[Lorric]

Just finished C&C 3: Kane's Wrath last night. PEACE! THROUGH! POWER! 

Trying to decide what to play next. Considering Blackwolf's Frontlines mod. Alternately the Dune series of RTS games.

Obviously I'd love you to play Frontlines, since I'd love you to review it, but also I think you should play Frontlines because it is a fairly short campaign. You'd get through it quickly, and then you wouldn't have to choose, you could do both, while the Dune games will take a very long time.

Oh, I think I might have posted it before sometime, but did you ever see this?

 :wakka:

That is pure, unrefined hilarity.

I like the look of Frontlines; I think I'll start it over the weekend. Which reminds me, sooner or later I gotta finish that Shadow Genesis review. My writing time keeps getting stolen by less important thinks like 10-page essays on Hektor and Achilles or lengthy pointless ramblings on historical characters I want to call idiots but can't without ticking off the history prof.

 :)

I'm also looking forward to that Shadow Genesis review.

Some Grade A propaganda for North Korea there with that video. The US. The Evil Empire. :D

[Klaustrophobia]

all i can ever think about when i see that phrase is rage against the machine.

[VPR]

I've been playing the Elite Dangerous Beta since a few weeks ago from Beta 1. It's been fairly frustrating due to all the issues but that's what you get from buying into a Beta but so far it's been good fun despite the issues. Personally at the moment I think it's going capture the spirit well and if they can sort the server issues that have plagued Beta 2 so far it should be a blast to play. Beta 3 is out by the end of the month and it'll be exciting for me to see the next batch of new features.

Isinona has been putting up some good videos of the beta so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVx6cBTEu3o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZBKC56vhUo

[ssmit132]

I finished Ace Combat 5: Squadron Leader (The Unsung War to American players) today. Got a bit frustrated on a few missions but the ending was worth it.

I swear, most of my deaths were running into something, either a large plane or the ground. It's very strict compared to Assault Horizon Legacy - 5 makes any contact, regardless of how lightly you touch it, an insta-kill, whereas AHL will only cause damage if you hit something at a glancing angle (smashing face-first into something will kill you, of course). I think some of it was also caused by the fact that you have to aim better with your gun; AHL, with it's simplified flight model, was a bit less strict regarding accuracy.

Then again, on some occasions in 04 I scraped along the ground without taking any damage sometimes - I don't know whether that was because I was playing on easy or what.

Spoiler:

The second-last mission where the Osean and Yuktobanian forces all came to fight by your side after hearing the two heads-of-state make their speech, singing The Journey Home... I couldn't help but feel a warm, fuzzy feeling when that happened. Then that last mission with the SOLG... it was awe-inspiring to see that huge satellite just floating along, even though it was on its way to annihilate Oured. Though it was frustrating when my wingmen shot insta-kill debris right into my face... meaning I had another five minute wait to get another chance.

Oh yeah, and Chopper's death...

Moving on to Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War now.

[InsaneBaron]

I finished Ace Combat 5: Squadron Leader (The Unsung War to American players) today. Got a bit frustrated on a few missions but the ending was worth it.

I swear, most of my deaths were running into something, either a large plane or the ground. It's very strict compared to Assault Horizon Legacy - 5 makes any contact, regardless of how lightly you touch it, an insta-kill, whereas AHL will only cause damage if you hit something at a glancing angle (smashing face-first into something will kill you, of course). I think some of it was also caused by the fact that you have to aim better with your gun; AHL, with it's simplified flight model, was a bit less strict regarding accuracy.

Then again, on some occasions in 04 I scraped along the ground without taking any damage sometimes - I don't know whether that was because I was playing on easy or what.

Spoiler:

The second-last mission where the Osean and Yuktobanian forces all came to fight by your side after hearing the two heads-of-state make their speech, singing The Journey Home... I couldn't help but feel a warm, fuzzy feeling when that happened. Then that last mission with the SOLG... it was awe-inspiring to see that huge satellite just floating along, even though it was on its way to annihilate Oured. Though it was frustrating when my wingmen shot insta-kill debris right into my face... meaning I had another five minute wait to get another chance.

Oh yeah, and Chopper's death...

Moving on to Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War now.

Ace Combat for the win! 

I always preferred the classic AC games (4, 5, 0, and IMO 6) to Assault Horizon; both for the plotlines (AH was basically Call of Duty with planes) and the gameplay (simple, intuitive and fun- compared to AH's cross between rail-shooting and whakamole where the CPU did most of the work).

On my end I discovered a cool mod for Tiberium Wars called The Forgotten. Basically it upgrades the Forgotten to a full-fledged playable faction complete with their own campaign. I'm on the second mission and I like it so far. Gameplay is fairly difficult but not overwhelmingly so; as a faction they reward patience and combined-arms tactics. Regarding the plot, they actually made live-action FMV cutscenes (mainly your boss talking in from of greenscreened background, but the fact that they even made them is impressive); the plot's been minimalistic but appealing so far. I've encounters a few bugs, but they've been limited to cosmetic UI issues that the dev team acknowledged but couldn't fix due to engine limitations. Pretty good overall.
http://theforgotten.cnclabs.com/

Also planning to start Frontlines tonight.

[FireSpawn]

Just realised that I have yet to install FS2 on my PC. I'm going to have to get on that soon, so that I can play my favourite mods as they should have been played. in more than 15 fps and with ALL THE SHINY MODELZ!

[CP5670]

I'm playing/replaying all the Crysis games with a new video card (980) and texture packs. The first game is still excellent and I like how it feels like a real PC FPS and not a console port, although that's apparently not the case with 2 and 3.

