I don’t really do formal reviews, mainly because I’m not paid to do so, but here’s a few bullet points on my likes and dislikes about the game from my 10 hours in beta:

Thumbs Up:

• It was easy to pick up and play.  I thought the learning curve for doing missions wasn’t very steep at all.
• Believe it or not, the PVP is consentual.  You can only attack players that have accepted a mission or backup call against you.  Once the mission is over, no one can attack.  If you don’t feel like fighting, ignore the mission and backup calls.
• The customization is beyond fantastic.  Customize your physical character, their clothes, your car, your music…and more.
• Driving is a chaotic affair, just getting from point A to B without blowing up is its own meta game.  Learning to drive is fun, and driving well is a challenge.
• You can catch some major air if you know where to find the ramps and hit them right.
• Enforcers can kill.  They don’t have to arrest criminals, they can just be vigilantes and kill them.
• The matchmaking was nearly flawless.  I got put into groups consistently and was almost never alone.
• Aiming takes a steady hand and can be challenging.  Prepare to die.  Alot.
• Calling for backup often works like a charm.
• Teamwork pays off.  It is awesome to get a kill because the enemy is distracted by a team mate, or they kill them before you get ganked.
• The mix of different mission types was refreshing.  Some times I was guarding an area and the clock was my friend, sometimes I was racing to catch a guy with a critical item in a hectic car chase with the clock working against me.  I never knew what I was gonna get.
• The game has true crafting.  Make your own shirt decals, theme songs, you name it.  And you can sell it in the marketplace for cash!
• There are many unlockables to keep achievers busy.  Many of them help your character stand out in the crowd.
• Unlimited action district time for $10 bucks a month.
• Creating a clan (guild) was painless and easy.

Thumbs Down:

• Performance was iffy.  In two long sessions my system locked up and had to be rebooted 4-5 times due to the game crashing.  Not good, but the game is solid otherwise and can recover if this is stabilized soon.
• Only 80 players per instance might not be enough, but the city map size still kept things pretty action packed if all the car crashes I had with other players was any indication.
• Adding players to my clan was confusing.  What I tried either didn’t work, or I wasn’t doing it right and had no clue how.
• Being limited to only 5 hours of action district time stunk, and there was no way that I could tell to increase it.
• This isn’t an every day type of game (yet) like World of Warcraft .  Right now it feels like doing missions over and over will get repetitive like the early days of City of Heroes.
• What’s the end game?  Getting the best weapon and vehicle?  Then what…more missions?  See the item above this one…
• $10 bucks a month for unlimited action district play will likely not keep many people paying when they can continue to unlock hats in Team Fortress 2 and new prestige emblems in Modern Warfare 2 for free.  Even doing a pay as you go style with rollover minutes may not do the trick.  Can’t beat free in online play where shooters are concerned.
• It lacks mass appeal simply because it is a shooter.  Many people just won’t enjoy getting killed all the time because they can’t aim and shoot fast enough to compete.

With some more depth added to the action style of play, I could see myself committing more time to APB.  I had alot of fun running missions, and at the end of the day games are supposed to be fun.  APB delivered that, and I pre-ordered the game.  It has potential and I’d like to see where Realtime Worlds takes APB in the future.

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 06/14/2010.
Posted in: Beta, Commentary, Featured, Impressions, Opinion, Reviews, Video Tags: All Points Bulletin, Realtime Worlds

There has been allod alot of buzz about Allods Online recently. The game just launched after several weeks of closed and then open beta, and the game has plenty of promise. Many will put the game in the “WoW clone” category, and others will defend it’s twist on the proven themepark mmo formula.

This is not a review of the game per se, but so far my opinion is that it is solid and worth giving a shot. There is great value in the game, especially since it is free to download and play but also because it has a level of polish akin to Blizzard’s 800 pound gorilla. The main point of this article is to say that gPotato will likely see large numbers of players in the game early on. That is nothing new really, since the MMO crowd flocks to just about any new game when it launches (see Warhammer Online, Aion) only to retreat to safer worlds after a month or so has passed and the pain of a new MMO has set in.

I think the MMO crowd has also flocked to Allods online, but for different reasons apart from the shiny and new factors. For starters, Allods is launching at a great time. There are few (if any) other mmo titles launching right now, and the existing franchises (apart from Age of Conan) are releasing very little. The big kid on the block is also at a stagnant stage. Blizzard is famous for it’s long development cycles, leaving anxious regular players with daily quests and repetition until the next big patch or expansion comes out. Currently, the WoW player base finds itself in just that spot, as the Lich King is now dead on just about every server and the populous awaits Cataclysm expansion release. The time is right to lure players away to a new game, and Allods Online is a low risk alternative to that segment of the MMO player base.

I usually prefer buffet style MMO’s, I want all I can eat for one monthly fee. Let me pay 15 bucks and give me access to everything. Don’t nickel-and-dime me to death to be able to experience whatever part of your game is gated behind your item shop. However, if done right the free to play model shines. I can’t say if Allod Online’s model will be good or bad in that regard, but so far it seem to have no impact on how I can play the game. I’m sure at some point I’ll want to buy something from the item store, should I commit to the game, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Combine the zero risk and great timing factors into Allod’s Online pretty smooth launch, and I think they have a good thing going. Agree? Disagree? What say you!

