Guys, I have important news. Saints Row: The Third is amazing. I never played GTA games as a sociopath, and it was extremely liberating to just run around with Oleg and beat the shit out of everything and everyone. Also, pay attention to the tips. Game got a ton easier in the third act after I started upgrading my guns. Also, I looked at my save time and I have only about 15 hours which seems crazy short for all of the ridiculous things I did. Seriously, Bully is still my number 1 open-world game, but I've got a new 2 (supplanting Just Cause 2). Next time it's $5 or whatever my buddy who loves GTA is getting gift-bombed right in the face.
Also, I managed to kick that game off my backlog. I think that Bioshock 2 is next with little bits of Ace Patrol and Papers, Please sprinkled in before I inevitably forget them when Batman comes to me on PS3 and 3DS.
Saints Row IV was advertised as being to Saints Row the Third what Saints Row the Third was to doing the right thing.
It was truth in advertising.
Saints Row IV is a love letter to the history of video games, filled with terrible, terrible people doing terrible, terrible, hilarious, awesome things.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
+3
EmberquickMaster of DungeonsDeep UndergroundRegistered Userregular
Man, Magic2014 seems to want you to fail; or at least buy extra decks. Can't get out of the tutorial until you use the completely unfocused starter green deck against the "Fuck you, burninate" red deck.
Took like, 5 tries before I pulled the deck's single Primeval Bounty and buried the AI under 3/3 creature tokens. But if that was the theme of the deck, shouldn't there be like, 4 of those in there? Because trying to take on a red deck with a bunch of instants, 5/1 creatures, and flyers that can be resurrected from the graveyard for a few mana with some random, unfocused medium-size green beasts is an exercise in frustration.
I think that the Magic games are not good friendly starter games. If you don't have solid knowledge of how to play, and manage your deck, you will not win, IMHO. When you win cards, it auto adds them. This leads to your deck getting to large, and not right. This leads to lose. This leads to frustration, and if you don't know what your doing, rage quit.
That being said, if you manage your deck, know what your deck is doing, and how it should play it is fun. I just don't think it is a gateway drug.
Those "Duel of the Planeswalkers" games (Magic 2014 is the fourth in the series) are very pretty and have a good interface. They teach you the basics and you can't make any illegal moves, so (I think) they're a good way to learn how to play Magic if you don't have a group of friends that play.
The problem comes after you do learn the game and realize how constrained you are by only being able to use the pre-constructed decks. Each year the new release gets a bit better about that, offering more decks and limited customization of them--but if you start browsing the Magic database over at the Wizards of the Coast website and see all the cool cards that would be perfect for your deck (that you can't use at all), the limitations of the DotP games can start to annoy you.
Magic Online lets you use any card you want--but you have to buy them all in random boosters, and they cost just as much as the physical cards. Plus, the interface is antiquated and bad.
Since the DotP games are so cheap on Steam (and they always get marked down during the big sales), it's a great way to casually tinker with Magic and see if it hooks you. It's just a shame that they don't include true deckbuilding, which to me is at least half the fun.
In celebration of the man behind this game being so awesome, and responding so quickly and in such detail to an email I sent him today, I have decided to give away Ironclad Tactics.
What is Ironclad Tactics, you may ask?
Well, perhaps you are familiar with a little incident that we like to refer to as the American Civil War.
It was kind of a big deal.
Well, you may have mused to yourself, what if, perhaps, they had had access to giant steam powered bipedal machines of death during the Civil War? (And I mean, who hasn't had such musings?)
Which, allow me to assure you, is far, FAR more entertaining that than little video seems. You build a deck of twenty cards from your collection. You can have up to 4 copies of a single card in your deck, and your deck can contain two factions. The game takes place on a grid, but this isn't turn based strategy my friend. This is carried out in real time. Don't think you can just sit there mulling over your choices, this is war son, and war doesn't wait for anyone. You will have to make decisions, and you will make wrong decisions. You will have to go back to the drawing board, you will have to reevaluate your decks. Because you will want to clear the extra challenges each level has. You will want the sweet, sweet bonus cards those extra challenges have hidden.
So, how do you get your grubby little mitts on this hot piece of steam powered action?
Simple, just be the first person to PM me the nickname of Thomas J. Jackson and it is yours. A simple question!
Oh, did I mention that you'll be getting a two pack? What you do with the second copy is up to you. Send it to a friend, or give away the other copy here, do what makes you happy.
