So between the Dust 514 and EVE engines - they are possibly making a television show?

I don't know if it will be successful - but it sure looks cool.

Youtube Video Link

(I suggest watching it at 1080p fullscreen btw)

How are the HD textures?  Noticeably better or just a tad better?

Well....  I'm not sure how I should feel about this honestly.  I guess I should choose to be optimistic, warm, and fuzzy.   

Excellent!  Thanks.

OK - that's good to know.  Hey TiLT, can you give us a brief update on the big patch you got for the Foundry?  Anything worth mentioning?

So, I'm a little confused on weapons.  Is there a weapon system in the game that lets any fighter/thief type use axes, longswords, shortswords, maces, spears, etc.. etc...?

Or will a thief be dual wielding daggers the whole time, and a 2-weapon fighter using a greatsword the entire game?   I realize it might sound like a really moronic question, but I honestly don't know the answer.

I would agree the loot system would be on the south side of robust.  

But, to give you a little more of a response:  I'm only EGO level 98 or so (which in this game is practically nothing) - so I'm not the best person to answer you.  That being said, Defiance doesn't strike me as the type of game that gear "looks" are of any importance.  And I'm not talking in a sense of what a player deems important, but more the game itself.  Functionality and/or look of a weapon in action is a slightly different story however.  There are some weapons that really stand out in big firefights, but not so much because of how they look - more so on what you see happening during the battles, and tracing the "bullets" back to the gun wielder himself.  Clothes/armor/outfits are nice, and even have a fair level of detail; but I can't say I've seen a great amount of variety - nor is anyone ever standing still long enough to notice anyway.  Vehicles have some (if not much) variety, but again... it's not like most games where you look around for, or prance around with any type of super vehicle; at least not that I've seen.  Regarding loot drops themselves; so far for me, I get excited over finding new weapons, but really that's about the only thing with respect to loot that's exciting so far.  No idea if that changes.

Just one person's opinion, but maybe that helps.

Many more hours in since my last impressions.
New impressions:  Still very fun.

Only played a couple hours since launch.  Quite a few folks seem to be having launch day issues.  I guess I'm lucky, cause no issues here.  So far, it has really surprised me.  Lots of fun to play.

I agree.
 
And in a game where "loot drops" are (supposed to be) such a core component - this hurts.

TiLT: Maybe I have more faith in people than most - but I think adventures like yours will rise to the top after the game is released.  RP'ers especially tend to form pretty tight groups in games like this, and adventures like yours will be a welcome sight to them - and the word will spread.  I'd like to think so anyway.  

Hmmm.... I'm not really liking the game so far.  I also am hesitant to be a negative voice, as I have not played very long.  I finished the tutorial, tooled around the city for a couple quests, tried out the first part of TiLT's adventure - and my first impressions of the game on the whole are poor. 

The controls seem sluggish, the graphics look washed out (at top settings), the combat is average to poor when I compare it to GW2 or TERA, and the overall presentation is just blah.  That being said, I really can't stand coming into threads and being the only negative nancy - so I think I'll leave it at that.  It's almost like I'm missing something.  I will try it again later this weekend; maybe my entire perspective will change.

 

Looking forward to trying it out, TiLT.

Thanks for the writeup ritt - it was a good read. 
Gratz on the Foundry beta access tilt!

I just got this as a gift.  Very early impressions are excellent.  I'll report more after I've spent some quality time with the game.

Realize that I'm a longtime fan of Neverwinter Nights, having spent a criminal amount of time in the editors for those games. I was even awarded with a NWN Hall of Fame position for the module I actually released. Getting into the game even just a few days earlier to get a head start on content creation is worth a lot to someone like me if I want to get my creations noticed.

That's awesome TiLT.  Being a creator as well, I know how much effort it takes.  Looking forward to playing your stuff!

...what looks like a really solid implementation of user made content for dungeons a la Neverwinter Nights and the mission creation tools for CoH/CoV.

That is what has me the most interested.
And I watched a video of the thief in action, and it actually appears he had some "weight" to his attacks, which is nice.  I'll keep an eye on it as well.

Holy cow! This is fantastic news.

I had a friend ask me this exact question on Christmas day. It took me about .5 seconds to recommend Dishonored. What an insanely awesome game.

Winning the AFC North.  Don't forget that.   (Congrats to your Ravens btw)

Doop:  My advice: Stay away from Elemental, bud.  It's about as enjoyable as watching the Red Sox was this year.......

That's a lot of gaming for 9 bucks.  Sacred 2 is a big game.  Thanks for the update.

[Dishonored]

So far it is Dishonored or Dragon's Dogma.  I need to finish Dishonored first (I think) before declaring a winner.

[The Banner Saga]

The Banner Saga may be exactly what you're looking for.

It's a kickstarter game, and I've been following it for awhile now.  If graphics aren't a big deal, but gameplay and strategy/tactics is - you should definately keep an eye on this.