Check out the trailer below and come and join us on the Nezeb server, Empire side:

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 02/18/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Opinion Tags: Allods Online, Blizzard, gPotato, World of Warcraft

First Impressions: The tutorial was easy enough and though I did die at least two times on each of the characters I made, it was still fun and cool to watch/play out. Once past the tutorial I had a decision to make. See I normally play the stealth ‘assassin’ class in a game, which would be the recon class in GA, but since I had been down that road, and done that. I opted out of playing the Assassin, to try the Assault class. Neither suited my taste in this MMOGFPS??RPG (lol w/e).

I’ve seen the ‘engineer’ class in TF2 and though they look fun, I’m not one to set down and build something in combat or even remember to do so when engaged. Which left me to go with “THE MEDIC” and I must say, so far I’m absolutely happy with my decision to play one.

In my first PVP mission I noticed a big difference in game play from what I’m used to. With the reckon and assault class I felt as if I didn’t have enough tools at the level (level 5 when you exit the tutorial, and reach ‘The Dome’ the games major hub) to find playing and leveling them much fun further down the road. In contrast with the medic I felt like they started out with a nice arsenal of heals and DPS to mix it up. Each character starts out with a melee weapon, then soon you get a generic rifle, your ‘main’ ranged weapon, two off-hand weapons/abilities a group buff (at level 8 I think) and of course your jet pack.

Unlike TF2’s ‘cartoonish’ feel to it and somewhat convoluted maps, Global Agenda so far in terms of the PVE missions and PVP maps have been great. The PVE missions are a bit streamlined in that they lead you right to the boss and there’s not much leeway on that. It’s nice for now since everyone is still kind of new and group mechanics are still being worked out by everyone. The streamline instances make for a quick and fun group PVE experience.

In PVP the maps are a bit bigger, with 5 different types of scenarios to queue from (all random as of now) you never really get bored with it. The buildings and structure of the maps/zones themselves are done really well. Key features like ladders and creates stacking alongside a wall or among other creates allow for strategic cover and sniping spots for recons and even medics to take cover and heal from.

As a medic I’ve really enjoyed doing both aspects of the game. I normally have found that my experiences with PVE in World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and then Age of Conan at first were enjoyable, but soon tiring and ultimately repetitive after a few alts. I do not get this feeling from GA as of right now. Being able to PVP as soon as you’re done with the tutorial is a major bonus.

Final thoughts: I didn’t really follow this game in the year preceding its release, and didn’t do much homework before purchasing it. What really popped out at me, and pushed me over to the purchasing point was the: A) price of the game at 44.99$ it’s just a bit below what you’d normally pay for an MMO these days. B) It has a one-time purchase deal where you can play the game’s main features (PVE and PVP missions), but not the special goods it will offer upon launch; mainly the “Conquest” PVP scenarios. Lastly in why I decided to purchase Global Agenda is because it fills the void of an MMO and FPS in one shot.

But now I really don’t know what I’m going to do if/when I get bored, because I’ll be tired of the FPS and MMO scenes at the same time!

Edit- My only gripe is during the ‘Head Start’ there was no Xfire or Raptr support so I couldn’t take video or log my time in game other then on the official website.

Game On!

Kaldeem

© Posted by Kaldeem for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 02/01/2010.
Posted in: Impressions Tags: Global Agenda, Hi-Rez Studios

In my first look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I stated that I thought this game was coming to kick Modern Warefare 2′s ass.  Today we have more video of the Port Valdez Demo to drive that point home, and apparently beta testing is now in full swing.  Retailers began selling pre-orders with beta access and all sorts of other goodies, and from what I’m hearing the beta servers have been getting pounded. Over twitter EA stated they were having trouble getting beta information out on their blog since it was also getting crushed. It appears that interest in BBC2 is hitting a fevered pitch, and I must say that after watching the Port Valdez Demo Gameplay Video below I couldn’t resist hitting the “buy now” button for my pre-order. Check out the action below:

That sealed the deal for me. I’ll be asking my wife’s forgiveness for buying this game since I just blew some change on Mass Effect 2, but I am weak and cannot resist explosions. I purchased via Steam (shocker, I know) and will be getting my beta access and pre-order goodies from Valve, but other retailers are offering some great pre-order deals as well.

I’ve played alot of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.  I’m nearly 1st prestige level 70, which means I have been to max level twice in that game.  I love much of the action in that game and have tolerated many bugs and exploits by many of the jackasses out there that love to get ahead that way.  However, I hate Infinity Ward’s lack of dedicated servers and their matchmaking system is craptastic, but I digress.

My point is to say that with all the things I like about MW2, I see so much more to like in BBC2.  Vehicles, medics, better audio and sound effects are all things that jump out at me in the videos I’ve seen.  Well, the pre-order is done, the beta is downloading, and I’ll gather recon and report back soon.

Wish me luck soldier, I’m goin’ in…

~br3ntbr0 (a.k.a Stimulus Package on Steam)

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 01/28/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DICE, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2

I’ve been in Global Agenda’s closed beta for a few months now, and I must say that the game has progressed nicely in that time.  The starting tutorial went from being something very short to one that is very well fleshed out and can take about half an hour to get through.  I recently went through the tutorial as the Recon class and took the video below.

Shown here is the class selection screen, facial customization, opening story and most of the training mission with me playing a Recon character.  I took the liberty to chop out some very boring parts of me progressing through the mission to speed things up and give a bit more condensed version:

But will I buy it?
Global Agenda is not a bad game.  Ultimately, I can’t see that I will be playing it much though and am going to wait on this game.  I already own Modern Warfare 2 and Team Fortress 2 and get all the FPS style play I can handle from those two games.  I almost feel bad because I really do support indie developers like Hi-Rez, but I just don’t feel drawn to this game as I initially hoped I’d be.

