XBLA - The Bear and Badger

Olimite

Zombies.

Original.

GooberTheHat

I'm trying state of decay but keep getting an error message. Anyone else having trouble with it? Also just installed the smart glass app on my nexus. Its pretty smart but not so pretty.

Moto70

I want Plornt to play State of Decay and tell me if it really is better than The Last of Us?

Polygon gave SoD 8.5 and TLoU 7.5

Tempy

Interestingly Polygon don't always attribute review scores to their text. Quite often they'll write a review, and a different person will read it and then give it a score based on the text to stop writers from "writing to a score"

It also means that instead of going OMG 8.5 vs 7.5 Polygon must think TLoU is rubbish linkbait OMG, it'd be better to read both reviews and see what the detractors were in each instance.

Moto70

Tempy wrote:

...it'd be better to read both reviews and see what the detractors were in each instance.

I did, the reviewer of State of Decay clearly likes the idea and the genre and (justifiably so in my book) overlooks its quirks whereas the reviewer of The Last Of Us was clearly shit at it, doesn't like survival horrors and found it too hard.

State Of Decay wrote:

My impulse is to excuse State of Decay's problems in light of everything it does well. By tying so many systems together with tough choices and the constant spectre of death hanging over it, Undead Labs has created something singular. Small complaints notwithstanding, State of Decay is one of the most cohesive, terrifying and engaging open-world games I've ever played.

The Last Of Us wrote:

There are hints of a nuanced message in The Last of Us, but convention wins out too often to easily find them. Naughty Dog commits to a somber tone that affects every piece of the game for better and worse. It achieves incredible emotional high points about as often as it bumps up against tired scenario design that doesn't fit its world. Survival in the post-apocalypse requires compromise, but The Last of Us has given up something vital.

On another note, does anybody know if I can transfer points in Family Gold online or does it have to be done from the console?

GooberTheHat

How long does state of decay take to load up? Mines been on the load screen for about five minutes now. If it wasn't for the nice sunset I would think I was using my old spectrum again.

Tempy

The Last Of Us wrote:

There are hints of a nuanced message in The Last of Us, but convention wins out too often to easily find them. Naughty Dog commits to a somber tone that affects every piece of the game for better and worse. It achieves incredible emotional high points about as often as it bumps up against tired scenario design that doesn't fit its world. Survival in the post-apocalypse requires compromise, but The Last of Us has given up something vital.

That sounds entirely thematic rather than him being shit at it, he's arguing that the game's tone is ruined by set pieces and scenarios that are too tried and tested to be interesting.

That said in the end it'sonly opinions, and for the game the only score that matters is what you give it after you play it. I only argue the point cos I'm supposed to be writing about Othello and ain't no one got time for that.

Moto70

That was the closing summary of each game not the meat of the review.

The Last Of Us wrote:

More notable problems with The Last of Us manifest as it leans more on the traditional trappings of third-person shooters — fights against waves of enemies or arenas full of waist-high cover where your only recourse is to kill everyone in your way. These sequences sit at odds with the rest of the game. Joel can't take much damage from enemies, which isn't such a big deal when you're sneaking past them without incident. But at increasingly frequent points in the narrative, I had to buckle down and deal with the messy gunplay and repeated checkpoint restarts.

Combat against the zombie-esque infected is especially frustrating. Not only are they faster, more aggressive and more unpredictable than human enemies, but multiple types of infected have an instant, one-hit kill if they get in melee range.

Did I mention that Joel isn't terribly good with guns? Naughty Dog has given Joel's aim a semi-realistic shakiness which, when mixed with the erratic movement of the infected, makes keeping enemies at bay a serious — and not terribly entertaining — challenge. Eventual upgrades allow Joel to hold his aim slightly better, but the annoyance never disappeared.

Tempy

Ah yes, I remember those points trotted out on twitter. I'll be interested to play The Last of Us eventually cos I'm not sure games can yet handle the whole "hinder controls to display character traits" thing so well just yet, but still it's his opinion and he's entitled to it. I'm going out of my way to borrow a friend's PS3 and rent the game next week, so I'm looking forward to it.

Er, back on about XBLA stuff I guess.

Moto70

Tempy wrote:

Ah yes, I remember those points trotted out on twitter. I'll be interested to play The Last of Us eventually cos I'm not sure games can yet handle the whole "hinder controls to display character traits" thing so well just yet, but still it's his opinion and he's entitled to it. I'm going out of my way to borrow a friend's PS3 and rent the game next week, so I'm looking forward to it. Er, back on about XBLA stuff I guess.

I can't wait to hear other people's view on it, almost as much as I can't wait to play it myself.

Yes, like you say, back to XBLA and I've just given my lad 1600ms points so he can grab State of Decay, I'll have a look later on when he's playing it.

MattyJ

Not the right thread but that review of TLoU sounds fine and fair criticisms, not that the reviewer wasn't much cop to me.

Mod74

Moto70 wrote:

On another note, does anybody know if I can transfer points in Family Gold online or does it have to be done from the console?

