Malf on 25/4/2022 at 16:56
Been playing Turbo Overdrive this weekend, as there's a demo on Steam, and that was enough to get me to plonk down the cash for the full thing. It's an early-access Boomer shooter, that plays like greased lightning, and has fantastic movement options.
It's a lot like Ion Fury, but if that game were rendered in the Quake engine instead of Build. Lots of cyberpunk neon, and interestingly, enemy designs that remind me of Post Void, what with TVs for heads and other oddities.
Some absolutely fantastic guns too, including a double-barrel shotgun that has an alt-fire that launches two homing sticky grenades.
But it has also helped crystallise an oddity of my gaming taste these days for me.
Straight-forward FPS games with little room for creative expression on behalf of the player beyond clever gunplay have their place, but they don't flip the switches that something with more systems for interaction does for me.
Procedurally generated levels can help (which Turbo Overdrive doesn't have BTW), but in general, I prefer a game these days where my creative tools aren't just limited to guns in someone else's story.
It's odd in that while I used to enjoy a straightforward shooter as much as an epic RPG, god game or 4X, these days they definitely take a backseat in comparison.
And I'm loath to say it's the usual older gamer excuse of aging reflexes. Henke's played enough Quake with me to know there's no problem on that front :D
It's just that ultimately, most of the time, I want something that stimulates more areas of my brain than most FPS games do.
Thirith on 27/4/2022 at 06:48
After finishing Tunic (which I really enjoyed), I'm now playing Black Mesa, which I'd started but not finished before, and Rusty Lake Paradise, which is a nicely dark/surreal puzzler, much like the earlier games in the series. I'm hoping to finish a couple of shorter games before I finally, finally try my hand at Sekiro.
Jomero on 27/4/2022 at 15:16
Back to World of Warcraft. Can't ever quit that game, I think.
But another game that I got really, really into right before the pandemic hit is one I didn't expect to enjoy at all. My wife was playing Stardew Valley and called it a "relaxing" game. It made me wonder what kind of game out there would be "relaxing" for me. Stardrew wasn't it. So I tried a game similar to it called Garveyard Keeper. I liked it, but it wasn't "relaxing." I asked myself, "What do I find relaxing?" And the answer was: long drives on the highway while listening to good music or a podcast.
The lightbulb over my head went off. And I gave "American Truck Simulator" a try. It is 100% my "relaxing" game. I've put over 400 hours into that game, it pushed me to buy a really nice steering wheel (and now pushing me to buy some nice head/eye tracking hardware), and I don't plan on quitting. It has a great community and the devs are continuing to put out solid content for it.
demagogue on 27/4/2022 at 15:43
I really like ATS too. I'll be happy when they have a transcontinental route and we can finally do a proper cannonball run. More proximately, I'll be happy when Texas is out (being Texan).
Aja on 27/4/2022 at 15:45
Quote Posted by Jomero
The lightbulb over my head went off. And I gave "American Truck Simulator" a try. It is 100% my "relaxing" game. I've put over 400 hours into that game, it pushed me to buy a really nice steering wheel (and now pushing me to buy some nice head/eye tracking hardware), and I don't plan on quitting. It has a great community and the devs are continuing to put out solid content for it.
Cool. Which wheel did you get?
Jomero on 27/4/2022 at 15:58
Quote Posted by demagogue
I really like ATS too. I'll be happy when they have a transcontinental route and we can finally do a proper cannonball run. More proximately, I'll be happy when Texas is out (being Texan).
I'm looking forward to Texas as well! They have announced they are working on it.
I'm personally looking forward to Montana, so that more routes are all connected-up in the north.
Aja on 27/4/2022 at 19:55
That's a good wheel; I almost got one myself but they were out of stock pretty much everywhere in Canada. I ended up with a Logitech G923, which Reddit will tell you is vastly and, for some, offensively inferior, but I've been absolutely loving it with Assetto Corsa Competizione and Gran Turismo 7. If I ever upgrade, it'll be to a direct-drive model, but those cost piles of money.
Jomero on 27/4/2022 at 22:15
Quote Posted by Aja
That's a good wheel; I almost got one myself but they were out of stock pretty much everywhere in Canada. I ended up with a Logitech G923, which Reddit will tell you is vastly and, for some, offensively inferior, but I've been absolutely loving it with Assetto Corsa Competizione and Gran Turismo 7. If I ever upgrade, it'll be to a direct-drive model, but those cost piles of money.
Hey, any wheel is better than a controller or the mouse/keyboard! And there's nothing wrong with the G923. Especially if it works for you and you are happy with it!
I was seriously considering that wheel myself, but the T300 happened to go on sale for a hundred or two cheaper than it normally was at the time I bought it.
henke on 28/4/2022 at 07:11
I haven't played ATS in ages, should get back to it soon.
I picked up Turbo Slider Unlimited, which released into Early Access yesterday. In singleplayer it's a bit humdrum, but multiplayer on the more outrageous tracks is where it really shines. Like Fall Guys with cars.
[video=youtube;yYH3xBTG0yU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYH3xBTG0yU[/video]
