Games Beaten 2016
- Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (2006) 5/10
This was my first Syphon Filter game. I'd heard in the past this series tried to ape Metal Gear. After playing Dark Mirror, I disagree with that assessment. If this Syphon Filter is indicative of earlier entries, Syphon Filter is much closer to Splinter Cell than Metal Gear. Albeit a poor man's Splinter Cell, with a heavy dose of Rambo in lieu of actual stealth mechanics. (I do admire how cold blooded Gabriel Logan is versus say Sam Fisher or Snake.) So peek around corners, pull off head shots, plant some C4. You know, spook stuff.
When Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror released in 2006, it was met with great fanfare due to its technical accomplishments. Here was a handheld PSP game with console quality graphics and competent controls. Yes, the graphics are impressive for the time and technical limitations, and the controls are very intuitive. (These are the controls Peace Walker should have had.) I guess ten years ago, that was enough to garner universal 9/10s from the gaming press echo chamber. But strip away the shiny veneer and you're left with a rather tepid third person shooter. Play through an hour of Dark Mirror, and you might as well have played the whole game.
Yes the biggest issue here is sheer repetitiveness. Mission objectives are often bland, with uninspired level design, filled with bullet sponge generic bad guys, which you must murder hundreds of. The player is given no real impetus due to an impenetrable plot that makes little sense. And worse yet, often the developers assault the player with punitive scenario designs, that were clearly thought up for challenge alone, with little regard to actually being enjoyable to endure. I've beaten many Metal Gears and nearly every Splinter Cell game, but Dark Mirror was far more difficult than any of those... except not in a sensible way. I could write an essay on how disgustingly dumb many of this game's scenarios' designs are. But let's just skip that, and appreciate I took the hit so you don't have to.
Based on this one series' entry, it's no surprise to me that Sony hasn't produced another Syphon Filter in nearly a decade. The stealth espionage action genre is all but dead now, and Syphon Filter certainly wasn't doing anything to evolve the equation. Besides, only a year prior Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory had already pushed the genre to its apex. Compared to that masterpiece, Dark Mirror is an angry little wannabe. Yet the reflection was just dark enough that most couldn't see the lackluster truth.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
- PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
strangenova wrote:BoneSnapDeez wrote:I love Contra games. I really do need to pick up part "three" on SNES.
Have you played Hard Corps on the genesis?
That's the only (real) console Contra game I've never beaten. That game is CRAAAZY hard, but it's totally worth it to be the awesome werewolf guy XD
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I'm not sure the PSP entries really feel quite like the PSX versions. I think they lost the plot when they went to PS2. I mean, they're a'ight, but nothing mind-blowing. And I'm not sure how well the PSX games aged, either. Might very well be the definition of "you had to be there", like many other games of that era.
- Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Sarge wrote:Might very well be the definition of "you had to be there", like many other games of that era.
Well it goes back to my primary principle of game theory; solid game design first, presentation second. That's why old Splinter Cell and Metal Gear games are still fun, but Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was not. But hey man, this game came from the same studio that produced Bubsy 3D. Need I say more?
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- prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Exhuminator wrote:But hey man, this game came from the same studio that produced Bubsy 3D. Need I say more?
Wow. They really improved!
Re: Games Beaten 2016
First 50:
51. Ori and the Blind Forest - Xbox One
52. AM2R - PC
53. Total Annihilation - PC
54. I Am Setsuna - PS4
55. Planetary Annihilation Titans - PC
56. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - PC
57. Dark Reign - Rise of the Shadowhand - PC
58. Dragon Age Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon - PC
59. Dragon Age Inquisition - The Descent - PC
60. Dragon Age Inquisition - Trespasser - PC
61. The Witcher 3 - Hearts of Stone - PC
62. The Witcher 3 - Blood & Wine - PC
63. ReCore - Xbox One
64. Final Fantasy Tactics - PS1
65. Resident Evil 6 - PC
66. Knuckles Chaotix - 32X
67. Assault Suit Leynos - PS4
68. Might & Magic 2 - Gate to Another World - PC
69. Might & Magic 4 - Clouds of Xeen - PC
70. Might & Magic 5 - Darkside of Xeen - PC
71. Might & Magic 4&5 - World of Xeen - PC
72. Rise of the Triad - PC
73. Batman Arkham Knight - PC
74. Rise of the Triad (2013) - PC
I'm trying to kill time before Dishonored 2 hits, so I figured I could knock this one out pretty quick, and I was right. This is a remake of the original Rise of the Triad and a general throwback to the early 90's fast paced shooter. So let's see what we get.
Just like the original, you have five characters of varying performance to use. You get infinite ammo for your bullet weapons (though if you want you can trigger a reload animation). You gain access to secondary weapons of limited ammo, all quite deadly and great for clearing rooms. Unlike the original you can have both an explosive and a magic weapon, instead of both using the same slot. You still have all the same powerups as well. Hell, they even threw in the floating circular platforms and traps.
