GTA V Pre-release Discussion - ***DO NOT POST SPOILERS*** (Mod warning in first post)

Deleted User wrote: »

Well I can only speak for myself, but GTA is quite literally the only game I play. I have a copy of WWE SvR 2009 for 360 sitting on the shelf, too, but it was played for a week or two when it first came out and then forgotten about.

For me, I like GTA because there's no real end to the amounts of random stuff you can do, and you don't have to do any of it (a big appeal to me). I never really was too fond of games where you're going through a level at a time and you just have to do X and Y correctly to complete it.

First person shooters bore the pants off me, for example, because it's just the same thing over and over and over again (I realise these games become more popular in online multiplayer these days, but I'm not a big online gamer).

I also hate having to repeat levels or missions because I didn't do something right.

Admittedly, all of this stuff is in GTA too, but I generally view the missions as secondary to the city when I get the games. I usually fly through the first few missions (to unlock the second part of the city) and it's free roam from there for me (until I start missions again for the third part of the level).

So that'd be why I enjoy it.

I remember there was a 3rd person shooter game for PS2, where you could make a team of four soldiers, and you had to get through the level, but you could really do it however you wanted to. It was free roam, but with an end-point. I liked that game, too (can't remember the name of it, it was mostly desert based.. i think desert may have been in the name, actually?).


Free roam games are just, in my opinion, generally more fun to play and more enjoyable. Constant instructions or do this, now do that, now go there, congrats you completed the game just doesn't do it for me at all.

My problem is with people who only play one game ad infinitum and have no idea about gaming in general. Hence the random posters with their free roam questions. They made no effort to read about the game before asking. They made no effort to read any of the thread. They made no effort to respond to the replies they got. That was it. "Is this free roam?", gone. It seems they won't even consider anything different and have no interest in engaging.

When MW2 came out and used steamworks there were loads wondering what this steam thing was! Because all they do it play the current awful iteration until the next ****tier one comes out. One of the great things about Steam is picking up a game on a sale and being pleasantly taken by surprise.

And these people are the apparent masses everyone complains about as being the ones leading game design down a brown, scripted, manshoot tunnel or some empty sandbox like Prototype.

Not all games are as narrowly objective based as most modern shooters.
Have you seen the ARMA games? Massive maps with dynamic gameplay. You can create your own missions, download new terrain, someone made a huge chunk of Sligo. The DayZ mod for it has completely taken everyone by surprise and has redefined free roam.

Portal 2 has endless possibilities with a amazingly simple level editor. It's also one of the best written games you'll ever encounter.
Oblivion/Fallout3/Skyrim have a huge open worlds you can explore.
The Assassin's Creed games give you historical cities to climb all over.
Just Cause 2 is a beautifully insane huge tropical country that dwarfs GTA.
Saint's Row, obviously.
L.A. Noire, for all it's faults, has a spectacular rendition of 40's L.A..
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has a remarkably vibrant but terrifying open world.
Even the experimental Dear Esther just lets you wander around a beautiful island.

There are so many amazing worlds to explore in games. This is why I'm annoyed when I hear someone say that all they play is CoD, FIFA and GTA.

Deleted User wrote: »

You see, the thing is, you'd need to have an interest to play them.

LA Noire I've actually played (not for long though, felt it got tedious fairly quickly. Amazing facial recognition technology, but just too much of the same thing for me, which I know may sound hypocritical seen as I just said I only really play one game series).

L.A. Noire is a but dull alright, but there's not much stopping you hopping in a car and driving about. It's at the other end of the spectrum from Saint's Row with GTA in the middle. You can't really mow down civilians or cause mayhem.

I'm aware Assassin's Creed is free roam, but I also believe it's set in the days of Aladdin, where, although you can do what you want, there's actually very limited choice within that? That is, there's no driving or such? He's like a ye olde Spiderman as far as I'm aware (I don't really know anything about the game, though, to be honest. Basing this on small video clips or screenshots).