The PVP plays a bit like Team Fortress 2, but without the wacky style that TF2 brings to the table.  Class selection is a bit limited, although it brings the MMO-like quality of being able to specialize through talents.  Its awesome that there is no subscription fee required, but this game may have gained more benefit from a free to play model with an item shop.

Global Agenda brings many MMO style features to the game that give it more depth than Team Fortress 2 or Modern Warfare 2.  However the core game play, animations and visual style of the game just haven’t grabbed me in the months I’ve been in beta. I never felt motivated to level up so that I could unlock things and see how the conquest campaign might play out.

Global Agenda is still doing enough things right for me to keep an eye on it, but in a crowded gaming landscape it just didn’t have the fun factor I’d hoped for to this point.  Between MW2, TF2 and the upcoming Mass Effect 2, I’ll have all I can handle and don’t feel like I absolutely must put Global Agenda in that mix somehow.

Here’s a thanks-but-no-thanks to Hi-Rez Studios.  I know that comes off as a back-handed congratulations, but the game is solid…just missing something for me.  I know many others will like the game and I wish the studio all the good fortune in the world with Global Agenda.

~ br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 01/15/2010.
Posted in: Beta, Commentary, Featured, Impressions, Reviews, Video Tags: Global Agenda, Hi-Rez Studios

In a previous blogging life I’ve ranted and raved about Valve’s digital distribution platform Steam. I truly think this is one of the best things to happen to gamers since…well, ever…and I’ve come up with 5 reasons why I think Steam should be every PC gamer’s best friend. Now, I realize this may come across as a bit of promotion for Valve and looks alot like what they’ve already said about Steam, but trust me I’m not paid by anyone. I’m just here to say that it is my opinion that Valve is right. Steam does the things they say it can do, and it does them well. Here are 5 reasons I think they are right, and why Steam is a critical tool in The Gamer’s Toolbox:

Deals, Deals, Deals!
I think there are few places that you can find an entire studio’s games bundled in to a 20 dollar sale price other than on Steam. 5 dollar MMO’s, half price sales, free weekends and all other kinds of great gaming deals are to be had on Steam. This alone is enough reason for most people to love Steam, since Valve’s digital distribution platform allows for quick and easy impulse buying. Steam allows game developers to lower their prices since their overhead for getting the game to you is much lower than creating boxes for store shelves.

Patches, DLC and VAC
Steam powered games get patched easily since the updates and patches to them can happen in the background while you are playing another game, or simply away from your machine. Patches occur very often and keep you game up to date as developers squash bugs, fight exploiters and improve their games. Speaking of exploiters, what is VAC you ask? It’s short for Valve Anti-Cheat, and comes built into Steam to prevent cheating in Steam powered games. Personally, I like that it’s there and that it is another tool that developers can use to try to catch hackers, cheaters and aim-botters. It doesn’t always work, but having it there is better than having to rely on yet another tool to try and handle game security. Sadly there aren’t a whole lot of non-Valve games using VAC, and you’ll have to hope that whatever game you just purchased has something on it in lieu of VAC.

Convenience and Ease of Use
In 5 minutes (after downloading) you can be playing a new game and you never had to get out of your chair. If you buy a new machine, no worries as your games can get still be accessed on that new rig. You can set your machine to download all of your games to your new computer as your games are tied to your Steam account, not your PC. Migrating your games to a new machine is made substantially easier with Steam. If you are thinking about upgrading to the newest version of Windows, just go for it (if your games are Steam powered) as it will be pretty straightforward to get back in the gaming action. After years of development, Steam works very well and is unobtrusive to most gamer’s play experience.

In Game Tools and Social Networking
Steam also has some very nice features built into the platform. With Steam you get friend lists and notifications, groups, voice chat, chat rooms and in-game web browsing. When you launch a game, your friends can know what you are playing, and if applicable, join you in that game. You can create groups and invite people to those groups. You can schedule events for the groups, like “Team Fortress 2 Friday Fragfest” and invite everyone in the group. While it would be great to see some integration with other social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Xfire, Raptr and the like, Steam has some great tools in it’s own right.

The iTunes Effect
iTunes changed the way that people buy and manage their music. People do not purchase entire CD’s the way they used to, all packaged up on store shelves. Apple single-handedly destroyed the music distribution methods of old with iTunes and the iTunes store. Valve is on its way to fundamentally changing how gamers buy and manage their games as well, since Steam’s digital distribution platform brings so much to the table. It is a great way for game developers to bring their games to market and make a higher percentage of profit on each sale, all the while leveraging all the tools that Steam brings to the table, should they choose. Potential conflicts of interest aside, Steam is a great tool for the entire gaming community.

Am I just a Valve fanboy, or do you like Steam as well? Why or why not?

Happy New Year.

~br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 11 comments on 12/31/2009.
Posted in: Analysis, Featured, Impressions, Opinion, Reviews Tags: Steam, Valve

Dungeons and Dragons is definitely a cool game that is free to play. The starting zone is simple and instructional in the basics of playing the game, but fun enough to keep you interested. You start out ship wrecked on the Island of Korthos, and a rogue named Jeets (who isn’t necessarily there to help anyone as much as he is their to pick up floating loot and treasure) starts yelling at you and asking you questions and proceeds to give your first quest. You have to follow him up a hill to his friends camp site, where you get a weapon based on your class. Next you are asked to find Cellimus in the Grotto, your first of many instanced zones.

