Steam Annoyances

So yeah, I’m still a bit undecided about Steam. On the one hand, it’s brilliant in that you can readily get new games and updates and such and everything magically happens in the background – the fact that you don’t have to install stuff is amazing. On the other hand, it’s a closed platform that could use a bit of opening up.

A fourth look at Global Agenda (v1.3.8.5)

This game has come a long way and a few hundred hours later (I think I ticked over 1000 hours a month or so ago) my impression of the game evened out and more importantly, I've had a chance to poke around with Hirez's development/interaction approach. And I'm afraid.

A second look at Borderlands...

I've been playing Borderlands a bit lately and although all of my complaints in my initial review still stand, I think the game's three DLCs have subtly brought some polish with them. Dont get me wrong, the game is still chock full of console-itis -- that's a bad thing. By far and large that is still the overwhelming impression from start to finish. However, if you overlook this aspect, it's actually very enjoyable. While this game will never be a totally rockin' FPS-RPG and even though I will always have more complaints than praises for it, it still can be a total blast to play. Now that I've got the three DLC packs, let's have a look again...

A third look at Global Agenda (v1.3)

Ok so I was a bit harsh with my first impressions of the v1.3 patch. I guess that was to be expected, coming from a quick stint in Killing Floor (a more 'proper' FPS... you know, where headshots count for something). Now that I've had a few days to settle into it, let's a have another go at it.


The Good

• Solo mode is available. This is not to say you can solo, but at least the option is there. In reality, soloing in Global Agenda isn't a feasible/practical option. Sure there may be fewer baddies and they may be squishier but it's just has too much of a ugh, slow feel to it. It's nice that it's at least an option.
• What I do love is the ability to launch with limited team size - no longer do we have to wait for three other people to be ready (which is, for reasons unknown, much more challenging than you might think). The upside is that it is feasible to play with teams of two and three and the loot/experience is boosted to reflect the handicap of not having the fourth player.
• The revamp of the device handling is awesome. No longer do I have to juggle 20 device points worth of items (five devices each ranging in tier 1-4) into an available 15 points. With this patch, all the devices (i.e., weapons and such) automatically are upgraded to tier4 and we can carry all five. The differentiating factor is now handled by suffixes that give micro stat boosts etc. Different/better devices/items are acquired as loot now. Awesome! I should disclaim that by opinions might be a bit biased because I already have pretty much the best gear I can for my class... if I had to grind for it, it might not be so favorable. That being said, the difference between plain and uber isn't really all that big.
• Game/Map tweaks: always a good thing. Generally speaking, they've fixed all the major map exploits and such. In-town, to accommodate the new inventory/loot system, there are class specific stores where players can buy gear for that specific class.
• The new uncommon baddie: a robotics guy! This is absolutely awesome: he's got a sweet (read: very annoying) gun, he puts down buff stations (50% damage reduction) and spawns lockdown drones (slows your movement + causes minor damage). If you're busy with a boss/mob it's absolutely lethal. It'd be even more challenging if, on the harder difficulties, instead of the drone, he put up a gun turret
• All the special gear they added for each class is a very nice touch!

The Bad

• Connectivity, stability and performance are atrocious still. Whenever a window pops up (i.e. you want to go to the in-town store to buy something ... a good chunk of the time the window will pop up empty -- leaving you to wonder if [a] you've been disconnected or [b] it's just loading the store really slowly).
• There still needs to be balance fixes (IMO). While none of these are absolutely critical fixes, they fall under the "this should really probably be done" category (Support spiders/guardian does ridiculous amounts of damage for the amount of skittering/health they have)
• I guess there's the growing pains of the massive content release -- so many players have no clue  how all the new toys work and what can be done with them.
• You still have to queue up. Seriously. Even if you have a premade team (hell, even if you solo), you still have to wait for a mission slot to be available. In 2010, this is ridiculous. Maybe I was spoiled by Hellgate's "get up and go" system where everyone was individually instanced (and when you grouped up the instances just merged) . While one could say "well they need to manage server load", I would counter with "this isn't a console game -- so don't give me console-esque limitations).
• They still kick you for idling in town after say 20 minutes. Which again comes down to a "we dont have enough computing power to handle so many idlers" versus "get a bigger server". For something so trivial, it's pretty annoying to be kicked (after all, I *could* buy the game *just* to sit in town, sure it's not normal, but it's a legitimate activity - sit in town and read the intown chat or something). For consoles it makes sense, with limited server capacity etc, but for serious PC gaming, this is silly. Get a bigger server (lol it'd be like Google search denying you a search if you took too long typing out what you wanted to search for)
• For a game that is so PVP-centric, to not have headshots... (especially running on UnrealEngine3) is kind of pathetic. I think the bottom line for these last three points are: get a better server - you expect players to run with relatively decent machines, you (as the gameserver) should run a datacenter capable of supporting your playerbase.

