After finishing Rage I felt like continuing my dystopian-mad-max lifestyle so I decided to play Borderlands 1. After hearing about this game for years I was surprised at how "janky" it felt. The game feels "old" right off the bat. You have jank enemies and rabid dogs which are both bullet sponges. Enemies dont react when shot in the face or legs. Considering that the game was released in 2009 versus Rage which is 2011 alot could have improved so I may have played the games in the wrong order.
I started out aiming to play the most recent version of every game series but this game was packaged in a multi-pack with BioShock + Xcom: EU so it was hard to resist combo deal. I probably should have started with BL2(2012) instead but it is too late now. Unless I sell the multi-pack?
The game play
The game is full of stats and random bloat everywhere and NPCs talking over each other if you move around while they are talking. I imagine that this was how it was in the old days before modern games started to lock you into one place whenever you interact with a NPC. The UI for the game is like an old DOS GUI from 1990 - too many lists and sub categories for things that could be icons. There is no obvious way to put the game on easy so I guess I will have to play through this as it is. It starts out with the basic fetch quests in an uninteresting cell shaded wasteland with lots of little collectible chests with $10 or 5$ inside. Total busy work even worse than the bottles in Rage. At least in the case of Rage they were sprinkled lightly around the level instead of in every corner or pile of shit.
I realized early on that there were limits on everything; limits on grenades, weapons you could carry, bullets. Everything is tied to your level progression. I was getting mobile game vibes. Combined with the lack of stopping power from the guns, random drops of slightly better guns, enemies that get harder as you level up. I was getting bad vibes from this game. Returning to the same person after every quest just to get another pointless collect-a-thon in the same place is likely to get boring really fast plus I had to deal with the annoying dogs. Then the dogs started jumping, spitting goo, and creating radial explosions.
I also notice that there is something off about the in game map or how it corresponds to the level layout - its weird and doesn't flow well.
So I played for a couple hours and have come to conclusion that this game is looter shooter-grind fest. The quests are boring and everything is tied to the leveling system. The enemies are always a level or 2 higher than you are and I end up looking for tactics to cheese them instead of approaching them head on. I used the soldier class and even then I found that I had to be very careful when approaching encampments, sniping the first couple enemies then throwing grenades (which are also limited to your level), then camping as the dogs bomb rush me. There is no way to surprise enemies, they magically detect you as soon as you are close.
No way to avoid enemies as the map layout forces you down a narrow path. Frequent stops are further hampered by the clunky interface for collecting loot - because its clunky its very hard to collect the fetch quest items while enemies are in the area. You can accept multiple quests but the questing system is set up in such as way that some items do not appear if you are not on that assigned quest - so you end up visiting an area multiple times, switching from quest screen to map screen, back and forth. I may have mentioned that the map screen is kinda weird. The map is like a representation of the game world but not exactly so causing confusion.
The real kicker for me was when I got a gun that I could not use because its level was higher than my current level. At that point I was done. Not only were you limited in how much you can carry but also which perks you could use and at which point in time. The game is a carefully crafted "waste of time" progression system where you collect random trinkets for NPCs that never move from their assigned location. It is a ancient game loop, this game might have been the original sin. who knows.
Conclusion
I am going to put this game on the back burner. 5/10. Ain't got not time to waste grinding levels for minute rewards and boring enemy Ai. Skip this game, try Borderlands 2 instead.
The game definitely feels slow. Even though it starts out with a top level car then instantly drops you down to the slowest car in the game. I do like the world tour vibe. Despite the fact that the Essentials edition has less content than the full 2 disc version of F4, I am not really concerned since I am just here for a taste (also why I am play the game on easy).
The graphics are excellent. There is this overblown sheen on the track when you are facing the sun that could be reduced but besides that the game looks good. The game is very friction-less. Much less friction than Gran Turismo 4. I basically set the game difficulty on easy and drove from location to location doing races then collecting cars. There are no real menu choices or dealer locations. So far I spent 1.5 hrs driving and 40 minutes in the menus and I am only 0.9% into the game.
I like the mountain track and the easy mode makes it really easy to drive with steering and auto braking assists. I once adjusted the difficulty and the handling was much harder; so hard I could not even navigate the first corner. So easy mode really lets you focus on the driving and looking at the pretty graphics.