The really nice thing about DDO is the PVE is great! I’ve never said that about any MMO I’ve played before.  The graphics are stunningly good for a non AAA MMO and the game has a Voice over of each NPC (hoping SWTOR’s will be like this) and a Narrator that will often voice out what a major NPC is saying; mainly in dungeons. It’s a really nice feature that (for me) keep me really immersed in the game play. Here’s a video on the starting zone just after you meet Jeets. There’s more here as well.

Once you go through the Grotto you come to the Village of Korthos where you have bunch of instanced dungeons waiting for you. Now the best/worst part of this is that while the game dungeons have 4 different modes (solo, normal, hard, elite) it’s good that you can solo all the stating-Korthos Island dungeons on the first to settings of solo and normal.  You can repeat them for a little xp boost in the beginning with the exception of the Grotto and Shipwreck shore, as these are not repeatable quest lines. The bad thing here is that you don’t have to get to know anyone in the start zone because of this feature. I played through all of Korthos and never even said “Hello” in general chat.

Combat:
Combat in DDO something reminiscent of the current MMO market infused with that musty ancient practice of rolling a 10/20 sided die from the late 80′s and early 90′s RP-games. Think original Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade, with pencil and a character sheet and some dice.

As far as the combat is concerned, its not to much different then what we are used to now. In most MMO’s you never see the numbers behind the actions. This is known as RNG (random number generator) which is essentially what rolling dice is in real life. You have your set rules of  plus(+) or minus(-) and x (being a stat) + numbered die = hit/miss etc. In games like World of Warcraft we rarely ever see the action of these numbers in a visual sense other than the which would be “CRIT” or something in WoW. Well in DDO you have an actual virtual dice that will roll as you manually auto attack? Yes, manual auto attack or commonly called “slashing” in DDO, a dice will roll while you Left click your mouse to slash, determining weather you hit or miss.

General UI/Stats and abilities:
The Action bars have your buffs, abilities and spells that you can use to make more powerful attacks or boost your stats to help you get more: hit, dodge or health and mana. Here’s a look at a friends Character sheet just so you can get an idea. Basic stats are your: Strength,Dexterity(agility),Concentration, Intellect, Wisdom and Charisma(outlined in red). Next at the very top (orange box)of the Character sheet you have 5 tabs where you have access to your Skills, Feats, Spells, and Enhancements. Below that (yellow box) is your basic Character name, class, level, path, Alignment, and gender. There in blue we have your stat layout optimizer which shows you how much of + this or – that you have to an particular stat. In green at the very bottom of the CS is were you can see your damage reduction and resistances.

Every thing is pretty well organized and easily found. Mousing over any of the abilities or spells and stats will give you brief description of what they do. There is an also a neat tab off to the side of your CS labeled “Bio”. This was something new to me as I have never been involved or had wanted to be much of a role player, I decided to check it out.

When clicking on Bio tab, its just a blank space where you can type in stuff about your character. This is a neat little feature to help you feel immersed in the game and invested in your character. To view a bio on someone else you simply just right click them and press Z. This will bring up the inspection window. The inspection window isn’t as well laid out or done up the way I thought or would have liked to see it. There is no layout of the character your inspecting or his/her gear, talents or spec(path). Instead its very simple information on the class, level and bio.

One interesting thing about DDO is their option to Multiclass or really pull some nice features form other classes and mix then with your class. Here is a link to the forums on Multiclassing and general discussions. It looks really interesting, but I’m not sure how useful it is in the lower tiers of leveling.

Leveling:
In leveling on DDO, you will notice that as a level one you have the word “rank 1″ right next to “Level 1″, along with xix bubbles to the far right. Once you reach 1/2 through the 5th bub, you can seek out your trainer and ask to be advanced to the next level.

The Xp seems to be a bit on the low end for single killing mobs in a zone or instance, but if you group a lot or have a few friends and can run through multiple instances you can level pretty fast.

Questing:
Is pretty much all instanced zones at this point. I just finished Korthos Island, which seems like an open area, but is a large instance leading to other adjacent instances.  You enter Korthos Island by clicking on a gate.  You then load to a new instance and you are immediately granted 3 quests. As you wander around you will come upon an additional quest giver and some dungeons that quests from town have you going to.

In some dungeons you will have little puzzles to solve, much like a game of aligning pictures/blocks to get the full image or allow a path of energy to flow to something. It’s a really cool feature and something different than just kill X mobs.

DDO Store:
It’s not like what I’ve heard of other games/MMO’s doing micro-transactions at all. I have yet to set up my account or buy anything, but once I do I will write about that experience.

Final thoughts:
Its really been a fun experience so far. I’ve never actually enjoyed the pve content from Wow or Warhammer, but in Dungeons and Dragons it “feels natural” to quest and instance. I just reached the 2nd zone called Stormreach harbor. Which is a very nice huge sea-ship town. Lots of NPC’s and players running around all the time and beautiful scenery. Well thats all for now, hope you can try out this amazing F2p game, and enjoy it.

As far as the PvP is concerned, I tried a small 1v1 with my friend, and the concept-seems- great!!! We did a CTF (capture the flag) match and although it was just the 2 of us, the map was great, big and fun to explore. I have read on the forums that pvp is dead, but I believe that’s mainly because a lot of Pve players are drawn to the title of Dungeons and Dragons… hopefully I can stir up the pot a bit and get some good matches going. Hopefully is key word here.

