Whatcha Been Playing?

[Combine Hunter]

I'm heading towards what I think is the end game of Darksiders 2, and I have to say, this game far exceeds the original in almost every respect. And it's brimming with personality, where as I felt the first one lacked any sense of identity. The more extensive RPG mechanics, and the PoP 2008 style platforming help make the comparisons to Zelda a lot less blatant. Death is also a really fun character to inhabit, much more so than War ever was. They could have just settled with a generic, gravelly voiced badass (and he is gravelly voiced and badass), but Death has a great dry sense of humour that makes his dialogue really pop. He's an arsehole to almost everyone in the game, but you love him for it. He's even an arsehole to you the player! If you try to pick up a potion that you have no room for, sometimes Death will snigger and say "impossible" in a really condescending way. I'm making him sound like the worst video game character ever, but trust me it works.

Sleeping Dogs continues to impress. The story is a slow burner, but it gets more and more interesting as it goes along. The hand to hand combat is really enjoyable, if not as good as the games it's aping. Plus it looks REALLY good on PC

Dust: Elysian Tail is one of the best looking games this year, and controls really well. But it's too easy to over level in that game, and then fights just become distractions.

Sound Shapes is worth playing just for the last two albums, especially Beck's album. The visuals just match up so perfectly with the music, it's crazy.

[Sean]

I'm having a hard time getting into Darksiders 2. Perhaps I'm doing it a disservice by playing it right after Sleeping Dogs. Two huge, open worlds, one right after the other is exhausting. But, I'm also just not really enjoying the world of DS2 as much as I did in the first one. Everything just feels like more typical fantasy stuff, IMO.

Also, man, they really go all out on the "do this thing three times to advance" idea in DS2. Go to dungeon, meet master who needs 3 items hidden in the dungeon. You have three pathways, only one is open. Go down one pathway, turn 3 valves, now another pathway opens. Go down 2nd pathway, defeat 3 mini-bosses, 3rd pathway opens. Go down third pathway collect three stones / souls / books. Come back to beginning to the dungeon master who says "bah, I dunno, go somewhere else!"

Those complaints aside, the combat and acting are pretty awesome. Definitely improved from DS1, there. The art / designs are spectacular as well. I don't know, I'm going to finish it, but, overall, I'm slightly disappointed with it, so far.

[dezm0nd]

Try playing Darksiders 2 and Dark Souls after one another. It goes like this.

Darksiders - Enter fight, mash the X and Y buttons and kill stuff
Dark Souls - Enter fight, press the X button and drink a flask. Die.

Took me a good hour to get out of that habit. I still die but in a less stupid manor.

[Combine Hunter]

Finished Darksiders 2. Overall, I REALLY liked it, much more than the first one. It did feel like the best content was in the first half of the game, and the ending was a bit limp, but hey. I will say that I am more excited for a Darksiders sequel than I have ever been. I really do hope they continue the trend of having a different protagonist for each game. It forces them to change how the character "feels" to control, which helps keep things fresh.

[James]

I liked Darksiders 2 a lot. It definitely improves on its predecessor, and on Apocalyptic has a not dissimilar feel to Demon's/Dark Souls in terms of having to quickly assess each new enemy to avoid death (much less punishing though, obviously). My only (petty) gripe is that my favourite character from the first game had a slightly more restricted role in the second. For who that is, check below:

Spoiler: show

Vulgrim being present is great, but he's almost entirely unnecessary in Darksiders 2. There's no reason his random chests and side quest couldn't have been handled by the regular vendor. Or, actually, why not make Vulgrim the regular vendor and give the excellent Phil Lamarr more to do, please?

After that and Sleeping Dogs I'm finally back on Demon's Souls. This time I'm here to finish the fight (so to speak)!

[Sean]

After that and Sleeping Dogs I'm finally back on Demon's Souls. This time I'm here to finish the fight (so to speak)!

Yes! With you playing that, and Darren currently going through Dark Souls, one of the hosts is SURELY bound to finally take the plunge!

[Combine Hunter]

I have actually bought Dark Souls on PS3 too. What is the best class to play as? When I say best, I mean least likely to die.

I own Demon's Souls as well, and enjoyed what I played of it quite a lot. But I got bit overwhelmed, and confused as to what I was meant to be doing. So I put it down, and never returned. I feel like at this point, I might have to start Demon's Souls again.

[TomFum]

Been playing ALOT of battlefield 3, its kinda all i play these days, ive got lollypop chainsaw on xbox but im stuck so havent played it, also been playing MGS4 as im enjoying a good old reply. But its been all about BF3, i just love it and i can sink hours and hours into.

Reminds me i need to get back on DayZ and TF2

[ratsoalbion]

After that and Sleeping Dogs I'm finally back on Demon's Souls. This time I'm here to finish the fight (so to speak)!

