STEAM Backlog Project 2012-2017

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:01 pm

I got so involved in FO4 I forgot I had gotten a few new games during that period. So now I'm slowing down On FO4 and finding me new games to try.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:32 pm

I'm about 3 hours into the Vanishing of Ethan Carter and it's not at all what I expected. It's a beautiful game - the Unreal Engine looks fantastic. From the outset the game warns you that it doesn't "hold your hand", which is definitely true. I personally could use some more hand-holding, but that's just me. Anyway, I was walking around and soaking in the environment when the content took a really, really dark turn - and that gets to what I wasn't expecting. I won't spoil it here, but yeah...dark. That being said, now I'm a bit nervous as the part I'm about to tackle is a maze that allegedly has jump scares. Two things about Smoove_B - I don't like mazes in games, and I don't do jump scares. Going to have to research a bit. Anyway, it's been enjoyable so far - very much feels like a mix between Murdered: Soul Suspect and Alan Wake. My biggest complaint so far is the complete lack of saves. When you solve a puzzle, the game auto saves for you - other than that, you'll exit the game and when you come back you're at the last puzzle you finished. Doesn't really lend itself to casual play in that respect as you need to hammer through the puzzles to save your progress.

storz · Post by **storz** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:00 pm

Smoove_B wrote:I'm about 3 hours into the Vanishing of Ethan Carter and it's not at all what I expected. It's a beautiful game - the Unreal Engine looks fantastic. From the outset the game warns you that it doesn't "hold your hand", which is definitely true. I personally could use some more hand-holding, but that's just me. Anyway, I was walking around and soaking in the environment when the content took a really, really dark turn - and that gets to what I wasn't expecting. I won't spoil it here, but yeah...dark. That being said, now I'm a bit nervous as the part I'm about to tackle is a maze that allegedly has jump scares. Two things about Smoove_B - I don't like mazes in games, and I don't do jump scares. Going to have to research a bit. Anyway, it's been enjoyable so far - very much feels like a mix between Murdered: Soul Suspect and Alan Wake. My biggest complaint so far is the complete lack of saves. When you solve a puzzle, the game auto saves for you - other than that, you'll exit the game and when you come back you're at the last puzzle you finished. Doesn't really lend itself to casual play in that respect as you need to hammer through the puzzles to save your progress.

Are you playing the Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux version? I have almost no problem get back to where I was, although sometimes I still have to back track. According to developer:"

1. A new save system. The UE3 version saved only entire solved areas. This was not the worst solution imaginable for this particular game but it was confusing. Now the game simply saves the state of the whole world right after most player actions, so you can exit the game at any time and when you come back the world will be restored as expected."

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:06 pm

Of course I am not. I didn't even see it in my account until after you posted that - I'm playing the original version. Good to note.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:18 am

As I usually do over Christmas, I've completed some short adventures. This time it has been Contradiction and Her Story, both modern FMV adventures. I really loved them both, but they are very different. Contradiction is a better game. Her Story is more experimental, like someone could say Memento was an experimental movie but actually somehow unsatisfying (although I love that movie). If you want to know more, I've posted Steam reviews on each.

Oh, and go play the free Dr. Langeskov, the Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist. It takes 20-30 minutes.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:38 am

Smoove_B wrote:Of course I am not. I didn't even see it in my account until after you posted that - I'm playing the original version. Good to note.

The same thing happened to Ether One when I was a good ways into it. I scrapped the install so I could start over with the new version, but I don't know how likely that is.

On another note, given that I just finished two FMV games, I started to try MISSING: An Interactive Thriller - Episode One and accidentally finished it. The existing episode is no more than 30 minutes long. It's more like a demo or proof of concept.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:26 am

Feb 02, 2015 wrote:Over the weekend, I was working on ArmA: Cold War Crisis, and had a fun mission in #23 - Saboteur. The mission has you playing stealthy to take out a tank FOB under cover of darkness.

I have not been able to make it past the next mission, Guardian. It involves keeping three supply trucks from being shot through with holes on a loooong trip across the countryside.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 12:20 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
Feb 02, 2015 wrote:Over the weekend, I was working on ArmA: Cold War Crisis, and had a fun mission in #23 - Saboteur. The mission has you playing stealthy to take out a tank FOB under cover of darkness.
I have not been able to make it past the next mission, Guardian. It involves keeping three supply trucks from being shot through with holes on a loooong trip across the countryside.

Spoilers for each mission is available here should you need it.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:04 pm

I've been to the site. I get impatient and have the convoy move up. I basically need to scour the map in Lone Wolf mode with a gunner in my M113 and clear the map before ever giving them an order to head out if I'm going to have a chance, what with my one save available.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 3:20 pm

Unless, of course, you bend the rules and save more than once, as I did in a few particularly frustrating missions.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:42 pm

\Steam\steamapps\common\ARMA Cold War Assault\Users\Newb\Saved\campaigns\1985\safe.fps

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Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:46 am

Gasp. I am shocked. Shocked!

