What to get in 2009

[Mina Synd 0]

okie. stuff on DoW2, yes there are only gonna be four races (unless they are hiding things. we won't know everything until the game is out...)

 

space marines

tyranids

orks

eldar

 

yup. which means we're gonna have expansion spam again >-> but at least they got tyranids in so i'm happy. a lot of things have been changed, for instance in the missions you can't make buildings but rather call in reinforcements or whatever, much in the way of company of heroes' certain missions.

 

however online play gives the full experience, as well as co-op stuff methinks. and it has insanely amazing graphics, and a lot of micromanagement.

 

however i have to admit, this game is not going to be as good as the first. 1) you only get one campaign for the missions (unless they are holding back again...) i don't think it's only 8 missions seeing as there are 3 seperate planets you fight on at LEAST.

 

but yah, it's limited. ontop of this, they are using the microshaft "live games" engine thing. which utterly, completely nerfs the gameplay. know why? because it doesn't allow you to make mods. (or at least, makes it very difficult... they have purposely said they didn't want modding...) which completely kills off the long term community.

 

so yah, the only thing i like about this so far is the tyranids. and there were tyranid mods for the first game. so unless the expansions are gonna change things, i'm not gonna be too impressed. i'll probably just stay with DoW: DC's mod firestorm.

 

it -is- a proper RTS, it's just becoming more focused on micro-management instead of sticking to the classic route. it falls into the category "real time strategy", cos you are REALLY gonna have to use intelligence to win the missions what with having limited forces.

 

on a seperate note, little big planet is a sandbox game. you can make pretty much -anything- from scratch. and it is completely 3D too... my best friend has it, and it is apparently pretty darn easy to use. far, far more then garry's mod. but you can pretty much do anything. if you wanna make it high quality though you're gonna need a lot of work for a level xD

[Saracen 16]

IDK, the amphibious units, greater faction diversity and co-op campaign added enough novelty to the game.

That's all it is though is novelty, nothing more, nothing less... and it wears off and wears thin very quickly.

 

So you applaud innovation in games yet rip UaW apart every single time you can? Imho it's a prime example of innovation over enjoyment value.

The factions in UaW was all that was innovative. The rest was just a mediocre mess. It's fun to play through perhaps once with a few MP games, but that's it. It deserves its place in the Bargin bins across the planet, cos what you pay for is for all it's worth. Sure, hands up to them, they tried to make something of it, they can be applauded for that. But that doesn't take away the fact that everything but the factions were plain awful.

 

EALA is different because they are self-aware. They know that their games aren't in the strategic league of SC, and present themselves accordingly.

Self aware they may be... but typically corporate that they are, they'll never even attempt to make something of their games other than what's already there. Where's the harm in trying to be better? Sure they may not match other heavyweights, but what's the harm in giving it a go at least.

 

"Offered more at that time"? DoW? How?! It had one measly campaign with 8 mediocre missions!!! How is that more?

Dawn of War was really the first game to get territorial expansion right and reward the player accordingly. It didn't require huge armies to get the job done either... also another bar they raised higher. Games like Z and Steel Soldiers tried, but failed... but DoW managed to raise the bar for those particular game mechanics. This is why it's better than the sum of its parts, purely because it took previously failed concepts and corrected them accordingly. The short campaign and such didn't matter, the game was still fun, and the Multiplayer was damn solid because of the said mechanics. That's what made it a great game.

 

GJ btw about being dishonest.

It's necessary these days to be. If I was as critical now as I was 5 years ago, I'd be banned from here on a permanent basis. There is no room for Criticism of any kind these days in this community. It can't happen anyway without having EA or other people jumping on my back.... I'm sick and tired of not being able to express my opinions forthright even though I have the god-given right to. It's almost like this community as a whole has been conditioned into being smiley happy people who worship the ground EALA walk on. I'm sorry, but I cannot be like that any more.

