General Games Discussion

2015 was an amazing year for games.

I'm using the first half of 2016 to get through my backlog lol.

Mainly because i missed of lot of under the radar stuff and also because the games i was interested in for first half of 2016 got delayed.

Inb4 i play Witcher 3 for another 6 months (:

#89

Game: General Chaos.
Year: 1994.
Genre: Real-Time Tactics.
Publisher: EA.
Developer: Game Refuge Inc.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to better rate different genres according to their own rules. It will still be from 50 quality points, but every title will start from 25 and earn/lose points according to criteria important to the titles and genres themselves.

General Chaos is probably one of the Genesis's most unique games, and probably the only one of its genre. Its a Real-Time Tactics game that involves commanding one squad of units in a battle against another squad.

A unique gem in the system, everything is great in the game, apart from it being as short as a tech demo.

"Paramilitary Pandemonium"

This is a military game, with cartoonish commanders and visuals. It obviously doesn't take itself seriously, as it depicts a war between General Chaos and Havoc, a war that is woven through several stages.

Unfortunately, this brief plot (if you can call it that) carries over to the game. In single player, you compete against the computer in a series of battles, numbering around 10 or 11 stages, and whomever wins more battles wins.

Once you beat the game, you can try and beat it again, and again, but you are always going to play the same stages even if in a different order. That's it. There are no more generals to fight, no twists on the regular battle stages.

However, the game does offer a neat little twist; local multiplayer. Up to four players can play co-op against the computer, or better yet, two players can duke it out against each other. While fighting against the computer can get boring after a time, the multiplayer component (if you can access that) is very interesting.

Short Campaign: -3
"Multiplayer: +5"

"The enemy is running scared"

So what is an RTT? I don't exactly know, but I have not played something similar to it that I can remember. There are two control schemes, for the two different types of squads. So lets get the less common squad out of the way.

The commandos squad consist of only two soldiers, each with more health than usual. You can control one solider individualy, and move them at well, while calling the other to follow you. Of course, you can switch it up, and attach with the push of a button. Commando teams are much more mobile than regular squads, but are more vulnerable, making them an interesting hardcore option.

For the regular squads, you control five soldiers, which come in five different varieties (squad can contain any number of any variety). You can order any soldier to move somewhere by using a cursor, and can then order all soldiers to fire with the hit of a button.

The trick is in maintaining the range of fire of each weapon, as well as trying to surround enemy soldiers and push them into your line of fire. Fights can get chaotic and intense, and it is a little difficult managing all the chaos in real time.

Fortunately, there is a basic training mode, which teaches the basics of the game as well as allow you to practice moving your units and firing at leisure.

To compensate for their lack of tactical awareness, the computer has more medics available to heal their soldiers, which sometimes can feel unfair, as you might not be fast enough to take advantage of your own tactical superiority. Which is why multiplayer is such a treat.

One part of battle that I didn't like and which creeps too often, are the close encounter attacks. In these situations, when two competing units are too close to each other, they engage in a basic brawl. When this happens too often, it slows down the pace of the game.

Overall, the gameplay in General Chaos is unique, fun, and truly deserving of the name.

Squad variety: +1
Great Gameplay: +4

"Alone, outnumbered, and loving every minute of it"

A great deal of the enjoyment you get from the game is due to its charm. The cartoonish visuals work well, and the action and animations and clean and clear because of it. However, other than the sprites, I cannot say that the backgrounds are anything special.

Sound is more of a mixed bag. I cannot say the soundtrack made any impression on me, as besides having some military tunes as inspiration, it was mostly dull. I think there were only about two battle tunes, and I couldn't differentiate between them.

However, the sound effects are really good. The mix of explosions, bullet fire, and flamethrower ejections lend an active action packed sense to the atmosphere. It keeps you on your toes as you command the troops.

Once the battle start, you probably won't notice the pedestrian soundtrack, as you focus more on those cartoon soldiers walking and fighting. As you focus on the medic coming in and healing the wounded, just as the enemy soldiers start to burn and disintegrate into skeletons. Now that I said it, it seems a little morbid, but it evokes the black comedy style of games like Metal Slug quite well.

