Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[wallish]

Oh, and to the original poster:  I enjoyed the hell out of Overlord when I played it on the 360.  It is a lot like Pikmin, but it has a touch of humor (British humor, to be exact) that a lot of games don't have.  Think Pikmin meets Fable.  My only real gripe was that it was a bit short, but if it's on sale I say go for it, especially if you enjoy the demo as it plays like an extension of the demo (as I guess all games should).  You never know, I bought STALKER for $5 (~3.6€) off Steam because it was cheap and it has become one of my favorite games of all time.

Word of warning, though.  I'm fairly certain it has requirements greater than or around those of L4D.

[Cthulhu]

this is the core element in stalker, probably. apart from the last level where you are forced to enter the powerplant before it blows out the next time. at first i thought that sucked, but actually it was a great change of pace, and fit right in. you dont kill the folks, you just advance frantically, taking some potshots to get them to take cover...

This isn't in Oblivion Lost.  It lets you spend as much time as you want in the NPP area.  I haven't beaten Vanilla STALKER, but I had read about how intense that area is, and I found it disappointing when I did it, because it was basically every other fight before, but with helicopters and giant electro anomalies.
Also, yeah, the cats suck.

Everything else about OL mod is great.  When I did the first underground area in Agroprom, there were like four Bloodsuckers.  I kept wondering why no one was shooting me, and then I started finding bodies.  For the record, I'd rather fight soldiers than bloodsuckers.

[Puck]

I haven't beaten Vanilla STALKER, but I had read about how intense that area is, and I found it disappointing when I did it

are you saying its disappointing in OL because of the lacking timelimit?

For the record, I'd rather fight soldiers than bloodsuckers.

Hell yeah, gimme a full squad of spetznatz over a friggin mutant that can go all predator camouflage on me any day!

[wallish]

The worst thing is the bloodsucker village in the Army Warehouse area.  That was not a pleasant surprise.

Here I am, just trying to cut across this across this abandoned village, and I start to wonder where those bandits I had seen earlier were.  All of a sudden I hear a growl and a barrel getting knocked over.  Then another growl, off in a different direction.  Then another somewhere in front of me.

Thinking it was snorks I decided to hop into one of the houses and wait by the door.  Then I see that "shimmer" pass by the door.  It was getting dark and here I am waiting for some snorks when it dawns on me that snorks don't sound like that, they sound more like lions or some other large cat...

Realization hits and I make a break for it.  As I run out of the house I see two shimmers approaching.  I start sprinting towards the Freedom base/small camp of stalkers to see if I can throw them off.  As I'm running through the village I see a few of those "prop" bodies (the ones you can't loot).  Then I notice that around one of the campfires there are actual Bandit bodies, about five of them.  I guess that solves the mystery of the missing Bandits, doesn't it?

Bloodsuckers, unlike snorks and dogs, apparently don't give up the chase too easy.  I need to know how many are chasing me so I do a quick run through an Electro anomaly.  I get hit (barely) and run a little until I hear the Electro go off.  Turn around real quick and I see four little lightening clouds running after me.

I make it past the small stalker camp in the houses by the Freedom base but they don't bite.  I run straight through to the gap in the base's wall (made by that one Duty mission) and sprint right by two Freedom guys (who are now shooting at me).  Turn a few corners and notice I no longer hear the growls of the Bloodsuckers.  I run a little more (I have two Moonlight's and a Flash artifact, so as long as I'm not overburdened I can sprint forever) and stop.  I hear gunfire.  Lots of gunfire.  Then nothing.  Then I hear some growling and more gunfire, a scream, and silence.

I got the hell out of there.

[Puck]

Thats weird, I remember that village and how I avoided it the first time I came close... but the second time I was there, I was in some weird sort of warrior trance or something 

Basically I followed my instinct and unloaded whole magazines down the entrances of the houses I retreated into, mostly at just the right moment.

I have this one picture in my memory, where I was cowering in the dark hallway, outside it was as bright as noon in stalker can be, the "high tech" bluish nightvision was active. I see a bloodsucker run up to the house (I spotted him before and put a silenced bullet in his back) and watch him go camo just before he leaves my field of vision. I count the seconds til I estimate he might reach the door and pull the trigger. YAY! blood squirts in the air, I aim a little higher, tighten the buttocks as I hope he doesnt retreat or make the final jump up to me, and BAM he's dead.

That gave me some sort of confidence, and that was actually that one time I didnt feel like being hunted by them, but it was the other way round.

But do you remember that building with the prisoner you have to free, as well as kill some gangleader to get the labkey? There'S this small house across the parking lot, and there are three dead bodies on the first floor. well. two dead bodies and this one guy not quite dead yet. blood is splattered across the walls, there are several claw marks across the whole place, in short it's full of bad signs from the moment you enter.

and when you find the dead guys, you hear the bloodsucker scream... I tried not to freak out, turned around, because that room was a natural bottleneck and it should be easy to defend. I fumble out the strongest rifle I have, set it on full auto, and get ready. I was totally prepared and everything. When that thing came around the corner in camo mode, I saw the eyes floating midair, I aimed perfectly and hit the head real good.

And still that thing almost ate me alive...

[overlordFT]

I liked Overlord on console but the switch to PC ruined it, the controls for PC were utter crap.

I enjoyed the game but it wasn't "Do what you want" enough, i mean for example, when you first go to that castle where your first mistress is. How dare she ask ME to get her luggage?!?I AM THE OVERLORD!!!!!!Not some delivery boy! If i could, i would have chopped her head right there, like the overlord would have actually done...but wait...the game wouldnt let me do it.

This is a recurring trait through-out the game.

