|
This was probably one of the most atmospheric games I've played in a while. The bits when you enter a peaceful Metro station and just listen to the conversations, watch the theatre show, get the little kid's teddy bear back, and watch everyone just going about their daily lives are very well done. I was also surprised at how well it ran on my computer on Very High, considering that Metro 2033 was a slideshow on the same settings. At some points throughout the game I felt pretty bummed that it didn't at least try to take into account your ending from the previous game. I understand they kept the bad ending as canonical because that's what the novel ended upon, but it still would've been a nice touch for those who actually got the good ending. The analogy connecting Artyom's life and the little Dark One was pretty striking though. I didn't blow up their family Lediur fucked around with this message at 01:33 on May 26, 2013 |
# ? May 26, 2013 01:26 |
|
|
# ? May 29, 2024 22:48 |
|
Shakra posted:From what I read online it sounded like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. books were basically just bad fanfiction, so I had planned to avoid them. I didn't know there was a movie, it looks like it was based off the Roadside Picnic book. I'll definitely watch it after I finish the book thanks for the heads up. I really enjoyed the book Roadside Picnic (and also the novel of Metro 2033), but I was disappointed by the Stalker movie. It's by Andrei Tarkovsky, the same guy that did Solaris, which I thought was a great film; I actually enjoy "arty" slow-paced films. But Stalker wastes the book's premise. There's a well-known synopsis of the film that reads simply: "A film about three men walking through the wooded territory, two of which are mostly calm, and the third is constantly afraid of something." And that's pretty much accurate. Here's something I dug up from the old Let's Play STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl thread: an old Finnish parody of the film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqNKFd36954 It's a short skit from a comedy show made to look like what announcements on TV looked like at the time. At the beginning the announcer says "Tonights movie 'Glass' is a fast-paced Soviet thriller that follows the odyssey of ex-KGB agent Michail Gulashnikov into post-nuclear Moscow." Hahahahaha. Stalker is disappointing because it is a film set in a place where you can randomly explode or get turned into a zombie or get squashed flat by a gravitational anomaly... and the entire film is just three guys wandering around in empty fields or an underground tunnel, arguing with each other, being told to be careful otherwise they will walk into deadly danger that we never actually get to see. Roadside Picnic is not an action-packed story, but why decide to turn it into a film and then intentionally remove all the small amount of excitement from it? The film has some nice cinematography and there are a couple of spooky moments. But it is weird to make a film based on Roadside Picnic where no danger is encountered and no physics are defied. That's just teasing the audience. I later learned that the original print was destroyed in a fire, forcing Tarkovsky to shoot the entire movie all over again. Originally the film had more similarities to the book, but since he had to remake it again with zero budget, the film was reduced to monologuing and philosophising without any of the excitement that was supposed to break up the dialogue. I still reckon that even with zero budget for special effects, they could have had some squashed or burnt objects or something to suggest that there really was some kind of danger. Honestly, that's all the film needed. It's still a film worth seeing... as long as you don't expect to see any bizarre deaths or anomalies.
|
# ? May 26, 2013 02:17 |
|
quote:I don't know what you guys have been doing, but I got the 'good' ending straight off the bat. I think if you are low on 'good' points, you should try going through the Moscow resedential buildings and check out all the ghosts? That seemed to help me. The big differences between 2033 and Last Light for me was that Metro 2033 didn't tell you it had a morality system, but I was expecting it in Last Light, and the atmosphere of the game. The first one had a tagline of "fear the future", which reflected how Artyom and everyone else pretty much felt and lived in the Metro, but in Last Light, Artyom (in a loading screen) declares "for the future", which to me summed up the difference pretty well. RBA Starblade fucked around with this message at 02:35 on May 26, 2013 |
# ? May 26, 2013 02:31 |
|
your evil twin posted:Stalker movie stuff Not to turn this into the cinema forum but I think you might have missed a lot of what's going on in there. As you said you enjoyed Solaris, it's worth noting that Tarkovsky thought it his weakest film. Stalker really isn't a movie for everyone though, I'd personally rate it as one of the best movies I've watched, and I put it on regularly.
|
# ? May 26, 2013 05:22 |
|
your evil twin posted:I really enjoyed the book Roadside Picnic (and also the novel of Metro 2033), but I was disappointed by the Stalker movie. It's by Andrei Tarkovsky, the same guy that did Solaris, which I thought was a great film; I actually enjoy "arty" slow-paced films. But Stalker wastes the book's premise. There's a well-known synopsis of the film that reads simply: "A film about three men walking through the wooded territory, two of which are mostly calm, and the third is constantly afraid of something." And that's pretty much accurate... Ooh I should watch Solaris too, that was a great book. Shakra fucked around with this message at 10:36 on May 26, 2013 |
# ? May 26, 2013 10:31 |
|
RBA Starblade posted:I've got a code, I just see nowhere to use it at. here
|
# ? May 26, 2013 10:35 |
|
Thanks! I thought it was at Steam or ingame somewhere.
