Last two times I attempted to play through StarCraft my computer crashed and my data was completely lost. Quite frankly there's still a huge possibility that something stupid will happen, but I will attempt to brave the circumstances nonetheless.
After I finish Resident Evil 4, that is. I'm currently on chapter 5-1 (or whatever follows 4-4), and I got the whole idea of heading for StarCraft next because Salazar's monster incarnation reminded me of the Zerg (and Mother Brain, and Phantoon). Last I remember...
"Need a ride, handsome?"
Okay, Ada Wong took me to the island where Ashley Graham is supposedly being kept. Nice.
I will be playing Separate Ways afterwards and will likely be fooling around in Separate Ways too.
I want to play through Final Fantasy VII after all this.
I finished chapter 5-1, which was pretty long and contained...infected SOLDIERS. Great. I remember travelling on the island for a while thinking "where are all the enemies", and sure enough, there was what seemed to be a military post, and it sure was.
Stupid Death #25: Can't remember.
Stupid Death #26: Can't remember.
Stupid Death #27: Can't remember.
One guy had what appeared to be a giant machine gun, and he was the source of a LOT of trouble. In the middle of the firefight I found a switch next to the door which turned on some laser light - oh, THAT'S what those mirrors are for! I dispatched of everyone with only a tiny sliver of my health left, healed myself with a green herb obtained from one of the last guys to die, and opened up the door using the mirrors and the laser. Nice.
Then it's time for what appears to be an ambush in a corridor, featuring loads of crossbowmen shooting flaming arrows, soldiers with exploding torches, and gas mask-equipped soldiers with electrical daggers (which do surprisingly little damage).
Stupid Death #28: Can't remember.
Oh well, at least seeing guys wearing modern uniforms whilst carrying shields and morningstars is priceless!
Afterwards, I enter a facility that appears to be some sort of lab used by the Ganados. Heh. In here I obtained the Tactical Vest, took part in some key card silliness, and met some ferocious new enemies who apparently can't be damaged by ordinary weapons. Fortunately they became far easier to kill once I got the infrared scope and could hit their weak points right away instead of shooting them enough times to expose them. I never died in this part, and...wow, Ashley's back now. Drat.
Well I finished chapter 5-2 and most of chapter 5-3, but unfortunately my younger brother rushed me out of the game because "I need to go to sleep", and then my Mom said that I can stay awake a while longer. Oh well, I think it was a bit of a bad idea to head right into chapter 5-3 anyway.
At first all I had to do was head for the...garbage dump. Apparently, the only way to get out of a mess is into another one! Ashley was full of squeals as usual throughout the next section.
Stupid Death #29: I forgot to tell Ashley to hide in the box while fighting a Regenerator, and next thing you know she got herself impaled on its spikes.
We proceeded to a room with a huge hole of lava in the middle and a wrecking ball above it, and sure enough, this was the setting of a firefight where enemies were coming in from all directions! Fortunately this was pretty easy. Eventually however, we ran into the coolest thing: a cargo tractor! And...DEAR GOD ASHLEY, WHY ARE YOU PILOTING THAT THING???
Stupid Death #30: Did not notice the truck approaching from behind until too late.
I suppose for however helpless Ashley may be, she is at least not a brainless bimbo. In the next section I reloaded my guns and headed up the ladder to turn on the tractor lift switch.
Stupid Death #31: I accidentally shot Ashley to death while frantically rushing to defeat the enemies that had knocked her down into the red zone.
And then there was more tractor action.
Stupid Death #32: Gee, now the truck is coming from the front!
So ends chapter 5-2 on a very sour note, with Saddler seemingly possessing "the force". In reality, Leon experiences convulsions which allow Saddler to gain control of Ashley and take her without any resistance. Argh.
