TallGuyCalif's Computer Gaming and Entertainment Site

Tag: PS3

Playstation 3

  • Finished Saints Row IV and Liked It

    I finished Saints Row IV and the DLC Enter the Dominatrix on my PC and liked it a lot. Enter the Dominatrix ended up being fairly amusing and had some cute flashbacks to Saints Row 3. Overall, the game had lots of humor, tremendous swearing, and fun.

    Since the majority of the game happens in a simulation (it would be a major spoiler for me to tell you why), you get all sorts of abilities beyond just shooting and blowing stuff up. For example, you can run super fast, jump super high and glide across town, shoot ice or fire blasts, use telekinesis to throw enemies, and more. I used the word “super” in that last sentence twice, because this game really makes you feel like a superhero more than any other game I’ve played. You’re not an invulnerable man (or woman) of steel, but a badass that can cause great mayhem, but still be injured or die if you don’t take care. It’s a delightful way to play and lots of fun.

    In addition to the superpowers, there are some terrifically fun weapons, including the bounce rifle (rounds hit multiple enemies), the black hole gun, and the dubstep gun (enemies dance before they blow up – awesome!). The grenades of SR3 are gone, but not missed too much. Of course, the giant dildo bats are back, but there are even more fun melee weapons, though perhaps none more amusing than beating the baddies with a huge dong, but I tended to stick with the laser sword (a non-infringing homage to light sabers, I presume).

    While SR4 didn’t have Burt Reynolds, it did have fun cameos that I won’t spoil here. In general, the voice  acting was good and the banter with your homies was great fun! Some of the characters and enemies must have been from SR2 and maybe even the original Saints Row, neither of which I’ve played, so I didn’t know the references, though those missions were still fun.

    The sex/romance scenes are a hoot compared to the serious and drawn out ones of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. For example (and kids need to stop reading right here), when the player selects the button to “romance Kinzie,” a cutscene plays in which the player says “Hey Kinzie, wanna fuck?” Kinzie then slugs the player, then says “Let’s go!” and jumps on to kiss the player and both fall to the floor. That’s it – no stupid bed scene where you’re still wearing your armor as your partner lays there in underwear simulating sex. So while SR4 is cruder than others, it isn’t as stupidly teenage fantasy sex-oriented.

    So overall, SR4 is great. While I finished it on PC (at least until the next DLC), I have it on PS3 too in case I can do co-op mode with friends. Great fun!

  • On the Importance of Game Controller Support

    I was somewhat out of gaming action for medical reasons for more than a month. During that time, I was pretty much unable to use keyboard and mouse to play games. I was, however, able to use my Xbox 360 controller for Windows to play games that supported it. And that led me to discover how poor the support for game controllers is in many of the games I enjoy.

    One of my favorite games, Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO), doesn’t support game controllers, so I was out of LOTRO for a month or so. Sure, I logged in occasionally to check mail, but couldn’t play it even a little bit. But TallGuy, you say, MMOs and controllers don’t mix. Well, there you’re wrong.

    My other favorite MMO, Star Trek Online (STO), has native support for game controllers. Even more importantly, it has a fully programmable binding mechanism that lets me customize button combinations, so I can use the triggers as modifiers (think Shift or Control) for the few face buttons. Therefore, I can easily get to 2 rows of the skill bar without touching a keyboard or mouse. I can fly my ship or move my captain with one stick, move the camera with the other, crouch, run, shoot, and do pretty much everything I need with an Xbox controller.

    Games like Diablo III and Torchlight II didn’t support the game controller, of course. But the PS3 version of Diablo III shows that it is entirely possible to convert a clicky game into a controller game. The PS3 version is great – my wife and I have lots of fun playing it. She’s a wizard, so can nuke the enemies from a distance, while I’m a healing tank (monk) to take the pressure off her. And a lot less chance of getting carpal tunnel on the PS3 version.

