Leaderboard

Perfection ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_STUZeBhP0 Don't really care about the admin play or anything here, I just like to edit stuff. (y)

Here's my second Metroid review! This game was actually an unofficial re-make the the original Metroid II game: Metroid II: The Return of Samas. However I haven't played the original one, and don't intend based on what I've heard about it and in-game footage I've seen. Before I get into it, this creation of this game has a story to it you should know. Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R, as it is often called) was released to celebrate Metroid's 30th anniversary. The game had a lot of anticipation behind it. First off, the game's developer Milton Guasti, had been working on the game for nearly a decade (so many followers had built up over time). Second, Nintendo hadn't released any Metroid games since 2010 (and that's counting a game released in 2010 which was so disliked, most fans pretend it doesn't exit). Not long after the game's long-awaited release in 2016, Nintendo shut it down under copyright grounds. This triggered (literally) a lot of disappointment among fans and attracted a lot more attention to AM2R and the DMCA takedown. Fans felt that this was unfair because the game itself was good, it had been worked on for nearly 10 years, and the DMCA takedown was issued AFTER the game's release (as if Nintendo was waiting for the game to release to issue the takedown). The original Metroid II: Return of Samas is, in fact, currently for sale on the 3DS's eShop. So the game's release could in fact take away from Nintendo's sales. Nintendo is protecting their intellectual property. Now, weather their doing it in a fair way or not is for you to decide. Why did I write that huge explanation? I think it's better that you hear it from me before you hear it from some angry ranter. :p I'm biased nonetheless, but I hope I offered a fair view of the facts. Now, without further ado... Game Name: Another Metroid 2 Remake Platform: PC/Mac/Linux Time Spent: 8:20 Do you recommend? Yes! This game has everything Zero Mission has and potentially more. If you liked the look of my previous review, you just might enjoy what this game has to offer even more! What you rate the game: 9.5/10 Initial Thoughts: I started out by learning about the Nintendo DMCA takedown issue on youtube. I watched around five videos. After that, I had a pretty clear view of what was going on. I did it simply because I was interested in what was going on in the Metroid community. I hadn't even heard of AM2R until early 2017. About two months ago, I downloaded the first version on my laptop from an unofficial site (the original site had its download links removed). When I started playing, I was immediately impressed. This picture shows the difference between the original Metroid II and AM2R. As you may notice, the AM2R screenshot looks a lot like Zero Mission's graphics. This is because the design and the way you maneuver were based off of Zero Mission. In my opinion, AM2R's graphics are beautiful. They offer everything Zero Mission has to offer and more. The detail shows right off the bat, as this is the location in which you start the game. I knew right away I was in for an adventure as fun, exciting, yet terrifying as Zero Mission and maybe even more. Gameplay & Story: It's much like Zero Mission. You start out with three save files, start one, and the introduction images show. The goal of the game is to kill all 50 Metroids on their home-planet: SR388. Moving around is pretty simple. If your using a keyboard, "Z" and "X" jump and fire, "W" "A" "S" "D" move around and "SPACE" jumps. There's another key which switches between Missiles, Sumer Missiles and Powerbombs as well. One thing the game states as you start it up every time: "A controller is highly recommended" so if you have one to hook up to your computer, may as well do it! I'm sure it would be a lot more fun to play the game with one. All in all, it feels like a sleeker version of Zero Mission. All the secret techniques are still there like wall-jumping and everything. The terrifying feeling of loneliness and venturing deep into alien caverns, facing huge and monstrousness bosses is all there. One thing AM2R does differently here is the exceeding amount of mechanical enemies, bosses, and areas. The main areas of the game such as the Hydro Station, The Tower, or the The Distribution Center all have very mechanical themes to them. Nevertheless, the robot enemies are TOUGH. However, not long after first having to face new enemies, AM2R always soon directs you to a new item which allows you to shred though them, and so on and so forth. The minimap also features improvements such as making specific locations with new kinds of symbols and telling you how many Metroids are left to find in the area you're currently in, as well as how many are left on the planet. There is also a really cool new original feature: the log book. It's a small tab in the corner of your screen which will sometimes say "scanning environment..." then "7 metroids found in area" or something, but it also will