The Energon Pub

[The Happy Locust]

Duke Nukem Forever
GAME.OVER! Defeated the aliens by causing untold amounts of property damage. Oh, and a nuke went off.

Overall game was competent if uninspired. Everyone's already chimed in so I'll keep this short.
Game's biggest failings:
- 2-weapon limit. Unforgivable, especially since it means you can't keep your 'fun' weapons because you need the requisite stand-by and explosive.
- bosses hurt only by explosives- Not inherently bad but compounded by the previous issue making you required to stick with big boomer weapons.
- too many shrinking sections. A decent idea but the game seemed to rely on this idea when it had no other ideas.
- humor spread too thin. the Duke Charm was there, but way too far in between chuckles. I did get a grin when reading the duke burger ingredients or the random graffiti of 'Lo Wang was here' (I suddenly want to replay shadow warrior).

I didn't mind the regenerating health. By labeling it 'ego', it immediately became something worth of a duke game.

[1337W422102]

I didn't mind the regenerating health. By labeling it 'ego', it immediately became something worth of a duke game.

The Lo Wang references were a nice touch. I would've loved to have seen some more oldscool Apogee gags along the way, like "Harry's Halloween Costumes" or "Raptor Telecom - Call of the Shadows." As for the Ego system, it was really badly implemented in DNF, especially compared to the Ego system of the underrated Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project.

In Manhattan Project, you start the game with a maximum of 100 Ego points. You lose Ego by getting shot and taking damage. When you reach 0 Ego, you die. You can refill your Ego by picking up health powerups, interacting with the environment, and killing enemies. You can increase your maximum Ego and ammo capacities by collecting hidden Nuke powerups throughout the game (find 10 in each level and you will get bonuses that stay with your saved game data and stack. Finding the Nukes on Easy gives you a stronger Mighty Boot, Medium gives you an armour bonus, and Hard unlocks a superweapon.)

Here's where Ego got interesting. In addition to stuff like health powerups, a washroom, and energy drink machines, Duke's Ego got refilled by saving babes and killing enemies. You got TWICE the Ego for killing an enemy with the Mighty Boot. If you got more Ego than your maximum amount, the value would count down back to your maximum at a rate of 1 point every 2 seconds. (So if you were full and picked up a 100-point health pack, you effectively had a temporary 100-point armour bonus.) And if you got Duke's Ego to 250 or 400 points, you got a Double Damage bonus.

Manhattan Project encouraged and rewarded you for being badass. I'd routinely get in close with the shotgun and finish them with a Mighty Boot to the face and get a health bonus. It made sense to be called "Ego" since Duke got points for killing stuff and talking to chicks, and powerups for getting lots of Ego. In Forever, it's not Ego, it's a lame-ass modern-day console-kiddie-style recharging health bar. Forget being badass, since you'll spend most the game hiding like a wimp and waiting to heal up.

Duke Manhattan is only $6 at GOG.com and it's on Xbox Live Arcade if that's more your style. It's a favourite of mine, brings Duke back to his sidescrolling roots, and is fun as hell. And honestly, it feels like more of a Duke game than Forever. Not that I'm not having fun with Forever, I'm just saying.

[Shadowman]

Monday Night Combat:
Got the Summer Gear stuff from the big Summer Event on Steam. it gives everyone a pair of sunglasses (it should be noted that Assassin's sunglasses have a third lens over the third eye on her mask) a taunt that makes them slowly walk away from an explosion occurring behind them (it causes the Sniper to freak out and duck) and a summer-themed addition to their armor. (The Tank and Gunner both get grills attached to their armor, the Assault gets a bib with a lobster on it, the Support gets a beer helmet with Spunky Cola, and the Assassin gets a chef's hat, as well as switching her kunai and sword for a spatula and hot dog poker)

Worth all three tickets. Sorry for not telling you before, since it's now impossible to get.

