The Energon Pub

[1337W422102]

Sonic Colors
Cleared the asteroid coaster, thus freeing the planets. Too bad Eggman's machine already has enough power to go live. There were a few hiccups but now I've got time to wreak some havoc.

Were his minions snooping? I hear they often do that.

Plotting probably. wasn't scheming. could be snooping. Or maybe peeping.

So they weren't snooping as usual? I see...

[SlyTF1]

Dragon's Dogma:

Pretty fun and not nearly as hard as some people make it out to be so far. There are massive difficulty spikes though. Why is it that I can kill a hydra in a couple of minutes, but a damn wolf can kill me in one hit? It's ridiculous. And the fact that you can't fast travel is another thing bound to piss me off sooner or later.

[Shadowman]

Something bugs me about Dragon's Dogma. An open world fantasy game about killing dragons? That sounds awfully familiar...

Fallout 3:
BEATEN! Got my hands on a GECK, but then got taken captive by the Enclave. Convinced Robot President Malcolm McDowell to kill himself and blow up the Enclave base with him. (Robots are really easy to drive to suicide) Went back to the Citadel and teamed up with Liberty Prime, who lit the Enclave's Darkest Hour not with the Matrix of Leadership, but in the warm glow of tactical nuclear missiles. Fought my way back to the main area of Project Purity, and, like Liam Neeson Dad, went all Wrath of Khan to get the Project back up and running and not to blow up everyone in the entire DC Wasteland, obviously dying in the process.

Good thing I have Broken Steel, huh?

I survived, stick that in your cloak and smoke it, Grim Reaper!

Defended all that hard work, mom, Liam Neeson Dad, and myself for two weeks died for. Stopped a crazy cult from taking Megaton's shipments of purified water and irradiating it; a group of raiders from stealing it to resell; and exposed a ghoul who was selling still-irradiated water as an improved version of the Project Purity brew.

...I still prefer New Vegas...

[The Happy Locust]

Hmm... I preferred F3 to NV, but maybe that's just because I played it first. NV added a lot of game mechanics I either didn't understand or didn't care about.

Sonic colors
GAME.OVER.
freed the wisps and defeated Eggman by sending him through a vortex in space.
Overall, a decent game and I had some honest fun with it. I can see where they made improvements in Generations, however.

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Still a member of the thieves guild. After botching a hive-burning mission due to the intervention of a fire-breathing dragon, was given another chance. Poisoned a Meadery so that a friendly (to the guild) ally could take it over. Then tailed an Argonian to a smuggler's den and got him to tell me about the mastermind to our enemy's plan.
Outside of this, ran into an Orc stronghold under seige. At Malacath's behest, assisted their leader in a mission, but he tried to betray me. Malacath knew of his trickery and rewarded me for handling the mission myself by giving me a Daedric hammer.

[Shadowman]

Hmm... I preferred F3 to NV, but maybe that's just because I played it first. NV added a lot of game mechanics I either didn't understand or didn't care about.

I played FO3 first as well, but I didn't get into it until after I played New Vegas. See, for me, it's that the Mojave just feels way more civilized than the almost anarchistic Capitol. Companion kills still gave experience so I never had to compete with them. And speaking of, Companions were given way more personality, even their own storylines, so they were more like actual characters, instead of being just those NPCs who carry my stuff and shoot at enemies for me. I will be honest, though, I much prefer FO3's ending to New Vegas'.

[The Happy Locust]

Hmm... I preferred F3 to NV, but maybe that's just because I played it first. NV added a lot of game mechanics I either didn't understand or didn't care about.

I played FO3 first as well, but I didn't get into it until after I played New Vegas. See, for me, it's that the Mojave just feels way more civilized than the almost anarchistic Capitol. Companion kills still gave experience so I never had to compete with them. And speaking of, Companions were given way more personality, even their own storylines, so they were more like actual characters, instead of being just those NPCs who carry my stuff and shoot at enemies for me. I will be honest, though, I much prefer FO3's ending to New Vegas'.

What's funny is that in terms of story, NV is actually the real Fallout 3, as it follows in the same region and factions as those established in F1 and F2 (the NCR being the most notable).

I rarely had companions. I had Fawkes with me in my good guy run, but generally avoided them otherwise. Even in Skyrim, I prefer the solo route since my companions tend to get in my way or give away my positions.