I've also been playing PortableRA with my Future Wars mod, and updating a few of my old maps for it. It adds many great features and fixes the instability in the original game.

On my end I discovered a cool mod for Tiberium Wars called The Forgotten. Basically it upgrades the Forgotten to a full-fledged playable faction complete with their own campaign. I'm on the second mission and I like it so far. Gameplay is fairly difficult but not overwhelmingly so; as a faction they reward patience and combined-arms tactics. Regarding the plot, they actually made live-action FMV cutscenes (mainly your boss talking in from of greenscreened background, but the fact that they even made them is impressive); the plot's been minimalistic but appealing so far. I've encounters a few bugs, but they've been limited to cosmetic UI issues that the dev team acknowledged but couldn't fix due to engine limitations. Pretty good overall.

I checked this out a few years ago. It's very polished and has obviously had a lot of effort put into it, but I recall that the difficulty became absurd after a while. I got stuck at the fourth or fifth mission and just gave up eventually, which I rarely do. It doesn't help that the Forgotten side is inferior to the others in almost every way.

[InsaneBaron]

I checked this out a few years ago. It's very polished and has obviously had a lot of effort put into it, but I recall that the difficulty became absurd after a while. I got stuck at the fourth or fifth mission and just gave up eventually, which I rarely do. It doesn't help that the Forgotten side is inferior to the others in almost every way.

Interesting, I wonder if I'll hit that difficulty wall as well. So far I've never found a C&C mission that couldn't be beaten with patience and a little save scumming. But the Forgotten are pretty underwhelming in the early game (deliberately so); Hordes, Disc Throwers, Jeeps and Ticktanks are weaker than their counterparts, and for the life of me I can't tell what those Fissure Tanks are for. Marauders are pretty good though (I had three squads of em wipe out a huge force of Zone Troopers), and the War Campers are okay, so I'm hoping they get some better stuff. I'm on mission three now, and I've finally got some air power.

But hey, I like a challenge! 

[ssmit132]

And now, Ace Combat Zero is done too. I'm a bit surprised how quickly that took, then again it's not like it had quite the mission count that Squadron Leader/The Unsung War had.

Spoiler:

Gah, mission 17 was annoying - I found it a bit hard to get through that valley while avoiding those SAMs. Also had a bit of trouble with downing Pixy in the last mission - he didn't shoot me down, but it took me a while to whittle him down to the point where he launched the V2, and then I struggled a little bit with hitting him from head on. I'm glad Easy difficulty gives you more time to do it - I probably didn't need it but still.

I finished my first playthrough as a Knight. I'll probably try Mercenary next before having a go at getting the balance right for Soldier.

Also, I really like how they included an area for getting information on all the named aces you go up against (plus those interviews). Though it kinda makes me feel like a jerk at times seeing as not all the guys I shot down survived. I know shooting down everyone is par for the course in Ace Combat but still... I felt bad too when I shot down and killed both Yellow 4 and 13 in Distant Thunder/Shattered Skies...

I'm probably going to focus on unlocking extra planes in the three games over time - since I'll cut down on how much I play it, it'll probably take a while to do it but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

How about the PS1 games? I know the American version of Electrosphere is butchered, but are the other PS1 games worth a look?

As I don't have an Xbox 360, I won't be able to play Ace Combat 6... but maybe one day I will. I'd just have to determine whether there are any other games on the system I'd want to try as I wouldn't want to get the console for just one game (plus I'm considering a PS3 sometime as well). Out of interest, though, is the DLC still available for 6? I've read that the whole lot is extremely expensive but I wouldn't mind picking up an IDOLMASTER plane or two if and when I get 6.

[Black_Yoshi1230]

Trying out Another Metroid 2 Remake v1.34 demo. Holy carp those Gammas and their sidestepping.

Also, Metal Gear Solid 4. I'm thoroughly ashamed I got caught stepping into a dumpster, getting my only kill for that one chapter (shooting a guy in the face playing pop-up), only to get promptly ignored as there's a fight down the street. Hooray for armor/heli kills not being added to the kill board.

[SypheDMar]

Phoenix HD on my iPad. It's a high quality vertical SHMUP. Good for killing time.

[Myraseth]

I've been drugged up in Freespace 2 and TF2 mostly. I turn to old Final Fantasy games every once in a while, and the occasional Dark Souls 2. But Freespace is just... my childhood come back. So good.

[Klaustrophobia]

Completed A Link Between Worlds.  Next up is either the original Zelda or Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon.

[Jeff Vader]

asscreed bro

[Klaustrophobia]

that sounds like a terrible game.

[Jeff Vader]

Well it could be better. I got it from Steam, but since it's a Ubisoft game, launching it from Steam launches Uplay. And UAC is concerned about Uplay and asks me every time if I'm really sure I want to run it. In most cases I'm not at all sure I want to run Uplay, but I do want to play the game so I end up running it.

[Klaustrophobia]

I was trying to make a joke about "Ass"creed.  I'm not sure which one you are talking about, but I got the first one from GOG and it has no uplay bull****.  Uplay can go **** itself.  In the asscreed.

[Jeff Vader]

I got the joke. And like I said, asscreed bro. That is, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The uh, third asscreed game, and the second Ezio game.

Also I agree that Uplay should drown in a lake of fire. If they can then build a proper, working digital distribution platform, fine. I'll give them a chance.

[Flipside]

Bought Startopia from Steam for a few quid, used to love this game years ago

[Scotty]

In my head I'm playing TIE Fighter until I get home from work and can play it for real.