(Also, I've been telling people this a lot, and it's going to bite me in the ass sooner or later: Assassin's Shuriken Launcher, when Juiced, can do absurd amounts damage to a downed Moneyball. Given enough time, a skilled Assassin, left unattended, can easily kill a Moneyball once it's shields are down)

[1337W422102]

Monday Night Combat:
Got the Summer Gear stuff from the big Summer Event on Steam. it gives everyone a pair of sunglasses (it should be noted that Assassin's sunglasses have a third lens over the third eye on her mask) a taunt that makes them slowly walk away from an explosion occurring behind them (it causes the Sniper to freak out and duck) and a summer-themed addition to their armor. (The Tank and Gunner both get grills attached to their armor, the Assault gets a bib with a lobster on it, the Support gets a beer helmet with Spunky Cola, and the Assassin gets a chef's hat, as well as switching her kunai and sword for a spatula and hot dog poker)

Worth all three tickets. Sorry for not telling you before, since it's now impossible to get.

(Also, I've been telling people this a lot, and it's going to bite me in the ass sooner or later: Assassin's Shuriken Launcher, when Juiced, can do absurd amounts damage to a downed Moneyball. Given enough time, a skilled Assassin, left unattended, can easily kill a Moneyball once it's shields are down)

Don't forget the Bayheimer Achievement for killing an enemy with explosives with your back turned to them! And thanks for the Juiceriken tip.

I guess I should post my Steam Summer Camp game progress.

Team Fortress 2 [PC]:
Got the summer shades and some more Achievements. Getting that one for the ticket was a bit of a pain. I played a few rounds of 2Fort to get it. One with a lot of Mexicans, the other with a completely useless 10-year-old who had no idea what he was doing and somehow had access to a microphone. Killing him felt good.

Monday Night Combat [PC]:
Got the Summer Gear, and man, those taunt anims are great. Got the Bayheimer and Ground Zero Achievements; modified my custom class to play Support.

Beat Hazard [PC]:
Halfway through the ranks, 30% through the Achievements.

Spiral Knights [PC]:
Installed and played it only for the Ticket. Played a few levels with a friend, got the ticket, promptly uninstalled it. At least I got a TF2 item out of it.

Counter-Strike Source [PC]:
Hadn't played CS in years. Yep, I still suck. Got the Ticket and 10 Achievements.

Global Agenda [PC]:
Checked out the new Burning Fashions shop in Dome City. Nothing that cool. The only item that caught my eye were the sunglasses, but I'd just buy those from the vendor in the town in the desert for less.

Borderlands [PC]:
Playing with a friend. He hadn't started Ned's Island, so we worked our way through it. Only mission left is the 250 brains one, but we only need 15 left which we'll pick up on our way to TK.

Saints Row 2 [PC]:
Geez, this crap is completely unplayable without the Powertools to slow it down and the Gentlemen of the Row mod which fixes so many of the issues. The game is pretty damn fun and intentionally funny, like an over-the-top San Andreas, with more silliness. The character customization is great, too. I made one of my characters look like Faith from Mirror's Edge and turned the other into a Duke Nukem lookalike. I tried to make a Niko Bellic, but I couldn't get the mouth right. My buddy make an RE5 Chris for BOULDERPUNCHING.

The co-op system is pretty damn good. You just join the host's server and any progress you make will saved and will carry over to your single-player game. Some missions and activities are different when playing with two players. Some missions will have you each doing something different than in the singleplayer game. One of the pimping activities had my friend driving the car while Faith ho'd herself out in the back. Stay classy.

Progress-wise, we have the run-down mansion and have begun screwing with the Samedi and the Ronin, shutting down their on-campus drug ring and their casino.

[Shadowman]

I guess I should too. Only fair. In addition to the ones for joining a specific group, and posting things on people profiles/pictures, having a 10-item wishlist and writing a recommendation for a game, I got:

Magicka:
Got the Swedish Summer achievement, which involves casting Rain 20 times in a versus match. Teamed up with Tweezy to get this, though we had to turn off everything but basic Magicks before the spellbook for Rain would drop.