|
# ? May 26, 2013 18:16 |
|
Shakra posted:From what I read online it sounded like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. books were basically just bad fanfiction, so I had planned to avoid them. I didn't know there was a movie, it looks like it was based off the Roadside Picnic book. I'll definitely watch it after I finish the book thanks for the heads up. The movie is uh... it's really something. It's a legitimately great movie, made by one of Russia's most famous directors-- Andrei Tarkovsky, who also made Solaris and Andrei Rublev. Not a lot like the book or the games, there's virtually no explanation or exposition, but a huge achievement in its own right. It's cool. e: whoops you heard some of that already. But yes watch Solaris too, it's excellent and it's a lot more like the source material than Stalker. There's a Steven Soderbergh remake with George Clooney but all I remember about that is the guy who played Daniel on LOST listening to Insane Clown Posse on the space station. swamp waste fucked around with this message at 22:44 on May 26, 2013 |
# ? May 26, 2013 22:40 |
|
swamp waste posted:The movie is uh... it's really something. It's a legitimately great movie, made by one of Russia's most famous directors-- Andrei Tarkovsky, who also made Solaris and Andrei Rublev. Not a lot like the book or the games, there's virtually no explanation or exposition, but a huge achievement in its own right. It's cool. One of the questions that was brought up in the stalker movie was if the Zone was even real or not. They don't see any anomalies and at the end they don't even go to the wish granter. I liked it, anyways. Also I'm pretty sure the filming of stalker killed tarkovsky and like half of the film crew with cancers because they all got exposed to toxic waste.
|
# ? May 26, 2013 23:56 |
|
Finished Last Light tonight and I got the bad ending, though somehow it seems fitting. I was a bit disgruntled most of the game because I got the good ending in Metro 2033 on my first playthrough and it really bugs me that's not canon so I was a murder machine in this game. Why punch you out when I can slash your throat?? Ultimately, it's a beautiful game and much more satisfying than Bioshock Infinite which is the other game I'd been looking forward to so much, but I found Metro 2033 more emotionally moving than Last Light. That game made me feel so much like I was being told a story by the other characters as they walked through it with me, especially Khan. Maybe I'm just mis-remembering it, but I felt like I had someone accompanying through much more of the last game than this one where I'm alone fighting off monsters by myself for long stretches at a time.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 08:37 |
|
I felt the exact same way but opposite. Last Light, especially the last third, was much more moving than 2033 (or any game I've played and can remember)
|
# ? May 27, 2013 08:43 |
|
KaneTW posted:I felt the exact same way but opposite. Last Light, especially the last third, was much more moving than 2033 (or any game I've played and can remember) I think my feelings are largely determined by being unhappy that my 2033 ending was a lie. It messed with my suspension of disbelief for much of Last Light because I kept thinking, "but I didn't do that!". I wish now they'd forgone that ending and stuck with the book.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 09:34 |
|
I think it actually improved the experience for me -- I was atoning for a bad deed the player character committed. I did get the good ending in 2033 but because it was well known that LL went with the bad ending I could live with it. I didn't want to nuke your family little dark one
|
# ? May 27, 2013 10:14 |
|
Well, I found a rather neat feature when playing this on my Alienware M14x. First off, the game seems to take control of the AlienFX lights (keyboard, touchpad, and logo lights) and changes the color and brightness based on the lighting in the game. So the lights will be off when you're in the shadows and hidden and change to white when you're in the light and visible. The reaction time is a little slow to reliably use as an alternative to the watch and makes gaming in the dark difficult since you can't see the keys in the dark. Still, it's a pretty cool touch. The keys also seem to change color based on the temperature of the light in game. However, I haven't done enough extensive testing on the M14x to be sure since I've used my desktop until now. Being a first gen M14x, I can get well over 60 fps when I have everything basically set to low running at 1600x900. Even so, the game still looks pretty good at least in dark, indoor levels like Revolution.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 16:05 |
|
Is it ever really explained why the dark ones were killing people like crazy in the first game? That was the reason that they got missle'd right?