The game even keeps a similar sort of level structure, where levels will twist back on themselves and key collection and traps to catch you unwary. It's overall pretty damn fun. It's also shorter; only five levels per act and I felt like I was finishing the levels faster. Maybe not in the perfect run sense, but at least in the retry sense.
51. Ori and the Blind Forest - Xbox One
52. AM2R - PC
53. Total Annihilation - PC
54. I Am Setsuna - PS4
55. Planetary Annihilation Titans - PC
56. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - PC
57. Dark Reign - Rise of the Shadowhand - PC
58. Dragon Age Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon - PC
59. Dragon Age Inquisition - The Descent - PC
60. Dragon Age Inquisition - Trespasser - PC
61. The Witcher 3 - Hearts of Stone - PC
62. The Witcher 3 - Blood & Wine - PC
63. ReCore - Xbox One
64. Final Fantasy Tactics - PS1
65. Resident Evil 6 - PC
66. Knuckles Chaotix - 32X
67. Assault Suit Leynos - PS4
68. Might & Magic 2 - Gate to Another World - PC
69. Might & Magic 4 - Clouds of Xeen - PC
70. Might & Magic 5 - Darkside of Xeen - PC
71. Might & Magic 4&5 - World of Xeen - PC
72. Rise of the Triad - PC
73. Batman Arkham Knight - PC
74. Rise of the Triad (2013) - PC
I'm trying to kill time before Dishonored 2 hits, so I figured I could knock this one out pretty quick, and I was right. This is a remake of the original Rise of the Triad and a general throwback to the early 90's fast paced shooter. So let's see what we get.
Just like the original, you have five characters of varying performance to use. You get infinite ammo for your bullet weapons (though if you want you can trigger a reload animation). You gain access to secondary weapons of limited ammo, all quite deadly and great for clearing rooms. Unlike the original you can have both an explosive and a magic weapon, instead of both using the same slot. You still have all the same powerups as well. Hell, they even threw in the floating circular platforms and traps.
The game even keeps a similar sort of level structure, where levels will twist back on themselves and key collection and traps to catch you unwary. It's overall pretty damn fun. It's also shorter; only five levels per act and I felt like I was finishing the levels faster. Maybe not in the perfect run sense, but at least in the retry sense.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
144) Castlevania (NES)
145) Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers 2 (NES)
146) Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers (NES)
I think I might have beat this a long, long time ago in the early days of emulation. It's quite a bit easier than I remember the original Rescue Rangers being. I think I might revisit that one and see. It's definitely late-gen NES Capcom, and unfortunately it's one of those really rare and expensive games. It's certainly not worth throwing down the cash for it, unless you're a stickler for playing it and sell it right after or something. Or you get lucky and find it cheap! (Yeah, good luck with that.)
EDIT: The answer is yes. It is harder. And more interesting. There are a lot more unique hazards through the game, whereas RR2 is very straightforward overall. It was certainly easier than it used to be for me back in the day, though.
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
144) Castlevania (NES)
145) Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers 2 (NES)
146) Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers (NES)
I think I might have beat this a long, long time ago in the early days of emulation. It's quite a bit easier than I remember the original Rescue Rangers being. I think I might revisit that one and see. It's definitely late-gen NES Capcom, and unfortunately it's one of those really rare and expensive games. It's certainly not worth throwing down the cash for it, unless you're a stickler for playing it and sell it right after or something. Or you get lucky and find it cheap! (Yeah, good luck with that.)
EDIT: The answer is yes. It is harder. And more interesting. There are a lot more unique hazards through the game, whereas RR2 is very straightforward overall. It was certainly easier than it used to be for me back in the day, though.
- ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Games Beaten in 2016 So Far - 111
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (8 Games Beaten)
March (8 Games Beaten)
April (13 Games Beaten)
May (6 Games Beaten)
June (13 Games Beaten)
July (7 Games Beaten)
August (15 Games Beaten)
September (8 Games Beaten)
October (10 Games Beaten)
November (3 Games Beaten)
111. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Wii U - November 11
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game in which I'd always taken a passing interest, but it never piqued my interest enough to bother buying or playing it. When I saw that it had been ported to Wii U and was relatively cheap used, I picked it up for my Wii U collection. I finally decided this week to fire it up and give it a whirl given all of the good things I've heard about this game and its sequel.
Some of my friends sing the praises of this game from the highest mountains that they can find. While I wasn't THAT impressed with it, it was definitely quite a good game, and I intend to pick up the sequel at some point (either when it gets cheap used or when I'm not continuously burying myself under piles of debt). In terms of story - definitely the game's strongest point - it feels almost like a cyberpunk Mass Effect. The narrative and characters aren't as deep or well developed as those of Mass Effect, but the way the story is told feels quite similar as do the choices the game has you make. For almost every enemy counter, you can choose to take a lethal or a non-lethal route. Being the bloodthirsty fiend that I am, I opted to massacre everything in sight. You can also, in most situations, choose to implement stealth or go in guns blazing. Not being a punk ass bitch, I walked right up to those MFers and shoved my arm-sword into their throats (needless to say, I died a lot, but it was a lot of fun).
