning in order to get more items , as well as rare ones. Items go towards customizing weapons, making new ones and even some of the techniques you use in battle so hoarding anything and everything is unavoidable.
I've waffled on enough so in closing, it's hardcore and it's traditional. Were I not keeping my mind occupied with listening to audio books while I play I think it would be a struggle to keep going thanks to it's reliance on making you grind a lot to level your characters up at some points and its lack of heavy characterization and plotting. As it is it's hard and that's what I look for in my JRPGs these days, so I'm happy enough.
So much for keeping this thing short I guess...

I've been a bit addicted to Gears of War 2 of late, just trying to pick up the last few achievements on multilayer and horde.

Picked up a copy of Left 4 Dead today so looking forward to playing that over the weekend.

I've rediscovered this now that I have a few more mates with it as I think it's cheap on Play (£20?) It really is great fun to play with friends, just ask Julie.

I'm really looking forward to killing some zombies, will make a change from Grubs.

If anyone fancies a game over the weekend, my Xbox live name is TheKillingUrge.