The first time Frog Fractions was brought up I thought "ha I remember that, it was pretty cool!" But now we're deep into the GOTY coverage and I'm just wondering if it really deserves this much attention over all the other games that came out this year. And I loved educational software back in the day - Math Blaster 4 life!
Just not seeing it personally. I enjoyed what I played when the thread popped up in October but I can't say I thought about it since until now
I'm glad it was mentioned because I didn't play it until they mentioned it on the podcast (and was even able to get through before they started talking about it specifically), but I agree that it probably shouldn't be on actual lists. I can live with it on guest lists since those are usually from people who probably haven't had the time/desire to play ten new games by mid-December.
NFS:MW is completely forgettable. Like it's not 'bad' like The Run, but it's so middling and lacking in content that I sometimes forget it exists. Forza Horizon is amazing, and it's one of the best made game of the year, and I typically hate racing games.
I... am not sure. I had a few clipping errors on my playthrough, and one minor fuckup near end-game, but that was about the extent of it. Others had more problems though.
Went and picked up Spec Ops: The Line on the steam sale (I think it's still up as of writing this), due to the guys talking about it. A shame not more of them played it/finished it, easily in my top 3 for this year.
I basically started playing and then just ended up straight up devouring that game in a single sitting. The general tone and atmosphere is just amazing (I personally have somewhat of a fascination with post-apocalyptic scenery, so the sand swallowed Dubai was really interesting to me), and the soundtrack/use of music is pretty damn amazing as well. It does a lot of stuff/touches on subjects that games simply don't do, and it does it without seeming hokey and stupid (Homefront).
Went and picked up Spec Ops: The Line on the steam sale (I think it's still up as of writing this), due to the guys talking about it. A shame not more of them played it/finished it, easily in my top 3 for this year.
I basically started playing and then just ended up straight up devouring that game in a single sitting. The general tone and atmosphere is just amazing, and the soundtrack/use of music is pretty damn amazing as well. It does a lot of stuff/touches on subjects that games simply don't do, and it does it without seeming hokey and stupid (Homefront).
It's not very long, a couple of hours (COD style lenght I would say). Especially if you play it on Easy...which you would since the actual gameplay part is not really worth wasting time on.
Like 5 or 6 hours I think? Maybe a little longer, not quite sure. I played on medium difficulty and I generally only had problems in one area where a bunch of snipers were hiding out in a position where they would get the perfect shot on you when you tried to move on in the encounter (you actually start out totally flanking them, so as soon as you figure out where they are they don't pose any problems what so ever). The check-pointing is a little rough, so I would generally just take my time and make sure to call out targets for my squad mates (one of them is a sniper) when moving through the game to avoid getting killed.
A little disappointed that you're not given enough control of your team to point out where you want your two team mates to move into cover so you can more effectively flank enemies ala what you can do in the Mass Effect games. Playing ME2 on insanity is still one of my favourite gameplay experiences because of how you had to plan out the tactical movement of your squad and call out targets for them while you independently took out key targets/flanked. If they had put that level of control into the game, I would probably be playing it right now on its higher difficulties.
Brad:
10. Trials Evolution
9. Frog Fractions
8. Dust: An Elysian Tale
7. Far Cry 3
6. Asura's Wrath
5. Journey
4. Mark of the Ninja
3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2. The Walking Dead
1. Mass Effect 3
Drew:
10. Hotline Miami
9. FTL
8. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
7. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
6. Digital Combat Simulator
5. Journey
4. Spec Ops: The Line
3. Diable III
2. The Walking Dead
1. Halo 4
Ryan:
10. Alan Wake's American Nightmare
9. Asura's Wrath
8. Journey
7. Rock Band Blitz
6. Forza Horizon
5. FTL
4. Mark of the Ninja
3. Hotline Miami
2. The Walking Dead
1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Jeff:
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
9. The Pinball Arcade (iPad)
8. Persona 4 Arena
7. Rhythm Heaven Fever
6. FTL
5. Forza Horizon
4. Fez
3. Syndicate
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
1a. Persona 4: Golden
1. Far cry 3
Playing it in one sitting was definitely an awesome experience, and I feel like a lot is actually to be gained in playing the game that way. Not taking time off in the middle of the game helps keep you immersed in the story and in the crazy shit that keeps happening. My general play style by the end pretty perfectly mirrored Walkers' rougher attitude. I basically spent the last third of that game blowing people up with a shotgun/going for melee kills.
Playing it in one sitting was definitely an awesome experience, and I feel like a lot is actually to be gained in playing the game that way. Not taking time off in the middle of the game helps keep you immersed in the story and in the crazy shit that keeps happening. My general play style by the end pretty perfectly mirrored Walkers' rougher attitude. I basically spent the last third of that game blowing people up with a shotgun/going for melee kills.
