The Energon Pub

[1337W422102]

Cold Fear isn't an RE game, but it might as well be. It really feels like an oldschool RE game, and when I hit the RMB and start shooting, I forget that I'm NOT playing RE4 and forget that you can move while aiming in Cold Fear.

Dead Space is the same. It even manages to retain that creepy atmosphere than RE4 and 5 seemed to lack.

"Oh God, what was that noise? Do I still have health kits? Where's the next save point? Why is that voice in the background singing "twinkle twinkle little star?" Should I see a doctor about this rash?"

RE4 had the creepy atmosphere at the beginning. For a bit, anyway. The rural village in the dead forest kept me on edge, until I learned the controls (freaking PC version...) and had decent weapons to become a threat. But yeah, RE4 wasn't scary, and not even suspenseful like RE1. Cold Fear has some decent atmosphere, being stuck on a derelict infected whaling ship from Russia... Alone, in the dark, in tiny areas, while being tossed around by rain and the waves. I don't think I'll be playing it at night.

[Shadowman]

That's the weird thing about the early RE games. I've played F.E.A.R., it's expansions, it's sequel and the DLC for that as well, in all their beautiful, detailed glory. I still shudder at the very mention of the name "Alma." And yet RE1, with it's low-detail PS1 graphics and hand-drawn mostly-non-moving backgrounds can still get me to jump and go "HOLY CRAP that Cerberus just jumped through a window."

Alma, fear personified = Scary
Cerberus, a zombie dog (Keep in mind zombies don't scare me) jumping through a window = Somehow just as scary.

[1337W422102]

That's the weird thing about the early RE games. I've played F.E.A.R., it's expansions, it's sequel and the DLC for that as well, in all their beautiful, detailed glory. I still shudder at the very mention of the name "Alma." And yet RE1, with it's low-detail PS1 graphics and hand-drawn mostly-non-moving backgrounds can still get me to jump and go "HOLY CRAP that Cerberus just jumped through a window."

Alma, fear personified = Scary
Cerberus, a zombie dog (Keep in mind zombies don't scare me) jumping through a window = Somehow just as scary.

Well, F.E.A.R. is much more in-your-face with the DURRR TURN AROUND THERE'S A GHOST THERE LOL/monsters in dark corners sort of deal. For me, RE1 was scary because the atmosphere was creepy and there was a real sense of helplessness/powerlessness. The mansion was large, the characters don't have much health or inventory space, controlling them is hard, their sidearms don't do jack, and the perspective doesn't help.

But yeah, that part where the Cereberii bail through the window? Before the snake boss fight? I had a feeling they would do something like that, but I was still taken off-guard. Man, that crap was creepy.

[Shadowman]

"Nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is--CRAP something jumped through the window WHY ARE MY PANTS WET."

Pokemon Emerald:
Cleared the Team Aqua base, boy that Thunder TM I gave my Raichu sure paid for itself. Got a Master Ball as well. Gonna save that for something special, which I kind of have to because it's a Master Ball. Why hasn't anyone put these into mass production?

[1337W422102]

"Nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is going to jump through the window, nothing is--CRAP something jumped through the window WHY ARE MY PANTS WET."

For me, it was more like "I know something's gonna jump in from that window, I know something's gonna jump in from that window, I know something's gonna jump in from that window, GAAH I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD JUMP IN SO SOON OR FROM THAT PARTICULAR WINDOW OSHIIIIIIII--"

[The Happy Locust]

Spoiler...sort of. Just wait until you get that super sniper! It's freaking awesome. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get it.

And this is why I chose the infiltrator class.

Been running into an odd glitch which I'll call the Flying Shephard. Twice, my character has become disconnected from the ground, walking 10 feet up and trapped by the walls. Not sure how it happens but it's an immediate gamebreaker requiring a reload. Anyone else had this?

[SlyTF1]

Spoiler...sort of. Just wait until you get that super sniper! It's freaking awesome. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get it.

And this is why I chose the infiltrator class.

Been running into an odd glitch which I'll call the Flying Shephard. Twice, my character has become disconnected from the ground, walking 10 feet up and trapped by the walls. Not sure how it happens but it's an immediate gamebreaker requiring a reload. Anyone else had this?

This happened to me once before, but I just started pressing buttons and it started working again. It was one part in Illium before you get to the gunship in Samara's recruiting mission.

[Shadowman]

Spoiler...sort of. Just wait until you get that super sniper! It's freaking awesome. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get it.

And this is why I chose the infiltrator class.

Been running into an odd glitch which I'll call the Flying Shephard. Twice, my character has become disconnected from the ground, walking 10 feet up and trapped by the walls. Not sure how it happens but it's an immediate gamebreaker requiring a reload. Anyone else had this?

