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  If you like FPS games, and also were a teenager during the nineties, then there's a good chance that you'll have a certain mental image when you hear the word "Unreal". You'll probably recall fast movement, sweet air controls, sick stunts and railgun headshots. At least that's the most common image after Unreal Tournament 2004 slammed its mark on the franchise. I mean, the first game already laid the foundation for that style of gameplay, but UT2004 evolved it to its best. However, this game has very few of the things that you may recall. Pretty much close to none, if I'm blunt about it. The thread title is not a joke. It is a fact. We'll pretty much be moving at the speed of a tank which is a cardinal sin when it comes to FPS gameplay imo. To be fair, the developers included something which they thought would make up for that, but they were wrong! Unreal 2 came out in 2003, and was developed by the now defunct studio Legend Entertainment. In fact, this game was the last project that they did before their owner(Atari) shut them down. It's pretty likely that the weak commercial success of Unreal 2 played its part in that. Though, I don't wanna cast a bad light on Legend Entertainment by saying that, as previous projects like the mission pack for Unreal and the game Wheel of Time did fairly well for them. But this game has a lot of problems, and just fails to excel at anything. Except for the graphics maybe. The Unreal 2 engine was pretty rad for its time, and has aged well, imo. But in contrast to the open design of Unreal, this game came out very linear, and the AI also isn't the strongest. I could now list a lot more things that I think are wrong about the game, but let's discover them together, okay? And despite the numerous flaws, there still are some good things about this game! Otherwise I wouldn't bother to do this thread.  Despite being the sequel to Unreal, the story has no relation to the events of the first game. It's set in the same universe though, so you'll see at least one familiar alien race. With that said though, I know next to nothing about the lore behind the Unreal universe, so don't expect me to go into that direction too much. We'll follow former Marine John Dalton, a Terran Colonial Authority(TCA) Marshal whose job is to patrol remote areas of space far away from any real action. Basically the rear end end of the universe. Dalton got court martialed out of the Marines for not following the "established mission parameters", but others would consider him a hero for what he did. Now he's in command of an old and kinda rickety ship, with a small crew of other ex-military people like him. Or rejects, as one of the crew members puts it. But despite his discharge, Dalton is still eager to get back into the Marines, and performs his new duty with dedication and hopes to get noticed again. And when his ship picks up a distress signal from a planet in his sector, he gets his big chance.  This game isn't too long, but there's a decent amount of story stuff and talking between the combat missions while we are on our ship. For the most part I'll give these Intermission sections their own videos, so that people who want to skip them can do so with ease. However, these videos will often have our mission briefing and some plot developments, so I don't suggest to skip them if you're new to this game. Don't worry, they generally won't be too long and you'll eventually know what parts you can safely skip!  As with my previous LPs, I'm going to replace the soundtrack of this game with cool Synth tunes that I like. The OST isn't bad or anything, but it's also not amazing and I think I can do at least a little better. And just like I did before, I'll list each track at the end of the videos, and will also link them on the first page for y'all. Though, I should also point out that I usually edit the tracks to make them fit my needs, so don't be surprised if the original songs have different structures. And lastly, NO SPOILERS of any kind please. Not even in BBcode. The story of this game is neither good nor bad, but the conclusion and ending are something I want to protect if possible   1. Intro & Intermission 2. Sanctuary 3. Return to Sanctuary 4. Intermission 5. Hell 6. Hell 7. Intermission 8. Acheron 9. Severnaya 10. Intermission 11. Kalydon 12. Sulferon 13. Intermission 14. Janus 15. BadWeapons.mp4 16. OkayIt'sNotSoBad.mp4 17. Janus 18. NaKoja Abad 19. NaKoja Abad 20. NaKoja Abad Tin Tim fucked around with this message at 21:30 on May 7, 2016 |
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Jul 30, 2015 21:30
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 20:29 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghGqvT6gZgE The first episode introduces us to the game and setting, so it won't have any action at all. But you should watch it if you want to know what's going on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxhuOwelhVM And since I don't want to leave you hanging, have the second episode with our first combat mission too! Tin Tim fucked around with this message at 12:43 on Aug 11, 2015 |
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Jul 30, 2015 21:31
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Hey, nice to see you with a new LP, Tin Tim! I liked this game when I played it, but I never had a chance of playing the original Unreal, so I did not have any specific expectations about it.  Edit: and I can see that, like with Mace Griffin, you've added your own soundtrack to the videos. 
