Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler What video games are you playing tonight?

Playing Half Life: Alyx on a Reverb G2, and whoa!!! VR is definitely the future.

Right? I had no interest in VR until that game came out, and none of the video clips I'd watched prepared me for how intense having the headset on would be.

I was just telling one of my friends I hadn't seen in a while about it. She said she only tried VR once because she was pressured into it. It was just some version of Tetris, but she REALLY didn't like being cut off from her actual surroundings. It made her very nervous, even though she knew she was among friends. I told her how great Alyx is, but that she would hate it with how real it feels and how scary the many dark portions are. I loved the game, but it freaked me out.

The feeling of being present in the game world is unreal. I particularly love that each enemy engagement is unique, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from popping out from cover and landing a few quick headshots. The exiliration that comes from pulling off a perfect reload, seconds before a zombie rips your face off...oh man.

Next up in VR is Microsoft Flight Simulator. I haven't set foot in a real cockpit in over a decade, but I'm hoping this comes close to capturing the feeling.

Went old school here.
Playing Axis and Allies, old board game but video game version through TripleA.
https://triplea-game.org/

Since covid was underway, i got reconnected with some friends who had been playing it on and off for years. Now we get together with a vidchat on MS Teams, have some drinks, play some rounds. Unlike FPS games, you can have your hands free far more often for grabbing that drink!
Or watching the hockey game in the background during someone else's turn.

It's old school but mixed with modern connectivity and a great way to bring back a classic board game and bring buddies together at the virtual table. People have designed all sorts of new maps for it to keep it interesting and the computer AI is pretty decent to put up a good fight.

I snagged a handful of VR games since Steam is having another sale. Boneworks, Pavlov VR, Pistol Whip, Moss, and The Room VR: A Dark Matter. So far I've just dipped my toe into each one.

Pistol Whip is like a cross between Superhot and Beat Saber. I died quickly even though I was on Easy, so that may be a challenge.

Pavlov VR and Boneworks seem like they could be fun, but I got motion sickness fairly quickly on both due to the continuous motion style of movement. I much prefer the teleport-style option of Half-Life: Alyx. Otherwise, the weapon mechanics in Pavlov VR seems pretty refined. Weapons in Boneworks come across as more kludgy, but I think the appeal of that one is supposed to be the physics-based play. I hadn't gotten far enough into it to appreciate it before the motion sickness kicked in.

Moss could be the easiest for me to play. You get to guide the main character through a progression of screens like an adventure game. Puzzles to solve, cool environments, and no motion sickness.

The Room VR: A Dark Matter is the one I spent the least time in, so I don't have much to say yet.

I did it. I'm a billionaire.

Now you can buy the 50000 subs Harman waxes poetic about.

Mind if I keep them at your place?

Damn, Charles. I can't stop laughing.

Yes, Bethesda suckered me into another edition of Skyrim. I only have one more Steam achievement to get, so I've been meaning to get back to it. It's one that will basically require me to start over, so a new edition with extra content helps me justify the slog. I actually like the tedious leveling up of skills, so I'm not genuinely complaining. Who knows when the next Elder Scrolls game will actually arrive, so I may as well get one more playthrough of this one.