give detailed information about each of the game's main areas (some of which I mentioned earlier) and explains how the Chozo race used them. It even describes bosses for you and points out their weak spots sometimes, which is a real lifesaver considering how difficult it is to tell normally. As for the Metroids themselves, instead of fighting larval Metroids as you did in Zero Mission (which were tough enough!) you fight four other forms of Metroid: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega. These guys all of really cool and unique abilities, and can be easy enough to beat when you know their attack patterns, but deadly if you don't. At any rate, there's 50 of them. You often encounter them in places you least expect as well, and the battle themes for all forums starts out with a short tune of surprise, as if it were a jumpscare (which it almost is!) Another thing I really like about AM2R is how it draws so much inspiration for actual Metroid games. From the information in the log book, to the bosses themselves, AM2R really feels like a real Metroid game, maybe even the next generation of Metroid games! I want to elaborate on the bosses (cause I love them). The bosses such as Serris and Aracnus are directly taken from the Metroid 4 game: Metroid Fusion, a game I'll review later. Why is this good? Well, this game takes place before Metroid 4 is supposed to (makes sense, since AM2R is Metroid 2, right?) despite being released after Metroid Fusion (as AM2R is a remake game). These two bosses from Metroid Fusion were creatures taken to artificially created ecosystems where Metroid 2 takes place, so it's actually very pleasing to see these bosses return in AM2R. [spoiler=Fighting a Gamma Metroid] [spoiler=Fighting The Tester] Fight a boss called "The Tester" which uses many kinds of cool prototype weapons in The Tower to fight you. The soundtrack! Metroid has great soundtracks, and AM2R does too! It's available on youtube as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=Wp7w0vNi3PU;list=PLlvExVPF1E2fPa-NfRrcxhRDJjVIBG0lE This song is part of a playlist. My favorite one is "The Hydro Station". Give it a listen! AM2R also draws inspiration from many other Metroid games for the soundtrack, and I'm pleased to hear the revamped old tunes, and the music sounds great, it's updated with the latest virtual instruments, so no more GBA or SNES sounds. I actually like those better >_< that's the one thing about this music. While I enjoy it, it just lacks certain emotions such as suspense and terror that the lower-quality sounds of the GBA and SNES had. Weird, huh? Unfortunately, this is an easy con of the game, even if it only applies to those who've become accustomed to the GBA and SNES Metroid soundtracks. I wanted to describe one specific point in the game which was a real highlight for me. It's an escape sequence where you end up trapped in a room and collect Powerbombs for the first time. It's the main reactor room, and if you read the log book time as taken it's toll on the machine, and it's unstable. You have no choice but to use a Powerbomb to escape. The reactor starts to overload, and a panel displays on the screen which fills up as the reactor starts to overheat. What makes this part particularly fulfilling yet stressful and terrifying is that a giant robot tank the size of the entire screen bursts though a wall half-way though it and ttys to stop you! It's crazy! A boss fight in the middle of an escape sequence?! [spoiler=The Chozo Security Tank mini-boss] I decided to just use my other Powerbomb (you start with just two) to instantly destroy it because I didn't want to waste time. I continue on the path I came, and realize that all the extra blocks I had to break to get though were placed there just to slow me down when the time came to blow up the reactor! I was just about to escape though the entrance, which is marked by two slow-opening heavy blast-doors. I had gotten though one and was between the two when the reactor blew up. I thought I was dead. But no! I was blasted though the second door and survived with almost no health. I watched my charter stand up with utter astonishment. Such detail! The one word to describe AM2R is DETAIL! The game has so many little features which really make the game what it is. Samas (your charter) even has an idle animation! Just little things like that which 10 years in development allows for really show though, and never ceased to impress me to the core. There are countless examples of animation detail and feature detail I could give about this game. Throughout the game, there are many other innovative situations you get to experience such as operating a drone to help you access a new area, or using a giant drill to.. well... access a new area. As you near the end of the game, in the Distribution Center, there's a certain room with bunch of chutes that can instantly take you to all the areas you visited, a useful feature for those who just like to walk around caverns of the planet, like me! The ending of the game is somewhat disappointing compared to the rest, unfortunately. You are fighting the last 10 Metroids of the