Currently Playing

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Animalmother
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Animalmother » Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:51 am

Yeah it's a real shame how they just dropped BFV like that, had tons of potential left in it. I uninstalled it there recently as I'd done everything you could possibly do and it had gone stale.
As for 2042 I'm still debating if it's worth sticking with. I had to disable cross play as PC players can use mouse & kb and you just can't compete with that on console. There's only 9 maps in the base game (Portal never gets a look in) so there's not much variety. I'm still dying a lot, just don't have the reflexes anymore it would seem.

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Wrathbone
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Wrathbone » Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:38 pm

I've just finished Pentiment, which I'm not entirely sure how to classify. I suppose it's a point-n-click adventure game, but that almost feels like a disservice as it's more of a history generator (which also delves deeply into real-world history). The story you weave throughout the game is rich and detailed, as are the populace of the village of Tassing where it's set, and I can only imagine how many different ways it could play out.

A beautiful and rewarding game that's well worth checking out on Game Pass.

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Lenny Solidus
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Lenny Solidus » Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:17 am

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 - DMZ

Completely ignoring the main BR aspect on offer, I have instead found myself firmly addicted to the newly added DMZ mode which itself is also completely free to play. It's a mode with which you can either join a random three-man squad or go in entirely solo to complete random missions picked up on the map—complete and extract successfully to keep any weapons and gear you can get your hands on. Eventually calling in a helicopter at three specific points on the map to clamber on, fending off enemies as you do. The mode is a mix of both PVE and PVP and the AI based enemies believe me are no joke, all are set to Veteran difficulty and honestly can be extremely difficult especially as they continuously drop in via helicopter all over the map in a plume of smoke. On top of this, other three man player based teams can turn up the heat on you at any point too, but don't always show up before you get the hell out of there. Depending on who you get placed with it can play out very smoothly and even sometimes quite tactically, alternatively it can quickly go completely to shit and teammates quit out leaving you with even greater odds to face to fight your way out or quit yourself.

If you do fail however the game takes away your own primary weapon even if it is completely kitted out, and you can either end up with whatever enemy weapon you picked up as contraband or a pistol both of which you only get for that session and cannot mod at all. I have started with no weapon at all many times after suffering several failures in a row. But tbh this low point for me has delivered some of the best moments, making you completely rely on your teammates using the ping system to spot enemies and pickups until you can grab a weapon and some plates and get into the fight. Going from absolutely nothing but fists to a fully successful exfil with only one teammate still alive under heavy fire by other players popping smoke as their bullets ricochet around the inside of the heli you're stuck on your belly wondering if you are going to make it as the exfil countdown completes on super low health *and breathe* I kinda love it.

So far I have attempted and completed two successful solo run sessions - going in completely alone avoiding other players running or driving around while taking out enemy AI and getting missions done then on to an extraction point and out all alone is extremely rewarding.
Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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Alan
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Alan » Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:11 pm

Have you played Hunt Showdown? Its basically this but with style and a great theme song 8-)






Warhammer 40k: Gladius
Civilization 40k. This seems really good but it feels like if you dont get a real rolling millitary from the getgo you either get stomped (always by Orks!) or it drags into a near stalemate that takes forever. It has that Civ thing of "where did 5 hours just go?"

New World
Ergh... its fine. I really wanted to be a badass mage but it seems to have the worst magic of any MMO so I went with guns and its fine. A whole lot of walking about and no mounts does get on the wick a little. Ok a lot.

Vampire Bloodhunt
This is fun. Really quite fun though that may be me winning my fist few matches talking. The feeding system is neat and the traversal is fun so yeah, its fun! Feels like Rumbleverse with guns.

Pathfinder WotR
Litterally spent 3 hours in character creation and never played the game.

Marvel Snap
Its shallow garbage thats very RNG heavy but its not the worst way to acompany a poo.
A man who could tell more truth and eat fewer pies.

