The Energon Pub

[The Happy Locust]

Crysis 2
Helping the civilians evacuate. Mostly killing aliens while everyone else flees. Helped topple a building to block mortar fire, but the aliens returned the favor by toppling one above my team. RUUUUUN!
Survived and fell back to another rally point, fought more aliens when a giant spire popped up from the ground. Disembodied voice told me we had 30 seconds to live unless I jumped inside of the alien spire. Okey-dokey.
Flew up it, then got tossed out but somehow altered it to the point where it became dangerous to aliens. Most of them blowed up really good. A few larger ones survived and caught up to my weakened self, but my friends in the marines rescued me, though they then dumped me out of a plane into the river. Moving on.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen
Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!
On the home stretch now. Sought thrills in Bloogville, went sightseeing at BASA, and assaulted Guard Post Three. Using the card I boarded a rocket to the Bloogbase, where my Baby Sitter awaits rescuing (or being eaten for dinner).

I really need to be less trigger happy...

[The Happy Locust]

Crysis 2
GAME.OVER!
Short version: After getting dumped into the river, broke into a prison complex and found Mr. House... i mean Mr. Hargreave. He zapped me and tried to take my armor but an omipresent AI knocked that idea and gave me enough time for a CIA agent to free me. Once rebooted, found a nanosuit museum and got a special injection of anti-alien vitamins. With my suit prepped, fought through to Central park only to watch it rise from the ground as a giant structure appeared . From that point on, went the easy route and cloaked my way through the entire final battle to make it to the aliens HQ. Contaminated it and watched lots of aliens go Splat.

In all honesty, I'm disappointed about this game. By itself, it's a good game. But as a sequel to Crysis, I feel cheated. So many of the unique selling points of the original are gone in favor of 'streamlining' the experience. That translates to "Simplify it and make it more accessible to the console players". that the PC version is just an Xbox port is an insult. It really is. In the end, it's still a fun game, but if you played the PC original, you'll have to significantly temper your expectations.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:

Well, I quit. I just beat the Circle Tower mission, and found my way out of the Fade, but I have no idea what to do now. I refuse to go back to the Brood Mother mission, and I really don't feel like helping the elves, so I quit. I'm off to get Dragon Age 2 now! I hear nothing has any consequences; as there are in Mass Effect, anyway. So, I quit.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age Origins:

Well, I quit. I just beat the Circle Tower mission, and found my way out of the Fade, but I have no idea what to do now. I refuse to go back to the Brood Mother mission, and I really don't feel like helping the elves, so I quit. I'm off to get Dragon Age 2 now! I hear nothing has any consequences; as there are in Mass Effect, anyway. So, I quit.

Well...you could always go to GameFAQs. And man up, just because you don't like elves doesn't mean it's a bad idea have them owe you one.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:

Well, I quit. I just beat the Circle Tower mission, and found my way out of the Fade, but I have no idea what to do now. I refuse to go back to the Brood Mother mission, and I really don't feel like helping the elves, so I quit. I'm off to get Dragon Age 2 now! I hear nothing has any consequences; as there are in Mass Effect, anyway. So, I quit.

Well...you could always go to GameFAQs. And man up, just because you don't like elves doesn't mean it's a bad idea have them owe you one.

Well, I do like the elves, I just hate nature. And their level takes place...in the woods. I find it so boring. I don't know what to do there either. I found a huge talking tree, but I keep getting teleported back to the beginning if I go too far. I know I'm supposed to go talk to the tree about it, but I just don't feel like going through those woods again.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age Origins:

Well, I quit. I just beat the Circle Tower mission, and found my way out of the Fade, but I have no idea what to do now. I refuse to go back to the Brood Mother mission, and I really don't feel like helping the elves, so I quit. I'm off to get Dragon Age 2 now! I hear nothing has any consequences; as there are in Mass Effect, anyway. So, I quit.

Well...you could always go to GameFAQs. And man up, just because you don't like elves doesn't mean it's a bad idea have them owe you one.

