Since the Killing Floor free weekend, both Zach and me bought the game. I have to admit, it's weird I've gotten to enjoy it and weirder i played this game so intensively.
The game is visually kinda crappy, I'll admit that right away. However, visuals alone never made a game fun. Before trying it on the free weekend, i thought it was like L4D, but actually, it's nothing like L4d at all.
Zach compared the game to Hero survival maps on Warcraft 3, which is very accurate in my opinion. For me it felt like Counter strike mixed with House of the Dead in a odd odd way. But anyway, here's how the game plays:
You and your team are a squad that's send to an area to clear it up of "specimens" (mutants really), which come in waves (10 if you're playing standard long games). Killing these specimens or healing teammates grants u money, and at the end of each wave, players get 1min to buy weaps and armor at a trader who randomly changes location on the map (it's very well indicated where the trader will b though, no worries about it). And that's it, survive all the waves, get geared up, and at the end of the final wave, you fight the patriarch who's pretty much the boss which is by no means easy.
If I must compare it to the L4D games, it may b a lil dull that you don't really "go" anywhere, in the sense that all the areas you're sent in are closed (similar to L4D survival maps but much much larger), Which i didn't like at first, but the maps are big enough so that it's not that much of a big deal. There are more types and more diverse enemies in Killing Floor than the original L4D, and possibly than L4D2. The choice of weapons is really great in Killing Floor compared to L4D, L4D2 has some more weapons than it's predecessor, but i think KF still has it beat.
But what got my atention in KF is that players can play specific roles instead of all being the same, and they can do that using "perks":
Perks will sound similar to classes from TF2, But it's not quite what they do. Perks provide a bonus stats to a certain area of expertise, such as for example, Firebugs Gains resistance to fire dmg, more range, dmg and ammo on the flamethrower and fire grenades eventually. That does not mean u're restricted to use the flamethrower however, you can still use any weapon you like.
Perks can be leveled up as well, which increases their stats and eventually allows u to start with a weapon (usually something relevant to your perk). You can switch perks once between waves as well, some people say that switching a lot allows you to build up your items and cash better.
This is a strangely fun game, on harder difficulties Zach and me get REALLY into it, it's a lot of fun and can be intense.
Played the demo with Zach 1 hour after it was made available on Steam, and was surprised on how god dammed right i was about it. But also how they managed to screw up stuff that was good.
Ok ok, they didn't only fuck up, there's good things in this, like a lot of new weaps of which i tried all the ones i could, and it's all very standard. Saw and tried all the new items, aside from the adrenaline shot they were all "meh". the 2 maps in the demo were boring and linear, even more than in the original. The fact that it's fucking broad daylight doesn't help the game in the least, everything is way way easier to spot and shoot and i couldn't even figure out why u even start with the flashlight on, it's virtually useless. "oh god, it's so bright out here, i think i need a flashlight so i won't even notice it's on".
The continuous crescendo event isn't that impressive, it's like being in survival for a bit and then it stops. They added a couple of special infected, that, really, couldn't care less. I mean they're so stupid in the sense that they're such minor inconveniences. the charger is a problem though, I'll give u that, that fucker will tear u apart if no one's near u, but it's a L4D game, you're ALWAYS supposed to move as a team anyway.
All the characters are heavily uninteresting to me, i can never pick who i wanted to use cause i dislike all of them. i can't relate to ANY of them and some i just can't even stand. The voice acting seems like it took a fall from the first game, even though they supposedly hired professionals this time. The music in this game SUCKS! IT'S FUCKING HORRIBLE! STOP IT! it's like when recording, half of the people were playing the music and the other half were throwing their instruments across the room.
The game engine seems identical to L4D, none of the changes I've seen justified Valve making a new game, in fact, it seems like a downgrade: Try looking at your feet in L4D2, unlike L4D, you can't. I always thought it was cool that L4D allowed u to see yourself then u looks around, and they removed that in L4D2. Although a definite improvement over L4D, it's still the same game with nothing intresting to add to the formula. They only added the crap that should had been in the first game to begin with.
Also I HATE the way L4D2 handle melee weapons, Killing Floor makes using melee enjoyable, L4D2 makes it fucking hard and a last resort. I wouldn't buy this game for the current price of L4D. This is easily Valve's worse handled product ever. If it wasn't for the boycott controversy this shit pack would had never sold anything.
So recently I picked up Dragon Age: Origins, and i gotta say, this shit is pretty damn good!
One of my favorite RPGs on the PC is "Arcanum", it has a decent character development, main story, side quests, theme even. It's the only game i ever played where you could talk the last boss into killing himself. To this day, i think that was epic. It also had a huge choice of character backgrounds that would influence not only your stats but the way people treated you and the story.
Dragon Age feels VERY similar to Arcanum except perhaps for the theme of the world it takes place. some of the allies u gather seem predeterminded by the plot, but a lot are quite optional. and even if u have a lot of allies, you can play by yourself if you wish (i wouldn't, but the fact that you're alowed to do so is always nice), control wise, u control your character like u would a WoW character, or a Warcraft 3 unit, in fact, u can drag and select all your character WC3 style, Both ways are enabled and it's really nice to b able to freely switch between the 2.
The story so far is ok, pretty cool actually. some of the plot depends on your race adn background, and some it common to all characters. i gotta say I'm liking it a lot so far. What i imagine is common to all is that you Become a Grey warden and fight the Blight of darkspawns. to do so, u gather allies from nations, but there isn't even a specific order u have to do it.
What's got me hooked though, is the allies u gather, and how u can talk to them and get to know them, they're very very interesting and fleshed out pretty well. Morrigan is the most interesting character so far, she is a witch that was raised in the wilds, she's not used to civilization and is very clever, sarcastic and even cruel, she contrasts a lot with other characters and always has something mean or sarcastic to add to convos.
Also like Arcanum, characters will approve of disapprove of your actions, but also of what you reply when chatting with them. In Arcanum that made the main character possibly become the love interest of one of your companions, and i think the same applies in this game. I'm trying to get hot witch on dwarf lesbian action! (ew... that sounded nasty even to me...)
If you like RPGs, this game is fucking awesome, difficulty doesn't seem unreasonable, leveling isn't even an issue, and it's a damn interesting game. Might b a lil demanding graphics wise so check if you can run it before getting it.
The Killing blow on the archdemon.