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Animalmother
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Animalmother » Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:52 pm

The Last of Us: part one
The game redone for the PS5 with upgraded graphics and runs at 60fps (or 4K at target 60fps). What's to be said about this game that already hasn't? This will be my 3rd playthrough since the original release in 2013 and still one of my favorites. The already lovely visuals have been given another polish and the detail has been dialed up to 11 as have the character animations. The kills are gloriously brutal with offal spattering the walls from a pipe bomb or a crimson Jackson Pollock erupting from a headshot.
The story is still an emotional rollercoaster from one end to the other and hasn't lost any of it's effect in the years, the cut scenes can be particularly lip wobbling. This and the second game are the peak of gaming for me.

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Lenny Solidus
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Lenny Solidus » Tue Dec 06, 2022 8:03 am

FarCry 6

I had only ever played the latest Ubisoft offering via their Uplay+ system and managed roughly twenty hours before I turned away from it due to mainly the poor enemy AI, they were just so ridiculously easy I got supremely bored very quickly. Considering the size of the game world amount of content and free updates on offer, I decided to give it a second chance - hearing that Ubisoft had tweaked much of the game since release, and that it was in a much better state now. The only other person I know who has even played any of it would be my old mate Snowy, outside of that FarCry 6 reception was rather lukewarm and though I don't think it's a bad game I do think it is high time the formula for it was given a much needed overhaul.

Anyway, you can now pick up the game for the princely sum of £12 courtesy of CD Keys...
https://www.cdkeys.com/pc/far-cry-6-pc-eu-uplay

Now I just need to find the time to jump in.
Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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DjchunKfunK
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by DjchunKfunK » Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:05 pm

Diretide

I think I prefer Vermintide 2 but I need to play a bit more. It's very dark and enemies are all grey so it can make picking them out quite tough, the levels all look very similar as well. Combat is good though so that helps a bit. The thing that is most disappointing is the cash shop which allows you to buy cosmetics for real money as you don't have a lot of options given to you early and there doesn't appear to be that many choices full stop and asking people to pay £50 and then money on top of that to make their character look good is rough.

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Wrathbone
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Wrathbone » Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:54 pm

Dwarf Fortress (on Steam, finally!)

I've wanted to play Dwarf Fortress for a long time, but found the complicated setup and ascii graphics completely impenetrable. Now it's on Steam and just works, and it's been given a lick of paint with a reasonable interface and graphics and a series of inbuilt tutorials. It's finally usable by humans, and despite having little to no idea what I'm doing yet, I'm having a great time. I've played a tonne of Rimworld so a lot of similar concepts are familiar and I have the same expectation of imminent disaster. :lol: Surprisingly nobody's died after 90 minutes though!

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Lenny Solidus
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Lenny Solidus » Mon Dec 12, 2022 4:36 pm

FarCry 6, New Xenus?

You know what is truly strange about gaming? When you initially dismiss a game you put a number of hours into only to return to it much later - only for it to click with you in a very different, more appreciative way. There was a particular moment playing the latest outing when it immediately took me right back to my time playing the original Boiling Point: Road to Hell, it can honestly feel like an infinitely more updated and polished version of the exact same vision Deep Shadows had for their game back in 2005. Of course, a lot of it depends on your own unique play style, this can go from feeling like Boiling Point to Crysis to Far Cry and back again very quickly. It was after this one very well produced mission that it finally felt like everything I wanted from it, and I've been enjoying the shit out of it way more ever since.

It might honestly now be my favourite Far Cry since the much beloved much pondered on Far Cry 2.
Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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eny
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by eny » Mon Dec 12, 2022 5:08 pm

FC6 is on my list....just waiting for that sweet deal. I have played them all to completion, love them tbh.
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Lenny Solidus
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Lenny Solidus » Mon Dec 12, 2022 9:45 pm

Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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Animalmother
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Animalmother » Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:38 am

Has it been updated since release? I put a good bit of time into FC6 before I finally admitted to myself it was probably one of the most boring open world games I'd played.