I also felt the anarchistic feel to be preferable. The capital was unorganized and wild and it was your job to bring order. The mojave feels more like you are getting dropped into someone else's battle

[1337W422102]

After playing the demo, my impression of Dragon's Dogma is that it's another of Capcom's attempts to try to sell Monster Hunter to the west. The change of setting is nice, as are the presence of plot and characters, but it just feels... off to me. Combat is still clunky and full of hope-you're-flailing-in-the-right-direction and wait-for-the-animation-to-finish. Not as ridiculously outdated as Monster Hunter, but still doesn't feel solid enough.

Rift [PC]:
Got a free copy and a month's subscription. I knew nothing about this game going in other than the fact that its realisticly-delicious mascot chick was featured in the Steam Summer Sale drawings last year.

Made a new character, called her "Kerensky" because BattleTech, and it turns out she's been resurrected to fight evil. So yeah. Kerensky HAS returned.

Reached Level 2 as a healing Guardian cleric, I think. Combat is mind-numbingly boring, though.

Drift City [PC]:
Did some of the purple-icon side missions in the second city. I like how they provide backstory to the main narrative. Got to the one where I'm supposed to do some ball-busting time trial for one of the rebels. Screw that.

Story-wise, I've reached the third city. Level 36, I think.

Bionic Commando Rearmed [PC]:
Finished it, love it, took some videos. Best remake I've seen. And I unlocked the '80s Rad costume and Prototype Weapon for the Bionic Commando sequel.

Halo 3 Mythic [360]:
Figured I'd pop in that second disc from ODST. Reached rank of Private.

[Shadowman]

What's funny is that in terms of story, NV is actually the real Fallout 3, as it follows in the same region and factions as those established in F1 and F2 (the NCR being the most notable).

Well, NV is made by Obsidian which is the remains of Black Isles Studios, which made Fallout 2. And while NV has the same setting (Well, close to it, slightly to the East) FO3 has the same antagonists, the Enclave.

I rarely had companions. I had Fawkes with me in my good guy run, but generally avoided them otherwise. Even in Skyrim, I prefer the solo route since my companions tend to get in my way or give away my positions.

I much preferred the more direct route; if I couldn't talk an opponent down, they were going down in a hail of gunfire. Companions always help with that.

I also felt the anarchistic feel to be preferable. The capital was unorganized and wild and it was your job to bring order. The mojave feels more like you are getting dropped into someone else's battle

But that's what I liked about it, it wasn't my war, and yet I was still the victor. It wasn't about installing power, it was about tipping the balance and picking who gets to leave and who gets to stay. basically, i get to pick who gets a shiny new piece in one gigantic stalemate.

Batman: Arkham City:
I do not own this game. I did, however, get my hands on a PC demo, and learned, much to my surprise (And I'm sure the game was a bit surprised at this as well) that I can run it perfectly fine, despite my computer being well below the minimum requirements.

I know what I'm getting...

[The Happy Locust]

What's funny is that in terms of story, NV is actually the real Fallout 3, as it follows in the same region and factions as those established in F1 and F2 (the NCR being the most notable).

Well, NV is made by Obsidian which is the remains of Black Isles Studios, which made Fallout 2. And while NV has the same setting (Well, close to it, slightly to the East) FO3 has the same antagonists, the Enclave.

I rarely had companions. I had Fawkes with me in my good guy run, but generally avoided them otherwise. Even in Skyrim, I prefer the solo route since my companions tend to get in my way or give away my positions.

I much preferred the more direct route; if I couldn't talk an opponent down, they were going down in a hail of gunfire. Companions always help with that.

I also felt the anarchistic feel to be preferable. The capital was unorganized and wild and it was your job to bring order. The mojave feels more like you are getting dropped into someone else's battle

But that's what I liked about it, it wasn't my war, and yet I was still the victor. It wasn't about installing power, it was about tipping the balance and picking who gets to leave and who gets to stay. basically, i get to pick who gets a shiny new piece in one gigantic stalemate.

Heh, sign of a good game that we can both love these but have such differing opinions. I still remember a conversation with a coworker over GTA 4 vs GTASA. I preferred SA, he preferred 4. Our reasons why were the exact same.

[Shadowman]

Fallout 3:
Just for fun, decided to do Mothership Zeta. Turns out, it's actually really fun. Turns out, with a high enough Energy Weapons stat, Alien weapons can kill most enemies in one shot. A higher leveled Ghoul variant I was having trouble with? Dead in two rounds. I walked away with my own spaceship, some swank new weapons, and enough ammo to kill everything, ever.

