Cult Labs

Go Back   Cult Labs > Entertainment > Gaming

Like Tree1297Likes

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #2111  
Old 25th February 2022, 08:21 PM
trebor8273's Avatar
Cult Veteran
Good Trader
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: UK
Default

Been playing horizon forbidden West which lives up to the hype takes everything from the original and improves on it.

Also playing elden ring which for me doesn't live up to it's reviews , frame rate drops poor character models and graphical it's not impressive especially compared to say horizon hell even ps4 games like last of us 2, God of war and Ghost of Tsushima look so much better and it doesn't seem to have a story so why they employed George rr Martin is beyond me. No way this is a 9 or 10 game. Maybe a 7/10. If it doesn't grab after a few more hours tomorrow will be getting rid of it, cex are offering £40 and paid 43 for it so not a it loss. The world is boring and lifeless.
nosferatu42 and MrBarlow like this.

Last edited by trebor8273; 25th February 2022 at 09:14 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2112  
Old 9th March 2022, 10:22 PM
trebor8273's Avatar
Cult Veteran
Good Trader
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: UK
Default

Finished horizon forbidden west which as I said improves on the original and leaves it open for a third game.

The more I've been playing elden ring the more I'm enjoying it, beat the first boss yesterday which gave a feeling of great satisfaction, mind grinded too level 45 and found good weapon and upgraded it so the boss was easy too dispatch.

Also playing gran turismo 7 which has too be the best racing game have every played , it looks absolutely stunning and is a love letter too motoring. Lots of option to make it accessible to those whom don't want a straight out Simulation. The licences are still nearly impossible to get golds. By far the worst cars I've driving are American muscle cars can't they make a car that doesn't handle and turn like a tank?
Reply With Quote
  #2113  
Old 8th July 2022, 07:21 AM
Cult Rookie
 
Join Date: Jul 2022
Default

I started the new TMNT yesterday.

Nostalgic FTW.
Nordicdusk and MrBarlow like this.
Reply With Quote
  #2114  
Old 8th July 2022, 07:30 AM
Nordicdusk's Avatar
Cult Master
Cult Labs Radio Contributor
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Ireland
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bobana View Post
I started the new TMNT yesterday.

Nostalgic FTW.
Its a great game they did a great job sticking to the feel of the original arcade game.
bobana likes this.
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #2115  
Old 9th August 2022, 07:25 AM
MacBlayne's Avatar
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Japan
Default The X-Files: Resist or Serve

THE X-FILES: RESIST OR SERVE


The X-Files has a go at Resident Evil. Honestly, this is fantastic concept. The X-Files is moody, at times very creepy, series that wouldn’t really translate to a shooter, and most definitely not a platformer. They did make an adventure game back in the 90s, but the trial-and-error approach of the genre resulted in a sluggish experience that would lead to many game over screens.

But a genre that allows for slow, methodical exploration and investigation, as well as providing enough of a threat so that the gameplay never grinds to a halt? Survival horror is the perfect place for The X-Files. So, did the makers of PS1 classic Tomorrow Never Dies deliver? Let’s find out.

We’ll start with the positives. The X-Files: Resist or Serve lucked out by actually securing the talents of the writing team. Granted, this was in the later seasons era, but Resist or Serve (RoS from now on) delivers a competent little mystery. It does ties into the overall lore of the series, but has enough of its own ideas not to scare off newcomers. By having the actual writing team involved, RoS feels like a legitimate X-Files storyline, and not fan fiction. The game also offers two overlapping campaigns that fill in the gaps of each other. That provides the game with great replay value. That the game also offers the vocal talents of not just David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, but also Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, Nicholas Lea, and the Lone Gunmen, elevates the game above cheap cash-in.

And then you see the presentation, and realise that after paying the fees of the talent, there was very little left in the kitty to make the game.

There is something very unrefined about the level design. It’s not awful, but feels extremely padded, with lots of lazy backtracking. The best survival horrors start you with a locked door, and send you down an alternative path that circles back to the locked door with all of the keys, and fancy gear. RoS's approach is to force you into another location, and backtrack with the key. Nothing new is unlocked. Nothing is gained.

Also, the game has many empty rooms that offer nothing. When making Resident Evil, creator Shinji Mikami stated that every accessible location must provide an item, or a piece of the story, or a combination of these. Silent Hill would also adopt this theory. That means for as slow as these games were, they never felt like they were wasting your time. RoS is the complete opposite, and the empty rooms repeated throughout wear your patience.

