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STEAM Announcements & Updates 2014 III - Don't Believe The Tags

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user237

Member
Do the countless errors mean that my RAM is fucked? This is with all 4 sticks inserted (8GB total) btw.

Background: I've been experiencing BSODs (mostly MEM MANAGEMENT errors) mere minutes after booting Win7 64bit( already reinstalled twice by now) for about 2 weeks now. I don't experience any BSODs while running Win7 32bit so I kinda had a hunch that my RAM is faulty.

Edit: It's up to 570 errors now :S

I would carefully reseat the RAM and try again. If it still gives errors, you probably have bad RAM that should be returned if still in warranty.

If you want to be absolutely sure, try a known good RAM stick to rule out a bad motherboard or memory controller.
 

Newblade

Member
Hey there, yet another giveaway.

ModBot said:
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 3 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
- This giveaway is a raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 3 hours after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.
- This giveaway has a manual blocklist. The giver has identified members who abuse giveaways and restricted them from participating.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


Time Gentlemen Please -- MB-75417B8AAEDF4FC9 - Taken by Garcia. 2 entrants total.
Eryi's Action -- MB-62633385427CF429 - Taken by Shalashaska. 14 entrants total.
Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers -- MB-98A31198E51CE07A - Taken by cardinalmind. 1 entrants total.


t1394508669z1.png
 

zkylon

zkylewd
I am pondering whether to buy The Banner Saga for a friendly colleague's birthday. Do you have any impression, especially from these of you who have stopped playing the game after an hour or so?

jGN5G3M.jpg
i only farmed the cards yo :p

i played the multiplayer beta and found it to be relatively satisfying
 

Grief.exe

Member
any gifs of the not as drastic comparisons?

also the torch mechanic still seems alive, I think I watched part of the retail run and he had a torch with a timer on it... i noticed the ticking clock above the left hand equip and then he lit a sconce/brazier with it.

The torch mechanic and dynamic lighting is still in the console release. The necessity to use the torch is all but gone, lighting has gone from interesting to gray across the board. Even the darkest tunnels are just dimly lit with a grey glow.
 

Piano

Banned
I just finished up Resident Evil 6. Trying to work my way through a backlog of shooters.

What should I play next?

Binary Domain
Spec Ops
Max Payne 3
 

DocSeuss

Member
The licences were abandoned: Blur disappeared along with the Bond games at the beginning of 2013, which is when Acti's FY ticks over as it follows the calendar year.

I am still bummed I didn't pick them up then. I thought "meh, I can get it later."

Poor sales for the shitty game - sounds fair.

Get the fuck out. Just. Go. Leave this place. Never look back.

I am frowning at my computer screen.

Licensed cars == Activision didn't want to renew licenses on a game that didn't make them any money (and cost rather a lot to make).

Ahhh, the car licenses. For some reason, I was thinking they were fake cars, not actual cars. .-.

Spec Ops, then Binary Domain. MP3, never.

You. This is the most correct thing. Yes. Yes, this.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
The torch mechanic and dynamic lighting is still in the console release. The necessity to use the torch is all but gone, lighting has gone from interesting to gray across the board. Even the darkest tunnels are just dimly lit with a grey glow.

Designing levels completely dark in order to necessitate the need for a torch was a dumb idea to begin with (hello Doom 3). Not saying it looks better now with dull lighting, but the darkness was super annoying when I played the Network Test a few months ago.

Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?
aye
 

Garcia

Member
When Grief called it a prequel, I didn't think he meant that the game was designed to run on a PS2.

LOL! Ouch. . .

Leaving that behind, last night I had the most bizarre experience during my first Moonbase Alpha run (which I just downloaded because of this video posted yesterday in this thread). I originally just wanted to have some stupid fun with the Text to Speech.

Well, I did in the beginning and yes, TTS sounds exactly like Stephen Hawking. I chose a server where other 5 people were already playing.

20 minutes later we were all speaking of anime and manga while trying to fix some random malfunctions in the moon base. Having a casual convo like that when you're moonwalking while the Earth remains visible all the time was very interesting and fun to do. A little later I just bailed out because one of the guys started speaking of wanting to create an anime world portal IRL. Reminded me of that post from a GAF user who wanted to shorten himselft in order to be "pretty and perfect".

All in all, I'm really glad that I decided to switch to PC gaming. It's just been 3 months but I'm already beginning to acclimate to the continuous stream of positive and refreshing surprises.
 

Sub Zero

his body's cold as ice, but he's got a heart of gold
Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?

It's not shit at all, just nothing special. I played it on normal and didn't have any trouble with the difficulty except a part in the last chapter. It's a pretty short game too, should take around 6 hours to complete
 

DocSeuss

Member
Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?

No, it's bog standard. The fact that it's somewhat unfun to play as the game gets harder actually helps accentuate the story.

Max Payne has the best gunplay of the three, but the level design ruins it, to the point that it's just infuriating to play.

Binary Domain is strange. I kept being amazed at how much fun I was having with it. The start's a bit bad, and not fun, but it turns into a really fun game, with robot disassembly, neat bosses, surprisingly fun dialog/characters who don't fit well within traditional game archetypes.

Honestly, part of me thinks it's one of the best third person shooters of the generation, behind Gears 3 and Alan Wake.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
I just finished up Resident Evil 6. Trying to work my way through a backlog of shooters.

What should I play next?

Binary Domain
Spec Ops
Max Payne 3

spec ops > binary domain > max payne 3

max payne 3 is the stupidest game of the 3 with by far the worst story and writing but the one that really excels at gameplay. the other two are serviceable but far more enjoyable imo since max payne 3 is the most pretentious bullshit rockstar may have ever done.

well, gta 4 is pretty bad in that regard too

also mp3 has a lot of tiny annoyances that may drive you insane as it did for me.

spec ops is just by far the best of the three, combat is fun enough and story isn't subtle but it aims pretty high, and it's mostly successful

binary domain is a fun little side thing
 

ModBot

Not a mod, just a bot.
Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below containing the key.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
- This giveaway has a manual blocklist. The giver has identified members who abuse giveaways and restricted them from participating.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:

Amnesia Fortnight 2012 Bundle -- MB-6D05236AD5201794 - Taken by bobnowhere
 

The_Monk

Member
Max Payne 3 is actually fun.

I played the console version back in the day and I liked but I must admit that my brain was not comfortable watching those cut scenes unfortunately.

Regarding Binary Domain, I'm 6 hours in and loving it, just wish I can grab more time soon and finish it.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
What's the issue with Max Payne 3's level design?
too many tight corridors with like waves of enemies plus some awful boss fights and shitty turret sequences

there are some great moments tho

like teh big issue with mp3 is that the story isn't just bad, it's just offensively atrocious. like sam lake isn't shakespeare but the man could write the best cheesy noir anti-hero badass ever and couple him with a bunch of cool side characters and wrap it all up on fancy meta-poetic angsty rambling that was so much fun. i mean max payne in mp3 actually says the words "sao paulo is like bagdad with g strings".

and then it tortures you by forcing you to watch it. and you want to open a door? nope, it's a cutscene! want to push that switch? cutscene! and after each and every one of them max will forget what you had equipped and grab his pistol and grab cover in some random spot rockstar chose for you and play that animation every time you die and respawn.

it's just so fucking pretentious of them to be so infatuated with their cutscenes and their writing that it's just insulting.

Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?
nah, the gameplay is nothing spectacular but it works and i actually enjoyed it quite a lot on higher difficulties (one of the few games i've 100%)

like play it on normal at least
 

maty

Member
Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?

It's not bad, just don't play it on FUBAR difficulty if you want to enjoy the game.
I did it because I like to suffer and get all achievements xD

Normal is OK.
 

DocSeuss

Member
What's the issue with Max Payne 3's level design?

Max Payne 1 and 2, two of the greatest video games ever made, emphasize player movement.

Max Payne 3 has Max taking WAY too much damage super fast, and rarely gives him opportunities to jump around the space. Most of the maps are too narrow.

Here's one of the levels in the game. This is a legit breakdown:

A) cutscene (this is where Max cuts his hair)
B) walking behind someone (run is disabled for no reason) with the characters in the game screaming at you to run
C) cutscene
D) walk out of a cess pit
E) cutscene
F) walk up an alley
G) cutscene
H) finish walking up the alley
I) the longest cutscene so far that ends with you mid dodge-jump
J) shoot people for about two minutes
K) walk out
L) cutscene

That's the level.

The most open levels are the... three set in New Jersey?

The rest of the levels are largely super narrow. There's just not enough room to do much of the dodging.

Oh, and there are five--count 'em, FIVE sections where you sit still and shoot at people. ONE of these sequences is so bad that they actually TAKE CONTROL of your gun and POINT you at the enemies you need to shoot.
 
I just finished up Resident Evil 6. Trying to work my way through a backlog of shooters.

What should I play next?

Binary Domain
Spec Ops
Max Payne 3

Binary Domain, without question. It's an unusual game that's a lot of fun. Spec Ops is interesting and compelling, but I found it to be less interesting than BD. I would rate BD as the best third-person shooter I've ever played. Never played MP3, however.

I found BD at 15 hours to completion to be about twice as long as Spec Ops, if that alters the equation at all.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Binary Domain, without question. It's an unusual game that's a lot of fun. Spec Ops is interesting and compelling, but I found it to be less interesting than BD. I would rate BD as the best third-person shooter I've ever played. Never played MP3, however.

I found BD at 15 hours to completion to be about twice as long as Spec Ops, if that alters the equation at all.

What are the best two?

One has to be RE4.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
It's not bad, just don't play it on FUBAR difficulty if you want to enjoy the game.
I did it because I like to suffer and get all achievements xD

Normal is OK.

i really liked it on fubar

it turned into something like a puzzle game in which before each encounter i had to find out the right order to kill everyone and move to cover and stuff in order to proceed

the crashed helicopter part was a lot harder in hard difficulty for some reason too lol

What are the best two?

One has to be RE4.
max payne 1 yo

imo best tps of all time

i dunno why people place re4 that highly. like i'm personally not the biggest hater of escort missions but re4 had them of the worst kind. like 2/3rds of the game are basically escort missoins
 

rtcn63

Member
i dunno why people place re4 that highly. like i'm personally not the biggest hater of escort missions but re4 had them of the worst kind. like 2/3rds of the game are basically escort missoins

Wut. The actual escorting is minimal and fairly unobtrusive. I've only had one problem, and that is you-know-who dying once while I was knifing a box. He/she spent most of their time hiding in trash bins or whatever.

Not a fan of any game that relies on slow-mo. Maybe I just suck, I could never finish MP1 or 2. MP3 was just the final evolution of Uncharted (sans platforming), meaning I despised it so very much.
 
Isn't the gameplay in Spec Ops pretty shit, though? Should I play it on easy just to get the story?

No. I didn't care much for the story, but I thought the game was fun enough to play through several times and get the platinum. FUBAR mode was a good challenge... but since I don't think there's any unfair infinite spawn points for enemies it's like CoD on Veteran but better.

i really liked it on fubar

it turned into something like a puzzle game in which before each encounter i had to find out the right order to kill everyone and move to cover and stuff in order to proceed

the crashed helicopter part was a lot harder in hard difficulty for some reason too lol

i dunno why people place re4 that highly. like i'm personally not the biggest hater of escort missions but re4 had them of the worst kind. like 2/3rds of the game are basically escort missoins

Fubar was fun.
And I whole-heartedly disagree with your thoughts on RE4... but I'll let Grief take you to task for it (should he chose to!).
 

maty

Member
i really liked it on fubar

it turned into something like a puzzle game in which before each encounter i had to find out the right order to kill everyone and move to cover and stuff in order to proceed

the crashed helicopter part was a lot harder in hard difficulty for some reason too lol

Haha that's precisely what I didn't like because it meant replaying the same part over and over until you did it right, especially if it had a cutscene before it. But to each their own. :)

It's been over a year since I played it so I don't remember in which parts I died the most. In the end It took me 18-19 hours to 100% so it wasn't that bad.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
Wut. The actual escorting is minimal and fairly unobtrusive. I've only had one problem, and that is you-know-who dying once while I was knifing a box. He/she spent most of their time hiding in trash bins or whatever.
ah, maybe i misremember how much time you spent wish ashley

i still think the game stops being interesting the moment you get into that castle
 

Zeliard

Member
Spec Ops, then Binary Domain. MP3, never.

Max Payne 3 is very fun and I think it gets too much hate from some. I think the sheer violence and feel of the gunplay is very tough to beat, with Euphoria being used in impressive fashion throughout. There are a number of times I've shot up some guys and then sat mouth agape at what I had just witnessed. The violence is just so immediate and striking.

I love Max Payne's grungy, self-hating characterization; it's unusual to see in video game protagonists, especially in shooters, which are often about allowing a player to feel empowered and live vicariously through some ultra-talented, handsome lug.

The constant micro-cutscenes are a bother. I do think they interrupt the gameplay in a jarring fashion, but that's also because the gameplay is incredibly fun and you don't particularly want it to stop. I would note that as the single biggest downside of the game on replays, but then I also liked the characterizations, so the first time through the cutscenes didn't bug me. I don't think the plot was anything to write home about, but again, the characters drive the entire thing for the most part. The plot is almost incidental.

I'd definitely give Max Payne 3 a shot if you love shooters, and particularly if you love kinetic ones like F.E.A.R. Having played countless shooters, I can't think of many that can match what Max Payne 3 has to offer in that respect.
 

kevin1025

Banned
You're mean.

I haven't played it (yet), but I was under the impression Tomb Raider was more of a "Third-Person Self-Defense Simulator" than a shooter. It's innovating!

I really like the game, despite the joke. Enough to play it on PC and then again on PS4. It's divisive, to be sure, though. At the same time, I get why it's hated. But I tend to like almost everything.

I really should dedicate more time to RE4. Two false starts on PS2 and XBLA weren't enough.
 

thesaucetastic

Unconfirmed Member
off-topic, but what the hell are with Stump and Zelliard's tags? lol

Just a random question, what's the best horror game for a complete newbie? I've never tried one myself, only watched other people play them in like videos, so I don't know if I'll be able to stomach or enjoy it. It doesn't have to be on steam, if you feel like a retro one is the best introduction.

Anyway, probably going to start the swapper when I get done homework, woo.
 

rtcn63

Member
off-topic, but what the hell are with Stump and Zelliard's tags? lol.

Might have something to do with the premiere of Cosmos, hosted by that Neil Degrassi person. I heard he was a rapper from Canada.

I thought Outlast and both the Amnesia games were underwhelming. I do like Silent Hill.
 
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