    Very sadly, Sins of a Solar Empire can’t be played with a game controller. Nothing would have been better than to conquer the Sins universe many times during my convalescence, but it was not to be.

    A thoughtful friend gave me a nifty game, Evoland. It is pretty cool and supports game controllers very well. If you want to experience the evolution of RPGs over many years, give it a shot. I spent a good few hours with it.

    The laptop computer I was using wasn’t overly great (thanks to HP for abandoning it and not releasing modern drivers, since it is an i7 quad core with an AMD 6770 GPU), so it can’t run graphics intensive games like Skyrim or Borderlands 2 or Batman Arkham City well, so I didn’t use those, even though they work with game controllers.

    Instead, I gave up on the PC and finished Halo 4 on Xbox 360 and then finished Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood on the PS3. I enjoyed both, but I especially loved AssCreed because of exploring Rome and its historical buildings.

    So, my point is that PC games should have better game controller support. Keyboards are fiddly and not appropriate for all games (sure, for a shooter, I’d prefer keyboard and mouse any day), and there may be people that have some limitations or are bedridden that would be better off with a controller.

  • Zen Pinball recorded with Hauppauge HD PVR 2

    Note: I’m truly horrified that I didn’t spell Hauppauge right in either the title or the article. And I knew better… Sorry Hauppauge!

    I bought the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition when it was on sale at Amazon a week or so ago, and finally got a chance to hook it up yesterday. As a test, I recorded the excellent Zen Pinball running on my PS3. This video shows one of the Avengers tables, which look and sound great. I am not a very practiced player, so the game is over mercifully quickly for those of you that watch the video.

    The HD PVR 2 is a nice step up from the old HD PVR that I had before. With that one, I had to switch cables and do all sorts of annoying and tedious things to set it up for either XBox360 or PS3. The new one can have both attached at the same time, which is very nice. The biggest bummer is the lack of an easy way to switch between inputs without going into the software running on the PC. I also may return my unit, because it seems to have a cosmetic flaw: only half the unit lights up when it is in standby mode, so apparently some of the LEDs must not be working. Overall, the video quality seems good, so if you want to record your PS3 or XBox360, this seems to be the unit to get.

     

  • Finished Uncharted 3, Loving Borderlands 2, Wondering About Torchlight II Co-Op

    I finally finished Uncharted 3 and enjoyed it quite a bit. It really is like playing in a movie, where everything is very scripted and you need to do exactly the right thing to get to the next cutscene, but while you’re playing, none of that feels constraining at all. The game looks good, and the 3D is quite well done (perhaps not quite worth buying a 3D TV for, but almost). Since I’m probably the last PS3 owner on the planet to finish Uncharted 3, I won’t recommend you go get it, since I just had to catch up on the pleasures of the game.

    I’ve really been enjoying Borderlands 2! The action is great, the guns are awesome, and the enemies are fun to shoot, incinerate, blow up, etc. The plot is fair at best, but they have a tongue-in-cheek way of reminding us how lame the ending of the previous Borderlands was and explaining it away. Pretty cute.

    I am playing as a Siren, which means I can hold an enemy in the air, which is handy, but I tend to forget to use that skill and just blow heads off with the sniper rifle! To that extent, playing the Siren seems pretty generic, so I’m tempted to try playing as one of the other classes, particularly the Assassin. I played the Commando in Borderlands, so am happy to be trying something different, but my playing style isn’t as different as I’d like (which I admit is likely my fault).

    There have been a couple of instances where I simply could not complete a mission because the boss was too tough. In both cases, I went away, did some side missions to gain a couple levels, and came back to take care of business. Some of the missions are quite a challenge, but there’s always a way to figure it out.

    For such a new game, there are remarkably few bugs. One annoyance is that the recorders that expose history keep reappearing in the same places, so I can’t be sure I’ve heard them all, so keep picking them up and hearing the same story over and over. I hope that’s a bug that will be fixed rather than a feature.