It's quite late here so I'll be turning in for the evening and checking my PM box in the morning, best of luck!
First @Luchaire gets me with Unholy Heights and now @Elin gifts me Castle of Illusion. PLease stop
I'd like to point out that @Big Classy literally sent me a package to my home after forcing @Khildith to give him my address. I'm fairly confident that Isy is a Classy Terrorist. He threatened to mail me GTA5 for weeks, I didn't think he'd be crazy enough to do it.
Isy is a monster and deserves all the retribution he can get. Because its his birthday. On the 24th of October. This month. Soon.
You should now be in possession of his return address... you know that information could be handy... for science.
Now you can possibly own that game too! Because Telltale is good and stuff and someone out there needs to discuss it while waiting between episodes rather than you "Wait till it's done and 50 percent off" people.
With my 250kb download speed, and not being able to have the internet connection hogged for the rest of the family for most of the time, downloading that would take goddamn months.
120kb download speed here. I'm half your speed so I guess downloading that will take me years : p
At 256Kbps, a 30 GB file like Max Payne would take.... 260:25:00 to download. I think that's 260 hours and 25 minutes, or approximately 11 days of constant downloading at capacity.
Considering Day Z only just passes muster due to it's basis in Arma II and it's terrain/systems along with the novelty of what it was providing and the cost of making an actual massive terrain it's not surprising all it's imitators have sucked.
I finally finished Mass Effect 3 and am ready to jump back into Steam. The decision to force Origin for ME3 just made me appreciate Steam and specifically Steamworks even more. Now I just have to decide between pinball and Borderlands 2 for the upcoming promotion they have going on.
In other news, I don't know where I got all these Shadow Warrior coupons, but I may have to partake. What's the consensus so far? Worth the $40 (-10%) for what I hope is some good old-fashioned loud, dumb fun?
Drake wrote a stirring recommendation a few pages back. I've since picked it up as well and I would also say it's a firm "Yes". It's a great throwback to the older style FPS games such as Serious Sam: no taking cover, lot of explosions, large enemy groups, copious gore, lots of secret areas. One of my favorite aspects is that the sword remains a viable option throughout the game, even after you acquire the better guns. It pays off a lot to mix it up with sword, ninja magic and guns during each fight.
I've been having a great time. Given that you're hoping for loud, dumb fun, I think you'll be well satisfied.
I don't know how I missed that post, but I have since gone back and rectified that mistake. Thanks to you and Drake I am now < $40 poorer, and yet > $40 richer. Much obliged :^:
10 dollar of ingame currency for Warframe.
GTR Evolution
Dark Sector
Cannon Fodder 3
Septerra Core
Space Pirates and Zombies
1953 KGB Unleashed
Guardians of Graxia + Map Pack DLC // Guardians of Graxia: Elves & Dwarves DLC
Edit: Bundlestars also added a new game to the Blaze of Glory bundle if you bought it before. Pirates of Black Cove Gold.
Guys, I have important news. Saints Row: The Third is amazing. I never played GTA games as a sociopath, and it was extremely liberating to just run around with Oleg and beat the shit out of everything and everyone. Also, pay attention to the tips. Game got a ton easier in the third act after I started upgrading my guns. Also, I looked at my save time and I have only about 15 hours which seems crazy short for all of the ridiculous things I did. Seriously, Bully is still my number 1 open-world game, but I've got a new 2 (supplanting Just Cause 2). Next time it's $5 or whatever my buddy who loves GTA is getting gift-bombed right in the face.
Also, I managed to kick that game off my backlog. I think that Bioshock 2 is next with little bits of Ace Patrol and Papers, Please sprinkled in before I inevitably forget them when Batman comes to me on PS3 and 3DS.
Some people probably stormed the tower with a sedan, I stormed it with a hummer pimped out in rims, the fleur de saints, with pierce manning the turret, you know my boy likes to make an entrance.
Couple questions:
1) How is groupees about doling out Steam keys if you buy a bundle and pick a non-Steam game if that game ever makes it to Steam. I'm curious because in their current casual bundle I'm looking at Doc Clock, Luxor Evolved, and Crazy Belts. Crazy Belts is not on Steam.
2) Similar for amazon. I own 8 copies of The Curse of Nordic Cove because I'm a crazy person. If it makes it through Greenlight what are the odds that amazon will give me a bunch of keys?
