Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - Halo 2 (Nov)

@LtSarge Different if I've killed them myself, but in this context eliminated doesn't necessarily mean they're dead: Slackjaw hasn't killed them either. Given the nature of the politics in the game it wouldn't have surprised me if they'd bought off Slackjaw or one of his flunkies and spared themselves, somehow turning up later. I guess that only works if the Lethal/Non-Lethal storylines are totally different and at this point I'm not sure how different they are to be honest.

I think I'll revisit this game a few times just to see how the game plays out when it's approached differently, although probably won't do a high chaos playthrough - loving it as a stealth game, but I still think the combat is awful.

Completed the Royal Physician kidnap stage now. This one is definitely the weakest so far in my opinion. No choices to make in terms of how you complete the objectives and no real side missions to speak of. This map layout makes it seem a lot more linear too as there's only really one way to get where you need to go - across the bridge.

I'm actually not sure how the chaos system works now either. I assumed it was based on detection rather than kills, as I had a low chaos rating on the previous stage even though I (stealth) killed most enemies I encountered on the way to the objective. This time I ended up with a high chaos - my stealth skills weren't great and got detected quite a few times so had to just kill with melee combat or Blink out of the danger area and hide for a bit.

@dmcc0 Yeah that level wasn't really on par with the previous levels. Personally though, I thought it was a nice change of pace seeing as how you've spent so much time in an open world at that point.

So I played stealthily and rarely got detected up until the last level of the game. In all those levels besides the final one, I got a low chaos rating even though I killed e.g. 30 people. Then in the final level I also killed about 30-40 people but I was getting detected frequently. So in other words, I think low chaos is if you don't kill anyone or if you stealth kill enemies, while high chaos is if you engage in fights with the enemies while they're aware of you. Which makes sense since you're causing more chaos if people are actually aware of you causing chaos.

@LtSarge yeah it makes sense that it's detection rather than killing, but a few things I've seen online suggested a low kill rate was the requirement for low chaos - I think one website suggested <20% killing, but no idea where they got that figure from.

I wasn't taking my time on this level as much as the previous (my wife and daughter wanted to watch something on TV😂) and definitely got detected way more than usual.

Spoiler alert (sort of!)

It’s been a while since I’ve completed the original game (playing through non-lethal on Dishonoured 2 at the moment) but as far as I can remember you have a fair amount of flexibility for low chaos as long as you keep killing to a minimum. You can be detected quite a bit and still keep chaos low, it seems to be based on kills.

I’m not sure but I think if you stick to only killing the targets then that has an effect (you don’t get the darkest ending but neither do you get the happiest either).

Btw a fun way to play the game is to not invest in any more powers after blink (which you get automatically). I think there is an achievement for using only bone charms and technology (in the sequel you can literally reject the Outsider’s powers and play the game Batman style, which I did on my first play through. I love these games!

So I decided to start up The Knife of Dunwall DLC and I just finished the first mission. It's really good so far and I love that you play as the guy who assassinated the empress at the start of the main game. The DLC is more of the same but there seems to be some new things that I haven't tried out yet. Either way, I'm really enjoying is thus far and it feels great to be back playing this game again!

So I finished the main game today. Despite never being detected in either of the last 2 levels I still ended up with the high chaos ending - I did stealth kill a lot of people though.
Fantastic game overall though. Only minor dip in quality was the level I mentioned before which was pretty linear compared to the rest, although still pretty good.
I'm definitely going to try a non-lethal playthrough at some point and trying the DLC content too.

@dmcc0 Good job mate! Weird how you still got the high chaos ending, I feel like the game is never clear about these ratings, lol.

Would love to hear your thoughts about the DLC later on! I'll probably play more of the DLC either tonight or tomorrow. Definitely want to finish this game up as soon as possible.

@LtSarge I was desperate to finish this weekend - I was up til about 4am playing last night then finished up this morning after breakfast. I'm working away from home for the next couple of weeks so won't be able to play at all during that time and didn't want to leave it unfinished.

I'm still not sure exactly how the chaos system works though and it might be better if it was clearer in game - maybe give a target amount of kills/detections before the start of the level? I have seen a few different websites quote the <20% kills figure so maybe that's correct - I probably took out about 80% in that last level; killed every guard I encountered while doing the side missions and only skipped past some near the end at the lighthouse.

Just finished The Knife of Dunwall DLC and it was pretty good! Really liked the main character and his abilities were very cool. This time around I decided to go for strictly high chaos because I just didn't have the patience anymore. Plus it was more fun, I got better at combat and one of the abilities you unlock in this DLC definitely helps with clearing out groups of people. So in that regard I feel like combat is more enjoyable in the DLC compared to the main game.

Looking forward now to playing the last story DLC!

