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Post by Gront on Apr 28, 2010 2:10:17 GMT -5
While there's little I enjoy more than opening a fresh, new, high-resolution game (complete with that wonderful new game smell), let's face it: at $60 a game, gaming can get expensive. Luckily for us, there's a little process called trading in games that allows us to get awesome (if old) games for ridiculously low prices. My new favorite place to get games is GameStop's wall of boxless ps2 games. Among other treasures, I was able to find a game called Metal Gear Solid 2 for $2.99. I haven't gotten around to playing MGS2 yet, so this first review is going to focus on another game I picked up at the same time: Max Payne.
Max Payne ($4.99 on the boxless wall) is a pretty slick (if dated) third-person shooter released by Rockstar back in 2001. The gameplay is pretty straightforward: enter room, clear room using shotgun (or smgs if it's a big room), proceed to next room, popping painkillers when necessary. The bullet time system (which, at the time, was pretty state-of-the-art) adds a little more variety to the gameplay, but the real hook for me was the storytelling. Throughout most of the levels, Max does a very noir-style narration of important events. This, accompanied with the comic book style cutscenes made the story really fun to watch unfold. As I mentioned earlier, the gameplay is a little shallow, but it's quick, allowing you to watch the story unfold rather quickly. As far as difficulty, the game typically gives you enough painkillers to kill a small elephant, keeping you at prime condition even after shooting up an entire chapter of baddies, especially with your trusty bullet time button, however, there are a few instances where you'll run pretty dry on bottled health, which can be a pain in the ass considering you haven't really been trying up to that point. For those of you who want a challenge, auto-aim can be turned off at the options screen, but considering this was an incredibly early PS2 game and the aiming controls are rather wonky, I'd recommend this mode of play only to the most masochistic of players. Overall, I loved the game and, despite it's age, I'd definitely recommend it to you guys at $4.99.
More reviews to come as I finish these games. Also, feel free to recommend old PS2 games for me to pick up later, as I'm pretty sure I'll be making another run pretty soon.
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Post by Grimscott on Apr 28, 2010 6:41:08 GMT -5
More reviews to come as I finish these games. Also, feel free to recommend old PS2 games for me to pick up later, as I'm pretty sure I'll be making another run pretty soon. Sweet! I'm a cheapo, so this works for me. I've heard Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy and Blood Will Tell are good, but I never played 'em myself. (I'm tryin to suggest stuff that's not so obvious or well-known)
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Post by The Omnipresence on Apr 28, 2010 11:36:39 GMT -5
I've heard Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy and Blood Will Tell are good. Psi-Ops was a badass game with a badass music video. It's about a guy name Nick Scryer who gets his mind wiped and is captured by a terriorist organization called 'The Movement'(At least I think thats what it was called can't really remember now). After awhile in brainwashing dictator camp he gets some psychic powers and starts kicking ass. Thanks to the power of the Havok physics engine, you had some freedom of how you wanted to progress, for example, say if there was an electric floor in your way, you could probably go find a switch somewhere, or you can be badass by jumping onto a crate and surfing on it with telekinesis. The only real problem is that the game ends on a cliff hanger, which will probably never be resolved since Midway is DEAD. If I recall correctly Blood Will Tell was some samurai game about a guy trying to get his organs back or something, didn't actually play it but it looks cool.
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Post by Psibat on Apr 28, 2010 12:39:42 GMT -5
I've heard Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy and Blood Will Tell are good. Psi-Ops was a badass game with a badass music video. It's about a guy name Nick Scryer who gets his mind wiped and is captured by a terriorist organization called 'The Movement'(At least I think thats what it was called can't really remember now). After awhile in brainwashing dictator camp he gets some psychic powers and starts kicking ass. Thanks to the power of the Havok physics engine, you had some freedom of how you wanted to progress, for example, say if there was an electric floor in your way, you could probably go find a switch somewhere, or you can be badass by jumping onto a crate and surfing on it with telekinesis. The only real problem is that the game ends on a cliff hanger, which will probably never be resolved since Midway is DEAD. I've always wanted to play psi ops... I bet you can't guess why..
