What are you playing right now? IV

[Varrok]

Zerg rush

[MeechMunchie]

*Bagh-ghridl-uhdl-rugh*

[Mr. Bungle]

I prefer mutalisks and roaches.

[MeechMunchie]

Due to a recent bout of insomnia, I've just booted up Tiny and Big. Playing the beta a year ago showed me all I needed to see, I bought it as soon as it went on sale.

Oh, it's amazing. Such a simple concept: It's a platformer. You have to build the platforms yourself. Laser (cut), Claw (pull) Rockets (push). Carve up the scenery, build bridges, cut paths out of sheer rock, and slice the tops off pillars so you can jump onto them. That last one is very satisfying.

You're in a desert valley, up mountains. The presentation is immaculate. It looks like it's been drawn, and menus have actually been drawn, with cartoonish pop-out wording signifying everything from menu selection's "BACK" to collapsing masonry's "GENASH!". Also "KICKO!", which happens when you kick things. Apart from the "Reality Boy" levels, where everything just goes "BEEP". It's got more in common with The Nightmare Before Christmas than any game I've played. It's an indie comic book, brought to life.

The soundtrack is the dry, laidback strumming that you always want in a cacti-studded desert, and you listen to it when you like, provided you've unlocked it - casette tapes litter the landscape, ready to be slotted into your back-mounted radio sidecick. If you can dislodge one from its perch, that is, and get to it afterwards. Other collectibles, in a moment of side-splitting irony, amount to Boring Stones. As in "You found A Boring Stone. (1/114)" Collect 'em all!

Also Tiny looks a bit like the kid from Adventure Time.

I took some screenshots, but I'm not far in. I suppose this sort of thing was Valve's intention when they tried to become a social network. Hi, friends! I want to advertise this game to you!

Really hope this gets onto consoles, the devs deserve a metric fucktonne of cash.

[Mr. Bungle]

Stared play Counter-strike: Source again for the first time in years. Holy fuck, I missed this game. Soooo much fun. My all time favourite multiplayer shooter. Gungame can't be topped.

[MeechMunchie]

Finished Tiny and Big. That was short. Still, I've got plenty of collectibles and challenges to get through, and judging by the beta content that didn't make it in I'd say this is going to be an episodic mini-series.

Trailer.

[Manco]

After months of negligence I’ve started playing Okami again. Last time I left it was immediately before entering the Water Dragon. I’ve since defeated Ninetails, but if I’m honest I’m almost sad to be drawing near the end because of how bittersweet it feels.

Also started a playthrough of Rayman Origins a few days ago. Really great sound and art and fun to play, but that’s on hold while I finish Okami.

And another game for the pile — I picked up a used copy of Ratchet and Clank today. Figured it was what Insomniac moved on to after finishing Spyro, it’s probably about time I checked it out. Again, after Okami.

[Phylum]

It's worth playing the first three to set up for the Future Trilogy, which is some of the best lighthearted, shooty fun you can have. Play them chronologically and you'll get the most out of them. The first isn't without gaping flaws, but lots of those were ironed out by the sequel and then they ran with that formula from then.

[jumper]

Also started a playthrough of Rayman Origins a few days ago. Really great sound and art and fun to play, but that’s on hold while I finish Okami.

I started Rayman Origins again. I had managed to get through five worlds or so, but stopped playing it because life got in the way. This was on my mate's Wii at uni, so I had to restart. I'm roughly back to where I was, having collected all lums and skull teeth so far.

[Phylum]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. I love it.

The battle system is very similar to BBS, featuring command decks of abilities which recharge over time. There are a number of contextual abilities that appear under enemy-specific circumstances which are unique to each world. So far all of these utilise the touch screen in little gimmicks, but can potentially be incredibly useful against small-fry.

The biggest alteration to the gameplay are the Spirits, who replace Donald and Goofy in your quest. Spirits are created from recipes and materials dropped by the Nightmares (baddies). They often have fairly low material requirements, but additional materials can be used to make them initially stronger. There are items found throughout the world or bought that let you play minigames with the Spirits to gain additional favor or Link Points. So far I've found this much slower than going out and killing things. The game's ability grid is accessed through each Spirit, so each breed needs to be created and leveled to obtain all of the commands. There are also passives on the grid, such as health boosts, which are active while the spirit is in your party.

The other major talking point is the movement system. Evading into a post will leave you swinging around it, able to then leap off at great speed or perform a powerful spinning attack. A similar effect is produced by rolling into walls. The game allows you to walljump around and is much more open than previous KH games. Sora's boss in Traverse Town is fought in a reasonably open arena of buildings. The boss is easiest to face on one specific rooftop, but I found myself hiding down an alley to heal a few times. Just moving around the world is a delight and unlike KH 1 and 2 there are rewards for being adventurous with your movement. Certain enemies can also be used to activate the slick movement, which adds variety to the combat that is very welcome.

I could talk about this more, but I'll spare you. I recommend you buy this game.

[Crashpunk]

I've borrowed my mates Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D which if you haven't figured out already is the 3DS remaster of the N64 classic Ocarina of Time.

I'm up to the dreaded water temple and i can say that it is without a doubt better then the original in every way. The controls are better, the animations are smoother, Link moves around much better, the graphics are obviously superior and the 3D is brilliant.

I really want Nintendo to do this much more. They've already done Star Fox 64 was well which again in my opinion is better then the original. I want to see Mario Sunshine, Donkey Kong 64, F-Zero X, and the original Paper Mario all remastered on 3DS.

[Nepsotic]

I got Borderlands on steam, it's the first time I've played it. I had no idea what I was missing out on. What's weird is I got it for free, I just pressed the install button and it proceeded to download the game, I didn't have to pay anything when it should of been £4 odd. Glitch?

[Phylum]

KH:DDD is still getting better and better 6 hours in. I can't recommend this enough to JRPG lovers who are fans of the series and own a 3DS.

The only disappointment so far is the forced, abridged world stories. Sora and Riku have suddenly become even more awkward. It's clunky even by Kingdom Hearts standards. The overarching story is also a bit lacking, other than the mystery man who keeps appearing.

[Laser]

Still playing/sucking at DOTA 2. Yesterday I accidentally went 0-13 and caused my team to lose

I was not happy, my team weren't particually annoyed though

[MeechMunchie]

I want to sign up for the beta, but I don't have the heart to lie on all the questions. Plus, I don't even know what some of them mean. I'll be all over it once it comes out, though.

I'm liking the look of Wisp - the best kind of Support character, easy to use, genuinely helpful and stays out of combat. Also Weaver, who seems to be forgiving on newbies.

Also Night Stalker, Broodmother (minion spawns FTW), Venomancer, Enigma, Ancient Apparition, Outworld Destroyer, Riki and Nyx Assassin. I'll have to actually try them out at some point.

I got Borderlands on steam, it's the first time I've played it. I had no idea what I was missing out on. What's weird is I got it for free, I just pressed the install button and it proceeded to download the game, I didn't have to pay anything when it should of been £4 odd. Glitch?

It's a Free Weekend. You won't be able to play it in a few hours.

Playing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The campaign is very well made, and more forgiving than SC1. Can't wait for Heart of the Swarm.

[Laser]

You might aswell not lie. It doesn't mean you won't get in, I told the truth (How I had barely played any DOTA at all) and still got in.

[MeechMunchie]

No, that's what I tried to do. I put my estimated skill as 3, since I've played quite a few things that resemble MOBA games and seem to have a degree of natural flair for cooldowns and levelling descisions... then I hit a wall.

"What is your average level at the end of a match?"
"What lane do you play in most often?"

All these genre-specific questions. I have never played a MOBA game, not one. I would be honest if there was an "n/a" option, but there isn't. I literally cannot answer the question.

I Googled to try and find the average stats, planning to put myself 30% lower than that, but I couldn't find any. If you could tell me what's "Okay" in game terms, on the other hand...

[Mr. Bungle]

Playing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The campaign is very well made, and more forgiving than SC1. Can't wait for Heart of the Swarm.

From a gameplay standpoint, Wings of Liberty had a fantastic campaign. The story was pretty shit though. They basically turned Kerrigan from a manipulative, intelligent rebel to a saturday morning cartoon villain. Did not like.

I'm also looking forward to heart of the swarm, though. I hope Blizz doesn't fuck it up like they did with Diablo 3; though I doubt they will. The Starcraft team is pretty compete tent.

[MeechMunchie]

On Albie's Late-night Art Gaming Show: Cities of Day and Night.

At day, you manipulate the environment. At night, the environment manipulates you. It's an exercise of your gaming intuition. There are EIGHT things to find, but you'll have to work out how to find them yourself. Wander about and just follow up anything you wonder about. It's a pretty skeletal game, so everything you see is significant.

Also does something fucking terrifying at night with little more than a white circle.

[Strike Witch]

From a gameplay standpoint, Wings of Liberty had a fantastic campaign. The story was pretty shit though. They basically turned Kerrigan from a manipulative, intelligent rebel to a saturday morning cartoon villain. Did not like.

Don't forget how they used a giant space rod to magically fix her.

Fuck Blizzard and their abuse of "corruption" tropes.

[Nepsotic]

Going to start using Hammer for the first time, looks like it will take a while for me to get to grips with, I'm used to the simplicity of the Perpetual Testing Initiative.

[Dynamithix]

Been playing a lot of League of Legends lately. It's quite addicting. I've moved on to ranked matches rather than the normal matches, but I'm still no pro at it. The normal matches are kinda like casual fun.

I also started playing SSX again, doing some of the Trick It! -challenges for fun. It's a fun game but can get you easily frustrated, especially the Africa stages. Getting high up in the air and doing an amazing trick in slow-mo with DnB music banging in the background never gets old.

[Manco]

I keep buying more game please send help

I bought Ratchet & Clank 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Singularity and Nier today. I also bought Halo: Anniversary last week. I haven’t played any of them yet; nor have I played Ratchet & Clank or any more of Rayman Origins.

I’m close to finishing Okami, so at least I might be able to move on to something else soon. Not sure what I’ll play next, but I think either R&C1 and/or Halo.

[Mr. Bungle]

Ratchet and Clank is the shit. The original PS2 trilogy is an awesome bunch of playformy/shoot 'em up goodness. I've heard the PS3 ones are good too but I've never tried them.

[Manco]

Yeah I’m definitely looking forward to playing through them – like I said earlier in the thread, I liked Insomniac’s earlier games and want to see what direction they went.

I’ve never really looked much into the series before for some reason so I’ll be going in blind, but knowing they’re pretty well-received and made by a studio I like has me all optimistic.

[JennyGenesis]

Has anybody played Inversion yet?

I've been curious to try it but I don't want to drop my own money on it yet.

[OANST]

I started playing Left 4 Dead 2 again to get my zombie raping skills back so that I don't get my ass handed to me when the new dlc comes out on Friday. It's too bad that Mac has dicks in his bum, and doesn't play the 360 anymore. I guess we won't be zombie hunting together.

[Laser]

Got near the end of Darksiders...and I come across a game breaking bug which stops me from finishing the game. The internet has been no help so far. What a fucking peice of shit!

[Dynamithix]

Has anybody played Inversion yet?

I've been curious to try it but I don't want to drop my own money on it yet.

The game is shit, just look up some reviews and footage and you'll realize that.

I tried out the Deadlight demo today, the graphics and the art style is stunningly beautiful, it plays a lot like Limbo too. The story seems pretty dull but the gameplay was fun from what I tried of it. Might pick this up tomorrow, got really intrigued by it.

[OANST]

Got near the end of Darksiders...and I come across a game breaking bug which stops me from finishing the game. The internet has been no help so far. What a fucking peice of shit!

That sucks, man. I really liked Darksiders, but may not have liked it as much if I had to restart the whole thing near the end.