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Jul 30, 2015 22:19
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Christ, this. It's not a completely horrible game, but it feels really really bland and uninspired after how atmospheric Unreal was. Also there is a particular enemy type that can just go eat a dick.
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Jul 30, 2015 22:58
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Tin Tim doing another 90's as gently caress FPS, with him adding in his own music? Sign me up! Funny enough (or not so funny) UT2004 is really the only UT I've ever played. I know of the others, but I just never got around to playing them. This is going to be a treat all around.
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Jul 30, 2015 23:03
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I've played this thing before, and I have to agree with your assessment in the first video: it's a bad game by most measures, but it does have its moments. I'm probably going to enjoy watching this more than playing it though, with the music you're adding. Thinking about it, I suppose that elevator scene with the lights going out is supposed to recall the first Skaarj fight from Unreal, but this game sacrifices the suddenness to play out a scene you've probably seen already in near every action movie. Somehow, one of my friends had the game on Xbox, so we tried out the local co-op. Unfortunately, it turned enemy animations into slideshows that would make even the original Doom laugh, so it was pretty much unenjoyable at all.
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Jul 31, 2015 03:47
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Liking how this is starting! As to the SPAM SPAM SPAM HUMBUG thing, as I recall, it's a reference to a really old cheat for Ultima 6, allowing you to get to the debug cheat menu. This would suggest that one of the team for Unreal 2 worked on U6 or was a big fan, no idea who, because you've got three sets of staff to pick from (EPIC, Atari, Legend, all of whom had staff from RPG franchises at one point or another)
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Jul 31, 2015 04:02
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Please never stop making LP's with superbly selective synth soundtracks.
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Jul 31, 2015 05:20
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The music is good, but feels just a tad too loud. Anyone else thinking this? I don't want to go against the flow but it's hard to focus on what both the characters and you are saying over it.
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Jul 31, 2015 10:09
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anilEhilated posted:The music is good, but feels just a tad too loud. Anyone else thinking this? I don't want to go against the flow but it's hard to focus on what both the characters and you are saying over it. Yeah it is good but it consumes... mental bandwidth? As in, it's hard to concentrate on the music, what Tin Tim is saying, and sometimes what the in-game audio is doing. I remember the controversy over Aida's design being one of the first "sexism in games" discussions I'd ever seen, and it had to be here since I didn't really go to anywhere else that would discuss games back in 2003
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Jul 31, 2015 11:04
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anilEhilated posted:The music is good, but feels just a tad too loud. Anyone else thinking this? I don't want to go against the flow but it's hard to focus on what both the characters and you are saying over it. Yeah, came here to say this. Particularly during the first video, where it almost drowned out all other audio.
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Jul 31, 2015 12:31
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I was actually thinking about this game yesterday after watching an Unreal 1 speedrun on SGDQ. I played it back in the day when it was released, when I wasn't too picky about my games, so I enjoyed it enough to play it to the end. This LP is a nice alternative to replaying the game again, so gonna keep an eye on this one.