The speed of the game does pick up as you upgrade your car to S class. And the upgrades are also easy, just drive until the game tells you that you are no longer competitive and you should do an upgrade. Then select "quick upgrade" and your car is instantly faster. I have more credits that I have used for and more cars than I need.
So far it's definitely a 9 out 10 game. If you want all the DLC make sure you buy the full Forza game and not the "essentials" edition. I am not sure how much longer I am going to play the game because I can feel myself really getting sucked into it since there is so little downtime. You are basically going from race to race with 1 or 2 choices between. So far it's fun. Make sure you play on easy.
Annoyances
The audio level for the announcer is very low and there is no way to adjust it in comparison to the car SFX so I have to turn up the volume between races. On easy mode there are no failure states, you cannot lose. Even if you end the race in last play you can still select continue, get your points and continue. I really do not mind but still.
Conclusion
After about 8 hours my completion percentage was about 2% so I looked up the time to beat the game. The website how long to beat reports it to be 40 hours of playtime for the main story! Well I have had enough of that. I think I have seen all the major locations in the game and acquired about about 30 or so cars. Its a fun game, but I cannot continue playing it - for me it is a bit grindy but if you love driving over the 27 locations then there is lots of driving waiting for you. 9/10 lots of driving, shiny roads. no license tests, no car shops, auto car upgrades, really stream lined, you are basically just given everything.
Andrew had still hard 4 games from his xbox360 - he plays games on PC now - so I borrowed them to test out. The games were not on my radar but popular none the less. Here are my first impressions.
Dark Souls
Released in 2011. This game is has bad frame rate, I mean really bad frame rate. The worse I have seen on the xbox so far. The game is creepy and you die very easily. No difficulty mode so I guess everyone is playing at the same level. The controls were simple enough but are very left-brain right brain compounded by being sluggish. Maybe I should not have chosen a battleaxe person. Right at the start regular enemies were killing me within seconds. I beat the first boss after getting confused and lost walking around the dungeon Saved and quit. I am going to test out Dark souls 2 to see if it has better frame rate and start segment. I am glad I did not buy this game.
Lost Odyssey
Considering that it was released in 2008 this is probably the oldest game I have played so far. The game feels like final fantasy 8 from the ps1 with its "cartoony trying to be realistic" art style. I did not like FF8. The game is spread across 4 disks probably because of all the FMVs I dont think I will be playing this for long.
Dark Souls 2
DS2 released in 2014 is much better right off the bat. The framerate is better, the tutorial is better. The controls are the same but they feel better. I have yet to see the first big boss but the game is better overall. I installed it right away. I definitely would recommend this over the first game simply based on the first 30 minutes of game play. I played a bit more so that I could find the first boss and 3 hours later and I say that this game is unforgiving - lovely but terribly unforgiving. You will walk into a room and get ambushed by arrows or go the wrong way and fall to your death. I probably died 5o times trying to kill this boss. Its annoying and fun. In a self torture kinda way.
Reckoning
Currently on sale for 2$ online so this should be fun.
Conclusion
You will be surprised how many people have games gathering dust in their homes.
I did play the game for 2 hours until my xbox 360E turned itself off (I think I have a bad power supply) but I did enjoy the gameplay. I played on easy following my pre-established play strategy. The shooting felt good but the aim speed was very quick which luckily is adjustable in the settings. The mega textures are definitely stylized-impressive though they are probably suited for rocks more than anything else. As I went further into the game they do mix up the environments and the game does come into its own.
The game is a classic fetch quest looter shooter. The enemies are not bullet sponges at least while I played it on easy. They react when shot and hop around the level effortlessly. I installed disc one and will play it some more to see if the environment changes at all (which it does). The story seems very thin so I don't expect this to be a long game. It's one of those games where you can save anywhere and you should because you never know when an enemy will run up on you and hack you to death.
I enjoyed the game even more when I got the dune buggy allowing me to drive around and blow up other cars in classic Mad Max style. It turns into a mini racing game of sorts, really loose and chaotic but fun nonetheless. It is around this time I realized that the Xbox360 does not save the current time in its bios. if you unplug it time resets to 2005 - tsk tsk tsk.
