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Sober posted:Yeah it's stupid. I won't go into "Well for Sam Fisher..." levels of stupid you would find on the official forums but yeah, dialing back the torture sequences to cutscene torture->get perfectly good intel->lovely token "moral choice" all of the time is ridiculous and is rather telling of the poor quality of writing. That and Sam Fisher didn't really torture anyone except in Conviction when it was more Jack Bauer-personal to him rather than "just another day at the office" important. I only played through Pandora Tomorrow once, but I distinctly remember the scene where he is forced by Lambert as he enters an elevator to kill the female Mossad agent and Sam gets really pissed about it, even equating it to terrorism. In Chaos theory Sam's interrogation sessions are literally comic relief. Imagine that. The use of humor while obtaining information. Even the guy that, in the first CT level is torturing Morgenholt, the dialouge between Sam and that guy is pretty funny and Sam doesn't even like him. Now gently caress that, Sam is Jack Bauer and he'll torture anybody and won't even crack a joke in the process. The storytelling I don't think has ever been anything magnificant, but it's really gone downhill starting with DA and now it's so lovely that they can't bring it back to the way it was without dumping Fisher as a character. Really irritating. But again, it sounds like a fun stealth game, so I'll swallow the stupid  story, the retarded torture scenes, and just play a stealth game.Edit: Included spoilers just in case, although both games are pretty old. I just think there might be some people playing through the old games that don't want some scenese spoiled.
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Aug 19, 2013 16:38
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The thing that gets me about the story at it's most fundamental level is that there's not even a reason for Fourth Echelon to be involved. 4E was supposed to be a division of the government used for extremely sensitive high-stakes espionage. Blacklist is about SuperTerrorists (they're like regular terrorists, except they have unlimited resources and thousands of zealous, highly-trained disciples - in effect, they are comic-book supervillains). Seal Team Six, the NSA, the FBI, the CIA - those are the guys who would be working the Blacklist case. You don't need deniable ops when your target is a public menace that directly threatens American security. If you've ever read spy memoirs they are about a thousand times more interesting than the incoherent plot of this game and are a gold mine for Splinter Cell ideas. But instead we got this awful tripe. Blacklist almost reads like a satire of Tom Clancy fiction. Being against American imperialism is directly conflated with being an awful SuperTerrorist. All the principle characters talk like they're late for work and trying to get out the door. Supporting characters can't even maintain consistent motivations from scene to scene. There's a forced sense of urgency and crisis to everything. It really is spectacularly bad storytelling.
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Aug 19, 2013 17:16
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Also, there's a "Call Sarah" button in the single player mission hub. Between every mission you can call her and get a short little conversation. It's literally the only dialogue that Sam doesn't bark so I kept doing it even though the conversations were not very interesting. I stopped when Sam told Sarah he wouldn't be home for Thanksgiving because he had to "finish the mission". Not going home to be with his daughter...you know, the one he thought was dead and sacrificed his career to avenge. Might be important to spend a little time with her. But nope, we got new bad guys, gotta focus on what's really important. Look man the job requires he pay no attention to her until she is in peril or dead, at which point he then throws the job away and laments how he should have spent more time with her. I don't get what's so hard about this. I'm glad the gameplay sounds solid, and I never thought the SC games were a beacon of great storytelling, but that is pretty sad to hear.
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Aug 19, 2013 17:20
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Any thoughts on the multiplayer? I can hold off for a sale if it's not that great, but I don't want to miss out on it if the community doesn't sick around for long.
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Aug 19, 2013 17:25
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I remember the first game's story being pretty drat dumb. But maybe that was because I was younger and I didn't know what was going on half the time, but I pretty much equated it to, "Mission tells me to kill this guy, so I will do it. I have no reason why."
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Aug 19, 2013 17:42
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Super Dude posted:Any thoughts on the multiplayer? I can hold off for a sale if it's not that great, but I don't want to miss out on it if the community doesn't sick around for long. The multiplayer is very solid. It's different from the old Splinter Cell Spies vs. Mercs in that both sides are terrified of each other, which is a neat trick. The mercs will kill the spies in about 1/4th of a second of gunfire, but if the Spies get above or close to the Mercs undetected, they kill them. It's much more hide-and-seek then the old SvM (which was much more about infiltration and misdirection) but there are some tricks you can use. Oh: Sticky Cams are back, I was totally wrong about them being gone. They can be exploded, instantly killing the Mercs. When this works it's hilarious. Merc Protip: You can still melee and it has priority over the Spy frontal instant kill. If a Spy runs at you, press X and laugh.
