And lo On Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:47:24 -0000, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>  
did spake thusly:

> Phil Cook v2 wrote:
>> Darren's mentioned the biggies,
>
> I also quite like Undying (great story and settings and  
> magic/weapons/etc),

That's one I picked up on your recommendation and yes I did enjoy it,  
reminded me a little of Blood for some reason.

> altho it wasn't what I'd call classic or anything. And McGee's Alice,  
> primarily because of the ties in to the book and the surrealism.

That could have been better. Both the story and design was very nice and  
it had a few neat little platformng innovations such as the footprints  
showing where you'd land, but it just lacked something IDK.

>> but I'll add System Shock 1 and 2 the
>
> I never managed to get it to run here, but I've seen videos.

I've got SS2 to run on XP and added in the SHTUP high-def texture patch  
without a problem if you've got Thief to run so should SS2.

> The on thing that kills me with these games is when all the levels look  
> the same. It looks like DOOM3 is pretty much like that. You have "indoor  
> base", "mars surface", and "hades", and that's pretty much the three  
> levels you have. At least from my limited viewing of the game being  
> played. I think SS was the same way, if not moreso.

To be fair you are stuck on a space-station or space-ship in SS1 and SS2  
respectively so gray is the theme ;-) Them again there are the hydroponics  
bays and the organic presence of the Many. I will say that unlike some  
games I didn't get overtly lost in SS2. I would occasionally end up back  
where I started from following some passage, but at least I'd recognise  
the fact and I could navigate my way around without reverting to the map  
most of the time.

>> Portal - All the hype, but the best way to think of it is as a confined  
>> sand-box; this is what has to happen or where you have to go now do it  
>> anyway you like.
>
> Yeah. That looked like lots of fun.

My cousin just didn't 'get it', I suppose you need a problem solving brain  
to appreciate it.

> And a novel way of doing things. Perhaps Mirror's Edge was inspired a  
> bit by Portal.

Conceptually perhaps, but IMO they messed it up by adding in the  
gun-toting enemies in a sporadic system - i.e. sometimes you have to avoid  
them, sometimes you have to take them out; make up your mind. Also it  
could be darn pernickity about where you land - run along with someone  
shooting at you, drop down at a minor angle and run towards a ramp, jump  
and... miss the drainpipe by an inch, fall, die, repeat. In Portal even if  
I didn't make it over a barrier or to a platform I never blamed the game;  
I accepted I hadn't placed the portal correctly, entered it with the  
correct orientation, or simply messed up my timing.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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