All in all I'm happy with the update (although I wish they would change it so that headshots matter and get the stability/performance down pat). As a patch: it's a definite 9.5/10 (a few additional balance bugs were introduced) but the game as a whole needs to be more. There are simply too many ugh moments for it to be a blockbuster.

Related

• My Initial Impressions of Global Agenda
• Global Agenda Round 2 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

A second look at Global Agenda (v1.3)...

Well the monolithic v1.3 update came out today and I am happy to say, I'm finally getting [quite] sick of the game. The update is really what the game should have launched as really. A quick summary:

• An interface that (usually) saves settings as you go. No more having all your options and such reset because you didnt click a "Apply" button. Welcome to proper UI design and how everything else works (sure, there are interfaces that dont save changes .. but those interfaces have Ok, Cancel, Apply not Apply and Reset).
• More variety for jetpacks and boosts and such. Now you can fly and shoot at the same time... but not really because remember, energy powers your jetpack and your gun.
• No more having to wait for people to accept. You can finally solo. But not really. This game isnt like Hellgate (no, it's not that good) -- they force grouping on you. Sure it's an MMO you say... but so long as it has soft aim, it's clearly not a gamers game. Sure you can solo, but it's not going to be fun. This arises from a few (good and bad) things
• They've added a new special baddy, the rough equivalent of a Robotics specialist. He fires an amped up Rumbleblaster and spawns drones and power stations. This is awesome. Now baddies will properly reinforce each other. Horrah for legitimate difficulty.
• The fancy rumble blaster he has (just like the various other opponent-wielded rumbleblasters) has magical detonation properties. Sure, it's a splash-damage weapon, I totally get that. But splash weapons ... by their very nature, need to explode to do splash damage (duh) ... and to explode, they have to hit something. Not here. You think that rumbleblaster shot that's clearly zinging past your head is gonna zing past your head? Think again. It magically explodes as it comes near you. This isnt a fancy proximity rocket launcher folks. It's a friggen ball of electrical energy (that bounces no less).
• They still haven't got the Recon class's stealth down right. I wish the developers would just decide on how the mechanics for cloaking work. Common sense indicates that when you activate cloak, you should be bloody invisible unless  [a] you are within range of a detector [b] you are within range of a special baddie or boss [c] or you get hit. In Global Agenda there is a fourth scenario: random.

This all stacks onto the two base issues I have with the game (the lack of soloing is partially addressed, not without caveats of course): the exceptionally slow pace of the game and the artificial difficulty.

I cant stand games with artificial difficulty - regardless of wheather the ultimate [artificial] product is actually hard (like Global Agenda) or easy (like Left4Dead). If you dont want to artificial difficulty, then it's a giant plot/common-sense hole. Consider this: my assault rifle does ~100 dmg/hit. The assault rifle that the basic bad guy has, does 800dmg/hit with the same range and fire rate. So either [a] this is artificial difficulty or [b] a plot hole that skips over the fact that any common sense soldier would, after killing his first baddie, immediately pick up the rifle and use that instead....

Global Agenda is a different genre of game. It's got some aspect of FPS/TPS and some elements of RPG (and some strategic elements but those are relatively minor/indirect). It's clearly not a real RPG as there simply isnt any loot, and once you settle into your basic gear families, there's not a whole lot of need to expand into the more specialized loot (perhaps in PVP, but i'll get to that). It certaintly isnt an FPS/TPS -- there's no body zone damage -- a shot in the toe does the same as a shot to the head.

