What are you playing this weekend/these days?

I'm not a fan of survival horror games but I enjoyed Half-Life 2 (even though I found it to be overrated, just like the first one). To be fair, it has a few sections that really feel like survival horror but I wouldn't consider the whole game to be a survival horror game.

I thought it would be like Portal It has a completely different vibe.

Those genre names are brittle crutches. Playing Doom as a little kid sure felt like survival horror to me.

While it rings the Resident-Evil-bell in my brain, the term "survival horror" does not chime with me. I expect the more defining noun to come last. So what's a horror game in terms of gameplay? There's nothing to pinpoint - we have horror jump'n'runs, FPS, RPG, visual novels and even racing games! So "horror" only describes the make-up that's slathered over the mechanics.
Then - what makes the games survival? In terms of survival horror you usually get this: "There's a limited amount of ammo and you have to make sure that every shot counts." Huh. That sounds a awful lot like playing many FPS games on "proper" difficulty setting.
Finding a nomenclature that allows easy identification is hard since developers thankfully keep inspiring each other, more or less constantly shifting genre conventions and creating a great granularity within the field. Probably a bit of a rose tinted glance at indie games, but not too far from the truth I hope.

In my mind a survival horror game has infinite enemies and just few weapons (or not at all), and you NEVER feel safe.
I don't like them so much because I can't take time to explore or concentrate to the details of the levels... I just feel the urge to run to finish that damn thing.

Half- Life 2 is definitely not in that category.
I don't remember well if there are areas with infinite enemies... maybe the village with a lot of saw ??? But there are very few... in the end it's a classic shooter with a cinematic story added, and some physics related puzzles (that I felt I little forced into the game sometimes).

Maybe I can stretch the "survival horror" category to the Marine campaign of Alien VS Predator (2000), but just because of the infinite aliens and few bullets, but that's it...


To change subject, I started playing "Slay the Princess" .

The first impression was... 11 GB installation !!!!!!! WTF !!
Looking at the screenshots seemed a "simple" visual novel...

Then I started playing and my brain exploded !! It's like everything is not what you think... at every single choice now I have to think what could mean in reality that "phrase" I am going to choose...
I'm just at the beginning, but I already know I will replay this thing a LOT of times !!!

The most similar game I played like this is The Stanley Parable, the concept is very similar, you start with a "quest" without details, but you are absolutely free to do different things... the game apparently will restart different times, but with changed things here and there, and so on...

Right... Alien Isolation would fit that bill. That's one I only watched a let's-play of despite loving the franchise.

StP is really something ^^
Stanley is great. They also made this short but great freebie:

I can remember a part in Half-Life 2 I think it was in Ravenholm, where you walk up some stairs and you'll get shot at from outside of the building. The window would get bullet-holes and cracks. And somehow that part I found immersive and made me like the game.
Maybe it reminded me of the original Duke Nukem Forever trailer when that was still a thing and you have a riot shield with those impact holes:

And actual gameplay just in case you like to see glass physics:

Latest update on mod project:

netcat said:

I'm playing Half Life 2. No one told me this is a SURVIVAL HORROR GAME!!%$!!&^%!!

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Btw. Half-Life 2 is now 20 years old and there will be an anniversary update. I hear the game will be free for a short while for anyone that doesn't own the game yet.

kuru said:

Alien Isolation would fit that bill. That's one I only watched a let's-play of despite loving the franchise.

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You should play it ... I know, it was very difficult and kept me always on the edge, but it's impressive and incredibly immersive.
The DLCs are all good, most of them are especially made for coop-play, but there is one reproducing the first movie, and man, the details !!! They also used the original dubbing of the movie, but made it dynamic !!
Best game of the franchise.

Or if you REALLY still don't want to play it, at least have a look at the fan-made mini serie "Alien Isolation The Digital Series" (2019)... it is mostly a "recap" of the game, but introduces more cinematic views and a way better made ending.

PowerGod said:

You should play it ... I know, it was very difficult and kept me always on the edge, but it's impressive and incredibly immersive.
The DLCs are all good, most of them are especially made for coop-play, but there is one reproducing the first movie, and man, the details !!! They also used the original dubbing of the movie, but made it dynamic !!
Best game of the franchise.