Graphically, the game looks a bit dated, but it's also a 2013 port of a 2011 game. It's not pushing the Wii U's graphical limits, but it looks fine, all things considered. I have two big complains with the game. The voice acting for Adam Jensen was monotone and boring af. More importantly, though, the controls are absolute garbage. That wouldn't be so bad if the game allowed for any degree of control customization whatsoever. You tap the L button to sprint; clicking the left stick crouches. You press ZL to hide behind cover; clicking the right stick aims. You press A to reload; pressing Y performs a takedown. You have to open a menu via the touchscreen or hold B to change weapons; X jumps. Just about the only thing that felt natural was using A to interact with objects, using R to throw grenades, and using ZR to fire. I know I'm nitpicking here, but the controls were so drastically different from any other similar game I've played in the past year or two that it took me a considerable amount of time to get used to them. Once I did get used to the controls, the game was great, but the controls add an unnecessarily steep learning curve in my opinion.
Despite my not insignificant gripes with the controls, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is definitely a good game, and I absolutely recommend it, especially if you're a fan of Western style RPGs and/or cyberpunk settings. The Director's Cut is definitely the version to play, but as much as I love the Wii U, I'd suggest playing on 360. From what I've seen, Square's inexperience with the Wii U's hardware shows through; despite being a significantly more powerful console, the Wii U version just doesn't look quite as refined as the 360 version. The colors are a bit washed out, the smoke effects are more pronounced and less subtle, and the bloom seems a bit overdone in places. The Wii U version is absolutely a competent game, but the 360 version is probably the better version if I'm being honest.
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (8 Games Beaten)
March (8 Games Beaten)
April (13 Games Beaten)
May (6 Games Beaten)
June (13 Games Beaten)
July (7 Games Beaten)
August (15 Games Beaten)
September (8 Games Beaten)
October (10 Games Beaten)
November (3 Games Beaten)
111. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Wii U - November 11
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game in which I'd always taken a passing interest, but it never piqued my interest enough to bother buying or playing it. When I saw that it had been ported to Wii U and was relatively cheap used, I picked it up for my Wii U collection. I finally decided this week to fire it up and give it a whirl given all of the good things I've heard about this game and its sequel.
Some of my friends sing the praises of this game from the highest mountains that they can find. While I wasn't THAT impressed with it, it was definitely quite a good game, and I intend to pick up the sequel at some point (either when it gets cheap used or when I'm not continuously burying myself under piles of debt). In terms of story - definitely the game's strongest point - it feels almost like a cyberpunk Mass Effect. The narrative and characters aren't as deep or well developed as those of Mass Effect, but the way the story is told feels quite similar as do the choices the game has you make. For almost every enemy counter, you can choose to take a lethal or a non-lethal route. Being the bloodthirsty fiend that I am, I opted to massacre everything in sight. You can also, in most situations, choose to implement stealth or go in guns blazing. Not being a punk ass bitch, I walked right up to those MFers and shoved my arm-sword into their throats (needless to say, I died a lot, but it was a lot of fun).
Graphically, the game looks a bit dated, but it's also a 2013 port of a 2011 game. It's not pushing the Wii U's graphical limits, but it looks fine, all things considered. I have two big complains with the game. The voice acting for Adam Jensen was monotone and boring af. More importantly, though, the controls are absolute garbage. That wouldn't be so bad if the game allowed for any degree of control customization whatsoever. You tap the L button to sprint; clicking the left stick crouches. You press ZL to hide behind cover; clicking the right stick aims. You press A to reload; pressing Y performs a takedown. You have to open a menu via the touchscreen or hold B to change weapons; X jumps. Just about the only thing that felt natural was using A to interact with objects, using R to throw grenades, and using ZR to fire. I know I'm nitpicking here, but the controls were so drastically different from any other similar game I've played in the past year or two that it took me a considerable amount of time to get used to them. Once I did get used to the controls, the game was great, but the controls add an unnecessarily steep learning curve in my opinion.
Despite my not insignificant gripes with the controls, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is definitely a good game, and I absolutely recommend it, especially if you're a fan of Western style RPGs and/or cyberpunk settings. The Director's Cut is definitely the version to play, but as much as I love the Wii U, I'd suggest playing on 360. From what I've seen, Square's inexperience with the Wii U's hardware shows through; despite being a significantly more powerful console, the Wii U version just doesn't look quite as refined as the 360 version. The colors are a bit washed out, the smoke effects are more pronounced and less subtle, and the bloom seems a bit overdone in places. The Wii U version is absolutely a competent game, but the 360 version is probably the better version if I'm being honest.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I got to meet Adam Jensen's VA at PAX this year. That's actually what he sounds like all the time.
- ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
MrPopo wrote:I got to meet Adam Jensen's VA at PAX this year. That's actually what he sounds like all the time.
I'm...not sure if that makes me feel better or worse, to be honest.