Games You've Beat in 2012

[deanb]

Does "Portal 2 again" count? Got two extra achievements, one is new and another (go n un-escape n get gassed) that didn't "take" when I played it on PS3. Still missing "the pit" and the boat one though which annoyed me cos I don't know where I missed out on those.

[TheMightyEthan]

Kinda supposed to only be games you haven't played before, but it's not like there are really rules.

[Hot Heart]

Yes, there are. Ban him. BAN HIM!

[toxicitizen]

Kinda supposed to only be games you haven't played before, but it's not like there are really rules.

 

I used to feel the same way but then HD remakes came into play and people started posting replays of old games and whatnot so I figured fuck it, let's just roll with it. A game completion is a game completion so whatever.

 

Does "Portal 2 again" count? Got two extra achievements, one is new and another (go n un-escape n get gassed) that didn't "take" when I played it on PS3. Still missing "the pit" and the boat one though which annoyed me cos I don't know where I missed out on those.

 

Do you mean Pit Boss? If so, I don't know if you want to figure it out on your own or what so I'll spoiler it

 

it's when Wheatley traps you with the spikey wall things, I think the chapter is called "The part where he kills you" or something like that. Anyway, basically once you dodge his trap, he tries to convince you to just jump into the pit. Achievement unlocks if you do it. And the boat one is finding the Borealis' dock, which is a bit hidden. Missed it on my first run so I suggest you look it up on youtube or something.

 

[deanb]

Does "Portal 2 again" count? Got two extra achievements, one is new and another (go n un-escape n get gassed) that didn't "take" when I played it on PS3. Still missing "the pit" and the boat one though which annoyed me cos I don't know where I missed out on those.

Do you mean Pit Boss? If so, I don't know if you want to figure it out on your own or what so I'll spoiler it

 

it's when Wheatley traps you with the spikey wall things, I think the chapter is called "The part where he kills you" or something like that. Anyway, basically once you dodge his trap, he tries to convince you to just jump into the pit. Achievement unlocks if you do it. And the boat one is finding the Borealis' dock, which is a bit hidden. Missed it on my first run so I suggest you look it up on youtube or something.

 

Ah

See I knew it involved one of Wheatleys tests so I jumped into the pits in most of his tests, to no avail. Now I know.

 

I knew about the boat thing, but I seem to have completely walked past where I was meant to go to find it despite actively been on the lookout this time around.

[CorgiShinobi]

I love how Portal 2 rewards failure. I got that one for following GLaDOS's path unintentionally because I didn't see that the walkway turned right. So, I jump into the chamber and die.

 

*Brrr-ing*

 

"....What?"

[toxicitizen]

Torchlight. A few days ago, my clicking finger was getting restless waiting for Diablo 3 so I figured it was time to get back to it. I'd first started playing it after finishing Diablo 2 last winter but I ended up rage quitting it about halfway through after wiping my fifth weapon trying to enchant it. The enchanting failure rates in this game are beyond retarded! Wasting gold by having the enchanting do nothing is one thing. But fucking wiping the item of all its magical properties? That is so fucking infuriating! Like, throw-your-fucking-monitor-at-the-wall infuriating!

 

But yeah, other than that I loved the game. There's still some stuff to do like the infinite dungeon and side-quests but I beat the story's final boss but sadly I don't think I'll be able to justify getting back to it what with Diablo 3 this week and Torchlight II later this summer. I'm now really tempted to pre-order the latter on Steam, actually.

[deanb]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: The Missing Link: To the Past.

 

Pretty good. Tempted to have an umpteenth run through with the game, but I think I'll hold off for an anniversary run like I did with Portal 2. The removal of praxis points does make it pretty hard, and for most of the expansion you're pretty much running bare bones, then for the last quarter or so you end up with a ton thrown at you (I finished the game with 6 spare). It was closer to the Picus level than one of the hubs, though there is a bit of back n forth in some of the areas (There's a really annoying bit where you have to go all the way back, passing through two very slow activating security checkpoints. But for the most part it's pretty linear, with the ducts allowing for different angles of approach to certain areas, ambushing etc. The "Boss fight" in Missing Link is nothing at all like the main game ones and in fact I

 

Just dropped into the room from above, sneaked behind him and tazed him. A tad anti-climatic, but I guess I could have swapped out for a machine gun and used that for a bit more drama to the event.