|
# ? May 27, 2013 16:34 |
|
Miltank posted:Is it ever really explained why the dark ones were killing people like crazy in the first game? That was the reason that they got missle'd right? Yeah it was accidental, they were trying to communicate and wound up scrambling brains basically.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 16:40 |
|
Miltank posted:Is it ever really explained why the dark ones were killing people like crazy in the first game? That was the reason that they got missle'd right? They tried to communicate and ended up frying people's brains in the process. efb
|
# ? May 27, 2013 16:47 |
|
Also people would freak out and shoot them on sight.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 17:24 |
|
Is it ever said what happened to hunter?
|
# ? May 27, 2013 17:41 |
|
Skoots posted:Is it ever said what happened to hunter? It's strongly implied that he was killed by the Dark Ones, either accidentally while trying to communicate with him, or intentionally in self-defense after they realized he was trying to kill them.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 17:47 |
|
I don't think he ever shows back up in the games, but regarding the books, he's one of the main characters in Metro 2034. It seems that he had some kind of mental break dealing with the dark ones and becomes some kind of wild man marauder.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 17:52 |
|
I'm loving the different guns in this game. The Ashot is my personal favorite and I had one with a laser sight and silencer so I could murder the hell out of human targets without reprisal, but I finally had to give it up because eventually everything is either a monster that can take four (silenced) shotgun blasts to the face or is covered head to toe in armor. I wish the Ashot had a chamber upgrade that let it hold more ammo, because it's a fun gun. How much impact does the silencer have on the shotgun's damage? The Saiga is pretty good but does it normally take 2 to 4 shots to drop a Watchman?
|
# ? May 27, 2013 18:00 |
|
Man, I just got the bad ending. I don't get it! I explored everything and took the 'good' decision at every opportunity. Also rangers are kind if dicks. if they can't have D6, no one else can? Am planning on a second run. Does anyone know when's the earliest time you can get the big sniper rifle?
|
# ? May 27, 2013 19:43 |
|
Adrastus posted:Man, I just got the bad ending. I don't get it! I explored everything and took the 'good' decision at every opportunity. Also rangers are kind if dicks. if they can't have D6, no one else can? D6 is full of nothing but biological and chemical weapons, Ulman kept the rangers there to keep anyone else from using them.
|
# ? May 27, 2013 20:03 |
|
Heads up for anyone who didn't pre-order but still want Ranger mode. Its a registry tweak! http://www.dsogaming.com/news/embarrassing-metro-last-lights-ranger-difficulty-can-be-easily-activated-via-a-registry-tweak/
|
# ? May 27, 2013 20:16 |
|
Endymion FRS MK1 posted:Heads up for anyone who didn't pre-order but still want Ranger mode. Its a registry tweak! Haha wow that's really something, I wonder how they're gonna handle the guys who didn't preorder and bought the DLC. Time for a second playthrough the way it's meant to be played! Ra-amun fucked around with this message at 01:37 on May 28, 2013 |
# ? May 28, 2013 01:35 |
|
Would you guys recommend this game to someone who loved 2033's atmosphere but thought the gameplay pretty mediocre and was annoyed by poo poo like gas masks and ammo scarcity ?
|
# ? May 28, 2013 01:39 |
|
Ayn Marx posted:Would you guys recommend this game to someone who loved 2033's atmosphere but thought the gameplay pretty mediocre and was annoyed by poo poo like gas masks and ammo scarcity ? Shooting and stealth-wise, the gameplay is significantly better (though a bit easier). Gas Masks and ammo scarcity are sorta core to it, but don't play on Ranger and you should be fine.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 01:48 |
Miltank posted:Is it ever really explained why the dark ones were killing people like crazy in the first game? That was the reason that they got missle'd right? The dark ones were all "hey, there are other sentient things in those tunnels! Let's go make some friends!" and started creepily lumbering toward the nearest human outpost. People saw this and started firing guns at them because they didn't know these big, black alien looking humanoids actually wanted to be buddies. Then to make things look even worse, whenever they tried to communicate with someone, by touching them, the person couldn't take it and would die. Edit: The hidden ending of Metro 2033 was dumb and I wish they didn't include it at all. Sankis fucked around with this message at 01:58 on May 28, 2013 |
|
# ? May 28, 2013 01:53 |
|
Ayn Marx posted:Would you guys recommend this game to someone who loved 2033's atmosphere but thought the gameplay pretty mediocre and was annoyed by poo poo like gas masks and ammo scarcity ? No. As has been said, stealth is a lot less frustrating (laughably easy, actually) but other than that it's still pretty much the same game with the addition of high-resolution boobs. That said, I'm playing on the hardest difficulty and I've only run into a single (but admittedly long) scenario where I've run entirely out of ammo and was forced to resort to throwing knives. However, this was because I'd failed to remember that I could use the military grade ammo (which acts as currency) in my weapons instead of normal rounds. If you're not sold, wait for a sale. I'm sure it's bound to go on sale for dirt cheap eventually like 2033 did.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 03:56 |
