Natural Selection 2 is on sale (or so I was informed, apparently you get email if a game on your wish list goes on sale) til the 28th.
I think I want it, but is it worth it?
It is very very fun. Both sides play completely differently. The marines can go from a well oiled machine of destruction, following orders and moving as teams to clear out rooms and corridors, to "oh shit i need to repair this turret, something is in the vent, commander please send help, oh shit the power went out and now i cant see"
The aliens are less focused on top-down orders from their commander, can upgrade on the fly, and seem to encourage (with most of the species anyway) sneaking around, waiting for marines to pass by as you lurk in a vent, then pouncing out and eating his face. Crawling along the walls and ceilings is incredibly fun, but so is playing the massive onus tank thingie, and the teleporting one who's name escapes me.
I've not been the commanders on either team yet though, because that seems like it's very difficult to just jump into and pickup.
One last thing, the game does something very cool that I've not seen before in many games: Newbies have green names. Such a little thing, but people really seem to help you out when you've got a green name, and are fairly forgiving of you messing up.
FTL or LA Noir?
I have to pick one~
FTL definatly. LA Noir is kind of a cool technology demo, but the game it is draped over is not very good. I played it untill I realised how the mechanics and presentation were designed to trick you into thinking you were actually having any impact in the narrative, or doing any detectoring. After you figure that out (and it's not that well hidden to be fair) theres not much too it.
FTL is a genuinely fun little game. It's not without its problems, but you can replay it a fair few times due to the roguelike nature and different ship designs/layouts. It's also slightly cheaper than LA Noire while being a much better game.