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Brainiacblue

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  1. The version from GOG version works well, and GOG try to keep the games they sell compatible with modern OS. I was having crashes on my disc copy and my Steam copy (got it cheap in a sale, so I thought it was worth it if it worked), but I have not had any issues with my GOG copy. As a general rule, if you are buying old games, avoid Steam because they have no curation and use GOG, which does.
  2. I had high hopes for Knights of the Fallen Empire, SWTOR’s episodic expansion. But it is off to a dodgy start. The first 9 chapters were excellent, they moved quickly, giving us good characters and action in equal measure. Chapters 1-9 did not mess around. Chapter 10, Anarchy in Paradise, which released on 11th February, did mess around. Never have I seen Bioware get so close to the mark and somehow miss it entirely. The chapter takes you back to Zakuul, Emperor Valkorion’s perfect society, in search of a terrorist known as ‘Firebrand’ who, from the promotional artwork, is quite clearly Kaliyo Djanis from the Imperial Agent story. Zakuul’s society is built on robotic labour; the soldiers are (mostly) droids called Skytroopers, which you spend far too much time turning to scrap. It’s thrilling to turn a group of them to dust for the first few times, but when this is the main form of combat for about an hour of gameplay the fun turns into a chore. The arbitrary nature of the combat is my major complaint about Anarchy In Paradise. Too often I find myself wondering why I need to fight the people I’m shooting at. This is not always the case, the Knights of Zakuul make for interesting opponents as their attacks are varied. Sadly, the game is too easy for them to really be a challenge, but if the game were harder I would be singing the Knights my praises. To make matters worse, most of the one hour adventure has you shooting Skytroopers over and over again. Skytroopers are not fun to fight (they have no variation at all), but they attack you in droves to slow you down. That makes some narrative sense, but if we are being cynical, it is clear that this exists to make the chapter artificially longer. There is about 20 minutes of actual story, the rest is shooting Skytroopers. It gets very boring very quickly. That story also misses a major opportunity. Anarchy in Paradise is arguably just another recruitment mission, this time recruiting the not so mysterious Firebrand. However, from the Imperial Agent storyline we know that Kaliyo is an anarchist bent on disrupting the existing order. Throughout the chapter there is a subplot examining how a person like Kaliyo fits into a utopian society which should have taken center stage. Valkorion whispers in your ear, justifying her acts of borderline terrorism as adding ‘thrill’ to society, preventing paradise from growing stale. Because droids are the only things harmed, and because the damage is normally fixed within hours, a few explosions subtract nothing from society but add excitement for Zakuul’s adrenaline junkies. Or so says Valkorion. The chapter should have focused on the validity of Valkorion’s argument rather than forcing it to the side. Thing is, Kaliyo (being an anarchist) is not content to let the established order stand. She notices that your acts of violence, rather than making people excitable, makes them scared. In you she sees her opportunity to tear down the established order. Unfortunately, that turns her from being a public service to a clear-cut terrorist. She plans to blow up a tower full of innocent people, and the game barely acknowledges this. You can talk her out of it, or even go along with it if you really hate Zakuul. But you cannot put a gun to her head and order her to stop, or refuse to take her along. Bioware have failed to account for the player who isn’t about to put up with a terrorist on their team. I’m one of them. But there are highlights. Anarchy in Paradise has very little to offer on its own steam, but it does a lot to set up the next few chapters. Without spoiling anything, I will say that the chapter shows that it will be difficult to keep the alliance you built in Chapter 9 from falling apart, for the first time in Knights of the Fallen Empire your choices have a serious impact on the trajectory of the story. Depending on your choices, **** can hit the fan. It also shows that not all is well in Zakuul contrary to appearances, setting the stage for a climactic confrontation in the near future. Valkorion’s children also get a little bit of much needed character development. I have to say, Vaylin is growing on me. Anarchy in Paradise is a disappointment. It is repetitive, with a boring main story highlighted by the potentially excellent sideshows. Bioware need to stop forcing the best writing to the sidelines and give it the focus it deserves. I want to explore Zakuul’s society, not just blow it up. That said, Chapter 10 sets up intrigue very well and demonstrates that your actions will definitely matter, I just hope that Bioware uses this effectively in chapters to come.
  3. Which bit are you at? Because it really picks up after Act 1, and the story goes down very different paths depending on your choice. My favorite bit was the drugs trip, and working out why that happened.
  4. This. I'd kill that Sith in a heartbeat. Also Quinn, nobody betrays the Wrath and lives, but I'd recruit him on my other characters. Also HK-55, should he become one. He uses the word meatbag. Only HK-47 gets to use that word. It's like Corellians and nerf-herder. Only he gets to use that word. Also Jeasa - useless, she does all this killing Sith Lords and she can't even handle a mob of 3 grunts on the battlefield. She can go. Andronikos - useless Corso Riggs - whiney kid, I need gunslingers not you!
  5. I remember this more than anything else about those very early days. That and completely messing up the build of my Jedi Knight.
  6. An over-reliance on cutscenes would certainly be a bummer, remember it was one of many criticisms leveled at Mass Effect 3. But remember that combat isn't changing, so there's no particular need to show it, not least at a major event when hype is the goal.