Graphical Design and Animation: +3
Sound: +1

In Conclusion:

There are very few games like general Chaos. Personally, I have not played anything like it, and I enjoyed it very much. However, the campaign was woefully short, and it had no story element whatsoever. This meant that I needed to find other people to play with to properly enjoy the game.

However, the fact that it has such an amazing multiplayer component is actually strange. I wouldn't have imagined such a game to feature one, although it is much better with it. Recently, the designer of the game tried to revive the franchise in Kickstarter, but the funding came short.

That is sure a darn shame.

Final: 31(36)/50 (With Multiplayer)

"Tips"
1- Check the tutorial first.
2- Pay attention to the range of each soldier's weapon.
3- Try and keep your soldier spread out, that way grenades won't hurt them.
4- Conserve your medics for the last fight in the enemy's capital.


"Next Game"

I can say that General Chaos is the first game in this list that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, it just ended too soon. Really a shame about the kickstarter not reaching the goal though.

Next up is the first beat 'em up in the list, Splatterhouse 3 @ #89. Now, I am not a big fan of the genre, but I am trying it because I was assured that it is a much better genre on the Genesis than on the SNES.

Stay Tuned

Now I know why there are so many memes on steam sale

Spent £52 last night on all those games we talked about. Just b4 sale ended

Rumor going around atm that there will be no Ass Creed this year and it's being rebooted completely from scratch.

#7

Game: Infinite Space.
Year: 2010.
Genre: RPG.
Publisher: Sega.
Developer: Nude Maker, Platinum Games.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to better rate different genres according to their own rules. It will still be from 50 quality points, but every title will start from 25 and earn/lose points according to criteria important to the titles and genres themselves.

There is so much to this little package, you could scarcely believe its on the DS. Infinite Space somehow manages to tell a fully engrossing Space Opera tale, one that spans numerous galaxies and a significant passage of time.

Simply put, this is one huge, expansive game, and it tells one of the best stories on the DS. It wears its 80's space Anime influence on its sleeve, and it would make that genre proud. It proves again that the DS was probably last generations bastion for RPGs.

"Sometimes I wonder if it was good that people discovered how to travel faster than light"

The opening anime scene basically tells the entire plot of the opening chapter. Your hero, Yuri wants to go to space against the rules of the frontier planet he live in, and through meeting a Launcher (person responsible for getting people into space) Nia, he eventually manages to not only go to space, but also overthrow the system's ruler.

From then, the game truly tarts, as Yuri and crew travel the various galactic systems, both for the simple sake of traveling as "Zero-G Dogs", and to search for the meaning behind a mysterious artifact that Yuri owns.

Earlier, I described the game as a Space Opera, and it fits that description well. While it starts as a simple adventure, the plot soon kicks off as the 16 year old Yuri is embroiled in political intrigue between rival nations, battles against space pirate, the ever growing ambition of an expansionist empire, and the quantum existence of the universe.

Before you say this is too much for a 16 year old to be involved in, remember that Alexander the Great started his invasion of most of the known world at that age, and nearly completed it before 30. In comparison, Yuri, who grows significantly over the course of the plot, only acts as one of the major actors. As Yuri, you have a little impact on the story, as you are regularly asked to choose between tow missions, which sometimes have major repercussions. In fact, one of the best scenes in the game only happens if you choose to support A instead of supporting B, and you only see that cut-scene way near the end of the game, 30 hours after making that decision.

There is a lot of meat to the story, A lot of intrigue, mystery, and a host of great characters. While there are many characters that simply fill in their well established tropes, the great majority of characters are well developed, even those with limited screen time. Besides the main cast, Yuri can recruit a huge variety of people to his fleet, which is similar to how Suikoden operates but with a little less depth.

These characters might not be as well developed as the main cast, but they still have their lines of dialogue, and they do give a universal feel to our crew. They include people fro mall walks of life, and serve to underscore the Zero-G philosophy of Yuri's crew.