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Aug 19, 2013 17:55
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:The thing that gets me about the story at it's most fundamental level is that there's not even a reason for Fourth Echelon to be involved. 4E was supposed to be a division of the government used for extremely sensitive high-stakes espionage. Blacklist is about SuperTerrorists (they're like regular terrorists, except they have unlimited resources and thousands of zealous, highly-trained disciples - in effect, they are comic-book supervillains). Seal Team Six, the NSA, the FBI, the CIA - those are the guys who would be working the Blacklist case. You don't need deniable ops when your target is a public menace that directly threatens American security. it to get him back in it.Would be interesting if they did Rogue 3E/Meggido cleanup as the main story thread in SC7 (kinda like where they were at the beginning of the last season of CW's Nikita) and have it be a much more downplayed thing versus SUPER PUBLIC TERRORIST ATTACK AGENDA. But I think the plots in Splinter Cell have finally been completely beaten and bruised by the Hollywood stick that Ubisoft is chasing.
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Aug 19, 2013 17:56
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Ok, last post for a bit: Despite my bitching about the stupid story, the gameplay is great. It's basically Chaos Theory with a few more gadgets (can't say enough good things about the Tri-Rotor, seriously) and the option to play Stealth Gears of War if you feel like it. And multiplayer remains awesome, if different.
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Aug 19, 2013 18:01
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poo poo. Now I must decide if I want this on PS3 or PC. I am leaning towards PC because I think my PC barely meets the recommended specs. Far Cry 3 was the last game that I think it had trouble with but that game ran fine on low-medium settings.
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Aug 19, 2013 18:09
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blackguy32 posted:poo poo. Now I must decide if I want this on PS3 or PC. I am leaning towards PC because I think my PC barely meets the recommended specs. Far Cry 3 was the last game that I think it had trouble with but that game ran fine on low-medium settings. Doesn't Ubisoft use DRM for their PC games? Or did they stop that? If so the choice is easy. PS3. I'm getting it for PS3, I preordered it off PSN. How does that work? I got the theme so I know the purchase went through. Does it just pop up in your downloads list or what? Also does it show up for preload before midnight? I would hate to spend the first 3 or so hours of the release watching a download bar. Hitman Absolution took me all day to download.
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Aug 19, 2013 19:42
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blackguy32 posted:I remember the first game's story being pretty drat dumb. But maybe that was because I was younger and I didn't know what was going on half the time, but I pretty much equated it to, "Mission tells me to kill this guy, so I will do it. I have no reason why." I think you only had to kill the one guy at the end of the game, actually, and I thought that moment was kind of cool. I remember Lambert being like, "Let me be clear: I want you to kill the Georgian President right now" I mean they all had kind of stupid stories but I think Megaman is pointing out it went from Sam being cynical and suspicious of the government's motives while still working for them to "TEN HUT LET'S GET THOSE TANGOS GO GO GO" etc. And the villains going from slightly ridiculous to comic book supervillain.
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Aug 19, 2013 20:14
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G-Whizard posted:Doesn't Ubisoft use DRM for their PC games? They stopped it and retro-actively removed it from most previous games.
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Aug 19, 2013 20:25
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Let me put it this way: Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow had a moral choice in which you decided whether to trust your handler's instruction and execute a potentially traitorous and murderous Mossad agent who you are working side-by-side with in the field. Blacklist has a moral choice where you choose whether or not to execute an imprisoned inmate after physically torturing him. Edit: If you want in to tomorrow night's Premiere Spies Vs. Mercs on either Xbox or PS3, now is the time to start posting your GamerTag/PSN ID. Megaman's Jockstrap fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Aug 19, 2013 |
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Aug 19, 2013 20:30
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Ah, the regular monster/sadistic monster moral continuum
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Aug 19, 2013 20:37
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Is there a preload available on Steam for Blacklist already? I was gonna just download it when it comes out on the 23rd (UK Date) but if it's ready to preload I might just get it now.