Also I got an extreme disdain for the Aliens. I mean, in New Vegas, I felt kind of bad killing those three aliens just for their cool gun, but now, I think I may have been too nice...

[1337W422102]

Hhhngnhgngh, Fall of Cybertron PC version announcement...

Rift [PC]:
Wasn't having fun with my healing cleric chick, so I rolled up a new character: a kinky redheaded human warrior whose new greaves give her a tiny skirt, and that stretching idle anim of hers--

Forget it. Got her to level 6, I think. Finished the quests up to the one where the dude wants me to ride a horse into the distance and kill a king. I get the feeling this won't be easy.

Halo 3: ODST [360]:
Finished the train station obligatory-vehicle-level. Cruising the city streets in a Ghost I found parked outside, which makes exploring so much easier, and combat much more fun.

Working on collecting the recordings. I'm only missing ten of them and I've searched half the city already. I know the last one's in the final mission, so that means I only have 9 left to find. Lemme at 'em.

Halo Waypoint:
Reached a Career level of 14 in the metagame. None of the Reach unlockables appeal to me other than chest armour I need to be level 30 to equip. Not sure if I give a damn enough to try to "level" in the metagame, but I figure it might be fun for a while.

[The Happy Locust]

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Spent most of today just on this game. Here's the play-by-play.
Took down 3 more dragons, explored a ruin to help a greedy lady get some treasure. Her greed ran her right into a deathtrap. Oh well, word wall. Collected a drum for a bard and returned it. Ran some more minor quests for the thieves.Returned the white phial to the alchemist in Windhelm.
For the Thieves' guild, learned the truth about the former guild master and that the current one was a thief.... well, moreso. He bolted with our money. To try and find him, had to sneak into his house but this meant either killing or buying off his houseguard. Went with option 3. Found a way to relieve him of a huge debt by locating an item he lost. He gladly left and gave me the key to the house. I still went in the back way by unlocking a ramp with a piece of salmon (go Telekinesis!) Found his plans and escaped with no one killed.
Finally, took the lexicon to a Dwarven ruin at the behest of a disturbed argonian. Made it to the bottom and returned it. My reward was a bonus that makes my dwarven armor work better. Too bad I don't use it.

My misc quests page is now less than a page long, so I think I'm finally seeing an end to this game. Most of my remaining quests are either story based, or will be based around the Thieve's and brotherhood missions.

On a side note, went game pricing and found Saints row 3 downloadable for $17 on Amazon. Went for it. Not sure why it was so cheap considering the packaged copy was still selling for $50.

[BeastProwl]

Finally got a new controller. And it's SO PRETTY!
Burnout Paradise
I had everything in this game, but since the wipout, Iv'e had to restart. I got all my DLC back, but only recently started playing again (Since the last controller had buttons instead of bumpers, it felt so wrong) I rule all the roads on Big Surf Island. Toy Nighthawk FTW! I have all the other toys too, but those are so much easier to get. Now all that's left is that one car you unlock after doing all the challenges...In multiplayer...PAIN...

[1337W422102]

I've had a hankerin' for some Burnout, myself, now that you mention it...

Halo 3: ODST [360]:
Finished my first playthrough. A welcome change to the Halo formula. I didn't find the characters particularly well-developed, but there was some good dialogue and some fun interactions. And the best soundtrack of the franchise. Unf, dat mood-setting overworld jazz...

Started another playthrough; on my way to Dare's pod. Also, about the characters... I get that they wanted to make the Rookie silent, but seriously? They couldn't have given him a few lines were important? Oh sure, he can whistle at an alien, but he can't verbally acknowledge his superiors? A simple "On my way, ma'am" when he picked up Dare's signal would have been nice. You know, so she wouldn't think, "no response, they're all dead, I'm on my own," etc.

Halo Waypoint:
Career milestone of 18. Only 10 points away from the next level... Haven't unlocked any of the 7 pieces of Reach gear, yet.

[Shadowman]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
I've been playing this for a while, as my sexy redhead Nord warrior goddess, (I named her Freya, because she is sex) but I switched back to my original man-Nord, since I want to get as much done as I can with him before Dawnguard drops.