  7. This persistent world thing seems to be something BW are angling for a little more these days. Ziost being the indicator, hopefully we'll see a bit more of that in the future. It's be nice to go back to Balmorra though and see what's happening, maybe do a planetary-sidequest style thing in it. But make it persistent. That's what I'd like. Whether that's what they want to do or not, I have no idea.
  8. Basically this. We are possibly about to see the start of this dark age. Or not. I have no idea where they are taking this Fallen Empire.
  9. Here are some thoughts on the most recent expansion to the game: RISHI This is a delightful planet. The areas are well thought out and it has that real feeling of 'this is where the rich pirates hang out'. I liked that we could wonder about and see people going about their everyday lives in a dense urban area that was full of life. Merchants everywhere, boardwalks, two layers of city, it was lovely to just take in. Pirates Cove was my favorite place on Rishi, and I am having difficulty faulting it (feel free to in your reply). The only thing I would mention is the background noise, there simply was not enough of it. I was wondering through a beautiful town of people, with few voices to listen to. My criticisms start simply with some of the textures used outside of Pirates Cove. Many, particularly the trees, look more like they were done in MSPaint than the souped up Hero engine that SWTOR has. I looked at textures like the boardwalks in the cove and thought 'they did a great job here, what went wrong over there?'. The same complaint applies to the rocks, it seems you had a small selection of basic rocks and went 'that will do' and pasted them around - which is frankly rather lazy. Their textures also looked like they were done in paint. Sorry. And turning the colour saturation up to 11 probably didn't help. The environment, despite this, was well designed. You finally took advantage of height so I could sit on a ledge and blast the pirate scum from afar. Thank you. More height variation in future would be greatly appreciated as it lets me feel like I am truly a hero leaping off of great hieghts to impale my enemy with a lightsaber. You also made good use of bridges to subtly seperate areas. I liked that. Overall Rishi, whilst on close inspection is - in places - cringeworthy, is a beautiful world full of life. You did indeed learn the lessons of Makeb. Have a cookie. Yavin Yavin was a little disappointing to me. Most of that is in the textures again, and in really, REALLY obvious places. The grand vista we are treated to as we look out from the coalition landing area features several of the same rock in different sizes pasted over eachother. And you have some serious clipping issues between the ground and some of the structures where the transition from dirt to paving slab is basically a zig zag line of horribleness. The temple areas were fantastic but I dare to say that I did not feel like I was on Yavin IV, that planet with the dense jungle. I felt like I was on Dromund Kaas, that planet with bits of jungle and massive clearings. Probably because some of the trees are re-used and the areas we could go in were devoid of plant life, which really does not help at all. Otherwise Yavin was ok, it did not leave a particularly memorable impression on me and I probably won't be going back there, other that to relive that final fight (well done on that BTW, once you got it working ) Quests The usual fetch and carry that lended itself to the storyline nicely, as we are clearing a path to places. I felt that the odd quest giver from the other faction might help sell the idea that we are a team for the next few hours. Some quests told a story that was more than the dialogue, which I really liked. Look to the hunting quests on Rishi to understand what I mean by this. The streamlining was something I personally welcomed, I could listen to the dialogue if I wanted to, but could skip without hassle if I didn't. I do think a cutscene on the fisrt encounter would be better though. Other than that I have little to say on quests. Storyline I liked it, but you may have your opinions. Opinion away in the replies. The class missions, whilst short, were a case of 'ah, I messed up didn't I' or 'Oh yeah... I did leave you to die' or 'how are you doing - long time no see' which was welcome and I hope that we will see further class storylines in the future as that is the main selling point of the game as an MMO (other than being Star Wars). I am done now - Opinion away!
  10. The hype train is under construction. Wages are 2 credits an hour for Republic, we Imps will just use slaves.
  11. 1. Revan was handled well in terms of lore, quite good for the lore nerds, I loved it. 2. Can I split your stuff with the other guy who wanted it? 3. See you in 4 months when you come crawling back 4. Bye
  12. Yes yes and yes. Just don't make it a minigame, because they will always be puny compared to the SWTOR galaxy. Let me walk around and blast things in certain areas, I'd be delighted.
  13. Does anybody actually know what the respawn time is? The internet is sparse on this information.
  14. This is just a little pain in the neck I've noticed when attempting (attempting being the key word here) to do the weekly on Yavin where you kill the walker. We gathered about 30 people - which we were pleased about - and waited. And waited. And sent people to every instance. And waited. And waited... For an hour and a half before we called it off. Over 7 instances of Yavin IV no boss spawned in the space of an hour and a half on The Red Eclipse server. So could Musco please cast some light as to the following: How does the spawning for this boss work? Why does it work this way? What is the respawn time? (My guild thinks 3-4 hours, others suggest 6, the internet does not know) Can the respawn time be decreased? Answers to all of these would be greatly appreciated for both the band of 30 imps waiting for 90 minutes and the groups of pubs we fought off for the privalige. I would also like you to check out this thread, this boss seems to be having a malfunction: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=783085 Cheers.
  15. Firstly, Revan went off the deep end from 300 years of the Emporer so why join him? Secondly, that would mean EA giving this game money to develop it, so why would it happen?
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