RoS is a remarkably ugly looking game. The characters have that paper-plate look to their faces, and their animations are hideous. Mulder runs like every limb is thinking independently of itself. The textures are a blurry mess, and those that aren’t look like they escaped from a PS1 development kit. Which is a shame, as the art direction is quite good. The town looks like the washed-out shithole that has seen its best days pass long ago, and the plot developments see the game move onto a bizarre direction, that the art team take on with relish.

pcsx2 Screenshot 2022.08.06 - 14.05.48.24.jpg

Sadly, the camera is pretty poor. RoS, for the most part, uses fixed angles that move on a track, similar to Resident Evil: Code Veronica. But where Code Veronica kept the player character in the off-centre of the frame, allowing the player enough time and space to deal with offscreen horrors, RoS’s camera will only move when the player character is humping the edge of the frame. This results in the enemy often getting a free hit, and the game’s clumsy combat system does not offer any help.

The combat in RoS is broken. Dealing with regular enemies is fine (they usually take three to five bullets), and its fine when you encounter one or two. But three or more? That’s when the cracks show. Enemies will swamp you, and there are moments in the game where you will encounter a never-ending swarm of them. And when they swamp you, you will get hit, putting you into a recovery animation. However, the game doesn’t provide a recovery phase, allowing the player to quickly relocate to a safer position. Instead, other enemies can still hit you during the recovery animation, resulting in a loop that continues into infinity (or until you reset in rage).

Compounding matters are some of the worst controls I have experienced. RoS uses 3D controls rather than the genre’s traditional tank-controls. No matter where you are facing, the movement is based on the camera’s position. Maybe some of you like this concept, but this causes major issues when transitioning between angles. Many a time, I would move down into a room whilst fleeing enemies, only for the camera to flip to the opposite angle, thus resetting the controls, and I’d run back into the enemies. Of course, this can arguably be blamed on my incompetence, but what is not my fault is the delay. To use a gun, you must ready the weapon before pushing the action button. If you try holding the action button before the ready animation is complete, the game will not register you are pressing action. And you have to wait almost a second after the animation is over before the game will register any button prompts. And many times, the game won’t acknowledge any attempts to remedy this, and you are forced to lower your weapon, and try again. Add this to the most frustrating boss battle ever, and you will be amazed to learn that I didn’t snap my controller in two.

RoS is not for players looking for a survival horror fix. If you are a fan of The X-Files, I can give it a cautious recommendation. It’s clear that Black Ops Entertainment lacked the time to polish it. It’s a mess of mechanics and sloppy design. However, the story and voice acting keep the game captivating, and it has enough twists and turns to keep me surprised.

So, if you are eager for more X-Files content, then consider this a C+. For everybody else, it's a D-.
nosferatu42 and MrBarlow like this.
__________________
"We're outgunned, and undermanned. But, you know somethin'? We're gonna win. You know why? Superior attitude. Superior state of mind."

Last edited by MacBlayne; 9th August 2022 at 07:49 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2116  
Old 9th August 2022, 10:28 AM
MacBlayne's Avatar
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Japan
Default Echo Night

ECHO NIGHT


Echo Night is a first person Japanese game on the PS1. That means you’re in for a weird premise, clunky controls, and even clunkier presentation. However, it is a game from From Software, the mad lads behind Dark Souls, and offers us an early example of how they’ve always been unconventional.

Resident Evil and its many clones pretty much set in stone how PS1 horror would be presented, so it is odd to see Echo Night adopt the first person perspective. However, those games were survival horror, whereas Echo Night is a horror-adventure, with a strong focus on the adventure part.

You play the part of Richard Osmond, well before his stint on Pointless, as his attempts to unravel his father’s disappearance lands him on an abandoned ship. I say abandoned, but more haunted by tormented spirits. Only a few ghosts seem to possess the ability to commit violence. The other lost souls are mostly benign, muttering about something they left unfinished before dying.

This sets up the gameplay loop. Encountering an entity transports you to their memories, and you must unlock an item that gives the spirit closure. These puzzles are rarely taxing, and excepting a tedious game of blackjack, they never frustrate. Said closure is not always happy, and it’s fair to say that an overwhelming sense of melancholia hangs over the ship.

It's this tragic atmosphere that pushes you further, unlocking more sad stories that hint towards what happened. The origin of this madness is rather silly (magic stones and knives), but helping each ghost move on feels rewarding. Even the antagonist is confused and lost, not knowing what has occurred, but remembering something very bad has happened.