    I also bought Torchlight II this weekend in hopes of playing co-op with a friend. If I were cynical, I would suggest that the co-op system for Torchlight II is just a nasty scheme for Runic Games to build their customer database so they can market to us or sell it for the same purpose. If I weren’t cynical, I’d just say it sucks. In order to play online, you need to register your account with Runic’s website, then connect it with Steam’s login (which concerns me right there), then log in within the game, having to remember your password each time. I don’t know what the online lobby/matching scheme is like, because when I tried it, I wasn’t able to connect. Great! Why can’t they do something simple, like what Borderlands 2 did: show your friends who are playing the game on the start screen? Really, why complicate it and make it us jump through hoops just to play with our friends?

    So the jury’s still out on Torchlight II’s co-op scheme, but the game looks fine, if carpal-tunnel inducing. It’s a fixed-perspective action RPG, like Diablo, and involves clicking a lot, also like Diablo. I couldn’t find any support for game controllers or anything else for those of us that would like to keep our mouse fingers from cramping. I only played it for a few minutes, but it seems kinda fun.

  • Finished inFAMOUS 2 and really enjoyed it

    I played the “good” side of inFamous 2 and finished it last night. I really enjoyed it and even think the ending was appropriate. The fighting was great and the game looks good and is fun.

    I played the good side because I’m not a big fan of hurting innocents, even if they are just bits in a machine. I’m told the evil path ending is very different from the one I saw and that it also is fun and appropriate. After I finished my ending, the game put me back to before I made my choice for the final battle. I hoped that I could then select the other option to see the other ending, but no story missions were available. I’m afraid I’m not willing to play the game again on the evil path just to see the evil ending.

    In short, I enjoyed inFamous 2 and recommend it to anyone with a PS3!

    Now on to finishing Amalur and Uncharted 3 and Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more Star Trek Online and Lord of the Rings Online. Way too much stuff to do and no time…

  • Busy enjoying inFamous

    I haven’t posted in ages, mostly because I haven’t had too much to post about.

    I have been playing inFamous on PS3 for the most part, and enjoying it a lot. It’s a pretty fun game with a fair story, lots of action and cool abilities to blow stuff up, and good controls. The controls are particularly important on PS3 games, because aiming with a controller pretty much stinks. With inFamous, aiming is still a bit tricky, but there are enough wide-area attacks (grenades, lightning, and more) that you can still kill the baddies without too much trouble. There is also a very nice zoom/aim/slow time ability that is great for headshots on baddies.

    There is a moral choice system in inFamous that unlocks special abilities and levels of attacks if you max out either as good or bad. These are useful enough that you shouldn’t play down the middle. Either be a good guy or an asshole – make the choice.

    inFamous is interesting, because you play as Cole, and you can’t customize his looks, change his gender, choose his clothes, or any of the things other games let you do. As a guy, I’m okay with that, though I don’t know how well women would be attracted to the game, which is a shame, because it’s a fun, easy to pick up game, though it has many challenges.

    I played a few minutes of my Minstrel in LOTRO last weekend, but sadly haven’t played Star Trek Online in more than a week. Luckily, LOTRO and STO are comfortable and easy to pick up where I left off, so I can and will jump back to them soon.

    I started Final Fantasy XIII-2, which is fun and perhaps an improvement over FF-XIII, but will not continue with it for the moment. Until I finish inFamous, there’s no point in starting sometime else. I have way too many half-finished games that I will probably never get back to, including Dungeon Siege III and Witcher 2, and that makes me sad.

  • My current games: Started Final Fantasy XIII-2, Stopped DDO, Playing STO

    My gaming life has been fairly hectic recently because of work and real-life issues (don’t you hate it when those get in the way?). So this will be a brief update on my meager gaming recently.

    At the urging of a friend, I started playing Dungeons and Dragons Online. It’s a fairly neat game, and certainly has potential, but somehow, I wasn’t enjoying it. I tended to leave every play session a little stressed, which is not ideal when I’m trying to have fun. So for the moment, DDO is on the shelf.

