Architecture

MOBA?

All weapons caches will have the upgraded guns, but enemy guns will still be unreliable rustbuckets. The game is actually pretty good about telegraphing the degredation to yue player via visual cues; as the gun wears, it will become more scratched and rustworn.

Finally went premium to watch Metal Gear Scanlon. It is equal parts entertaining and frustrating.

Thank you. It caused at least two hours of frustration on my part. Does anyone here have experience with adding extra case fans? I've got a front intake and a rear exhaust, but I've got slots for more and wasn't sure if that was a prudent way to improve thermal performance. My CPU tops out at around 60C under load, which is pretty good, but my card runs north of 70C when pushing polygons. I could go crazy and get a GPU water block, but that seems like overkill for a middle of the road GPU.

Yes, please.

Ordered the CH Products USB Fighterstick, it should be here Friday. I will probably order the Pro Throttle in the next couple of weeks. And why buy TrackIR when I can just pick up an Oculus DK2?

Maybe the show's on HBO in the UK? Do they even have HBO in the UK?

HBO?

MGS5: Ground Zeroes plays so well, I'm actually excited for an MGS game for the first time in a decade. Watching Metal Gear Scanlon is bringing back some memories.

The real question is whether I should go Saitek (X52 Pro) or CH Products? Thrustmaster is out of my price range.

I need to be talked down from spending $200 on a HOTAS setup. Please, someone--anyone--talk some sense into me.

The music in FC2 is so repetitive that it drove me bonkers. There are two firefight escalation loops that grate on you after a few hours' play, and the transitions for the music aren't particularly well implemented. Again, I'll recommend shutting it off.

What, you don't like Troy Baker? But seriously, he's 20 years younger in MGS5 so it kind of makes sense. And he was voiced by someone else in Snake Eater.

One of the side missions tasks you with rescuing an unnamed operative. After you get him back on the chopper, Snake unmasks him, the camera zooms in and he looks right at you and says, "kept you waiting, huh?"

If anyone has spare beta keys, my boss would greatly appreciate one.

This Arizona/Wisconsin game is going to give me an aneurysm.

Everything I've read about the X55 says it's not as well-constructed as the X52 Pro. I was also looking at buying a HOTAS setup with my refund and picking up Elite, so I'll be curious to hear your feedback.

Uh, Mington? I don't know if anyone's told you this, but... The story makes no fucking sense.

Should've seen this coming.

ALIEN: Isolation is currently $12.50 on Steam.

This game looks quite good, doesn't it?

Ground Zeroes is currently half off on Steam, should I buy it? I watched my last roommate play about half an hour of it on PS3 (he rented it via Redbox).

The first game had similar "playable cutscene" sections, so I guess I don't understand why people are complaining about it here if they weren't before. I personally welcome the respite of not murdering everything on screen, considering some of these level runs have taken me an hour to beat.

I think this is a poor analogy--movies are a linear, non-interactive experience. I also think you're trying to have it both ways, as you can simply bypass all the story and just play the game, so when you say things like I have to argue that it's an absolutely valid response to say, "holding the B button magically does away with the game's narrative."

I actually do enjoy the writing, for what it's worth. I haven't finished the game so I can't definitely say it's a well-written game from end to end, but I find its use of non-linear narrative devices interesting and I think that it does a decent job of executing some self-aware commentary. In a lot of ways, I think the writing is about letting the game's mechanics and level design do the talking for it, even if the cutscenes border on verbosity. The opening scene is certainly an off-color attempt at examining sexism and sexualization in games, and I don't think it entirely succeeds in what it's trying to convey. But at the same time, I understand the (admittedly juvenile) place it's coming from. But what I'm speaking to is the portion of the article wherein Deadpan writes: "it wants to be a bad game, at least as far as its desire to be deliberately frustrating instead of entertaining is concerned." I don't agree with this at all. I find the game to be monumentally entertaining, and I actually welcome the frustration the gameplay serves up. Being bested by a level only to step away for an evening and then load it up the next, successfully applying the strategies and mechanics I've accrued is rewarding in and of itself. The puzzle elements of the combat are the hook for me personally. Again, I don't begrudge anyone who dislikes it, but calling the game objectively bad because it doesn't suit your tastes or subverts your expectations is lazy criticism.