Christmas Crackers: (COD & KOTOR)

Mad Mike

As promised I bought myself two PC games for Christmas:

Call of Duty (Game €49.99)
and
Knights of the old republic. (Play.com about €35)

Could have saved a few bob buying COD from Play but was worried it wouldn't arrive in time so bought it last weekend. First time I have used Play.com and I am quite impressed. Order placed on 17th Dec and arrived on 23rd.

No thoughts on KOTOR yet but I am about 2/3 way through COD single player. COD starts brilliantly and sucks you in. Apart from a few set-piece levels it is easy enough to progress (particularly if you are addicted to quicksave). I thought it sagged a bit in the middle - some of the British levels were a bit old fashioned - especially the ship one where you run along corridors shooting the baddies that pop around corners. However I have just started the Russian levels and Wow. The opening scene (from Enemy at the Gates) is superb. I didn't even manage to get a gun - I just ran through the haze of bullets trying to keep my head down while in a permanent state of shellshock.

Some folks complain that COD is quite short - it will probably take me about ten hours all in to finish it. Personally I prefer a high quality short game. How in hell are you supposed to make time to spend 60 hours completing an epic?

Gummy Panda

Wait to you play KOTOR.

That game is brilliant!! You can spend endless hours looking for hidden stuff or try get through the story as fast as you can. Either way you'll have a great time.

Jim

you could have gotten cod for €39.99 in smyths.

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Jimeatsmenu
you could have gotten cod for €39.99 in smyths.

Typical - Mind you I did try Smyths on Jervis street and they were sold out.

Tusky

if you think COD is good wait until you play KOTOR amazing game...really !

Monty - the one and only

KOTOR is one of those games where youll start playing at lunch time, look at your watch in what you think is a few min later and 12hrs will have passed...Very addictive game. Ive played trough it a few times...one bit of advice on one world taking the easy route is not a good idea. I know that makes no sense now but youll know what I mean when you make the choice, Im saying nothing else...dont want to spoil it for you.

Tusky, where the hell are my KOTOR cd's?

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Monty - the one and only
KOTOR is one of those games where youll start playing at lunch time, look at your watch in what you think is a few min later and 12hrs will have passed

Oh Oh, Sounds like divorce could be an issue then. Ah well. I managed to finish Morrowind last Christmas but it didn't make me too popular at home. How does KOTOR compare?


I reckon I'm nearly finished COD - just finished the Stalingrad level where you clear out a building full of jermins. You've got to love the sound and visual effects in this game. I feel that my 50W sound system doesn't do it justice - Hey if you could play this on the big screen down the local cinema it'd be a blast

Gummy Panda

Originally posted by Monty - the one and only
KOTOR is one of those games where youll start playing at lunch time, look at your watch in what you think is a few min later and 12hrs will have passed...Very addictive game. Ive played trough it a few times...one bit of advice on one world taking the easy route is not a good idea. I know that makes no sense now but youll know what I mean when you make the choice, Im saying nothing else...dont want to spoil it for you.

Tusky, where the hell are my KOTOR cd's?

I took the easy route and now they hate me. Can't go back. Sure i didn't like that world anyway.

We all know that Bacta is the most powerful medicine in the Star Wars Universe.

Deadwing

I got KOTOR for christmas...ive been playing it for 2 days now and well..i have to say..big SW fan that i am and all but....meh. Its really...really...dull. You walk around..and talk to people. ALOT of people. And theyve all got ALOT to say. Im talking 'go boil the kettle and get a cup of tea while youre waiting' kind pf convos. And then get into fights that you dont have much control over, save from selecting a predetermined attack from a list. Imagine monkey island, without the humour, and with a kinda uninteresting battle system. Thats kind of it.

But ill bear with it and see if it gets any better, maybe im being a bit hasty, im still on the first planet.

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Deadwing
I got KOTOR for christmas...ive been playing it for 2 days now and well..i have to say..big SW fan that i am and all but....meh. Its really...really...dull. You walk around..and talk to people. ALOT of people.

Sounds to me like you need to get your hands on COD (assuming you have a PC) You don't have to talk to anyone. You just shoot people. Finished it this afternoon and I have to say it is superb.

OK COD done - KOTOR is installed and waiting. I'm still a bit intimidated by the amount of time this game could take if I get into it. Will probably spend a few days interacting with humans before I leap in.