The next few rooms really reminded me of Metroid Prime for some reason (it also kind of makes me want to play Batman: Arkham Asylum), and along the way a cutscene revealed Krauser and Ada Wong in discussion. So...is Ada supposed to be a double agent? Later on I find a huge open expanse of elevated chain-designed platform which seems like it could be the setting of another firefight. Well, instead I got something cooler.
Stupid Death #33: Yeah, I somehow failed to press the A and B buttons simultaneously within enough time.
Krauser then accidentally reveals that the Umbrella Corporation is involved in this (something I already knew, drat), and that he kidnapped Ashley. Too bad I don't understand what he means when he refers to "his past times with Leon". I presume this guy was in Resident Evil 2 as well? Fortunately, Ada Wong comes to save the day again! You know, she might as well be Sheik with less clothes and no "true" identity by this point. And I still don't think Ada sounds too different from Samus in Other M, but like I said earlier (or in the previous thread?), it's far more acceptable since she only shows up on and off: it definitely fits her character in that manner and I like her voice, along with the others in the game (especially Leon's).
Next thing you know, I'm in a cave. This calls for Luray Caverns nostalgia! Anyway, after finally buying the Killer7 (is there an actual gun named Killer7 or is this only supposed to be a reference to that game?), I found out that the map was funneling me towards some cargo-bearing suspended platforms, and a monster walking like a spider showed up to cause me a lot of grief. I escaped that and battled the monster up on the rim of the cave. And then I rushed back to an earlier save point because of my younger brother. Good grief.
By now I'm debating whether or not to head for Arkham Asylum or Final Fantasy VII once StarCraft (plus Brood War) is done. The environments of chapter 5 make me want to play a Metroid game for whatever reason, too.
Oh yeah, forgot one thing:
Stupid Death #34: Ran right into lasers by accident.
And so I finished both chapters 5-3 and 5-4. After coming out of the cave and shooting some explosive barrels to expedite the process of clearing camps of Ganados (seriously, why do they have those all hanging around?), I found another "Tomb Raider" area that seemed perfectly fit for a firefight. Instead...OH COME ON, KRAUSER!!! I retrieved both chimaera pieces and somehow relieved Krauser of his cap and shirt along the way, but after retrieving the second chimaera piece, he challenged me to a fight on the towers, and...great, there are time bombs on the towers.
Stupid Death #34: Failed to kill Krauser in time.
Stupid Death #35: Once again, somehow my Wii-mote didn't register me as having pressed the A and B buttons simultaneously in time for a QTE.
Stupid Death #36: Don't remember.
It turned out the solution was to stun Krauser and then CUT HIM UP WITH THAT KNIFE!!! Once that was all said and done, I was able to escape from the towers...and into an entire base of bad guys. Wow. Fortunately there's a helicopter here to save the day! Thus begins a very cool and unique section of the game, where Leon must not only navigate his way through the wartime encampments (...is it sad that I enjoyed the "wartime" atmosphere here?), but also avoid copter fire and take cover when the copter instructs him to, which signals that the copter is about to cause an explosion by destroying a building. This culminates in an amazing cutscene where Leon is surrounded by Ganados on all sides, only to dodge all the copter fire and witness the death of all the bad guys who were near him. Then only to watch a guy with a rocket launcher shoot down Leon's copter friend, at which point Leon notices Saddler with the rocket guy and breaks down into quite possibly his most negative emotions all game. At least he didn't pull off a Samus on me, thank god.
After navigating through some ruins for whatever reason and entering a cutscene featuring Leon attacking Ada thanks to the parasites, I entered what seemed to be a prison.
Stupid Death #37: I did not look in one prison which had rifle ammo, and since I had stupidly depleted it all earlier, I was now left facing a regenerator without a rifle. Also, I was keeping myself in the yellow zone so as to conserve health items, and unfortunately the stupid Regenerator was able to take me from yellow to death instantly. Fortunately on the next run I found the rifle ammo and killed it using that and one lucky Killer7 shot.