Well, I do like the elves, I just hate nature. And their level takes place...in the woods. I find it so boring. I don't know what to do there either. I found a huge talking tree, but I keep getting teleported back to the beginning if I go too far. I know I'm supposed to go talk to the tree about it, but I just don't feel like going through those woods again.

There. Pick one of those. They'll have the answers. Real men don't quit when they can't figure something out.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:

Well, I quit. I just beat the Circle Tower mission, and found my way out of the Fade, but I have no idea what to do now. I refuse to go back to the Brood Mother mission, and I really don't feel like helping the elves, so I quit. I'm off to get Dragon Age 2 now! I hear nothing has any consequences; as there are in Mass Effect, anyway. So, I quit.

Well...you could always go to GameFAQs. And man up, just because you don't like elves doesn't mean it's a bad idea have them owe you one.

Well, I do like the elves, I just hate nature. And their level takes place...in the woods. I find it so boring. I don't know what to do there either. I found a huge talking tree, but I keep getting teleported back to the beginning if I go too far. I know I'm supposed to go talk to the tree about it, but I just don't feel like going through those woods again.

There. Pick one of those. They'll have the answers. Real men don't quit when they can't figure something out.

Well, I did finish the mission, and I'm actually happy I did so. The ending was...cool. But the rest of it sucked hard. But I'm gonna go ahead and quit now, because the only mission left is to fight the Brood Mother, a fat b!tch with tentacles coming out of the ground...I don't want to go back there; but I'm so close! Too bad it's the hardest boss in the game.

[Shadowman]

Hardest boss? This is Bioware, they don't make hard bosses! They made fighting ancient eldritch machinery easy. Now Castlevania? Those are bosses that will make you a real man. They call him Death for a reason...

[1337W422102]

Hardest boss? This is Bioware, they don't make hard bosses! They made fighting ancient eldritch machinery easy. Now Castlevania? Those are bosses that will make you a real man. They call him Death for a reason...

..and then he'll just come back to piss off your grandkids.

[SlyTF1]

Hardest boss? This is Bioware, they don't make hard bosses! They made fighting ancient eldritch machinery easy. Now Castlevania? Those are bosses that will make you a real man. They call him Death for a reason...

Have you played Dragon Age? All the bosses are freaking hard! I've only beaten on of them so far; and I have no plans to beat the rest, unless I decide to fight the Brood Mother and that may not happen.

Even in the DA2 demo, it took me 20 minutes to beat that Ogre in the first level the first time I played it!

[robofreak]

Hardest boss? This is Bioware, they don't make hard bosses! They made fighting ancient eldritch machinery easy. Now Castlevania? Those are bosses that will make you a real man. They call him Death for a reason...

..and then he'll just come back to piss off your grandkids.

I think I had like 20 game overs in Lament of Innocence before I was able to actually kill him.

Also Death in Rondo of Blood is ridiculous. He's the hardest boss in the game not couting the version of Dracula that you fight after resuing all 3 maidens.

Good times. Looking forward to playing Lords of Shadow when I get a chance.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen
Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!
GAME OVER FINISHED! Yes, I finished the two original trilogies. I have to say, the Bloogbase levels were hard. Fortunately I only needed to pass one of the two, I choose the Bloogbase Recreational District, and left the Bloogbase Management District for later. Before saving the baby sitter though, I took a small detour to the secret level, the Blooglab Space Station. I'll have to revisit it in order to find the transcription of the SGA (Standard Galactic Alphabet). The Bloog Control Center was decent, I love hunting levels, in this case for the 4 key gems.

Right, now that those are out of the way, now what? Anybody up for the lost episode, Keen Dreams?

[Shadowman]

Hardest boss? This is Bioware, they don't make hard bosses! They made fighting ancient eldritch machinery easy. Now Castlevania? Those are bosses that will make you a real man. They call him Death for a reason...

..and then he'll just come back to piss off your grandkids.

I think I had like 20 game overs in Lament of Innocence before I was able to actually kill him.

