What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

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What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

I'm always looking for new games and demos to try out and thought I'd post how I've liked what I've played since I got my Playstation 3 (I also have a Wii as well, but it's been used five times this year and my DS Lite has been used a total of five times in two years) and views on classic games as well. In the first post, I'll start with just the actual discs I have as of now, which turns out is more than I thought.

From worst to best:

The Simpsons Game (4/10): I thought it'd have little substance, but be pretty fun to play... Well, I was half right. It's extremely clunky and there's a few funny references, but not much more. It's probably going to have to go on Half.com pretty soon.

BioShock II (6.5/10): Maybe when I get further in the game, it'll get better. It's pretty much the same gameplay as the first BioShock, but the first one had an epic storyline with twists and turns that makes Se7en look like M. Night Shalyman directed it as his follow up to Lady in the Water. I read that it's probably because a different team worked on the sequel. Basically, you're in an underwater city in the 1950's and you're a half-machine that's in charge of a demonish little girl created by a scientist to suck lifeblood out of dead people to make drugs that give people powers (telekinesis, fire, etc). Basically, I expected better.

ModNation Racers (7/10): It uses the create, play, share technique first brought to you by LittleBigPlanet and adds Mario Kart to it. I'm not into racing games, but this is really good and it was free with the PS3 (though "not for resale" is on the back)! You customize carts, mods (drivers), and your own tracks and others can download them. Right now I've got a Speed Racer guy/car someone else made, though I've only played it twice. Here's some of the created content:

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LittleBigPlanet (8/10): Years ahead people will look back at this game and call it revolutionary... well actually they're already doing it. It's basically a side-scrolling jump on stuff, grab stuff, figure out puzzles game kind of like Sonic or Mario, but infinitely more advanced. The revolutionary aspect is in the level creation and character customization aspects that really never grow old. There's tons of material for your Sackboy/girl, a being made out of burlap sack in the beginning) to be made out of, clothes for it to wear, and accessories. People are getting extremely good at it where they're now creating levels even better than the ones developers are done, especially in LittleBigPlanet 2.

Red Dead Redemption (8/10): This is a western with as good of a story as any I've seen. The main character as a man who used to be a bandit has reformed and must pay his debt to society by bringing in his old comrades to the authorities because his family is being held hostage is really something out of an old western. The side characters that help you on your way are really characters, especially the ones in the first third of the story. The scenery is beautiful from Texas and Mexico to the forest and snow-capped mountains. The animals--from skunk to grizzly--are really fun to hunt and just riding your horse from one end of the huge map to the other is a blast. I've got Undead Nightmare, a zombiefied version of the game, but aren't opening it until I'm done with this one.

LittleBigPlanet 2 (9.5/10): It takes its predecessor and amps it up a thousand-fold with new gameplay additions like a paint gun, being able to throw things, and the grappling hook. But the biggest thing with this game that sets it apart from the first one is all of the new things you can do in create mode. I really have no clue what they are exactly, but they allow users to create games like the original Mario, Street Fighter, Plants vs. Zombies, a duplicate of Angry Birds, pinball, and near-perfect duplicate of Zelda. And, um, these were out just weeks after release. It's amazing, it really is. It's something you have to see to believe, so here's Zelda:




Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (10/10): It's just as good as the original, better even. It's like Raiders of the Lost Ark... in the snow. It's something you're going to want to play again and again and that's just the story mode. The online is even a good tactical shooter. Not as good of graphic as Red Dead, but still beautiful visions of Tibet, Borneo, and Shangri-La. Half the fun is jumping from flagpole to flagpole twenty stories in the air, jump huge gaps, and climbing buildings like a monkey. Through getting duped, shooting some baddies, climbing all over the place, and trying to solve Marco Polo's riddles to find his treasure, you're looking for hidden (and not so hidden) optional treasures (101 in all) and that helps in the fun. Really one of the best games out there. The intro is probably the best you'll ever play and it just goes up from there.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by Buscemi »

That's possibly the first negative review I've seen for a next-generation release for The Simpsons Game. Many people felt it was one of the best licensed games ever made.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by numbersix »

I enjoy the DS, the games aren't too absorbing. I spent 6 months finishing Picross 3D, a difficult but fun puzzle game. The Castlevania platfromers are also great. Trying to crack the new Prof Layton game but it's not turning out too well.

On the PS3 I have all the Rock Band games which are great fun to play with my significant other. She's on drums, me on guitar. Makes me feel guilty about not playing my REAL guitar but it's fun anyway.

Also playing Heavy Rain. Not as cinematic as I hoped it would be (poor dialogue and voice-acting) but still interesting. I'll see how it plays out.

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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by BanksIsDaFuture »

I've been stuck in a certain place on Uncharted 2 for months now, I haven't played it in awhile. I might go back into it and try again.

I've just been all over MW2 because Black Ops is a terrible game, and that never gets old.

I downloaded the Tiger Woods 12 demo, but it seems to be pretty much the same as last year's game. I won't buy it and I wish there was multiplayer on the demo, but alas.

I'm going to rent Homefront sometime this weekend, as that looks great and I don't want to buy it without playing first and wasting $65 (see: Black Ops).
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by undeadmonkey »

i rarely play video games, unless you count the games on my ipod which i play when i have nothing to do for a while or waiting for something, like in a line etc. then i play minesweeper, sudoku sometimes, oh, i also play words with friends.

have an xbox but i haven't touched it in at least 6 months and, also have a wii, which i occasionally play with my little brother because he asks for someone to play with

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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by BanksIsDaFuture »

undeadmonkey wrote: oh, i also play words with friends
Sweeeet. I play that a lot, you should add me - ChrisKell87 and send me a game.