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Jul 31, 2015 12:35
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anilEhilated posted:Christ, this. It's not a completely horrible game, but it feels really really bland and uninspired after how atmospheric Unreal was. Also I have a suspicion what enemy type you refer to, but I'm curious to see if I'm right. Oblivion4568238 posted:I've played this thing before, and I have to agree with your assessment in the first video: it's a bad game by most measures, but it does have its moments. I'm probably going to enjoy watching this more than playing it though, with the music you're adding. Thinking about it, I suppose that elevator scene with the lights going out is supposed to recall the first Skaarj fight from Unreal, but this game sacrifices the suddenness to play out a scene you've probably seen already in near every action movie.  Scaramouche posted:I remember the controversy over Aida's design being one of the first "sexism in games" discussions I'd ever seen, and it had to be here since I didn't really go to anywhere else that would discuss games back in 2003  Though, I still stand by the fact the she's actually a neat character on paper. It's just that she's the obvious eye candy and that basically no character in this game portrays any emotion at all. RealSovietBear posted:I was actually thinking about this game yesterday after watching an Unreal 1 speedrun on SGDQ. JamieTheD posted:Liking how this is starting! As to the SPAM SPAM SPAM HUMBUG thing, as I recall, it's a reference to a really old cheat for Ultima 6, allowing you to get to the debug cheat menu. anilEhilated posted:The music is good, but feels just a tad too loud. Anyone else thinking this? I don't want to go against the flow but it's hard to focus on what both the characters and you are saying over it. Thing is, I have a mixing baseline that I developed over my last Lp's, and I admit that I went against it a little bit this time. Like, my gut was telling me that I need to knock it down by another -1 or -2DB, but I thought I maybe was being too picky. You can't mix perfectly for every sound setup without studio grade tools, but it seems like I should have listened to my gut. Well, I'm going to mix a bit softer for the next videos, and then y'all can report if its better for you. I guess I sometimes forget that I do have somewhat high grade speakers that split the different frequencies a lot clearer than normal consumer hardware. Tin Tim fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Jul 31, 2015 |
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Jul 31, 2015 13:36
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I'm kinda liking Isaak but man, is there a reason why his left arm seems so...thin, compared to his right arm?
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Jul 31, 2015 15:27
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Slimnoid posted:I'm kinda liking Isaak but man, is there a reason why his left arm seems so...thin, compared to his right arm? It's artificial from the elbow down.
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Jul 31, 2015 15:58
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Super excited for this!
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Jul 31, 2015 16:00
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Sel Nar posted:It's artificial from the elbow down. I wonder why they went with flesh-colored then, because it looks SUPER weird.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:51
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Slimnoid posted:I wonder why they went with flesh-colored then, because it looks SUPER weird. But yeah, pretty sure it's a robot arm as his backstory will tell us how he got the bionics. Though, I do agree that it looks weird to have the one arm be much thinner than the other. Bugged me too when I first noticed it. Jobbo_Fett posted:Super excited for this!
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Jul 31, 2015 17:49
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Wow, seeing this game pop up here brings back a lot of memories. Really excited about the LP. Do you plan to show off XMP as well?
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Aug 1, 2015 14:17
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I remember this being a pretty rad game way back then, even if it's not that good.
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Aug 1, 2015 15:19
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The thing I remember about this game is everybody going "yeah, it's not that great...but man, the flamethrower sure is pretty!" I hope it's not a spoiler that there's a flamethrower in a 90's FPS.
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Aug 1, 2015 19:53
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bumblingbee posted:Do you plan to show off XMP as well? Also lmao at the fact that an Unreal game had to go through an expansion to get multiplayer Koorisch posted:I remember this being a pretty rad game way back then, even if it's not that good. Kai Tave posted:I hope it's not a spoiler that there's a flamethrower in a 90's FPS. Also,   lol if we can spread Scrunts to another forum
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Aug 2, 2015 01:28
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I am way too excited for your custom soundtrack, this LP is gonna own bones.
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Aug 2, 2015 05:18
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I was 14 when I played this game, I remember enjoying it a lot! The maps and environments are varied, they're huge, it has way more scenarios than just killing things in a corridor, the voice acting is pretty good and there's a massive array of weapons with (mostly) distinct uses. It has probably the best grenade launcher in an FPS in my opinion. Can't wait to see you rip it to shreds.
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Aug 3, 2015 00:19
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Yay! Another Tin Tim LP! 