    I’ve played a little bit of Star Trek Online. I have 2 active characters, a Federation Tactical guy and and Klingon Engineer. I am impressed with the changes they’ve made to the Fed missions, and generally think the game has significantly improved since the open beta when I started playing. On the other hand, I still think leveling is too fast. I’m already a mid-level Captain and have had do to very few side missions, cluster explorations, or other things typically associated with MMO grinding. I think the rate of progress would be better if it were perhaps 20% slower, to give us more incentive to explore and do all the patrol missions and such. I’m also pleased with the Klingon story line so far, though much of it mirrors some of the Federation stuff. When I last tried a Klingon, there was no story, just PvE and PvP battles.

    Both my primary STO characters are in fleets. The Klingon fleet is large, well established, and working hard on building an awesome fleet starbase. The Federation character is in a much smaller, younger fleet, so my character is leader in fleet projects to build the starbase, though a couple others sometimes take the lead. I used one of my established characters, a level 50 admiral, to help someone create yet another fleet, but I haven’t done much with that fleet yet. Maybe someday.

    I started Final Fantasy XIII-2 on the PS3 last night and it’s okay. It is surely a pretty game, as one would expect, and so far, the combat is easy. They have added cinematic action, in which you have to hit certain buttons or move a stick just at the right time to land attacks, which is somewhat annoying. Some of the other features appear a little simpler than FF XIII was, plus now they’re trying to sell lots of DLC for companions and costumes and such. Pretty annoying. I’ll probably continue playing, but not very often.

  • Star Trek Online, LOTRO, Saints Row 3, and Infamous – lots of gaming, little time

    I finished the main plot of Saints Row: the Third last week (as noted here), and even did the other version of the ending (which killed Shaundi, yet I still seem to be able to call her up when I need Homie support, so it’s all good). Therefore, what am I still doing playing the game?

    Well, the game is so fun that I am enjoying collecting all the collectibles, wiping out rival gangs, doing all the side missions, etc. I did some of those things, especially the collectibles, solo, but the others are best with a friend. I had a great time doing co-op missions with friends, and will keep the game handy so I can continue to do so!

    I also played a bit of Star Trek Online and am enjoying it. The early missions are mostly unchanged from what I did more than a year ago, but the game is generally more polished. There is a new Duty Officer system, which adds complexity, but may provide some bonuses, though I haven’t quite figured it out. The crafting is still pretty bad, though is better than it was at game launch. The biggest issue is lack of clear explanations of where to get blueprints. I presume some are for sale from the vendors on Memory Alpha, but in the tutorials, everything is given to you, so it doesn’t exactly make it obvious.

    I also played a bit of LOTRO and was very pleased to find some of my kinship-mates online. I did some missions with my level 40s Minstrel and my 75 Lore Master. LOTRO is a very comfortable game to play, though playing with my Minstrel in the North Downs reminded me of the slow and annoying travel system in many areas (though it is better in the new areas). There must be a fine line for the developers: they want us to spend as much time in-game as possible, yet don’t want to piss us off so we quit.

    I also spent a short time in Skyrim, gathering the Crown of Barenziah and killing a dragon or two.

    Finally, I spent some time playing Infamous on the PS3. I like the game mechanics and am very intrigued with the story, but aiming stinks (at least for me) and the penalty for dying is pretty high. I will likely continue to play the game occasionally, so I can figure out the story line.

  • Enjoyed Saints Row the Third

    I thoroughly enjoyed playing Saints Row the Third! This is the first Saints Row game I’ve played, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I did expect something like GTA IV, but with wackiness, and that’s essentially what I got. The plot isn’t terrible, but you can do lots of other things besides the plot, as this is an open world game. As you get reputation and money, there are many helpful upgrades to your health, your weapons, your vehicles, your Homies, and your cribs and strongholds. The driving in the game is nearly as annoying as in GTA games, but you seem to be able to get away with a lot before people start shooting at you. As you buy up shops, crack houses, apartment buildings, etc., your income and control grow, but the added benefit is that you can run into a shop that you own to get rival gangs and the police to stop following you. This becomes important, as there are endless supplies of enemies.

    I played some of the game in co-op mode, which is great! A friend could join me (since I was the newbie, she joined my game) and help me through missions. The joining player keeps their abilities, including weapons and vehicles that the hosting player may not have earned yet, so my friend was able to summon VTOL jets for us to kick butt in. Co-op vehicle are great, because one of us drives and the other can target enemies and shoot them. Solo vehicle play is more of a challenge, because one player has to do both. Therefore, to compensate, the game makes the missions a little harder when playing with a partner. Since I played on the PS3, voice chat was seamless and worked perfectly.

    In the game, you fight several rival gangs, each identified by colors (red, green, and blue) that are visually different from the purple color of the Saints. You also fight the police and a military group called STAG. Most of the time, rivals don’t attack you on site, though if you wander into one of their gatherings, watch out! If you hit one of their vehicles or do something too naughty in front of the cops, people will start shooting at you. When driving, usually you can bump cars and pedestrians with immunity, but sometimes, an enraged motorist will chase you for miles, occasionally ramming you. The best bet in this case, is to stop, get out, and shoot the bastard.

    Though I made a previous post about morals and not enjoying killing innocents, Saints Row the Third didn’t give me many qualms. For the most part, hitting pedestrians doesn’t kill them, and mostly the people who you kill intentionally need killing. Yes, the game involves drugs and hos, but you don’t see anyone using drugs, and only the baddies abuse their hos, and in many missions, you rescue hos.

    There are a number of very funny surprises that happen later in the game, so I won’t divulge them here, but there are many laughs in the game. The music is great too, from the music as you are doing missions to the radio stations in the vehicles. Very well done!

    So I finished the plot mission, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely done. I haven’t finished all the upgrades or neighborhood takeovers. Besides, since co-op play is so great, I will keep the game handy so I can play it with my friends.

    Saints Row the Third is wacky fun and well worth playing!

  • Finished main quest in Skyrim – Time to Move On

    Gaming has been odd for me lately. Many of the people in my kinship in LOTRO have dropped out of playing, as grinding for gear at level 75 gets old really fast. I have been on LOTRO a few times in the last couple weeks working on my lower level characters primarily, but my heart isn’t in it.

    Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying Skyrim a lot. Mostly… There is a huge amount of content in Skyrim, some of it dynamically generated, so I could go on playing for ages, but it gets a little tedious. So I finished up the Skyrim main quest line over the last couple days. I’m already the leader of the Companions, the Mage school, and the Dark Brotherhood. I saved the Thieves Guild and fixed up the Bard guild. I haven’t chosen a side in the war yet, mostly because both sides are scumbags, so neither appeals to me in any way.

    So I’m going to step away from Skyrim for a while. I see there is a new update (1.6) that will allow mounted combat, which sounds kinda cool, but is only beta for PC, so I’ll wait until it is final. I also had the thought of trying a speed run through Skyrim to see how how low a level I could be to complete the game. I imagine it could be done at level 20, but am not sure. Could be fun to try. But not just yet. And, of course, when Dawnguard comes out, I’m sure I’ll have to send even more money to Bethesda (via Steam) to check it out, though I don’t really have any desire to be a vampire.

    I think next, I will try to finish Uncharted 3, then maybe move on to either Saints Row 3 or Final Fantasy XIII-2, all on the PS3. And I also think I will get back into Star Trek Online. I haven’t jumped back into STO because I lost my gamepad setup file when I rebuilt my PC (oops, forgot to back it up, because it was buried in the Program Files folder of STO), and I have been reluctant to spend the time to figure it out again.

    I will keep LOTRO on the back burner for now. I may end up buying the next expansion dealing with the Riders of Rohan, but not until release date nears.