Guys, I have important news. Saints Row: The Third is amazing. I never played GTA games as a sociopath, and it was extremely liberating to just run around with Oleg and beat the shit out of everything and everyone. Also, pay attention to the tips. Game got a ton easier in the third act after I started upgrading my guns. Also, I looked at my save time and I have only about 15 hours which seems crazy short for all of the ridiculous things I did. Seriously, Bully is still my number 1 open-world game, but I've got a new 2 (supplanting Just Cause 2). Next time it's $5 or whatever my buddy who loves GTA is getting gift-bombed right in the face.
Also, I managed to kick that game off my backlog. I think that Bioshock 2 is next with little bits of Ace Patrol and Papers, Please sprinkled in before I inevitably forget them when Batman comes to me on PS3 and 3DS.
Some people probably stormed the tower with a sedan, I stormed it with a hummer pimped out in rims, the fleur de saints, with pierce manning the turret, you know my boy likes to make an entrance.
Every opportunity they gave me I flew around in the F-69 VTOL. Though if I needed a car it was almost always the Criminal pick-up truck because if I'm on the ground Oleg is with me.
Amazon Generally gives keys. There was a flood of Huntsman the Orphanage when it made its' Steam debut because Amazon gave it for free as a promotion with a purchase. Bundle Stars I don't know how they handle it. Generally it's pretty dependant on the developer. I think once Greenlight started, provided the game was on Greenlight, pretty much every dev has given keys to bundlers. I think the only exception was like Wanderlust Rebirth and that was one of the first Greenlight titles.
Alright, it's mystery code time. All the info you get are these things: 1) I promise it's not Bad Rats, 2) The main character is wearing pink, and 3) Nobody on my friends list owns it.
Thanks @Jclast for Samantha Swift. Whatever that is. The name seems familiar.
Edit. Oh, it's a HOG. Now I kinda feel bad for taking it. Someone take this Space Pirates and Zombies key to make me feel better:
36MY9-FXNET-DXYCX
Corpekata on
+8
Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
edited October 2013
@Adellios has been kind enough to gift me Teleglitch!
What a classy dude.
Descendant X on
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Alright, it's mystery code time. All the info you get are these things: 1) I promise it's not Bad Rats, 2) The main character is wearing pink, and 3) Nobody on my friends list owns it.
Alright, it's mystery code time. All the info you get are these things: 1) I promise it's not Bad Rats, 2) The main character is wearing pink, and 3) Nobody on my friends list owns it.
Loading...?
Wait, what did I miss? WHAT DID I MISS?
I'm contributing to your cause (if only a little bit), that's what!
Man, Magic2014 seems to want you to fail; or at least buy extra decks. Can't get out of the tutorial until you use the completely unfocused starter green deck against the "Fuck you, burninate" red deck.
Took like, 5 tries before I pulled the deck's single Primeval Bounty and buried the AI under 3/3 creature tokens. But if that was the theme of the deck, shouldn't there be like, 4 of those in there? Because trying to take on a red deck with a bunch of instants, 5/1 creatures, and flyers that can be resurrected from the graveyard for a few mana with some random, unfocused medium-size green beasts is an exercise in frustration.
I think that the MAgic games are not good friendly starter games. If you don't have solid knowledge of how to play, and manage your deck, you will not win, IMHO. When you win cards, it auto adds them. This leads to your deck getting to large, and not right. This leads to lose. This leads to frustration, and if you don't know what your doing, rage quit.
That being said, if you manage your deck, know what your deck is doing, and how it should play it is fun. I just don't think it is a gateway drug.
I'm no master, but I get the basic ideas; the problem is, this is the tutorial duel, you only have one pre-built deck at your disposal, and there's nothing to manage in it at this point in the game. It's literally, "here's some cards we picked for you, good luck!" Unless, you know, you pay extra to unlock all the optional cards for that deck, or a different deck, etc.
If I'd built the deck, that's one thing; unless I want to pay more for more cards, I have nothing to build decks with yet.
So, I wake up and find that @Adellios has gifted me a copy of Teleglitch! Can't wait to play it!
Seems to be going around these days.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Man, Magic2014 seems to want you to fail; or at least buy extra decks. Can't get out of the tutorial until you use the completely unfocused starter green deck against the "Fuck you, burninate" red deck.
Took like, 5 tries before I pulled the deck's single Primeval Bounty and buried the AI under 3/3 creature tokens. But if that was the theme of the deck, shouldn't there be like, 4 of those in there? Because trying to take on a red deck with a bunch of instants, 5/1 creatures, and flyers that can be resurrected from the graveyard for a few mana with some random, unfocused medium-size green beasts is an exercise in frustration.