[wallish]

I for the most part have piss-poor luck when it comes to killing things, so those "hunker down and watch the door" situations almost never work for me.  You know that mission you get where you escort that scientist so he can calibrate the psi thing?

Took me six tries because every time I blacked out at the blowout part the last thing I'd see would be some random zombie coming over the hill.  Then, after any video, it would give me back control but I would be spinning like mad.  I mean, like can't make anything out because my controls are apparently seizing out or something.  So I'd have to wiggle the mouse in a bunch of random directions trying to steady it while I hear the weakened scientist getting shot to death by that last zombie.

I finally realized where the zombie was coming from and lobbed a grenade in that direction before the blackout/video.  Worked like a charm.

I think I'm going to go play some STALKER right now...

[Puck]

You know that mission you get where you escort that scientist so he can calibrate the psi thing?

I hate that one with a passion. That guy just gets him killed on hardest mode RELIABLY. I ended up savescumming and storming that mission. When he arrived at the bus everything was dead already.

I think we now disproved the "slow gameplay" part, as we picked out everything that needs to be done fast in stalker 

[Ampersand]

The combat in STALKER is a lot more tactical than in a lot of games. You'll be throwing grenades, not to kill the enemies, but to make them run from it. You'll be shooting wildly while moving to cover just to distract them.

Also, shotguns own. They also own you. Many a session has ended with rage when I turned a corner only to have a bandit take a sawn off shotgun to my face.

[Puck]

That shouldnt happen, because... you can hear them breathe 

[Shzar]

• Unless I'm mistaken, they've removed stamina from the game.  I can run a hell of a lot right from the start.  You'd think that I'd like that, right?  Wrong.  It removes a little of the fun of outrunning a pack of dogs and hoping that you can find cover or a ladder before you run out of breath

Stamina is still there, though without the indicator. I think you can run for much longer without a break though, or perhaps it recovers much quicker. Kinda hard to tell without an indicator.

I liked STALKER so much that after beating it vanilla I immediately downloaded Oblivion Lost and started again. Most of the changes are good, but some are neutral and others I dislike:

Moving anomalies and greater faction and monster movement are definitely good. This one time a controller wandered right into the heart of the bar. It was friggin' awesome. Corpses everywhere, and I freaked out of my mind because those things scare the everlasting crap out of me. Also, the long double-barreled shotgun is a beast (I don't think it was in vanilla STALKER). I used that thing the whole game. Ferociously powerful, but it takes a year for your screen to relax after firing. New critters are also good, but man those dwarves were freaky.

Changes that I am neither here nor there about: enemies using grenades. Makes combat a lot more shifty, which is good, as they will throw grenades at your cover-spot, but I died many times because I was simply unaware that they threw a grenade at me. They are very soft, possibly inaudible with ample gunfire. There is a little indication of a grenade on the minimap, but you probably will not be looking at that too much during battle.
I am also ambivalent about the extra artifacts. Modificates are neat, I thought were too powerful. At the end of OL I was about 85% bullet proof.

Things I dislike: I might be the only person who disliked paying people to repair weapons and armour. So much of the tension of vanilla STALKER came from knowing that the snazzy rifle you found in Strelok's hiding place will break, and you will have to scavenge lesser weapons and armour just to keep yourself going. The first time I went through Red Forest stands as one of the most unsettling experiences I've ever had in a video game, since I had no idea how deep the Brain Scorcher lab went or what I would find, and was constantly wondering whether I should turn back or press onward. I really like games where you have to scavenge. In Bethesda's games I will make challenge characters and refuse to pay for repairs or equipment and force myself to use what I can find.[/list]

[Puck]

Changes that I am neither here nor there about: enemies using grenades.

to be fair, the combat in vanilla stalker doesnt make that much sense, more often than not, because the AI doenst use grenades. there are tons of situations where even the most untrained soldier would understand its stupid to rush that bottleneck and rather throw a grenade.

BUT! imho firefights are fun, and i prefer games without grenades. I rarely use them myself. unless a firefight is just happening around a door and gets boring, because neither side can advance without getting shot.

but i always thought the AI not using grenades 1) makes the game more fun 2) kind of makes up for the lack of a team, while the AI almost always has a team. 3) kills immersion, kinda.

[wallish]

I use grenades when I'm really hurt and there's several enemies grouped together, usually around a corner or past a barricade.  Oh, and when a controller shows up (I hate those things so much).

I like the NPC grenade thing.  They really do need to put in a new "grenade bounce" sound or something, but the grenades make for more interesting firefights and feed that "Oh shit I'm going to die" feeling.  I don't, however,  like that the NPCs now use medkits and bandages.  I mean, I do like it as it is more realistic, but I don't like it because I need those medkits and bandages!

The armor/weapon repair thing... It's a double-edged sword for me.  I (sort of) like the realism of pretty much every weapon you find on bodies being warn out into the orange.  However, for gameplay purposes this makes a repair function (any repair function) necessary.  Remove the condition thing and you can remove the repair thing, I guess.

[Puck]

I just read this thread again, because I got Overlord 1 for 10 euros yesterday.

Two things I have to say,:
Sorry for derailing this thread with STALKER
and I dont agree with myself about Overlord anymore.

There IS definetly a lot of love for detail. Just watch the minions at the loading/starting screen or order them to have a mug of beer. This game is so full of silly little details, it's great. Yeah, it's just pikmin with violence, but a wise men once said "better rip off properly than invent badly". There arent that many "pikmin style" games, and if you finished one, you might be craving for more. Unless you really really cannot stand the "fantasy setting", I dont see why Overlord shouldnt be worth 10 €. Unless too poor.

tl;dr, 10 € well spent imho