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:31 pm

Getting back into B&C Deadline and trying to Finished HuniePop.

Really have to crank up the trait levels in HuniePOp, and that means... conversation with the ladies.

B&C Deadline is very unforgiving even early on, as you get rushed from multiple angles, and supplies are VERY difficult to come by so you debate on whether to use a flashbang or a grenade (or not). Or can you distract a horde with a flare so you can shoot them from a distance and/or give you extra time to shoot a smaller horde that's closer to you. Gets really tactical.

Just getting started in Hacknet. It's really just like Hacker Evolution and Uplink.

I'm done with Killer is Dead and probably Flying Tigers. While I kinda like the style of KID, it's not my cup of tea.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:45 pm

Seems the opinions are mixed for the Guild of Dungeoneering, but for time I've spent with it so far, I rather enjoy it. The artwork is something I really like and it's nice to just fire up and hammer out some quick adventures. The bard narrator is fantastic and the humor is spot-on. I guess if you just sit and play it for hours and hours at a clip, maybe there's burnout? I dunno. For a 30 minute quickie, it feels just right. Plus, graph paper.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:46 pm

B&C Deadline is extremely unforgiving with minimal available heal and there's almost no way to flush enemies out of cover except spending those precious flashbangs and whatnot, or else scrap weapons you don't want (like trading M-4's for SOPMOD) and use scraps to barter for other stuff.

I actually found a back door into an area I originally had to assault, but there's no cover if you attack that way. And this game doesn't do manual save so restoring from checkpoint is a bit of PITA.

Trying "Brutal Legend" now. It's quite hilarious how they turned Metal into a fantasy universe combat.

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:48 pm

I'm playing one I picked up sometime last year called Lumino City. It's a light puzzle adventure game, but the artwork is just outstanding. Apparently it was all modeled in 3D by hand, as in with actual materials, not via a graphics program. Has a wonderful feel to it. I'm not steam friends with EVERYONE here, but it isn't showing as being on anyone's radar, so I figure I should recommend it.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:43 pm

Maybe I spent too much time with Breach and Clear, but Door Kickers just feels...off somehow. It doesn't feel like your guys are nearly as smart (?) or reactive - and maybe that's intention. Maybe I'm supposed to level them up and unlock perks or skill or whatever they call them, but they seem to just go into a room and hang out way longer before shooting than I'd like. I think it's also the amount of line-of-sight aiming I need to do for them. The Breach and Clear guys know how to stack up better whereas I'll send the Door Kickers team into a corridor and one of the guys will stop facing a wall rather than correctly covering a door or the rear. It just feels weird. I think I'll need to spend more time with it, but I'll go against what others said and state my preference for Breach and Clear, not Door Kickers (so far).

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:21 am

Kasey Chang wrote:Trying "Brutal Legend" now. It's quite hilarious how they turned Metal into a fantasy universe combat.

Good luck. Loved it so much until the RTS combat killed it for me.

paulbaxter wrote:I'm playing one I picked up sometime last year called Lumino City. It's a light puzzle adventure game, but the artwork is just outstanding. Apparently it was all modeled in 3D by hand, as in with actual materials, not via a graphics program. Has a wonderful feel to it. I'm not steam friends with EVERYONE here, but it isn't showing as being on anyone's radar, so I figure I should recommend it.

I have it but haven't played it. It's the follow-up to the game Lume that came first.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 7:14 am

JetFred wrote:
Kasey Chang wrote:Trying "Brutal Legend" now. It's quite hilarious how they turned Metal into a fantasy universe combat.
Good luck. Loved it so much until the RTS combat killed it for me.

Hmmmm... At least in the first battle I just keep the queue filled up with units as needed and join in whenever I can. And yes, it's rather annoying, like 3rd person RTS with you on the battlefield doing melees and whatnot... Change of pace for sure. I guess I'll see how bad it gets.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 4:27 am

Still playing B&C Deadline. I cheated and I've maxed out my squad, which, with one guy that has full heal, makes the squad much more durable as I can afford to make mistakes, albeit, just small ones.

Taking out mercs turns out to be more troublesome as they are seriously armed and can do damage even to my spec ops guys. Good thing they are all wearing red shirts. (hahahahaha) When they get snipers it gets REALLY annoying.

I'm at the park about to head down into the caves for thermite, having cleared all the previous objectives. The diner was a close call... The mercs setup in the main area with clear field of fire and my attempt to enter from the kitchen didn't quite work... Had to use one of the precious smoke grenades for cover, then my sniper wiped them out just as smoke dissipated. Then it's a matter of cleaning up the new zeds coming from off map.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:04 pm

Ran into a gamestopper bug in B&C Deadline. I was supposed to get a special level that reveals some fuel drums I can rig thermite charges to and the whole place goes kablam. However, there was no such location when I explored every nook and crany on level B6. The Nav marker points to the exit, but on next level it points at the entrance. I've been shunted into a Twilight zone unable to advance in the game.

