|
Post by Sarge on Jun 25, 2018 22:34:09 GMT -5
I definitely think some of these brawlers would benefit from more players.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2018 4:17:28 GMT -5
I've beaten SWAT 3 on the hardest difficulty level (Hard). SWAT 3 was developed by Sierra Northwest and released in 1999 for the PC only. Apparently, a Dreamcast port was planned for 2000 but it never saw the light of day. Not only is SWAT 3 the third chapter of the SWAT series, it's also the seventh entry in the Police Quest series. While the previous games were either point-and-click adventures or real-time strategy games, SWAT 3 is a tactical FPS that puts you in charge of a 4-men squad. The game is based on a modified version of the Gabriel Knight engine and while it translates a bit awkwardly from adventure game to shooter, the engine shines in the animation department: the weapon holstering animations are excellent. I believe it's also one of the first FPSs to allow you to lean around corners. Taking place in LA, our SWAT career starts fairly humbly, as we'll have to knock at the door of some old guy who was involved in a hit-and-run, escaped and barricated himself in his house or collect all weapons in a cartel-run nightclub. Soon enough, we'll have to deal with hostage situations, bank robberies and - most importantly - the People's Liberation Party, a Russian terrorist group that seeks the reunification of the Soviet Union. Why you ask? Well, the game is set in the near-future of 2005, when LA is going to host an International Peace Conference where Country leaders from all over the world are going to sign an anti-nuclear treaty and the PLP is none too happy about that. I had to rescue the Russian President and his entourage something like 3 times throughout the whole game. While playing on Hard made some of the missions feel overly luck-based, it also spurs the player to make good use of the available tools: flashbangs, CS gas, mirrors and so on. The game feels quite rewarding when your patience and meticulousness pay off. Going in guns blazing is going to get you killed in a matter of seconds. While reviews at the time spared no praise for the team AI, I'd often have to deal with my team getting stuck on the environment, walking in front of me as I'm firing, throwing flashbangs in the wrong direction, turning around a corner and get immediately shot - one after the other. I'd still try to Judge Dredd the rest of the level by myself but that rarely payed off. Might as well restart. Sure, I had mixed feelings about the game but my experience had been mostly positive - up until the second to last mission: the worst sewer level from any video game ever. It is a stupidly huge map made of several levels, extremely dark, filled with enemies and it's just impossible not to get lost. But wait, there's more. There's 7 bombs all over this map you'll have to find and disable within 45 minutes or bye bye LA. Now, I have a fairly high toleration threshold when it comes to video games, but I kinda lose it when they either don't respect my time or playing them makes me feel physically ill. And SWAT 3 managed to do both with this very mission. It's only one mission out of 16, so it's not enough to completely dismiss the game as worthless trash. But what were they thinking? Jesus. I give this game 6 civilians secured and ready for evac out of 10.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 27, 2018 9:47:25 GMT -5
I believe it's also one of the first FPSs to allow you to lean around corners. The earliest FPS that let you do that I can recall is System Shock, which predated SWAT 3 by five years. But it certainly wasn't common in 1999. I kinda lose it when they either don't respect my time or playing them makes me feel physically ill. Interesting. I don't think playing a game has ever made me feel physically ill. But I've had games make me feel crushed and weak ( Demon's Souls and Urban Reign being recent examples), which only spurs anger and fierce determination "I will beat you bastard even if it's the last thing I do." That said, I do get hella annoyed when a game's obviously wasting my time just for the spite of it. I could give you lots of examples, but you all know what I mean. A game intentionally wasting my limited lifespan, just for the sake of blatantly artificially lengthening its completion time, will get dropped faster than a sack of bricks. Anyway, I digress. I did play SWAT 3 back in 2000, and I remember hating it and uninstalling it pretty fast. I don't remember exactly why I didn't like it, probably because it wasn't a run 'n gun shooter as I preferred back then. But at least you got some fun out of it. I have always meant to try SWAT 4 at some point, because Irrational designed it, not Sierra.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2018 11:00:35 GMT -5
I kinda lose it when they either don't respect my time or playing them makes me feel physically ill. Interesting. I don't think playing a game has ever made me feel physically ill. Yeah, that sewer level gave me bad stomach ache. You better pay my medical bills, Sierra. As already mentioned, Dark Forces had me bedridden with motion sickness for a couple of days when I first tried to play it without mouse, but that's less on the game itself and more on me, I guess. That's also why I don't really like cars. I'm pretty sure that if I'd tried to put on one of those VR headsets that are so trendy (?) these days I'd get so motion sick that my head would explode like that guy from Scanners. Yeah, I still want to play SWAT 4 eventually. I do have some faith in Irrational. The game looks pretty good and it uses an engine actually meant for first person shooters: the Unreal Engine 2.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jun 27, 2018 11:04:54 GMT -5
I stayed up way too late and played through Knights of the Round. I'm really annoyed, because every single time, I come up just short of maxing my level. Blah. Either way, it's a fun game. I think I've started to like King of Dragons a bit better, as I've mentioned before, but KotR still clocks in as an 8.5/10 experience for me. I still need to work on mastering blocking a bit better; I'm sure that would help against a few of the bosses. Also, Percival might be the power character, but he actually moves really fast once he gets up to speed. I'd say he's the best character to use.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 27, 2018 11:33:36 GMT -5
As already mentioned, Dark Forces had me bedridden with motion sickness for a couple of days when I first tried to play it without mouse, but that's less on the game itself and more on me, I guess. That's also why I don't really like cars. Man that sucks. The only person I know IRL who habitually gets motion sickness is my wife. I have to let her drive pretty much always, otherwise she gets sick. If for some reason I have to drive, or someone else, Dramamine does help though. In the past few years I've only got motion sick twice, but both times were terrible. One time was down in the Florida keys, on a fishing trip* over rough water. I was nauseous for three days after that, it was horrible. Second time was when Google Cardboard came out. I was playing all sorts of games and demos using it, but eventually I played a game that gave me serious motion sickness. And again, that sickness lasted a few days. I gave up on Google Cardboard after that. I still believe in VR though, someday it will be both medically safe and affordable. *I wasn't fishing, just tagging along out of obligation. I consider sport fishing/hunting inhumane.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2018 13:02:03 GMT -5
I still believe in VR though, someday it will be both medically safe and affordable. I hope so. Also, I didn't give it much thought, but VR really is something that works at its best when coupled with first person. I enjoy first person games myself for that feeling of immersion and while I don't necessarily crave for VR yet, the thought of experiencing games such as F.E.A.R., Pathologic and Quake 4 like that is fairly tempting. And, well, you'll get to watch your fishes up close, I suppose.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jun 27, 2018 13:51:00 GMT -5
And, well, you'll get to watch your fishes up close, I suppose. My dream would be King's Field V via VR.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jun 27, 2018 14:30:58 GMT -5
And, well, you'll get to watch your fishes up close, I suppose. My dream would be King's Field V via VR. After playing KFIV, I'd totally be on board with that.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Jun 27, 2018 17:18:37 GMT -5
@tsumuri : Have you played any of the Rainbow Six games and or what are your favorite tactical shooters? If you guys want to be sick just check out Donkey Kong 64 and Wolfenstein (2009).
|
|