In ME1, during the fight with Benezia. Couldn't move, couldn't shoot. Just kept floating slowly through the wall and away.

[SlyTF1]

Spoiler...sort of. Just wait until you get that super sniper! It's freaking awesome. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get it.

And this is why I chose the infiltrator class.

Been running into an odd glitch which I'll call the Flying Shephard. Twice, my character has become disconnected from the ground, walking 10 feet up and trapped by the walls. Not sure how it happens but it's an immediate gamebreaker requiring a reload. Anyone else had this?

In ME1, during the fight with Benezia. Couldn't move, couldn't shoot. Just kept floating slowly through the wall and away.

That happened to me twice before, and I had to restart the whole damn Noveria level each time.

[The Happy Locust]

Spoiler...sort of. Just wait until you get that super sniper! It's freaking awesome. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get it.

And this is why I chose the infiltrator class.

Been running into an odd glitch which I'll call the Flying Shephard. Twice, my character has become disconnected from the ground, walking 10 feet up and trapped by the walls. Not sure how it happens but it's an immediate gamebreaker requiring a reload. Anyone else had this?

In ME1, during the fight with Benezia. Couldn't move, couldn't shoot. Just kept floating slowly through the wall and away.

That happened to me twice before, and I had to restart the whole damn Noveria level each time.

Got a shot of the glitch in action.

[The Happy Locust]

Ding! 3-day mark. Time to post.

Mass Effect 2
Made some Major progress. Finished the loyalty missions for Mordin (spared the scientist), Grunt (killed the Thresher maw), Garrus (spared the target), Thane (used my spectre status without resorting to Violence), and Tali (acquitted without needing evidence). Hit some exploring and ran into a few side-missions including tracking down the source of a rogue Mech virus outbreak.
In the middle of that, was ordered to go investigate a disabled collector ship. Stole some Data, escaped a collector trap, and got a SWEET new sniper rifle. It's single shot, but that's all you need. Escaped and expressed my displeasure to the illusive man.
With all that done, recruited the last member currently available, Samara and brought down a group of Eclipse mercs. Will wait for her loyalty mission to open up before moving to the IFF.

[1337W422102]

Vin Diesel Wheelman [PC]:
This game is hilariously retarded. Did the story mission unlocking the Focus abilities. Now I'm doing Side Missions instead of continuing the story. Must... Get.. S-Ranks.. If there were Live or Steam Achievements, I'd be whoring the hell out of them due to the fact that they improve my in-game skills, too.

Borderlands [PC]:
At the Trash Coast, raising a little hell.

[SlyTF1]

Ding! 3-day mark. Time to post.

Mass Effect 2
Made some Major progress. Finished the loyalty missions for Mordin (spared the scientist), Grunt (killed the Thresher maw), Garrus (spared the target), Thane (used my spectre status without resorting to Violence), and Tali (acquitted without needing evidence). Hit some exploring and ran into a few side-missions including tracking down the source of a rogue Mech virus outbreak.
In the middle of that, was ordered to go investigate a disabled collector ship. Stole some Data, escaped a collector trap, and got a SWEET new sniper rifle. It's single shot, but that's all you need. Escaped and expressed my displeasure to the illusive man.
With all that done, recruited the last member currently available, Samara and brought down a group of Eclipse mercs. Will wait for her loyalty mission to open up before moving to the IFF.

Told you that rifle was freaking awesome! You can basically kill everything with one shot!

[The Happy Locust]

Ding! 3-day mark. Time to post.

Mass Effect 2
Made some Major progress. Finished the loyalty missions for Mordin (spared the scientist), Grunt (killed the Thresher maw), Garrus (spared the target), Thane (used my spectre status without resorting to Violence), and Tali (acquitted without needing evidence). Hit some exploring and ran into a few side-missions including tracking down the source of a rogue Mech virus outbreak.
In the middle of that, was ordered to go investigate a disabled collector ship. Stole some Data, escaped a collector trap, and got a SWEET new sniper rifle. It's single shot, but that's all you need. Escaped and expressed my displeasure to the illusive man.
With all that done, recruited the last member currently available, Samara and brought down a group of Eclipse mercs. Will wait for her loyalty mission to open up before moving to the IFF.

Told you that rifle was freaking awesome! You can basically kill everything with one shot!

It's a soothing sound that goes away way too quickly.