I hate the starter deck. I've spent most of the time with it raging against whoever built such a clumsy deck.
Guys, I have important news. Saints Row: The Third is amazing. I never played GTA games as a sociopath, and it was extremely liberating to just run around with Oleg and beat the shit out of everything and everyone. Also, pay attention to the tips. Game got a ton easier in the third act after I started upgrading my guns. Also, I looked at my save time and I have only about 15 hours which seems crazy short for all of the ridiculous things I did. Seriously, Bully is still my number 1 open-world game, but I've got a new 2 (supplanting Just Cause 2). Next time it's $5 or whatever my buddy who loves GTA is getting gift-bombed right in the face.
Also, I managed to kick that game off my backlog. I think that Bioshock 2 is next with little bits of Ace Patrol and Papers, Please sprinkled in before I inevitably forget them when Batman comes to me on PS3 and 3DS.
Saints Row IV was advertised as being to Saints Row the Third what Saints Row the Third was to doing the right thing.
It was truth in advertising.
Saints Row IV is a love letter to the history of video games, filled with terrible, terrible people doing terrible, terrible, hilarious, awesome things.
I hate you.
I am going to have to buy this on Amazon tonight, where its 20% off.
I still need to finish up the Sleeping Dogs storyline.
Odds are you're not that far from it. The final act sneaks up on you out of nowhere.
The thing about Sleeping Dogs is that it does somehow manage to feel like a Jet Li as Supercop videogame. Every little touch that was added, from attacking a guy with a fish that you grabbed from the nearby market to the slowdown when you're leaping over tables aiming a gun, just added to the over-the-top martial arts cop gangster feel. The driving in the game didn't have the simulator feel of some other open world titles and instead had a lot more of a Tokyo drift feel with cars that could slam on the parking break and careen around corners or go off huge jumps while you lean out the side shooting out the tires of the pursuing cars and motorcycles.
Also, probably my favorite little touch is that if you're in the middle of a car chase and you shoot out the tires of a car or motorcycle behind you, they flip end over end and explode which... you know... hell yeah. The martial arts combat has a definite Arkham Asylum feel to it, limiting it to only a few buttons and a decent lock on system. One of the issues I had was that as I started to unlock new moves and martial arts combinations I limited myself to just grabbing a dude and breaking his arm and/or leg because the crunching sound and the scream was so satisfying.
The storyline is good enough, with a nice little bit of moral ambiguity regarding the two sides and maybe these cops aren't as helpful as they seem but maybe you shouldn't grab an opposing gangster and chop him up into stew to feed to his friends, but the kindly old chairman of the Triad seems like such a nice honorable guy and oh sure he'll kill you if he wants but he's somebody's grandpa.
I never really get into the dress-up aspect of open world games, but the idea of the set bonuses for wearing certain gear is appealing, particularly when there's a tough mission and you need the "Easier to lose the cops" set bonus or "Never miss a persuade check" set bonus. I also didn't really see the point in buying every vehicle since it would just make my parking garage menu harder to scroll through.
One thing that I think could've been fleshed out more or added to a little bit is the girlfriend system. While there's a single side mission where two of the girlfriends catch you cheating, and one of them triggers the last Cop mission, for the most part they don't seem to be much more than glorified mini-map bonuses. It kind of cheapens the interplay that you DO have with those characters that you can't expand on the relationship at all. I understand everybody likes to min-max, but sometimes forcing players to go through a second time in order to see everything can have its own unique appeal.
Sleeping Dogs is a great game that is a lot of fun to play, has a ton of stuff to do, but isn't as overwhelming as something like Grand Theft Auto. Just about every activity is focused around the main storyline and activities (except the cock-fighting, because dude) and if you're driving a stolen cab and somebody gets in your guy doesn't suddenly pretend to be a cabby he says "Do I look like a fucking cab driver?" and kicks the idiot out.
Posts
Saints Row IV was advertised as being to Saints Row the Third what Saints Row the Third was to doing the right thing.
It was truth in advertising.
Saints Row IV is a love letter to the history of video games, filled with terrible, terrible people doing terrible, terrible, hilarious, awesome things.
Those "Duel of the Planeswalkers" games (Magic 2014 is the fourth in the series) are very pretty and have a good interface. They teach you the basics and you can't make any illegal moves, so (I think) they're a good way to learn how to play Magic if you don't have a group of friends that play.