I went in, planning to finish up the College of Winterhold. Five hours of hard questing later, I didn't even touch it. Finished up the Thieves Guild, though, even though I planned on not doing that until my Lockpick hit 100. (So I could get the unbreakable lockpick perk, and wouldn't need the Skeleton Key anymore) Cleared a cabal of Vampires trying to conquer Morthal, where I became Thane for my troubles. Cleared out the Tamrielic equivalent of a meth house, then bought a house for Riften Thaneship. Returned some craaaaaaazy cube to a Dwarven ruin, apparently I'm way cooler if I wear dwarven armor now, but then I look way cooler in Dragon Plate Armor so whatever. Trying to get Thaneship in Falkreath now.

[The Happy Locust]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Working through the rest of my quests. Spent so much time on this that I'm having trouble remembering everything I did. Here's the high-points though.
Thieves' guild: I became a Nightingale, tracked down our traitor, earned a treasure, and then returned a daedric relic to Nocturnal's altar.
Storywise: Finally met up with Delphine in Riverwood. Crashed a Thalmor get-together (ain't no party like a Thalmor Party, Hey-OOOO!). Freed a tortured prisoner and got the info I needed, but found it was all for naught as the Thalmor were just as clueless as the rest of us.
Otherwise: More traveling and exploring. Freed farkas of his werewolf curse. ran the first special mission for the Thieve's guild and now the ragged flagon has a Fletcher. Exploring Windhelm. I plan to start the brotherhood missions now that I'm finished with the Thieve's stuff, save for Delvin's special missions.
Killed more dragons. Leveling and missions worked against me though as I ended up fighting THREE dragons at once. Don't believe me, look at this.

[Shadowman]

Thieves' guild: I became a Nightingale, tracked down our traitor, earned a treasure, and then returned a daedric relic to Nocturnal's altar.

I have a save right at the point where you talk to Nocturnal, because let's be honest here, she is one unf-worthy Daedric Prince.

Killed more dragons. Leveling and missions worked against me though as I ended up fighting THREE dragons at once. Don't believe me, look at this.

Multiple dragons is an uncommon sight, but not based on leveling. Dragons become stronger with higher levels, not necessarily more numerous. That said, taking down three at once is worthy of a fist-bump. Also be sure to turn their bones and scales into some sweet armor. (Daedric is better if you're into heavy armor, but Dragon Scale is the way to go for light armor)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
As my unf-Nord Freya, nabbed me an Elder Scroll, then picked up blood samples of the five Elf varieties currently residing in Skyrim. Got the Oghma Infinium from Hermaeus Mora for my troubles.

And then, since I already beat the majority of the game on my main character, I did this thing. Long story short, Freya is now level 81, the cap, with all maxed out stats.

You'd think this is a cheat, and it sort of it, but it comes at a price. I have no room for progression, and I have no Perk points left. And enemies are much, much stronger; imagine, if you will, an entire army of Drauger Deathlords, who have all spent a lot of time getting really good with Fus Ro Dah, and are all equipped with Ebony weapons. (Which is right below Daedric equipment in terms of how painful it is to get hit by)

Finished the main quest, now working on the Dark Brotherhood.

[1337W422102]

Section 8: Prejudice [PC]:
Don't let the fact that this is some unheard-of downloadable title mislead you. This game is fantastic, and really, I find it feels more Tribes than Tribes: Ascend. The campaign is rather campy but it takes you through some great environments and the multiplayer is stellar.

Reached Level 29 in multiplayer and got the Banana Stand achievement when I bought all the deployables, earning me some EMP 'nades. Working on the Swarmaholic one because I'm halfway there, looking forward to the reward, and I dig that game mode.

Finished the campaign on normal. Considering playing it again on hard.

[The Happy Locust]

Thieves' guild: I became a Nightingale, tracked down our traitor, earned a treasure, and then returned a daedric relic to Nocturnal's altar.

I have a save right at the point where you talk to Nocturnal, because let's be honest here, she is one unf-worthy Daedric Prince.

Killed more dragons. Leveling and missions worked against me though as I ended up fighting THREE dragons at once. Don't believe me, look at this.

Multiple dragons is an uncommon sight, but not based on leveling. Dragons become stronger with higher levels, not necessarily more numerous. That said, taking down three at once is worthy of a fist-bump. Also be sure to turn their bones and scales into some sweet armor. (Daedric is better if you're into heavy armor, but Dragon Scale is the way to go for light armor)

It's called the Printscreen key. Learn it and love it.
I have no used for the dragon scales. I made the full dragon-scale and dragon plate sets ages ago. I've put them into storage since I finished my Companions and warrior leveling in favor of my thief/assassin missions. I like to play the missions as intended. Warrior for companions, magic for the mage missions, thief armor for the thieve's guild. That, and the Nightingale armor is surprisingly good for a light armor set.