I noticed one bizarre feature about KOTOR - it only offers me a choice of 1280x960 or 1600x1200. My monitor likes 1024x768. Anyone know of a way around this?

Big Chief

Originally posted by Mad Mike
How in hell are you supposed to make time to spend 60 hours completing an epic?

Wait to you play KOTOR.

KOTOR is one of those games where youll start playing at lunch time, look at your watch in what you think is a few min later and 12hrs will have passed...

enough said really... , my job here is done.

But ill bear with it and see if it gets any better, maybe im being a bit hasty, im still on the first planet.

:rolleyes:

Big Chief

Originally posted by Mad Mike
I noticed one bizarre feature about KOTOR - it only offers me a choice of 1280x960 or 1600x1200. My monitor likes 1024x768. Anyone know of a way around this?

no idea sorry, played the xbox version (incase you think i just totally ignored you!)

Caliden

Originally posted by Mad Mike
Typical - Mind you I did try Smyths on Jervis street and they were sold out.

same thing happened me. i have played demos of it but i wamted to find out if the rest of the game was quality and now i do s its off to play.com for it

Boro

played a lot of rpgs (and COD btw ) and kotor is absolutely superb - 24hrs of gameplay for me to finish it (light side) and it has definitely been the best game i have played in an awfully long time. Going back trying the dark side now. Still great.

It seems quite slow to those not used to RPGs but it is well worth the effort.

BattlingCheese

Originally posted by Mad Mike

I noticed one bizarre feature about KOTOR - it only offers me a choice of 1280x960 or 1600x1200. My monitor likes 1024x768. Anyone know of a way around this?

Do you have any monitor or graphic refresh programs running?
You will need to turn them off to get the full list of resolutions for KOTR

Mad Mike

Originally posted by BattlingCheese


Do you have any monitor or graphic refresh programs running?
You will need to turn them off to get the full list of resolutions for KOTR

Aha! - You may be on to something there. I am using something called Refreshforce (which came with Omega drivers for my radeon) to fix the windows XP 60Hz problem. Unfortunately it is a permanent fix and I don't know if I can undo it or turn it off. Its not a hopeless case however. Kotor runs fine at 1280 x 960 and looks lovely. Its just that my crappy monitor changes picture size whenever I go to a different resolution so I have to fiddle with the horizontal and vertical adjustments to get the picture back onto the screen.

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Mad Mike
Sounds to me like you need to get your hands on COD (assuming you have a PC) You don't have to talk to anyone. You just shoot people. Finished it this afternoon and I have to say it is superb.

It kinda sounds like he bought it and didnt know its an RPG. You play the role of a character, that involves conversation..


Matt

moridin

don't forget lots of wandering about and stealing things from random peoples homes.

koneko

How anyone can't like KOTOR is beyond me. One of the best games of the year, most definitely. COD is nothing compared to it.

Jim

Originally posted by koneko
How anyone can't like KOTOR is beyond me. One of the best games of the year, most definitely. COD is nothing compared to it.

as much as i like KOTOR i must protest.
COD is a masterpiece of a game, definatly the most accurate WWII game ive ever played [except for the russian tank level, bit OTT] the battle realism is amazing and the game makes you feel like theres actually other people in the game besides for you, i love the battle set pieces when your fighting with your unit much more than the standered FPS formula or working your way through a level and killing all you see.

this is why i prefare it to KOTOR, and the fact that im a huge WWII fanatic also helps

Mad Mike

I have only just started KOTOR so its too early for me to give an opinion yet but I am having fun so far. I'm not really an RPG head but I did complete (in the limited sense of having finished the main quest) Morrowind last Christmas and enjoyed it immensely.

Not being into RPGS I am a still a little befuddled by all of the +2/-3 attack skill bonus modifier mullarkey.

I can add, subtract and multiply so I am hoping to just pick it up as I go along - What do ye RPG experts think? Is this a viable plan or do I need to study up on advanced dungeons and dragons before playing?

On the COD front it definitely scores on the whole cinematic experience front. It has now become my "show off your PC" game of choice. Showed it off to my brother on Sunday and he was totally gobsmacked. Had to lend it to him - so I'm hoping he can get it to run on his 2GHz Celery.

Mad Mike

Another question for KOTOR experts:

I amn't putting too much effort into selecting skills and feats at the moment - just going with default choices. Will I regret this later? I remember in Morrowind that it took me quite a while to figure out what sort of character I really wanted to be and I ended up starting the game over.

moridin

Yes, because if you want to tailor your party towards specific things it sucks...

e.g. my main character is good at general force powers, while another character is my dark side character with nasty force kill etc, and to get that level of customisation you need to manually select things for the chars you wanna customise.

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Jimeatsmenu
as much as i like KOTOR i must protest.
COD is a masterpiece of a game, definatly the most accurate WWII game ive ever played [except for the russian tank level, bit OTT] the battle realism is amazing and the game makes you feel like theres actually other people in the game besides for you, i love the battle set pieces when your fighting with your unit much more than the standered FPS formula or working your way through a level and killing all you see.

this is why i prefare it to KOTOR, and the fact that im a huge WWII fanatic also helps

Q3 with WWII skins is not a realistic game. You obviously haven't seen H&D2. Scripted sequences are a big no no in the realism (and gameplay) stakes, CoD has so many it may be eligible to enter Machinima competitions..



Matt

Dont be at yourself

I hate RPGs, having only ever been drawn into FFVII (and even then the random battles were enough for me to throw the towel in), but I adore KotOR. Despite brand new copies of Halo, Project Gotham Racing 2, Rainbow Six 3 and Splinter Cell, I've played this pretty much non-stop.

Gets a wicked gamesville rating of 5 Gs, big up yo'self, and a coibar-streem ray'in of BLEEDIN' DEADLY, BUD.

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Matt Simis
Q3 with WWII skins is not a realistic game. You obviously haven't seen H&D2. Scripted sequences are a big no no in the realism (and gameplay) stakes, CoD has so many it may be eligible to enter Machinima competitions..
Matt

Surely it is pointless to look for realism in a computer game. I don't want realism I want entertainment. When it comes to computer games I'll take the Hollywood version of WW2 please rather than the awful reality. COD understands this and robs from many good war films to deliver a cracking gaming experience. I do think that the scripted sequences actually add greatly to the atmosphere of COD. Haven't played H&D2 but if its a good as you say it is then I look forward to trying it out later.

Tusky

you dont need to learn any of them rules really , if you are mad into your rpgs you can check all the dice rolls in kotor otherwise you can just ignore all that , default skills are grand , give you a good character but you may want to pick some yourself

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Tusky
you dont need to learn any of them rules really , if you are mad into your rpgs you can check all the dice rolls in kotor otherwise you can just ignore all that , default skills are grand , give you a good character but you may want to pick some yourself

Good to know. I'm not averse to learning the meaning of a few statistics as the game progresses. Its just that I would prefer not to play half way through the game and then realise I'm screwed because I forgot to upgrade the "Grow Magic Mushroom" skill back at level 1.

PiE

Must say I find COD quite, quite boring. Just another MOH as far as I can see. I was playing KOTOR for a few days alright, but now I just can't be arsed continuing (I was at some big, ancient Sith cave site at the Dark Jedi academy thinger and I dunno what to do next, so... meh.)

Maybe it's the cold infecting my head or maybe I'm just getting too old for this gaming malarky :[

Matt Simis

Originally posted by PiE
Must say I find COD quite, quite boring. Just another MOH as far as I can see.

Im not alone! :eek:

Mad Mike

OK I know Christmas is long over and nobody is still reading this thread but for the record I have just finished KOTR.

I played through light side scout/sentinel. I completed as many sidequests as I could - elasped time: 74 hours on the game clock over about 4 weeks of real time. I often left the game running while I was not using it so actual playing time was probably a few hours less than this.

Verdict: Superb.

I haven't played many RPGs so I don't profess to be an expert. I gave up half way through Dungeon siege because it was too repetitive but I did finish Morrowind about a year ago. KOTR lacks the insanely ambitious freedom to go anywhere do anything anytime that was Morrowind's trademark but it is a more polished game. In particular I must single out the story line of KOTR as the best I have ever seen in a PC game. I think it would make a great SW film - a hell of a lot better than some of the recent efforts.

Anyway 4 real weeks and 72 playing hours later - I think its time for bed.