Universe Sandbox:
I happened to have bought this on impulse a while ago, so I thought, what the hell, might as well get the Summer achievement for it. The achievement, Heat Wave, requires causing the Earth to drop into the Sun. Turns out, increasing the Sun's mass and density only radically alters Earth's orbit. So, I instead pushed the button that turns the Sun into a black hole. That worked.

Poker Night at the Inventory:
Summer of '69 requires you to have a winning hand that includes a 6 and a 9. Easy as hell. I even managed to get it by bluffing.

Trine:
Summer Drip requires you to stay underwater for 40 seconds without taking damage. So, I entered a level with a deep enough body of water fairly early on, and just sat there.

Zombie Driver:
Another impose buy, and one that came in handy during the Great Potato Race as well; the achievement, Summer Hot Dog, requires you roast 20 zombie dogs with a flamethrower in a Slaughter game. Which is easy enough.

I never got around to the achievements for the other games I had, (A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, TF2, MNC, Counter-Strike Source, Defense Grid, Day of Defeat, Killing Floor, or L4D20 but then I really got everything I wanted. (A character pack for Killing Floor, a pair of sweet sunglasses for TF2, the Summer Gear for MNC, and a new multiplayer map for Magicka)

EDIT: In other news, the Assassin is a badass chef.

[1337W422102]

Buying Zombie Driver is bad and you should feel bad.
Also, your screenshot gives a whole new meaning to "Delicious Assassin."

[Shadowman]

Buying Zombie Driver is bad and you should feel bad.

I actually don't feel bad. Sure, it wasn't a AAA game (And, being a game about cars, that qualifies as a pun) but it was actually pretty fun, and I only paid $5 for it.

Also, your screenshot gives a whole new meaning to "Delicious Assassin."

It certainly does give better focus to her...ahem, more conspicuous areas. I also added similar pics for the other Pros.

[1337W422102]

...it wasn't a AAA game (And, being a game about cars, that qualifies as a pun)...

I lol'd, good sir.

It certainly does give better focus to her...ahem, more conspicuous areas. I also added similar pics for the other Pros.

I said it before and I'll say it again, unf, dat Assassin!

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I just keep switching games, don't I?

Sonic Colors (DS)
I'll be short but sweet about it: GAME OVER BEATEN. For those of you who have Sonic Colors for the Wii, the DS version is more of a light snack. It does feature cameos of other (I've yet to see Marine) Sonic characters in the Missions, two Wisps not found in the Wii version (Red Burst and Violet Void) and the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Yes, it even has an Extra Zone boss battle. However:

- While the Special Stages were nice, they were not as challenging as previous games
- One is hidden in the Multiplayer Hub, which I *hate*.
- The Extra Zone itself was substandard. Music wasn't catchy or had a doom-like feel, and all you do is avoid and at the end of a round dash into the boss. Lame.

I'm not done with the game yet, I have to find all the red star rings to unlock all the yummy bonuses like music :3

[The Happy Locust]

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Picked up where I left off on replaying this. forgot how engrossing this game could be.
Defeated the Mogenar drone in the Leviathan seed on Bryyo. Rundas is no longer a problem. Moving onto elysia.

[The Happy Locust]

And on the 3rd day, he double-posted...


Metroid Prime 3
On Elysia still. Unclogged the Aurora unit but couldn't restore power due to damage from a surprise attack by Ghor. Kindly asked him to lend me equipment to repair it. He gladly gave it, blew up, and then disappeared into a Dark cloud. What a nice guy.
Repaired what needed repairing and hooked the Aurora unit back onto its network. Couldn't get to the ship upgrade point so threw a fit and ran back to Bryyo. Happened across a portal to another world... Okay, the same world but in ice instead of fire. Found the screw attack, returned to Elysia and upgraded my ship with an iron claw. (DA CRAW! DA CRAW!).

Portal 2
Restarted the game. Up to chapter 3, having awakened Glados.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

I HATE that part. But then again, what don't hate?