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Aug 3, 2015 07:10
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I was just watching this and thinking, 'MAN the soundtrack is great for this game...', and then I saw you added it in. Ah weel, a new selection of music for me to get into!Scaramouche posted:I remember the controversy over Aida's design being one of the first "sexism in games" discussions I'd ever seen, and it had to be here since I didn't really go to anywhere else that would discuss games back in 2003 Oh Lord, I can only begin to imagine how bad that stuff would have been. I mean, it was bad enough in 2014, but in 2003... Samovar fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Aug 3, 2015 |
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Aug 3, 2015 12:40
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Samovar posted:I was just watching this and thinking, 'MAN the soundtrack is great for this game...', and then I saw you added it in. Ah weel, a new selection of music for me to get into! Aida's design is one thing but I've always really, really hated her hair. I can't explain it but something about that topknot/ponytail thing just infuriates me for reasons I don't understand.
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Aug 3, 2015 13:46
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Samovar posted:
IIRC it wasn't that bad, with a lot of people saying "wow that is really pandering" though the focus was more on "how dumb do they think we are that we'd fall for this" as opposed to "this is an insult to women". Someone with archives can maybe look it up, though I'm not sure if Games forum existed back then, so it'd probably be in GBS. RE: topknot/ponytail stuck out as dumb for me because they are in a spaceship, and that looks like a spacesuit helmet would not fit over it in case of emergency.
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Aug 3, 2015 15:48
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML9kXJ2g6t4 This is technically still part of the first chapter, but I didn't want to throw 3 videos at once into the thread right away. As said itt, I took your feedback over the audio mix into account, and changed it a bit. Let me know if this is more comfortable for y'all, or if I have to tweak it further. Also, the next chapter may be delayed a bit since something came up that cuts down my available editing time for the rest of the week. Just fyi Tin Tim fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 21:49
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I tend to agree with you on U2 ... slow, mediocre, occasional good bits. I'm glad you're doing an LP of it. It wasn't as big of a deal when you got into the intro cutscene but the colorspace looked weird on the main menu - like the blacks were actually grey instead of black. Psion fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 21:57
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Psion posted:It wasn't as big of a deal when you got into the intro cutscene but the colorspace looked weird on the main menu - like the blacks were actually grey instead of black. If anything, I expected people to notice the color difference in the very first intro video. My own intro always fucks up after the first white transition, which is a known bug on modern systems. The fix appeared to much of a hassle to me, so I ripped it from YT CheeseThief posted:I was 14 when I played this game, I remember enjoying it a lot! The maps and environments are varied, they're huge, it has way more scenarios than just killing things in a corridor, the voice acting is pretty good and there's a massive array of weapons with (mostly) distinct uses. It has probably the best grenade launcher in an FPS in my opinion.  The flexible nade launcher is also really sweet. Well, two grenade types are garbage, but the other four do good work. A few of the other weapons are duds imo, but basically each one has a purpose behind its design. Scaramouche posted:RE: topknot/ponytail stuck out as dumb for me because they are in a spaceship, and that looks like a spacesuit helmet would not fit over it in case of emergency. 
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Aug 4, 2015 23:01
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There's a couple of things I love about this level. The sea-goats are one (They're really the unofficial mascot of this game), but the conversations are another. We're bringing the atlantis down  Holy Sh- You can do that?For all that this is Dumb Sci-Fi Action Movie As Game #548 , it shows some actual attention to character, and the characters are not, in the majority of cases, one dimensional. John, for example, could be defined as "Dumb Jarhead who wants to get back into the Marines", but... That's actually doing a sort of injustice. He's got a complicated relationship there, and this exchange, especially in the tone of his voice, is an example of that. He's happy that he surprised them. It's petty, but he's amused they're thinking in terms of dropships and infantry actions, when a more direct solution is actually workable. Similarly, the marines, in the last ep, were being jokingly mean and patronising to John, and the shoe's on the other foot now. They're certainly not amazingly fleshed out, but they definitely have little touches, much like this game, that bring it above the level that's commonly ascribed to it. And y'know, props where props are due!
