What have you been playing lately?

[Yadam Siegfried]

-Flatout: Got it for $3 the other day... quirky and sometimes frustrating, but fun.
-Toca 3: Even with a gamepad this game is pretty tough.
-Guitar Hero: I am working on beating the game on hard.

 

[Archon]

Update: I just bought in to the 360 and HDTV lifestyle and am now officially a Chromehounds addict. I feel a need to start a squad and go to war.

 

[GunShy]

http://www.swordofthestars.com/

I've been playing the demo for a great little turn based strategy gamed called "Sword of the Stars." It has real-time battle resolution, which feels a little over simplified, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I highly recommend checking out the demo if you get a chance, it's hosted on fileplanet. You can play as 2 of the 4 races on 1 of the 8 kinds of maps with up to 40 stars. Has LAN and internet multiplayer as well.

 

[Demiurge [deprecated]]

Bob help me, I'm back on the WoW. Was playing Titan Quest, but the newest patch likes to taunt my PC relentlessly.

Last night I taught my roommates how to play Munchkin. Not a video game, but there ya go.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Munchkin. Not a video game, but there ya go.

But still awesome. I had a chance to interview Steve Jackson last week. That interview should appear in The Escapist and Escape Radio shortly. He's still around and still making games. In fact, these days he's turning his eye towards computer games ...

 

[Goofonian]

I picked up psychonauts on the advice of ol fletcher.

My first impression is that it is a pretty standard platformer and I can't see why everyone is raving about it so much. But I'm only an hour or two in and I do love a good platformer so I'll stick with it and hopefully I'll see why everyone loves it so much soon.

Also picked up ICO and shadow of the colossus which I will get into soon and trying trying trying to beat guitar hero on hard, ALMOST THERE!! Has anyone even come close to completing that game on expert? I would love to see someone do that!!

 

[jlaakso]

Oblivion on the 360. Although I suck at it. I can't go near an Oblivion Gate, the flame atronachs outrun and outkill me in no time at all. I'm currently in the painter mission and the trolls are just impossible for me. I turned the difficulty all the way down, we'll see if that helps. I once met a troll in the wilderness (on default difficulty) and there was no way I could survive.

Advance Wars DS on the DS, for several months running now. It's really hard, though. I'm really trying to go through all the war room missions with different combinations and often I have to try a mission half a dozen times before clearing it.

Perfect Dark Zero on the 360. Also very hard! The multiplayer not so much, and I really like the infection game mode. Now if only it had more decent maps... anyone know if the map pack is worth the money?

 

[Incommunicado]

Last week I could not resist anymore and finally got a DS lite. I wanted this little thing since the first iteration was out and now finally I got one.
Now for the last week I've exclusively been playing New Mario Bros. My PC and 360 have been idling since then. A funny episode was when my girlfriend and I got stuck in Cologne, Germany since we missed the last train and sat down in a bar to pass the 4 hours by playing that game and including minigames like maniacs at full volume sound. She never was much into videogames but the DS got her addicted as well.
Guess what? Time really flied until 6 o'clock in the morning and the battery still had charge to play on the trainride back home .

 

[Yadam Siegfried]

Oblivion on the 360. Although I suck at it. I can't go near an Oblivion Gate, the flame atronachs outrun and outkill me in no time at all. I'm currently in the painter mission and the trolls are just impossible for me. I turned the difficulty all the way down, we'll see if that helps. I once met a troll in the wilderness (on default difficulty) and there was no way I could survive.

Advance Wars DS on the DS, for several months running now. It's really hard, though. I'm really trying to go through all the war room missions with different combinations and often I have to try a mission half a dozen times before clearing it.

Perfect Dark Zero on the 360. Also very hard! The multiplayer not so much, and I really like the infection game mode. Now if only it had more decent maps... anyone know if the map pack is worth the money?

Oblivion is easier if you beat the Gates when your character is at a low level. I made the mistake of ignoring the main quest line and just doing the side quests. By the time I started on the main quests, I had all kinds of nasty beasties to defeat. I restarted and beat the Gates sooner rather than later.

 

[Landslide]

Right - so this sounds completely ridiculous when you tally it up, but nevertheless... In the last 2 months:

Prey
This was fun, but short. The thing to note about this game is the use of two interesting ideas that were used throughout the game design. Zero-travel portals (Literally 2D planar holes connecting one part of a map to another), and dynamic gravity. Some levels you end up running on the floor, cielings, walls... Some of the portals are placed such that looking through one, youmight see yourself from another angle. It can be very disorienting, but a helluva lot of fun. Oh, and there are large vaginas on the Mothership. Out of which come aliens. I'm not kidding. [http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/704/704803/e3-2006-prey-screens-20060503052136700.jpg]

Titan Quest
I'm near the Oracle of Delphi. So far, honestly? I'm a bit bored. It's a lot of hack 'n slash, and I just can't get worked up about single player loot drops anymore. I like atmosphere and immersion in my RPGs, and I'm just not feelin' it here. But if you really liked Diablo (and think you still would), this is probably a must-have.