Now you can argue that this game is primarily PvP and PvE was tacked on as an afterthought (which, based on the feel of things, is probably true), then I would suggest that it fails as a PvP game as well. No body zone damage in a PvP game? Seriously? How is that supposed to be competitive when neither party even has to hit the target (it's actually got soft aim).

For all this criticism, you'd think I hate the Global Agenda. To be honest, I'm not sure at how I stand: the 1.3 patch definitively makes the game what it should have been at launch. No doubt about that -- as a patch, this is phenomenal (and from a developer's perspective, it's an assload of stuff they've done in a relatively short time period). I'm just not sold on the underlying game itself.

Forced teaming, lack of hard aim (or even something resembling zone damage) and artificial difficulty -- makes me feel this is a casual gamer's game (but it certainly isnt). I cant quite put my finger on it, but it's a hell of a turn off. Do I regret buying the game? Nah. Would I buy it again knowing what I know? Probably. But it certainly doesnt have the attractive power that it could have had. All I know is I'm crossing my fingers for Hellgate Resurrection...

Related

• My Initial Impressions of Global Agenda
• Global Agenda Round 3 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

'Global Agenda' (7.5/10)

Ah Global Agenda. After the disaster that was me being an early adopter of Fallen Earth and me almost tried the failure that was Aion (thankfully my caution after Fallen Earth saved me from that). I swore off all MMOs (other than Hellgate) without first trying the game out via a demo or something (to ensure the game doesnt have magical aim). Global Agenda seemed neat in that it was an attempt at mashing together several different genres:

• HUB based MMO
• Shooter (First and Third person)
• RTS
• RPG

For those familiar with Hellgate, it can be summarized as a mashup of the Hunter and Templar classes  shoved into a post-modern espionage environment. The player assumes the role of a genetically engineered agent working against the government entity, 'The Commonwealth'. (insert standard totalitarian/repressive government backstory here). For those interested in the actual backstory, there is a whole lot of it.

The player choses from one of four classes: medic (healer/poision), assault (heavy weapons/tanking), recon (stealth/sniper) and robotics (turrets and drones). The game splits into three portions: PvE, PvP and AvA. The first two are pretty standard staples of MMOs. The last, Agency vs Agency is the attempt to blend a persistant world and long term strategy i.e., you and your Agency (the equivalent of a Guild), try to capture/control/own territory which in turn, gives resources/research for better equipment etc.

The game has free-to-play and subscription modes (although for now, all content is free to play). I dont think I'll be paying for it anytime soon though: it's a bit too hollow/mechanical to be worth monthly fees (I play mostly PvE). That being said, I quite enjoy the light-RPG elements and the greater emphasis on tactical awareness than your usual MMO/RPG where it comes down to either [a] better gear or skills or [b] just having a higher level number (aka Borderlands).

Both-ways-points:

• Armor is entirely cosmetic and has no stats or anything. This is slated to change in the upcoming patch with the introduction of statted armour but for the time being it's a nice change from having to worry about loot and it's more of a player-skill thing. Of course, it kind of saps away the appeal of playing the game if there is no loot to farm or get excited over. The game does have an independant upgrade element (conveyed in the form of neural implants and such) which lets the user have upgraded stats and such independent of the armour (so no more worrying about picking better vs prettier armour)
• Skill points can be freely reset. This is nice if you play both PvP and PvE and it's great for beginners looking to try different builds and different skills and such. Down the road though it kind of takes away from the attatchment the player might have with the character if it's so brainless to respec.

