Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 04:25:16 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Against Overwhelming Odds

Started by Neil, November 02, 2010, 12:01:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Neil

When I got Gears of War 2, it had this fantastic mode in it called Horde.  It seemed like a back-to-basics approach, and harked back to the earliest days of gaming.  100 levels (waves) of increasing difficulty.  Just you, and upto three other people, facing utterly overwhelming odds, in a static landscape.  Really reminds me of Space Invaders, and has that similar intensity, but bolstered by voice chat and all that modern stuff.

Seems like this has caught on - Halo 3 has a similar mode, as does the new Zombie DLC for Red Dead Redemption. 

I'm having fun, fun, fun with these modes.  They foster a real sense of team spirit, given that there are so few of you, that you have to put yourself at risk quite often.  When someone on your team gets 'downed', you've no choice but to try and rescue them.

What do you folks think of these modes?  Was it indeed GoW2 that popularised them?  Had any particularly fun/thrilling experiences with them? 

As long as I've played games, people have focused too strongly on the graphics, rather than the gameplay, but these modes have really brought back an incredible amount of fun for me.  I also love Geometry Wars - similar return to this kind of crazy, short-lived intensity.

ThickAndCreamy

Quote from: Neil on November 02, 2010, 12:01:06 PM
As long as I've played games, people have focused too strongly on the graphics, rather than the gameplay,
For Halo and Gears Of War they're just linear futuristic FPS's with a grim feel. Red Dead and Gears Of War have a cover based combat system which is used endlessly by other games. Red Dead is just a very refined GTA game set somewhere new and Halo and Gears Of War are barely different from all popular FPS games in the last few years. The game-play of Halo and Gears of War is atrociously predictable and dull. I've played both and couldn't even get a few hours into Halo without switching it off knowing I've done it all before so many times.

I don't enjoy them as I find it painfully repetitive and dull myself, it doesn't even feel fun to me any more, more that it lacks the spark of creativity that I want from games which is severely lacking from major releases.

If you are interested in this get Left 4 Dead 2 though, it'll suit what you want perfectly. I've even enjoyed playing it a few times but now get bored of it very quickly.

falafel

I'm not sure all that stuff about the gameplay etc was relevant thicko but I agree wholeheartedly about L4D2.

ThickAndCreamy

Quote from: falafel on November 02, 2010, 12:44:00 PM
I'm not sure all that stuff about the gameplay etc was relevant thicko but I agree wholeheartedly about L4D2.
Sorry, I just get annoyed easily at the low level of criticism given against games compared to other art forms.

bitesize

had a brief go or 2 on the Red Red Redemption zombie onslaught mode on Sunday - damn that was intense. not sure i really understood it tho - how does ammo work (there doesn't seem to be any pickups)? first go i got 3 rounds in & had run out of ammo so was trying to survive with just the torch (it did not end well). next go i seemed to be getting automatically restocked with ammo for some guns tho, not sure why/how that happened.

also, what do the coffins do? never seemed to be time to open them before the zombies arrived - think i did get one open once but not really sure what it did...

enjoyed it tho, will definitely have some more goes when done with the single player storyline.


and i think you're right saying GoW2 kicked it all off - people do tend to refer to these type of modes as Horde modes...

Neil

Ammo is deliberately limited, bitesize.  I normally find that desperately irritating, especially as it largely means you have to keep the best guns for the whole game, just so you can use them on the last boss. 

It does help to add to the tension in these Hordey games, though.  The coffins give you ammo, and the person who opens it gets a treat (Zombie Bait or whatever), so you've got to try and chance getting a coffin each round, putting yourself at great risk, or else it vanishes, and you end up with less ammo as the game goes on. So it's all about survival, and risk, and tension.  And it's fucking awesome.  Take more risks, and you might end up lasting for ages, if you make it.  Love it - split-second decision-making, mad dashes, panic, reward! 

madhair60

I'd recommend Left 4 Dead/2.  On harder difficulties it's absolutely frantic, and only a tightly-knit team stands a chance.

bitesize

ah right, that makes sense, cheers Neil. will have to give it some more goes tonight + see if i can get beyond round 9 (think that was as far as i got at the weekend before running back to single player with my tail between my legs).

VegaLA

I really enjoyed Horde on GoW2 and had hours of fun with friends playing through it. I was however disapointed with Halo's version though, didn't have the same bite as GoW2.

I'm trying to avoid hearing the goodness of the zombie DLC for Red Dead as I have yet to complete the original campaign, i'm involved with at least two other titles right now and time is tight.

Back Ops is around the corner but i'll probably skip that title but my loyal XBL friends will be all over it, allowing me time to catch up on some campaigns and the Zombie DLC may creep in during that time...

falafel

Quote from: ThickAndCreamy on November 02, 2010, 12:48:23 PM
Sorry, I just get annoyed easily at the low level of criticism given against games compared to other art forms.

I'm definitely with you there, I've been told off on CaB many times in the past for comparing games unfavourably to books and films, mainly by people who looked at the apples-and-orange media difference issue and completely missed my deeper theoretical point.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Halo does not have a grim feel at all. I mean, how much more lush sparkling greens and sparkly blues do you want. Compare that to some of those world war II games or Killzone. Gears of War too. Halo is a different matter.

For Against Overwhelming Odds it rarely gets as desperately clingingly fun as Geometry Wars. Ignore the slightly bollocksy sequels. Incidentally I noted that the GW high score was 16 million. Impressive until you realise my high score is an eye opening 83,600. Yeah.

Not exactly relevant to the thread, but occasionally being the last player on your team in Counter Strike and flukily taking out 6 opponents to win the round used to feel fucking great.