OK. I need a good game to fit into my Halloween mood. Something a little scary/haunting. Smiting evil and all that.
Opinions?
I'm actually thinking about playing Cryostasis.
With stars out of five.
***** Plants Vs Zombies
**** Doom 3
*** System Shock 2
***** Amnesia: The Dark Descent
***** Fear
Darkspire
Warlock: Master of the Arcane. It's got all sorts of monsters and even pumpkin patches! ;D
If only the AI were scary...
OK. Well while Plants versus Zombies is a fun game; it's not exactly scary or haunting. :D
Now Doom 3 is an interesting option. I haven't played that one in a couple of years.
Witcher 2...I am getting back into it after more than a year away. Has beasts galore, deep role play and hawt chicks.
I did play about 4 hours of the Witcher 2 and then just never fired it up again. I'm not sure why honestly. IIRC it mostly had to do with performance on my laptop at the time.
Outlast.
Have you played FEAR, Bison? That's a pretty good one.
Gus likes these spooky titles. If he doesn't show up soon ping him and ask him.
.
Its been a while since I played L4D2. Maybe time to get a Grog crew up again?
The original FEAR is really scary.
I'd go with Outlast. It's a pretty decent horror game. I've not tried the new Amnesia game yet. I've heard mixed things. I know the original is kind of the gold standard of FPS horror for a lot of gamers. I was rather down on it when it was released because of the fact that death was mostly consequence free. If you were caught and killed by a baddie, you just respawned and continued on your merry way. That removed much of the fear and tension for me and getting past the baddies suddenly went from being a frightening experience to just being a nuisance.
Anyway, the point is that this now seems to be the norm so I've come to accept it. Outlast is in a similar vein. Death is relatively free of consequences but fleeing from baddies can still be harrowing. The game does a really good job of modelling a Parkour running style through the environment.
The pacing is much quicker than Amnesia. The story is less about instilling a feeling of dread and creating tension by spacing out encounters and more about sudden jolts of fear and constant harassment to keep you from taking a breather. I personally prefer the slow-burn tension type horror but Outlast does a good job with what it's trying to accomplish. Give it a whirl!
The original Amnesia's atmosphere is fantastically disturbing.
Also...this just in...a new version of Thief made with the Doom 3 source code is now available, called the Dark Mod...plenty of missions made by fans to come. Good timing for this time of year, and it may be a Thief 4 killer to boot.
Left 4 Dead 2 is a good choice, especially if you play it solo. The AI is particularly good, and I find playing solo makes the game scarier.
I also play XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It can be quite creepy at times, and it fits in well with the War of the Worlds theme to Halloween. :)
Left 4 Dead 2 has good AI eh? I've only played it MP...been wanting to pick up the new XCOM for a while now too...damn you people.
I've played the hell out of Left Dead 2. I still enjoy an occasional zombie killing spree. I once even played with Gus who didn't scream out little a girl much to my chagrin.
Quote from: Bison on October 09, 2013, 06:23:57 PM
I've played the hell out of Left Dead 2. I still enjoy an occasional zombie killing spree. I once even played with Gus who didn't scream out little a girl much to my chagrin.
LMK if you want another MP game. I'm up for it.
I would love to get the old L4D2 group back together again. We had a good run! Just say the word.
In the meantime here is the trailer for the Dark Mod.
Well think we can get the group back together of course we need tent for fratricide purposes when dying from zombies isn't good enough.
He may be...indisposed.
I'm up for LFD 2 (PC) also, but probably won't have time to really get into it until Sunday.
Amazingly, last go around with L4D2 we were able to meet up pretty regularly. Not sure how we pulled that off.
Well we usually played late, late Friday or Saturday night.
Imagine that...the same time and days still work for me.
A new indie game from Icepick Lodge just released, "Knock, Knock." Cartoony, but oddly creepy.
My favorites are:
System Shock 2
Amnesia
LFD2
Dead Isle (not a terrible game, even if flawed)
The word is given.
It's the right time of year for some zombie killin'.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1081.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj349%2Flongblade%2FGrogHeads%2Fzombie-season_zps8a2a2d41.jpg&hash=81df55ad5663eb50483c5994f8f17baf2ea30cd2)
I'm going to break out my copy of Eternal Darkness for Game Cube. That's right bitches, Game Cube.
Quote from: LongBlade on October 10, 2013, 11:17:23 AM
The word is given.
It's the right time of year for some zombie killin'.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1081.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj349%2Flongblade%2FGrogHeads%2Fzombie-season_zps8a2a2d41.jpg&hash=81df55ad5663eb50483c5994f8f17baf2ea30cd2)
Where did this pic come from?
Quote from: Father Ted on October 10, 2013, 11:28:11 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on October 10, 2013, 11:17:23 AM
The word is given.
It's the right time of year for some zombie killin'.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1081.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj349%2Flongblade%2FGrogHeads%2Fzombie-season_zps8a2a2d41.jpg&hash=81df55ad5663eb50483c5994f8f17baf2ea30cd2)
Where did this pic come from?
Left 4 Dead 2.
How about the Draugr from Skyrim? I know, not scary at all. The Vampires? No. Not really that scary either. But the damned Giant Spiders that fall out of the ceiling on your head? That's about as scary as it gets for me. Except for maybe a family reunion without alcohol.