Game On!

~Kaldeem

P.S Here’s some pics of random instances and places… enjoy!

© Posted by Kaldeem for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 12/04/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Opinion, Reviews Tags: DDO, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberrron Unlimited, Turbine

When Aion launched a while back I decided not to jump in and try it.  I initially read some glowing reviews about the game, and my curiosity was piqued to the point that I almost purchased it just to see what it was all about.  I made it past the first month after it launched, and I figured that I could get by with my current games and new ones on the horizon.  I’d read enough reviews that said that it wasn’t bringing much new to the table and I kind of agreed with that.  Wings and pretty graphics are not enough to draw me in, especially when I had little knowledge of the Korean IP before hand.

There were also other reasons that I think I was ultimately able to resist the lure of a new MMO like Aion.  I played Lineage II for a while before my years in World of Warcraft began, and laugh when people talk about grinds because that game has the grind to end all grinds.  Aion is an NCsoft game made for a Korean audience initially, and that set off additional warning messages to me.  Evidently many Koreans don’t mind sitting in internet cafes and playing highly repetitive and boring games like Lineage II.  Many Americans do not enjoy those types of games, as far as I can tell.  Too bad that localizing the game for an American audience didn’t include changing the game design as well, because its evident to me now that Aion’s grind is as demoralizing as its Lineage II cousin.

I read a crap-ton of blogs every day, and I’ve noticed the trend of bloggers calling Aion out for its horrendous grind (and other problems) and calling it quits.  For example:

What I really need right now from an MMO is a game that I can pick up and play a few nights a week. Not a game that makes me feel like I’m required to play every night to get somewhere. – Aion, a nasty confession

Although there are some really fun aspects to the game (primarily cosmetic aspects), there are also numerous problems that keep the game from ever becoming anything resembling a “WoW killer,” most notably the incessant amount of grinding involved. – Done Trying To Be Korean, Balancing Melee: The Final Frontier

Now I could very well just grind out the level and hope to get more quests however its easier said than done and I may die of boredom before that happens, I could only stomach about an hour last night killing bloody mushrooms before I decided I’d have more fun finishing off the book I was reading…….. not good. – Oh Oooh! Death by Boredom

I unsubbed from Aion on Sunday night. When the prospect of staring at a wall in deep thought is more appealing than logging in to grind another dozen bubbles or so in boring PvE, it’s time to hang up your subscription and move on for a while. – From Aion to Fallen Earth

- Crafting.  Way too much of a grind.  Work orders were very boring.  Many of the decent items required a crit of a previous item. This made materials very expensive. – Farewell Aion

But the grind… oh, the grind. If I thought it was bad at the lower levels, that is nothing compared to the situation now that I’m over level 30. Do I want to punish myself that much to get to the maximum level? – Aion review, part 2

Genda called this one early on, Aion appears to be yet another game the WoW tourists and other MMO sheep flock to and ditch a month or two later.  Keep in mind that I say “sheep” with tongue-in-cheek, since I pretty much did the same thing with Champions Online, and will likely do again with Star Wars: The Old Republic.  I guess the point of my article is to express my feelings of vindication that I finally made the right call to not invest in the new shiny thing (Aion) that we attention deficit gamers are often drawn toward.  I finally made a good call and stayed away from an poorly done MMO.  God bless those of you that have the time and love for such grinds/bugs/design flaws, but many people (like me) do not.

TLDR Summary:
I made a good call on skipping this grind-tastic game.

- br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 8 comments on 11/19/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Opinion Tags: Aion, grind, NCsoft

Borderlands from the viewpoint of an FPS Zero (PC)

Borderlands has been out for a few weeks now so I figured I would give a perspective on the game from the view of an FPS zero.

A quick summary of my views:

Borderlands is a good ‘pick up and play’ game, it has a nifty loot system and nice graphics. The replay value, however, is pretty low – and some parts of the PC UI are lacking. A good game to pick up for some fun, but it lacks the depth needed to keep me going for long periods of time.

(...)
Read the rest of Borderlands from the viewpoint of an FPS Zero (PC) (1,236 words)

© Posted by carlosjuero for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 11/14/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Opinion, Reviews Tags: Borderlands, Gearbox

Confessions of an RPG Virgin
I was not interested in playing Dragon Age Origins, even through all the pre-launch hype and marketing blitz. I’m a multiplayer kind of guy, and sadly there is no multiplayer in Dragon Age. It’s a single player only game, and my frame of refernce to these kinds of games have been set by my experiences with games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft. My first RPG was an MMORPG. When I first logged into EverQuest some years ago, I was amazed to see all these other players running around and doing their MMORPG things. They were doing their own quests and slaying their own monsters, and I could join them if we both agreed. I was soon raiding with my newfound online friends, and I brought that love of online gaming with me through everything I’ve played ever since. Playing a single player game like this was a sub par experience as far as I was concerned. The explosion of MMORPG’s on the market really makes that point for me, people like playing with other people.

I love multiplayer games because I enjoy interacting with other people in games, and I feel that scripted NPC’s just don’t do it for me. It’s merely a matter of time and some trial and error before I conquer any type of player versus environment (PVE) content. Against other players however, tactics and play style change. We learn from our mistakes and challenge each other (or work cooperatively) in ways that programmed characters simply cannot. There are some good players that I will never beat, no matter how much trial and error I have fighting them.