 

 

Kind of a shame it doesn't fit in with the main game, it's completely different launcher and everything so to p-lay it in lieu of a main runthrough you'd have to quit the game when you get in the pod, load up Missing Link, play it then launch DXHR up again when finished. And you'll oddly enough be all right as rain again and all your old weapons which were previously confiscated.

 

I'd say it's worth getting, but get it in a sale (I got the main game for like £16 mind at launch, and Mising Link is £9) Steam says it lasted just under 10 hours, but I'd trim off a couple of that for being idle and for dying a few times and exploring a lot.

[Little Pirate]

Finally beat Mass Effect 3 and...

 

I can see why so many people were disappointed. I'm not outraged or anything, but I can't help but feel the ending was kinda cheap. I had 100% Galatic Readiness, maxed out Paragon, and made sure to keep everyone alive that could stay alive. No matter what ending I would have chosen I think the lack of closure seems half assed. Even the secret ending with the grandparent and the child was just... lame. "Tell me another story" is something I would expect from a cheesy kid's film. I would have been happier to see the direct aftermath--the reaction from the other races and planets, the reactions of your crew for your choice/sacrifice, and maybe like a "20-50" years later thing. The Normandy crew just landing on the planet with no other explanation? I didn't hear anything about a 4th game, so why bother doing that?

 

I still enjoyed the games, and I will definitely play them again, but I just wish the ending was a bit more satisfying as a finale to the series.

 

Edited May 15, 2012 by LittlePirate

[toxicitizen]

Just finished my normal run of Diablo 3. Overall it was fucking awesome but I'm a bit disappointed by how easy most boss fights were. Most of them presented no challenge whatsoever, I mean I killed the final boss on my first try :/ Only one that give me some trouble was the final boss of Act II.

 

In comparison, in Diablo 2 you've got Duriel who's notorious for being ridiculously hard. And maybe my paladin just sucked, but Diablo and Baal both took forever to kill with the chip damage I was dealing them and how quickly they killed me even when I was spamming health potions.

 

But I guess that's what nightmare mode is there for

[TCP]

Beat inFamous. Great game! Now to inFamous 2. (Initial impression: I do not like Cole's new voice).

[Johnny]

Just finished my normal run of Diablo 3. Overall it was fucking awesome but I'm a bit disappointed by how easy most boss fights were.

 

My personal main problem with the game is that the act finales are hardly the hardest parts of the game. I hear they get much harder in Hell and Inferno, but when me and Connor are running through Nightmare, it's the random world spawn bosses that kick our asses, not the climactic fights at the end of acts. If you ever see a champion or boss mob with "Vortex" in combination with "Fire Chains" or "Arcane Enchanted": run!

 

Spoiler: Screenshot of Arcane Enchanted in action, from beta.

 

These things fucking rotate, and burn through thousands of hit points in seconds; even with a Wizard's high resistances.

 

 

[toxicitizen]

My personal main problem with the game is that the act finales are hardly the hardest parts of the game. I hear they get much harder in Hell and Inferno, but when me and Connor are running through Nightmare, it's the random world spawn bosses that kick our asses, not the climactic fights at the end of acts. If you ever see a champion or boss mob with "Vortex" in combination with "Fire Chains" or "Arcane Enchanted": run!

Yeah, I've been slowly going throught Nightmare Act I and I think so far I've already died more often than I did during all of normal.

Even the fucking Skeleton King killed me a few times, he was actually harder than Diablo on normal.

 

And yeah, the first time I saw those beams, I was dead before I even realized what the fuck was going on. On normal, I actually managed to play my Demon Hunter somewhat up close. I'd use Elemental Arrow to blast through mobs from a distance and Fan of Knives usually did the trick if anyone managed to get too close or if I got surrounded. But once I started nightmare, it didn't take long for me to have to completely rethink my build. Now, Sentry is a fucking godsend. Being able/forced to change my play style on the fly like that makes me really appreciate the new skill system.