Also Death in Rondo of Blood is ridiculous. He's the hardest boss in the game not couting the version of Dracula that you fight after resuing all 3 maidens.

Good times. Looking forward to playing Lords of Shadow when I get a chance.

He was a pain the the ass on Dracula X Chronicles (Which, if you have a PSP, I seriously recommend. It's only like $15 on the PlayStation store), but parts 1 and 2 of the Dracula fight weren't so bad, I remembered how to do those parts because of Symphony of the Night. The final fight in Dracula X is supposed to be damn near impossible, though.

And yeah, I was apprehensive about Lords of Shadow at first, due to the apparent removal of like 90% of the mythos. Though in the end we learn we just took part in the rise of Dracula. The gameplay isn't that bad either. It's pretty much just a copy of God of War, but i'm willing to forgive it because, hey, it's Castlevania.

EDIT: I played the demo and read Wikipedia, I haven't actually played it yet.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:
Brood Mother beat, b!t#* @$$ #*@!a @&@*! !#&% &@*@! &^@&!!! Finally!!! But I dread what is to come next though. I'm scared to venture on.

[1337W422102]

Commander Keen
Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!
GAME OVER FINISHED! Yes, I finished the two original trilogies. I have to say, the Bloogbase levels were hard. Fortunately I only needed to pass one of the two, I choose the Bloogbase Recreational District, and left the Bloogbase Management District for later. Before saving the baby sitter though, I took a small detour to the secret level, the Blooglab Space Station. I'll have to revisit it in order to find the transcription of the SGA (Standard Galactic Alphabet). The Bloog Control Center was decent, I love hunting levels, in this case for the 4 key gems.

Right, now that those are out of the way, now what? Anybody up for the lost episode, Keen Dreams?

Congratulations, and you are awesome.

Since GiantBomb is still down, so I can't link you guys to the opinion pieces I wrote about my initial impressions of Portal 2 and Mass Effect 1. Ah well. I'm playing those right now.

Portal 2 [PC]:
Wasn't interested in this game at all, then I saw the banner add with GLaDOS and delicious newschool unfy Chell. Co-op is its own campaign and is surprisingly fun and non-half-assed. Story mode, GLaDOS booted up again (despite being effing destroyed last time and having pieces torn off) and Chell's navigating the incinerator room.

Mass Effect [PC]:
Too early to be wowed by anything yet. Doing as much as I can at the Citadel before I have to leave. Scanning bugs and stuff.

Lunia [PC]:
Got some extra character slots, a guildmate hooked me up with access to a character class I couldn't use before, and now I have a new character I'm using for the current levelling-up event. He's a Fighter class, his bio describes him as a "street fighter" and some of his attacks include shoryukens. I see what they did there. This comes as no surprise, seeing as how my elven archer chick has a vaguely familiar move. Are you elf enough to fight with her? Go home and be a family elf!

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age Origins:
Brood Mother beat, b!t#* @$$ #*@!a @&@*! !#&% &@*@! &^@&!!! Finally!!! But I dread what is to come next though. I'm scared to venture on.

When the future looks rough, you man up and do it anyway. I tend to go into boss fights blind, fists swinging. If I win, awesome, if I don't, I go back and formulate a strategy. If I fail a second time, then it's Grind Time.

[robofreak]

Shadowman: are you sure you're remembering the final fight in Rondo of Blood correctly? The Symphony of the Night intro is the same as Rondo of Blood, but if you rescue the 3 maidens, you get another phase to kill which is a whole lot harder than the rest of the fight. Makes everything you know about the game feel easy compared to fighting Dracula when he's pissed beyond all reason

[Shadowman]

Shadowman: are you sure you're remembering the final fight in Rondo of Blood correctly? The Symphony of the Night intro is the same as Rondo of Blood, but if you rescue the 3 maidens, you get another phase to kill which is a whole lot harder than the rest of the fight. Makes everything you know about the game feel easy compared to fighting Dracula when he's pissed beyond all reason

Actually yes. I only said parts 1 and 2 were fairly easy. Part 3 was a bitch and a half.

[robofreak]

Shadowman: are you sure you're remembering the final fight in Rondo of Blood correctly? The Symphony of the Night intro is the same as Rondo of Blood, but if you rescue the 3 maidens, you get another phase to kill which is a whole lot harder than the rest of the fight. Makes everything you know about the game feel easy compared to fighting Dracula when he's pissed beyond all reason

Actually yes. I only said parts 1 and 2 were fairly easy. Part 3 was a bitch and a half.

Duh, I completely forgot about part 1 of the fight. My memory just kept going to the mutant form.

Yeah part 3 was the form I was thinking of that sucks. I think what makes it hard is the lack of combos available in that fight. I found I only stood a chance if I could do a hydro storm item crash and even then I was hard pressed to win.

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:
Man, this some old bull sh!t. I'm on the final mission, on the final run to the final boss, and there is just no hope for me. I lost at least 3 times each time there was a new enemy encounter (literally lost my entire party) and that has been an uncountable amount of times too. There is no hope for me. I'm done, I'm just done. Next game I get will be Dragon Age 2. I hear it's much easier.

[The Happy Locust]

[b]Singularity[/b'\]
Started the game. Reached Katorga-12 but was taken down by an EMP. While trying to regroup, found myself in a fire and saved a random scientist before being returned to where i started. Sort of...
Was attacked by the Russians including the premier, who looked very familiar. Managed to escape and found that I had somehow changed the past by saving the scientist. Need to switch things back. But first, need to find a Mcguffin. Found the TMD in a lab and put it to good use. Saved another scientist from the first one and we separated. I jumped in the rift back to the present to find the same scientist (50 years older) waiting for me. Received a TMD upgrade. Currently off to reunite with same scientist again.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age Origins:
Man, this some old bull sh!t. I'm on the final mission, on the final run to the final boss, and there is just no hope for me. I lost at least 3 times each time there was a new enemy encounter (literally lost my entire party) and that has been an uncountable amount of times too. There is no hope for me. I'm done, I'm just done. Next game I get will be Dragon Age 2. I hear it's much easier.

Aw, can't fight the scary monsters? Then get stronger. Real men don't run, so are you a real man, or are you a sissy little girl who like wearing pink frilly dresses and having tea time with her stuffed animals of unicorns and teddy bears?

[SlyTF1]

Dragon Age Origins:
Man, this some old bull sh!t. I'm on the final mission, on the final run to the final boss, and there is just no hope for me. I lost at least 3 times each time there was a new enemy encounter (literally lost my entire party) and that has been an uncountable amount of times too. There is no hope for me. I'm done, I'm just done. Next game I get will be Dragon Age 2. I hear it's much easier.

Aw, can't fight the scary monsters? Then get stronger. Real men don't run, so are you a real man, or are you a sissy little girl who like wearing pink frilly dresses and having tea time with her stuffed animals of unicorns and teddy bears?

Technically, (and by law) I am not a real man. I am a boy; a child. So, I quit. I do like tea though...and crumpets.

[Shadowman]

Dragon Age Origins:
Man, this some old bull sh!t. I'm on the final mission, on the final run to the final boss, and there is just no hope for me. I lost at least 3 times each time there was a new enemy encounter (literally lost my entire party) and that has been an uncountable amount of times too. There is no hope for me. I'm done, I'm just done. Next game I get will be Dragon Age 2. I hear it's much easier.

Aw, can't fight the scary monsters? Then get stronger. Real men don't run, so are you a real man, or are you a sissy little girl who like wearing pink frilly dresses and having tea time with her stuffed animals of unicorns and teddy bears?

Technically, (and by law) I am not a real man. I am a boy; a child. So, I quit. I do like tea though...and crumpets.

Oh, you're not even a boy. Because boys don't run away either, they just get mad and fight harder. So have fun, wearing your dresses and reading your Twilight novels.