It is surprising how many times I lay down in bed, way past my bedtime, engrossed in the intergalactic tale of Infinite Space. Always, it manages to stay interesting, surprising, and always plays by its established rules. Like another famous Space Opera game, the ending might not satisfy a lot of people. However, it is an ending by the rules of the game, and it fits well with the entire narrative.

To get there, you might get attached to a lot of characters, and I actually felt their sacrifice each and every time. Every time, I felt how nearly infinite in scope is the game. Easily one of the best stories on the DS.

Excellent Story: +6
Great Characters: +4

"A desperate, all-out battle for survival"

Initially, I didn't think much of the battle system in the game. You control your fleet, as you battle another fleet, and you need to keep track of three things. First, the distance between your fleets and the respective range of your weaponry. Second, your own command gauge, which when filled allows you to issue commands such as firing and dodging. Finally, the enemy's own command gauge, which tells you exactly what moves they can make. It employs a rock-paper-scissors mechanics, where dodges work against barrages, and regular fire is weak but cannot be dodged.

It first, it was simple matter of firing regular shots, and dodging when the enemy's gauge is red (indicating that they can use a barrage). However, once the difficulty ramps up, and fighters are thrown into the mix, the system actually becomes more engaging than I first thought.

Battles become nearly psychological affairs against the computer, where you debate when to use the stronger barrage command, or wast your gauge in dodging. Many times, after repeated failures, I was really glad at getting a winning hit just at the brink of death.

However, the battles sometimes are really unfair. Many battles follow each other in rapid succession, before you get to the boss battles. In some of those cases, you can retreat and heal (which is WAY AGAINST THE FLOW OF THE STORY), but it often forces you to be always on your toes.

Yet, that is only half the battle, as the skirmish actually starts much earlier in your preparation of your fleet. Actually preparing your fleet is the core of the game's battle system. Using the money you earn in building ship to add to your fleet (a max of five ships), is what you will always need to do if you hit a wall. Its akin to an experience system, but with actual physical models.

There is actually a lot of depth to the acquiring of ships, which come in more than 60 models, and I can imagine stat-crunshers have the best value for money figured out, but you can figure it out at a glance as well. There are many stats which are never explained, but the in game helm menu is more than adequate. Each ship then can be individually customized as well, with modules, weapons, and fighters.

This all makes the combat system much deeper than you would initially think, and the difficulty of the game will force you to learn it if you want to succeed, because buying stronger ships is not always the best option, as they are too expensive, and sometimes you can make a weaker ship stronger through intelligent usage of modding

Engaging Battle System: +4
A lot of customization Options: +4
Sometimes Unfair difficulty: -1

"Peace or Virtual Enslavement, two faces of the same coin"

Since the battle system is all about the ships in your fleet, and the customization option for that, what good is your crew? They are actually one of the preparation aspects for your fleet.

Among the broad section of crew characters, you assign each to a job on the fleet according to their abilities. With each crew member on the job, your entire fleet functions better according to the various stats involved. Firepower improves, healing is faster, and your gauge fills quicker as well. If you remove all your crew from their jobs, you will notice a considerable dip in performance in battle.

However, the more noticeable aspect they add is increased sense of scale. With the crew collection aspect to the game, your quest FEELS more important, as they add more voices to your crew. That is not to say that the lesser important characters add much to the plot, but their collective mini-stories does make it better.

In the game, a lot of things add a sense of scale, even if it doesn't really make much of a difference. Take visiting planets for example. There is little difference in each planets, but the fact that some offer quests, while other sell stuff, and even some doesn't ofer anything of note, all makes you have to visit each planet to see what they got.

One thing that I found markedly annoying however is when you choose to talk to your crew. In most taverns, there is a "talk to your friends" option, which opens a conversation with one of your crew. However, it opens up any one of possible conversations at random. You cannot choose which crew member to talk to, and as a result you have no idea what conversations are possible, and you just randomly choose the option in the hope of getting a new conversation with a crew mate. Meanwhile, you might get the same conversation time and time again before you discover something new.

Thankfully, there is a fast-forward button, which works great in skipping those conversations, as well as whenever you are defeated in battle.