Or if you REALLY still don't want to play it, at least have a look at the fan-made mini serie "Alien Isolation The Digital Series" (2019)... it is mostly a "recap" of the game, but introduces more cinematic views and a way better made ending.

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Alright. I just removed this from my Steam ignore-list and added it to my wish-list.

When was the last time you had this much influence on a stranger living n miles away?

100% discount

And a documentary:

netcat said:

I thought it would be like Portal It has a completely different vibe.

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The documentary does address the horror part and they specifically mention it supposed to be (but it wasn't enough). In the beginning of the documentary they also mention they purposefully lightened up the mood to be less dark.

Best PC game ever.... hmmmmm.... maybe for the time. I can't tell at this point if it was ground breaking. It's a bit horrific but not too suspenseful. It's well done, important that there isn't infinite respawn so you can clear out enemies then explore in peace. It's the 4th FPS I've played btw. Behind Perfect Dark (underrated), Metroid Prime (overrated) and Faceball 2000.

Maybe check out the original Deus Ex. It's more focused on exploration. You're encouraged to pick from a variety of approaches to reach your goals. There's an RPG-like level up system with a few skills to train and special abilities to find along your way. Bloody good music and story, too.

I've got Deus Ex on PS3. Is that a good one?
Actually I want to play Zelda.

netcat said:

I've got Deus Ex on PS3. Is that a good one?

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DEUS EX is this, it was never made for PS3:


If you mean "Deus Ex - Human Revolution" it's another game that I still didn't play, but reading reviews I don't have high expectations.

Farming Simulator 25 on Win Mini:
Did not played much this weekend as its lacks still lots of MOD Content, its too new.. but its runs allready whit 55 fps on the highest TDP i did enable ..
Works good whit the Sticks and buttons, only issue i have was that this GUI is not that sutuable for the 7 Inch Handheld Screen, and therefore too small .., might be i will turn a few Graphic Dials bevor i play again the next weekend: Maybe less resolution to get the GUI a bit bigger, and few more FPS, also i did not yet found a way to enable the Mirrors..

On the TV on my Desktop is also not that usefull: Its dosnt work that good whit my 8Bitdo Ultimate, some times it works in Bluetooth Mode, sometimes i have to switch to 3,2ghz Mode..

So whit a lot more MODs (Unimog might look awesome whit this new paint Textures), it might be awesome..

The original Deus Ex is great, but it's more of an "immersive sim" than a FPS. It's first person and there's shooting but it's not centered on the shooting. Human Revolution isn't a bad game but it doesn't have the depth of the original and it doesn't bring many new things to the table (at least not many good things). For some reasons I have very good memories of Invisible War. It's clearly limited in a lot of ways but I've had a lot of fun with the options I was given and the situations I was put in. I think there's some brilliant and overlooked game design in this one.

ElPoco said:

The original Deus Ex is great, but it's more of an "immersive sim" than a FPS. It's first person and there's shooting but it's not centered on the shooting. Human Revolution isn't a bad game but it doesn't have the depth of the original and it doesn't bring many new things to the table (at least not many good things). For some reasons I have very good memories of Invisible War. It's clearly limited in a lot of ways but I've had a lot of fun with the options I was given and the situations I was put in. I think there's some brilliant and overlooked game design in this one.

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Got the ps2 port of the original deus ex. deleted human evolution.
Got tired of HL2. I'm just not in the mood for all the shooting. I'll pick it up again. i promise.
Picked up puyo puyo tetris for £3 and, my daughter likes it

netcat said:

Got the ps2 port of the original deus ex. deleted human evolution.
Got tired of HL2. I'm just not in the mood for all the shooting. I'll pick it up again. i promise.
Picked up puyo puyo tetris for £3 and, my daughter likes it

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In Half-Life Alyx (VR game) there is a section where I was like: 'Nope'. And I only started playing again after a few weeks to bite through this section. I didn't like it as defending yourself wasn't the answer. It's the opposite, you're defenseless and vulnerable. Like I expect in a horror game and I'm not a fan of that.
But I still would recommend the game...

Puyo puyo tetris is less horror and more fun. Maybe you'd like Mr. Driller to, the character can die though and there is more a feeling of time pressure compared to puyo puyo tetris.