Mass Effect 2
After some minor exploring, Samara finally opened up and told me about her target. Tracked the target to Omega and got hints from Aria. From there, found the home of a victim and got the password to a nightclub. Played the Paragon by saving someone's life from a potential killer, stopped a mugging, and generally had fun. Samara's target approached me and, after some discussion, took me back to her place.
In her place, led her on some more until Samara made her move. They were evenly matched but a cheap shot from my end balanced things out. Samara finally killed her target and I earned her loyalty.
After the mission, went around to my crew. Grunt's happiness over a violent memory was disturbing. Mordin commented that he was flattered by my attention but not interested (not quite what I was going for). Made a pass at Tali and she's interested. Gave Jack some attention but think I may have strung her along a bit more than I wanted to.

Dead Space: Extraction
Started the game. Mission 1 was as a miner trying to survive while everyone around him went insane. Managed to restart some equipment but lost my own mind in the process. A security team put me down the hard way.
Mission 2 was as a police officer. Managed to maintain my sanity while the entire colony fell apart. Me, a friend, and a rookie made it back to the police HQ (P-Sec), but the rookie went nuts and had to be stopped. Found a civilian (the girlfriend of the character from Mission 1). We made our way to the shuttle area but a shuttle crashed and took the rest down with it. Found another survivor and we decided to go underground to find another way out.

[1337W422102]

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men [PC]:
Got the "escape" ending worth 20G. Got three Achievements last night clearing up the end of the game. Next time I play, I'll go for ending #2 and the bonus level.

[Psycho Warrior]

Halo Reach: 360
Finally made Lt. Colonel, but sadly my coveted security armor is for generals only. oh well. with all achievements I'm done with this game for now.

[8 bit]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow [Xbox]

Currently working my way through the castle (Castlevania...?). Managed to figure out the various puzzles in the balcony area; and now I'm back outside working my way up one of the castle's massive towers. It's a big area, so my epic-boss-battle sense is tingling!

[Shadowman]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow [Xbox]

Currently working my way through the castle (Castlevania...?). Managed to figure out the various puzzles in the balcony area; and now I'm back outside working my way up one of the castle's massive towers. It's a big area, so my epic-boss-battle sense is tingling!

Nope. They said that even though it's an alternate continuity, the year it's set in is well before Lament of Innocence, so Dracula can't exist in the game, and neither can Castlevania.

Super, Mega, Ultra Spoiler that WILL ruin the end of the game for you:

Gabriel Belmont IS Dracula, or at least he'll take on that name. When he learns he can't actually bring his wife back, he feels betrayed, stacked along with previous betrayals, and feelings of regret and anger. He's pissed as hell, and evidently becomes a Vampire, taking on the name Dracula.

Still, alternate continuity.

[Shadowman]

HOLY BALLS, people. Until 10PM today, Age of Empires 3 is only 10¢. Don't say "I don't have the money" because no one is so poor they don't have ten freaking pennies to spare.

[The Happy Locust]

HOLY BALLS, people. Until 10PM today, Age of Empires 3 is only 10¢. Don't say "I don't have the money" because no one is so poor they don't have ten freaking pennies to spare.

But what if you can't afford shipping or bandwidth?

Mass Effect 2
Ran out of side missions to do so moved forward with the IFF mission. The inside of a reaper is a bit disappointing. Plus, fighting husks are a pain when you specialize in single-shot weapons and they use swarm tactics. Anway, got the info I needed, picked up a deactivated Geth, destroyed the reaper's still functioning core, and high-tailed it.
Activated the Geth and it was surprisingly cooperative. Gave it a name and let it join my crew. Also unlocked its loyalty mission. Hopefully I get to finish it before we move onto Endgame.

[Shadowman]

HOLY BALLS, people. Until 10PM today, Age of Empires 3 is only 10¢. Don't say "I don't have the money" because no one is so poor they don't have ten freaking pennies to spare.

But what if you can't afford shipping or bandwidth?

Mass Effect 2
Ran out of side missions to do so moved forward with the IFF mission. The inside of a reaper is a bit disappointing. Plus, fighting husks are a pain when you specialize in single-shot weapons and they use swarm tactics. Anway, got the info I needed, picked up a deactivated Geth, destroyed the reaper's still functioning core, and high-tailed it.
Activated the Geth and it was surprisingly cooperative. Gave it a name and let it join my crew. Also unlocked its loyalty mission. Hopefully I get to finish it before we move onto Endgame.

Yep. You get one sidequest after getting the IFF, Legion's loyalty mission is the best choice.

[1337W422102]

HOLY BALLS, people. Until 10PM today, Age of Empires 3 is only 10¢. Don't say "I don't have the money" because no one is so poor they don't have ten freaking pennies to spare.

Yeah, but I still don't want to support GFW as a content delivery platform, and am not interested in Ages of Empires. I'll hold onto my dime for now.