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Aug 4, 2015 23:01
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Tin Tim posted:Huh, I never noticed that. Like, I guess I can kinda see it with your post in mind, but I don't know what to say about it. I fiddled with the graphic sliders a little before recording to make the game a tad brighter, so maybe that is causing it? I'm probably overly sensitive to potential colorspacing issues because I screwed that up for an entire LP. If you want to check you could take a screenshot from your pre-Youtube video and load it into Photoshop or GIMP or something and look at the levels - if the levels look to go from 0-255 then it's probably fine, but if they seem to be in the 16-235 range only, you can fix that with one line in avisynth (or whatever you use, presumably)
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Aug 4, 2015 23:08
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Psion posted:I'm probably overly sensitive to potential colorspacing issues because I screwed that up for an entire LP. If you want to check you could take a screenshot from your pre-Youtube video and load it into Photoshop or GIMP or something and look at the levels - if the levels look to go from 0-255 then it's probably fine, but if they seem to be in the 16-235 range only, you can fix that with one line in avisynth (or whatever you use, presumably)
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Aug 4, 2015 23:18
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Ah the defense sections: I remember that, along with the fire effects, they were one of the advertised features of this game. So it's not surprising that it turns into a bit of an overused gimmick, as you mentioned in the video.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:27
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It's weird, I remember the first level pretty darn well, right down to some of the hallways and Izarian ambushes, but I don't really remember this at all. I guess some things in this game are more memorable than others. I do remember the shotgun being pretty nice, but all the same, the Flak Cannon is sorely missed. I guess that's one of my bigger disappointments with the game, they went too far from a lot of staple elements of the entire Unreal series. The tougher Skaarj having those bulky power-suits, the way some elements of old weapons are stapled to new weapons with different main functions, and of course the speed in general. Who knows how much else I'm forgetting right now, too. The shock lance at least does have part of the feel of the shock rifle, but without that alt-fire combo  , it's just not good enough.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:11
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So many cool ideas in this mission, I think it was this one that started to convince me UT2 was a good game. First, that ambush is brilliant. You've got all this vertical action with the aliens shooting you from the trees, jumping down to engage you, bright blue bolts coming out of the fog giving away their positions. I do see what you mean with the AI kind of spoiling it and it would probably be better with a few Skarj thrown in to help pull focus, I reckon this would make a fun co-op mission if you took the AI allies out. The defense section was definitely a first for me back in the day, I loved all the defense sections and enjoyed every minute spent meticulously planning every turret and field. It was super satisfying to see the stuff I set up working against the horde, most of the time I messed up of course and my work was for nothing but I still enjoyed it. There's a neat moment near the end of the fighting where you can see a lone Skarj jump up some rocks to bypass the field generators and attack you from behind too. I swear it isn't nostaglia goggles, this game is cool.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:14
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I dunno if it's just me but the space ship models seem to be really oddly/inconsistently sized. In the first video I can't shake this feeling that the Atlantis is really small compared to the size of our protagonist's shuttle.
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Aug 5, 2015 06:57
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So happy to see a new Tin Tim LP! As with Mace Griffin, I think that watching your LP will be infinitely more enjoyable than playing the actual game! We get to see the cool things and admire the pretty graphics, and we don't have to struggle through the tough parts, and your witty commentary and custom soundtrack keep the boring bits entertaining. I remember when the game was about to come out the developers said they were sure someone would develop a nude mod for it on day one. Which of course they intended as a selling point: "We've put a sexy character in this game that we are sure you are going to lust for. We aren't actually allowed to give her to you nude, but we've made sure the game is moddable, so PC gamers, go ahead and do your thing!" Their marketing strategy backfired on me though - I (correctly) reasoned that if a big-name title like Unreal 2 needed to advertise itself by saying BOOBS rather than showing videos of exciting gameplay then chances were the that game itself was a bit weak. I eventually did play this game several years later, entirely because I heard about the game's cool final weapon. Found most of the game playable but unremarkable... but yep that final weapon was pretty drat great and almost made it worth it. With you playing stuff like this and Mace Griffin, and me having done things like TimeShift, Inversion and Darkest of Days, I think the two of us may get a reputation as "the connoisseurs of crap". (Except that I think that TimeShift and Inversion are genuinely underrated, and Mace Griffin turned out to be pretty interesting, despite its flaws. Unreal 2... not so much haha! How do you end up making a slow-paced, linear Unreal game?!)
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Aug 5, 2015 11:16
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