Quote from: Sir Slash on October 10, 2013, 11:49:25 AM
How about the Draugr from Skyrim? I know, not scary at all. The Vampires? No. Not really that scary either. But the damned Giant Spiders that fall out of the ceiling on your head? That's about as scary as it gets for me. Except for maybe a family reunion without alcohol.
I always played a sneaky archer so spiders weren't such a problem for me. Go slow, look around. Zip!
I have been looking for a really scary locale or mod for Skyrim...are there any? Some of the standard locations are eerie enough, but like Slash and LB say above I could use a creepier dose.
So when are we getting together for L4D2?
Quote from: Gusington on October 10, 2013, 12:45:01 PM
So when are we getting together for L4D2?
Any time is a good time for zombie slayin'
Today? Tonight? Tomorrow?
Quote from: Bison on October 09, 2013, 07:46:21 PM
Well think we can get the group back together of course we need tent for fratricide purposes when dying from zombies isn't good enough.
I'd be up for it if we can get the time zone thingie right. It was actually because of Bison using a...cooking implement....as a close assault weapon that started the whole frying pan fiasco.............
Quote from: bob48 on October 10, 2013, 12:49:14 PM
Quote from: Bison on October 09, 2013, 07:46:21 PM
Well think we can get the group back together of course we need tent for fratricide purposes when dying from zombies isn't good enough.
I'd be up for it if we can get the time zone thingie right. It was actually because of Bison using a...cooking implement....as a close assault weapon that started the whole frying pan fiasco.............
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_lhqyvoKFYy1qf6kg9.gif&hash=e25d41e05038b97d0edfd90ab49f6609e041e47c)
yup - that's him alright.
I can most likely work out a time late Saturday to play.
And Bob don't blame your physical abuse with a frying pan on me! I used it to kill zombies. You get it to the noggin for misbehavior!
...Gloooiiinnngggg
Late Saturday should work for me...got the Army game and USMA homecoming during the day but the night time...is the right time.
Also jumping on now to play some Witcher. If anyone gets in the mood ping me.
The Witcher 2 is $%^$& tough...I'm playing on frickin' easy and still getting my arse handed to me in rudimentary combats. F this. Off to Skyrim or Dishonored...hmmm...tough choice.
Quote from: Gusington on October 10, 2013, 08:00:47 PM
The Witcher 2 is $%^$& tough...I'm playing on frickin' easy and still getting my arse handed to me in rudimentary combats. F this. Off to Skyrim or Dishonored...hmmm...tough choice.
I just now started downloading the umpteen installer packages from GOG for
Witcher 2. Despite owning it for months, I have yet to even play it. October is a good place to start.
Likewise, I've also not played
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition nor
Killing Floor, despite owning them for a long time, and I'll at least give Dark Souls a try sometime soon. No idea if Killing Floor is any good.. sounds like an L4D type of action-shooter.
I just purchased the Early Access for
Betrayer which has an excellent concept. Not sure how well it will run on my computers since the listed video card requirements are kinda high. I'll get to it when I build a new desktop in the next month or two.
I don't have much in the way of what may be considered classic 'horror' games, other than the couple old Clive Barker titles, but these others are close.
What is Betrayer?
Dishonored may be a good choice for this season because the player takes the role of the haunting protagonist, scaring the NPCs :)
Quote from: LongBlade on October 10, 2013, 11:54:37 AM
Quote from: Sir Slash on October 10, 2013, 11:49:25 AM
How about the Draugr from Skyrim? I know, not scary at all. The Vampires? No. Not really that scary either. But the damned Giant Spiders that fall out of the ceiling on your head? That's about as scary as it gets for me. Except for maybe a family reunion without alcohol.
I always played a sneaky archer so spiders weren't such a problem for me. Go slow, look around. Zip!
Isn't sneaky archer the only way you CAN play?
Quote from: mirth on October 10, 2013, 11:25:54 AM
I'm going to break out my copy of Eternal Darkness for Game Cube. That's right bitches, Game Cube.
That is a great great game. So many amazing things about it. I keep meaning to play it on my Wii, just to experience the fun again.
I go with fear1 or maybe deadspace...what about bioshock1..i'm enjoying that now. system shock 2 would be a good choice if you can deal with the graphics. I'm 2/3 of the way thru doom 3 and just lost interest, guess you can't go home again. It's dark, but i don't find the atmosphere that spooky or interesting, and the gun play is underwhelming. Guess after playing fear it just doesn't impress me.
Quote from: Gusington on October 10, 2013, 08:57:12 PM
What is Betrayer?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/243120/
Quote
About the Game
Betrayer is a first person action adventure game that takes you to the New World at the turn of the 17th century.
The year is 1604. You sailed from England expecting to join a struggling colony on the coast of Virginia. Instead, you find only ghosts and mysteries. What catastrophe blighted the land and drained it of color and life? Where are the settlers and tribes who lived here? And who is the strange, silent woman in red who aids you from afar?
Clue by clue, you must piece together the story of what befell this doomed settlement and find a way to set things right. You will be hunted by corrupted Conquistadors and ravening shadows as you explore an expansive wilderness in order to trace the brief, tragic history of the colony and search for survivors.
Key Features
-Chart your own course through an untamed wilderness teeming with danger and discovery.