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Post by Gront on Apr 30, 2010 18:37:10 GMT -5
There is one downside to bargain binning, unfortunately: there are a lot of games that suck.
Like Run Like Hell.
I feel bad for this one, actually. I read up on it on wikipedia (after the fact) and apparently the production team spent 5 years making the game, only to ditch the original programming 10 months before release. As such, the environment, voice acting, and the like are really polished, but the gameplay is horrid. Also (and this might just be because I got through only the first chapter before deciding to return this one), the plot sort of jumps here and there without any real cause. In fact, the final straw for me was when, after I had just killed like 20 enemies in a sealed room, I was magically transported to a hallway for the ensuing cutscene, with no indication as to how I got out of the room. Overall the game comes off as a nearly retarded child of Resident Evil and Mass Effect. Minus all the good parts of each.
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Post by Balto-Boy on May 1, 2010 12:56:23 GMT -5
I've heard Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy and Blood Will Tell are good, but I never played 'em myself. (I'm tryin to suggest stuff that's not so obvious or well-known) I've played Blood Will Tell before. Voice acting was a tad annoying and it got repetative after a while. But, the bloody masacre of a thousand fuedal demons was actually entertaining.
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Post by Psibat on May 1, 2010 13:00:10 GMT -5
Hmmm I got Psi Ops and apparently it doesn't work for vista D:. that's why it's free... Except I did something weird which I dunno how I did it, and now it works... Yay
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Post by Gront on May 1, 2010 13:07:12 GMT -5
I just got Psi Ops as well. No copy of it on the boxless wall, unfortunately, so I put out a full $20 for it (breaks my heart). The game is pretty friggin' sweet, though. Good recommendation, Grim!
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Post by Psibat on May 1, 2010 13:49:07 GMT -5
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Post by Ele Mantel on Aug 6, 2010 13:41:13 GMT -5
Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of the best games I have ever played.
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Post by Gront on Aug 17, 2010 15:10:54 GMT -5
Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of the best games I have ever played. I really do feel like it's underrated. Just because Raiden isn't at totally awesome as Snake doesn't mean the gameplay is any worse. But more on that later when I get around to beating MGS2. I was talking to Psibat today and he reminded me about a game I wanted to put up here but had forgotten to write up a review on after I finished. I was able to pick up the Penumbra collection at Best Buy for around $10 (I think it's going for $20 on Steam, which still isn't a terrible price). The Penumbra collection contains two games by indie studio Frictional Games, Overture (2007) and Black Plague (2008), as well as an expansion pack for Black Plague called Requiem (also 2008). They all use the same engine, but little differences justify me reviewing them all separately. Overture is a nice intro into the gameplay, as the physics-based puzzles are fairly unique, especially for a survival-horror game. What the game lacks in graphics and polish, it certainly makes up for in creative puzzles and overall creepiness. Honestly, I rarely get freaked out at games, but there were a few instances that legitimately had me spooked (and panic mode certainly doesn't help). The biggest downside to Overture is the incredibly broken combat. You can sit on top of a crate and bash the dog things' heads in. There's no tension, and only some minor timing challenges. If you ever play this game, I encourage you to try to play it without fighting anything. Which is actually why I liked Black Plague so much. They just ditched the combat entirely. You MUST run from enemies (except in one case, and even then, it's a scripted environmental kill). Having no defense against the enemies made the game a lot more fun for me, plus it felt to me like the puzzles got more fun going into the second game. Again, it lacks the polish of some bigger studio games, but it makes up for it in puzzle quality and atmosphere (even more so than the first one). Now, the box will attempt to avert spoilers by trying to tell you that the plot continues into Requiem. This is a lie. Requiem is pure puzzles. I say this only because once you accept this fact, you will have a lot more fun with the game. It's slightly creepy at certain parts, but mostly it's just about solving incredibly elaborate puzzles in level format. There's a very slight bit of plot on either end, but Black Plague wrapped things up pretty well, so you can just ignore that. As a survival-horror game, Requiem would be incredibly disappointing, but as a puzzle game, it's really fun. Anyways, I totally recommend the collection. You should get it. Next up in Grent's playlist will probably be darkSector. Which is selling for $3.49 on Gamestop.com. Holy crap.