The first is set during the crusades. You can explore Jerusalem, Damascus etc. The second (and expansions) are set in Renaissance Italy. The third will be set in the US during the American Revolution. You have a horse, and you can free run across the rooftops and through the streets. You're much more mobile on foot than in GTA.

I thought Oblivion, Portal, Just Cause, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Fallout and Skyrim were all first person shooters, to be honest? I've heard of all of those games, but I haven't heard of them being fun to just relax back with. They all seem like they'd be fairly tense games to play?

Oblivion and Skyrim are RPGs which are part of the Elder Scrolls series.
You can switch between first and third person view. They're set in a huge fantasy world not unlike Lord of the Rings. No cars, but you can fly dragons in Skyrim. You can create a character roam about being nice or a total ****. Fallout 3 is similar but unlike the previous games is set in the Fallout universe. This is a post apocalyptic world like Mad Max with lots of nods to the 50's.

Both games give you a lot of choice. They're less scripted, if you let someone die then they're dead, you don't have to repeat it, the story goes on. You can just run about the world ignoring the main story chatting to random people doing quests or fighting monsters.

Just Cause is a thrid person sandbox exactly like GTA but much bigger. It also have a clever grapple weapon. It's not tense at all, it's pretty silly actually.



Yes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first person shooter. But it's a huge open world and one of the most terrifying experiences you can have on a PC. It's also heavily mod supported so you can add vehicles, misery (yes there's a misery mod) and probably even third person view. This game is the literal embodiment of the "in Soviet Russia" meme.


Though probably more of a time sink and is very, very tense.

Portal and Portal 2 are short fun games. They're first person but they're puzzle games and not shooters. They're made by Valve, probably the best PC developer out there and are considered two of the finest games ever made.

I used to play Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, and found them a bit of fun for a while, but again, got fed up with them being too scripted (for lack of a better word). You must do X and Y at precise times or start the level again. On top of that, they have complex storylines and characters and each level is an hour long so you can't just pick-up-and-play as you can with GTA.

Assassin's Creed would be more like this, you should check out RPGs like those above perhaps.

Used to really enjoy Age of Empires and Theme Park and Rollercoaster Tycoon and such, too. But again, all games that you must set aside a fair amount of time for.

Have a look at the Sims and the new SimCity. The Tropico games are also great fun.

That said, I do have some free time coming up. So I picked up GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City, and my PC can run it (at pretty low settings, but still... it can do it) and I also picked up that wireless Microsoft dongle-y thing that lets you use the 360 Joypad on the PC. So if you know of any decent (and very cheap! ) games out there that you'd recommend I'd be very curious to try some.

What do you want to do in your games? Do you just want brief mayhem in a 3D sandbox world? Would you consider novel 2D games like Braid or Limbo? Would a clever 3D platform puzzler like Psychonauts interest you? Do you like point and click adventures like Grim Fandango or Botanicula? Do you like puzzle games? SpaceChem for example. Would dungeon crawlers like Diablo or Torchlight interest you? Would you like to play online?

I've no idea what Steam is though. I've heard the name a lot. Some kind of microsoft/PC online shop for games, as far as I am lead to believe, that also allows you to play online?

Steam is a content delivery system, like itunes but for games run by Valve Software. It originally was used to deliver Half-Life 2 back in 2004 but has grown to be the largest and most successful platform for PC games.

They do crazy sales a few times a year, most notably at Christmas where you could get all the GTA games for €5! You use the steam client to buy, download and launch the games. The games are tied to your account and not your PC. Steam is probably the biggest thing to happen to PC gaming in the last 10 years.

It has a store, online game servers and services, a social network and forums for each game. There are thousands of games on Steam now.

Fussy Eater wrote: »

Christ, I too only play a handful of games these days partly because I'm getting too old to spend much time playing games and partly because there are many things in life other than playing video games. I've never seen anyone get so worked up by other people only dipping their toe in the gaming world and playing a few titles. Hilarious.

The horror of discussing games on a gaming discussion forum?