-Unravel the colony's many mysteries by gathering clues and awakening the memories of the dreaming dead.
-Build up an arsenal of early 17th century weaponry including muskets, bows, crossbows, and throwing axes.
-Collect untold treasures hidden in the wilds by the colonists for reasons you will come to understand in time.
Still in Alpha, early access and on sale for about ten bucks. I've not played it yet but since it will have open areas, exploration, and the early colonial setting it was an easy choice for me.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.vg247.com%2Fcurrent%2F%2F2013%2F08%2FBetrayer_3.jpg&hash=ce0e4b9b572a8d93c00dd305377e4b0a8e2897e1)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.fpsguru.com%2Farticles%2Fimages%2F4000%2F3614%2FBetrayer%2520Screen%252001.jpg&hash=fe839474200e1cb522311329ca05653e7b2fc277)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bloody-disgusting.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F08%2FBetrayer_3.jpg&hash=366311f5ac0311976307b3d8ebebec119c93c93a)
Quote from: LongBlade on October 10, 2013, 11:36:06 AM
Quote from: Father Ted on October 10, 2013, 11:28:11 AM
Where did this pic come from?
Left 4 Dead 2.
I know the game, I actually meant the particular picture as it depicts something probably only an Aussie or Pom would "get".
Betrayer looks good. What is the significance of some scenes being in all B&W and some having a smattering of color? Is the B&W how things look at night or something?
Also, in the creepy game vein ( :D), has anyone here played Necrovision? How is it?
Quote from: Gusington on October 09, 2013, 07:23:27 PM
In the meantime here is the trailer for the Dark Mod.
thx for the heads up on this.Downloaded and installed, loaded a mission to see if it worked ok....so far so good......I like the price ;) ..thx again.
Great! I have been unable to actually get to the Dark Mod site...will try again later.
I have NecroVision but have not played it yet...it's supposed to be good campy fun and pretty hard too.
Deadspace is a great choice...scary game series.
Quote from: Ubercat on October 10, 2013, 09:06:39 PM
Quote from: LongBlade on October 10, 2013, 11:54:37 AM
Quote from: Sir Slash on October 10, 2013, 11:49:25 AM
How about the Draugr from Skyrim? I know, not scary at all. The Vampires? No. Not really that scary either. But the damned Giant Spiders that fall out of the ceiling on your head? That's about as scary as it gets for me. Except for maybe a family reunion without alcohol.
I always played a sneaky archer so spiders weren't such a problem for me. Go slow, look around. Zip!
Isn't sneaky archer the only way you CAN play?
LOL...it was the only I could play and survive. I found melee combat extremely difficult, it seemed the bad guys could dance around at the speed of light and easily get behind me and bash me to death. I love the game but thought melee combat was it most glaring flaw.
I enjoyed running up to things and bashing them with a warhammer in Skyrim.
I need to know the most frightening locale in Skyrim, modded or vanilla...
The little boy in the Dark Brotherhood quest scared me so badly that I never went back. The House of Horrors quest in Markarth was pretty scary especially the first time the Deadric Prince began talking to me out of nowhere. There was one cave with spider webs everywhere when you first enter and then a number were in the webs above you and would jump on top of you when you walked under them. Sneaky Archer didn't help unless you were looking up. I still have dreams...
Now we're talking...but after 100s of hours I don't remember if I've actually played through some of those already.
"Undead Nightmare", the alternate extended epilogue to Red Dead Redemption. Fighting a zombie apocalypse in a large early 20th century wild west sandbox game. Doesn't need completing RDR to play, though it references several plot points along the way so it might be confusing.
One of the scariest games I played on the original Unreal engine was the (attempt at a) Wheel of Time tie-in. Seems hard to find now, and I'm unsure it would work on modern systems, but the designers worked hard to play up the horror/suspense aspects found in the novels, and designed some impressive levels around the limitation of not being able to throw more than a few enemies at the player at once.
While not at all scary (to me), it would be hard to beat the recent Castlevania reboot Lords of Shadow for pure evil-smiting Halloween action.
Quote from: Staggerwing on October 11, 2013, 06:18:37 AM
Betrayer looks good. What is the significance of some scenes being in all B&W and some having a smattering of color? Is the B&W how things look at night or something?
Also, in the creepy game vein ( :D), has anyone here played Necrovision? How is it?
NecroVision works great as a cheezy, camp horror movie in game form. You will have to pause because you're laughing out loud at the ridiculous dialogue and bizarre situations that you encounter.
I know it's silly now, but I could never finish Alien vs Predator 2. It scared the piss out of me. I know it's because I was allowed to watch the original Alien flick at a too-young, tender age.
@ Bison,
If you don't want to drop a ton of money, Clive Barker's Undying is on GoG. I bought it a while back, but haven't tried it yet. However, I played a bit of it when it was relatively new and I remember it as a pretty scary game with the lights turned down and some headphones on.
You might want to check a few Youtube videos first and see if it fits the bill.
Hmmm, looks kind of dated now...
Speaking of spooky games,anybody play RE6?....Any good? it's 75% off today only..... on steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/221040/
Clive Barker's Undying is a classic. Love that game.
Quote from: Gusington on October 12, 2013, 07:20:35 PM
Clive Barker's Undying is a classic. Love that game.