Crew Collection: +4
Visiting Planets:+1
Talk to Friends Option: -2

"I aim to travel all over the sea of stars"

Unfortunately, with the sheer size and scope of Infinite space, it suffers in its graphical presentation. For instance, there are less than 30 unique backgrounds for the entire game, and all 3D models are lacking in resolution. Similarly, character portraits locked in one expression, and the edges look a little washed out.

Its not a pretty game, but the visual design helps make up for it. For instance ,while you can complain about the resolution of the character portraits, you cannot complain about their design. They look like characters out of an 80s Space Anime, and are wonderful in their variety and design.

As for the 3D models, they don't look too good, but the huge number of ship models and their distinctive design makes up for it in some ways.

Then there are the anime stills, which are simply 2D drawings in an anime style, acting as highlights in important story scenes. While these are simple still,s they are drawn in such a dynamic way that you can practically imagine the sound and actions happening, especially if you watched any Space Opera.

Sound however maintains a consistent quality, with a pretty good soundtrack. The battle music is OK, and the track lends a lot of atmosphere to everything from the military power of the empire, to the mysticism of ancient religions. Of course, the wide assortment of laser sound, thrust engines, ans warp points are all what you expect fro ma Sci-Fi event.

One particularly great vocal track unexpectedly starts at the beginning of one of the most epic battles in the game, and because of that track, I now consider that boss battle among the best I played.

Washed out Graphics: -3
Interesting Art Design: +2
Great Sound: +4
That Boss Fight: +2

In Conclusion:

Infinite Space is one of the biggest, most ambitious RPGs on the DS, and it miraculously doesn't unravel under that conceit. Instead, it delivers one hell of a Space opera, and an engaging battle system to boot.

Under that, there is an extensive collection of ships, crew members, and planets to visit. It is only the icing in top of an already excellent cake. Simply put, Infinite Space is one of the best RPGs I ever played.

Final: 50/50

"Tips"
1- Use the Autosave feature.
2- Read the help options to learn what each stat means.
3- If you cannot progress because of a boss battle, you might need to build a stronger ship.
4- Sometimes, you will need to sell your older ships to finance newer ones.
5- Some boss battles require the use of special skills.
6- If you only plan to play the game once, choose to support Kalymnas when given the option. It ensures you see the best scene in the game.

"Next Game"

Well, that's another gem in the DS's RPG crown. Surely, the DS's RPG collection is among the strongest in any console. Its a damn shame that the game didn't manage to sell more than 200K units. What the hell is wrong with gamers ffs.

Next game is another little-known RPG, Knights in the Nightmare (get the pun), which is published by Atlus. Here is hoping it at least measures up to Infinite Space.

Stay Tuned

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Rumor going around atm that there will be no Ass Creed this year and it's being rebooted completely from scratch.

Pls yes

"Egypt. There won't be an AC in 2016. You may screencap this and refer to it when nothing is shown in E3 2016. You'll have to wait until 2017 for it. The reason: It will be a complete revamp of the series. The game is going for a Witcher feel, with player progression, freeform combat system. Horse is back, and boats too. It's made by the Black Flag team. You may leave any question you want answered."

Ancient Egypt. They want the least amount of historical documentation to get freedom. The story is set before the Assassins and Templars even existed. This is basically a prequel to all ACs.

Think Black Flag. IE, not much to climb outside of villages.

This one has a lot more story than any of the rest. Going back to Ancient Egypt means they can do whatever they want, without "historical accuracy" to hold them back.

Can't take that risk. Screencap my claim and wait for the glaring absence of AC in E3 2016.

I believe the next one is going to have a lot less recycling, which is nice.

You play as a slave or ex-slave. He looks a lot like Altair, but with a darker skin. He is not edgy, from my understanding. He's a nobody that barely speaks.

The biggest difference about this one is how colorful it looks. Like holy *bleep*, blue skies, lush vegetations and desert sequences where you get mirage and shit. Also you have a pet eagle you can control.

No, the world is made from scratch. No recycling. The only recycling is animation and even then, this one will change most of it. As far as recycling goes, this next one will have the least amount of it.