I fucking love these GOTY recap videos! They're really well shot and produced IMO, props to Vinny, Drew and the guys for doing a great job. They're all surprisingly good at acting, especially Jeff.
I played it on easy, like everyone recommends, and it took me 3:10. Really enjoyed the game. The combat actually felt pretty good on easy, it wasn't like you could just stand out in the open or anything.
I fucking love these GOTY recap videos! They're really well shot and produced IMO, props to Vinny, Drew and the guys for doing a great job. They're all surprisingly good at acting, especially Jeff.
Spec Ops is meant to be played on Easy. Playing it any differently on your first playthrough would be doing yourself a disservice. There are many areas of the game that can be frustrating on Medium, and the ammo balance is particularly... bad on every difficult other than Easy.
My last playthrough on Easy without skipping dialogue and without picking up intel was 2hrs 57m.
I didn't have many problems with it on medium. Ammo can get a little tight in some spots (I don't mind that at all, why have ammo at all if it's not a resource to be managed?), I generally told my squad to focus on guys on one side of the room while I cleared the other, which seemed effective. I feel like the game keeps the gunplay fresh throughout by introducing different guns/enemy types in the later parts.
It just does the standard, enemies take and do more damage thing. The checkpoints aren't so great and the game is linear as hell, so dying just means you get to replay the last 5 minutes and watch it happen the exact same way. It doesn't make it laughably easy though. I still died 5 or 6 times.
Brad:
10. Trials Evolution
9. Frog Fractions
8. Dust: An Elysian Tale
7. Far Cry 3
6. Asura's Wrath
5. Journey
4. Mark of the Ninja
3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2. The Walking Dead
1. Mass Effect 3
Drew:
10. Hotline Miami
9. FTL
8. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
7. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
6. Digital Combat Simulator
5. Journey
4. Spec Ops: The Line
3. Diable III
2. The Walking Dead
1. Halo 4
Ryan:
10. Alan Wake's American Nightmare
9. Asura's Wrath
8. Journey
7. Rock Band Blitz
6. Forza Horizon
5. FTL
4. Mark of the Ninja
3. Hotline Miami
2. The Walking Dead
1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Jeff:
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
9. The Pinball Arcade (iPad)
8. Persona 4 Arena
7. Rhythm Heaven Fever
6. FTL
5. Forza Horizon
4. Fez
3. Syndicate
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
1a. Persona 4: Golden
1. Far cry 3
It just does the standard, enemies take and do more damage thing. The checkpoints aren't so great and the game is linear as hell, so dying just means you get to replay the last 5 minutes and watch it happen the exact same way. It doesn't make it laughably easy though. I still died 5 or 6 times.
I enjoyed much more than the ending. They make pretty good use of in-world music during some firefights, and watching the characters change was really interesting. The game has an amazing art style at times, too. Almost any time you are inside, the game looks great.
Also, listen to the Gamespot spoilercast with Jeff and the Spec Ops writer if you finish it. One of the things that guy says completely changed my understanding of the game. Spec Ops spoilers:
The reason that you end up playing the helicopter sequence twice is because everything between the two helicopter sequences is Walker painting over all the horrible things they've done, tweaking them to convince himself that he was in the right or that he was the hero. You only get glimpses of what actually happened during their mission in a few quick flashbacks. Only the truly horrible moments sneak through into your playthrough, all he can do is sheeplishly blame Konrad after those, like the white phosphorus.
I enjoyed much more than the ending. They make pretty good use of in-world music during some firefights, and watching the characters change was really interesting. The game has an amazing art style at times, too. Almost any time you are inside, the game looks great.
Also, listen to the Gamespot spoilercast with Jeff and the Spec Ops writer if you finish it. One of the things that guy says completely changed my understanding of the game. Spec Ops spoilers:
The reason that you end up playing the helicopter sequence twice is because everything between the two helicopter sequences is Walker painting over all the horrible things they've done, tweaking them to convince himself that he was in the right or that he was the hero. You only get glimpses of what actually happened during their mission in a few quick flashbacks. Only the truly horrible moments sneak through into your playthrough, all he can do is sheeplishly blame Konrad after those, like the white phosphorus.
You're right, the world is quite beautiful in a depressing kind of way and the music is interesting so far. Also, runs very well, maxed 60 fps at 2560x1440 downsampled to 1920x1080 on my machine but it is the very definition of a corridor shooter.
You're right, the world is quite beautiful in a depressing kind of way and the music is interesting so far. Also, runs very well, maxed 60 fps at 2560x1440 downsampled to 1920x1080 on my machine but it is the very definition of a corridor shooter.
