46 replies to this topic

[ERISS]

The Veteran, on 15th October 2011, 7:51pm, said:

, not many games take me 5 days to complete! I just wish there had been 5 days of content

All games can be finished under 5 days, most even 2 hours.
It's up to the game style of players. I understand that you don't like that AS can be played wirthout style, and that you want a game where style is necessary, where rushing the game is not easy. I can understand you and I somewhat agree.
But I'm sort of player who like making some challenge by playing with a style, and Aftershock can be easily played with any style we want. That's the beauty of the game for me.

[The Veteran]

ERISS, on 15th October 2011, 1:12pm, said:

5 days? Lol, it takes me more than 5 months.

ERISS, on 17th October 2011, 9:56am, said:

All games can be finished under 5 days, most even 2 hours.

Umm... What now? Make your mind up mate. Besides, you and I and everyone else in the world knows Aftershock can't possibly be completed in 2 hours. In fact I have a stack of 40 odd games next to me that I'm yet to complete and frankly if it was possible to complete any of them in less than 2 hours they'd already be on the legendary completed pile...

I recently finished Dungeon Siege after 40 hours of playtime and that left me just as bored as AS, probably more so as the only thing to do is point, click, heal. At least Aftershock had some depth, even if it wasn't enough to keep it interesting from start to finish. The shortest game I played recently took me 6 hours and I think you'll find between 6-8 hours is a pretty widely accepted length for a 'short' game. This is the kind of playtime you can expect to get from a title which is aimed primarily at online gamers, the singleplayer campaigns don't need to be as full of content to keep players interested in such a situation.

So I don't know where you're shopping for games but if you can find me a retail title with a campaign that lasts less than 2 hours I'll give you a cookie...

[NKF]

With games like Dungeon Siege and Diablo and what have you, it's not so much the main story that grips you, rather it's the collector's mania of going beyond it (game+, missions after the main story, the multiplayer section, etc) and gathering better stuff and just being able to best stronger and stronger enemies. So while games like this seem simple and can be completed quite quickly, game time is artificially lengthened. I guess if you go to such lengths, you must enjoy the game, or you're just obsessed.   

With Aftershock, I was playing on a way under-spec computer. Took several minutes just to load the missions (and less than that to complete). So I tried playing it as diversely as I could as I didn't want to slog through it another time. Tried various ways to approach the battles. From the stabbity stab stealthy samurai chap, the thrown projectile weapon master, the psi sniper, the pistol guy, etc, etc. They never really seemed to last very long and some of the professions were a bit pathetic by the time the Wargots showed up. I had high hopes for the shurikens. Or perhaps I set the bar way too high as I was throwing them at the mechs.

The game had potential to be more than it was.

- NKF

[The Veteran]

Personally I think it would have been a better game if they'd made it a little less than it was. As you say, it had great potential but they dragged it out way too much. If you want to make a game with a long-arse story you need to ensure that story is actually fun and content rich. The same 3 aliens over the same 5 maps 4 times a game day is NOT fun.

As for Dungeon siege I essentially pigeonholed my characters by making them archers first and warriors second. It took a very long time for me to realise that their strength wasn't going up at all, probably only spotted it when noone could equip the new armour I got from the dead monsters. With Dungeon siege though there were only a handful of side-missions (all of which you had to complete to have a decent levelled team) and the story ended with the final boss. Again, my team choice rather tripped me up but it was fine for most of the game, they only struggled when they were unable to skirmish with their foes (the undead general and end boss walked all over them!)

[Sgt. Strike]

The game is a tad tedious, and repetitious, in that the various "missions" end up being about 90% the same. The only difference with some of them is the fact that you have to complete them in order to get the territory, to gain the resources there. It was kinda like that in Aftermath, but not quite as bad. Anyway, I think with a ton of rework, and some better scriptwriting, it could be a better game. I have more, which I will add later.

[drake88]

I guess I have been living in a cave; but when I heard just a week ago that Firaxis is coming out with a new XCOM, it totally got me jazzed.  Which led me to the Aftershock forum and then to this post.

While Aftershock had/has its issues, when you couple it with a mod it can be so much fun.  The Weapon Rebalance Mod and the Heroic Assualt mod make this game so much fun.  I love attacking the cultists and you get attacked by 35+ guys and it is a struggle not to get anyone killed.  I modded the crap out of this game and created 50 cal assualt rifles, automatic shotguns that shoot grenades, tons of different armors... it made the game a blast.  Love Aftershock.

The original X-Com was my favorite and Aftershock is a close second just because you can do so much with the mods.

[Space Voyager]

Welcome back from the cave, drake88! We're all still in shock - a good kind that is.