I loaded the GOG version up on my Win7 notebook and it runs great for the most part. Although it occasionally starts slowly panning my view downward until I hit ESC and go into the menu return. Weird. And spooo-ooky?? :P
^Yes! Both weird and spooky.
anybody ever get the high res pack from that italian site for undying? I signed up for the site but never got a confirmation email, so couldn't download the file. If anyone has it, i'd like to get the file from them.
Quote from: -budd- on October 13, 2013, 02:11:43 PM
anybody ever get the high res pack from that italian site for undying? I signed up for the site but never got a confirmation email, so couldn't download the file. If anyone has it, i'd like to get the file from them.
I'd like to have it, too, but it looks like that mod may be lost to us now. ???
anyone try to join the site? i tried twice, but no joy.
not spooky but currently playing as the undead in Doms4!!
Not (really) spooky, but I've finally gotten around to playing the Tomb Raider reboot.
The back of my brain apparently wants to be playing a WW1 flying MMO however, because I spent several hours last night dreaming about that. ???
How are you finding the new Dominions and Tomb Raider? Good stuff?
Quote from: Gusington on October 14, 2013, 12:20:39 PM
How are you finding the new Dominions and Tomb Raider? Good stuff?
I like dom4 so far. it gives me that one more turn feeling. I skip watching the battles for the most part so if there are new graphics for units, I don't see them! cant wait til they get some MP going.
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 14, 2013, 11:20:25 AM
The back of my brain apparently wants to be playing a WW1 flying MMO however, because I spent several hours last night dreaming about that. ???
I daydream of flying in
Rise of Flight every day. Gonna wait until I get the new PC built and all my damned DRM activations on my old rig sorted ( & other such nightmares) before diving back into anything big. :) But ooooh am I giddy thinking about flying in ROF, every time. ;D
Tks Howdy.
Quote from: Gusington on October 14, 2013, 12:20:39 PM
How are you finding the new Dominions and Tomb Raider? Good stuff?
I haven't tried Dom4 yet, as I'm prudently waiting for internal improvements. :)
The new Tomb Raider is... a lot like someone thought the TV show
Lost would make a great Lara Croft origin story. Take that as you wish.
There are special hair graphics called "TressFX" which are bugged; I went back to "normal" hair so I wouldn't be distracted by stray shards vibrating randomly on her neck.
I absolutely hate the visual effect where the 'camera' following along behind Lara bobs and weaves in random ways, like this is supposed to be a movie being filmed on handheld high-def. It's also practically the only visual effect that can't be turned off, so far as I can tell. >:( The water splashing on the 'lens' of the 'camera' is almost as annoying but is more tolerable because it happens more rarely instead of ALL THE DAMN TIME. I don't usually get sick watching jerky-cam shot movies, but this quickly makes me nauseous. The rapid strobe effects thrown into the game at strange intervals are apparently designed to weed out epilepsy from the human race by natural selection. The opening load screens BEFORE THE PRE-CREDIT LOGOS feature artificial signal sharding that serves only to worry the player that the graphics card is burning out. A lot of pointless and counter-productive flash has gone into the visual design is what I'm saying. Due to some kind of weird engine dis-optimization, "Ultimate" graphic setting goes to 24hz instead of 50 or 60; which not only causes the graphics to look less polished but also causes stuttering and jumpiness, especially during the cut scenes, and sent my awesome computer's framerate diving into an average of 24.5fps. I mean the 24hz setting did; experimentally setting it at 60 even with everything else turned up to the max (except for the stupid Tressfx) clocked a very respectable 60fps! (Obviously the code was written to take the refresh rate rather literally as a lock. ::) )
On the other hand, when the graphics aren't spazzing out, they do look great. :) I especially like how all the cutscenes are not only rendered in-engine (which is usual nowadays) but rendered on-the-fly, which becomes obvious when Lara is set to one of her alternate outfits. By contrast, Arkham City's major cut-scenes, although rendered in-engine, are only pre-rendered, so if I'm playing the new game plus with the Batman Beyond suit the major cutscenes never show that but only the standard Arkham games suit (great though that is. I'll note in fairness that
some of the game plot scenes are rendered on the fly.)
How's the gameplay? I'm using an XBox360 pad, and I kind of wish I was using a mouse, as precision shooting would be a lot easier, but I decided to keep the pad since my getting more skilled at manipulating the game engine rather parallels the plot of Lara slowly learning to be a competent fighter. I'm not the first person to have observed that there's a somewhat jarring disjunction between how she usually behaves in gameplay (sometimes in human ways with collapses on the ground after a hard jump, and heavy breathing during runs, but usually as hard core as any combat heavy 3PS game) and how she comes across in the cut-scenes with a girlish mid-teen-sounding voice and an overwhelmed demeanor. The latter makes sense in the story (sort of -- she's already a doctor of archaeology after all), the former scales up awfully quickly after a harrowing opening ten minutes or so. The game itself lampshades this in dialogue: her mentor Roth, from whom she'll clearly be getting her signature two-pistol fighting rig later, upon learning that she had to kill someone already, sympathizes with, "That couldn't have been easy." To which she replies that it was frighteningly easy. I'll give the game props for showing the initial traumatic adjustments though.