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Post by Grimscott on Aug 17, 2010 15:32:44 GMT -5
Hm, Psibat made Penumbra sound scarier than you make it out to be. Next up in Grent's playlist will probably be darkSector. Which is selling for $3.49 on Gamestop.com. Holy crap. Hopefully that means there's no way you can regret the price, right? That would be kind of sad actually. . .
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Post by Psibat on Aug 17, 2010 15:43:51 GMT -5
Hm, Psibat made Penumbra sound scarier than you make it out to be. Next up in Grent's playlist will probably be darkSector. Which is selling for $3.49 on Gamestop.com. Holy crap. Hopefully that means there's no way you can regret the price, right? That would be kind of sad actually. . .He says he doesn't get spooked by games easily but there were parts that really scared him. Some games spook me out, therefore more parts spooked me D:
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Post by Gront on Sept 23, 2010 0:24:59 GMT -5
Next up in Grent's playlist will probably be darkSector. Which is selling for $3.49 on Gamestop.com. Holy crap. Haven't gotten around to beating this yet, but I did make an amazing find at GameStop last week. Beyond Good and Evil. For $5.99. On PS2. It's amazing. Seriously, almost everything about this game was done perfectly. The music is awesome, the puzzles are fun, the combat is fluid (though there was a startling lack of it), the stealth gameplay works astoundingly well with the puzzle gameplay, and, to top it off, the story is wonderful. My main complaint about this game is actually the length, which is ironic, because everything else had a wonderful sense of how long to take. During the tutorial boss fight at the beginning, just as I was beginning to become concerned about whether or not the fight was going to drag on forever, it was over. By the third boss I had simply stopped worrying about it. In addition to my complaint about the length, I'd also like to say that I thought the very end of the plot was a bit of a stretch; there was little foreshadowing of the final reveal, so it felt like it came out of left field. That, and the sequel hook is downright stupid. Personally, I'd like to see Beyond Good and Evil 2 turn out to be a prequel, because the backstory to the game feels largely unexplored. Regardless, it's a wonderful game that I think everyone should play. If you're lucky enough to find this at GameStop on the boxless wall, it's $5.99, but it's pretty rare. It's also going for $9.99 on Steam, but if you go this route, you'll want to buy/use a USB controller, because I don't know how well this would map to the keyboard. Also, check out this old ad site for the game. Nothing super cool, but it does give you a nice feel for the world.
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Post by McJesus on Sept 23, 2010 5:07:34 GMT -5
fun fact: i play like, 3 minutes of beyond good and evil a year ago it was pretty great
YOU SHOULD GET AMNESIA AND REVIEW THAT, YES
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Post by Gront on Nov 28, 2010 0:56:02 GMT -5
Alright, boys and girls. This next one actually made me sad when I saw how cheap it was. I found a copy of XIII for PS2 for a pathetic $1.99. Yes, it didn't do well enough to get its sequel greenlighted, but most critics loved it, and I haven't heard anyone who's played the game say anything but good things about it.
Originally based on a French comic book series, XIII starts with a (relatively hot considering the polygon count) lifeguard finding you nearly unconscious and amnesiac on the beach. Then, people start shooting at you. Within two levels, you're accused of assasinating the president, and it just gets deeper from there. XIII had a lot of things going for it. The plot, though deep and relatively complex, was told in a way that made it easy to follow. The graphics were all stylized to appear as though they were part of a comic book, and the graphic design team pulled this off exceptionally well; what could have felt gimmicky and annoying actually turned out to be a really awesome part of the gameplay experience. Also, the game had a pretty effective stealth engine that didn't make sneaking a pain in the ass. The multiplayer was good for the time, and the addition of bots with variable IQ levels made for some pretty interesting solo multiplayer games, too. Overall, I'd say this is a must-own for anyone with a PS2 or Xbox (or 360; it's reverse compatible!), especially for the rather embarrassing price of $2.
