Currently playing...

[funkstar]

I played through Hexcells: Plus, which was exactly what it says on the tin: more Hexcelly goodness. I've also discovered that that I don't like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon very much, which is probably an indication that I shouldn't play the other Far Cry games, I guess.

I've also been playing a bit more of Thomas Was Alone, too, after a long hiatus. I reckon I'm getting fairly close to the end, and, yes, it's lovely and charming and all that. But I can also see that the last few years have really put pressure on the puzzle platformer genre: it strikes me now a just "ok."

Spec Ops: The Line also keeps pulling me back, although I haven't had an extended play session for a while. Bleak and bleaker in Dubai...

[Mat]

The recent Diablo3 2.1.2 patch has got its hooks DEEP into me.
I'm even toying with the idea of playing a hardcore or seasonal character (or indeed, hardcore-seasonal!).
Only problem is, what I really like at the moment is the Adventure mode gameplay at level 70 (love me some Rifts); the campaign and character levels / gear before 70 are intensely boring for me now.

Here's my profile, and as you can probably tell, my Demon Hunter's my most used character, although I am very fond of my Monk.

The changes to the Demon Hunter in the patch make it much more fun to play now, and I'm now wiping the floor with anything Torment 6 can chuck at me

[Mark]

I played through Hexcells: Plus, which was exactly what it says on the tin: more Hexcelly goodness. I've also discovered that that I don't like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon very much, which is probably an indication that I shouldn't play the other Far Cry games, I guess.

Hexcells is great. I played the original and the last version - Infinite, which procedurally generates puzzles. The designed puzzles it comes with are great, but I rather like the procedurally generated ones too - they feel less like I'm jumping through a designer's carefully-placed hoops.

As to Far Cry I wanted to like Blood Dragon, but didn't get on with it - not sure why. I absolutely loved Far Cry 3 though for the most part, so don't let Blood Dragon put you off.

The story missions are something you're kind of obliged to go through to an extent to unlock stuff, and it would be a better game if they weren't there, but alongside that you get a whole island to dick around on, and a load of tools that make that lots of fun to do (it keeps it quiet, but the stealth option is actually pretty strong and a fun approach to take, but then all guns blazing works a treat too).

The "dicking-around-on-a-map-whilst-having-a-regrettable-story-to-trawl-through" aspect reminded me very much of Just Cause 2, just with a different toolset, and JC2 is one of my most played games of the past few years. Actually I don't recall the story missions being too bad in FC3, it's just there's so much fun to be had elsewhere that they feel like doing your homework when you want to be playing in the park.

[venusian]

I played through Hexcells: Plus, which was exactly what it says on the tin: more Hexcelly goodness.

I've just got a Windows 8.1 tablet to replace an Android thing so I'm keeping an eye out for interesting puzzle games. Hexcells looks nice but: "Minimum Requirements: 2.0Ghz CPU , 1.5Gb RAM , Graphics card with SM 2.0+". Does it have a hidden VR mode or something? The trailer looks like it should run on an Amiga pretty well.

[Chontler]

I'm 3 hours in on Far Cry 4 on ps3 and it's brilliant. The wildlife is ferocious, you have to fend off attacks on the towers which are more complex. Stealth missions on outposts were my favourite part of fc3 and sending in a ferocious elephant to do the dirty work is sublime. I was concerned that the mountainous landscape might make it less fluid but the nailed that well - the climbing and abseiling actually feel very natural. It's on sale in the ps store at the mo for £25

[funkstar]

I played through Hexcells: Plus, which was exactly what it says on the tin: more Hexcelly goodness.

I've just got a Windows 8.1 tablet to replace an Android thing so I'm keeping an eye out for interesting puzzle games. Hexcells looks nice but: "Minimum Requirements: 2.0Ghz CPU , 1.5Gb RAM , Graphics card with SM 2.0+". Does it have a hidden VR mode or something? The trailer looks like it should run on an Amiga pretty well.

Er... yeah, can't really understand the requirements, there. There's certainly nothing that should be computationally intensive about the game.

I took a stroll through Stranded. Lovely ambience, and best described as a sort of "Lucasarts Proteus," although cannot see myself revisiting it (unlike Proteus.) Looking forward to Murder, from the same developer.

[noodles]

Been playing a lot of Battlefield Academy 2 - Eastern Front lately. Pretty decent Steel Panthers remake in 3D. The square tiling system and the interface are not the best choices but are passable. Difficulty is not as insanely frustrating and unfair as Panzer General and, with a respectable AI, does a good job of recreating tactical combined arms combat during WWII. A bit expensive at 37 E, probably should be more in the region of 20-25 E. Haven't tried multiplayer yet. No demo of course since this is Matrix Games/Slitherine and they like maintaining the suspense as to the quality of their productions.

[funkstar]

Yay, I completed A Shadow's Tale! I hadn't gone back to this since the summer, as I got tired of backtracking through 55 levels only to discover a new set of levels underground. Turns out that it wasn't nearly as bad as I might have thought, as I was only a few hours from the end; however, it overstayed its welcome with a large number of filler levels, and was way too long to get off the ground. This is a shame, since many of the more inventive level arrive at the very end. (Also, I was especially annoyed that there were at least three false endings.)

Still, worth picking up on the cheap, if you can find it. Pro tip: play on easy: the only thing this does is make the combat manageable, the platforming stays the same. And the combat is filler, here.

Now, back to Spec Ops: The Line.

[venusian]

Been playing a bit of Tengami. Looks pretty but very little gameplay so far. Much time spent walking back and forth between switch and effect. Need a second game to play whilst character is trudging.

[Zoot]

The original Mass Effect on 360 (late to the party). Loving it.

[Chirpychicken]

I'm completely and utterly into Destiny at the minute - I love the solo missions, the PVP crucible mode and especially the co-op with my friends.

The grind can be a bit off putting and I'm finding it slow levelling from 30 to 31 but got a random drop of a legendary rocket launcher and a fantastic blue hand cannon yesterday.

A quick tip for crucible - hand cannons and shotguns are extremely effective.

I have so many unplayed games but can't bring myself to load anything else at the minute - my pile of unplayed shame includes GTA 5, COD AWF, Diablo 3 and Dragon Age Inq

If anyone wants some destiny co-op / PVP then my PSN is ram-deej

[funkstar]

Now, back to Spec Ops: The Line.

Well, that was quick. And great. As I mentioned before, the degeneration of the unit is very well executed. I think I'll re-read "Killing is Harmless", now that I've actually played the game.

I'm trying hard to like The Walking Dead, but I have to admit that I'm not really feeling it. It just feels like my actions and choices are inconsequential, and that too often I'll make a choice with a specific intention, and the game will subvert it.

In my quite likely doomed quest to play all my Wii/GC games before 2020, I've also taken on Dead Space: Extraction. The mindless on-rails shooting (which really is quite well done) is, not quite surprisingly, a lot less horrific than Spec Ops.

[MattyP]

Just downloaded The Vanishing of Ethan Carter from Steam last night (currently in a sale until tomorrow for £7.49).

Had my eye on it for a while. Have to say very impressed lovely presentation and the game this far feels very much like Myst (or Dear Esther) - the isolation aspects but with superb environmental graphics and effects.

Well worth checking out if you like graphic adventure type games especially at the price it is currently at.

[rowan]

I'm completely and utterly into Destiny at the minute - I love the solo missions, the PVP crucible mode and especially the co-op with my friends.

The grind can be a bit off putting and I'm finding it slow levelling from 30 to 31 but got a random drop of a legendary rocket launcher and a fantastic blue hand cannon yesterday.
<snip>
If anyone wants some destiny co-op / PVP then my PSN is ram-deej

Ahh bollocks, seemingly the only other likeminded person here but I'm on 360..

I must admit the grind of getting legendary stuff upgraded is unbelievable.
And it's taken me literally weeks to get my first exotic weapon from an exotic bounty, a fusion rifle, only to find it sucks compared to the legendary fusion rifle I've already got!
And then, I finally upgraded a super expensive exotic weapon I bought with an expensive exotic shard only to find it's basically reset the entire progress tree [I think it's raised all the stat bars of it though.]

So yeah, grind-tasticles. However I'm still enjoying it for whatever reason. I'm only playing at weekends now - after all week off I'm up for an evening or 2 of thrashing it.

[Chirpychicken]

It's a shame the multiplayer for games like this are not cross platform Rowan.

I notice that Xur is selling Icebreaker this weekend - I'm currently 2 coins short but if you have the coins then this is meant to be the best sniper rifle in the game.