[SlyTF1]

HOLY BALLS, people. Until 10PM today, Age of Empires 3 is only 10¢. Don't say "I don't have the money" because no one is so poor they don't have ten freaking pennies to spare.

But what if you can't afford shipping or bandwidth?

Mass Effect 2
Ran out of side missions to do so moved forward with the IFF mission. The inside of a reaper is a bit disappointing. Plus, fighting husks are a pain when you specialize in single-shot weapons and they use swarm tactics. Anway, got the info I needed, picked up a deactivated Geth, destroyed the reaper's still functioning core, and high-tailed it.
Activated the Geth and it was surprisingly cooperative. Gave it a name and let it join my crew. Also unlocked its loyalty mission. Hopefully I get to finish it before we move onto Endgame.

Yep. You get one sidequest after getting the IFF, Legion's loyalty mission is the best choice.

Usually, I don't even activate Legion until after I beat the game. Just so no one dies in the final mission.

The Sly Collection:

Beat Sly 2 last night and got my first platinum trophy! I'm special now!

[The Happy Locust]

Yep. You get one sidequest after getting the IFF, Legion's loyalty mission is the best choice.

Good to know.

Dead Space: Extraction
Fought my way through a 'megavent' (AKA sewer) to reach the shuttle. Lost a member on the way but saved the love interest. Reached the shuttle just as a giant tentacle thing attacked. Rather than fight, we ran to the shuttle and took off.
Next level, worked our way to a waiting spaceship with me manning a cannon to block debris. Something's very odd when a rail shooter and turn into an on-rails shooter. Reached the ship but it fired on us for no apparent reason. We survived and crash landed on it in a zero-G segment and got inside. Turns out the ship is having the same problem as the colony and I had to fight my way through lots of enemies. Was finally tazered by the security crew in what is hopefully a misunderstanding.

[The Happy Locust]

3rd day since last post + it's a holiday. I invoke the rite of 'having too much fun' to allow this double post.

Mass effect 2
GAME.OVER!
After clearing Legion's mission by reprogramming the heretic Geth (strange that this was the paragon option), lost my crew to the collectors while I was away. After Joker and EDI got the ship to safety, we wasted no time in hitting the Omega 4 relay, but not before getting some freaky alien love with Tali. . For the record, actually seeing Mass relay travel from inside the cockpit was a nice touch.
Reached the collector's realm though Joker had to do some skilled flying to avoid our ship becoming a Cerberus slushy. Fought off an Oculus and let my upgrades do the rest. My new shields blocked debris, the new armor shrugged off a Collector ship blast, and the new guns toasted the ship that had been dogging Shepard for 2 years. Still ended up crash-landing though.
In the ship, split my team and fought my way through while Thane worked the air vents. He made it through and opened the doors but got a missile to the face for his trouble. Oops. Next, had Samara pull shield duty in a seeker swarm while Jack led a distraction crew. She did her job well, but was taken out in the following fight. 2 down...
Found where the Collectors held my crew and rescued them before they became a nutritious paste (it tastes like sadness). Had Garrus escort them back to the ship. He's off the team but at least he lived.
After that, left the rest of my crew on defense while me, Mordin, and Tali went after the center of the ship where we found what the Collectors' were using the human paste for. Managed to destroy the monstrosity's food source but it came back fighting. A few sniper shots to the eye and it went down in flames.
When given the choice, chose to sanitize the base of Collectors rather than destroy it entirely. Escaped, survived, and handed the base over to Cerberus but made my hesitance and conditions known to the Illusive man. All in all, not a bad battle as the 'suicide mission' only cost 3 lives, 1 of which wasn't in my crew.

My character is 100% paragon with maybe 13% renegade, so I feel I'm on the side of good. Wondering how the decisions I made will affect the ME3 story though.

Dead Rising 2
Started the game. Survived the first onslaught and got to the safehouse as well as finding my first case of Zombrex. On day one, focusing on the case files but still rounding up some surivivors. Managed to track down a reporter, find the security station trashed, and return to the safehouse to keep my daughter from getting kicked out. About 3/4 through day 1 but still no zombrex in sight. Need to make some money quick for the pawn shop.

Tron 2.0
On Alan's PC, reconfigured the com ports and fought off trackers, allowing me to receive a communication before the ICP found me. Hit the road and stowed away on a data transport, but still had to fight the ICP to make it to a safe spot. I'm also playing this on the harder difficulty so my general tactics are defensive as I can be killed in 3 hits at this point.

Having never played a DR game before, was not prepared for just how many zombies can swarm you. My weapons seem to break long before I've thinned the horde. Still, blood blood BLOOOD!