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Post by The Omnipresence on Nov 28, 2010 2:42:27 GMT -5
I had a demo of XIII, was pretty good stuff. I probably should of bought it waaay back then.
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charlie
Skin Making
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Posts: 758
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Post by charlie on Nov 28, 2010 3:11:04 GMT -5
i finally found a copy of soul nomad
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Post by DJGrandPa on Nov 28, 2010 9:47:02 GMT -5
I come from a semi-poor family, so most of my games are used ones... uhm, hurrah?
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Post by Metal Chao on Nov 28, 2010 10:05:50 GMT -5
Steam sales are pretty cheap I bough recettear and four other games together for £3.99
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Post by Gront on Nov 16, 2011 17:45:32 GMT -5
I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I posted in this thread. Damn.
Today's game is a gem from the original Xbox, but it unfortunately was not among the handful of games selected for the Xbox 360 reverse-compatibility initiative. What this means in a nutshell is that, unless you still have a working original Xbox, you're gonna have to pay a whopping $10 for this game, as opposed to the (approximately) $5 you'd spend getting the Xbox version, making Advent Rising the most expensive game I've recommended in this thread.
Advent Rising is a third-person shooter (technically it has a FPS mode but it sucks) set in a futuristic world where ALIENS HAVE COME TO KILL US ALL. Okay, so I've simplified the plot a bit to avoid spoilers, but this is not like every other futuristic alien shooter. For one, the screenplay was written by Orson Scott Card (author of the Ender's Game series), and the plot was actually the most praised part of the game. I think the plot is best experienced knowing little to nothing about it, though, so I'm not going to say much further on the subject other than it's very good.
The gameplay was also pretty solid, with a unique "flick targeting" system that allowed you to flick the control stick in the direction of the enemy you wanted to shoot at to target them. A lot of critics said this system was a bit wonky, but I honestly never had a problem with it, and you can adjust the sensitivity of the system in the options (at least, you can on the PC version). Easily one of the coolest things about this game is the fact that you can dual-wield any two weapons. ANY. Feel like taking out a room with double rocket launchers? Go for it! Prefer using the chaingun and a pistol that shoots explosive rounds? Totally cool! You even get special abilities later that you can use in place of one of your weapons, and some of these are downright ridiculous to dual wield. The sheer badassery of this concept is easily balanced by the fact that you are effectively taking on an entire army of aliens with little to no help from your fellow humans, who are not so much inept as they are just there for cinematic effect. Aside from that one part where three of them get rocket launchers and own everything. That was pretty sweet.
In a way, Advent Rising was almost like a really early prototype for Mass Effect. The game has (very basic) RPG elements to it, and a few key decisions that were supposed to transfer over to the sequels, which sadly did not come to fruition. Combine that with a sci-fi universe and a plot that revolves around saving the human race from extinction and it's starting to sound rather familiar, isn't it?
At the time, the graphics for this game were drop-dead amazing. Granted, this was six years ago now, so they look a little polygon-y, but I don't think that they detract at all form the experience. In fact, many of the visual effects (i.e. rippling and other tricks that don't involve models) are still just as good today as they were when the game first released, aside from the fact that they're being used on what are now slightly dated graphics.
The downsides to this game are that it will probably freeze or crash on you once or twice during the course of the game. There were also many complaints of lag from critics, though I don't actually remember any on the Xbox, and they reportedly fixed many of the problems on the PC version. Still, I managed to deal with the freezing (the game autosaves at checkpoints) and what lag there may have been obviously was not enough to distract me, since I don't even remember it.
Ultimately, I'd say get the game, even for the $10 Steam edition. Personally, I prefer it with a controller, but I think that's just because that's how I learned it; the PC controls sounded pretty solid in theory.
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