In fact, the game is so brutal to Lara that it almost verges past survival horror (though it's never really that) into torture porn; certainly far past the point where anyone else would have just been killed or crippled into helplessness. At least the game tries to show her ordeals hurt, physically, mentally and emotionally, and are tough to get past; many games wouldn't have bothered. I also like how the game's motto for Lara is "I can do this" (or occasionally "You can do this.") A subtle touch in some areas is that once Lara finishes the plot there the weather tends to improve.
Is it like previous TRs? Superficially. The tropes are there, but the attempts at gritty realism go so far as to be distracting not only in themselves but in calling attention to the "magical realism" typical (and typically necessary) in games. Most of the game also has LITTLE OR NOTHING to do with classic Tomb Raider goals of finding this or that awe-inspiring lost achievement. If it wasn't for her occasional remarks in relation to random experience-point items she finds and the overarching island plot, the game (and its overarching plot) literally could have been about any random or most other established characters. I do like the overarching plot elements borrowed from ancient Japanese mythology details, but again it's like the most kick-ass
Lost season imaginable. Part of me also wishes the designers would remake the King Kong tie-in game; I've played that on the PS2, and it played like a dog and looked ugly as sin but was a great atmospheric survival horror title (peppered with hulk-out moments when the perspective switches to Kong kicking all the ass. ;D )
So in conclusion, although I haven't finished the game yet (and I'm not sure how far I am from the end after over 10 hours, but certainly more than halfway), my main impression is that I'm considering looking around for the PC version of the Kong game to see if it looks and plays better. With a somewhat distant secondary impression that I ought to get around to playing the souped-up PS3 editions of the modern TR trilogy, too.
Somehow my search for a scary horror game as resulted in my playing cmsf and cnfi. Don't ask I have no idea how it happened.
I have never seen Lost and have never played another TR game, so....I am going to go out on a limb and state that Pratt doesn't dig it much.
Bison I am playing through the Knife of Dunwall DLC for Dishonored right now and it has some very creepy and disturbing imagery and settings. Perfect for Hallowen.
You will never look at a whale in the same way again.
An homage to Lost as a TR origin story sounds like a great idea to me on paper. (I much liked Lost, up until the needlessly goofy ending.) It's the execution I'm not fond of.
I discovered last night I was only 50% through the game. Now 70%. (I guess, based on having unlocked the 7th out of 10 of her personal journal entries.)
I think my biggest gripe is that the game might as well be called Lara Croft and the Continuing Epic Failures of Lara Croft.
The only thing she has managed to accomplish (aside from becoming a proficient ultra-killer from weapons she magicked up IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!) is escaping the cave she was initially held captive in. Literally every person she tries to save either dies or gets recaptured soon afterward, despite brutally herculean efforts on her part. The one seriously impressive achievement she managed to eke out (putting out a call for help from the top of the mountain-top radio tower) not only was rendered completely useless five minutes later, but set up at least two major failures to save people to be played out over the next two hours. The woman often cannot even run from one place to another (in the occasional frantic scampering environmental action scene) without failing to arrive where she intended and ending up somewhere completely different. At around the 70% mark the villain's main base progressively detonates (although they don't seem overly hampered by this yet), but even that wasn't an actual accomplishment because Lara triggered it completely by accident while slogging from one place to another. The game even strongly teased that her trademark two-pistol shooting was about to be unlocked (when The Guy Who Will Clearly Either Die Or Turn Evil But Who Just As Clearly Isn't Going To Be Evil finally died, in yet another epic failure to accomplish several things) -- and then she hands the second gun to another character who promptly disappears in order to be rescued again later. The whole reason she and the other characters she tries and fails to rescue are in this predicament is because of something she regards as an epic failure on her part which wasn't strictly even her failure, just an unexpected side effect of one of her few moments of genuine competence. (Although the game almost lampshades this when it presents this achievement as literally being "Everyone went that direction and always failed, so let's try the opposite direction.")
It's a good thing there are minor puzzle platform tombs scattered infrequently around the island, that the player can explore for a few minutes. Reviewers routinely said they were the best part of the game, and I agree, but even they have rather empty accomplishments in relation to the rest of the game.
I don't understand what the point of a grimdark Lara Croft game was supposed to be. Presumably the reason they rebooted the franchise was because there was a fanbase who enjoyed the previous games for what they distinctively did: showcase a confident woman achieving various colorful goals in different locations around the world (sometimes saving the world from Dangerous And/Or Evil Ancient Archaeology in the process), in a witty and often elegant way. (The No One Lives Forever duology homaged this effectively and brilliantly by taking the James Bondian notes from the TR franchise and making those the actual plot and setting. Drahkan homaged this just as effectively and brilliantly by taking the fantasy notes from the TR franchise and making those the actual plot and setting, plus a pet dragon. Though it suffered a bit from the same problem of routine and ultimate failure.)
Zero Punctuation's review doesn't quite nail the level of schizophrenia in the presentation between Lara Croft as grey matter redecorator, and Lara Croft the gentle young girl who after slaughtering hundreds of enemies alone is still sure she "can't do this without you" in a weepy breakdown as her mentor dies. (I'd say "spoiler" but obviously he has to die, he has her guns.) But otherwise his review was spot on, and far more entertaining (and vulgar) about it than my gvetching in the past two comments.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7025-Tomb-Raider
I Spit On Your Tomb indeed.