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Rusty
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Rusty » Tue Dec 13, 2022 2:21 pm

I enjoyed it right up to the 'finale' when you get stuck in a restricted, funnelled, tunnel-like city. Hated that bit.
-- To be completed at some point --

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Lenny Solidus
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Lenny Solidus » Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:23 pm

Given the fact the game can be picked up for as little as ten pounds, there's a lot of game included and if you have enjoyed any Far Cry game in the past you know it can go from a bit lifeless one second to wtf is happening the next, now having the supremo backpacks that can down a helicopter and so much more means you can always award yourself a swift fighting chance when it all goes to hell. Random events and occurrences happen all the time as you can expect *not in a buggy way you understand* you can either choose to ignore it all or get stuck right in and be a part of it all.

The biggest difference for me has been the new drop in parachute system, once you clear an area of the pesky GTA missiles you can drop directly into an enemy base if careful not to get spotted. It may not sound like a dramatic shift, but being able to parachute down in any given cleared area has been a real game changer for me in how I play and approach missions. Even sniping enemies as I slowly descend as silent death from high above.

Far Cry 6 does not reinvent the wheel - there are however easily enough new elements added over every other FC you played to date that it at least feels like a plausible effort was made by the Ubisoft team to tweak the overall experience that does directly impact your play style, however you choose to play. This is why I mention Crysis, that itself back in the day could be a straight-up shooter experience, but the moment you went cloaked used speed armour or strength modes it altered the engagement dynamic massively. Not to say Far Cry 6 is in any way comparable to how much Crysis changed the game directly, only that what they have included makes things not only manic and fun but evens out the odds swiftly in your favour for a few seconds just long enough to react reposition rethink and eventually to win said engagement just as the suit did in Crysis.

For me going back to it the poor launch enemy AI that originally made me stop playing seems a lot better, not perfect or anything but they now feel like a challenge, I feel like if I get into a scrap I have to earn the victory. That's not to say they don't still sometimes seem completely oblivious, that does and can still happen no mistake. The enemies tracking of you though is also at times very surprising, I've had them climb ladders toss grenades at my feet on a rooftop and use zipwires to find where I was hidden and taking care of many of them carefully so as not to attract others or set off any base alarms is key, obviously. I had one enemy flank me on a high up roof smack me in the back drop a flash grenade then run and jump off the other side leaving me both blind and confused taking heavy fire from his mates like a right little ratty Edwin. :lol:

I'm loving the map design, countless ways of engagement the weapon upgrades and yes even having absolutely zero talent tree system included as everything in that aspect is now tied directly into what clothing you have equipped, and it works just fine. I just wish I had this much fun with it when I originally bought it, better late than never I suppose.
Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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Animalmother
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Re: Currently Playing

Post by Animalmother » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:16 pm

Seeing how Ubisoft pulled Breakpoint from the pit of shitness and made it an excellent game gives me hope that Far Cry 6 might get the same treatment. But I also think it's time they gave the franchise a rest for a few years and come back with something a bit different.

Since it's been available on Game Pass I've been playing a lot of Battlefield 2042 and much to my annoyance I'm actually enjoying it. There was a double XP weekend recently and I zipped up the levels and have unlocked most of the vehicles and weapons. Dice seem to have turned it around and there's usually a healthy player count online. It's still very frustrating at times with wankers just camping on rooftops and in bushes waiting for you walk past. Getting a kill is very satisfying as it doesn't happen that often for me :/

You can also just play against AI bots which I've been doing to help unlock some of the trickier gear. It's a bit one sided but the bots will sneak up on you, follow you up ladders to dislodge you from a camping spot and pelt your tank with EMP grenades more so than real players do.

It's no BF 3 or 4 but it's getting there very slowly. Plus next month the class system returns.

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