"Reducing everything about video games to mechanics - mechanics are king "

Now I barely play any games these days but my view is that mechanics (as in game-mechanics) is often neglected (at least in AAA titles) as opposed to (often B/C-) story and primarily graphics.

Even Carmack doesn't seem to hold game mechanics that high having said such things as more realistic graphics makes it look weird to move fast (doom 3) implying graphics got to decide his game mechanics. If they had really cared about game mechanics first I'm sure they could have come up with some justification for whatever choices they could have made in a future sci-fi world full of demons. 

Awesome, just what I needed after finding that Perforce shit the bed and I lost a couple of days of work. 

Mark your calendars for the return of the most played series in Call of Duty� history, because Black Ops is back! Call of Duty�: Black Ops III will arrive Friday, November 6, to take fans on a journey to the dark, twisted and gritty world of Black Ops with a true next-generation experience that redefines Call of Duty. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), and developed by award-winning developer Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops III delivers a campaign that can be played as a full single player game or co-op online with up to four players, the deepest, most rewarding multiplayer ever offered in Call of Duty, and, a mind-blowing Call of Duty Zombies experience that, for the first time, features its own XP progression system. Call of Duty: Black Ops III is in development for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft; PlayStation� 4 computer entertainment system; and PC.

Activision and Treyarch also announced for the first time on Call of Duty next gen � a multiplayer Beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Fans who pre-order the game now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or PC will get access to the Beta*, details for which will be announced at a later date.

�Nearly 100 million people have played Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II, making it the most-played series in Call of Duty history. And those fans are about to get the best Black Ops game we�ve made yet with Call of Duty: Black Ops III,� said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision. �This is Treyarch�s first three-year development and, man, have they made the most of it; with a ton of innovation across all modes of play, and of course a mind-bending, wild ride of a story, Black Ops style. Our fans will get a taste for themselves with a Beta later this year. But for now, Black Ops is back.�

The Black Ops series is the most played in Call of Duty history with nearly 100 million registered players having played Call of Duty�: Black Ops and Call of Duty�: Black Ops II combined. For award-winning studio, Treyarch, this marks the first time with three years for development, which has been fully leveraged to bring the Black Ops series to next gen with Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

�Black Ops III is, without a doubt, the most ambitious project ever in the history of our studio. Since the launch of Black Ops II, we have been pushing ourselves to develop the best Call of Duty game we can for the millions of fans that continue to play our games, even to this day,� said Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch. �We�ve been taking advantage of the three-year development cycle by pushing our game design forward in every way imaginable, crafting all-new experiences, mechanics, systems and characters, all in the deepest Call of Duty that we�ve ever made. This really is like getting three games in one.�

The Call of Duty: Black Ops III campaign deploys players into a future world, where biotechnology coupled with cybernetic enhancements has given rise to a new breed of Black Ops soldier. Through Direct Neural Interface (DNI) technology, players are now connected to the intelligence grid and their fellow operatives during battle. In a world more divided than ever, this elite squad consists of men and women who have enhanced their combat capabilities to fight faster, stronger and smarter.

The most engaging and rewarding multiplayer offering to date debuts a new momentum-based, chained-movement system that allows players to move fluidly through custom-built environments with finesse, all while maintaining complete control over their weapon at all times. Treyarch also introduces its new Specialist system, which lets players choose and rank up nine elite Black Ops soldiers, each with their own look, personality, voice and battle-hardened weapons and abilities, fundamentally changing the way players engage in combat. Multiplayer is rounded out with an all-new weapon customization system that give players more powerful tools than ever to build and personalize that perfect weapon. Additional details about multiplayer will be announced at a later date.

No Treyarch title would be complete without its signature Zombies, rounding out the offering. Call of Duty: Black Ops III delivers a completely unique Zombies experience and is the most immersive and ambitious Zombies to date, complete with a new XP progression for players, adding unprecedented levels of depth and re-playability.

�Call of Duty is an entertainment juggernaut that continues to reinvent itself year after year with new storylines and exciting features,� said Bob Puzon, senior vice president of merchandising, GameStop. �We�ve been able to get an early look at Call of Duty: Black Ops III and are extremely impressed with what we�ve seen, and expect it to be a huge hit yet again.� 

I suppose rubbernecking the farcical trainwreck of PR spooge and outright lies that accompanies rehashing exactly the same shite every fucking release provides a tiny bit of entertainment, but that doesn't really justify the existence of this retarded series nor the odious fuckwits who write this utter bollox. 

Final boss sucks.

Is it possible to avoid his fist slam attack or is it an automatic health loss? 

I think he slams his fists down only in the corners, and when he does the punch his fists together attack it goes in a wave away from his face, so you just run through when it's clear. Don't think I ever got hit once by him, it's just a puzzle boss as far as I remember it... 

To avoid the bit where he swipes his fists across once, even hiding behind them. It seems his RNG just decides to take 20 health of you every now and then. 

Sometimes the smaller games are nice, I don't the 5 hours of entertainment a run through the latest COD provides. Better than the thought of installing the next rpg which I'm going to slog through for 30+ hours and may not even enjoy it that much. 

just run past before they slam closed; wait for first two slams and then sprint. 

i was trying to be clever. 

I hate puzzle bosses.

But finally killed it.

I didn't realise I could sprint. Then I didn't realise to shoot it while it was angry.

Scraped through on 2HP.

Impact looks pretty interesting. 

Shambler - reading that was like gargling diarrhoea. 

Copying and pasting was like juggling the results of that gargle. 

Yeah, missed that, too, but i gave up way earlier because it was no fun at all. 

Recent, modern, reasonably reviewed RTS.

Basically if you want a re-skinned version of SC2 with annoying fog of war and clunky controls, then this is the game for you. As an added bonus it's very obviously purely a multiplayer game with a minimal SP campaign tagged on. No real intro, 3 short campaigns for each race, minimal extra theming, bland story. I got fed up after the 3rd mission which is supposedly extremely easy and was stupidly hard, gave up and uninstalled it. Waste of �30. 

Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Exactly the same style as WOFL:TNO? - tick!

Yet more WOFL after dozens of reboots? - tick!

Flaming Nazi zombies dropping from the sky? TICK!

Good fun straight up shooter action in cool environments? - tick.

Still has a few niggles - masses of hitscan enemies, some artificial arenas, lots of invisible walls - but it seems well worth the pleasing budget release price. I think I'm enjoying it more than TNO, less farting around with the rebel base and NPCs, more exploding heads. Runs smooth and controls very smooth with nobob 1 (which fucks the scope though). 

Part 1 is just more Bioshock / Infinite set in Rapture, but quite tough and frustrating, okay if you're a fan but didn't grab me much.

Part 2 playing as Elizabeth is much better and both recaptures the weirdness and atmosphere that makes the games intriguing and has refreshing and suitable stealthier gameplay. It has more exposition that purports to tie up the Rapture / Columbia storylines, TBH I still didn't understand it but there's plenty enough coolness and creepiness to make it worthwhile. 

60% on GoG... never even heard of this game. Can anyone who's played it let me know if it's good? Looks like a kind of action rpg? 

"Fantastic 3rd person action game with great combat and puzzles! PC version is not a great port so make sure you have a pad!"

-Daz's recommendation on Steam


(I own both DS and DS2, and have installed them... but never actually played them... fucking Steam Sales) 

oh cool! Daz, can you get by with some generic gamepad or do you need a fancy one from a console? 

without too many dramas. 

I have no idea how other pads work. I never tried kb+m but I heard it was bad. Like... Dark Souls on kb+m bad :) But ymmv.

I've played it through twice, and it is not a short game! Really fun to play. Funnily enough, the first one is far superior to the second imo. They added a bunch of annoying and unnecessary crap to DS2 to turn it more into a diablo style loot grind/upgrade fest which really annoyed me. 

first one is worth playing. haven't played the second. I did a full review a while back: http://www.electricescape.com/etherealhell/index.php/game-reviews/2010-reviews/item/darksiders

8.5/10 if you quit the last 2 chapters as they're not worth playing. 

If you do pick it up on pc, you will need to force AA / AF in your graphics control panel for the game as it doesn't do either by default and there are no in game options for that stuff.

bad pc port :) 

thanks guys, I will give it a shot... haven't played a game in ages and I wanted to try something a little different from my usual tastes.