Yeah, but you probably spoiled yourself on the story already, knowing you. Even that aside, it's a brilliant game. The sequel even more so, gameplay-wise, but the story is a bit lacking.

You spoiled it for him! He was on the same podcast! 

I spent most of the day playing a newish game called This War of Mine, an indie game where you contro a small group (3 to 4) of people and lead them through surviving a war-torn city where resources are limited. The game is divided into two key parts, one where have a cross-section view of your house and build, grow or craft items, feed, entertain and rest your survivors, this all takes place during the day and runs on a clock. The other part of the game is at night, where you send of your people out to scavenge for the resources (wood, medicine, components, weapons, food, cigarettes etc.) at other locations around the city (also in 2d cross-sectional form), sometimes encountering other survivors, soldiers, bandits etc.

It's an engrossing and very different game from what I usually play. Sometimes, you have to make choices about whether to help other people. Do you give up your only drugs to give to a couple of children? Do you take in another survivor who's not that useful even though that means another mouth to feed and your other guys are all hungry?

What makes this game so great for me though is how it's a game of consequences. At one location, I ventured too far and the squatters started chasing me out of it. I had a knife on me so I stabbed and killed one, then another, and then another until all those chasing were dead. This survivor then returned to the shelter, backpack full of stuff I had taken, but was completely shattered by what he had done. Not only was he broken by the experience (and therefore virtually unuseable for tasks) but the effect was felt by all his friends who couldn't believe it had come down to murder.

Very rarely does your avatar in a game come across a human being and here I was reminded I was playing with a character and making him do things that would irrevocably change him. And the guilt and remorse that I felt at making him murder other people was immense.

Anyhow, I'd recommend at least a look at a Let's Play on youtube.

My computer could never handle UT back when it was a big thing, so I've never got the chance to give it a go. I'll give it a download, fancy a game?

Update on my adventures in Tomb Raiding post:

Tomb Raider (2013) was excellent. It has a handful of tombs (tricky but simple puzzle-solving), so it's not so much Tomb Raider as Lara Croft: Origins. However, as far as a reboot beginning to tell the story of how Lara became Lara, it's really, really impressive. It leans towards third-person action, with all the classic jump-and-climb stuff, but I think it's really satisfying. I am thoroughly impressed. And oh my god, the environments are utterly gorgeous. And I don't recall another game (well, except for the Mass Effect trilogy) where I was this immersed in the game. Lara gets repeatedly and seriously fucked up by the environment, and I could almost feel it. I totally recommend this, even at full-price. I will definitely replay this in the not-too-distant future.

Tomb Raider I: Goddamn, it holds up well. I only ever played the third one as a kid, so this was new to me, but it does have some interesting and mind-wracking puzzles. I was gonna play it out of historical interest, but it held my attention all the way through. And, holy crap, the whole game was designed and made by a grand total of six people!
(Also, this might be the premiere animal-killing game. Yikes.)

Tomb Raider II: Equally fun and quite a bit harder, but still good. Although the level design can get confusing and needlessly complex (if you can complete the whole game without once referring to a walkthrough, I salute you).

On to Tomb Raider III, which I last played half my life ago....

edited: to make that a 4-period ellipsis. because, you know.

Last edited by Herc (2015-03-08 23:10:21)

Disclaimer: if you dislike the tone of a post I make, re-read it in a North/East London accent until it sounds sufficiently playful

I liked the new Tomb Raider reboot quite a bit. Although, it did kind of drag on for me.

Felt a lot like Uncharted, which was appreciated. :)

NO GOLDEN EYE! That is all I am saying!

I wish it was - but yeah no.  It was as a failed attempt online as another thing. Add the steam thing. It should be fun!

...eh, what?

If you're referring to GoldenEye online, it's an N64 Emulator that enables online play as emulated offline multiplayer. The player starting the game is player 1, controls the game and such, and you're all playing on the same screen.
It works just fine.

Oh, now suddenly the Norwegian isn't that bad, eh?

I can attest to that.