The problem comes after you do learn the game and realize how constrained you are by only being able to use the pre-constructed decks. Each year the new release gets a bit better about that, offering more decks and limited customization of them--but if you start browsing the Magic database over at the Wizards of the Coast website and see all the cool cards that would be perfect for your deck (that you can't use at all), the limitations of the DotP games can start to annoy you.
Magic Online lets you use any card you want--but you have to buy them all in random boosters, and they cost just as much as the physical cards. Plus, the interface is antiquated and bad.
Since the DotP games are so cheap on Steam (and they always get marked down during the big sales), it's a great way to casually tinker with Magic and see if it hooks you. It's just a shame that they don't include true deckbuilding, which to me is at least half the fun.
What is Ironclad Tactics, you may ask?
Well, perhaps you are familiar with a little incident that we like to refer to as the American Civil War.
It was kind of a big deal.
Well, you may have mused to yourself, what if, perhaps, they had had access to giant steam powered bipedal machines of death during the Civil War? (And I mean, who hasn't had such musings?)
Well, the answer is you get Ironclad Tactics:
Which, allow me to assure you, is far, FAR more entertaining that than little video seems. You build a deck of twenty cards from your collection. You can have up to 4 copies of a single card in your deck, and your deck can contain two factions. The game takes place on a grid, but this isn't turn based strategy my friend. This is carried out in real time. Don't think you can just sit there mulling over your choices, this is war son, and war doesn't wait for anyone. You will have to make decisions, and you will make wrong decisions. You will have to go back to the drawing board, you will have to reevaluate your decks. Because you will want to clear the extra challenges each level has. You will want the sweet, sweet bonus cards those extra challenges have hidden.
So, how do you get your grubby little mitts on this hot piece of steam powered action?
Simple, just be the first person to PM me the nickname of Thomas J. Jackson and it is yours. A simple question!
Oh, did I mention that you'll be getting a two pack? What you do with the second copy is up to you. Send it to a friend, or give away the other copy here, do what makes you happy.
It's quite late here so I'll be turning in for the evening and checking my PM box in the morning, best of luck!
You should now be in possession of his return address... you know that information could be handy... for science.
Oh god I may have popped a vein
Ending soon.
Well congratulations to @tacticalheadache for being quick on the draw! Enjoy your two pack of Ironclad Tactics!
I'm around the same speed as you guys, I think.
I usually google "download speed calculators" just to get a rough estimate of the time it would take.
At 256Kbps, a 30 GB file like Max Payne would take.... 260:25:00 to download. I think that's 260 hours and 25 minutes, or approximately 11 days of constant downloading at capacity.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
looks worse than War-Z somehow
Trading | SwagBucks | Twitter | Last.FM | Jack Threads
Considering Day Z only just passes muster due to it's basis in Arma II and it's terrain/systems along with the novelty of what it was providing and the cost of making an actual massive terrain it's not surprising all it's imitators have sucked.
I don't know how I missed that post, but I have since gone back and rectified that mistake. Thanks to you and Drake I am now < $40 poorer, and yet > $40 richer. Much obliged :^:
10 dollar of ingame currency for Warframe.
GTR Evolution
Dark Sector
Cannon Fodder 3
Septerra Core
Space Pirates and Zombies
1953 KGB Unleashed
Guardians of Graxia + Map Pack DLC // Guardians of Graxia: Elves & Dwarves DLC
Edit: Bundlestars also added a new game to the Blaze of Glory bundle if you bought it before. Pirates of Black Cove Gold.
AniList
Some people probably stormed the tower with a sedan, I stormed it with a hummer pimped out in rims, the fleur de saints, with pierce manning the turret, you know my boy likes to make an entrance.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
1) How is groupees about doling out Steam keys if you buy a bundle and pick a non-Steam game if that game ever makes it to Steam. I'm curious because in their current casual bundle I'm looking at Doc Clock, Luxor Evolved, and Crazy Belts. Crazy Belts is not on Steam.
2) Similar for amazon. I own 8 copies of The Curse of Nordic Cove because I'm a crazy person. If it makes it through Greenlight what are the odds that amazon will give me a bunch of keys?
Every opportunity they gave me I flew around in the F-69 VTOL. Though if I needed a car it was almost always the Criminal pick-up truck because if I'm on the ground Oleg is with me.
