The Seeker Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Choices, Choices, Choices. Well, after getting my new gaming system complete with a geforce 4 ti 4400, I have tried out a few of the latest games. I was dissappointed with some thrilled with others, but have narrowed down to three favorites. And they are: Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault I'll start with my least favorite of my top three: SoFII I played all the way through and pretty much had the same feeling the whole way: Something's missing. I mean, the graphics were great and all, but it just didn't feel interesting to me. I mean, some games just click, and some don't. This one, though, held my interest enough to finish, but I'm in no hurry to try again. The levels were pretty easy to solve, objective wise, and the AI was brilliantly tactical. Almost to the point of being too good sometimes, which was another thing that I didn't like all that much. I think the enemy should be smart, but not superhuman. I mean, in those Columbia levels, I would be crawling through the chest high underbrush using a silenced pistol, and the enemy would constantly spot me somehow and lob about a thousand grenades over and boom, I'm dead. Also, the cut scenes were (as with most any game) terrible. So, it did have some flaws, but was good enough to rank a number three on my list. Next for me was JKII: This was my most highly anticipated, closely followed game ever and when it arrived in the mail, I read the manual the whole way through, so I could just jump right in. I got home, installed it, and began playing and was completely blown away. The AI was great, the levels challenging and inspired, and it kept me hooked and saying “wow” as I’d hit the screenshot button when it cut to a slowmo death of a reborn. The only peeves were that the stormtroopers didn’t act like stormtroopers. You know, the way they would jump around, crouching, and ducking and hopping around once the fighting started was just plain non stormie-ish and made the first few levels till you got your lightsaber just plain annoying. But, once I got the saber, the real fun began. Never before had I had so much fun learning the quirks and uses of a new weapon in any game ever. It was just pure fun to use, and coupled with some conveniently bound force powers turned you into a true badass Jedi Knight for the first time in gaming history. So, the stormies acting like decapitated chickens, the end boss being basically no fun to fight, the original JK’s cut scenes, while corny acting, were more immersive and more fun to watch than these in game things, and the fact that it doesn’t really call for you to go back and replay it just to see what you missed, make this game a number two. Finally, we have MoH:AA: This game for me was one of those hidden gems that I never expected to find. The levels were all incredibly designed, the AI was just remarkable, where they were challenging without being impossibly brilliant, the weapons were just too much fun to learn, and the sound effects were amazing. Never before had I heard a game come so close to the actual sounds of war. The weapons each have a distinctive sound and feel where you can never really pick a favorite since at times you just need to sweep an area clean with the Thompson SMG, and others, you rely on stealth as your strongest ally with the high standard silenced pistol. The ally NPCs were great as well. They would be there to help you and virtually never got in your way. And, the enemy AI never targeted you or your allies more than the other, making it seem like you are really part of a team fighting the enemy rather than you versus a thousand bad guys and being helped by these morons who seem like well video game characters. This was the exact opposite of every crappy game you have ever played. And when you finish it, you just want to go back and play it again on a harder difficulty to find what you missed, see how long you can last, change your tactics to something different, and just play the game over again. The general feeling of this game was what I remember feeling while playing the original Jedi Knight and what I expected to feel but didn’t from JKII: That general awe at the scale and enjoyment of it all, and the desire to play it again and again because it was just that much fun. So, all three of these games were great, but Medal of Honor: Allied Assault just tops the list for me. What’s your favorite and why? And I mean, the original no mods installed single player version of the game. Since the enjoyment of Multiplayer is decided by who you play with, which is more often than not, some jerk, this is for SP versions only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit fisto JK Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 JKII because ive never played the others:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old_Ben Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by Kit fisto JK JKII because ive never played the others:D What he said. Though even if I had played the others I'd probably still say JK2 because it's a star wars game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Groovy Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 All three of those games are good, but JKII has lightsabers. Nuff Said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-[MotU]-Lyger|=- Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 i've only played JO so i picked JO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysticSpade Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 JK2 cuz it's the only comp game i have or wanted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackDove Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 jk_114 don't you think this is a little....biased forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old_Ben Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by MysticSpade JK2 cuz it's the only comp game i have or wanted Man Jk2 is the only game you have. I mean it's a great game but there are plenty of other good games out there that can be very enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysticSpade Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 u sound exactly like my cousin just then. i had Bid for Power ( a DBZ mod for quake 3) but i didn't play it anymore so i took off harddrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerfYoda Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Hey go fig jk2 is winning. I found SP JK2 better than the SP SOF2 & MOHAA. SOF2 SP keeps on crashing for me, but the little that I've played seemed your average run and gun game. MOHAA is far better than SOF2 with the amazing omaha beach invasion, but there wasnt really a story to follow. That and the snipers are worse than a rodian on Nar Shadda. JK2 has a followable storyline & you cant beat the melee lightsaber combat. As for MP right now I'm having a ball with SOF2 Infiltration. Its a shame that aside from CTF theres no co-operative team play mode for JK2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throno-Denkai Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Well it is Soldier Of Fortune II because unlike JKII, it is a realistic game with tactics and non-fictional weapons. Not to meantion that the graphics are better!