I’m not likely to revisit Echo Night. The very weird control scheme was always difficult to adapt to, and the snail-like walking pace bordered on exhausting. But I did find myself being enraptured by the odd atmosphere the game provided, and I eventually was able to navigate the ship without a map. Echo Night represents an era of gaming in which 3D opened up new possibilities. Many designers were unsure how exactly to do this, and experimentation flourished. Their methods may not have always succeeded, as is true here, but it’s a much better concept than shoehorning a shooter onto it.
nosferatu42 and MrBarlow like this.
__________________
"We're outgunned, and undermanned. But, you know somethin'? We're gonna win. You know why? Superior attitude. Superior state of mind."

Last edited by MacBlayne; 9th August 2022 at 10:41 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2117  
Old 11th August 2022, 03:39 AM
MacBlayne's Avatar
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Japan
Default

OBSCURE


ObsCure is a survival horror game whose reputation is certainly matched by its title. New Yorker Magazine wit aside, ObsCure is a nifty little teenage horror that really does deserve to be better known. It brings enough new elements to the table to help it stand out from other Resident Evil clones.

The game utilises a buddy system (that actually allows for couch co-op), and it never feels awkward. The locations are just wide enough to allow easy traversal without hitting each other. Right from the start, the game lets you pick from four characters, each with their own unique strengths. You can swap between them whenever you want, but I always stuck with Josh (whose skill is in finding items), and Stan (a master of unlocking). I played solo, and I must commend the AI. My buddy never got in the way, nor did he waste ammo and health kits like Sheva did with gleeful abandon in Resident Evil 5.

The controls are really fluid too. Although 3D like The X-Files: Resist or Serve, ObsCure’s camera is a lot more considerate, and I never once felt confused. Also, when the camera does switch positions, the controls do not reset until you stop moving.

Combat is interesting too. The enemies are photosensitive, which means you can smash windows to allow sunlight in to kill them. However, when night falls, you are forced to rely on a flashlight. Said flashlight will not kill the enemy, but will weaken them. This creates moments of tension for the player. Do you waste a whole clip taking down a rampaging beastie, or will you risk a wallop or two weakening the enemy’s defences, before taking it down with three rounds. To the game’s credit, it never feels played out, and does a much better job with the concept than Alan Wake did.

Of course, there are flaws. Using items and swapping weapons is cumbersome as there is no inventory system. Instead, you need to hold down the shoulder buttons, and use the D-pad to switch between items and weapons. I can see what they were trying for, but trying to cure your partner when you are both besieged by monsters requires more dexterity than the average King of Fighters game.

The story is fine for what it is, but it does collapse when you think about it for more than a second. What’s most disappointing is how the game squanders its characters and setting. Although they are teenagers from the early 2000s (nu-metal, and all that), they are not obnoxious or hateful. They even show concern about each other’s wellbeing (the story is kicked off by a vanishing teenager). But they lack any real development or growth. I’m not expecting Joseph Conrad writing here, but a few conversations, some jokes, potential romance, and perhaps some conflict of ideas would have endeared me more to them.

The school itself is a delight. What once looked regal is now decrepit, with bathrooms stinking, wallpaper fading and tearing, and cracks, holes and leaks appearing everywhere. At first, I had assumed that this was a school for those below the poverty line, and would have explained the authorities lack of interest in the weird happenings at the school. Sadly, it was just the artists having fun making a spooky school.

Which is a shame. The game was in a position to make an interesting subtext about class divisions (the antagonists are from wealth and privilege), and it could have dug into teenage fears and mistrust of adults. That it doesn’t do any of this is not a big loss, but it might have secured the game a lasting legacy.

ObsCure is definitely worth playing. It took me about six hours to finish it, but I didn’t feel like I was short-changed. It was well paced, and it never dragged. Finishing the game unlocks special modes and weapons, but I’m not especially interested in that stuff. The puzzles were fun, the combat was stimulating, and it carried a top-notch atmosphere. ObsCure commands ridiculous prices on the second-hand market (at least £50!!!), but there is a PC port on Steam. During a sale, I paid €4 for it and its sequel. This is a decent port that has no extra bells and whistles, but it works flawlessly. You do, however, lose the licenced soundtrack exclusive to the console editions. This might be an issue, but if you’re the type to mourn the loss of Sum41 songs, you may have bigger issues.
__________________
"We're outgunned, and undermanned. But, you know somethin'? We're gonna win. You know why? Superior attitude. Superior state of mind."
Reply With Quote
  #2118  
Old 13th August 2022, 10:52 AM
MacBlayne's Avatar
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Japan
Default

DAYMARE: 1998


Daymare: 1998 promises to be a return to the punishing world of 90s survival horror, only with the gameplay modern gamers would expect. A noble goal, if the Resident Evil 2 remake hadn’t beaten them to the punch, and did everything so much better.