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 16, 2013, 08:24:08 AM
An homage to Lost as a TR origin story sounds like a great idea to me on paper. (I much liked Lost, up until the needlessly goofy ending.) It's the execution I'm not fond of.
I discovered last night I was only 50% through the game.
this seems to go hand in hand with the never ending, 'oh shit how do we finish this' feeling the tv programme managed to engender
i thought it was awesome right up until the entire last series
^^ Good point, hadn't thought of that.
It occurs to me that a comparison with Spec Ops: The Line might be instructive, because that's also a game built entirely on Epic Continuing Failure Despite Ultraviolent Grisly Effort, but unlike the TR reboot there was a progressively developing underlying point to the ECGF.
I thought Lost was pretty awesome until Season 5, then it totally lost me. No pun intended.
i cant remember the correct vernacular but there are small vids on youtube like 'LotR in 30 seconds', they should have used that for Lost - crashhhhhhhhhhh, beach, bodies - and then just someone to pop in from off camera and say - 'yup theyre all dead'
but what about the polar bears, black smoke, crashing things through the jungle???????
'we dont have a fkng clue!!!!!!'
.....'but everyones dead'
the end
Haha! Well put, 'geek.
To be fair, everyone (with a few exceptions who live) doesn't die until the very end of the series, after which some (but not all) of them have a sideways alternate recap of their lives that the writers decided to show us concurrently with what actually happened in the last season except for that British guy the fans all loved who could travel back and forth between the two...
......
..... LOOK I'M TRYING TO BE FAIR!!!
(Also, polar bears were explained clearly enough, as escaped experiments brought to the island years ago, though the explanation got understandably lost along the way.)
there were so many 'ooooooooooo, this is scary and mysterious' plot twists thrown in to try and shake people off the fact that the writers thought they were onto something so bizarre and unique noone would guess they were already dead
true story - end of episode 1, series 1 in the UK - tabloid newspaper runs poll, what do you think has happened?
over 85% of viewers said, theyre all dead and they dont know!!!
...................oh bollocks say writers, quick, put polar bears in, a countdown machine, a device that moves the island, a man in a tunnel watching them all, other islanders, a village, a submarine, ANYTHING just dont let them think theyre all dead - we need that 8 series' from now
Well I suppose I don't ever have to watch Lost now...
Quote from: Gusington on October 16, 2013, 10:20:22 AM
Well I suppose I don't ever have to watch Lost now...
You've missed nothing.
Quote from: Gusington on October 16, 2013, 10:20:22 AM
Well I suppose I don't ever have to watch Lost now...
no, no, <<cue spooky music and animals crashing through trees>> please dont think thats the actual ending, it could be one of a hundred different endings that the writers are considering <<quick someone build a submarine and write a piss poor sub plot about another community on the island>> its not as simple as that obviously, theres so many twists and turns..................
fk it, theyre all dead, ta da!!!!!! <<credits roll>>
I think it's entertaining enough to warrant watching it through the first four seasons, but five, not so much.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on October 16, 2013, 07:09:55 PM
I think it's entertaining enough to warrant watching it through the first four seasons, but five, not so much.
BC has it, watch the first 4, close your eyes, get Mrs G to sneak in and put the last 25 minutes of Castaway with Tom Hanks on - youll love it
oooooweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooooo
HA I can't quit you 'Geek.
I have just started through The Walking Dead Season 3 on Netflix...that will keep my tv juices flowing for The Season of Darkness.
I just finished The Walking Dead Season 3 on Netflix, then went back to Breaking Bad after stopping partway through season 4. Now I'm lost. I might go back to that Kevin Spacey-fueled 'House of Cards' again.
House of Cards rocks!!!
Quote from: undercovergeek on October 16, 2013, 09:11:58 AM
there were so many 'ooooooooooo, this is scary and mysterious' plot twists thrown in to try and shake people off the fact that the writers thought they were onto something so bizarre and unique noone would guess they were already dead
Seriously, they weren't already dead. Most died along the way, others died after returning to the island, others died long after returning from the island (effectively long after the story was over). A couple hadn't died yet at the end of the series. The plotline with Other people coming and going from the island and interacting with the outside world totally refutes the idea that the crash survivors were dead.
Not that this refutes the theory that the writers radically rechanged the plot early on from a purgatory storyline; the writers admitted later they were making things up for the main plot as they went along despite assuring fans they knew exactly where they were going. (It also doesn't help that the ending episode explains this all very vaguely.)
Damon Lindelof himself semi-officially promoted a guy on Tumblr for fans to read who pieced together details from episodes and from interviews. The Tumblr blog is here, but the guy's Cracked article summarizes most of the pertinent details here since his blog isn't sorted in anything like topical order:
http://lostanswers.tumblr.com/
http://www.cracked.com/blog/108-answers-to-losts-supposedly-unanswered-questions/
#1 off the bat, the island wasn't purgatory (or at least it wasn't by the end of the second season and never was after that and definitely didn't end that way).
What happened in the sideworld during the final season, on the other hand, was basically purgatory. BUT ONLY IN THE SIDEWORLD; and I gather this wasn't the plan from the beginning either. The story events on the island actually happened in the in-story natural history, even in the final season.
The Answer Guy admits that the show has a lot of flaws, including in its story, and that the answers aren't always satisfying. But he makes a strong argument that the writers did give definitive (if sometimes sucky) answers to the show's mysteries along the way.
Sample answer #2:
QuoteWhat was the Island? Answer: Magic. The longer answer for this is "The Island is a conscious place that can travel through time and space. It contains the source of all life. Water and Light combine at its center to form an energy that fuels Life, Death and Rebirth throughout existence. The Island, like all life, can make choices and be manipulated. If the light at the Source of the Island ever goes out, everything ends."
But the shorter answer is still "Magic." Magic is actually the answer to many Unanswered Questions, and if you hate that fact, then LOST just wasn't for you.
This would understandably count as a Sucky Answer however, not because it's inherently illegitimate to mix science and magic in a story, but because the writers swore to fans at the beginning that everything that happened on the island did have a real-world scientific basis. Either they were outright lying or they definitely changed their plot to Magic and it stayed that way to the end. Which helped contribute to the idea that the writers lied from the beginning about the Island not being purgatory.
You guys enjoyed this? It sounds like stuff I would make up in the schoolyard in 3rd grade.
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 17, 2013, 01:41:52 PM
Water and Light combine at its center to form an energy that fuels Life,
I know this is a bad answer from the answer guy, but doesn't this mean the Island was Chlorophyll and that life is Sugar?
Quote from: MengJiao on October 17, 2013, 02:23:13 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 17, 2013, 01:41:52 PM
Water and Light combine at its center to form an energy that fuels Life,
I know this is a bad answer from the answer guy, but doesn't this mean the Island was Chlorophyll and that life is Sugar?
Heh! Water, Light and Dirt (because the Island itself is physically dirt of course.)
Quote from: Gusington on October 17, 2013, 01:52:55 PM
You guys enjoyed this? It sounds like stuff I would make up in the schoolyard in 3rd grade.
Yeah, the metaphysics don't work out very well. ;) Still, it's a sci-fi/fantasy story and those metaphysics have a big bearing on answering the mysterious questions. Unfortunately most of the show isn't really "about" the metaphysical things, so they end up being a plot-driving device for the soap-opera character relationships, much in the vein of "Survivor"-ish reality shows.
So as another example, the Island isn't only Magic that keeps all life in existence, it's a conscious character in the show and affects the plot in various somewhat alien ways, shuffling people around and empowering some people. This isn't spelled out overly well, but the details add up to that.
In effect the Island is supposed to be God (with a crunchy "island" shell around it), but a God that can be substantially manipulated and destroyed by other entities (unlike a "theistic" deity), so it acts to protect itself in various ways, and it doesn't give a hoot for human notions of morality (or any notions of morality at all) although it's willing to manipulate humans by appealing to those notions -- usually although not always in ways humans think of as 'good' because those happen to advance its goal of survival.
(GIANT PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD, OBVIOUSLY)
The overarching plotline of the series was eventually revealed to have kicked off when the most recent Protector chosen and empowered by the Island gave birth to twin sons (in a Cain and Abel-ish parallel), and when she died she split her set of protection powers (for various reasons relating to how she died) into two sets, one for each son. One of those sons became the Smoke Monster, and acts as a more hostile security system to protect the Island; the other becomes a different character and sometimes (but not always) acts in a somewhat nicer or more benevolent way to protect the Island. Since he's protecting the existence of all life in the universe, he thinks he's justified in acting in apparently murderous and other dickey ways, too. The brothers roughly approximate to Satan and the archangel Michael, except they were promoted up to that rank from normal human beings a few centuries ago.
The Smokey son doesn't want to be stuck guarding the Island (which is related to why their mother died), and so is looking for a way to break his connection and duties and get off the dang island. He's playing a long game aimed at killing his brother to accomplish this, and his brother is playing a long game to prevent the SM from succeeding in his plans -- which also involves choosing a successor to protect the Island by reintegrating both power sets. Since the Island is connected to all human life, and can meander around the world semi-randomly (or with mysterious purposes of its own), the relatively 'good' brother can also do that and can leave the Island if he wants -- which the SM brother is jealous about on top of everything else. The Island naturally supports the good-ish brother in his plans and helps out, but can't outright stop the SM directly, especially since the Island still depends on Smokey for certain levels of protection.
The good brother eventually brings a bunch of candidates for Protector to the Island (mostly but not entirely through the airplane crash that starts the series), and he and the Island start testing and weeding through them to see who should be the successor to the brothers. Smokey doesn't like this, since he wants to be free (while still having his powers of course -- they're quite nifty and fun) not replaced, but he sees opportunities to use this for his advantage in furthering his own plans.
And also a metric ton of human plots happen, some of which involve scientists (and mystics) trying to study the Island's power for their own purposes. Which naturally obscures the other overarching plot, especially since the pieces are doled out (and probably invented by the authors!) in a fragmented way over the seasons of the series, along with misunderstandings by the characters about what's going on which are often delivered as solid answers.
Eventually, ending #1 happens: one character dies and becomes the new Smoke Monster, but one loyal to the purpose of the island not trying to rebel against it, and another character lives and becomes the new version of the good brother with a lieutenant. This is still not the ideal situation, but at least they're cooperating as a team now (the way the original brothers should have done), so a few decades later they're able to bring a third character back to the Island to become the new unified Protector (which unfortunately is only hinted at and not shown happening in the story), and the two Protector characters join the others going into the Light (with the lieutenant to follow later, maybe after helping get the new Protector up to speed, the final ep isn't clear about that).
or.................
watch until season 4 and know that it peaked there, before they really ran out of ideas
I wouldn't call it running out of ideas so much as Coming Up With Something That More Or Less Ties All Their Previous Ideas Together While Introducing New Ideas That Also Need Tying Up Eventually So Uh Yeah. ;)
(It's been so long since I watched it, I don't recall what happens specifically in Season 4. The Time Travel Plot to the 1970s happened in Season 5, right? -- so Season 4 is where some survivors escape the Island but the plot wasn't resolved so they meander around awhile in the main world dealing with the lives they left behind before having to go back? I know that happens somewhere. Not to be confused with the purgatory sideworld in the final season.)
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 17, 2013, 03:45:01 PM
I wouldn't call it running out of ideas so much as Coming Up With Something That More Or Less Ties All Their Previous Ideas Together While Introducing New Ideas That Also Need Tying Up Eventually So Uh Yeah. ;)
(It's been so long since I watched it, I don't recall what happens specifically in Season 4. The Time Travel Plot to the 1970s happened in Season 5, right? -- so Season 4 is where some survivors escape the Island but the plot wasn't resolved so they meander around awhile in the main world dealing with the lives they left behind before having to go back? I know that happens somewhere. Not to be confused with the purgatory sideworld in the final season.)
i think four was just...... less pseudo-spooky, they hadnt really jumped into the pot of 'get MOAR ideas' yet
Time travel to the 1970s? Who would want to go back?? That seals it for me.
I often feel sorry that life's little time-demands have robbed me of following many of the well-loved TV series such as House, ER, SoA, the last two seasons of ST:DS9, China Beach, NYPD Blue, the Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Entourage, GoT, and so many more. Now, thanks to this discussion, I have one less...
Thank you all for lightening my load just a wee bit. ;)
Quote from: Gusington on October 17, 2013, 05:49:46 PM
Time travel to the 1970s? Who would want to go back?? That seals it for me.
And get to hear "Ride, Captain, Ride" again?
oy
Quote from: Staggerwing on October 17, 2013, 06:21:47 PM
I often feel sorry that life's little time-demands have robbed me of following many of the well-loved TV series such as House, ER, SoA, the last two seasons of ST:DS9, China Beach, NYPD Blue, the Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Entourage, GoT, and so many more. Now, thanks to this discussion, I have one less...
Thank you all for lightening my load just a wee bit. ;)
house i cant fault, wire im yet to start!
Try to get to Boardwalk Empire ASAP.
Ah! Sons of Anarchy! I can get back to that one now. :)
Quote from: Gusington on October 17, 2013, 05:49:46 PM
Time travel to the 1970s? Who would want to go back?? That seals it for me.
There was some of that reaction from the characters, too. ;) But it was better than it sounds.
(Or was if you managed to get invested in the plot, since this was when the Dharma Project was running on the island, and the season explained the origin of a lot of leftover things, including what happened to the Project.)
Oooh, the Wire! -- I haven't gotten to that one yet either. Trying to work my way through all 10 seasons of MI-5, and catching up on Justified, but somewhat hampered by the parentals wanting to watch them, too, and yet not. :P
The Wife loved The Wire. That's all I know about it. And that's not a euphemism.
Incidentally, the Batman Arkham game franchise is on a steep sale at Steam this weekend (as Gus learned recently in the sales thread); and the first game especially makes a good Halloween Season game for various aesthetic and plot related reasons (even though not directly so).
For those who were put off by its DRM, it looks like Games for Windows Live has been removed (http://www.joystiq.com/2013/10/18/batman-arkham-games-ditch-games-for-windows-live-75-off-on-st/) from the Batman Arkham games that are on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/sale/batman_weekend?snr=1_4_4__40), which is a good news.
As for me, I'm not as much into the Action-Adventure games as I once was. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (http://www.gog.com/game/gabriel_knight_sins_of_the_fathers) used to be my favorite game of its genre, and I've played it on Halloweens past. But I don't really know of a game I'll be playing this Halloween, at least not yet.
Actually, GFWL has been replaced by Steamworks across the board for both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. So if you bought it elsewhere, you should be able to add it to your Steam account via serial key.
Veering OT...The Wire is great telly. Unlike a lot of top shows it has a pre-ordained story arc over its seasons, so that it feels completed. Lots of successful shows are pushed beyond their original concepts and become diluted with successive seasons.
To my mind, however, The Sopranos is still the outstanding TV experience.
Played some Doom3 tonight. I'm not really into horror-type FPS's for the most part, but I'm finding this pretty scary!
Not sure how it compares to other games.
Did we mention Thief upthread? Because the first game can get pretty scary in places once the undead and the spiders and lizards come out. (Um, spoilers.)
^Don't tease. The scariest Thief level of all is Shalebridge Cradle in the third game. One of the scariest levels of anything ever.
So what games have you ended up playing, Gus? (or others?)
Just got done with the Knife of Dunwall DLC for Dishonored. Well done but short, like me. Next up is a bit of a dilemma for me: Assassin's Creed III or Skyrim: Dragonborn. I also have Bioshock:Infinite waiting. Or maybe play around a bit with the Dark Mod. You can see where I'm going with this...