Then it's time for another firefight, this time taking place in an outdoor area with...well, I'm not good at describing, so let's just say "chain stairs leading up to suspended chain platforms which contained switches". I managed to make it out of this one alive, although the hulking machine gunner caused lots of trouble as usual.
After another room with some shield-bearing enemies, who were dispatched easily using rifle shells, an awesome cutscene ensued where Leon, after being knocked to near death, was ultimately able to rise back up and rescue Ashley from suspended animation thanks to Ms. Wong distracting Saddler for long enough. We all get out safely, and at the end of chapter 5-4, Leon and Ashley found a "doctor's office" where they were able to relieve each other of the Las Plagas.
And that brings me to the final chapter! I'll be back tomorrow evening, and then I'll be taking a break from video games for at least a few days.
The game is finished, and my god was the final chapter a letdown. Not since Metroid: Other M have I witnessed a worse final level.
It all started with heading up a tunnel leading outdoors. After upgrading the Killer7 to its strongest firepower (which turned out to be useless since I didn't use it at all in the final battle), I headed up the elevator. A cutscene ensued where Leon told Ashley to stay down, and when heading up he sees Ada Wong hanged up, with Saddler right there. Except Leon proceeded to throw a knife at Ada's rope and she was all fine afterwards. Then Saddler turned into an "intimidating" monster, and then when I shot a single TMP bullet at one of his many eyes, he was knocked out, and cue Leon once again showing off his badassery by pouncing onto Saddler with a knife and sticking a knife into his main eye, which is gruesomely located inside his mouth. Repeat a few times, with some assistance from a crane carrying a large rod (or something) and me dodging some attempts from Saddler to do the same, and Ada gives me a rocket launcher, which I had to discard my rifle to make room for. A single shot, and the battle is done with.
Then Ada jumped off the platforms that the fight was taking place on. She then reappeared inside "her helicopter" and told Leon to do the Super Metroid and get off the island. Yeah.
Stupid Death #38: On the water ski section, I was too paranoid about running into walls to accelerate, and the huge wave coming from behind did...yeah. On the second try I accelerated the whole time and didn't run into anything, so I was looking really stupid afterwards.
And that was the ending. I got to hear a lot of Ashley's voice (yuck), and then Leon suggested that Ada Wong "was a part of him that will never go away", and later asked Hunnigan for her number. Gee Leon, NOW you're starting to act like a womanizer?
Final Thoughts:
+I liked the character cast and the voicework from everyone aside from Ashley and Hunnigan. +Amazing level design ensures that the game never gets repetitive. +Inability to move while aiming does an excellent job of building tension, enforcing that this is a horror game first, shooter second. +The game's art direction shines through loud and clear. +Awesome fight choreography. +I honesty liked the campy dialogue. It at least never felt cringe-worthy. +The game's files provide lots of cool pieces of backstory. +Lots of cool extras, of course. -Graphics seem to be aging just a little bit. -GOOD HEAVENS, ASHLEY!!! -Non-combat puzzles are few, far between, and very simple, although this may actually be a good thing so as not to ruin the game's pacing in the middle. -The final level.
Verdict: I definitely agree that Resident Evil 4 is a must-play, and pretty easily at that. Absolutely phenomenal.
Score: 10/10. Welcome to the god tier.
I will definitely be trying out the bonus content. Afterwards I'm taking a small break from gaming and then it's time for StarCraft.
I was feeling tired earlier so in order to not fall asleep, I decided to start Separate Ways, and the first two chapters are now done.
Chapter 1 is about Ada Wong getting out of the village that serves as the setting for the first firefight of the main campaign and hurrying up to the church (where Ashley is being held in) to ring the town bell and save Leon from further onslaught. The key differences from Leon that I noticed immediately, gameplay-wise, were that Ada is considerably more agile, has a hookshot to reach high places that Leon can't reach, and has one seriously furious kick compared to Leon (not sure if this is stronger than Leon's kick, but it should be!). Also there's one key difference between Ada's voice here and Samus's voice in Other M (which I was comparing Ada's voice to frequently earlier): Ada's is a lot sexier. And I was made to look like a total egg for ever complaining about the game's voice acting. Aside from Ashley and Hunnigan, it's all honestly top-notch.