You can do it online

https://live.xbox.com/en-GB/familycenter

Hover over the person then Grant Allowance.

Moto70

Mod74 wrote:

Moto70 wrote:

On another note, does anybody know if I can transfer points in Family Gold online or does it have to be done from the console?

You can do it online https://live.xbox.com/en-GB/familycenter Hover over the person then Grant Allowance.

Ah cheers, I ended up doing it through the console and my lad has just spent a few hours playing State of Decay. I watched some of it and I'm not going to bother with it, I am at an impasse with games at the mo.

Paul the sparky

State of Decay is excellent despite the occasional janky stuff (no ammo in the gun shop WTF?). It's actually a bit too intense, I can only play it in small bursts as I'm constantly on edge while playing it.

Tonight I had to make a supply run to the vets for some medicine. I decided to take a car for a change, but inevitably came to regret my decision when I alerted a roaming horde of zeds. I ditched the car and made a dash for the vets in an attempt to find a hiding place, but I'll be fucked if it wasn't crawling with zeds.

The horde had got to where I parked the car by this point, so I my only option is to head off up the street, alerting more zombies and having to waste my stamina sprinting past the fuckers. I spot an abandoned car ahead and it looks like my luck has changed as it's only a Camaro knock off.

I lead the zeds on a bit of a chase away from the vets, spin the car around and blast back through them, smashing the door into a couple to take out as many as possible. I ditch the car right outside the vets, nash round the back and hide from the rest of the bastards. Most of them shuffle straight past, but one of the fuckers either saw me or was still in the back of the vets from my previous brief visit, and he's now battering the door trying to get out. I hide in a bush round the back and he bursts out the door and wanders past me, one stealth kill later and the vets is free for me to pilfer.

Proper nail biting stuff, and that's not even part of the story, just the general shit you have to do to keep your small bunch of survivors going.

Moto70

That sounds good, if it was co-op I'd be in but I haven't got the time to invest in gaming like I used to have. Fuck knows what I'd have done if Skyrim had just been released.

I'm probably going to take the PS3 to the bedroom to get a few hours in with The Last Of Us.

Paul the sparky

Aye, co-op would definitely add something extra to it, the above scenario could actually be a viable tactic. Four guys in the motor, three bail at the target building, the driver leads the majority of zeds away by beeping the horn and flashing the lights and comes back when the other guys have picked the place clean.

Surprised you're not into it Moto, it's the zombie game I've always wanted, but if co-op does make it in an update (how likely is that though?) I guess a lot of people will get on it then.

Mod74

What you describe there sounds a) awesome and b) better without co-op.

Chief

It really does feel like one of those games for brilliant, unscripted events. I already have a few memorable stories from random scavenging runs and whatnot.

GooberTheHat

I want to play but it won't load for me :-(

Chief

Strange. Maybe try clearing your cache?

Paul the sparky

Mod74 wrote:

What you describe there sounds a) awesome and b) better without co-op.

I don't know mate, I'd prefer to have the option. I don't think you'd ruin it for yourself if you played it with a chum or three, adding partners usually ends up being a fun multiplier doesn't it?

GooberTheHat

Chief wrote:

Strange. Maybe try clearing your cache?

You can do that on an Xbox?

Chief

GooberTheHat wrote:

Chief wrote:

Strange. Maybe try clearing your cache?

You can do that on an Xbox?

Yeah. Through the storage part in settings, I think you press Y to get to a menu where you can do it.

Paul the sparky

It's in the memory options on the dash. You might have to delete it and redownload it too. What a fuck about.

GooberTheHat

Hmm, will give it a go. I've had a look on the dev forum and it looks like a few people are having the same problem. Anyone playing it on a 360 elite or are you all on the nice new one?

Paul the sparky

Shiny black one.

Moto70

Paul the sparky wrote:

Mod74 wrote:

What you describe there sounds a) awesome and b) better without co-op.

I don't know mate, I'd prefer to have the option. I don't think you'd ruin it for yourself if you played it with a chum or three, adding partners usually ends up being a fun multiplier doesn't it?

I didn't play Minecraft that much but I know I wouldn't have bothered at all if it was a solo experience. Digging down through your castle floor and finding an underground library and other stuff is actually in my all-time top ten of gaming experiences! Co-op definitely rocks for me!!!

Mod74

There's something about hiding in a bush without someone else there to save your ass that sounds much more tense.

Almost all of that sentence came out wrong.

Chief

GooberTheHat wrote:

Hmm, will give it a go. I've had a look on the dev forum and it looks like a few people are having the same problem. Anyone playing it on a 360 elite or are you all on the nice new one?

I'm on a Halo Reach Slim. Worth trying the cache first, then if that doesn't work, I think Mr the Sparky's option is your only hope, I'm afraid.

I hope it's the easier option!

Moto70

Mod74 wrote:

There's something about hiding in a bush without someone else there to save your ass that sounds much more tense. Almost all of that sentence came out wrong.

That could still happen in co-op in a big enough map, or irl if you so wish!

Howdy, Stranger!

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