ZylonBane on 19/9/2012 at 21:14

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/stabs you in the face

june gloom on 19/9/2012 at 21:50

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Because he actually contributes something to TTLG (what that actually is, is a matter for discussion) and you don't. At all.

ANTSHODAN on 20/9/2012 at 04:28

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Yes Suh!

I reached blast pit yesterday; I'm no longer particularly enjoying BMS. We've got Hostiles was a grind; not once did I survive an encounter with the HECU first time, it was quick save here, quick load there, shot in the face from far away everywhere. I'm playing it on Normal difficulty, but I'm wondering if I should have left it on the default Easy setting - what did you lot do? I really love it when a game is balanced just perfectly to make an encounter difficult without taking 'difficulty' to mean the number of times you'll probably have to quickload. It's an incredible feeling when, through quick thinking, good decisions and a reasonable amount of skill you get through a fast-paced encounter with a bunch of enemies by the skin of your teeth first (or second) time. The stop-start quicksave-quickload 'difficulty' is frustrating. Think Max Payne 1 & 2, Bioshock, F.E.A.R., HL1 & 2, sometimes even Stalker as examples of the former - those games that give you just enough breathing room to be thinking on your feet without being sniped to 0 health at a moments notice (okay, not stalker); those games where a typical death is a grenade rolling into your cover ("Clever girl..."), or some goddamn terrific feat of AI taking you by suprise. Have you ever had an encounter in a game where you just fucking winged it, did some awesome things on the fly, and at the end of it, wound down, retracing your steps for the particular battle and going "holy fuck that was fucking intense; I ran there, there, jumped off this bit, 180degree shotgunned that guy in the face, chucked a grenade there, cornered those chumps it flushed out, dodged that rocket and BOOM!... woooah I rock!". BMS simply isn't close to this kind of experience.

One thing I cannot deny is that the environments are beautiful. I'm constantly amazed at seeing familiar places in glorious modern-o-vision and the standard is pretty consistent throughout. Even the route through to the Blast Pit silo has a hell of a lot more character of its own than the original, and while some parts lack subtlety (toxic waste in this area is SUPER-SHINY-GLOWY WOW!!!11; and in a warehouse earlier on I got the impression a level designer had decided "one shaft of light shining through a hole in the roof looks good, so I'LL PUT IN A BILLION!"), it's hard (and pointless) to criticise these things, I guess - they don't particularly detract from the terrific atmosphere and immersion the environments create and it's mostly my own personal pointless nitpicking; I'm a big fan of an effect not being overused - to the point where it's barely noticeable (it will usually still subconsciously contribute to the area's atmospheric identity!)

So I'm onto blast pit. I haven't made it past the tentacle creature a single time, despite sneakiness, grenade spamming, attempts at sprinting. I like how there are crushed railings around each level in the silo, its one of those nice touches that gives the area a more realistic feel yet could have been easily omitted had it not occurred to the level designer. I'm going to apply to aforementioned tweaks to HECU AI, maybe lower the difficulty if anyone here recommends it. All in all, I'm going to plough on through, and while the last chapter was a disappointing grind, it would be criminal to abandon the whole thing. I've got the feeling there's a hell of a lot of enjoyment yet to come.

Edit: Oh, does anyone else find the HECU's dialog bro-tastic?

Sulphur on 20/9/2012 at 06:13

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:laff:

Ulukai on 20/9/2012 at 11:33

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Not Guilty. But still: Ahahahaha :D