MMORPG minus the MMO
Despite my love for multiplayer games, it’s been a great change to take the MMO out of the MMORPG game right now. There are many benefits for a long time MMORPG gamer when playing these kinds of single player RPG games. Need a bathroom break, or want to stop to eat lunch? Pause. There’s no need to tell teammates that you are AFK, making them wait for your return or to find a replacement. My NPC team mates wait as long as I need them to wait. If I made a key decision that I regret, I can simply load up a saved game and try the other path.

While playing with friends is still a key component of gaming for me, I must say that it is quite refreshing to sit down for a gaming session and not see something like “lulz”, “wtf”, “chuck norris pwnz” or any sort of juvenile internet speak flying across my screen. There are no loot ninjas to worry about, no getting ganked in the middle of my quest, and no having to run back for minutes just to pick up where I left off. I know that most of that can be avoided in most games with some effort, but Dragon Age: Origins is just what the doctor ordered for me right now. It’s the RPG without the MMO, and it feels like its just what PC gamers need right now.

As much as I love not having to deal with the sewage of juvenile personalities crowding the virtual space of nearly every MMORPG out there right now, I do  miss being unable to experience with friends playing with me. It would be really nice if those other players in my small band of adventurers were some friends of mine instead of computer controlled artificial intelligence. If only there was a game like this out there right now.  A game that tries to bridge this type of RPG experience with an MMO game, allowing those shared experiences. None exist now, but can SWTOR can be the answer here? If it is, we’ll surely see the next big thing to hit MMO gaming next year.

Putting the MMO back into the RPG
I decided to try Dragon Age Origins for MMO reasons, reasons that have so much to do with my love of multiplayer games and Star Wars. BioWare happens to be launching the most anticipated MMORPG in recent history, Star Wars: The Old Republic. I will be playing that game when it launches, so I wanted to see how well BioWare delivers on the “4th pillar” of story in their games. Not only had I never played a pure RPG game, but I had also never played a BioWare game. It was time to kill two birds with one stone.

I purchased DA:O on launch day and I have not played anything else since then. I’ve put in some late nights and I have been really hooked. I’m not necessarily reviewing the game (yet) but I will say that there is much to like in this game and you’ll likely see it snatch up numerous game of the year awards. I’ve progressed quite a way through the main story arc to this point, the result of a monster (pun intended) session till 2 a.m. Saturday night Sunday morning. I very much like this game, despite the poor lip syncing and ever present long-and-drawn-out voice acting. The space bar (pause) and escape key (skip dialog) are my friends. I have been in single player RPG mode for a week now and have been happy without the MMO part. I’ve been itching to do some battlegrounds in World of Warcraft and to beat a few more zombies with a frying pan in LF4D2′s demo, but I have wanted to explore and progress in Dragon Age: Origins more.

Good news for SWTOR fans
Dragon Age Origins has been a gripping experience for me. It’s taken hold of me and provided me with a whole lot of entertainment, with much more waiting over the horizon. This bodes well for BioWare’s upcoming SWTOR MMORPG. I think that I can safely say that things look even more promising for SWTOR than I had originally imagined. If BioWare takes this style of story driven game play and applies it to the leveling process of SWTOR, they will likely have the next 1 million plus subscriber game on their hands. Its a refreshing change from the standard MMORPG, and I think its becoming very clear that BioWare can indeed apply what they do well to their upcoming MMORPG. Playing Dragon Age: Origins has been extremely enjoyable and further increases my anticipation for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

-br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 4 comments on 11/09/2009.
Posted in: Analysis, Featured, Impressions, Opinion Tags: BioWare, Dragon Age: Origins, RPG, Star Wars: The Old Repbulic

The Blood Moon Patch

I still happen to be subscribed to Champions Online, but have not been playing much. I’ve been waiting on this update to see what it does for the game, and will report my findings in my next report. This all looks very cool, can’t wait to jump in and get with the zombie slaying!

Pro Tip: Translate your text to make your game look like a finished product.

As evidenced by the image to the right, the patch didn’t go all that smoothly at first.  There were some pretty big issues, like the PVP instance not being available to people to participate in.  The quest events were not starting correctly in some places, as well as UI errors where generic “untranslated” text was shown.  By the time you read this, most of these things are likely to be fixed in a patch.  Pretty standard fare for an MMO.  Basically, the patch needed a patch to patch what the patch added.  Wait, what?

Zombies in the City and Werewolves in the Desert
So how was my time under the Blood Moon? Well, I started in Millenium City after reading an in-game email from some NPC police chief.  I never found him.  I accidentally deleted the email that was sent to me and couldn’t find the NPC. Since emails are tied to your account and not your character, I couldn’t log into another character and read the email again.  Granted, I did not work very hard to find the NPC that sent the email, but it really felt like there was no easy way to jump into the Blood Moon content.  I just didn’t feel like I was pointed in the right direction and it wasn’t easy enough to partake in whatever was happening.  This is a problem that has plagued Champions Online since its launch, and it has not improved with the addition of the Blood Moon content.  I could see the new Blood Red moon in the sky and hear the sounds of werewolves howling, but that was about as exciting as my evening got.  I never saw any of the new NPC’s shown in the video above.  Maybe it was my fault for a lack of effort, but it is still my opinion that Cryptic did not do a good job of guiding players to the new content.