Armadillo Run
After Russ and Shawn's podcast, I found the demo, beat it and then bought the game. All within about 15 minutes. Been playing it regularly since last week. I've beaten all the levels it shipped with, but since a few people I know now own it, we're trading levels and trying to outdo each other. Lotta fun. It's all about manipulating objects in a physics-ruled environment to complete the puzzle of getting the Armadillo (Ball) in the Portal (Goal).

Oblivion
I just clocked my 151st hour of gameplay. I... think that's all I need to say.

Rainbow 6: Lockdown
So, my brother and I have been looking for a good, high calibre co-op game for awhile now. The last one we played was the original Rainbow 6, and I figured we should give Lockdown a shot. Now, while still somewhat entertaining, it's nowhere near as enjoyable as the original. It seems action fans have skewed this title more toward shoot-em-up that the predecessors. Which is a shame. My bro and I played through many of the levels over out 6 hour session, and the next day decided that it hadn't been nearly as fulfilling as the previous iterations. Silenced weapons are more or less useless, anything less than a "high" damage weapon results in having to empty a clip into anyone for them to go down (barring a headshot). And it's funny, because you can tell other people are dissatisfied. Logging on to the multiplayer Ubi.com service to find a game is like walking into graveyard. Maybe 10 rooms, hosting 2 dozen players. It's pretty depressing. The game is gorgeous though!

EVE Online
EvE is perpetual. EvE never dies. Must. Train. More.

 

[Joe]

Rainbow 6: Lockdown
So, my brother and I have been looking for a good, high calibre co-op game for awhile now. The last one we played was the original Rainbow 6, and I figured we should give Lockdown a shot. Now, while still somewhat entertaining, it's nowhere near as enjoyable as the original. It seems action fans have skewed this title more toward shoot-em-up that the predecessors. Which is a shame. My bro and I played through many of the levels over out 6 hour session, and the next day decided that it hadn't been nearly as fulfilling as the previous iterations. Silenced weapons are more or less useless, anything less than a "high" damage weapon results in having to empty a clip into anyone for them to go down (barring a headshot). And it's funny, because you can tell other people are dissatisfied. Logging on to the multiplayer Ubi.com service to find a game is like walking into graveyard. Maybe 10 rooms, hosting 2 dozen players. It's pretty depressing. The game is gorgeous though!

You might try SWAT 4 [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920508.asp?q=swat%204], but I'm not sure it has co-op. I remember checking it out a couple GDCs ago and being impressed.

 

[Ian Dorsch]

You might try SWAT 4 [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920508.asp?q=swat%204], but I'm not sure it has co-op. I remember checking it out a couple GDCs ago and being impressed.

SWAT 4 has 4-player co-op, I think.

 

[GunShy]

You might try SWAT 4 [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920508.asp?q=swat%204], but I'm not sure it has co-op. I remember checking it out a couple GDCs ago and being impressed.

SWAT 4 has 4-player co-op, I think.

Yah, the co-op in SWAT 4 is a blast! Unfortunately, you can't fill empty spots with bots, that's my only complaint. But if you can get a LAN with 3 friends set up, SWAT 4 co-op cannot be beat.

 

[dhaelis]

I played some 'Burnout: Revenge' on the 360 this weekend. Even though I almost completed the PS2 version, I really enjoyed the the visual upgrade on the 360, plus the controller works very well for that game, compared to the PS2. I initially just rented it, but I think I might have to pick it up.

Also, played the 'Dead Rising' demo and absolutely loved it. I felt like a kid in an undead candy store, which is a craving I never realized I had. :\

 

[Azirophos [deprecated]]

EVE-Online mostly. Aside from that Dawn of War (LAN), Prey, Unreal Tournament 2004 (LAN) and tried a few Demos. Although I started a campaign in "Fallen Haven" too - might finish it in the near future.

 

[Jaysun77 [deprecated]]

Burnout Revenge, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II

 

[Meophist]

Right now, mainly Tetris and Mario. Great, I'm turning into one of those "non-gamers", aren't I?

 

[Goofonian]

Right now, mainly Tetris and Mario. Great, I'm turning into one of those "non-gamers", aren't I?

I'm feeling a bit like that. But if we follow the "purchase is participation" line of thinking then I'm doing just fine

 

[te2rx [deprecated]]

A friend of mine let me borrow his (dare I say) modded PS2, so I've been downing all the games I've been meaning to play on that platform. Rez is awesome, Soul Calibur 3 is addictive, Katamari 2 is hilarious, etc..

The game I've been underwhelmed by after all the hype and praise for is Shadow of the Colossus. Great art/design aside, am I the only one who thinks that game is even a little bit dry and overly tedious? Conceptually interesting at times but... needs more game.

 

[Goofonian]

The game I've been underwhelmed by after all the hype and praise for is Shadow of the Colossus. Great art/design aside, am I the only one who thinks that game is even a little bit dry and overly tedious? Conceptually interesting at times but... needs more game.

I found that with ICO. Was a bit like the prince: sands of time where the fighting seemed to just have been thrown in to add some depth to what would otherwise be an extremely repetitive platform puzzler. I loved prince but ICO just hit me as a bit shallow.
I think the trick to colossus is to realise that it really is just about beating the bosses. Exploring the environment would be amazingly boring so I've never done it, and so far I'm happy with the game.