[1337W422102]

>he still uses printscreen for screen captures
>reactionimage.jpeg
>implying implications

[Shadowman]

It's called the Printscreen key. Learn it and love it.

...I bought the console version because I didn't think my computer could run Skyrim. Turns out it probably can, but I've already committed myself to the PS3 version. It has it's perks as well, I don't have to mess around with the graphics just to get the frame rate to a semi-acceptable level on my crappy PC, for instance.

That, and the Nightingale armor is surprisingly good for a light armor set.

Amazing light armor stats-wise, and also it makes you look like medieval Batman. That is the best bonus of all.

[BeastProwl]

So, I got an odd job. $40.00 pay flat out just for hauling some dirt and grass. My mom said she'd spot me the extra $20.00 if I wanted to shell out for a brand new/semi new game. What game should I get? (PS3)
I really want to get Skyrim, but there are a few others tempting me at the moment. What to do?

[1337W422102]

So, I got an odd job. $40.00 pay flat out just for hauling some dirt and grass. My mom said she'd spot me the extra $20.00 if I wanted to shell out for a brand new/semi new game. What game should I get? (PS3)
I really want to get Skyrim, but there are a few others tempting me at the moment. What to do?

What you do is wait until the Steam Summer Sale and get stuff for prices they're actually worth.

The Ultimate DOOM [PC]:
Finished Episode 4. Next stop: HELL ON EARTH, with even more RIPPING AND TEARING

Diablo [PC]:
Been feeling nostalgic due to Diablo III (speaking of which, it's been about a month since launch; where the hell is my EnchantressxLeah R34? You disappoint me, internet.), so I reinstalled this beast. Made a Warrior, and named him Taggart. Who better to slay seas of demons than the goddamn DOOM Space Marine?

Got to Level 5 of the Labyrinth, finished the Poisoned Water Supply, Butcher, and Valor quests while working on Garbad the Weak. Then it happened.

It installed and ran fine on Win7. No artifacting, audio was fine, cutscenes played, everything. But when I got to the fifth floor, I could not use stairs or a Town Portal, as it would result in an "unable to load save" error. Basically, I can't go back to down.

So I installed VirtualBox, made a virtual WinXP installation, and installed Diablo in the virtualization. Started a new game with the same character. We'll see what happens.

[BeastProwl]

PS3. And from what I hear, Skyrim is more than worth it.

[Shadowman]

Star Trek Online:
Captain's Log. Stardate...uh...June 15th...point five.

Running missions, almost...as slowly as...Kirk talks. I need to gain a level to do the next story mission but at this point, I'm not getting nearly enough experience per mission to do so. So I have to go and do side missions which are either really tedious, or have a 20 hour wait until you can play them again. Or both.

Level 26, in the middle of the Romulan storyline. Captain of the USS Vode An. (Because I am a smartass)

FEAR 3:
...Goddamnit.

It was on sale for $8, so I went for it. I thought I knew what I was getting going in, hoping to be surprised. Lo and behold, I was surprised...it was worse. Cover based shooting is the only way to survive, no more of that slow-mo running and gunning I loved in the other games. Health is gone, replaced with the whole "bloody screen edges that fade if you avoid damage" FPS games are using. And you can't take a whole lot of punishment, hence the cover.

Alma is all but absent from the game. She's driving the plot, while staying entirely out of it, and when she does show up, she doesn't do anything. And when she does, it's either to just kind of stare at you, or to cower in feat of the de facto villain, the Creep, who manages to be not-scary in the slightest. The ending, dear God, manages to makes the ending of Mass Effect 3 like a masterpiece; it manages to end to story in a completely unsatisfactory way. In Point Man's ending, she just dies. No fighting, no screaming, she just dies. oh, and her child with Beckett, who they built up to be the Antichrist? Appears in the last five seconds and doesn't do anything.

Goddamnit.

On the flip side, being Fettel is amazing! You can possess guys, which completely resets your health, and resets it again when the body dies. You can lift guys up, then make them explode, telepathically throw explosives around. It's just amazing. No, you cannot eat people. Except Fettel eats Alma in his ending, GODDAMNIT MORE!