Anyway, back to the game. After some time a cutscene ensued depicting Leon again, and I started hearing lots of chainsaw noises. This really worried me, so I holed myself up in one house and attempted to blast whoever was coming. After exhausting most of my health and ammo, I made a mad dash for the village church (for which I already had the key to unlock), and...oh ho, the merchant is here! Looks like I can't upgrade any weapons though, nuts. Turned out that I didn't need to though.
Now I went underground, and...WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE ENEMIES HERE??? When I happened upon the first open space, it turned out that the Ganados were behind me. Okay, dispatch them, head for the door...GOOD GOD THEY'RE EVERYWHERE ALL OF A SUDDEN!!! Oh well, nothing a trusty shotgun can't handle, I suppose. Eventually I got the Royal Family Insignia token to get inside the church (in a puzzle that's actually optional in the main campaign, nice!), and...oh wait, you need to put it back to get out of there! Okay, whatever, I aimlessly headed off to the wooden platforms above water, got infuriated at finding out that snakes can't be hit with knives, and killed off the chainsaw lady there to obtain a Green Catseye, which is apparently supposed to be inserted into the insignia token's slot. Afterwards, I got inside and after a minor firefight and some minor puzzles at the top floor of the church, Ada rang the bell to save Leon. Nice.
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Currently Playing - Resident Evil 4 Hopefully Next Up - StarCraft, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2
Chapter 2, on the other hand, is about...finding Luis, great! This chapter seems to span all the way from chapters 1-1 to the end of 2-2 in the main game! Whatever, I suppose. The final area of chapter 1-1 of the main campaign ate up a lot of my health reserves due to me getting constantly hit with enemy explosives (ouch), but I held strong. Eventually I was rewarded with a cutscene where Ada watched as unconscious Luis and Leon were being carried out of a house by Ganados, and now the objective seems to be all the way on the other side of the map, ha! I can't remember if anything notable happened on the way to the house where the chapter started (although I do remember buying the TMP and semi-auto rifle at points during this chapter), but once back there the Ganados were in the bottom floor and Mendez was giving Leon a lecture on the upper level. Cue Ada's first appearance in the main campaign, where she saves Leon from being killed by Mendez by shooting him a bunch of times. Ada then dropped back onto the floor and was surrounded by bad guys...WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S BEEN TRANQUILIZED???
After rolling out of the way of the sacrificial axe all the way in the tram depot area, I made my way to the large shack where the Bitores Mendez battle takes place in the main campaign, except this time there was a chainsaw lady there. I equipped the shotgun and shot her before retreating out of the house, and then...OH COME ON, THERE ARE MORE ENEMIES BEHIND ME??? After retreating back to the gate, I picked off everyone one by one, and used the TMP to deal the final deathblows to the chainsaw lady.
Stupid Death #1: Just kidding! I'm not really lying though either, as I kept a save file so I could try to take down the chainsaw lady by sniping her from the door instead of retreating. I eventually headed up the stairs, and after exhausting my shotgun bullets, I decided to get in there and start using the knife on the chainsaw lady. She got up, and while I tried to retreat, doing so by backing up and still facing the opponent is simply too slow to avoid a painful chainsaw-induced execution. Really "Death #0" moreso than anything, and after this debacle I reloaded my newer save (from after the original battle).
After relieving the merchant of everything he had (and speaking of goods, I found all the catseyes but still don't have the beerstein yet. Nuts) to sell, I entered the corridors where El Gigante is encountered in the main game...and he's here too! Okay, not a particularly huge problem, just shoot him with rifle shells and he goes down. Afterwards Ada arrives at the house where Leon and Luis are at the end of chapter 2-2, and Luis apparently noticed Ada on the way outside. Ada, naturally, reminded him to look for a Las Plagas sample (which she wants to give to Wesker, and seeing him in the briefings is pretty cool!).
I don't like how Ada's end-of-mission narrations feature cutscenes that take place far later in the game in a good number of instances. It kinda ruins the immersion, but whatever.
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Currently Playing - Resident Evil 4 Hopefully Next Up - StarCraft, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2
Okay, I finished up Separate Ways. Since I have to go to bed son (past 11pm at my place), I'll just provide some quick points:
-I died 9 more times aside from the one I outlined. All very stupid and easily avoidable. -Final clear time was just under 6 hours. -This felt far more like an action game than it did like a horror one. Foreshadowing for Resident Evil 5? Heck, does Las Plagas even play much of a role in the rest of the series? I doubt I'll be getting around to RE5 (even though Vlado wanted me to), but a simple yes-or-no answer would be appreciated. -Ada Wong > Samus in terms of hotness. How the heck is Ada so weak in GameFAQs contests anyway?
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Currently Playing - Resident Evil 4 Hopefully Next Up - StarCraft, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2
Okay, I just played through Assignment Ada. This turned out to be little more than a romp through the island, with 5 Las Plagas samples hidden throughout the lab being the main objectives.
I died about 4-5 times, mostly because of the hulking machine gunners. Also...COME ON, KRAUSER!
I honestly feel that this is all a set up for Resident Evil 5, both story-wise (revival of Umbrella Corporation), and gameplay-wise (more action-oriented). Nuts.
I'll try out Mercenaries tomorrow morning. After that though, I'm done with this game for now at least. I'll take a break from playing video games for a few days, keep this thread up in the meantime, and start StarCraft then.
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Currently Playing - Resident Evil 4 Hopefully Next Up - StarCraft, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2
Terran Mission 1: Wasteland This is quite obviously a simple tutorial level, and not much more. There's a decent catch in that our troops and SCVs start out on the opposite side of the map from the base, and the debut of Jim Raynor is of course extremely important, but aside from that, really not much. I suppose you could fool around sending troops exploring and setting up Spider Mines, but there's really no point and it only prolongs the mission.
Also, according to the mission, you must train 10 marines, but the game only requires possession of 10 marines, meaning that the 5 starting marines also count. What the heck is this?
Terran Mission 2: Backwater Station The objective here is to "eradicate the Zerg infestation", which sounds about as generic as they go. This mission marks the debut of bunkers, academies, and firebats, and is also the first mission where engineering bays and presumably comsat stations can be built (not sure on the latter though). Resources are very limited at the starting base, so after making sure I tasked 3 SCVs on minerals and 1 on gas, I took Raynor and 12 marines up north to find a Terran base which completely defected to my control, and this is where the aforementioned buildings and units first appear in the whole campaign.
"Man, is that ground alive?"
Afterwards I rounded up 12 marines and firebats each, along with Raynor, and rampaged throughout the Zerg areas until the mission was over, with a group of whoever had higher numbers (usually firebats) heading in first with everyone else coming in from behind. Thing is, the Zerg were living off of an Infested Command Center (which I'm told can train kamikaze footmen in the main game), and its destruction sets off the first major personal conflict of the game's amazing story - that of Jim Raynor against Edmund Duke (and thus the Confederacy as a whole). This mission and the next two gave me the impression that the Confederacy is a complete jerk, so I can't help but feel sorry for poor Raynor, who has to take refuge with criminals in the next mission.
Terran Mission 3: Desperate Alliance Raynor disappears from the picture for whatever reason, and I'm left to simply hold a base for half an hour. Long story short: I ultimately didn't build any defenses beyond an extra bunker and a perimeter of turrets, and in the end I was barely able to emerge victorious by the skin of my teeth! I suppose I should mention that I had sent 3 vultures, 8 marines, and 12 firebats to invade the Zerg territory, and they all died, but they may have delayed the Zerg attack so I suppose it was ultimately worth it...I do kinda wonder what would've happened if I trained four more marines. Anyway, The Sons of Korhal came by in the nick of time and that was that. Hello Arcturus Mengsk, hopefully he and Raynor can take on the Confederation.
Terran Mission 4: The Jacobs Installation The first tactical mission of the game and what I remember to be the only Terran one is likely the easiest of them all. We start with 7 marines, 4 firebats, and a Raynor who took to fighting on foot for whatever reason, and the main pattern throughout this mission was the send in the marines first, then the firebats one step ahead of them (while Raynor stayed with the marines), then the marines for more defogging, then the firebats a step ahead of them, etc. The most notable thing about this mission was the discovery of the Confederacy's Zerg breeding programs, which Mengsk apparently knew about for over a year and makes me hate the Confederacy even more.
Good god. Tomorrow the war against the Confederacy shall start in earnest.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Sorry guys, I don't think I'll be getting around to more StarCraft today. You guys will simply have to hope for tomorrow. I might get in an afternoon session.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Well, looks like I was able to sacrifice ALL TV time today and finish ONE mission. Progress!
Mission 5: Revolution Oh man, what an apt name for this! Aside from being the first mission where Terrans are the main enemy, (shut up the prior mission doesn't count) Kerrigan makes her debut here, and to start things out...HOLY CRAP KERRIGAN IS EMMA FROST!!! She reads Raynor's mind and therefore prematurely finds out about his "interest" in her before the poor guy can even utter a word. Then...HOLY DARN SHE CAN BECOME INVISIBLE TOO!!! Whatever.
After meeting up with Kerrigan, my troops (eight marines if I remember correctly to go along with the hero duo) had to clear a path for Kerrigan to sneak into the Antigan city to assassinate the commander (...Assassin's Creed: Sarah Kerrigan edition...I can already see it...oh wait, who am I kidding?) and take control, causing the city's bunkers to fire on the bunkers outside of the ridge that are still under Confederate control.
Afterwards I decided to build up an army of 12 wraiths and vultures each, and in retrospect I really should've brought another troop variety (probably marines), especially given the disgusting wealth of resources here. Oh well, I suppose. Once I got to the base I destroyed everything on the east first, and then systematically eliminated each turret...except that once that was done, all I had was one wraith, so mere seconds after its cloak expired, I retreated him out and built 5 more wraiths. They, along with some more reinforcements who came during the "massacre" were able to finish up the scenario.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
All right folks, I'm feeling horribly down today so I'm going to make a lot of progress in SC to help myself feel better, starting with one mission right now.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Terran Mission 6: Norad II The Confederacy's premier general, Edmund Duke, is trapped right in the middle of Zerg territory inside his Battlecruiser (which this mission is named after) with just a paltry amount of troops, and its up to Raynor and Mengsk to "rescue" them. Anyway, this mission begins innocently enough, with just Raynor, four marines, a firebat, two SCVs, and no structures, but then we happen to come across a friendly base which turns itself over to us, and it seems that it has taken a serious battering.
After revitalizing the base, setting up a defense perimeter, and upgrading some unit abilities, my resources already began to run out, yikes! For some time I contemplated a potential conquest of the Zerg base to the north, but all that's really needed is to punch a hole in the enemy's defenses so that Raynor and two dropships can get to Duke (not Nukem), and this is more or less what I did - a small air force of six wraiths were able to destroy the sole sunken colony in one area west of Duke's location (although only two of them survived since there were so many spore colonies), and this paved the way for eight goliaths to land and kill all the scourges, mutalisks, and spore colonies in a lightly defended area slightly north of the landing spot, allowing Raynor to get to Duke.
During the briefings and at the end, Raynor (and Kerrigan) questioned Mengsk's plan to rescue Duke, who was more or less the villain in the first half of the campaign, but hey, we can all come full circle, right? Considering that I know what's going to happen though, this seems like the start of yet another personal conflict that will blow into a full-scale rebellion later on. Good god, Raynor.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
To be fair I think I accidentally spoiled the plot for myself before even getting the game, but I didn't find it to be much of an issue here since, you know, it's a strategy game, where story is guaranteed to take a backseat to the gameplay.
Plus I will technically be going into both FF7 and MGS knowing most of the major plot points...
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Once I finish finding out how certain matches in Leonhart's contest are going and finish up watching episode 7 of Flight 29 Down on YouTube, I'll start mission 7.
Too bad I have to play with messed-up graphics.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Terran Mission 7: The Trump Card As far as the story goes, it turns out that the Zerg breeding program we found out about in mission 4 was actually the focus of the installation discs we got from that mission, and there weren't any "weapon" designs, per se, but there was a design for a Psionic Radiation Emitter or something which Mengsk somehow built behind the scenes. He then reveals that the Psi Emitter creates the radiations of Ghosts, which attract Zerg to their location ("So the Zerg are coming for you, darling? This just keeps getting better and better."), and thus the focus of this mission is to place a Psi Emitter in the middle of the enemy base location and use it to lure Zerg to the Confederate base.
As far as the gameplay goes, this mission is infamous for being able to be completely cheesed - because we start out with a science vessel, we can just cast the "Matrix" spell on the SCV carrying the Psi Emitter and voila, he's practically invincible now! Just make sure to hurry up! I get the feeling that this may be closer to what actually happens plot-wise, too.
Otherwise, this is where siege tanks and science vessels debut, and...well, I went overboard, researching EVERY tech relating to wraiths, siege tanks, and/or marines, and in the final assault I lost very few troops - battle tactics aren't really worth talking about! I'll admit that I sent in a sortie of six tanks and six wraiths beforehand to rampage through the enemy base, and while they all were destroyed, they did cause enemy attacks to come less frequently - a good indicator that the enemy was kinda gassed.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
Okay, I'll return to StarCraft now. I'll be out of town from tomorrow until Thursday, but I can take the game with me, fortunately enough. I'll also make a "plan" (sorry if this is getting boring to you guys) of what I want to play through to build up hype for the MGS HD collection.
Games I Want to Acquire for Sure
Final Fantasy VII Metal Gear Solid
Games I Want to Play Through but Might Not
Resident Evil 2 Silent Hill
Rejected but Still Considered (in other words, unlikely candidates)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Xenogears Parasite Eve Final Fantasy VIII
I'm going to have to ask my parents about E-Bay cards.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
I'm currently in the middle of mission 8. Unfortunately I have to head out for a musical very soon, so I'll wrap this up tomorrow morning, hopefully before leaving home.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
The main "problem" is that Symphony of the Night doesn't really "fit" into the big picture since the game doesn't share the "sci-fi" aesthetic of FF7, MGS, Xenogears, and StarCraft, but I'll see about this.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid
You'd think that this would be the end, judging by the mission name and the briefing (where Duke mentions that this mission is about striking right into the heart of Confederate defense systems), but we obviously still have a lot to do following this...
This was the first two-hour mission, and it started with a group of floating buildings and units in the extreme southeast corner of the map. Fortunately, just to the northwest we find some sloppily left-alone building add-ons, which I take advantage for the most part aside from demolishing one nuclear silo so that the Command Center in that location could build a Comsat Station instead.
After all the usual SCV training and defense perimeter setting, I built 5 siege tanks, 6 marines, and a nuclear missile, and this small contingent of units, with a lot of micro-ing, was able to demolish the Terran base right to the northwest of our position. Unfortunately, after taking control of it, it seems that the base is vulnerable on all sides! Whatever.
The rest of the mission was easy, uneventful, and...oh, did we mention that my computer decided to randomly slow down for the rest of the mission? Not too much fun here. I built a huge army and destroyed all the Terran structures on the map, even going so far as to fire two more nukes. Glorious.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft Hopefully Next Up - Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid