What is the last video game you played?

[Quintus 5,399]

Ah, the good old dark ages!

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Incidentally, does anyone know of a way around connecting the PS4 to the internet to 'enable playback feature' so that it will play DVDs/Blu-Rays? Such fucking bullshit, no need to do so with previous Playstations ... connecting it to the 'net isn't convenient for me, and is of no interest to me anyway ('online play' doesn't appeal greatly, to be honest).

You HAVE to connect to the internet and get a PSN membership with the PS4, no way around it. At least once in a while PSN account is necessary to get game patches (but not the console updates and BluRay playback)

Some games are fucked without the patches so I connect to the internet once before each new game ,update all the new crap, then keep it offline untill the next game.The problem is the patches are 2 GB+ each on average, so if you internet is slow it could take all night

I have only one wired internet connection (no router) , so I have to manually unplug my PC and plug in the PS4 each time ...so yes it's inconvenient but you really don't have a choice

By the way it was the same with the PS3, some game don't even play unless you update the console firmware, BUT you never needed a PSN account with the PS3 for game patches

Thanks for your help. Your last sentence there ... what I meant was the PS2 never asked me to connect to the internet just to play DVDs and the PS3 never asked me to do so to play them or Blu-Rays. It was attempting to play a standard-definition DVD last night that led to me discovering that the PS4 does.

Also had many happy hours of play on both PS2 and PS3 without connecting to the 'net once.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

There was virtually no online gaming in the PS2 era. I don't have access to my PS4 at the moment, but I believe there is a setting specifically for blu-ray playback.

As for The Old Blood, that was a nice meaty stand alone expansion, but I much prefer the story of The New Order.

Don't know if there are Best Buys in other countries, but in the U.S. they have a new subscription service for games. $30 gets you 20% off all video games for 2 years. It's the first time I'm going to be buying from them in a long time, but this time Amazon can't compete.

[DreamTheater 131]

Started with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.

Messy game design, full of flow-interrupting cutscenes, tutorial screens, questionable design decisions like the frustrating stealth sections, and Gabriel having to transform into a rat so he can chew on electric cables to get past doors... I shit you not.

But the combat is awesome, the music is too, and the art direction is inspired.

I hope it gets better, because so far the first game is way superior.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Symphony Of The Night is regarded as the best one, and one of the best games ever made.

[DreamTheater 131]

Never played the Nintendo ones, Sega fanboy here.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I never played any of them personally. The creator recently funded a new game on Kickstarter in the same vein.

[King Mark 3,630]

I tried to find a copy of Witcher 3 but it was sold out everywhere! Tried 5 stores

I'm playing something called Mini Ninjas on the xbox360 for now

Also had many happy hours of play on both PS2 and PS3 without connecting to the 'net once.

Maybe you got lucky on the PS3, but like I said some games asked me to install the latest console update before I could even play them

[Jay 37,337]

I tried to find a copy of Witcher 3 but it was sold out everywhere! Tried 5 stores

This is why Amazon exists.

[crocodile 7,999]

It's weird to see Witcher so popular around the world. Remember reading the books as a teen (well, some of them).

Karol

[DreamTheater 131]

Batman: Arkham Knight PC fixes are "significant" and "will take some time"

[Quintus 5,399]

I'll have boxed off the PS4 version while they're still plugging away fixing the PC one. I'm having a good time, it's an enjoyable game. But easily the weakest of the series, unless something drastic changes between my progress now and the end of the game.

[crocodile 7,999]

I'll have boxed off the PS4 version while they're still plugging away fixing the PC one. I'm having a good time, it's an enjoyable game. But easily the weakest of the series, unless something drastic changes between my progress now and the end of the game.

I think it might be simply a "second sequel" syndrome.

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

I think it's a faster faster more more syndrome. They crammed every idea they had into it and lost focus along the way. Jack of all trades, master of onfoot traversal and combat only.

[DreamTheater 131]

Asylum: action adventure

City: open world action adventure

Knight: open world action adventure with tons of driving

The series is evolving

[Jay 37,337]

What about Origins?

[Quintus 5,399]

I think it is unfairly chastised and dismissed because of its dodgy launch bugs and because it wasn't Rocksteady. I played it on PC and I believe I didn't encounter a single issue with it. It was a quality entry in the series IMO and so far I rate it higher than Arkham Knight. Plus is was absolutely stunning maxed out @60fps on the Windows platform.

I'd say Origins had the best boss fights of any Batman game. I normally hate boss fights.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Still getting to grips with the Batmobile combat system in Knight, I'm getting blown up a LOT.

Goddamn drone tanks!

[DreamTheater 131]

Origins has a terrible feeling of deja-vu and a not as great story but yes the boss battles are excellent.

I played all three on the PC and Knight will be the first on console. Simply because I love my PS4.

[Quintus 5,399]

The latest game runs pretty much immaculately on PS4. I'd say it's possibly the most visually impressive release to date on the system.

[Red 75]

I haven't finished it yet but story-wise at least Arkham Knight is better than Arkham City. Knight feels like a cohesive conclusion to Rocksteady's trilogy whereas City felt too disparate. Cohesive storytelling across multiple games is a rare thing in the industry. But the ending will be the deciding factor as far as that goes. Gameplay-wise they are virtually the same except for the batmobile, which I generally like despite having controls that are on the clunky side. So I've been more impressed with this than the previous games, just the scale and depth of it.

[King Mark 3,630]

So much for Mini Ninjas...finished it in 2 nights

[crocodile 7,999]

Yeah, Batmobile takes a little time to get used to.

For me, it's like learning from scratch anyway. Because I'm used to PC version.

But I'm really enjoying it.

Karol - who never played Origins.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Also bought 'Evolve' but on the first few plays I'm not enjoying it. Pretty unforgiving gameplay, regardless of whether you're the hunters or the monster.

[King Mark 3,630]

I finally found a copy of Witcher 3 ...ready to play now

[crocodile 7,999]

Let me know how it goes. I'm really curious.

Karol

[Jay 37,337]

[DreamTheater 131]

Well well, a presentation video of MGS: The Phantom Pain... this must be a first. And only 31 minutes? I wonder if there's actual gameplay in there?

Seriously, I'm pretty excited for this one. Big fan of MGS and this one even has Jack Bauer in it.

Which is why I won't be watching this clip, I want to discover it all for myself later this year.

Recently I've been getting into DYING LIGHT on the PS4. Nifty zombie-killing simulator. Primarily using melee weapons to bash in zombie brains. I like how the entire city is open to explore from the get go, unlocking safehouses as I go and finding quests to do. Visually it's all very detailed and not as gritty as we would think. It's no The Walking Dead: The game. But the manners in which I can slay walkers are left for the player to discover, the locales are littered with all sorts of opportunities to dispose of the biters. And they way the player traverses the city is not unlike that in Mirror's Edge, with lots of climbing walls onto roofs and jumping from building to building to avoid becoming zombie chow. There are even some parkour challenges if you feel like taking them (because they ain't easy, I've only tried one so far).

It's fun, and one of the features promises that once it becomes dark, the zombies become supercharged and the intensity / scare factor raises tenfold. I haven't played during nighttime yet, but I've already fought against infected humans that were way too hard to fight on such a low level, I barely made it out alive of that side-quest. I'll level up some more before I try any of those again.

[King Mark 3,630]

Well, witcher 3 is really a hard core RPG. It's scope is huge. I've been playing for a few days and I feel I barely scratched the surface

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah it's really dense. I was kinda put off by its size and abandoned it for Arkham Knight, which I'm loving. I have a handful of games from earlier this year that I haven't finished and am undecided as to which one I should return to when I'm done. Dying Light is one.

[Jay 37,337]

[DreamTheater 131]

Posting these vids Jay, does that mean you play them now / intend to play them or just to bump the thread?

[Jay 37,337]

I'd love to play the Arkham games someday

I posted the video because I thought people on this board would be interested in the DLC coming out

[DreamTheater 131]

You're talking to one... But DLC has never been a driving force in my buying decisions. If I want to play something, it's the base game, I never excite over the add-ons, unless they're really good and expand on the existing game. Like Alien Isolation with its survivor maps or levels set on the Nostromo (short as they are).

[Koray Savas 2,251]

By definition, Add-On Content expands upon the existing game. I bought Arkham Knight's $40 Season Pass. Super inflated price, but with 3 story add-ons, it'll probably be worth it.

[Wojo 2,453]

$40 on top of a $60 game? I hope it's worth it to you, I really do. My days of spending more than $50 on one game ended with New Vegas.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's an unavoidable construct of the industry. Season Passes and uber expensive DLC are here to stay. Activision spearheaded it with COD and now it's taken over!

I only paid $38 for Arkham Knight, so another $40 on top of it isn't so bad for all the content. I don't do this for games I don't love, and I've been having a great time with the game.

[DreamTheater 131]

Inevitably the Arkham Knight GOTY edition will come out with everything included at a much reduced price, I'll buy it then, because I intend to go through Arkham City again (played Asylum a while ago), before I start the new one.

[Wojo 2,453]

I've been too busy to play games.

[Quintus 5,399]

Gladly, I do not understand the mindset of someone who blind buys a season pass without any prior knowledge of what will be included in the eventual DLC.

And then there's the total suckers who purchase the season pass before they've even touched the base game. Why???

[Wojo 2,453]

Likely so if they choose to play the game only once, they delay that playthrough until all DLCs are released and in their library. The possibility of the set being cheaper in the future is irrelevant to them because they have more money than they need.

[Quintus 5,399]

My bigger concern would be what if the base game wasn't enjoyable in the first place and what if the content of the SP was more of the same or worse.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Gladly, I do not understand the mindset of someone who blind buys a season pass without any prior knowledge of what will be included in the eventual DLC.

And then there's the total suckers who purchase the season pass before they've even touched the base game. Why???

By definition, Add-On Content expands upon the existing game. I bought Arkham Knight's $40 Season Pass. Super inflated price, but with 3 story add-ons, it'll probably be worth it.

The DLC has already been detailed.

[Jay 37,337]

Here’s how the Xbox 360 games will work on the Xbox One

[crocodile 7,999]

Well, witcher 3 is really a hard core RPG. It's scope is huge. I've been playing for a few days and I feel I barely scratched the surface

So you're enjoying it then?

I'm thinking of getting it.

Karol

[King Mark 3,630]

yeah I'm enjoying it a lot, but you need to put a lot of time into it to progress.

It's similar to Skyrim but harder

[DreamTheater 131]

Here’s how the Xbox 360 games will work on the Xbox One

Fine for when my 360 will eventually die, until that day I won't emulate thank you very much.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Also bought 'Evolve' but on the first few plays I'm not enjoying it. Pretty unforgiving gameplay, regardless of whether you're the hunters or the monster.

Traded this in against Wolfenstein : The New Order, which is MUCH better. Also picked up Infamous : First Light, which is fun ... liking how some of the sound effects come through the speaker on the controller.

[Quintus 5,399]

Gladly, I do not understand the mindset of someone who blind buys a season pass without any prior knowledge of what will be included in the eventual DLC.

And then there's the total suckers who purchase the season pass before they've even touched the base game. Why???

By definition, Add-On Content expands upon the existing game. I bought Arkham Knight's $40 Season Pass. Super inflated price, but with 3 story add-ons, it'll probably be worth it.

The DLC has already been detailed.

Batman is the perfect case in point here. From experience, Harley Quinn's own campaign add-on DLC in Arkham City was precisely the example which sprung to my own mind earlier - in that it wasn't worth the premium they asked for it when it originally became available. I eventually picked it up in the sales at half the cost (think I paid about £3.99), and even though it was reasonably enjoyable, it was still a stretch to call it 'good value' downloadable content. At under two hours long and with little new things to do it certainly wasn't worth the tenner they normally charged.

I hope you feel like you get good value with your advance purchase, but really you'll be no more of a sucker if they turn out to be as deep as Harley's Revenge.

[DreamTheater 131]

A couple of hours into Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 I decided to uninstall it from Steam, because quite honestly, it's a mess. The game seems built by various separate teams without overall vision. I was feeling it the days before, but I wanted to give it a chance because the combat is pretty slick.

However the level design is not slick, the UI is convoluted and a pain to use and the storyline is uninspired crap. What triggered it today was this stupid stealth bit where it wasn't clear how I should get around two guards and opening a door by hitting a switch. There was the option to turn into a rat but that only added to the confusion. So I quit the game, deleted it from my hard drive, and that's the end of that.

The only thing C:LOS2-related I'll continue occupying myself with is the score which is epic to say the least.

Here's an interesting read by someone who worked on it:

"Well, I would like to shed some light over the development of this game... Working with Mercury Steam -and I would like to tell this anonymously- is about an everyday frustration. Here's to every guy that has experienced hell during the development of this game, but especially to those who have led this to the mess that Lords of Shadows 2 is:

- Kojima had little to nothing to do with the development of the first game, he came by, set a seal, visited the studio, signed some things and that was it. He had even less to do with Mirror of Fate and LoS2.

The vast majority of this team is aware that the game we've done is a real piece of ♥♥♥♥ that has nothing to do with the first one's quality and production values... Nobody is surprised by the low reviews we've got.

- If there's someone to blame here, that's Enric Álvarez. He is the person who has led a broken development based on his personal criteria, completely overlooking programmers, designers and artists. Despite his nice look to the press, often considered as some sort of creative "visionary" in the looks of David Cage and Molyneux, this guy has serious problems. He is a mean and naughty guy, and since the "success Lords of Shadows 1" his ego has grown to the point of not even daring to say 'hello' when you meet him in the hallway.

His distrust to his own workers is enormous. Most of the development team often found out features of the game through press news, rather than from the studio's head - unbelievable. And there is no corporate culture here at all... this is just a handful of people working blindly and at the disposal of an alleged visionary.

- The studio's internal structure is archaic, still based on the old partners of the Scrapland days. I'll give you an example so you can see the full picture: the studio's signature engine (one with many flaws) was solely coded by two guys, one of them being a founder of the company and Enric's confident. Access for the new programmers to the source code to update or refurbish the engine is denied, so things are still done in a 10-year-old fashion.

- Many of the studio founders are people with zero abilities for running a studio. Often here newbie developers know more than their own bosses. This structure only leads to a slow, messy and absurd development process, with the end result of Lords of Shadows 2 being a perfect example of what happens due to that.

- Absolutely every design idea has to be monitored, taken away and mutilated by Enric Álvarez. Several game designers have grown tired of this and have abandoned the studio.

- The art direction for this project has been erratic and beheaded. After Enric dismissed every idea and core decission from our main art director for the previous projects, he decided to just leave. It was a battle of egos unleashed by Enric (something that he has carried over with since his times in Rebel Act). Our now former art director is still working in Madrid, now with the Tequila guys making RIME.

- Many others have just turned to other studios offers, sick of the situation here. Almost every month we see fellow devs packing up and getting out of here looking for a new job abroad -that's sad-. It's amazing how the biggest AAA game developer in Spain is not even willing to make its workers a counteroffer. This company does not think highly of its talented workers and their good work. There has never been any kind of salary bonus or anything that remotely resembles it. Not even a single "Good job team!" acknowledgement.

- The production management for this project has been terrible, way often the heads of each department dismissed every production deadline and imposed their own criteria. As a result, the development was delayed for six months, and that investment only came out of MercurySteam's pockets.

Many can't help comparing this situation to something similar that already happened in a company in which many of us worked: Pyro Studios (the team behind the Commandos saga). The QA department is treated like cattle, with shameful wages and almost everyday bullying.

- Expectations for our future are quite bad... with a publisher like Konami really upset after the mediocre game we've made.

- After completing Lords of Shadows 2 MercurySteam has fired 35 workers, and it's embarrasing that no website or journalist is talking about that. More firings are expected to come in the following days.

- And finally, because not everything is bad in here, I wanted to say that the real team behind this company is an incredible bunch of people. If all those guys who are not allowed to be promoted due to our Jurassic studio leads had the chance to set the course of the company, our future would be so bright. There's just so much passion and talent here, more than I've ever seen anywhere else, but it's completely held back. I really hope that those who read this understand what we've lived here. Someone has to say this so it is not lost in time after the game's launch.

Thank you for reading me."