Video game thread

[SD]

I'm just trying to beat it on normal. And dio is spot on in his assessment. I was originally going to save Connors Mom but I couldn't do the circle of magi's part until later so I just killed the bitch instead.

[Zanshin]

Got Halo: Reach today. I like it. I haven't tried the campaign yet, but I did hop online for a few games, and it's solid. Everything that was good about the last one is back, and there are some nice enhancements. Think Halo meets Modern Warfare, in a lot of ways. There's a ton of variety on the multiplayer, and some of the action feels pretty intense. I'm having a little trouble with the new button layout, but I figure that'll take a couple of games to get used to. Very polished offering, and worth the $40 I plunked down for it. I'll get a lot of use out of it, I'm sure.

[joneszilla]

Played NHL 11 alot this weekend.  Great game.  The depth of the GM mode is just amazing.  Haven't played an NHL game in a bit so it took me a little while to get used to all the controls(every single button, trigger, bumper, joystick is utilized on a consistent basis).  Extremely realistic and fun game.  I was either going to buy Madden or NHL, I think I made the right choice. 

[Zanshin]

I've been toying with picking NHL 11 up, but I don't really get into the franchise mode on that game... and use it more to play friends online. I have NHL 10, which was great and I still play that. I can't decide if 11 is different or improved enough to pick it up. I still think 10 is awesome.

On another note, ever since EA patched the game, Madden has been pissing me off on a regular basis with what I consider to be bullshtein. It's like they made the gameplay almost cartoonish in an effort to get newbies into it. Really unhappy about that.

Halo: Reach, on the other hand, has been great. I've been playing that quite a bit online and I really enjoy it. Very polished and solid.

[joneszilla]

EA put out a patch that actually affected the gameplay?  I downloaded a patch for NHL 11 yesterday, i assumed it was just a roster fix or something.  Maybe I should find out what the patches are before I DL them.

Halo: Reach is definitley on my radar.  The last Halo I played was Halo 2 and I had a good time playing that online.  I read some reviews on the game and the new jet packs and armor look like they could drastically change how people play online.   What's your strategy when you are playing online?  Any new weapons or armor more powerful or effective than the rest?

[Zanshin]

The roster updates are called roster updates, so you'll know what they are when you see them. When it says "An update for this game is available" or something similar, it's a patch. And this past one definitely affected gameplay, primarily in QB accuracy and QB fumbles.

If you liked Halo 2, you'll love this one. Halo 3 was great, too...and this essentially improves and expands what they did there. I like the weapon load-outs. There's a real variety of ways to play online, and not every match has the armor options. But when I play matches that do have that I like to go with the active camo option. Then I try to find either a distance weapon or a shotgun and pick people off. Each of the armor options is a temporary, rechargable effect, though. Not like you can fly or go invisible all game....just spurts, which is good. A lot of people like the jet packs, I've noticed. Really, the "best" one depends on the map and your style of play.

[Zanshin]

Jones, what's your gamertag?

[joneszilla]

My old Xbox tag got erased or something.  I just PM'ed you my new gamertag. I haven't played anything online yet, but I will pick up Reach by this weekend.

[mussa]

Explain more about this Madden stuff Zanshin. I was really close to buying it this weekend...I want to pick up Reach, but the Medal of Honor and Black Ops games look pretty badass. I'd rather be using modern weapons than outer space alien shtein....

[Zanshin]

Mussa-- I see Halo as a totally different sort of game than the others. I like the imaginative aspect of the weapons...it's not a sim like Modern Warfare. I feel like I get enough of that in real life on the news, etc. More importantly, those sim games give me a blazing headache after I play a few rounds. No idea why. Halo doesn't for some reason.

As far as Madden goes, I thought 11 was an improvement over 10 when it came out. Then came the patch. I noticed that guys were breaking more tackles than ever, that the QB was fumbling the ball an inordinate number of times (especially under pressure), and that the QB would spray the ball all over the field. Even the worst QB in the league wouldn't miss a wide open receiver by 20 yards  in real life, but I was seeing that all of the time.

I honestly thing they're afraid that their audience is aging and isn't being replaced, so I really believe they're trying to simplify the game to let people feel that it's more easily accessible. That's great for them...but if you've been playing for a long time, it takes the skill out of the game. First they took away the user d-line moves, now they've even taken away the ability to move the arrow on the onside kick. So, it becomes sheer luck. If I don't feel like I can personally impact the outcome of the game, it just seems like a complete waste of time. Over the last couple of weeks, I heven't even enjoyed winning because so many times during the game I end up saying "wow, that's such bullshtein"...either for me or against me. I really hope they adjust this in the next patch.

[MURP]

The game used to have game sliders built in to allow you to adjust things like how often fumbles happen etc.   They used to post the optimal slider numbers for the most realistic game on Madden forums.  Does  that option still exist in the game ?

[Zanshin]

It still exists...but it's the default when you play online, which is what I mostly do.

[mussa]

Seems like they have been catering to newbies ever since the new generation systems came out. They have def gotten better, but last 2 years I opted to skip it becuase its just not fun anymore unless your playing someone and I'd rather play franchise mode 80% of the time and they ruined that mode. I guess I'll be skipping 11.

[Zanshin]

From what I understand, Franchise mode is their focus for the coming year. This year, it's largely unchanged. If you're in it for the Franchise mode, I'd hold off.

[SD]

First 10 minutes of Bioshock Infinite. Might be better than the first one.