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AusGAF 7 - We hang out IRL now and be social and shit. (Also, Adrian's Revenge)
- Thread starter HolyCheck
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EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Gotta admit, I'm very surprised with how much I'm enjoying Black Ops 2. Speaking specifically of single player.
For me, the best Call of Duty campaigns were the first and the second, and Modern Warfare. I remember way back when the first was announced, and the "big thing" for the time was how many AI/NPC it was pushing in a single scene. The whole "horrors of WW2" thing, waves of people rushing against a bunkered down enemy, etc. I think that's why so many people, like myself, have fond memories of the Battle for Stalingrad sequence from the original game. Coming off that boat and pushing through the square, seemingly hundreds of characters on the screen rushing the enemy, getting mowed down. Had a great sense of pure chaos and carnage, like you're just one individual in the middle of two massive forces throwing themselves against each other in a wide battlefield.
As much as I enjoyed Modern Warfare, that marked the series turn from the above philosophy to more personal, tiny encounters and stage design. But I still enjoyed it, probably for the change in setting. I didn't mind Black Ops, but I loathed Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. I though World at War was kinda shitty too. MW3 I downright fucking hated, and I standby my belief that as a single player game it has abysmal level design, shitty pacing, and some of the worst encounters in the series. It's supremely boring, dull, and devoid of fun. MW2 wasn't far behind.
Black Ops 2, however, in many respects goes back to the philosophy of the original. Many of the battles take place in much, much larger battlefields than anything the series has seen since Call of Duty 2. There's a great sense of scale to the battles, lots of guys fighting on both sides, and the game constantly pushes you forward. Less squatting to grind against waves of forces, and instead a good momentum that keeps you moving through the battlegrounds. You cover a lot of ground in a single level. And even then, many of the encounters, though trademark Call of Duty scripted, are far less bottlenecked and overscripted than they usually are. If you need to take out a tank with explosives, or you need to push through enemy forces to an entry point, you're given quite a bit of flexibility to just how you're going to pull it off. Like, in the tank example, it's less "there's a mortar placed in a specific location, get to it, use it, and bomb this tank in a specific location", and more "here's a rocket launcher with anti-air homing capabilities, there's tanks and aircraft over in that general area moving about, now go destroy them". It's still scripted, but it puts more control in the hands of the player in how they're going to experience and engage in every encounter.
It's also completely utterly insane in themes and set pieces to the point where it's not like any Call of Duty. Not like the original gritty World War 2. Not like the wanky Modern Warfares. Not like the conspiracy mumbo jumbo Black Ops. Ironically, given the above, it's less "Call of Duty" than any Call of Duty, in themes at the very least.
I mean, it's still got some problems and rough portions I'm not overly impressed with, but it's clearly taken some steps away from the series' current formula to try a few different things, particularly in scope and level pacing. There's some other ideas thrown in there, consistently too, that lead me to believe Treyarch was legitimately trying to give the franchises a much needed kick up the arse.
For me, the best Call of Duty campaigns were the first and the second, and Modern Warfare. I remember way back when the first was announced, and the "big thing" for the time was how many AI/NPC it was pushing in a single scene. The whole "horrors of WW2" thing, waves of people rushing against a bunkered down enemy, etc. I think that's why so many people, like myself, have fond memories of the Battle for Stalingrad sequence from the original game. Coming off that boat and pushing through the square, seemingly hundreds of characters on the screen rushing the enemy, getting mowed down. Had a great sense of pure chaos and carnage, like you're just one individual in the middle of two massive forces throwing themselves against each other in a wide battlefield.
As much as I enjoyed Modern Warfare, that marked the series turn from the above philosophy to more personal, tiny encounters and stage design. But I still enjoyed it, probably for the change in setting. I didn't mind Black Ops, but I loathed Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. I though World at War was kinda shitty too. MW3 I downright fucking hated, and I standby my belief that as a single player game it has abysmal level design, shitty pacing, and some of the worst encounters in the series. It's supremely boring, dull, and devoid of fun. MW2 wasn't far behind.
Black Ops 2, however, in many respects goes back to the philosophy of the original. Many of the battles take place in much, much larger battlefields than anything the series has seen since Call of Duty 2. There's a great sense of scale to the battles, lots of guys fighting on both sides, and the game constantly pushes you forward. Less squatting to grind against waves of forces, and instead a good momentum that keeps you moving through the battlegrounds. You cover a lot of ground in a single level. And even then, many of the encounters, though trademark Call of Duty scripted, are far less bottlenecked and overscripted than they usually are. If you need to take out a tank with explosives, or you need to push through enemy forces to an entry point, you're given quite a bit of flexibility to just how you're going to pull it off. Like, in the tank example, it's less "there's a mortar placed in a specific location, get to it, use it, and bomb this tank in a specific location", and more "here's a rocket launcher with anti-air homing capabilities, there's tanks and aircraft over in that general area moving about, now go destroy them". It's still scripted, but it puts more control in the hands of the player in how they're going to experience and engage in every encounter.
It's also completely utterly insane in themes and set pieces to the point where it's not like any Call of Duty. Not like the original gritty World War 2. Not like the wanky Modern Warfares. Not like the conspiracy mumbo jumbo Black Ops. Ironically, given the above, it's less "Call of Duty" than any Call of Duty, in themes at the very least.
I mean, it's still got some problems and rough portions I'm not overly impressed with, but it's clearly taken some steps away from the series' current formula to try a few different things, particularly in scope and level pacing. There's some other ideas thrown in there, consistently too, that lead me to believe Treyarch was legitimately trying to give the franchises a much needed kick up the arse.
Just saw this today, and searched GAF for it. It's so good I had to invade AustraliaGAF to say how cool it is.
Nobody fucking commented on it here
BUT AT LEAST PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE OF AUSGAF APPRECIATE IT.@Shaneus
How are you using sweetfx? Are you doing all the tweaks yourself or using user made ones from guru3d etc?
For now i've stuck with the people at guru3d, I'm way too lazy to make my own.
Oh and how does it work with radeon pro? I haven't bothered installing that at all since moving to W8. I just use the sweetfx config utility, seems easy enough
How are you using sweetfx? Are you doing all the tweaks yourself or using user made ones from guru3d etc?
For now i've stuck with the people at guru3d, I'm way too lazy to make my own.
Oh and how does it work with radeon pro? I haven't bothered installing that at all since moving to W8. I just use the sweetfx config utility, seems easy enough
Install RPro.
Copy SweetFX files to subfolder in RPro.
Point RPro to said folder.
Edit each gaming profile individually to tweak SFX settings. Import settings per profile if you wish
I've only really played around with one game (Blur) ATM because I thought it could benefit the most by being a little muted, but I plan on tinkering with Driver:SF as well and probably a few others. Just tweaked myself and adjusted settings, quit, adjusted and kept going. I think japamd mentioned something about possibly being able to adjust each setting on the fly via OSD or something in the future.
Holy shit Nintendo: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=44447412&postcount=119
Wow, so that'll make them what... THREE generations behind when it comes to online?
Install RPro.
Copy SweetFX files to subfolder in RPro.
Point RPro to said folder.
Edit each gaming profile individually to tweak SFX settings. Import settings per profile if you wish
I've only really played around with one game (Blur) ATM because I thought it could benefit the most by being a little muted, but I plan on tinkering with Driver:SF as well and probably a few others. Just tweaked myself and adjusted settings, quit, adjusted and kept going. I think japamd mentioned something about possibly being able to adjust each setting on the fly via OSD or something in the future.
Ah cool. You can actually adjust on the fly already with sweetfx. It has the ability to reload the profile after you've made changes. Not sure if that doesn't work due to Rpro though.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Aaand Nintendo continues to be the absolute worst major hardware and entertainment service distributor in the entire world when it comes to modern internet and service technologies.
Sutton Dagger
Member
I made the mistake of replying to an inane post on Facebook linked to the Beyond Blue homosexual discrimination initiative...
It culminated in the claim that aids is a punishment sent from God for same-sex intercourse and that it's 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve'. Who are these people, I can't believe they are still part of society in 2012?
It culminated in the claim that aids is a punishment sent from God for same-sex intercourse and that it's 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve'. Who are these people, I can't believe they are still part of society in 2012?
I think I found the video equivalent of what I want to do
/edit dare I risk driving to Clipper's place? I haven't driven to UNSW before, and haven't driven into the city in a while...
/edit dare I risk driving to Clipper's place? I haven't driven to UNSW before, and haven't driven into the city in a while...
DarthHomer
Member
Beautiful. Just...beautiful.
Yeah, but that means alt-tabbing to edit the settings, yeah? I think the RP method was actually going to be *live* alterations whilst in-game. Maybe.
Maybe if you are 12. I guess that is the first one.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
Being a Nintendo customer is a bit like being an ally of Lord Frey from ASoIaF - you need to go into the deal with the lowest technology and service expectations possible. Late to every battle and only joining one side or the other when the smell of victory is in the air, you should never expect bravery. Technologically speaking, expect nothing from Nintendo and you'll never be surprised.
If only they didn't hold
It's like an abusive relationship, first they region lock all their shit, then they give you Mario Galaxy.
The difference between Microsoft and Nintendo is pretty funny. Microsoft on the other hand intentionally design their online services to screw you over, on the other hand nintendo do it indirectly via sheer incompetence.
reptilescorpio
Member
I enjoyed MW3 immensely. It was very linear but the combat rhythm was fantastic and the story bounced along nicely compared to the drudge that was MW2 for the most part. Fuck those favelas.
BLOPS2 on the other hand has fantastic level design with multiple pathways. REALLY love the branching storyline too, even if the sidemissions are basically the same as the Hitlist sidemissions in The Darkness 2. Short little arena style battles with nothing much to talk about.
I do have a sense of deja vu between the MW and BLOPS series though, the re-emergence of a favourite character you thought had 100% died and the feeling that the first game was envisioned as a one and done as the sequel feels like, "oh shit, less drum something convoluted up to tie it all together". Still really enjoy the story though.
AT LEAST I KNOW WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN
Also people having been picking up the WiiU today already in the US, deliveries arrived as early as yesterday
lol Triforce, sorry dude. At least he can say he might be the first person to pick it up at a midnight launch.
BLOPS2 on the other hand has fantastic level design with multiple pathways. REALLY love the branching storyline too, even if the sidemissions are basically the same as the Hitlist sidemissions in The Darkness 2. Short little arena style battles with nothing much to talk about.
I do have a sense of deja vu between the MW and BLOPS series though, the re-emergence of a favourite character you thought had 100% died and the feeling that the first game was envisioned as a one and done as the sequel feels like, "oh shit, less drum something convoluted up to tie it all together". Still really enjoy the story though.
AT LEAST I KNOW WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN
WORDS NEWS EVER
Also people having been picking up the WiiU today already in the US, deliveries arrived as early as yesterday
lol Triforce, sorry dude. At least he can say he might be the first person to pick it up at a midnight launch.
Even funnier is that they have to patch in Wii backwards compatibility which won't be available at launch? 360 all over again.
Needs moar glasses.This is what I look like when running:
pieatorium
Member
A few people were speaking of no WiiU hype yesterday and I would gave to agree, it's not just no WiiU hype though there just hasn't been much of anything lately that I was really keen for outside of Xcom.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
Nintendo could have had a lot more hype if they hadn't released NSMB2 on the 3DS this year. Also, if they had Retro's game ready for launch.
pieatorium
Member
Vita! lol
Yeah I've seen a few people say that the tablet controller doesn't have the same interest as motion controls did because tablets are so widespread now anyway. I think that is part of it. It's got Mario but thats the second 2d mario this year. The price is right (dingdingding) but there isn't compelling enough software to get me to jump yet.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
I am resolved to not purchase a Wii U until any of the following happen:
- Retro's game
- Monolith's game
- The Legend of Zelda
- 3D Mario
I have a hefty backlog to keep me going until then, I think.
- Retro's game
- Monolith's game
- The Legend of Zelda
- 3D Mario
I have a hefty backlog to keep me going until then, I think.
pieatorium
Member
Game gets lots of good reviews : lol games journalis is on the take
Game gets mixed reviews : lol games journalist only give low scores for clicks
Game gets mixed reviews : lol games journalist only give low scores for clicks
Pretty much for me as well. I am usually a day one console buyer, but there is just really nothing for me on the Wii-U, except maybe Rayman but that will be coming to other platforms (hopefully PC).
reptilescorpio
Member
Final thoughts on BLOPS2
Love the fan service
Avenged Sevenfold song is one of their best since City of Evil so that's great
Reznor song is amazeballs as expected
After a nights sleep I'm actually pretty disappointed in how the campaign runs on the edges of this massive event. Most of your fighting is through a long straight maze (not a corridor though!) and you hear about all this SHIT JUST GOT REAL situation stuff going on yet it doesn't hit that feeling of invasion aside from a pretty straightforward (while still impressive) escort mission that gives you a fuckawesome event but doesn't rise to the occasion like I had hoped. This is like, world falling to shit. Yet it didn't feel as chaotic as I would expect it to be.
Respawning allies reminded me a lot of Halo for some reason.
Gameplay mechanics were fantastic and top of the series, along with level design, but I think I actually prefer the flow of MW3. Felt much more like the world was falling apart around you compared to BLOPS2 where you feel like the commander of a small task force running some errands.
Harper was an awesome badass. Totally covered the Woods spot on the squad. I actually was a bit weirded out by Woods' character in this, made total sense though!
I also like how the main antagonist had this massive plan than spanned the entire globe and the most secure organisations in the world, on an even more impressive scale than the most unbelievable Bond villain, yet his planned result was so simple. Not sure if I wished the game did more with his "group" rather than just ignore it entirely, both ideas are enjoyable in their own way.
Not surprised to see David Goyer of the Nolan Batman's fame helped on the script.
Love the fan service
Avenged Sevenfold song is one of their best since City of Evil so that's great
Reznor song is amazeballs as expected
After a nights sleep I'm actually pretty disappointed in how the campaign runs on the edges of this massive event. Most of your fighting is through a long straight maze (not a corridor though!) and you hear about all this SHIT JUST GOT REAL situation stuff going on yet it doesn't hit that feeling of invasion aside from a pretty straightforward (while still impressive) escort mission that gives you a fuckawesome event but doesn't rise to the occasion like I had hoped. This is like, world falling to shit. Yet it didn't feel as chaotic as I would expect it to be.
Respawning allies reminded me a lot of Halo for some reason.
Gameplay mechanics were fantastic and top of the series, along with level design, but I think I actually prefer the flow of MW3. Felt much more like the world was falling apart around you compared to BLOPS2 where you feel like the commander of a small task force running some errands.
Harper was an awesome badass. Totally covered the Woods spot on the squad. I actually was a bit weirded out by Woods' character in this, made total sense though!
I also like how the main antagonist had this massive plan than spanned the entire globe and the most secure organisations in the world, on an even more impressive scale than the most unbelievable Bond villain, yet his planned result was so simple. Not sure if I wished the game did more with his "group" rather than just ignore it entirely, both ideas are enjoyable in their own way.
Not surprised to see David Goyer of the Nolan Batman's fame helped on the script.
reptilescorpio
Member
Proof NeoGAF isn't a hive mind.
Some people think one way.
Other think another.
Although both of the above could be true
Especially if said journalist is getting a kickback every month from Sony or Microsoft, of course they would ravage a WiiU launch title!
/melgibson
/melgibson
pieatorium
Member
Proof NeoGAF isn't a hive mind.
Some people think one way.
Other think another.
Although both of the above could be true
Especially if said journalist is getting a kickback every month from Sony or Microsoft, of course they would ravage a WiiU launch title!
/melgibson
Both were supposed to be plural, jounalists as a whole. My laptop is a few years old some of the keys are a bit dodgy
Which game in particular?
pieatorium
Member
Todays version is Zombi U, it also happened with Halo and Resi 6.
bodyboarder
Member
Yeah will wait for more games. Though new 2d mario is mighty tempting.
Happy Birthday!!!!
Nice! More education is great.
bodyboarder
Member
Computer Science
reptilescorpio
Member
TOILET TRAINING IS YUCKY
On a more sanitary note it has been fun watching the stream of WiiU all day. Although the F Zero stuff made me a little <_>
Hope we can get a cutdown download title, like Wipeout HD, at the very least this generation.
On a more sanitary note it has been fun watching the stream of WiiU all day. Although the F Zero stuff made me a little <_>
Hope we can get a cutdown download title, like Wipeout HD, at the very least this generation.
Good luck mate! Hope the motivation holds strong for you.
Birthday!
Planet_JASE
Member
Don't worry rep, you'll get a hang of it eventually.
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