Loading...?
Edit. Oh, it's a HOG. Now I kinda feel bad for taking it. Someone take this Space Pirates and Zombies key to make me feel better:
36MY9-FXNET-DXYCX
What a classy dude.
Wait, what did I miss? WHAT DID I MISS?
I'm contributing to your cause (if only a little bit), that's what!
Thanks! Been very interested in this game for a while.
I'm no master, but I get the basic ideas; the problem is, this is the tutorial duel, you only have one pre-built deck at your disposal, and there's nothing to manage in it at this point in the game. It's literally, "here's some cards we picked for you, good luck!" Unless, you know, you pay extra to unlock all the optional cards for that deck, or a different deck, etc.
If I'd built the deck, that's one thing; unless I want to pay more for more cards, I have nothing to build decks with yet.
Let's see if I can find them on Google, since I'm not at home... oh, they're right there on the Wizards site:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/digital/duelsoftheplaneswalkers.aspx?x=mtg/digital/d14/decklists
You start with Garruk's Hunter's Strength:
vs Chandra's Firewave
*edit* code is ugly for decklists.
SPAZ code here too in case anyone fancied it but missed out on Corpekata's
Loading...?
Next up: Dishonored!
Also, this is still a thing:
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Seems to be going around these days.
I hope that means you beat Sleeping Dogs and didn't get sick of it.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
I hate the starter deck. I've spent most of the time with it raging against whoever built such a clumsy deck.
I finished the storyline, and did the vast majority of the extraneous stuff.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
That awkward feeling when you try to redeem a game you already own. Reposting the key that Ashe posted. Thanks for being classy Ashe!
Loading...?
I hate you.
I am going to have to buy this on Amazon tonight, where its 20% off.
Odds are you're not that far from it. The final act sneaks up on you out of nowhere.
This game looks....odd but I am just glad the trend of the Japanese recognizing that people like to play games on PC is continuing.
The thing about Sleeping Dogs is that it does somehow manage to feel like a Jet Li as Supercop videogame. Every little touch that was added, from attacking a guy with a fish that you grabbed from the nearby market to the slowdown when you're leaping over tables aiming a gun, just added to the over-the-top martial arts cop gangster feel. The driving in the game didn't have the simulator feel of some other open world titles and instead had a lot more of a Tokyo drift feel with cars that could slam on the parking break and careen around corners or go off huge jumps while you lean out the side shooting out the tires of the pursuing cars and motorcycles.
Also, probably my favorite little touch is that if you're in the middle of a car chase and you shoot out the tires of a car or motorcycle behind you, they flip end over end and explode which... you know... hell yeah. The martial arts combat has a definite Arkham Asylum feel to it, limiting it to only a few buttons and a decent lock on system. One of the issues I had was that as I started to unlock new moves and martial arts combinations I limited myself to just grabbing a dude and breaking his arm and/or leg because the crunching sound and the scream was so satisfying.
The storyline is good enough, with a nice little bit of moral ambiguity regarding the two sides and maybe these cops aren't as helpful as they seem but maybe you shouldn't grab an opposing gangster and chop him up into stew to feed to his friends, but the kindly old chairman of the Triad seems like such a nice honorable guy and oh sure he'll kill you if he wants but he's somebody's grandpa.
I never really get into the dress-up aspect of open world games, but the idea of the set bonuses for wearing certain gear is appealing, particularly when there's a tough mission and you need the "Easier to lose the cops" set bonus or "Never miss a persuade check" set bonus. I also didn't really see the point in buying every vehicle since it would just make my parking garage menu harder to scroll through.
One thing that I think could've been fleshed out more or added to a little bit is the girlfriend system. While there's a single side mission where two of the girlfriends catch you cheating, and one of them triggers the last Cop mission, for the most part they don't seem to be much more than glorified mini-map bonuses. It kind of cheapens the interplay that you DO have with those characters that you can't expand on the relationship at all. I understand everybody likes to min-max, but sometimes forcing players to go through a second time in order to see everything can have its own unique appeal.
Sleeping Dogs is a great game that is a lot of fun to play, has a ton of stuff to do, but isn't as overwhelming as something like Grand Theft Auto. Just about every activity is focused around the main storyline and activities (except the cock-fighting, because dude) and if you're driving a stolen cab and somebody gets in your guy doesn't suddenly pretend to be a cabby he says "Do I look like a fucking cab driver?" and kicks the idiot out.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube