Video game thread

[Drunkmasterflex]

Moye and Royster are beasts in this version. 

[Munson]

Anyone here nerdy enough to follow Comic-Con?

I've been paying more attention than usual just for the Gear 3 news. They're letting the fans decide what happens to the newest Carmine, if he dies or not. But if anyone follows the game, the newest carmine looks like a beast compared to his brothers.

[phattymatty]

i always liked it more Matty, plus you can get the real roster names.  Go to FairdaleKings lockerroom and you can download his roster list
http://www.cockytalk.com/showthread.php?p=2350823

its pretty easy

sweet, i bought this yesterday and i already like it better than madden. not sure what exactly it is, but it just feels smoother to me. started a season with psu and royster is a beast.  newsome is 3rd in the country in hiesman voting. thanks for that link, way cooler with all of the real names.

[Zanshin]

Anyone else play the Madden 11 demo yet? I gave it a shot, and it's different. Seems easier in some ways which will bring in some new players, and piss off a lot of the die hard Madden guys. I'm not sure what to make of it yet, but I'll definitely pick it up. The physics seem much better, and Gus Johnson is about a billion times better than Tom Hammond on the play by play. Then again, crickets would have been about a billion times better than Tom Hammond.

[Zanshin]

Since the post on the Madden demo was such a hit, I figured I'd follow it up with some thoughts about the full game now that I've had a chance to get a couple of games in. A couple of high notes:

The good:
-The game feels more like real football. The developers obviously went out of their way to change some of the core code for the gameplay, and, so far, the changes are mostly good.

-The "Strategy Pad" isn't a big deal. The hardcore Madden guys were really whining about this, but the reality is that it's nice to have all of your adjustments accessible in one place. It's an adjustment, but one I think I'll try before switching back to the old system once they patch it in (because of the whining).

-"GameFlow" works. I really thought I was going to hate this feature, but I don't at all. You set up a gameplan and GameFlow gives you a play...if you don't like it, you can audible. Speeds the game up tremendously. Games went from an hour to 30 minutes or so without feeling like you lost anything.

-No more stupid animations. Also speeds up the game. You don't need to worry about the did he/didn't he charade for first downs and touchdowns.

-Players play smarter. Both receivers and DBs play the ball. The WR won't stand still while the DB jumps the route.

-Running feels more natural: Because of the new blocking system (which works better) and the new right stick control, it feels better running the ball. You have more control over the runner.

-The sound is much better. The commentary is light years better than last year (but not perfect), but the stadium sounds are on the money. Sounds like a real game.

The bad:

-They didn't touch franchise mode. Franchise mode is still a shell of what it was on the PS2, which is ridiculous. This year they focused on the gameplay, but I still think they could have had a team working to improve some of the bells and whistles. That they didn't is a disappointment. From what I understand, this will be a focus of the next iteration...but I hate looking forward to next year's offering when this one is fresh. If they'd enhanced this, I'd be much happier with the game.

-Sponsorship integration sucks. Hey, I just paid a bunch of money for the game...it annoys me that they're trying to rape me with ads. There's an "Old Spice Swagger" attribute, and I don't even know what the hell it is. Even the achievements have sponsors. Too much.

-Nickle and diming me also sucks. People can buy boosts (read: cheats) that they can use online. farging hate that. Takes away the even playing field for people that don't want to shell out more money. Awful practice, but it won't affect me all that much because I generally only play people I know these days. Still, I find it distasteful.

-People will be back to abusing Vick online. Vick can't throw for shtein...but he can run like hell in this game. He'll be really annoying to play against. Also, while we're on the subject of Eagles QBs, Kolb is rated too low, particularly his accuracy. He and Vick have essentially the same overall rating, but Vick has the physical tools that will entice people to choose him over Kolb, I think. I think Kolb needs a bit of a boost.

Overall:
- I like it, and it's an improvement over previous versions. I'd be closer to loving it if the made substantive changes to the Franchise mode.

[SD]

I just got Dragon Age Origins for PS3.  Any pointers?  Don't create a Dwarven Rogue?

So how do you like this so far? I'm thinking of picking it up used. I tried playing Fallout 3 but I can't get into it. Found some guy on craigslist that has Assassins Creed 2 for the 360 for $15.

[SunMo]

i tried the gameflow on the demo, and while it was cool having a play picked out for you, the coach talking was really annoying.  especially when the scripts started repeating in the first quarter.

[Zanshin]

The voice is gone when you play online.

[Diomedes]

So how do you like this so far? I'm thinking of picking it up used. I tried playing Fallout 3 but I can't get into it. Found some guy on craigslist that has Assassins Creed 2 for the 360 for $15.

I like it better than any other RPG I've played in quite a while, which is to say Oblivion and Fallout3.  Both solid games, but I tired of each after about the same amount of time dumped into them, and it's only a matter of time before I admit I'm not going back to them, and sell them.

The story and characters of Dragon Age are far more interesting than either of those games, and the voice acting is pretty good.  I don't mind the frequent cut scenes and diologue scenes as a result.  The combat is too fast for me.  I prefer turn based strategy games above all others, but there are precious few of those.  This game has a combat scheme that allows you to dictate a series of tactical actions for each party member to execute depending on the situation.  At first, I ignored it, but I ahve been getting more into it lately, and the fine tuning I've done has made combat more intelligible and fun. 

Interface with inventory, characters, leveling up, etc. is pretty good, but as with all these massive modern day games with all of their millions of features, there's a lot to manage. 

I may actually finish this game.  If you don't hate the dungeons and dragons, elves and dwarves, mages and assissins schtick, you might like it too.

[SD]

Gracious
Based off that I'll give it a try, I just don't want to get stuck in a Fallout 3 type of game again. (I should have went with Oblivion instead)

[SD]

New Bioschock trailer. I think this is a prequel and takes place pre-rapture, meaning no more underwater.

[Zanshin]

Nice. Great series.

[MURP]

is this one taking place above ground ?

[SD]

From the trailer and early rumors it looks that way.

[SunMo]

so I got Madden over the weekend and played it a decent amount.

i like the gameflow system once i set my plays.  except it seems the computer gets stuck in a rut of calling the same type of plays in a single game.  for example, one of my games it called a ton of screen passes.   then another game was heavy on the run and there weren't any screens.  of course i can always audible, but I wish it was a little more diverse in calling plays.

i like the flow of the game a little bit better than NCAA, but the blocking in NCAA is much better.  the intelligent blocking design works so much better in NCAA, i'm not sure why it's different in Madden.