 

It's not like I'm shouting EA sucks, or lead developer X is a retard. So why attempt to complain at me when all I'm saying is that the "do everything by the book" and "follow the yellow brick road" mentality of the studio is unfortunately commonplace. I want to see what these people are truly capable of rather than what was done an X number of years ago when EA had the balls to do such things. In a FPS game for example. Are you going to use the bigger gun that potentially can do better damage and get you through the game to completion? Or are you gonna stick with the peashooter that was given to you when you started the game? Similar concept really... but EALA have been firing off their Pea-shooters since the SAGE engine was developed. They have the guns, and they have the ammo... so why the hell aren't they attempting to use it!?

[hagren 0]

Because the community doesn't even agree with the smallest changes? I'd like to see them as successfull and groundbreaking as you.

 

Yeah, the factions in UaW were innovative, the rest is bleh. What's so different in this case and DoW2? Again, you're pretty much contradicting your own viewpoints.

 

Territorial gameplay they got right, but what about SP players? Those who don't play MP aren't getting their money's worth, and therefore I cannot truly appreciate what they've done. Also, all their games since then focus on that very aspect, so they fall into the same trap anyone else did.

 

Bull****. Criticism is very welcome if it's constructive, comprehendable and fair. And the community is definitely not smiley-happy, rather the opposite, just look around you. It's just that there were actually people who liked EAs new CnC instalment.

Edited January 5, 2009 by hagren

[comander starlin 6]

Saracen I find it most confusing that back in November you praised RA3 highly, gave it a sparkling 94% review and now you criticise it the at almost every opportunity. And your constant attacks at EALA are not welcome either.

 

But Sonic as admin of a fansite you should be open to Criticism's, ether it is to EA or else where. also you can Criticize a game that you give it 94% because all reviews are based on first impressions, and it is generally after one or 2 runs you see it's true colours. as to RA3 i think as well that it is Recycled and EA need to take time and do it right, make it fresh. RA3 stayed on my PC for half a day then it was gone. waste of good money. the only cool part was the collectors tin.

 

So Sonic you need a bit of a back bone and allow criticism's EA because they done own the site, You Do!!, and open Slamming of Admin's is very unprofessional.

 

[drunkill 2]

A little late to the party.

 

My list:

First off, Fallout 3 downloadable content. I'll be grabbing the three packs of DLC for the xbox360 when they come out. Should add a lot of extra content to the game and provide more hours of enjoyable gameplay.

 

Mafia II: Mafia was an aweosme game, a little buggy and pretty old now, but it had a great storyline and was one of the only alternatives to GTA in the 'sandbox' genre when it came out. The music was very nice as well. Mafia II will be expanding on all aspects of the original game with fresh faces, a new setting and new stories. The updated graphics will really help out with this game, making the city seem even more real and alive.

 

If the original was anything to go by, Mafia II might just be singleplayer game of the year '09

 

Call of Duty: Infinity Ward edition (Modern Warfare 2, apparently)

CoD4 was great, a nice step back to the CoD1 and CoD2 days after what had been filled with junk by other companies (all those console spinoffs) and CoD4 being set in modern times let the story evolve away from the nazi killing and focused more on the british side of the story, not always the patriotic american missions they had to cram into the WWII games.

 

CoD4 had some memorable moments during the missions, mostly on th edge of your seat so I can't wait to see what IW does for the sequel.

 

edit: Both Mafia II trailers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A20MT9Oz2s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMcK3p-UTZI

[hagren 0]

Mafia II is a very welcome suggestion.

 

comander starlin: There's a difference between deliberately bending the truth and realizing later on that your first impression was a wrong one. There's also a difference between constructive criticism and flaming.

Furthermore, Sonic only pointed out how quickly and weirdly Saracen's opinion changed.

 

I for one enjoyed RA3s campaign, even after I replayed parts of it. That doesn't mean that I loved it unconditionally, if you read my review.

[Malevolence 6]

I may get Tomb Raider Underworld once I am free.