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted August 21, 2002 Author Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by =SSC=Kal-El jk_114 don't you think this is a little....biased forum? Yeah, I know, but up till a bit ago, the original Jedi Knight was my favorite game. I absolutely love star wars games, but not just because they have "Star Wars" written on them. I look for certain qualities in a game I play, and MoH:AA just met and surpassed all those qualities I look for. Mainly how a game makes me feel is what I look for. If it makes me feel content and challenged at the same time, then the graphics could suck for all I care, but if it jsut makes you wish the level would end because you feel you have to finish it because it's star wars, but the gameplay is just okay, then, yeah, I'll kiss the sw game goodbye for a better one. This poll was posted because these three games have been the best i've played in a while, and while JKII is a very good game, it just doesn't beg me to replay it like MoH did and still does. Personal taste, but I just had to see if anyone here actually liked any of the other two games more than the sacred star wars game. I know I did, but still enjoy JKII very much. So, now there's my vote for MoH:AA, one for SOFII, and the rest JKII. Since they are all great games, I can fault no one fo their choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absurd Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Well .. Q3 engine is about as limited as they come these days - it's hard to believe any game maker is actually using it. Have you tried the BF 1942 MP Demo? Makes the Q3 engine look like a joke. Also, try out Comanche 4 if you wanna see the abilities of your setup (especially your GF 4) both MP and SP. Small Video of C4: http://www.nvidia.com/docs/IO/1932/ATT/c4trailer2.wmv (Notice the water, explosions, effects of the rotor). Demo and Nvidia Interview: http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=games_comanche4 A good review of the game: http://www.helosim.com/review_com4.htm It plays like an FPS but you can go vertical - don't think it's a standard flight sim - it's anything but. This is my page on the game - very useful: http://www.geocities.com/c4guide/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Groovy Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Well now if somebody isn't plugging video games.......... Serious Sam has a great Mulitplayer setup, not as good as Jedi Outcast, but pretty cool, despite what the goons may tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 The poll is pretty useless on this forum, but insight and opinions can be valuable ... My ranking of FPS games from the past ~year. 1. Jedi Knight II 2. MoH:AA 3. SoFII 4. Serious Sam 2nd Encounter 5. Return to Castle Wolfenstein Starting from the bottom ... RtCW was a lot of fun for me last Christmas, but all I had been playing was JK, DF and Quake 1&2, and Duke Nukem and games of that general era. So ... hit detection was good, AI was good, graphics were awesome, and so on. The thrill didn't last - don't get me wrong, it is a very good game, and my raw scoring has really put it at #3 and pushed the other two down. But in terms of the 'if I had $50' value ... it is #5. The game is hard, but that is often because enemies can take a full clip before falling. Especially near the end - you can really tell that the same nazis you were popping with a couple of pistol rounds now take either a direct sniper shot to the head or many body rounds. I don't like cheater AI, and I expect a FPS to make me hard to kill, but my enemies even and predictable in their kill-ability (don't read that as easy to kill ... ). Serious Sam was a surprise ... I had heard some good things, and was in the mall picking up a few things (for my 10th wedding anniversary! ) and stopped in EB, looking for something. I thought about Unreal 1 (they had it for $4.99), or Deus Ex (but I hadn't liked the demo much, not enough for the $30 they wanted), same for Half-Life. Serious Sam - $20. So ... I got it, and really liked it. I wasn't expecting anything but a fun shooter - and that is what it delivered, and very well. SoFII ... could easily have been #2 ... it is a very good, yet very flawed, game. It's linearity make MoH's levels seem like ponderous walks in the woods. That is the absolute worst part. That and too much cheater AI, and very unbalanced and uneven performance - this game caused problems on my Dell P4 2.53GHz, with 1GB RAM and a 128MB GF4 Ti4600!!! The ending level was pretty crappy, and seemed like a cop-out, like they couldn't think of anything else or imlpement what they had wanted to do ... Did I mention the levels were linear? Yes, and to the point of making them boring - imagine getting bored while having to use duck & cover & advance techniques against streams of very smart enemies !?!?!?! It really happens - in the jungle and in the shop, in particular ... to a point in the hospital, but not so much. Kamchatka and Hong Kong are better. That brings me to another issue - unlike RtCW and MoHAA, which happen in war zones, and SS2, which, well, is completely make-believe, and JKII, which is Sci-Fi, SoFII is supposed to happen in current day Earth, in actual cities. In a couple of places - notably NYC outside Sam's place, and in the hospital - you see civilians, but those are highly scripted areas with little action. I can understand the ship and possibly the mansion (although wouldn't it have been nice to encounter Vargara's family ), as they shouldn't have any civilians, and understand Kamchatka and even the jungle in that those are remote parts of sparsely populated areas. But what about Hong Kong, with a real-life population density of ~16,000/km2? There are about 4 civilians you see ... there should eb *hundreds* on the streets. It really detracts from the experience. MoH:AA. A very, very good game. I find this game represents much of what is good and bad in current FPS. It is very, very linear in most places (and where is isn't obviously linear, the compass let's you know that it really is), uses extensive 'cheater AI', has many areas of graphical and AI issues, and so on. I didn't like having to drive the tank, sniper alley was the worst example of linear design and cheater AI I've ever played ... but graphics, sounds, environs, and the 'plot' (such as it is ... or isn't) all make it work, and work well. It is a challenging and fun game - yet the challenge comes from your missions, not falsely enhancing enemies HP. And that all brings us to JKII ... I'll say now that JK1 used to be my fave game of all time, with DF not so far back. Now JKII is my favorite game ever. Why? It delivers on just about every desire for improvement I had while playing JK1, and does so in a graphically pleasing manner, with some very good levels and story integration. Is the story perfect? No. Are the levels sometimes linear? Definitely. Cheater AI? Present! I have disagreed with the assessments of the first few levels as boring - but then DF was one of my faves, so I enjoyed those levels, especially as prelude. Nothing, however, compares with getting the saber and Force powers. The balance and power of the Force powers and saber control is excellent - you really get to play a Jedi. It is so much better in that regard than JK1 that I can't even play JK1 anymore (though I can still play DF). I have played the game several times though ... and played some user-created levels, and some MP. This game will be with me for years ... Do I think it is perfect? No. First, no civilians in Nar Shadda or Bespin. This could have been explained away by Lando in a sentence (we cleared Bespin as they took control, and people in Nar Shadda are so scared by the thugs that the once-busy streets are now empty), but wasn't. Also, Kyle, a powerful and respected merc, starts out with a single-shot blaster and no supplies. This could also have been explained away during the cutscene (maybe somethnig like "Something tells me I should have packed more than the Bryar"), but again it wasn't. The cheater AI can be an annoyance at times, as can the inability of enemies to chase you through doors most of the time. The 'bosses' are well placed and integrated, and I find them appropriate. I know many think Dessann was too easy, but it makes sense given the level of power Kyle has attained. It is interesting how much harder (for me, and many others) Fyyar was, but looking at AotC and Obi vs Jango, it does make some sense. So ... I've rambled on interminably ... but in the end these are 5 very good games, none of them perfect, but all of them fun and providing good value. I look forward to new games as they come along ... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kstar__2 Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 now thats a list txa1265! why do i think its logic that JK is going to win? hmmmm, maybe becouse its the JK forum!, yeah, that could be it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pad Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 im an jk2 only player so i think the answer is obvious. mohaa is cool but i never oplayed it cause it didnt work on my pc and i had sof2 but thats not my kind of game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivy Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 JK2 for me. There are lots of games where you just run about with a gun shooting bad guys, but how many games do you get to run about with a lightsaber in a galaxy far far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old_Ben Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by SivyB JK2 for me. There are lots of games where you just run about with a gun shooting bad guys, but how many games do you get to run about with a lightsaber in a galaxy far far away. You right that's what draws people to this game, and shies some away. Is the fact that it's not a gun as your primary weapon but a lightsaber. BTW, what's the picture in you avatar of. All I can see is the face at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agen Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Well jk2 here because i personally find MOHAA way over-rated. Not that its a bad game, it's real good but it didn't live up to my expectations like half life did SOF2 is a bit weak tho it's good. JK2 delivers everything that i wanted and that's why i voted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 On the SoFII front: How many have played the RMG for SP? This morning, I did a quick Assassination in Jungle mode. Not bad - took me about 10 minutes to get to, and destroy, Vargara. It is an interesting feature, in that it provides a nice extension of the normal SP game. Too bad there wasn't something like that for JKII ... just imagine the variables: - Location: various indoor and outdoor places (Yavin swamp, Bespin, Academy, etc) - Force Powers: None, Padawan, Knight, Master level - Weapon: Choose, Merc, Saber, or something like that - Assignment: something like Assassinate, Escape, Capture It would be quite sweet ... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greedo626 Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 WHAT?! no yoda option?! *starts yoda chant* YODA YODA YODA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kstar__2 Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 YODA YODA YODA YODA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklighter Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 JK2...cos it's Star Wars, and the best Star Wars game ever...all those who don't think so can get outa here now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivy Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by Old_Ben BTW, what's the picture in you avatar of. All I can see is the face at the end. It was Neo opening his jacket to reveal lot of guns, but for some reason it doesn't show very well. I changed it now, as you might of noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.