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Aug 19, 2013 20:44
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quote:-Spies vs. Mercs, the asymmetrical multiplayer mode introduced in Pandora Tomorrow is back under the helm of the original creator!  Holy poo poo, sold. I had no idea this was happening. Pandora Tomorrow is, imo, the best multiplayer game ever created. Now, PC or 360...
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Aug 19, 2013 20:48
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Gunder posted:Is there a preload available on Steam for Blacklist already? I was gonna just download it when it comes out on the 23rd (UK Date) but if it's ready to preload I might just get it now. 25 gig download. Good stuff ubisoft.
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Aug 19, 2013 20:51
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Sober posted:Nope, you might as well VPN it and play it early with the rest of us, and by early I mean download it at the same time as 1PM EST and play it at the same time as the rest of us North Americans. 1pm EST tomorrow? (20th)
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Aug 19, 2013 20:55
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Gunder posted:Is there a preload available on Steam for Blacklist already? I was gonna just download it when it comes out on the 23rd (UK Date) but if it's ready to preload I might just get it now. God loving dammit, I assumed we were getting it on the 20th, since that's what the Steam store page said when I bought the loving thing.
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Aug 19, 2013 20:57
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Gunder posted:1pm EST tomorrow? (20th) yep, 1pm est on the 20th is when North American Steam gets it. Give or take 30 minutes for them to find the switch to throw it. Will probably end up alt+tabbing in and out of SR4 (which I have preloaded).
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Aug 19, 2013 21:01
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Sober posted:yep, 1pm est on the 20th is when North American Steam gets it. Give or take 30 minutes for them to find the switch to throw it. Will probably end up alt+tabbing in and out of SR4 (which I have preloaded). Any idea when it might get unlocked on Uplay? I got a code to get it on that storefront and redeemed it but it's not showing up on my owned games at this point. Conviction is though, and it came with Blacklist. e: checked thru my emails, apparently Ubisoft will go ahead and mail me a key when the game releases. Q-sixtysix fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 01:14
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By the way the preload for Blacklist is up but it looks like we still have to wait for 1pm EST to unlock, so start your modems.
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Aug 20, 2013 05:37
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SixtySix posted:Any idea when it might get unlocked on Uplay? I got a code to get it on that storefront and redeemed it but it's not showing up on my owned games at this point. Conviction is though, and it came with Blacklist. Yeah, prerelease games wont show up on your uplay account but the official twitter says it should be available at midnight PST, whether or not that's true I can't say... Also breaking news says that if you have the  NON-STEAM PC version of the game the autopatcher is broken and you need to go here and download the patch manually.
RadicalWall fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Aug 21, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 05:53
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Am I missing something? Why didn't this pop up on psn? I'm checking my download list but all I see is the preorder theme. It said it would be up after 12am pst. Edit- right when I say this it pops up. 12 gigs. Goodnight everybody. I'll sneak up on mans in the morning. G-Whizard fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 08:21
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I received this for free with my GTX 770 purchase, but I am debating the 360 version as long as their is enough of the original crew to play with... How many of the good ol' boys club from PT is there purchasing this?
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Aug 20, 2013 14:18
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My 360 SC copy will get here Thursday ... so I won't be on XBL until then 
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Aug 20, 2013 14:27
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I've got it. Wafflezone has got it.Dvlos posted:My 360 SC copy will get here Thursday ... so I won't be on XBL until then Shame on you. Megaman's Jockstrap fucked around with this message at 15:11 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 15:07
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Mine's out for delivery.Dvlos posted:My 360 SC copy will get here Thursday ... so I won't be on XBL until then Worst news.
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Aug 20, 2013 15:42
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edit: nvm
Sepist fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 16:56
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Has anyone entered their code from they got from Nvidia on the Ubisoft website yet? It didn't seem to attach to my account, I don't see it in my list of games and I don't have a confirmation number. Just wondering if I'm missing something before calling them.
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Aug 20, 2013 17:43
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kevin mung posted:Has anyone entered their code from they got from Nvidia on the Ubisoft website yet? It didn't seem to attach to my account, I don't see it in my list of games and I don't have a confirmation number. Just wondering if I'm missing something before calling them. It took me a few minutes to get the confirmation email but it still isn't listed in my UPlay account. I activated it about an hour and a half ago. I'm thinking it will show up at either 10 or 12 PST. Edit: According to this thread it should be up now. BIFF! fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 17:56
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I'm torn between getting this for PC or 360. I have a buddy or two who might be picking it up for PC in a week or so, or a ton of 360 goons hot and ready to go. I wish there was some sort of discounted bundle pack I seriously can't wait for classic spies vs mercs.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:13
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Holy Calamity! posted:I'm torn between getting this for PC or 360. I have a buddy or two who might be picking it up for PC in a week or so, or a ton of 360 goons hot and ready to go. I wish there was some sort of discounted bundle pack You can probably still get a Uplay PC key in SA-Mart for $20 or ~$30 on ebay.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:14
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OK, 1:30 EST for me, and the game isn't appearing on my list of games. I'm on hold with Ubisoft right now and I'm hearing the message that their storefront is managed by Digital River, who is the shittastic company in charge of the terrible, terrible preorder launch of Ni No Kuni. loving Ubisoft. Why do you fuckers make good games and then run this poo poo through your awful storefront which you then contract out to these clowns? edit: OK, 20 minutes into this call and my place in the queue went from 3 to 1, and then backed up to 7, and then 12. Now it's back to 1. Jesus Christ. Q-sixtysix fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 18:27
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Wafflezone has got it. Deleting him from Friend's List as we speak.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:46
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Holy Calamity! posted:I'm torn between getting this for PC or 360. I have a buddy or two who might be picking it up for PC in a week or so, or a ton of 360 goons hot and ready to go. I wish there was some sort of discounted bundle pack It's not a recreation of the original, but it's very good. Please join us on the 360. I guarantee you at least a partner for the next couple months. Love this game. Dvlos posted:Deleting him from Friend's List as we speak. Friend request HeyWafflesOwn
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Aug 20, 2013 18:49
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:It's not a recreation of the original, but it's very good. Please join us on the 360. I guarantee you at least a partner for the next couple months. Love this game.  I'll pick it up in a bit then. Good to know I'll probably be able to pick it up cheap for PC if my buddies do end up getting it.Also I thought it includes both 4v4 and "Classic spies vs mercs" that's 2v2? Or is that not the case? Either way it's the designer who matters.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:50
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Any of you that used the Nvidia code - has the game shown up in your UPlay library yet?
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Aug 20, 2013 19:40
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BIFF! posted:Any of you that used the Nvidia code - has the game shown up in your UPlay library yet? Nope, not for me. I just put in a ticket to see what they say. I got an email saying the product is available but no activation code or anything.
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Aug 20, 2013 19:43
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Holy Calamity! posted:Also I thought it includes both 4v4 and "Classic spies vs mercs" that's 2v2? Or is that not the case? Either way it's the designer who matters. There's 4 modes: Classic: which is not really classic but is old-style shadow-based Spy vs. Mercs with some new rules. Layouts are standardized, levels are dark, all that good poo poo. More deathmatchy and hide-and-seek than the old game but still very good. Spies have their crummy sticky shocker (with 5 whole shots, although it's super deadly at about 15 feet because they can shock and then stab you while you're immobilized), sticky cams, flash bangs, smoke bombs, and EMP grenades and Mercs have their very deadly accurate automatic rifles, frag grenades, landmines, remote trackers, and gas grenades. Blacklist: which is 4v4 Spies vs. Mercs with classes. Very deathmatchy. Spies get real guns in this mode. The map has no shadows. Mercs get things like Drones and spy bullets and stuff. Spies get things like invisibility suits. I never played a full game of this but my buddy and I did screw around in a 1v1 and it seemed pretty stupid. Uplink: Capture the flag mode. Don't know much about this. Team Deathmatch: Pick whatever class you want, either Spies or Mercs, and fight with your team against the other guys. Idiotic. Will undoubtedly be super popular because people are terrible. Megaman's Jockstrap fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 19:44
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