What are you playing? Episode 2: Sequel Reloaded!

[TheLastOutlaw]

It's not a real RTS though, it's a puzzle game with an RTS shell.  Pay attention to how some of the battles work there is a pattern to them and you have to figure out what it is which means it's frustrating even for people who like RTS games. 

PROTIP:  In the last battle against

(click to show/hide)

Ophelia

as soon as your army touches the enemy stage all hell break loose and the battle (even more so on the hardest setting) can be unwinnable unless you planned perfectly.  So don't have your army ever touch it.  My strategy was to do a holding action from side of the bridge which is a great choke point and the enemy only occasionally take trips across to harrass you until you hit them.  But Outlaw?  (you ask)  How do you take out the enemy stage if your army never crosses the bridge?  Fly there and spam the call of the wild attack and the one that drops the flaming blimp.  Retreat back wait for them to recharge, repeat.  Actually pretty easy.

I have a take it or leave it attitude for RTS, if I had known it was an RTS I doubt I would have picked it up day one.  And I still think it was very odd that the fact it was an RTS seemed like they went out of their way to hide until the game released.  Also I ragequit after I beat the game on the hardest setting and the achievement didn't pop.

[Gezkill]

Rented Diablo 3 for the 360.

So far I'm liking it, its still loses compared to Torchlight 2 but I'm enjoying it so far.

Also yes, this isn't the first time Diablo was on the console, it was on the psx back in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv5dQwCFWoQ

[Log!]

I thought it was pretty fun, even the RTS elements. If it didn't have them, it would have been kind of just a generic button mashing action game. That said, I found some battles later on in the game to be excessively difficult.

I thought it was pretty fun as well, but if they didn't throw in the RTS elements, they would've had room to do a lot more. I'm betting that it would've come out like a heavy metal psychonauts, which would've been fucking spectacular.

[TheLastOutlaw]

I'm betting that it would've come out like a heavy metal psychonauts, which would've been fucking spectacular.

I think that's what a lot of people were expecting.

[TheLastOutlaw]

I got my Collector's edition of GTA: V unboxed, installed on my PS3 and the special content DLC loaded up before I left for work this afternoon.  Sadly I won't be able to play until I get home in the morning

But I do want to talk about the swag that came with it as compared to the GTA: IV special edition I preordered 6 years ago.

GTA IV                                     GTA V                                         Which did it better
Steel safety deposit box              Canvas bank "security bag"             GTA IV

Two keys for box on a solid          One laser cut GTA V logo key          GTA IV
metal Rockstar logo keychain

Rockstar gym bag                       Los Santos trucker hat                   GTA IV


Hardcover art book                     Large blueprint style world map        GTA IV

Standard game box with              Metal box with manual and              GTA V
Manual and game map                 game map

Soundtrack CD                           A bunch of “exclusive” DLC              GTA V

So the fact that both editions have bank themed containers is sort of neat, and having both together is a nice set but if I had to choose which one is better, I’d have to go with the safety deposit box.  It’s larger and being made of steel it’s a little more practical if you actually want to lock something up.

I scored the keys separate from the box/bag because the fact you could use the Rockstar logo keychain separate from the keys that came in the GTA IV set is a nice touch, plus they gave you a spare. 

The GTA IV gym bag I rated higher because I’m not a big hat guy for one, and even if I were the trucker hat with the mesh back and low quality plastic snap closure seems like the cheap way to go.  They could have at least made it a one size fits most flex-fit hat in which case I might actually considered wearing it. 

The GTA IV art book blows the blueprint map out of the water, the two don’t even compare though apparently the blueprint map shows the locations of some otherwise hard to find in game items and goodies. 

GTA V gets the win with the game box, the metal box is very nice, both editions have a standard manual and gameworld map in their respective box. 

GTA V also gets the win with the “exclusive” DLC (six different items lumped into one package including extra flight trials, extra weapons, improvement to the characters special ability use, exclusive customization options both in single player and online, a unique in game garage and vehicle, for me this is better than the soundtrack CD that came with GTA IV because I listened to it once and it’s gathered dust since.  I do use the term “exclusive” loosely though because I’m sure that all of the DLC will be available either as part of the inevitable season pass for DLC or as separate downloads once the game has been out for a while. 

Overall I think the GTA IV special edition was a better value, especially when you consider that it was half the price of the GTA V collector edition.

T-LO, foolishly impulse buying so you don’t have to.

Now I need to actually play the damn game…

[Yutrzenika]

Playing it right now, it's really great. Switching between characters is really fun, and all the gameplay improvements are great.

[TheLastOutlaw]

I watched a lot of the official trailers and game play vids Saturday night when I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to cave and pre order it and the fact they claimed to address most of my gripes with GTA: IV were a big factor.  Good to hear it wasn't just talk.  Also the fact that the game has a more obvious sense of humor (I love the trailer with Michael talking to his therapist) was nice.  I got a Kane and Lynch vibe from Michael and Trevors interactions in the trailers which certainly isn't a bad thing either.  And watching the gang war segments with Franklin had me jonesin' for San Andreas again.  Well played Rockstar, well played.

In other news I don't remember seeing my pre-order card for the atomic blimp DLC in my box.  I need to go through it again when I get home and check if I missed it.

[Yutrzenika]

You should have it if you pre ordered. I got mine. Haven't actually tried it yet.

[TheLastOutlaw]

If it was in the box with the disc I may have missed it.  And according to the Gamestop site my order counted as a pre order.  If it's not there I'll just call Gamestop and have a sleep deprived rage fit.  No biggie.

[Log!]

It's in with the game. I really like it so far, haven't had too much time to play it, though. Based on the reviews I've read, I'm not super excited about getting the third character. I read that he and Michael break down and bitch each other out a lot, which sounds annoying. Also... I just don't like the way he looks, and I don't like his character.

[Yutrzenika]

I haven't got the third character yet. I feel kind of the same way though, but maybe he'll have redeeming values of some kind.

[TheLastOutlaw]

Heh, I feel stupid now.  I searched my stuff, couldnt find the blimp dlc card and emailed gamestop.  Then I started playing and apparently it was included with the rest of my dlc.  But I swear the dlc card said nothing about it.  And the foreign movie I'm watching in game is FUCKED UP.

[TheLastOutlaw]

So I managed to play a little over two hours of GTA V before I crashed this morning and here are my initial impressions.

Holy crap this looks so much better than GTA IV.  Not that GTA IV was horrible looking when it came out but after playing Sleeping Dogs on PC with the high def texture pack it was rough going back to.  Also the pop in is virtualy non existent which is awesome though that may be a difference between the PS3 and 360 because I heard GTA IV on PS3 had less severe pop in.

The vehicles I've driven so far haven't handled like with GTA IV physics model "coat the tires with greased pig shit and make sure the cars fly off the road at the slightest provocation."

I only unlocked Michael about a half hour before I couldn't stay awake any longer so I didn't mess with the character swapping much but I'm not sure if I like the pan out, pan over, pan in thing when you swap.  Though I do like that there are missions specific to each character.

Almost half of my game time so far has been smoking weed while watching TV and watching a truly fucked up foreign film in a movie theater. 

I hate Franklins friend Lamar.  He's one of those characters I hope I get to shoot in the face later.  Like Ryder from San Andreas except I actually liked Ryder.

So far I like it but it's really too early to have a solid opinion formed yet.

[Yutrzenika]

I just got Trevor, I was ready to hate him, because he looks like a sleazy redneck, but he's actually pretty cool.

[TheLastOutlaw]

Trevor looked like the comedy relief in the trailers with a dash of "he might be completely insane."  Like I wasn't quite sure how to react when the one trailer showed him trying to flush a human foot down the toilet.  I almost shit my pants when Franklin met Michael.  I will say it was a nice way to introduce the dash cam feature.  And Michael's "discussion" with Simeon was awesome.