Uncharted 2 MP demo (+other demos this week, NGS2, Brutal Legend, etc.)

[cool breeze]

Uncharted 2 MP demo went up (anyone want to do co-op in an hour or so, my psn is linkzg64 (or without the 64, I don't know)).  I think it's GAmestop preorder thing for now.

Tomorrow NFS Shift demo is up on XBL I think.
Thursday is MAG beta (I have a spare code, i'll post later), Sigma 2 demo and Brutal Legend demo (gamestop thing again)

nvm, apparently it's a beta.

[bork]

Gamestop still hasn't sent out the codes for Uncharted 2 MP.   

[Bebpo]

Guess I'll just play the Sigma one...

[demi]

Darkest of Days demo > all that trash

HORSE PUNCHING ACHIEVEMENT

[cool breeze]

so apparently now it's a demo, labeled as a beta.

only different than the old beta and this for co-op objective mode is that you fight the boss at the end    still a lot of fun.  the horde mode is also neat since it's basically horde CTF.

the other difference I noticed, and I actually really like, is that there are a lot more one handed weapons that are varied.  Whenever you climb or hold something, you only have access to the pistols and guns that require one hand, so now there are a bunch of pistols, including a shotgun pistol.

[bork]

Are you talking about Uncharted 2?

They added two more maps for multiplayer and more skins to use over the original beta, plus that "horde CTF." 

HURRY UP WITH THE CODES LAMESTOP 

[Smooth Groove]

Sony is so freaking dumb sometimes.  A SP Uncharted demo would do much more to sell that game than a MP demo.  

[bork]

Sony is so freaking dumb sometimes.  A SP Uncharted demo would do much more to sell that game than a MP demo.  

A demo made free for everyone to download and try would make a whole hell of a lot more fucking sense.  I know this is going to be free in a few weeks, but if you want people to reserve the game, LET THEM FUCKING TRY IT OUT FIRST. 

[cool breeze]

Are you talking about Uncharted 2?

They added two more maps for multiplayer and more skins to use over the original beta, plus that "horde CTF." 

HURRY UP WITH THE CODES LAMESTOP 

yeah, there are more skins that you need to buy with the in game points.  actually, it's really annoying.  you need to be level 10, then also use the points you earn to buy it.  why not give it to me at level 10, or let me pay for it now?

horde CTF is really fun, though.  If I wasn't playing with two foreigners who were speaking in whatever language the entire time while playing terribly, it would have been even better.  I swear, one of those guys runs past me as an enemy got me in a choke hold.

Sony is so freaking dumb sometimes.  A SP Uncharted demo would do much more to sell that game than a MP demo. 

I think if they let you play co-op objective mode offline, it would be fine.

yeah, timed exclusive thing is really dumb.

[Smooth Groove]

Sony is so freaking dumb sometimes.  A SP Uncharted demo would do much more to sell that game than a MP demo.  

A demo made free for everyone to download and try would make a whole hell of a lot more fucking sense.  I know this is going to be free in a few weeks, but if you want people to reserve the game, LET THEM FUCKING TRY IT OUT FIRST. 

That kinda marketing only works for guaranteed sellers like COD or Halo.  Somehow, I doubt that many people will be rushing out to get Uncharted 2.

[Mr. Gundam]

Sony is so freaking dumb sometimes.  A SP Uncharted demo would do much more to sell that game than a MP demo.  

A demo made free for everyone to download and try would make a whole hell of a lot more fucking sense.  I know this is going to be free in a few weeks, but if you want people to reserve the game, LET THEM FUCKING TRY IT OUT FIRST. 

That kinda marketing only works for guaranteed sellers like COD or Halo.  Somehow, I doubt that many people will be rushing out to get Uncharted 2.

I stuck it on my Christmas list (mother in law always buys me a game). Screw Sony and this stupid tactic.

[cool breeze]

Darkest of Days demo > all that trash

HORSE PUNCHING ACHIEVEMENT

unlockable skin

and meleeing is still kinda broken against other human opponents.  Against AI enemies in the co-op modes it's fine now.

[bork]

Gamestop.com is sending out codes now.  Maybe if I'm lucky, the demo will be done downloading by 10pm.  So sloooooooooooooooooow.

That kinda marketing only works for guaranteed sellers like COD or Halo.  Somehow, I doubt that many people will be rushing out to get Uncharted 2.

I think it's going to be a big seller this year, but that's not even the point.  The purpose of a demo is for potential customers to try the game out.  You know, generate interest in the product so that the consumer will then decide to buy it.  

Making demos exclusive "rewards" for pre-ordering is just fucking stupid.

[duckman2000]

It seems to be their thing, though. I'm not sure I can name a single Sony-published game in the past two years that didn't have some sort of obstacle between the demos and the potential customers. It's especially dumb when it's tied to Qore. Those people are already fans and were already set on buying.

[cool breeze]

the stage they picked for the beta wasn't too great for versus multiplayer.  The ice and temple levels are so good' there is so much platforming all around.  Elimination mode, basically one life per round, is so much fun in this.  It's a lot more about hiding since you can climb to high places and stuff.

[Kestastrophe]

Anyone know where I can grab a beta code?

[cool breeze]

one really weird thing about this game is that you can't rewind in replays.  It could just be because it's a demo/beta, but it's still a weird omission.  I mean, every button does something except and R2 is skip a couple frames.

It automatically saves every match.  In cinema mode you can fly around the stage and change a bunch of visual options (if you've played PGR3 or 4, it's a bit like that).  There is a dedicated machinima multiplayer mode and map that makes you start without a gun, lets you change what type of animation style you use (calm, stealth, under fire, etc.) syncs the characters mouth to your voice and lets you turn the entire stage into a green screen.  The stage is a giant white room with all weapons and items laying around to use and a bunch of different structures to show off every animation.  Yet there is no rewind.

[Don Flamenco]

what the fuck...I don't even know how I can get these demos...

so uncharted and brutal legend need a gamestop pre-order?  and NG2 is Japan? 

[bork]

It seems to be their thing, though. I'm not sure I can name a single Sony-published game in the past two years that didn't have some sort of obstacle between the demos and the potential customers. It's especially dumb when it's tied to Qore. Those people are already fans and were already set on buying.

Let's not forget about the Halo 3 beta being "bundled" with Crackdown, and Halo Reach with ODST.

[bork]

what the fuck...I don't even know how I can get these demos...

so uncharted and brutal legend need a gamestop pre-order?  and NG2 is Japan? 

I don't know about Brutal Legend, but Uncharted 2 is only "exclusive" for Gamestop pre-orders for like two weeks.  It goes public at the end of the month.  You can always just go plunk down $5, get the code, and then cancel it later on, right?  

The Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 demo this week is Japan-only, but that's no big deal.  It's easy to make a Japanese PSN account to download it; it's not like XBL where you'd need a gold account.

[Don Flamenco]

Scroll down:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=374136&page=3

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

they better not have locked out other regions on fucking Ninja Gaiden demo day!

[bork]

Scroll down more.  People can't access the US Store either.  Must be down right now.

EDIT: I just tried the U.S. and Japanese stores and got the same message.  It's down.  GAFfers are freaking out over nothing.  What else is new?

[Mr. Gundam]

I'm sure it's just maintenance, but I will kill someone if I can't get my Gundam DLC this week.

Good thing Chrono didn't pick up that 3,000 yen PSN card for me yet.

[Mr. Gundam]

Looks like they're back up and still not region locked.

[Agent Whiskers]

Uncharted 2 multi is crack I tells ya! CRACK! So good.

[Darunia]

Uncharted 2 multi is crack I tells ya! CRACK! So good.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing I have to say. I'm not a big mp shooter guy, but this definitely managed to draw me in.

[pilonv1]

Someone tell me what's so great about Uncharted 2 MP. I played the original MP beta and it was pretty competent but nothing I haven't seen before. The co-op seemed more interesting to me even if it was scripted more than COD4.

[duckman2000]

I didn't play much of the MP (the co-op was more interesting), but I can't say I've played many MP shooters with that strong of an emphasis on platforming before. It's like a jungle gym Gears of War.

[pilonv1]

See to me that seems stupid because you'll just get shot when you're climing/whatever. I guess it's just not for me.

[cool breeze]

In the old beta, I wasn't feeling the deathmatch too much but thought the co-op was great.  New beta has modes and levels that a lot more interesting.  The two new levels have a lot of platforming in them, so there are a lot of layers to the map, almost like some levels in Halo 3.  Deathmatch mode still isn't too great.  Elimination mode, which is survival, shows off the importance of all the platforming in levels.  That mode is a lot more about stealth and trying to flank the enemy team by climbing up and around them, or just doing it to get a better vantage point.  CTF is also a lot of fun just because you can toss the flag around, and a lot of times you need to since the quicker way of covering ground is to throw it up and out a cavern rather than looking for the ramp.  There is a lot of tossing the statue back and forth between teammates to get it to the goal.  And while it's still co-op, the Horde CTF mode is also fun.  It really is just horde mode, but instead of surviving waves of enemies, you have to take a statue from one part of the map to another, and usually you need to do some platforming to the statue and toss it around to get it to the capture point.

In short, deathmatch isn't anything special, but the other modes are either mode suited for the gameplay style or have nice twists to conventional multiplayer modes.

See to me that seems stupid because you'll just get shot when you're climing/whatever. I guess it's just not for me.

Another reason why it's not too great in deathmatch.  In elimination and ctf, it makes more sense since it's not blindly shooting everyone you see.  Plus, you can shoot from any position in the game and pistols are still fairly powerful if you can aim well.  I've already seen people who hang off the edges of the stage to hide, then fire off their pistol when you get in range.  It's a good, but annoying, move.

[Don Flamenco]

apparently the NG2 demo will be up around 11pm eastern.

[duckman2000]

Does anyone have codes for these?

[cool breeze]

MAG beta seems to be up.  If you already had it, you need another 2.5 gig patch 

if anyone needs a code, I have a spare

[bork]

Gamestop.com e-mailed me a second code for Uncharted.     (Sorry, it's already gone!)

[duckman2000]

MAG beta seems to be up.  If you already had it, you need another 2.5 gig patch 

if anyone needs a code, I have a spare

Me. I gave mine away, thinking I wouldn't have a Ps3. 

See to me that seems stupid because you'll just get shot when you're climing/whatever. I guess it's just not for me.

I think it's probably cool for people who enjoy more vertical gameplay. I like my shooters grounded so it's not my thing, but it's pretty unique.

[Jansen]

i had preordered brutal legend just to get the demo code but then looked at gamestops site yesterday only to find out that you couldn't cancel your order once they sent you a demo code.

that's really lame but luckily i cancelled before i got sent a code. FU gamestop!

[cool breeze]

(about MAG) ok, so the downlod after pax was 2.5 gigs; earlier today was another 2.5 gigs.  Now they're saying that there might be one in the realm of 5-6 gigs to download soon.  I just want to try this thing out.  Possibly the beta is delayed a week too.

[duckman2000]

Luckily for them, the common PS3 owner has been well conditioned to handle updates, big, slow and plentiful.

[pilonv1]

awesome, 25% of my 40gb drive dedicated to a beta

[Don Flamenco]

Luckily for them, the common PS3 owner has been well conditioned to handle updates, big, slow and plentiful.

and worthless.  don't forget worthless.