And I'm not the only one with this little problem.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:20 pm

Beta version fixed the bug, was able to advance past the problem.

I'll have to troll the dungeon for a better shotgun. I got a "red" shotgun and it's not as good as I hoped.

Well, "finished" the main campaign, then went back to troll the dungeons. Did the sewers in Suburbs (which is pretty hard). I guess I can go try the other 3 (there's also the caves, the other sewers, and the Jupiter Building just for grins. Already picked up 2 legendary jackets "Sea green", 2 legendary helmets "Ballistic helmet", a legendary pistol "Deception", a super-compact LMG "Shrike" that's very rare (red), some more blue LMGs and Assault rifles. Haven't found a legendary rifle, LMG, or shotgun yet.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:27 pm

I'm in the home stretch of ARMA Cold War Assault (formerly Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis). I'm torn between trying to knock off some linear games and diving into Elite: Dangerous.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:33 pm

I would actually pay money for a tutorial to be added to Xenonauts as I think the game would be 100% better to have it as I probably spent half of my play time reading through all the in-game documentation. To be fair, it is excellent, but man..reading. Regardless, I don't have nearly as much of a strong love for the XCOM game that inspired this one, so I can more or less just play it for what it is, i.e. there's no need to address nostalgia for me. I do think I need to start over on total weenie mode based on the comments in the official thread as I'm finding it absurdly difficult on normal (or whatever it was I selected). I've seen that there are tons of tutorial videos on the Youtube so maybe I'll hit there too. I can say that it definitely takes me back to the 90s - and that's even without a strong tie to the original. I have to believe true fans love it. Or hate it - you know how fans are.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:07 pm

I'm kinda debating whether to play further in Brutal Legends. While the varied challenges are kinda fun and the fighting is kinda interesting, I have a feeling I'd soon be bored stiff as difficulty ramps up to frustration.

Will probably play a bit more Legend of Korra instead.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:35 pm

Put the game into easy mode and just hammer through the RTS stuff. It's easily one of the worst design decisions ever in a game but IMHO the story is worth getting through those relatively small annoyances. It's a classic despite those warts.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:04 am

Did some B&C Deadline dungeon trolling instead. Went to level 20 of both Jupiter Building and First set of sewers. Will look for the dungeon in the caves (could have swore went to B20 already) and in the suburbs (I think that's the exit to the actual docks). Dock area has no dungeon.

If you want the ultra rare stuff you'll need to troll the deepest levels of the dungeons... (each bottoms out at level 20) and if you explore the least level for loot containers carefully. I was hoping to find FOUR purple (legendary) weapons appropriate for each but I guess it wasn't time yet, just found a second one. Still need a legendary sniper rifle and legendary shotgun.

EDIT: Found TWO legendary sniper rifles, AND a legendary shotgun, AND a legendary LMG, so everybody has a rare now. However, haven't made it to the end the "final dungeon".

EDIT: Made it to final dungeon, so now I've done all 5 dungeons to the bitter end, 100 levels (20 x 5 dungeons) and grabbed lots of loot. I have a full collection of legendary purple guns and whatnot, but it's probably not complete. Not that I really care... I'm done with this game.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:39 am

ARMA: Cold War Assault is being marked Complabandoned. The A-10 mission is crashing every time I run it.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:25 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:ARMA: Cold War Assault is being marked Complabandoned. The A-10 mission is crashing every time I run it.

1) Are you on V1.99 (as per BiStudio website)

2) How is it crashing?

3) Check this topic:https://steamcommunity.com/app/65790/di ... 653350646/

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:55 pm

Finished "Quacamelee Gold" with cheat. I don't do jump puzzles that well, so I basically cheated my way through (god mode and all that). It was a fun ride.

Finished "Legend of Korra". It's a fun ride too, had to cheat for the end game as it's just too hard otherwise. Yes, I'm that lousy of a player, even on Casual.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 1:01 pm

Put about 3 hours into Card Dungeon and felt it was worth the time. It's definitely titled towards random outcomes, but I like the design aesthetic and humor (as mentioned by tgb in the thread). I finished the first adventure (3 chapters) in that three hour time so with 10 adventures I guess there's a potential time sink there. Definitely a solid time waster. No thoughts on how it compares to Card Hunter as I haven't tried that yet (but it's on the list).

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:28 pm

Decided to go back into Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 for more headshots, but this time, going for the secrets, just to see where they are. And there's a few doozies.

EDIT: WTF? It crashes after every mission, and I'm STUCK on the first mission.

EDIT2: WTF? My "start new game" new game is corrupted. I reloaded my OLD savegame from last year and it works fine, can continue from game to game. WEIRD...

EDIT3: Got all 12 secrets for Act 1. Hmmm... It's nasty, as they are in places you don't expect to go.

EDIT4: Play Act 2 Part 1 of 3, only got 3 out of 4. Had to watch a video to find the fourth. WTF? Got tired.

Went to play STACKING instead. Cute little game. Who knew stacking dolls can be so much fun?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 4:11 pm

Finally have been able to get through a few games that have been clogging up my backlog...

I managed to put a solid three hours in to Hand of Fate and I'm feeling conflicted about it. Maybe it's because I'm not making my own decks (and allowing the game to auto create them) but I tried getting through the 4th boss at least three times and was defeated rather easily. Twice during the adventure phase and at least once during the final show down. I guess this tilts more random than I expected (which isn't necessarily bad) but it also feels like the difficulty shot right the hell up.

Put a few hours into Battle Academy 2 as well. Really awesome soundtrack but I'm after playing it on the default difficulty level, I think I'm going to need to drop it to training wheels difficulty. I don't know if I just don't grok the rules or the game is genuinely difficult but it was much more challenging than I was expecting.

I also managed a few hours with Heroes of Normandie and feel rather mixed. I knew it was a board game translation and I had been looking to pick it up. What I didn't know was that this game's version of the board game is...puzzly? Is that the right word? You start a match and have to fulfill a series of objectives in a certain number of turns. It's not just a "here's the scenario...fight!", which is what I was expecting. Regardless, I like the look and how it pretty much feels like you're playing a board game (with chits), so that's good. I just don't know if the puzzle-based game play is exactly what I was looking for.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:18 pm

I haven't followed this topic too religiously, so apologies if this has already been posted, but this could be a handy resource for those wanting to clear off titles.

Just put in your Steam ID and it will give you an estimated total time to 'finish' your Steam collection, plus times for the individual games. You can even sort it by shortest to longest. I've used the core site periodically, and they tend to do a good job with their estimates, which are based on numerous submissions by the community.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:49 pm

I use that site all the time to figure out what to tackle next based on estimated play time. I'm still trying to put time into the games I've purchased to see if I even like them (i.e. the point of this thread); I haven't even started to address the number of games I know I like that I'm slowly getting through.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:54 pm

I'm pretty sure that I would be an outlier on Supreme Commander. I'm at 24 hours, and looks like 2/3 of the way through one campaign. At six hours per mission, finishing the campaign plus the other two would take me 108 hours. They have Completionist listed at 47.5 hours.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:14 pm

I tend to run way over their estimates myself, but I tend to be over-thorough in strategy games, and I like to over-explore in RPGs and shooters. It is still a good estimate to build off of, though. Like right now. I've just finished a bunch of long games and open world games, and am kind of in the mood for some shorter stuff.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 1:24 pm

I purchased Ryse last week as part of the $5 sale and after about 2 hours began to think I'd made a huge mistake. I'd made it to the third chapter and was stuck, unable to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong and thinking maybe it was related to the fact that I selected normal difficulty over toddler. I quit the game after 3 hours and then dropped back to the easiest level and started over. At some point during the tutorial I completely missed that the entire point of this game is to initiate executions, not actually exchange in a blow-for-blow sword swing with groups of dudes. In my defense, the game looks amazing and there's a lot to take in when they start you off. Suffice to say, it's like a totally different game to me now and I'm actually loving it. That doesn't happen to often for me, but I think the game now "clicks" and in addition to being absolutely beautiful it's filling a void for sword-based combat in video games. Not sure I'd recommend it without the right PC and the use of an Xbox controller, but this was rescued from what was almost an uninstall. Definitely pick it up on the cheap during a sale. Big fun to play elite Roman solider and eviscerate (sometimes literally) barbarians.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:07 pm

Even though the original quickly moved out of my gaming rotation last year, I decided to pick up Knights of Pen and Paper 2 during a sale a few weeks ago and I'm glad I did. I don't know exactly what changed between the two, but the sequel has me hooked much more than the original. Maybe it's better writing or better balance but it's definitely a much more enjoyable experience so far. I've played two groups of characters through to 10th level and while it's very much the same experience learning the quirks of all the various character class combinations is still interesting enough to keep me playing. I still think I'd likely enjoy it more on an iPad but it's still something I'd recommend - particularly if you enjoyed the first one.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:17 am

Bioshock continues apace, my machine's protests with squawks and freezes notwithstanding (oddly, Borderlands 2 runs with no issues).

Based on the map, I'm headed into the last quarter. I just assembled the EMP bomb (thank you, electric gel. Makes those pesky Big Daddies a lot easier).

So far, it's been a pristine Rescue run on all of the Little Sisters.