Here's a recent video (about 5 minutes long) that does a good job explaining the multiplayer portion of the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7XuJe9kvTjg

Demo's been released.  Only reason I tried it is because I remembered Hark's post here.

I'm not ready to give any "review" of the demo yet - but I will say I played it A LOT longer than I thought I would.  

Check Hark's link above if interested.

So the new trailer is pretty cool.  I can't get over the decision to keep this ps3 exclusive - but what do I know?

GT Link


If someone wants to move the thread to Console Gaming since it's ps3 exclusive, (even though it's an MMO) - I think it's just as appropriate as keeping it here.  Certainly doesn't matter to me.

Nope. You get a point allotment. Each soldier or alien costs XX points depending on his worth. It's a pretty cool system really. Human soldiers are pretty customizable. The more awesomerrr you make them, the more they cost.  Its not very hard to pickup at all.

I've played maybe 10 mp matches or so. All but two against my brother where we chose the options. They were fun for what they are. Tried a couple matches against random opponents who both quit halfway through when they were losing. Typical I suppose. I would imagine if they had been ranked games, the competition would have been better and they wouldn't have quit early if down a troop or two. That is a guess though, as I've yet to try it. My guess is that people play unranked mostly to test team builds - at least thats what I would imagine its used for.

Early impressions:  It's great.  I've even tried the campaign! *gasp!*  It's actually pretty good!  ...so far.

I haven't hit late game in sandbox yet, which will tell us a lot.  But so far, so good.

I'm confused about something.  Kato says he's running a mod with the Second Wave "hidden options" unlocked.  Yet I read somewhere (I visit so many damned forums, I can't find where I read it) that a Dev posted that the Second Wave options don't really exist.  They were something Firaxis toyed with but didn't have time to implement.

So... what gives?  Did I just read it wrong?  (if someone can find that post from that dev, it would be helpful.  I've scanned OO, Steam, GWJ, and QT3, and still can't find where I saw it)

Just finished up a base assault.  28 enemies killed and a solid victory.  Now the bad news:

I lost my Kato and my AA on that mission.  And both were eventually killed a second time by my Zinfan (if you know what I mean).

After reading other posts of how bad these base missions can go, I decided to take it unbelievably slow.  Overwatch saved my butt countless times.  And I still am not convinced having just a sniper and 5 assaults isn't the way to go.  They are so, so, so good. Of course, I don't have 5 assaults, so I couldn't try it if I wanted to.

You're doing fine, zinfan.  My panic board looks like one big giant red stop light.

I hate missions like that.  You simply can't seem to catch a break.

Don't mess with a large black man in purple combat armor my friend.  We are very, very dangerous.  Just ask Ray Lewis.

So I lost my Soulchilde last night to a fluke Floater crit.  Which is absolute bullshit, since everyone knows the only way Soulchilde should ever die in a video game is from Lockdown friendly fire.

The funny thing is just how mad I was when it happened.  I mean, like really mad.  This game is pretty awesome that it can evoke feelings like that from players.  I remember getting attached to my guys in the original, but I don't remember it being like this.  In a really nerdy way, that is a great thing.  Destructor, Kato, and AA are still kicking though - albeit taking turns warming hospital beds.  Man alive am I glad they don't charge hospital bills against your income.  I'd be in some serious trouble financially.

So here's my really quick thoughts of the game so far:

I think it's significantly different than the original game in many key ways - some of which I like, others I don't like at all.  They've all been stated before, so I won't bother here.  I agree very much with Bruce Geryk that the game feels like I am moving from cover point to cover point, functionally reducing the actual choice I have of where to intelligently move on the map - although it is masked somewhat by all the options you have each turn.  All the negatives aside, judging this game on it's own merits apart from comparison to the original - I think it is great.  Much more importantly, I think it's fun as hell and would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars so far.  If the bottom line is to play games to have fun (and for me, it is) - than I'm not sure there is a whole hell of a lot to complain about here.  I see myself playing Enemy Unknown for a good long while.   

Agree with you on quite a few points.  Disagree on the flash-bang grenades!!  Anything they can do to add more options/tactics to combat, the better imo.  I would take flash-bangs, flamethrowers, psyker armor, bio-bombs, tangle-grenades, the kitchen sink, and anything else they can come up with.  Maybe someone will find a way to mod all that stuff in, so for people that feel "that doesn't belong in xcom" - they never have to worry about it.

Anyone know if Jake was ever asked the question on why they went with 'You-Go-I-Go' instead of an initiative system for combat?  It's not like they haven't deviated from the original in other ways, so I'm not sure why this would be a great point of contention.  Just curious if he's ever commented on it.

I think a review or preview/review is out for the game.  I say 'think', because I'm kind of afraid to read through it guessing it may be full of spoilers.  It's labeled preview but has a rating associated with it; so I'm not sure what it is.  Let's just call it an Article!

But, if the potential spoiler thing doesn't bother you...  Game Informer Article

Who else other than me are going to name their XCOM team after GT forum members? 

I don't think anyone here would do something like that honestly.

Thanks for the great news!