Hardware aside and the fact that the save games are stored in newest first order causing the wrong save to load from the continue screen (based on how long to played in the last sitting) when I click continue. I do enjoy the game and its world. Five hours into the game I am wondering if I should put it down or continue to the estimated 11 hour end point.
Playing the game on easy was definitely a good move as I approached the harder enemies towards the end of the game. They get really tough as the game progresses. I am still on disc one, it will be interesting to see how the disc 2 "cut over" happens. Every time I pick up the game I make progress and I see something new - which is how games should be.
I am itching to go back to Hitman:AB but don't want to lose the muscle memory I built up for the controls in this game.
Conclusion
Finally finished Rage after 17 hours. The game ended a bit abruptly but its was good fun, simple clean shooter without adding too much on the tail end to pad out the length. 8 out of 10. Lovely graphics, simple game. AB shooter, play it on easy but you can change the difficulty at any time. I did not complete everything or use every gun but the game does not really force you to do everything which is good. Sound scape is nice as well. Would recommend to shooter fans. Better than halo 4.
So initially I have bought 21 games that I am interested in. All the games will be my first time playing them. I do research them before purchase to ensure that they are worth my time. I posted the list of games in the original I bought a xbox 360 article. I chose a mix of open world RPGs, shooters, and third person games in the mix. So far there is Forza 4 which is the only racing game. I picked up Rage because I was interested in seeing mega textures in action. I am interested in the 720p glory days so if the game is popular and relatively cheap I will try to get it.
How I am going to play all these games?
Back when I was younger I had lots of free time and no money so I could only play 1 or 2 games a year, If I got a game I would play it until I am sick of it, digging into every corner and every difficulty. Looking for every secret - trying to squeeze every drop of content I could. Now that I am older and I have 21 games but not enough free time so I am going to play them all on easy. There is no point in even playing on normal or going for achievements. This way I get to experience them quickly without wasting time.
Long role playing games like Skyrim I will play doing the main quests only. No point in doing side quests unless they seem interesting. Addictive games like GTA5 I will leave for last or play in bursts. Some games like Hitman:AB which are shorter but more content dense will be reserved for those times when I want more quality gameplay over quantity.
Keeping Focus
The plan is the start and complete games in order. AssCreed2+Forza4 will be the first 2. Then Hitman:Absolution. I will try to complete a game before I move on to the next because some of these games have very complicated controls which require practice to get right. And I fear if I jump around too much I will lose or forget the controls. Forza 4 is a game I can play in parallel with other games because the controls are simple and the game play loop is tight; pick a car, drive to the end of the track, collect points, done.
Bad games
If I pick up a bad game I will write a review and drop it instantly. There is no point in playing a game to completion if I do not enjoy the game loop. This is not a completion-ist adventure. Some of the games I chose might be a waste of time boosted by fanboy reviews but I will only know this once I pick up the game. I have played many games over the years and there is nothing I hate more than the feeling that a game is wasting my time. I do not play mobile games for this very reason.
Achievements
I am not going to be hunting for xbox achievements. There is no real point to them unless I really like a game and have free time to dick around - which I don't. As I mentioned before I will be playing the games on easy so I might miss some of the content and struggle that is handed out on higher difficulties. I have no FOMO because these are all old games and I have no deadline to meet.
One thing that is annoying is how the achievement pops up at key moments during the game play breaking immersion. Sometimes they overlap in game tasks and you cannot even get to read the text to identify what you achieved. Maybe this is just an xbox thing. I turned the notifications off right away.
Conclusion
This is pretty much the strategy I will take. Since the xbox360 games allow me to play offline I am in no rush to get through them. All these games might take me 5 years to complete. I even have another batch of games on the way to complete my small collection. Buying all these games at once is a move to secure myself against inflation, thermo-nuclear-apocalypse or red-ring of death. Which ever comes first.
The orange box
I did not buy the orange box because it was $40 but instead bought portal 2. I did not see the point in buying OB when I could buy 3 other games for the same price. Even if the OB is as good as they say it will only be one experience.