The Millenium City zombie stuff didn’t do it for me, so I felt it was time to move on to another zone.  I left Millenium City for the desert and some werewolf hunting.  I finally got someone to tell me where the hell the werewolves were, or at least the general area.  I teleported out to the prison in the desert zone and found a few packs of werewolves that were gray con (under my level) and killed them.  After the 3rd pack, one managed to get a debuff on me that did…something.  I got some interesting dark borders around my screen but couldn’t tell if I had actually turned into a werewolf or not.  I don’t think that mattered, since I never saw another player the whole time I was out there.  I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in the right area, but I had no idea where the right area was, and got irritated. My werewolf hunting was done, and now I considered the werewolf content to be pretty bland as well.

Celestial Quest Blockage
I then went to the new and improved power house, but wasn’t able to get any Celestial powers as I think they must be unlocked with some quest or something.  /sigh.  Couldn’t they just be made available like the other power set?  Why do they have to be unlocked with some aggravating quest?  Maybe my tolerance for this stuff has dropped since I haven’t been playing MMO’s over the last few weeks.  I think Pete was right, the further you step back from MMO’s, the more you can see how angry people generally are with their MMO game of choice.  This is the kind of thing that makes this MMO gamer crazy, as there are always “design decisions” that wind up just flat out irritating the player base.  I could easily launch into a tirade on MMO design here, so I’ll reel that in and get back to the story at hand.

So there I was, unimpressed and kind of irritated with the new patch.  I didn’t want to have to do research on the event just to participate, and I logged off.  This time, probably for good.  I spoke to Syp on Ventrilo (of course he was in the Fallen Earth channel getting his apocalypse on) and told him I’d give him the scoop.  Instead, I wound up going the same route he did.  The funny thing is that when I went to cancel, it was already canceled since I had switched banks recently and forgot to update my billing.  I had 6 days of play time left, which I will not use anyway, so it all worked out in the end.

I didn’t just ragequit, mind you.  I was on the verge of canceling my CO subscription going in, and was sort of halfway hoping that the Blood Moon event would be so much fun that I would have to stay subscribed.  At level 28 the questing and leveling had gotten to the point where the action of the combat no longer made up for it being relatively boring.  Fallen Earth and Aion decimated my guild’s population, and I wasn’t really motivated to do the work to find another one, so I stayed solo.  I had already made a ton of characters and explored all the power sets.  I had a very powerful character that could mow through even the toughest of enemies.  I’m sure I’ll be back to check it out some day, and that decision might be easier if CO went free to play (permanently) ala Dungeons and Dragons Online.  It already has a micro transaction based store, perhaps it is already primed for such a transition?  Maybe that is fodder for another article as well.

Blood Moon Doesn’t Redeem
To those of you having fun with CO, understand that I realize I didn’t put that much effort into making the most of the Blood Moon expansion.  1 play session of a few hours (and solo the whole time) is probably no way to try to experience new content in CO.  However, that’s kind of my point.  I’m at a place where I can’t (or just don’t want to) put in alot off effort to have fun, I feel like it should come easier.  It might be that I have more of a problem with level grinds right now than anything, and that this content expansion is alot better than I give it credit for.  Hopefully it is, so try it for yourself.  For now, I’m hanging up the spandex.

- br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/31/2009.
Posted in: Impressions, Opinion Tags: Champions Online, Cryptic

Torchlight is a game that’s been floating around the blogosphere quite a bit since its release early this week.  And with good reason.  This gem of a game is the product of a lot of love from a developer who’s had some major ups and downs in the past couple years.  Runic Games is formed entirely (with some additions) of the same team that was working on Mythos before Flagship went belly-up.  It should comes as no surprise that Torchlight bears a striking resemblance to not only Mythos, but Diablo 1 and 2 and Fate as well.

Max and Erich Schaefer (key developers on the Diablo series) and Travis Baldree (lead designer of Fate) are the founders of this little studio.  What’s astonishing is that in eleven short months they’ve made a game that, while derivative, is extremely satisfying in a way that few games since Diablo 2 have been able to replicate.

At very first glance, players familiar with Fate will see some very obvious connections.  As Syp recently pointed out, Torchlight is essentially the same game.  Good or bad, this little fact doesn’t mean Runic’s first entry into the world of computer gaming is something to pass over.  Fate has over a million customers (insert McDonald’s I’m Lovin’ It theme here) for a reason.  But even that game was missing, for me, the same thrill and drive to keep delving deeper into the dungeon that Torchlight captures.

It borrows heavily from the Diablo series, Fate, and even Mythos.  You have several skill trees for each of the three classes.  There’s a heavy reliance on potions, identify scrolls, and town portals (Diablo).  You have a pet that can change into different beasts by feeding it fish, run back to town to sell your gear, and learn spells to help you fight (Fate).  You can even purchase random dungeon maps that will give you a nice diversion from the main quest line (Mythos).

I mean, let’s call a spade a spade here… Torchlight is an amalgamation of many previous entries into the Action-RPG genre.  But where in the past games like Sacred  and Titan Quest have failed to capture the same addictive and enticing qualities that Diablo once did, Torchlight shines.

I don’t know why, but so very few games in this genre ever match the same feeling that the best of the best give.  I was rarely eager to keep playing Sacred, I didn’t sit at my desk and dream of the next shiny piece of loot in Titan Quest.  But with Torchlight, I’m already planning my next character and what skills I’m going to own little zombie faces with.

Our full review will be coming later, but until then why not check the game out yourself?  Steam has a demo available, and it only costs $20 to unlock the full game.  I will personally guarantee you’ll get your money’s worth if you’re itching for a good new hack-n-slash.  If I’m wrong, Br3ntbr0 will gladly pay you back.