Strong Points

• Unreal Engine 3. The game looks fantastic. The aiming mechanics are decent (sniping is a bain in the butt as bullets arent hit-scan ... the delay is about 400ms give or take)
• In addition to the standard guns and such, each class has melee weaponry -- and the game encourages you to use it as it doesnt drain energy/ammo, generates morale boost twice as fast (the equivalent of Limit Breaks) etc. Definitely adds a different take to the game
• Get up and go. Gameplay is very straightforward (on paper). Since the elements are mostly cosmetic, there's not as much of a need to sit around and choose gear etc (although different gear options are available, the player is aware of all of them at the very start so they can be ready for it)
• Self-healing is a very conscious decision. Each class has the ability to self-heal. When triggered, the player will (over a brief period), recover all hitpoints but at the cost of a much slower movespeed and no energy/ammo regeneration. Makes players think before mashing the heal button (which also has a cooldown).
• Jetpacks. The ability to fly is awesome --  doubly so when it has tactical merit and isnt just for show (ahem, Aion).
• Class distincion. The classes are exceptionally well thought out: each class has it's own very specific role to play in the group. There isnt the problem of one class ninjaing everything, because it's just not doable.

Weak Points

• No loot! This totally takes away from gameplay as there's much less of a reason to come back again and again on quests
• Quest queing. It's somethign I dont understand - you cant just go and play solo (in fact, you have to play with 3 other people... ugh... humans). A friend of mine tried to explain it to me: the reason for queuing is because the servers cant handle thousands of concurrent instances firing up (which I guess is also why you have to play with 3 other people - it drops the server load by 75%). Ugh. Get a bigger server.
• Little UI bugs and issues: so many of them to name, while the overall look and feel is done up well and the glitches are minor, they really chip away at the overall polish
• Stupid players. Nuff said.

All in all, a damn fine start. Needs some work to polish it up but worth the money. If you were on the fence, go try the trial out. Bottom line: 7.5/10.

Related

• Global Agenda Round 2 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 3 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

'Torchlight' Review (8/10)

I had no idea Torchlight was going to be so much fun. Then again, if we disect the game, it's really a rehash of the very tried and true Diablo formula. I bought the Steam version and so, it's got some nuances to get used to but at the end of the day, it's a hoot to play. There is, however, one absolutely unforgiveable failure of the game -- no multiplayer! For a game that so faithfully reproduces the tried and true Diablo formula (albeit with a brighter and cheery outlook on things), it's very dissapointing to not be able to fire the game up for some good old fashioned LAN partying.

'Freelancer' Review (9/10)

One of the best games ever. Freelancer is one of those games that comes around only a handful of times each decade. The sequel to StarLancer,  Freelancer is a space-based flightsim-rpg (I use the term rpg loosely). While the story isn't exactly groundbreaking, the visuals and combat mechanics are relatively top notch. Even now, in the age of advanced shaders and physics engines, Freelancer still looks great and plays great.

The game introduces us to two factions, the Alliance and the Coalition which, for some reason or another, were locked into a stalemate stellar-war. At one point the Coalition gets a lucky break and deals a deathblow to the Alliance -- but not before the Alliance is able to launch several sleeper ships (think big transport ships built for the purpose of repopulating a system) to a far off galaxy in an attempt to 'start over' free of the petty war. The game starts about 2000 years after the sleeper ships make it to the far off galaxy.

In this world, you are a one Mr. Edison Trent (the guy on the cover) and you are one of the few survivors of an attack on a remote spacestation by an unknown force from [presumably] beyond the story's universe. Having been rescued from the wreckage, you are taken to another planet to start your life over again. Cue player.

A second look at zombie games...

It's been some time since my Left 4 Dead 2 and Killing Floor reviews. While I didnt get around to making a Left 4 Dead review (I suppose for completeness sake, that'll be coming), many of the points for it were raised with my review of the sequel. Something I have noticed though (and I am definitely guilty of this) is a certain amount of bias and animosity that the two camps have. At the end of the day, both are solid games regardless of what 'professional' reviews conclude. They just happen to target two totally different market segments (something that, as you get more and more engrossed, you forget about). Here's to a second take.

'Nation Red' Review (9/10)

One of the most entertaining games I've played as of late, Nation Red is fast-paced, arcade action game. It implements a tried and true formula of holding-out against the hoarde of creeps (in this case, zombies). To me, it is a modern take on Crimsonland, a classic shoot-em-up game. The multi-directional shoot-em-up genre is pretty well defined and there's not a whole lot that any given game of the genre can do to improve the formula. Thankfully, Nation Red sticks to the formula and simply offers a simple premise (zombies) and a fantastic graphical overhaul.

Some Steam titles to keep an eye our for...

A few of the titles I'll be keeping an eye out for price drops for! With the exception of Perimeter 2 and STALKER Clear Sky, I think I've played through (and beaten) all of these games (some of them excessively so), but for some reason or another, they just dont strike that sense of worth for the asking price. But that's what random sales (and the Christmas sales) are for!

'Defense Grid - The Awakening' Review (7.5/10)

Defense Grid - The Awwakening is a very fresh take on the time consuming 'tower defense' genre. The genre itself is not very deep: you have a set starting budget, a set number of towers (or defenders, guns or whatnot) and a set number of upgrades available to the towers/defenders/guns. Income is obtained by killing the inbound creeps. Overall, a very fun game to sink a few hours into (much more if you want to hunt down achievements or leaderboard). While it lacks the outright variety that the community-made Flash counterparts have, it makes up for it with polish and eye candy.

'Left 4 Dead 2' Review (8/10)

Well I got a copy of Left 4 Dead 2, again. Sure I had the game before it was out and sure I beat the snot out of the game then. Sure, we engaged in tank juggling and shove-killed tanks. I could have wrote up a review on the game then but there would always be the air of "it wasn't legit" and "what if Valve patched up this issue or that problem" or whatnot. Was it worth me getting a copy? I guess it depends a lot on your group of friends and whether or not you enjoyed the first game in the series. All the strengths of the original are carried through here and amplified -- as are all the failings. My impressions of this game vary from 7 to 9 out of 10 and so, it gets the middleground of 8/10.

'Killing Floor' Review (9/10)

It was just a matter of time before I got around to doing a Killing Floor review. This game clearly has it's roots spawned back to the good old days of co-op multiplayer mayhem a la Serious Sam mixed in with a healthy dose of class-based fun thrown in for good measure. The game is definitely not without it's upsets and faults but for the most part, I'm too busy playing it to be bothered.

'Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter' Review (9/10)

Seriously! The Serious franchise is, in my opinion, one of the absolute best (FPSes) for LAN parties hands down. Sure there will always be room for CS/UT but there's always been love for multiplayer co-op and Serious Sam HD does not disappoint! As a virtual remake of the absolutely fantastic first game in the series (circa 1999), the remake had quite a high bar to live up to. But thankfully, Croteam didn't mess with the formula -- they just upgraded the graphics and so, it's pure brilliance!

'Borderlands' Review (6.5/10)

I tried Borderlands a few weeks ago when it was released with some mixed impressions - with the ultimate first impression being 6.5/10. The underlying core concept for the game is well deserving of praise however several really major elements bring the game down from what could have easily been an 8.5 or 9 out of 10.

Revolutionary concepts in MMO Gaming: AION

Well it's not like AION really needs an introduction per se but there were some interesting things worth mentioning in a recent little review-of-sorts I read. In the article/blog/review, it mentioned about how you can pair movement during combat to give yourself bonuses. What kind of bonuses? Well, moving forward will give you a slight damage bonus, backwards will give you a defence bonus and strafing will give you an evasion bonus! Amazing! Except that it's not and just goes to illustrate how... pathetic -- for lack of a better word to come to mind, our current and "oooh next generation" [MMO] games are.

Disclaimer: I've not actually played AION in any capacity. And from the videos illustrating my complaints, I dont ever intend to.

'Risen' Review (8/10)

I don't quite know what to make of this game. This isn't a bad thing per se. I guess I could sum Risen up by simplifying it to Oblivion + loot tweaks + combat tweaks. I'm sitting here, struggling to come up with a better way to describe the game in a short, succinct manner (which, is soooo, not me).

'Fallen Earth' Review (5/10)

Well, I was sick of pixies, faries, orcs and elves. I gave Fallen Earth a shot. Seemed like a riot

• There was first-person/third-person gameplay (Hellgate +1)
• There was melee and ranged combat -- with proper guns (Hellgate +1)
• Open world concept (Oblivion +1)
• The Earth was devastated by a deadly virus and there's so few of us left (Fallout +1)
• The graphics are great (Hellgate +1)
• There's support for PhysX technology (Coolness +1)

And then I played it.