[RockyRan]

Finished Bulletstorm, RAGE, and Sonic Generations in the past week (lots of freetime!)

 

By far the most spent time was on RAGE. I generally liked the game and definitely liked the gunplay, but good god the rest of the game is a mess. It's extremely obvious they wanted the game to be more of an open world but had to cut down the game to a linear shooter halfway through development. It's ridiculous how many mixed signals the game sends you, repeatedly imploring you to "explore" but practically the entire game world is dead in the water unless you've got a quest that "activates" it. Best example was Crazy Joe's place, which I discovered after reading an in-game tip asking me to "explore because you never know what you might find". So I go and I find it and there's really nothing of interest there. I find a strange plant that is fully rendered (as opposed to cardboarded like all the other foliage in the game), and I can't do anything to it. I can't pick it up, shoot at it, ask about it, nothing. It's just a weird, 3D plant randomly at Crazy Joe's place. Hours later I go back to Wellspring and find an old guy who wants a plant from Crazy Joe's place and sure enough, it's that plant. Except now that I have a quest enabled for it it's got little stigmas sticking out of it and now I can pick it up? Did the game seriously just micromanage a PLANT in that it doesn't exist until the game WILLS it so?

 

This happens all the time, everywhere. All the levels are riddled with invisible walls, painted-on doors, and a whole bunch of areas that are entirely devoid of life or activity until a quest activates them, then they're all super active and teeming with life. With the way the game is laid out there's simply no way this was the intended final product. I also hated the fact that there was no final boss at all

 

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So then I move on to Sonic Generations and I do like it. It's really quite nice. Granted, this is actually my first Sonic game I've ever finished (never been a Sonic fan personally), but it was definitely fun and it's certainly a bit of a breath of fresh air to get a platformer since the genre is pretty much dead at this point. Not much to say here since it was so short (didn't mind the short length, though. I noticed there's a whole bunch of side stuff I didn't bother with), and the absolutely horrendous voice acting, but that's not too much of an issue for me. I did have to skip most of the "movies" (which I never do) because the VA was so terrible, though. They really ought to look just a little bit into maybe getting actors that don't suck ass.

 

---

 

Finally, Bulletstorm. I fired this up yesterday after having played like the first 2 hours then stopped, and I was surprised to know that I stayed up until 1 in the morning blowing past the vast majority of the campaign. It keeps a really good pace like that, in that there's no point where I'm bored enough to shut it off for the night. I practically had to force myself to stop and when I booted it back up this morning I realized I had like 5 minutes left anyway. I'm surprised at how well I think they did the villain. Not to spoil much here (though, honestly, who'd be bothered by story spoilers in this game?), but the way they have you interact with the main villain and the way they continue to build him up as an asshole was actually pretty effective. I genuinely hated him, which doesn't happen often in games since most of the time these kinds of games go "yeah, bad guy, shoot him. Grr, we angry at him. Whatever, you'll do whatever we tell you to finish this game anyway", but People Can Fly actually put effort in trying to make you hate the villain. Though towards the end it got a little too spamming-the-enemies, they did a really great job with the setpieces and the "resort" backdrop was just beautiful.

 

I hated, however, the lack of final boss battle. I honestly don't get this trend. Where did it become acceptable to just "forget" to have a final boss and an actual ending? Happened in RAGE too. I'm seeing an alarming trend in shooters in particular, where devs think they can just end the game at any point in time and so long as they "close" the game with a prerendered cutscene (of any length and any quality. RAGE's closing cutscene was pathetic. The audio compression sounded like I was watching a 240p Youtube video and the cutscene lasted like 30 seconds), that it's perfectly fine to end the game with absolutely zero closure in terms of story AND gameplay. It devalues the entire experience if they're really that lazy to not properly finish up a game. It annoys me when devs just assume they're going to get oodles of sequels and thus don't even bother wrapping anything up in the game proper. With Bulletstorm being cancelled now they have basically a half-finished product

Edited May 20, 2012 by RockyRan

[Luftwaffles]

Yeah, the ending of Bulletstorm was godawful. It's a shame, too, because it was one of my favorite games of last year. It didn't do a whole lot new, storywise, but the mechanics and the shooting were just so much fun it didn't really matter.