game, the first three are really powerful Omega Metroids. The distance between them and the amount of walking you have to do to reach the final boss is awful. It just feels rushed, as if the game's creator got lazy with the end despite the detail on the textures of these new areas. After a lot of walking upwards (you are deep in the planet, after all) you end up in a underground lake after traversing caverns with waterfalls. The background image for this lake is actually really pretty and certainly noteworthy, even if I couldn't find a picture of it. A world map of AM2R. The solid blue area of the bottom left which continues upwards is the area which felt rushed to me You end up enter the genetics laboratory where you fight a couple of larval Metroids, just like the ones from Zero Mission. These are much easier to defeat compared to their adult forums you spent the whole game fighting, but just as creepy. [spoiler=What's the final boss?]Eventually, you encounter the last Metroids: The Queen Metroid. The mother of a Metroids. This battle turns out to be somewhat disappointing. The Queen doesn't have as many abilities as the other Metroid forums, and simply requires hammering her head with Missiles in order to defeat. But she is none the less monstrous, and big. After defeating the final boss, a Metroid egg hatches produced by... what's in the spoiler above... and it follows you around, eating the unbreakable crystals in the final cavern which leads to your ship while emotional music plays. You're the last Metroid's mother now. You reach your ship, and return with the last Metroid with you. And of course, it's nighttime. It was daytime when you first arrives. DETAIL! A great ending feature of the game is how you hear someone's voice with the iconic black-on-white blocky text "the last Metroid is in captivity, the galaxy is at peace". followed by "to be continued..." (but now spoken by someone's voice). This is exactly how Metroid 3 starts and really give me the chills. What a great feature! AM2R truly did a great job of connecting the games together as if they were truly four parts of the same game, rather than four separate games in the same universe. A picture which displays during the ending of the game. Backstory: AM2R lacks a deep backstory, but that's not a big deal. The Metroid series had a compelling story, but it isn't really in-depth nor is it a particular strong-suit of the series. It is best explained though these screenshots I took. Pros: (At least 2 reasons) - Amazing soundtrack - More cool upgrades, and updated as well (enemies frozen with Ice Beam actually fall to the ground and shatter if they were flying) - Thrilling and horrific atmosphere and bosses - Well-desinged graphics and creatures, even better than Zero Mission - So much detail! - The logbook Cons: (At least 2 reasons) - When I first got the Gravity Suit upgrade, I turned invisible! It turned out I simply had to get a newer version of the game, but for this bug to be in after 10 years of development is very surprising and out of place in such a detailed and bug-free game. It just felt sloppy. - The music just didn't have the same touch as the other Metroid games. - Sometimes, I had no idea where to go and got really board of wandering around looking for that one secret passage which would let me advance, but hey, that's to be expected from any Metroid game, at least sometimes. Final Thoughts: It's a Metroid game. It's everything Metroid 1, 2, and 4 have in terms of gameplay style and atmosphere. Even if it's not made by the official creators (Nintendo), I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Now that I've played it, it just might be my second favorite Metroid game, that's putting it over Zero Mission, which was literally my childhood friend! That's how impressive this game was. If you're interested in playing this game, you can download the application and play for free on your computer. Just search for "AM2R download" or AM2R download Mac". Make sure you download Version 1.1 or higher, because if you don't Gravity Suit will be invisible and it becomes annoying to play! DISCLAIMER: This might be technically illegal, as it is a copy of a remake-game of an official Nintendo game. I am not responsible for your actions should you chose to download this remake-game, play it, or redistribute it. The projects official website and forum can be found here. It seems fans are still updating the game. It warms my heart to see this. :^) I've posted some other screenshots below as well, they speak much more than my words do! I'd post more, but tomorrow mourning I'm leaving for a week-long camping trip for my job if you saw my inactivity notice. Bye! :p [spoiler=A bunch of screenshots of maps, bosses, and upgrades] An example of a basic "enemy" and a cavern Fighting an Omega Metroid Some of the upgrades you get Retrieving a hidden Missile Tank in The Hydro Station

Egossi asked me to close this thread. As it's been previously said, we are not willing to promote him to admin immediately and he does not want to be a mod. -Closed

sorry Munch but you need to be at least 13 years old to join Xenogamers.

Hi guys. