Prey 2006 is a slightly gory boomer shooter with interesting topsy-turvy levels, gravity tricks, a few cool enemies and guns and powers, and a campy alien abduction / invasion story. It might be a little underrated in its genre. Definitely fun.
But Prey 2017 was more of a clever stealth action / psych horror title in the vein of Deus Ex and of course System Shock. Brilliant interconnected level design, a deep story, a good (though not super original) roster of guns and superpowers, some tricky puzzles, and a few interesting and enemies. It gets a good amount of love but I still think it deserves wider recognition as an excellent game.
I mean, it’s not disqualified from being art just because the artist got paid by a corporation. Historically most great artists were paid by monarchs, religious leaders, nobility, or wealthy merchants, who were all the power brokers of their time.
But yeah the fact that this is a product branding logo has weird “hail corporate” vibes.
Damn, I really hope this isn’t true. I just started playing (even though my PC is below spec and I have to run it at potato quality) and I was having fun with the improvements over the original. I’ve followed the development and yeah initial launch was way premature but the 0.2 For Science! update looked to have turned things around.
But staff departure postings on LinkedIn are a very bad sign…
Happy birthday! I actually just started playing Journey for the first time yesterday, less than an hour I’d say (on Steam). The visuals and fluidity of controls are nice, nothing spectacular by today’s standards but I’m sure they were great back in the PS3 era. The beginning felt a little slow trudging through the sand until I understood how the scarf upgrades work. But then when I encountered another player it really started to click and go more smoothly. I like how the game encourages cooperation by pinging and refilling each other’s scarf energy, though I feel like progress might go slow again if I get stuck going solo next session. The puzzles are very simple but I was feeling sick so having a ‘cozy’ game was actually pretty nice.
My dad helped me install the original Wolfenstein 3D on DOS when I was a kid. And he’s 100% a boomer (b.1947). So for that reason it always feels accurate to me.
IMO Mini Metro quickly becomes super stressful. I assume Motorways is the same.
Instead I would say Islanders is quite relaxing. Super minimal city building.
What I’d really like though is something for Steam Deck with a good flow state. Any suggestions? Lonely Mountains Downhill looks pretty good maybe. Someone else mentioned Superflight which is great but maybe too minimal.
This is exciting! A gaming handheld from a great open source hardware company that makes SBCs like the RP5. It looks to have all the quality features and combines the best of all the handhelds I’ve seen. This has me really excited....
Unless they’ve fired the absolute moron(s) who designed the crafting and alien language system in NMS, I say stay far away.
I mean, combining dihydrogen and oxygen yields… NaCl? And you learn alien words literally one at a time? Oh but they have procedural generation! Except every single space station looks identical.
IMO This is a developer who does not respect their players. And somehow they’ve convinced a lot of people that periodically adding more shallow grindy fetch quests means the core gameplay isn’t garbage.
What are you talking about? The player literally learns nothing about the alien languages. All you do is walk up to a NPC, button mash through absolutely inconsequential filler text, and pick the option that says “teach me a word”. Then a popup says “You now know the Korvax word for ‘THE’”, except it doesn’t even tell you which alien word was translated or explain any grammar or context or conjugation or anything. Your character just does a magical substitution from that point forward.
Or you can do the same thing by walking up to the black pillars if you’d rather trudge around a planet surface for macguffins.
How in any way is that a good system? There’s zero skill or challenge or reward or even real gameplay here. A word search puzzle would have 100x more depth.
I really wanted to like NMS. The core concept is 100% up my alley, it looks pretty good, and it’s a neat sandbox. I suppose it’s not bad if you’re the kind of player who is happy mindlessly gathering resources so you can craft an ornate base. Hell, I played quite a bit because I was determined to collect one of every type of spaceship.
But I really do think the gameplay is objectively bad by almost any possible measure. The on-foot traversal is terrible, waiting around for refiners sucks (though at least they had the sense to give a backpack refiner), trying to get the actual spaceship you want is awful, flying towards the galactic center is a chore, and I could go on. I guess the gunplay is serviceable, but the enemies aren’t the least bit interesting aside from maybe the largest walker bots.
Playing the game felt like satire. Basic questions I would expect other devs of sci-fi games to ask themselves seemingly either went unanswered or got super lazy answers.
e.g. “Should we let players customize their spaceships?” to which HG apparently thinks their system of solely generating ships from a random permutation of parts is plenty. Or “Do you think different planets and galaxies would have different hostile flora?”, to which they decided “nah, the same 3 are fine everywhere”. “Should planets have biomes of any kind, at least ice caps maybe?”… “nah, players don’t care if planets are basically uniform.”
Yeah I like the “go anywhere” feel and was happy when I found a dinosaur planet too. But it still all feels 2 inches deep in so many ways.
I’ve come back to it a bunch of times because people keep insisting it’s good or “no you just need to try X” or “but the latest update added so much”. Steam says over 300 hours now but a decent portion of that was standing around trade hubs waiting for ships I wanted in S or A class, or literally just walking away from my PC while refiners ran.
I’m not usually the type of player to use cheats/exploits but I actually had more fun when I started using a duplication glitch. No more limited inventory, money, or resources, I could just pick one ship and one multitool and max them out with all the storage and weapons and whatnot. I don’t enjoy grinding so this was a relief. But it still didn’t make up for all the bad underlying mechanics.
EA, Activision, Ubisoft… their BS is on another level entirely and I generally don’t play their games because if it.
For NMS / Hello Games it’s more that I really want to like the game but find it immensely frustrating that after years and years of updates, they still haven’t fixed some of the most basic elements.
Like when your character sprints, the tiniest bump in terrain cancels the sprinting. This even happens in the Nexus where it looks like flat ground. Why?
Again for the alien languages… there’s no dictionary in this universe? I’m supposed to believe interstellar travel is commonplace, but they don’t have an app to translate the 3 ubiquitous languages? I have a device in my hand right now that can do that.
Space combat still isn’t balanced. If you alternate between the phase beam with the shield absorb upgrade and any other weapon, you can basically wear down any threat and win.
What has actually been improved about the core game of NMS? People keep telling me that in vague terms without saying what specifically was improved. I know the inventory system is better (but still kind of a mess IMO), but what else? Don’t say multiplayer because they promised that at the beginning.
Meh. I’m seeing a lot of prices that aren’t even that close to historical lows. e.g. Mass Effect Legendary was $10 somewhere recently but now it’s $12 on Steam (though I’m not giving EA any money for it until they fix the stupid launcher for good on Steam Deck).
Prototype is like $4 though, might snag that if I don’t already own a copy elsewhere.
Looking for those games that you may have heard about but never tried until you got a Deck. Or old games on systems you never had that you’re trying for the first time. Or new AAA games that just released in the last year or two that you picked up for the first time specifically to play on Steam Deck and have kept you glued to...
Mostly I’ve used the Deck to continue playing my primary games on the couch or on the go. Elden Ring and RDR2 look and play fantastically once you tweak them a bit.
Smaller games usually run perfectly out of the box. The only ones I’ve played exclusively on Deck so far are Super Pilot (indie F-Zero), Ultimate Chicken Horse (Mario Maker-ish), and Mark of the Ninja.
Yo, you like story-based 3rd person action brawlers with strong characters and unlockable abilities? Well here try this top-down turn-based strategy series where you can micro-manage a randomized set of city-states in a campaign that spans millennia.
Islanders is only a few bucks and very serene. You get a random island and a small palette of buildings at a time. The buildings can only go certain places (farm on a plain, quarry near stone, hunting lodge near forest). You get points for putting certain buildings together, or certain ones further apart (mostly in ways that make sense). And that’s about it. When you use up the buildings on your palette you get a new set. There’s no timer, just try to get points. When you reach the goal you can start over on a new island.
It’s very simple. You can’t move or demolish buildings, you don’t worry about roads or infrastructure of any kind, there’s no citizen happiness or disasters or money or anything. Just relax and place little buildings on islands.
I guess I should finally finish the first one, huh? Good game, but I guess I got bogged down 3/4 through it trying to figure out the story and some of the harder secrets. Probably should have just pushed through because I enjoyed the main puzzles way more.
Unity has announced dramatic changes to its Unity Engine business model which will see its introduce a monthly fee per game install beginning on 1st January next year - a move that has already send shockwaves across the development community....
How could they even enforce this? Couldn’t devs just include a wrapper or small firewall (or settings for Windows firewall) with their games to block Unity’s analytics?
So far, Starfield is an awesome game, but now I have an urge to pick up my character on no man sky, and I’m having trouble putting that game down right now....
I keep trying NMS hoping to find a good game in there somewhere. I’m over 100 hours now, mostly because I’m a dork who likes collecting spaceships.
But all the mechanics – the crafting and movement and languages and even the terrain generation – are frankly pretty terrible. It’s like Hello Games intentionally hired people who don’t know how to design these things.
Why do all the space stations look identical inside? Why do I have to learn one single alien word at a time, including “a” and “the”? Why are there no rivers or waterfalls or glaciers or swamp basins? And why can’t I customize my ship appearance when the game itself can clearly generate one from a dozen random parts?
You’re saying that doesn’t describe the current state of No Man’s Sky? The only notable buildings I’ve found are the same 3 tiny cookie-cutter outposts dotted randomly all across most planets. Oh sorry, 4 now if you count the camps from the Interceptor update and happen to be on a dissonant planet.
I feel like it wouldn’t take much effort to do better so that’s sad if Starfield hasn’t.
It’s been many years and I’ve found very few outlets that consistently resonate with me.
In terms of review quality, I think the best one is Easy Allies (formed by folks who used to work at GameTrailers). They match video clips with a well-written script and professional narration so perfectly. You can tell they haven’t just thoroughly played the game under review, but they know its history among the genre. But IMO they focus too much on console, where I’m PC-only.
I miss those so much. Any modern games still playing with this concept? I remember Half Life had the bathroom, kitchen, and office, and I remember a backyard one in Quake 3 that was really cool.
I was actually being facetious. Maybe it seems like a throwback or whatever now, but back when DNF finally released, the “tiny player, big world” idea was rather played out. Duke Burger felt very dated and out-of-place in a game where you’re supposed to be this big macho badass because suddenly you can get stomped on or crushed by small kitchen objects. The level itself is a maze of almost entirely platform jumping puzzles and totally overstays its welcome. But I guess it looks kinda cool and does sort of break the monotony of a bad game.
Other games (and especially player-made maps) in the late 90’s did it much better. I especially remember custom levels for its predecessor, Duke Nukem 3D, that had a lot of fun with the shrunken player concept. HL and Quake too like you mention. Folks here also said de_rats in Counter Strike which might’ve been the pinnacle.
Prey 2006 or Prey or Prey 2017; which do you prefer? angielski
Wikipedia pages for each:...
Peak graphic design (lemmy.world) angielski
The Witcher 3 REDkit — Official Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
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Kerbal Space Program 2 studio reportedly shut down by Take-Two (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Let's discuss: Journey (beehaw.org) angielski
The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!...
No Man's Sky Orbital Update brings full ship customisation and a complete space station overhaul (www.rockpapershotgun.com) angielski
I hate the term "Boomer Shooter"
Not to say I hate the genre, I actually love me some Dusk or Turbo Overkill, but why, oh why are they called Boomer Shooters?...
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC specifications revealed, out March 21 (blog.playstation.com) angielski
What is your game to de stress ?
I like mini motorways and stardew valley. What about you ?
New Manjaro Linux Gaming Handheld from OrangePi (neo.manjaro.org) angielski
This is exciting! A gaming handheld from a great open source hardware company that makes SBCs like the RP5. It looks to have all the quality features and combines the best of all the handhelds I’ve seen. This has me really excited....
Steam Code Giveaway angielski
Edit: If one of my codes has been claimed, please check out this comment. /u/neurospice@lemmy.dbzer0.com also has Jingle Jam 2023 codes available....
New single planet fantasy game from Hello Games (www.youtube.com) angielski
Steam Sale Games
What are people excited about for with the steam sale? Any hidden gems you’d like to share with the class?
Steam Deck Owners: What’s been your favorite game that you first discovered on Steam Deck and now you can’t seem to put down?
Looking for those games that you may have heard about but never tried until you got a Deck. Or old games on systems you never had that you’re trying for the first time. Or new AAA games that just released in the last year or two that you picked up for the first time specifically to play on Steam Deck and have kept you glued to...
Humble Bundle - WB 100: Play the Legends (www.humblebundle.com) angielski
$5 Tier:...
Slow Down With These Serene City-Building Games (www.wired.com) angielski
I am looking for more games like this: though this list seems like a good starting point....
The Talos Principle 2 | Demo on Steam Available Now (youtu.be) angielski
Unity reveals plans to charge per game install, drawing criticism from development community (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Unity has announced dramatic changes to its Unity Engine business model which will see its introduce a monthly fee per game install beginning on 1st January next year - a move that has already send shockwaves across the development community....
Starfield has made me obsessed with no man’s sky
So far, Starfield is an awesome game, but now I have an urge to pick up my character on no man sky, and I’m having trouble putting that game down right now....
Bethesda says most of Starfield's 1000+ planets are dull on purpose (www.pcgamer.com)
where do yall go for your gaming coverage/pods? angielski
Giant Bomb - great coverage, funny, not problematic. wide range of content, amazing chemistry, two awesome podcasts plus game mess mornings...
Final Fantasy 6 director is still pushing for a remake (www.gamesradar.com) angielski
Anyone else remember those giant scale maps that used to be in shooters? e.g. bathroom, kitchen, office, backyard, that made you feel so tiny? angielski
I miss those so much. Any modern games still playing with this concept? I remember Half Life had the bathroom, kitchen, and office, and I remember a backyard one in Quake 3 that was really cool.