|
If there's ever another game, I hope it moves away from the Dark Ones and focuses more on the supposedly supernatural nature of the metro and the stranger stations. There are some really cool and creepy stations in the book, and it'd be really cool to visit some of them. In particular, there is a station of satanists that would make for some pretty cool videogaming.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 04:36 |
|
As someone whose favorite levels are ALL supernatural ones, I agree 1000x
|
# ? May 28, 2013 05:09 |
|
Blue Raider posted:If there's ever another game, I hope it moves away from the Dark Ones and focuses more on the supposedly supernatural nature of the metro and the stranger stations. There are some really cool and creepy stations in the book, and it'd be really cool to visit some of them. In particular, there is a station of satanists that would make for some pretty cool videogaming. Or the whole section of the metro nobody or anything ever goes into. It'd be interesting to find out what's in there.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 05:50 |
|
If Metro could move away from the linearity a bit I think it would be one of the best series out there. Last Light was a kickass game despite kind of fitting into my least favorite genre at times, but i would have loved if the sense of exploration was ramped up and I could return to areas instead of having them always blocked off to keep the story going. That whole rail car sequence was a small taste of what I want Metro to be as a whole.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 06:09 |
|
Endymion FRS MK1 posted:Heads up for anyone who didn't pre-order but still want Ranger mode. Its a registry tweak! Hah. While I love the game, the devs and/or publisher do deserve this one.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 06:10 |
|
PureRok posted:Or the whole section of the metro nobody or anything ever goes into. It'd be interesting to find out what's in there. It's been awhile since I read the book but if I remember right there were several branches of the metro that got cut off at the same time as the nukes went off. If I remember correctly one of them was the university lines, meaning there's a whole isolated line of the metro that was filled with professors and college students. That would be interesting to explore. Like, all the metro is just barely scraping by, surviving mutant attacks, etc. and then they visit the university stations where they see like full scale hydroponic farms and working computer networks and completely tamed mutants because all the smart dudes basically got locked into one line and ended up thriving. There were also mentions in-game of other cities that managed to survive, I think St. Petersburg was one of them. We could explore there. Whole new environment means new factions and possibly even new mutants. ...or something like that. I'm running on 3 hours of sleep here so forgive me if none of that made sense.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 06:12 |
|
Fewd posted:Hah. While I love the game, the devs and/or publisher do deserve this one. Devs wanted it in the game to begin with, if I remember correctly. It was either a publisher or retailer decision because "We need pre-order DLC!!!"
|
# ? May 28, 2013 06:32 |
|
Anybody who's gotten the season pass- where does the shotgun show up? I started a new playthrough before buying it, and I think I need to start over.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 06:42 |
|
Cheston posted:Anybody who's gotten the season pass- where does the shotgun show up? I started a new playthrough before buying it, and I think I need to start over. Apparently, it shows up at almost ever vendor for people on Ranger mode, but it only shows up in the high-end shops for Regular.
|
# ? May 28, 2013 09:07 |
|
|
# ? May 29, 2024 22:48 |
|
NESguerilla posted:If Metro could move away from the linearity a bit I think it would be one of the best series out there. Last Light was a kickass game despite kind of fitting into my least favorite genre at times, but i would have loved if the sense of exploration was ramped up and I could return to areas instead of having them always blocked off to keep the story going. The metro, as described in the first book, really doesn't lend itself well to open-world exploration at all. The vast majority of stations are difficult to get into, even when just travelling through. Everyone is incredibly paranoid of everyone else (The only exception being travel between the Hansa ring stations), requiring travellers to have paperwork and passports. On top of this, a whole bunch of the tunnels are described as being completely impassable either due to demons/radiation/supernatural poo poo or simply through collapses. On top of that you have stations wholly occupied by religious cults, cannibal tribes, mutants and crazy people. The way Artyom plots out his journey near the beginning of 2033 pretty much comprises of "Well, I can't use any of these tunnels, which leaves this station and maybe this station, and I need documents to get through that". Then even with the very narrow route he can take, he nearly dies/gets stuck a whole bunch. To clarify, I'm not saying an open-world Metro wouldn't be great. Just explaining why I think the linearity and on-rails story telling fits more thematically. Zylen fucked around with this message at 10:15 on May 28, 2013 |
# ? May 28, 2013 10:12 |