I have no idea. A bit less, I think. The focus is more on adventure

There is an attachment to history, course. It's *bleep* AC, it's part of the design.

I might be wrong. The original game included Greece, which you can travel to. But it was cut from the game due to scale issues. So the naval side is now a mystery to me. There are talks about making a trilogy of this same character, so they might explore Greece/Rome next.

Ubisoft dev apparently....

Kotaku is saying it as well now, so yeah it seems legit.

Black flag team


reboot


May end up getting that.


Still want a modern pirate game though ffs

I honestly wouldn't mind if they made Black Flag 2 even

Can't say i'm looking forward to any Ass Creeds anymore, got burned out after 3, then BF rekindled it for me. Then opted out of getting Unity and Syndicate cuz they looked garbage

http://kotaku.com/sources-next-big-assassins-creed-set-in-egypt-skippin-1750937895

Link if anyone is interested, obviously the catch is Watch Dogs 2 is coming out this year in it's place.

ES wrote:I honestly wouldn't mind if they made Black Flag 2 even

Can't say i'm looking forward to any Ass Creeds anymore, got burned out after 3, then BF rekindled it for me. Then opted out of getting Unity and Syndicate cuz they looked garbage

That's the point though isn't it? if the leaker and Kotaku is to be believed it's being rebooted because it's gotten stale and it doesn't even sound like the same game tbh.

I don't think an extra year of dev time is enough to significantly change the game, sure there might changes here and there, but it'll still be same old same old i think, we'll see i guess

ES wrote:I don't think an extra year of dev time is enough to significantly change the game, sure there might changes here and there, but it'll still be same old same old i think, we'll see i guess

Depends on what you believe i suppose.

If it's the Black Flag team then it will obviously be have worked on for a lot longer than a year or so already, i dunno but the details in the post above don't exactly sound similar to most AC's tbh and Kotaku have said their info is exactly the same.

So if you believe Kotaku then you believe everything from the random leaker.

Not sure how I feel about this...reading the story a lot of the lore is being retconned.

I'd play it if its a reboot. Can't be worse than the first one

seem to be one of the few that quite enjoyed watch dogs, I think it has a lot of potential, was another MGSV to me in that the gameplay was good but the plot wasn't particularly great. I think if Assassins Creed could turn into a pretty great series after the first one then so can Watch Dogs. I won't write it off yet.

RealGunner wrote:I'd play it if its a reboot. Can't be worse than the first one

Still can't believe the only one you played was by far the worst one

Tbf I hate on it for no actual legit reason


I didn't really give it a go properly. But it didn't grip me for the hour or two I played.

Nah original is shit, no point persisting with it imo.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:Black flag team


reboot


May end up getting that.


Still want a modern pirate game though ffs

You bought FIFA 16, didn't you? That's a modern pirate game. You got robbed, too.

Playing a 2007 game in 2014

I was blown away by the original in 2007. When you first see Damascus :banderas: Missions were repetetive as hell but the ending was GOAT.

it was the reason I got an xbox 360, I remember seeing the trailer at E3 2005 or 2006 and was like this looks GOAT

game was so disappointing but I found the story gripping enough to play to the end with all the twists + I liked the setting

Assassins Creed 2 eventually delivered what I was promised by that trailer the Ezio trilogy was amazing. Black Flag was alright due to its setting. Rest were shite.

AC1 was goat during it's time. One of the first PS3 games I played. The game was repetive yeah but the gameplay, setting & graphics made up for it.

Firenze wrote:it was the reason I got an xbox 360, I remember seeing the trailer at E3 2005 or 2006 and was like this looks GOAT

game was so disappointing but I found the story gripping enough to play to the end with all the twists + I liked the setting

Assassins Creed 2 eventually delivered what I was promised by that trailer the Ezio trilogy was amazing. Black Flag was alright due to its setting. Rest were shite.

I know you didn't just say Revelations was amazing

don't remember much about that one but it gets the benefit of the doubt because swagzio  tbh tbf

was that the one with the turks or w/e? if so yeah it was slightly underwhelming in comparison