[cool breeze]

first MAG impressions:

this is really ugly and not fun

[duckman2000]

How long are the servers up for tonight? I checked the progress, and I'm at like 25%. 

first MAG impressions:

this is really ugly and not fun

I think I can handle ugly, given what it is (lulz, I sound like a regular Halo 3 fanboy), but the game had better be entertaining. Without a campaign, the MP should damned well be gold from level 1.

[cool breeze]

It's ugly in a way that hinders gameplay.  Lots of pop in and shimmering and no enemy indicators (good if it wasn't easy to mistake the world for an enemy).  Screen is covered in text and symbols, and this is only a 96 player server.  It's cluttered and confusing.  I eventually just ran around shooting enemies, and for what it's worth, the controls and shooting feel good.  Levels are just confusing to navigate and the map is useless.

yeah, the shooting actually feels really good.  It's just everything else is bad.

[duckman2000]

Is there a beta board?

[cool breeze]

don't know.  I know the hours are before 4 pm eastern and after 8 pm eastern, don't know how long those periods are, though.

I played four or five games.  By the end, I was still really confused.  I just defended a base, and like I said above, the controls and shooting feel great.  I kinda wish they went in a different direction but kept the combat the same, but then it might have been too much like Modern Warfare, and that is still better.  I'll play the beta a bit more.  Don't see buying this game since it's multi only.

It's a shame that they didn't have some kind of single player.  The gameplay is a bit more arcadey than SOCOM, but it seemed to more tactical than twitch or even what Modern Warfare is considered.  I think a solid single player and multiplayer that wasn't only focused on large empty maps would have got me to buy it.

I don't even understand the purpose of the large map either.  It's like, all the combat took place around base A and base B.  Rarely did I find someone not attacking/defending those two areas.  No vehicles there either, so it's not like it needed to be so huge.  It's like they just wanted you to run into the action instead of just being in it.  Maybe it's just the map.

[pilonv1]

you're not playing it right, you need to get in the MAG Home Rome to organise strategy first.

[Smooth Groove]

So MAG turned out to be crap, like most people expected. 

How's the Uncharted 2 demo though?  I'm mostly interested in how it looks and runs since I probably won't play much of U2 multiplayer. 

[cool breeze]

Uncharted 2 multiplayer is awesome.  If your interested in how it looks and runs, um, if you saw the videos and got a general idea of how it looks, it's basically that.  No slow down, tearing or anything off in that way.  Just looks good all around.

One weird thing is that when the game has lag/host problems, it pretty freezes everything in the game mid-animation.  It's a bit scary.  You can still run around and do whatever, but everyone else is frozen in time.  What's really weird is that if you go near an enemy, they unfreeze, melee attack you and return to the frozen state.  You can kill them and they'll ragdoll out, but yeah, really weird.

you're not playing it right, you need to get in the MAG Home Rome to organise strategy first.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.  I didn't notice any of that rank tiers they hyped up.  Maybe it's because it's a beta, not a 256 player game or everyone was just starting, but there was none of that.

[duckman2000]

So MAG turned out to be crap, like most people expected. 

How's the Uncharted 2 demo though?  I'm mostly interested in how it looks and runs since I probably won't play much of U2 multiplayer. 

I haven't played the new demo, but the co-op in the previous beta was genuinely awesome. It's popular to craft separate co-op experiences, but in this case it felt really justified. You could compare the mission directly to the SP footage shown, but it was very well developed into a co-op experience. The MP was good, but I'm more of a first person shooter guy, so the third person stuff always confuses me. It was definitely something out of the ordinary for a shooter, though.

As for MAG... 92% 

[FatalT]

I'm really enjoying MAG so far. What do you mean there's no rank tiers? Have you not checked the barracks? I'm already level 17.

[cool breeze]

I'm really enjoying MAG so far. What do you mean there's no rank tiers? Have you not checked the barracks? I'm already level 17.

I meant it wasn't too apparent in the games I've played.  I think I was level 4 before I stopped playing for the night.  I'll keep playing since, while I enjoy Uncharted 2 multi more, I'll play that a lot when it comes out.  This is my time to try MAG.

btw, what group are you playing as? do others have different maps? I'm Raven

[duckman2000]

Yeah, which side should I pick?

[cool breeze]

the beta seems to only allow for one characters, so I'm stuck with Raven and don't know about the other two.  One was US Army standard stuff, the other was more guerrilla/dirty soldiers, and Raven is the high tech PMC crew.  The weapons and gear isn't so high tech as it is clean.

oh, and I do like is that the game doesn't have rechargeable health.  It is similar to Bad Company where you have a needle you inject yourself with.  It only heals a bit, and in chunks over time.  So, say your at 50 health and shoot up, it will jump to 60, pause, then 65 and eventually stop at 80-some.

[FatalT]

I'm playing as Valor, the US Army-type team. I made it all the way up to level 19 and started being able to be a squad leader. I'm really digging it. Make sure you upgrade your medic kit all the way up first so you can start whoring out experience by reviving teammates and healing them.

[Smooth Groove]

So MAG turned out to be crap, like most people expected. 

How's the Uncharted 2 demo though?  I'm mostly interested in how it looks and runs since I probably won't play much of U2 multiplayer. 

I haven't played the new demo, but the co-op in the previous beta was genuinely awesome. It's popular to craft separate co-op experiences, but in this case it felt really justified. You could compare the mission directly to the SP footage shown, but it was very well developed into a co-op experience. The MP was good, but I'm more of a first person shooter guy, so the third person stuff always confuses me. It was definitely something out of the ordinary for a shooter, though.

As for MAG... 92% 

Does it do split screen co-op?  Sadly, I'm the only PS3 owner I know that will buy Uncharted 2.  All my PS3 owning friends and cousins will likely spend their money on COD:Once Again instead. 

What do you think of the graphics in the beta?    I'm a bit leery of Naughty Dog's bullshots.  Not many company exagerrates as much as ND, imo.  I remember when they tried to pass off perfectly anti-aliased Jak 3 shots as being in-game. 

Finally, how are the controls, in terms of sensitivity and auto-aim?  Trying to get head shots was pretty frustrating for me in Uncharted 1. 

[duckman2000]

I didn't have a problem killing dudes in the beta, and the weapons had a lot more, I don't know, punch to them. I always considered the weapons in Uncharted to feel flimsy for some reason. It's been a while since I played it so it's hard to compare, though.

Visuals were immaculate, in the co-op mode. Sharp everything, and I don't recall experience much in ways of tearing or frame drops. Didn't spend enough time with MP to judge it either way, but it was certainly detailed enough. For reference, the monastery exterior and interior were the only bits in Uncharted to really impress me, so hey.

Oh yeah, and fuck MAG. Finally completed the update, created my character (the presentation is ridiculously slick), and was greeted to servers closing down for the night. 8-12 is really the shittiest time they could have picked, but I suspect I'm in the minority there.

[Jansen]

got the brutal legend demo but i need to install it.

guess i'll go make a sammich

[AdmiralViscen]

Is the Uncharted beta available to everyone yet?

[duckman2000]

Got one game in, finally. It's certainly not going to win Best Graphics of the Year, but I didn't think it was particularly ugly. The grain filter is bloody annoying, but there is a lot of detail to the environment, possibly a bit too much. And I'm really sick of orange hue, so I'd like to check out some other maps before saying too much about graphics. Gunplay feels real good, but having to switch to grenades is going to take getting used to.

Worth noting is that people are actually communicating. We'll see how that holds up when it's released into the wild, but the match I played did feel unusually tactical.

Also, I really wish this was a PC game.

[cool breeze]

I've been playing for a bit today, and I agree 100% with the wishing it was a PC game.

I'm liking it more today.  The village-ish map isn't too fun, but this industrial one is great.