I suppose that isn’t fair to InvaderStation’s efforts. Resident Evil 2 had a massive team of professionals with years of experience and an open wallet. Daymare: 1998 has a team of amateurs, but they carry a lot of love and ambition. Interestingly, Daymare: 1998 started as a fan remake of RE2, until Capcom requested that they cease, since an official remake was secretly in development. Capcom offered the team positions, but the small Italian team weren’t prepared to pack up and move to Japan. So Capcom suggested turning their efforts into an original game, and gave the team some unofficial support.

Let’s start with the positives. Daymare: 1998 is drenched with atmosphere, and the surroundings look gorgeous. It really does look like a realistic construction of 1998’s Raccoon City. However, the low budget is revealed when you see the characters’ graphics and animations. They’re not the worst, but it feels like some frames are missing, which can really throw you for a loop. Especially when a hungry zombie suddenly grabs you from six feet away.

The gameplay is an odd mix. Daymare: 1998 uses a limited inventory system like the olden days, but items do not stack. Before you know it, you’ve filled up your inventory, and item chests are in extremely short supply. As such, you’re forced to drop items to pick up a key, and return later to pick it up, providing you don’t need another key.

And while we’re on the subject of inventories, let’s discuss Daymare: 1998’s terrible approach to reloading. The game adopts a tactical approach. Rather than reload your weapon, you fill magazines with bullets, and then swap that magazine with the empty one. You can perform a slow magazine change, or a fast one. The fast swap is indeed fast, but you lose the magazine until you pick it up later. Said approach is interesting, but doesn’t work here. Damage is random, but in my playthrough, the average zombie took five to seven rounds to take down. Each magazine stores ten rounds, so I’m constantly running away to access my inventory, reload my bullets, and returning to the battlefield. And just to piss me off, the game would sometimes bug out by having recently made headless zombies suddenly stand up with new heads, and new teeth to sink into my unsuspecting arse.

Where Daymare: 1998 does succeed is when it decides to adopt exploration. It’s not the most perfect level design (you’re really traversing small hubs connected by alleyways), but the developers’ attention to detail rewards the patient player. There are loads of references to classic action and horror films and games, with varying degrees of subtlety. Graffiti declares that Snake Plissken has escaped, while a hospital log tells of a Dr. Silberman.

Daymare: 1998 takes an interesting approach in that you are effectively playing as the villains (the dudes performing the company clean-up). Unfortunately, this is as intriguing as it gets. I haven’t told you what the story of Daymare: 1998 is, because I’m not entirely sure. It starts off simple, and I had assumed the town got infected because the opening mission took a turn for the worst. But as the game progressed, it threw backstabbing, rival corporations, hallucinations, and the possibility that the toxic gas was released before the accident. I don’t know. Daymare: 1998 is very poorly told, and comes with an unpleasant helping of 90s edge. I was hoping, since the developers are Italian, that the game would have alluded to Spaghetti Splatter, rather than 90s shock value.

Daymare: 1998 is game suffering from an identity crisis. It tries stitching survival horror with tactical action. It almost gets the horror right, but drops the ball with the action. Thankfully, InvaderStation have been responding to players’ feedback with appreciation. This bodes well for their next game, a prequel called Daymare: 1994. I wish them well, since their obvious love for action and horror shines through. I mean, I saw this signpost on my travels.


If you can guess what it’s referencing, give yourself a biscuit. And maybe treat yourself to a Daymare when it’s on sale.
nosferatu42 and bleakshaun like this.
__________________
"We're outgunned, and undermanned. But, you know somethin'? We're gonna win. You know why? Superior attitude. Superior state of mind."
Reply With Quote
  #2119  
Old 13th August 2022, 03:06 PM
bleakshaun's Avatar
Cult Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Burntisland
Default

I did play elden ring, of course grr martin would have a pedo as a boss. Also **** malenia

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
MacBlayne likes this.
__________________
It says here you're a HERETIC
Reply With Quote
  #2120  
Old 13th August 2022, 03:07 PM
bleakshaun's Avatar
Cult Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Burntisland
Default

Also been playing post scriptum and squad. Don't play when exhausted

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
MacBlayne and MrBarlow like this.
__________________
It says here you're a HERETIC
Reply With Quote
Reply  

Like this? Share it using the links below!

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



Our goal is to keep Cult Labs friendly. If you feel discouraged from posting by certain members' behaviour then you can e-mail us in complete confidence.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
All forum posts are contributed by members of the site; Cult Labs cannot take responsibility for all content posted on the site. If you have an issue with content posted on the site please click the 'report post' button.
Copyright © 2014 Cult Laboratories Ltd. All rights reserved.