[Strangelove]

I think developers skip boss fights because theyre hard to do in shooting games, which most games are nowadays. The only thing bosses can be are targets. Big overpowered high health point bosses you shoot in specific places or you just go through waves of enemies. THAT'S what bosses in shooting games always are, and people tend to hate them. ME2, both Dead Space games, all 3 Uncharted games, Deus Ex HR, Bioshock, etc.

I personally cant say I know of a better way to do them besides using melee in some way, but we all know shooting games seem to have crappy barebones melee. Not to mention that people still hate them, as Uncharted 2 proves. There just aren't many mechanics to mix it up with in shooters. You dont tend to level, get new moves or combos, or anything like that. I thought Bioshock did it right by having you use different elements, but people hated that too.

 

I will say that I thought Killzone 2 did it right too. You fight one guy, Radec, and he can teleport and all he has is a rifle and a knife and he uses both equally. In turn, you also have to use guns and your knife equally. Hes your size too. Its just a very cool one on one fight. Except I think he can call on allies every once in a while.

[deanb]

I hated, however, the lack of final boss battle. I honestly don't get this trend. Where did it become acceptable to just "forget" to have a final boss and an actual ending?

When devs got access to achievements and metrics that showed only something like 30% of people actually finish games (if that).

Bulletstorm did have a sucky ending because it was made to be a trilogy or whatever, which means it doesn't end properly which I think is a shame. Especially considering the unstable industry atm.

 

SL is pretty spot on, when all you have to use most o the time is a gun your boss fights are going to be pretty simplistic.

[TheMightyEthan]

I can't think of a single boss fight from a shooter that I've ever liked.

 

*Edit* - I don't think you need to have a final boss fight to have a good ending though. Look at Halo 1, that ending is fantastic.

Edited May 20, 2012 by TheMightyEthan

[TheMightyEthan]

[RockyRan]

I hated, however, the lack of final boss battle. I honestly don't get this trend. Where did it become acceptable to just "forget" to have a final boss and an actual ending?

When devs got access to achievements and metrics that showed only something like 30% of people actually finish games (if that).

Bulletstorm did have a sucky ending because it was made to be a trilogy or whatever, which means it doesn't end properly which I think is a shame. Especially considering the unstable industry atm.

 

SL is pretty spot on, when all you have to use most o the time is a gun your boss fights are going to be pretty simplistic.

 

There ARE boss battles in Bulletstorm, though, like the plant one. Yes, you shoot-shoot-shoot-shoot at it, but it's actually a battle. Hell, I would've taken that helicopter battle with the huge monster thing with the gash on the back of its head as an acceptable "final boss battle". There's just zero satisfaction in not having an out-of-the-ordinary battle right at the end. Not having one makes a game feel incomplete.

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

Forgot to mention I'd beaten Legend of Grimrock for review. Fun game, recommended.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I finished the main Super Mario 3D Land game with all the star coins. Just trying to work out what the special world is for? I don't want to replay the whole game if it is basically the exact same thing.

 

Quite liked the sparkly tanooki suit as it did make things easier but didn't do it for you like people were complaining about. Didn't have to use it too often though I wish I'd known you get a special star if you didn't resort to it as I would have steered clear. Overall I liked the game a lot though I felt it was a bit short. Probably a lot of people would say it was too easy but it was perfect for me.

 

Edit. Ugh edited to correct one typo and look at the mess it's in now! Remind me not to edit posts on my phone! Right re-edited it

Edited May 23, 2012 by TheFlyingGerbil

[Strangelove]

The special worlds are part of the main game. Theyre all different, theyre not the same as the main worlds. If you havent done them, then youve only played half the game.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Thanks that means I won't be missing out on half the game then!Oh ffs edit. also explains why I thought it was short, lol

Edited May 23, 2012 by TheFlyingGerbil

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

Some of them are similar to the original levels but with a "wrench" thrown in to make it harder. However, some of them are completely redesigned altogether. Definitely worth playing through.