Topic: WRUP - What are you playing?

[Achim]

Regarding the Portal 2 soundtrack I had spoken too soon:

Well, the soundtrack is labelled Volume I. That indicates that there is potential for Volume II ...which then might include the song you are looking for. However, I doubt soundbits will be included, so having access to the sound-archive is great.

Volume 2 is now available for download. But not only does it include a few soundbites this time, which I had not expected. there is an announcement for Volume 3

[RossRoy]

I've been replaying Red Dead Redemption for a few days now and it's funny, because some of the things that annoyed me back when I first played, are still annoying me this time around!

Two that jump to mind at the moment:

• My horse just tumbles over ... dead .. while running from place to place (yes I know it's due to snake bites .. but it's annoying as hell!)
• Speaking of snakes, seeing as they are sneaky bastards and the only way to spot them is by their rattling .. why do they use rattling snake sounds in the music again?

Other than that, it's still just as much fun as it was! Though I still can't get myself to be an ass .. so I'm again an upstanding cowboy with maxed out fame and honor!

[Achim]

• My horse just tumbles over ... dead .. while running from place to place (yes I know it's due to snake bites .. but it's annoying as hell!)

I don't think I ever had that happen to me Sure, when going around slowly searching for stuff on the ground the horse might react or I could hear the snake, but never while travelling.

Other than that, it's still just as much fun as it was! Though I still can't get myself to be an ass .. so I'm again an upstanding cowboy with maxed out fame and honor!

Normally I am like that as well. But recently I decided to play inFamous the other way round. Get the Evil playthrough out of the way first and then do the Good one secondly (on lower difficulty). Mainly because in the Good playthrough the people on the street will keep running into the line of fire, so I have to be more careful and slowly not to hit them (hence I should be able to absorb more damage myself). But the Evil playthrough proved to be enormous fun. No care in the world about those stupid civilians, heck, I'd kill them occasionally just for fun , after all you get XP for it.

[snowcat]

So I recently banned myself from buying Games and DVDs because I couldn't move in my room anymore and i couldn't get rid of any of them because well... i couldn't decide what i didn't want. so this has given me a chance to go back and play some games I never completed.

So, ive been playing Dead to Rights: Retribution and im actually kind of enjoying it... its a pretty fun game!

[RossRoy]

I really liked the first Dead To Rights game .. but for some reason, I didn't like it enough to get the followup games.

[snowcat]

I never played the original, what ive enjoyed in this game is being able to play as shadow (the dog) im not sure if that was possible in the other games... its just fun biting people 

[RossRoy]

see at the end for the TL;DR of it all
Lately, I've been replaying older games and having a blast! Since august, I've played and completed:

• Fable: The Lost Chapters
• Fable II
• Fable III
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

I finished KotOR2 this morning, and I am just about to start Dragon Age: Origins (just waiting for it to finish installing on my Xbox).

But other than choosing what I want to be (Elf Archer or Human Mage .. still not sure .. though I'm leaning towards Archer at the moment), it raised another question.

What about DLC?

For the previous games, it didn't pose much of a dilemma. All the DLC, for the games that have it, ties into the main game. What I mean by that is that you come across all the DLC missions during your normal game exploration.

Now, in the case of DA:O, it's a mixed bag.

Some tie into the main game, so I'll play them, obviously. But some are set up to be completely separate, but you can import your character to continue the adventure. And there are some that are completely separate, and just expand on the story.

• Would you consider all the DLC as part of the game, and therefore have to play it to consider the game "finished"?
• Play just the ones involving your new character, and leave off the completely independant ones?
• Would you pick and choose just the ones you like, and leave off the rest?

Actually, come to think of it, I think that last option is what I'll do.

I loathed Darkspawn Chronicles when I played it, so I'm definitely skipping it. I didn't care much for Golems of Amgarrak either.

I loved Witch Hunt and Leliana's Song, so I'm definitely replaying those!

I'm on the fence about Awakening. It's a full expansion on the game, with some enw mechanics and all. And it quite long, pretty a full game unto itself. But I found the story somewhat dull, and while you can import your character from DA:O into it (depending on some of the choices you make during the main game), you get a completely different set of companions, except for one. It does serve as an introduction for one of Dragon Age II's companions, but still. I don't know, guess I'll see when I get there in several days, when I finish the main campaign and see how I feel.
TL;DR

Basically, I'm asking this:

• When you go back and replay an older game you've already finished, do you replay every single DLC that was released before you consider the game "finished", or do you pick and choose what you prefer?

And as a side question: At what point do you consider a game "finished/completed"?

• When you've completed the main quest/story?
• When you've done all you wanted to do in the game?
• When you've got all the achievements/trophies?
• When you get bored of the game, or start to feel that playing is a chore and not fun? I'm looking at you, Oblivion!
• Something else?

[RossRoy]

Well .. turns out I'm not going to play Dragon Age after all. Just can't get into it. Then it dawned on me that the last time I played it, is rather recently.. So I'm going to play Fallout 3 instead. It's been longer since I last played, and there are DLC I haven't even tried on that!

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The only (PC-) game I'm still playing: Mahjong Titans

[Achim]

Currently I have a bunch of titles on rotation in my PS3, more or less.

Resistance 3, Dead Island (which I wrote about here) and RAGE. Today (or at least this week) Taiwan should see the release of Batman: Arkham City

Basically, I'm asking this:

• When you go back and replay an older game you've already finished, do you replay every single DLC that was released before you consider the game "finished", or do you pick and choose what you prefer?

I have not yet replayed many games. But for replay I would definitely say that I will play until it stops being fun, at which point I will get back to another game. Problem has been so far, there has been so many games I want to play, I always have somethign new on the shelf. Heck, some games seem to go from the shop directly onto my pile of shame

And as a side question: At what point do you consider a game "finished/completed"?

• When you've completed the main quest/story?
• When you've done all you wanted to do in the game?
• When you've got all the achievements/trophies?
• When you get bored of the game, or start to feel that playing is a chore and not fun? I'm looking at you, Oblivion!
• Something else?

Maybe I should seperate using the two words you provided: A game is finished to me when the story is done. That's usually what I came for, so when the story is over it is "finished". Of course, a game is only completed when all trophies have been collected...

If I enjoy it enough I will try to finish every game I start. Whether I will then go on to complete it is a different question and depends on a variety of factors.

• Unless they are easy and/or can be completed in a reasonable amount of time I will not go for multiplayer trohpies. I am usually not a big fan of multiplayer, so unless gameplay is compelling enough I will not grind it. I did grind the trophies for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and Uncharted 2 basically only had trophies for checking out the multiplayer, so after a few games I was done there (yet hung around for longer as it was fun; purpose of the trophies was fulfilled!).
• If a game has me asking for more, then I will happily get DLC and play through it. Trophies may serve as an incentive in borderline cases.
• If a game doesn't grab me or the game becomes boring then I will stop. I may be grabbing a few easy trophies along the way, but I will not play a game just for the trophies.
• I will not complete a game just for the trophies. If they seem too hard or too much grinding is involved then I will move on (unless the internet provides a shortcut ). In the end it is entertainment, so why should I have it become a chore...?

Some examples:

Fallout 3 was awesome, so despite the bugs I played every DLC there was. I possibly would play them again on a replay.

Assassin's Creed 2 was a great game, but the DLC got bad reviews and had no trophies, so I passed.

Borderlands and DLC for a horde mode which I didn't care for but I happily played the additional missions.

GTA IV had good story DLC, albeit not expanding on the main story (well, only tangentially andyway), but just like with the main game I didn't complete them because the trophies were way to tedious to get.

[/list]

[Achim]

Yesterday I picked up my pre-order of Batman: Arkham City.

I am about an hour and a half in and really enjoying it this far. Well... I wasn't really at first, as I was trying to start with Hard setting right of the bat. But boy, they sure mean it when they say Hard and I certainly could not keep up with that. The first three "battles" I had to retry 7-10 times each. Finally I got smart (it's supposed to be fun!) and started over (you cannot simply change difficulty, you can only choose at the beginning ). Then I was shocked just how different Normal was ; what a jump. Now it feels like Batman not some whimp who can hardly hold his own against a few thugs

Maybe I'll try hard again later after I completed it once (there is also NG+ option, but supposedly that even goes beyond Hard ). The combat is awesome in these games (it's actually no button mashing, even if we feel compelled to do so), but also in Arkham Asylum I never really got the hand of it

[Najemikon]

I pre-ordered the game but suspect it was such an awesome deal, it might take a little longer to get to me: PC game + Blu-ray boxset of Batman Begins and Dark Knight for just under £25! They did bundles for the other formats too and the prices were similarly ridiculous.

Interesting what you say about the combat, Achim. I got the hang of it fairly quickly on the PC and did reasonably well in the challenge maps, achieving 'Perfect Knight' more than once. But I picked up the PS3 version cheap (I wanted to see if I'd prefer it for the new one) and just can't quite do it there. I can beat the challenges, but I certainly can't do as well as on the PC. Just one more point that proves the PC is the better platform... 

[W0m6at]

I've downloaded and installed (but not yet played) 1000 Tiny Claws by Media Tonic.

[Achim]

I pre-ordered the game but suspect it was such an awesome deal, it might take a little longer to get to me: PC game + Blu-ray boxset of Batman Begins and Dark Knight for just under £25! They did bundles for the other formats too and the prices were similarly ridiculous.

Interesting what you say about the combat, Achim. I got the hang of it fairly quickly on the PC and did reasonably well in the challenge maps, achieving 'Perfect Knight' more than once. But I picked up the PS3 version cheap (I wanted to see if I'd prefer it for the new one) and just can't quite do it there. I can beat the challenges, but I certainly can't do as well as on the PC. Just one more point that proves the PC is the better platform... 

This button pushing stuff is not really my style. Remembering combos and using them in beautiful variety all the time...? Not me In a shooter I only of one button for combat

I realize these games do it beautifully, with only few buttons to use and not being a mash-Fest, but it's just something I have a problem with And ultimately it's supposed to be fun, so I play the story and complete the trophies that I think I can manage and have fun with.

[RossRoy]

Off topic but.. want proof you are over-paying for that WoW subscription?

http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/1210404p1.html

Sure, it's a good bonus. What why would someone who likes WoW automatically like Diablo III?

I know they're probably hoping it goes the other way.. Diablo III buyers getting a WoW subscription instead .. won't fool me! I'm not committing to paying .. what? Standard games pricing is what now 50$ for PC games?

So to get Diablo III I have the choice of 50$ .. or 12 x 14.99$ ??

Nice try Activision. Nice try.