@dmcc0 So I just started up the second DLC and I think I've finally realised how the chaos rating system works now. It never says how you performed for a certain level, it just says where you're at right now in total based on accumulated ratings. Because in the first level of the second DLC, you don't kill anyone and I still got a high chaos rating, so it must mean that right now I'm at a high chaos level overall. Granted, it does say "Overall Chaos (Current Total)" but I didn't think that meant where you're at so far in the game. That's kinda dumb in that case because surely people would want to know how they performed in each level?

@LtSarge I did see that it was the overall rating when I was playing, but agree that it would be more useful to have it per level as well as the overall level. It is possible that the bad level I had pushed it really high and even not being detected in the last couple of levels wasn't enough to get it back down.
I was going to go back and replay a single level (I think you can do that from the menu) it see if it gives the rating just for that level, but I'm away from home now so can't try it. WiFi isn't upto playing remotely or via xcloud either so it'll have to wait til I get home.

@LtSarge I've always viewed the Chaos level as that of the City rathwr than Corvo, with your actions impacting how the City evolves throughout the game.
I noticed that on runs where I kill indiscriminately there seems to be a lot more rats around for example and guards are a lot more hostile.
Its also worth thinking about the fact that the guards think you killed the Empress, they are basically doing their job. Every guard you "murder" further cements the cities view that you are the bad guy running around in a mask killing cops, which would lead to more chaos.

@Mr-Fuggles777 That's actually interesting, I didn't think of it that way but it makes sense. Hopefully the sequel explains it a bit better though as I was still confused from beginning to end, lol.

So I just finished the Brigmore Witches DLC and first of all, I didn't know that this was connected to the first DLC. If I had known, I would've probably played the first one with more consideration to things since I thought it was just a one-off. But apparently both story DLCs can be seen as one overarching story since you're also asked if you want to carry over your overall progress to the second DLC. And because of that, it's definitely worth experiencing the DLCs because they add a lot of story and lore both to the main game but also the series as a whole. Not gonna spoil anything specific, but I think it was so cool that they incorporated the decisions you made in the main game into the last DLC. As a result, I highly enjoyed the ending of the DLC. They even made the nonlethal approach awesome for the final boss. I thought that the nonlethal approaches in the main game weren't that great but this one was absolutely amazing.

Well with that said, I'm finally done with Dishonored, both the main game and its two story DLCs. Phenomenal stories that are well worth experiencing. Looking forward to eventually checking out the sequel!

Sorry I haven't been participating in the game club lads. I've been having a very rough deck of cards as of late and coupled with that some other games have grabbed my attention.

I did want to stop by and mention that I completed Titanfall 2 recently (albeit months later than the game club) and I found it to be a wonderful experience. Consistently fresh gameplay, majestic orchestrated soundtrack, serviceable story, all wrapped up in a perfectly timed 6 hour experience.

@LeanerFasterStronger nice one! How you doing? What's been going on? (You don't have to answer either question as I'm guessing your rough deck of cards is probably quite personal.) Either way, I hope you are doing better now.

I'm actually still replaying Titanfall 2 for the achievements 😅. I played it on PS4 originally for game club and because I saw how easy most of the trophies are, I've been using it to get 50 Reward Points daily for an achievement on Xbox. I've been mixing it up with FIA Truck Racing Championship (GwG) and Forza Horizon 4.

Good to hear you enjoyed it though and its nice to read your thoughts on it! What other games have you been playing then? I've been ploughing through tons of games on and off depending on real life commitments.

I've got back into Disonoured after avery long gap and I'm currently completing the second (?) mission (rescuing the little girl from the pub). I must have made some choices I don't remember the last time I played it as the crooks that brew the beer are not hostile towards me and I'm sure they were the last time I played.
It's taken me a while to get to where I am as I've done a few side missions and I was trying for the no kills and no alerts thing but that went right out the window quite quickly. Although I am trying not to kill loads of people so that the rats don't get out of hand.

@crippyd Yeah during the first mission you make choices that affect the side missions in the second mission, so that's why the thugs aren't hostile towards you. By the way, if you're trying to go for a nonlethal approach in taking out the targets then you'll need to keep doing the side missions in the second mission. Although personally, I didn't find the nonlethal approach that satisfying in the second mission, so it's up to you whether you want to pursue it or not.

@LtSarge I'm finding the nonlethal a bit of a grind so i may just start murdering anyone that crosses my path.
It is a good game and the time I've spent doing the side missions and not being bored is testament to that. Although I am finding the Blink a bit hit and miss, and therefore frustrating, as to where you can actually get to on rooftops etc and how far the circle can go away from your character when you initialise it.

@crippyd I also found the Blink ability, while very cool and unique for a stealth game, to be quite annoying sometimes. I made sure to upgrade it first of all the abilities just so that I could teleport longer distances. Towards the end of the game, I got used to it and became better at estimating where I could teleport. So I think it just takes time to get used to it but it's honestly the most useful ability in the entire game.