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Post by The Curmudgeon on Dec 17, 2010 20:42:03 GMT 2
Fuck, did I feel like a hundred years old today. I went into a video game shop, which you'd think would be a pleasant experience, and came out utterly depressed. I felt like a medieval dunce.
I stood looking at row upon row of games and had NO fucking clue what any of them where. There was a poster for the new Call of Duty game declaring it the Fastest Selling Game of All Time. What? Why have I never even seen it? And worse than that, it leaves me scuttling to my "comfort zones" of wrestling games and franchises that I've actually heard of. Franchises that are all about twenty years old.
And for some reason, I cannot get my head around First Person Shooters. I bought Resistance and Condemned 2 for the PS3 a few months ago, in a desperate bid to actually play new games, and I hate both of them. And I suck terribly at both of them as well. Third Person games, like Max Payne, Batman Arkham Asylum? Love them. Can't get enough of them. But anyone I speak to about gaming is all about FPS and playing them online, something I wouldn't even attempt.
So that's it. I am now officially a confused gaming pensioner, still wanting to play Pac-Man and waiting to die.
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Post by trashcanman on Dec 17, 2010 21:16:44 GMT 2
COD is ridiculously popular. Even nongamers rush out to get it. I typically ignore it. I'm tired of franchises who come out with new games every single year. I'm peer-pressured to buy the new one almost every single day, and it was the same last year with the last COD. It's fucking insane.
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Post by Benjamin Haines on Dec 18, 2010 1:10:36 GMT 2
I'm usually not a fan of first-person shooters either, but over the past year I got really into Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360. It's honestly the perfect zombie video game. It takes place two weeks after the zombie apocalypse begins and you play as one of a team of four people (multiplayer or AI) trying to get from Point A to Point B with 99% of the population turned into bloodthirsty infected. There are four playable worlds, each divided into five chapters, and the goal of each chapter is just to get to the next safe room without becoming zombie chow. The fifth chapter of each world culminates with a unique last stand scenario with rescue on the way and the infected horde coming in full force.
Everything about this game encapsulates the essence of an intense horror movie. From the desolate, post-apocalyptic environments to the situation-specific score to the look and sounds of the infected, it immerses you in a world where you're fighting for your life with zombies all around you. The best part about it is its dynamic, ever-calculating game engine. While the paths through each level are mostly straightforward, the timing of when and where you encounter the zombies is different with each play-through. The game constantly factors things like your team's progress on a given level, how hurt you are or how well you're doing in determining when you'll stumble upon health items or weapons, or when a horde of infected will come charging from around the corner. There are even five special infected characters that the game will toss your way randomly just to fuck your shit up. When some of them attack players, like the long-tongued Smoker, the only way for them to survive is teammate assistance. Whether you're playing by yourself or with three friends, it's a game that demands teamwork in order to get through it, just like a real zombie apocalypse.
They made a sequel last year, Left 4 Dead 2, but despite having more weapons and moderately more dynamic levels, the gameplay is just way inferior. It feels more like a routine arcade shooter than the pitch-perfect 'you are in a horror movie' atmosphere of the first game. Trust me, Left 4 Dead is where it's at. Even if you don't like first-person shooters, if you're a zombie fan it'll quickly become one of your favorite video games of all time.
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Post by trashcanman on Dec 18, 2010 20:40:58 GMT 2
Left 4 Dead is fucking outstanding. I was literally in love with the versus mode where one team plays the survivors and the other team controls the zombies trying to kill them. So awesome. The only downfall is that it is not great as a singleplayer game. To really experience it, you need to play with other people, preferably in the same room. The first time I played it with friends, I was left shellshocked because everyone was shouting and panicking and accusing each other of friendly fire. One of the most intense games ever made, period.
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Post by Benjamin Haines on Dec 19, 2010 8:56:25 GMT 2
It's definitely better with friends, but I've yet to get tired of single-player with that game.
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