Mass Effect 2

After beating the game 23 times on Casual and once on Normal, I decided to try it on Veteran. I was on the last mission last night and the whole thing crashed. That's just great.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

I HATE that part. But then again, what don't hate?

It wasn't great. And while I struggled as my Lady Elf, I breezed through it as my Human Man in about 45 minutes. Ultimately the difference was Wynne. The game becomes Total Super Easy when you get her.

Dragon Age: Origins:
Well, did as much side-quests as I could. Time to go check on the Dalish, see what I have to do for them to--Werewolves?! Seriously, Werewolves?! And not even 'Hard to get infected' Werewolves, either, these guys can pass it on with a severe ass-kicking. Can't wait to see how this gets more complicated. You want the Dwarves help? Crown a king by doing tons of favors, then wading waist-deep in darkspawn in the deep roads. Want the Mages? Clean out the demon-filled tower, then fight it out in Freaky Dreamworld Land. Want the normal humans? Save the town, save the castle, perform an exorcism, then go waaaaay out of your way to do another dungeon to save the Arl. Right now, all the Elves want is for me to kill what amounts to the Werewolf King, (Not his title but I like that so I'm calling him that anyway) but I know damn well it won't go so easily.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

I HATE that part. But then again, what don't hate?

It wasn't great. And while I struggled as my Lady Elf, I breezed through it as my Human Man in about 45 minutes. Ultimately the difference was Wynne. The game becomes Total Super Easy when you get her.

But the Fade part is excruciating as all hell.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

I HATE that part. But then again, what don't hate?

It wasn't great. And while I struggled as my Lady Elf, I breezed through it as my Human Man in about 45 minutes. Ultimately the difference was Wynne. The game becomes Total Super Easy when you get her.

But the Fade part is excruciating as all hell.

Once I got the hang it, the Fade was easy. It helps that, during that, my Warrior leveled up enough that he was finally able to equip the Blood Dragon Armor. He has not taken it off since.

Well, okay, maybe for Morrigan...

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age: Origin:
Killed the Broodmother. Twice. Once as my lady elf rogue, once as my male human warrior. Human Warrior was the easy one. Finished up the Dwarf part of the main story, now I think I'll switch back to my Human Warrior for the duration of the game. (I'll try my lady elf once I'm done) All that's left is to contract the Elves, but I'm going to go on a Super Sidequest Binge first. Can't be Bioware without a Super Sidequest Binge!

I HATE that part. But then again, what don't hate?

It wasn't great. And while I struggled as my Lady Elf, I breezed through it as my Human Man in about 45 minutes. Ultimately the difference was Wynne. The game becomes Total Super Easy when you get her.

But the Fade part is excruciating as all hell.

Once I got the hang it, the Fade was easy. It helps that, during that, my Warrior leveled up enough that he was finally able to equip the Blood Dragon Armor. He has not taken it off since.

Well, okay, maybe for Morrigan...

Yes...well, it's not super hard, just very annoying. I didn't like being separated from my party. I cried.

[Shadowman]

I handled it pretty well. It helps that my Warrior can both receive and deal a remarkable amount of punishment. And it also helps that I'm a man, and men don't suffer from abandonment issues.

Dragon Age Origins:
Werewolves, talking/rhyming trees, campsites trying to kill you. It's like someone watched the Wolfman, Lord of the Rings, and the Blair Witch Project while dropping acid, and attempted to adapt the drug-blended plots...Not that bad so far.

[SlyTF1]

I handled it pretty well. It helps that my Warrior can both receive and deal a remarkable amount of punishment. And it also helps that I'm a man, and men don't suffer from abandonment issues.

I got 2 years...not too late I hope...

Dragon Age Origins:
Werewolves, talking/rhyming trees, campsites trying to kill you. It's like someone watched the Wolfman, Lord of the Rings, and the Blair Witch Project while dropping acid, and attempted to adapt the drug-blended plots...Not that bad so far.

Just wait and see what the plot behind it all is...

Mass Effect 2:

Beat it on Veteran a while ago actually. I already started a new game on Hardcore, but you know what? It's too damn hard. Screw this crap, I'm going back to Casual! I'm never going to make it to Insanity...

[Shadowman]

Just wait and see what the plot behind it all is...

Seemingly nice elf leader's son is murdered and daughter raped (later committing suicide after finding out she's pregnant), so he creates a werewolf to exact revenge on humanity, then spends the next few centuries fighting against his own weapon, basically regaining his elvish immortality as long as the original werewolf lives.

I gave up avoiding spoilers a while ago.

It's a doozy of a backstory, I'll give it that. It's still not quite Berserk, though. I'm not going to go into length on the exact details of what I'm talking about, because this is a PG-13 website and that manga is rated R at a minimum.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age: Origins:
BEATEN! I got a Get out of Death Free card by having sex with Morrigan. In physics terms, that's called a Win-Win Scenario. Killed the Archdemon, saved the day, lived happily ever after.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening:
OR DO THEY?! Darkspawn ravaged a castle that the Grey Wardens (That is, me and my underlings) was ransacked by oddly intelligent Darkspawn. Gentlemen, the game is afoot.

Team Fortress 2:
Pulled some strings and got the materials to craft the new Soldier equipment.

It is horribly broken. I don't mean "It doesn't work," it most certainly does, and more so than it should. Unlimited ammo, offset only by having slightly longer reload times. No random crits, offset by having mini-crits via charge shot whenever you want, that also disable buildings for a short time. Or shots that penetrate other players that can't be deflected. I don't know if this set is awesome or awful. But I do know that they will be nerfed or bad things will happen to good people who made bad choices.

[SlyTF1]

Fallout New Vegas- Old World Blues DLC:

Got it and beat it. It's pretty awesome, but there's one quest in particular that's repetitive as all hell. You have to go through this same maze and kill different (but similar) enemies at least 8 times. Other than that and a 20 minute dialogue section at the beginning, it's really awesome. The only armor I found was a Stealth Suit Mark 2 and a Patient Gown. But it comes with a crap load of useful new weapons! The new Sonic Emitter can kill a Cazadore in 4 hits, and any robot in just a few! That's pretty freaking impressive.

But it was an awesome DLC, I can't wait until the next one! Lonesome Road!!!

[Shadowman]

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions:
I have a road trip coming up, and this was only $10, so I thought I'd try my hand at the remake. I already own the original on PSP, but I'm a sucker for a good Final Fantasy. I'm also a sucker for a bad Final Fantasy, which is why I still own copies of X-2 and XIII. But this is a good Final Fantasy. Nice new FMVs, properly translated text, Phil LaMarr being remarkably good as Ramza, Balthier from 12 (I.e., the result of Han Solo having a baby with James Bond) more party slots so I don't have to kick as many people out, and Agrias.

Downside, for some reason there's a framerate drop every time a special effect is used. (I.e., magic, items, certain special attacks) The game, for whatever reason, is intentionally doing there; it's not a hardware issue at all, it's there on purpose, likely to create a slow-motion effect. It's highly annoying.

Still only on Chapter 1, specifically working on building up my two Chemists so they can become my Black Mage and my White Mage. Can't have a proper party without a White Mage, and a Black Mage is a great addition to any team.

[The Happy Locust]

Portal 2
Still replaying. Switched one bad guy for another, fell down a big hole, then got to play with Repulsion gel. Oh, and my new partner is a talking potato.

Minecraft
No accomplishments, just kinda deciding my next project. I'm in the mood for floating structures, so wondering how feasible it is to clear out a 64 x 64 x 64 block chunk of land. Basically create a giant crater, then build inside of it.

[1337W422102]

Minecraft
No accomplishments, just kinda deciding my next project. I'm in the mood for floating structures, so wondering how feasible it is to clear out a 64 x 64 x 64 block chunk of land. Basically create a giant crater, then build inside of it.

TNT, good sir. I've levelled entire mountains.