🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 2 Jun 2017 09:33:57 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:


>* Star Wars Rebel Assault (PC new)
>I probably shouldn't even mention this, as I didn't really play this for 
>more than a few minutes.  I didn't give it a chance.  I just wanted to 
>play something else.

I have fond memories of Rebel Assault even though I didn't enjoy the
game at all. Released long before the prequels (and only at the start
of the Expanded Universe), new Star Wars material was rare and
exciting... especially new visuals. And it was made by the same guys
who made X-Wing! My expectations were so high for this game.

Then I played and to say I was disappointed would be a grave
understatement. The visuals were terrible; the video was so badly
pixelated that it compared very poorly to other games even in an era
where 320x200 graphics were the norm. The complex balance of simulator
and arcade shooter of the X-Wing series were gone; Rebel Assault was a
dumb shooter requiring little skill. It had terribly twitchy controls,
not helped the least by the stuttering framerate. It was a game that
was no fun to play. But we all played iy anyway, because it was the
first new Star Wars video we'd seen in nearly a decade.

Rebel Assault II significantly improved the production values (not to
mention it added a fun story that wasn't just a rehash of the original
Star Wars movie plot) but its gameplay remained too simplistic to be
much fun. It did have a great set of easter eggs, including a very
humorous MST3K homage that almost by itself made the game worth
playing.

>* Star Wars The Force Unleashed II (PC new)
>Ho hum.  I haven't played the original in ages, but after a couple hours 
>I got bored with this.  Seemed like a totally uninspired sequel. I 
>didn't even complete my escape.

Neither of the Force Unleashed games were very good, but they had
their moments. I preferred the story of the first game, but felt the
gameplay (or at least, the combat mechanics and controls) of the
second to be an improvement. The original did have the benefit of
showing off its impressive physics system, and the second was saddled
with the worst final level of any game I've played. So it's a wash as
to which game is better.


>* Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II (new, RPG PC)
>Bleak.  The asteroid mining operation was boring and uninspired, 
>definitely not feeling the Star Wars here.  The robot had more 
>personality than either of the companions I did get, not a good sign for 
>this game.  I did manage to get to Talos, but found the situation there 
>also boring and quit before doing much there.

KOTOR2 is a critically acclaimed game but, like you, I didn't much
enjoy it. While ambitious in scope, the writing just wasn't up to
snuff; the dialogue, characters and situations just were not very
interesting. I think a major problem with the game was that the
developers were trying to shoehorn a game about grey-on-grey morality
in a universe that literally has black and white morality built into
it. The game may have been better if it had not been saddled with the
baggage of the Star Wars universe.

>* Fallout shelter (replay - PC genere?)
I found Fallout Shelter to be an entertaining timewaster, but it's a
poor fit for the PC platform. It's the sort of game you pick up, play
for two or three minutes and then go do something else, and that
doesn't really fit the play style of PC gaming where you purposely sit
yourself down for an extended period of entertainment. Fallout Shelter
is a great game to play on a commute but not something I could imagine
playing anywhere else.

It also suffers from a lack of any long-term goals. It isn't very
difficult to create a stable "economy" and unlock all the room-types,
at which point there is little incentive to keep playing. Myself, I
found challenge in trying to max out the SPECIAL stats for all my
dwellers.

>* Brutal Legend (new PC)
>I started up this when I was getting frustrated with FO2, but went back 
>to FO2 after a day or two of this.  Jack Black has a game where he's a 
>roady for a metal band and get sucked back in time/another dimension 
>where demons rule and he tries to set free the humans with ROCK!  I'm 
>not really into metal, but it's a bit funny.  The game seems like it's 
>an older console port, and reminds me a bit of Overlord.  The controls 
>are pretty clunky and the animations aren't smooth, it plays almost well 
>enough to get through to the funny bits, but not quite.  I might try 
>slogging through it for all the funny once I get bored enough of FO.

Despite the fun setting and writing, I found the gameplay too
repetitive to be much fun; I couldn't finish the game because it just
didn't keep me entertained. It's a shame, because between the music
and excellent voice-acting, the game felt like it should be fun. I'll
probably hunt down a Lets Play one of these days so I can enjoy the
dialogue and world-building without having to endure the tedious
gameplay elements.