(Though he may deny it…)

- JoBildo

© Posted by JoBildo for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/29/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions Tags: RPG, Runic Games, Torchlight

Borderlands: 2 thumbs up!

I know I’m a little late to the game on this one.  A lot of people have been talking about Borderlands on the web, with mostly positive reviews.  I’ve just acquired a copy. which turned out to be harder than I expected.

I went to the local Best Buy and they were sold out of all versions (360, PS3, PC).  I stopped by another Best Buy that was next door to the pet store where I was picking up some pet food, and found that the version I wanted, for the 360, was gone.  I went to see if they had it for the PS3, and I saw there was a copy on the shelf, in front of the shelf sign.  Behind the shelf sign was what looked to be another copy.  Having worked retail in the past, I thought I’d straighten that up for them (OK I can’t help myself) and lo and behold, the one behind the PS3 sign was actually a 360 version.  Shopping in the store after that, I was treated to much Geek Envy as everyone wanted to know where I found that elusive copy.  But I digress…

Loaded the game up and played in split-screen with Tarkheena.  We each rolled a character.  She chose Lilith and I chose Mordecai.  And we were off.  The game eases you into the action from the start with some great music and character.  I love the art style although I’ll acknowledge it probably isn’t for everyone.  Very cool in my estimation.

We only had a chance to play for a few hours, but gameplay was smooth and even though you are obviously on rails you can wander around.  I loved the sniper rifle.  It’s very satisfying to headshot an enemy from a distance while Tarkheena was picking them off with her handguns.

This is definitely a first impression due to the limited playtime we have into it, but we both really liked the game.  I did encounter a bug in single player mode that forced me to restart the game with a level-2 character.  That wasn’t too bad but would have been a game killer had he been level 25 or something.  At the outset the little robot guy is a little annoying, as it was pretty obvious where he was.  Still he felt the need to announce it every 10 seconds.  Also, the UI didn’t scale well in splitscreen, which made using menus a little wonky.  Obviously an afterthought.

The gameplay, attitude, and art style were all to my tastes though.  Tark took the role of the gatherer and found all the hidden money and ammo, and I definitely took the role of the hunter and looked for things to asplode with my sniper rifle.  You get your signature powers at level 5, and with all of our exploration we didn’t get there.  I expect we will tonight.

We’ll be playing this a lot more, and I’ll give you more in a second impression once I get the chance to play online with some of my friends in co-op mode.

First impression:  2 thumbs up!

- Genda

© Posted by Genda for Im Talkin Games with 8 comments on 10/28/2009.
Posted in: Commentary, Impressions, Misc Tags: Borderlands, Gearbox

Its 3:30 in the morning and I’m in ITG’s dashboard drafting up Torchlight: Ready the Torches!, when I get a tell from a Steam friend. He reminds me that I first told him about Killing Floor about 6 months ago when it was first released by Tripwire Interactive in May of 2009.  Now he is at a friends house who has the game, watched them play it for a bit, and then right when he got home he logged into steam and purchased it. Its comparable to Left 4 Dead with the whole survivalist, multiplayer co-op and solo playable features, along with achievements and a interesting level up ability I will discuss in a bit. I’d like take a min and say that L4D and Killing Floor are very similar…but not identical. Overall they serve the same function, which is to lay waste to a seemingly insurmountable horde of zombies and demonic creatures, and live to tell about it.

The graphics are quite good, with repeatable and enjoyable play time, and a pocket friendly price of only $19.99 via the Steam network. If you haven’t gotten L4D due to any number of reasons (price being the only one I can think of right now) then you should give a look at Killing Floor. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Take a look at the  HD Trailer below to see if you think this could be a viable L4D alternative:

Lets talk about some of the features now. We know the basics: Co-op Survival Horror FPS, setting takes place in ravished country sides and some cities in  England. Check.  Let’s talk perks:

• 6 player C0-op
• Persistent Perks System (PPS):  Allows the players to convert their in-game achievements into permanent character improvements, increasing stats and abilities
• Over 40 steam achievements and 2 Character expansion packs (priced at a meager $1.99 each)
• Slow-motion “ZEDtime” Killing blow factor, (this feature is so sick, I’ve become addicted to just watching heads exploded in Zedtime)
• Nine different creature types with aggressive behavior problems
• Weapons: 12 weapons to choose from, knives, flamethrowers, axes (a few different types), shotguns, rifles and a cross bow!
• There are many features in this game that are pushing it above others in its genre, like being able to weld doors shut to better direct the onslaught of undead
• Open, non-linear play areas.  You can run about or play defensively, what ever your play style is.
• Fully adjustable difficulty and creature waves  function
• Steam support and functionality
• SDK for creation of new levels and mods

That’s a lot in-game bang for your buck right there!!

The perks system is a bit hard to describe, when you first log in and chose either multiplayer co-op or single player you will be able to select your basic character and specialty.  You can choose rifleman, melee, etc. When you pick a specialty you get a bonus to your core ability.  For example, I normally go rifleman, and with that I get 10% increased damage with rifles, and faster reload with rifles and hand guns. Say you were to choose a melee core play style, then you would get 10% bonus to melee attacks and damage taken reduction, increased swing speed (I believe) and so on.

What do you think?  Have you played both Left 4 Dead and Killing Floor?  Is KF a viable alternative to L4D?  Holla back!

- Kaldeem

© Posted by Kaldeem for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/27/2009.
Posted in: Commentary, Featured, Impressions, Uncategorized Tags: Killing Floor, L4D, Steam, Tripwire Interactive