Yes! With you playing that, and Darren currently going through Dark Souls, one of the hosts is SURELY bound to finally take the plunge!

I've started both Souls games - I think they're great and would love to play them fully.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that we may consider hosts beyond just me and Tony for Volume Two. It's clear that a number of you have demonstrated your commitment to the C&R project and proved your podcasting chops!

[Sean]

I have actually bought Dark Souls on PS3 too. What is the best class to play as? When I say best, I mean least likely to die.

The best thing to do is just drop that concern from your mindset. You'll die. A lot. No matter what. It's all about learning from dying. Figuring out what you did wrong, and trying to avoid it the next time. Not as trial and error as it sounds though, as, you're perfectly able to kill anything in the game the first time you see it.

That said, I've noticed that myself, and a lot of others, recommend the Pyromancer class as a start in Dark Souls. It's a solid balance of both beginner melee and magic. And, while you never really need both at the same time, its more fun to play that way, I found. Also, classes are just a starting point, as, the more you play, you tune your character traits to however you want. Say you want to start with a class that focuses less on magic, depending on how you choose to level up, you could eventually learn magic enough to use higher level spells. But, Pyromancer is a good start.

[Combine Hunter]

Got Retro/Grade from PSN+ for free. So if you're a PSN+ member, Download it now, because it's definitely worth your time.
It's a really interesting concept. It's a Rhythm Action side scrolling shooter...but you're also going backwards in time. So when bullets/lasers/missiles come towards you from the right of the screen, you are deliberately getting in their way and pressing X as they touch your ship. So you're kind of undoing all your attacks, if that makes any sense? While doing this, you have to avoid the bullets coming towards you from the left, which is enemy fire. But all this works in much the same way as a session of Amplitude or Rockband would, the bullets/lasers/missiles are just replacing the notes that would normally fly towards you in those games. You can even play the game with a Rockband guitar. Short game, but a good one.

Edit: Here is a video, if that description was confusing

[countstex]

Dabbling in a little Driver: SF when time allows, fun enough game so far and the recaps help keep the story more on track than it otherwise would have been given the open worldesque setup.

[Alex79]

I'm currently playing Dead Space 2 on the PS3 and Max Payne on the PC. The Max Payne replay was inspired by the C&R podcasts the other day, and before I play the third game.

Dead Space 2 I'm loving. I gave up on the first one towards the end - I got so bored with it, felt it was over long and repetitive. The second one is much better though. Everything from the controls to the variety in locations mean it's much more fun to play. I'm pretty near the end now, chapter 12 out of 15 I think and would happily say it's one of the best games I've played in the last couple of years.

[DomsBeard]

Ploughing my way till the end of Portal 2. I'm finding Wheatley unbearable and possibly the most irritating video game character ever. Spoiling the game for me to be honest.

[DomsBeard]

Yeah Dead Space did get slightly annoying towards the end, Isaac do this, Isaac do that etc.... Good luck with the final chapters they're a bitch! .

Finished Portal 2, liked the little twist. Back to Binary Domain now seen as the MW2 copy love film sent me is near enough snapped in 2.

[AndyKurosaki]

Finishing off side missions and collectables in Sleeping Dogs, which is certainly the year's most pleasant surprise for me. I'd not been keeping track of it, but after picking it up 17 hours went by very happily.

Also picked up Transformers:Fall Of Cybertron. 3 missions down, and already it's proving to be as brilliant as War For Cybertron.

[dezm0nd]

Dark Souls as mentioned by others is my game of choice at the moment alongside Counter Strike: GO for when my buddy is online and up for it.

Both games, so hard but ultra rewarding. Oh, and when I'm sick of being whipped into submisson I am playing Rock Band Blitz and The Basement Collection.

Gaming is the best hobby, ever.

[AndyKurosaki]

Hell yeah it is

Played the trial of Rock Band Blitz, but I don't know, something about it doesn't feel right. Maybe it's the fact that it's a high-score game where your best bet to score high is to use Facebook to unlock coins. The controls don't feel quite right either. I was expecting it to be similar to the excellent Amplitude/Frequency. But in the immortal words of Mr Horse, "No sir, I don't like it".

[Ghost World]

Ploughing my way till the end of Portal 2. I'm finding Wheatley unbearable and possibly the most irritating video game character ever. Spoiling the game for me to be honest.

I find this funny because Wheatley Is one of the reasons why I love Portal 2, I can count on one hand how many games have made me laugh more than a couple of times and Wheatley would be right at the top of that list!

[Ghost World]

I'm working my way through Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the second time in preparation for this weeks show and Resistance: Burning Skies on the Vita.

Resistance: Burning Skies has to be one of the most generic FPS shooters I've played in quite a long time but it does prove that the controls for FPS games work perfectly fine on the Vita so it wont be long before a better game takes advantage of the device.