And prepare for defeat :twisted:
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

We've got Guitar Hero 1-4, 80's, RB 1 and 2 for the PS2. There's really not much gameplay difference on those specific games. I play them with my daughter and she likes to sing, play drums, and guitar. We haven't played them much in a while. I want to get the new Rock Band keyboard bundle, but the pricepoint is too high for me right now.

Black Ops, I've only played zombie mode. It was decently fun and I may have bought it if it weren't for SOCOM 4 coming out on 4/19. I've been a SOCOM homer since the first one as I love the squad format and it seems more reallistic, though I haven't played it regularly since SOCOM 2 for lack of fast internet (at the time) and PS3. Also, if Call of Duty is wasting away on your shelf, Best Buy takes trade-ins as does Amazon (both $25, I believe), but I find Half.com is the best place to get rid of them.

I really want to get Heavy Rain. It's went on the Greatest Hits series, which means a lowered price, but I've still got RDR, and Bioshock II plus a couple of PSN games to beat.

Final Fantasy VII (a top five game all-time for me) I got for $2 from gamesharing, which I found this weekend. Basically you create an account, buy a game, and sell four shares of it to other people making the overall price 80% off. Then, when you're done with it, you can sell your share to someone else. Very cool. I'll never be done with FFVII.

The other gameshare I have is Fat Princess which, with the downloadable content, was $4 a share. It's got an extremely fun online mode that's mostly capture the flag where the flag is a princess that you can feed cake to so she's harder for the other team to carry. You're a worker, warrior, wizard, priest, ranger, and--with the download content--Giant, Pirate, and Ninja. It has a really good demo on PSN and I urge you to check it out.

I also just read that THQ's stock dropped 25% when Homefront launched.

And what's words? Like Scrabble?
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by BanksIsDaFuture »

THANKS, W!

I was going to trade my Black Ops into Gamestop for like $14, but I just checked BB and they'll give me a $25 giftcard for it. Score.

I would sell on Half, but I'm not sure I can get much more, plus the whole hassle of shipping and waiting for payment...

I don't know about the market share thing, but Homefront got a solid 7.0 from IGN. That's no MW2 (which got a 9.5) but it might make for a fun rental on my spring break.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

Yeah, Homefront sounds great and I'd like to give it a play but unless it's a sequel to a game I loved, a 7.0 doesn't cut it with all the want-to-plays I have. And I traded with Best Buy last month and got a $60 gift card for Punch-Out and Super Mario Galaxy 2. I wish somehow I could trade it for Amazon cash as it's going towards SOCOM and I have a $20 games credit for getting Kaitlyn LBP2 pre-order for her birthday.

Also, I forgot the PSN game PixelJunk Shooter (9/10), which I got for less than $2 from eBay (I just checked, it's $4 now). It's a really good Asteroids-type game where you have to rescue crew members and search for strategically placed gems while killing alien monsters. One of the best parts of the game is the physics where you can take use water, lava, ice, dirt, and metallic liquid to solve puzzles and find other places. Water turns lava into dirt, water and dirt make a toxic flammable gas that you can ignite, etc. The soundtrack is excellent and it's a game that you can't help 100%-ing because you want to find all of the gems. I'm trying to find a share of it's sequel right now, but no one's offering.

And the Tiger Woods 12 demo was ok, I guess, but it was really meh. The demo was just one hole and you're shots are already lined up, just too easy. If you want a really good sports demo that's out there now, check out Fight Night Champions. You get to choose between Pacquio/Cotto or Tyson/Ali. The guys actually get drained if you throw too many punches. Make sure you use the stick and not the buttons to throw punches (and play as Pac-man) because that's the most fun. I've played it at least 15 times.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

Got Hard Corps: Uprising. It's made by Konami and is been compared to Contra. The comparisons were actually 100% spot on as it seems like it's the exact same game, but modernized, with the slightest of differences/upgrades including 3 hits per life instead of instant death, a strife button which locks your gun into place so you can run forward and shoot backwards/up/down, sprinting, and weapon upgrades (2 spreads will increase the amount of bullets/shot from 3 to 5). It's very good, though I can't get past the first level yet.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by transformers2 »

Banks, I couldn't disagree more about Black Ops. Personally, I think it's fantastic. It really saved the Call Of Duty franchise for me after the abortion that was MW2. I have been mainly playing Black Ops and Gears Of War 2 recently. I am waiting for the new Mortal Kombat to come out, can't wait for that one.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

The Mortal Kombat demo is really fun. It's not a game I'd buy, though I was a MK 1 & 2 fan back in the day.
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by Buscemi »

Black Ops gets a very mixed reception. Some like it just because it's Call of Duty. Others hate it for being a rushed cash-in (the game had only a year of development and didn't have the previous game's developers). A game based on the Cuban Missle Crisis sounds interesting but I would prefer one that's stand alone.

And though I don't have a next-gen console, I'm sold on Homefront for one reason only: written by John Milius. Yes, the director of Red Dawn and Conan The Barbarian (the original).
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by W »

The previews say it's from the writer of Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now... So evidently he wrote Apocalypse Now as well?
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Re: What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

Post by Buscemi »

Yes, he co-wrote it.
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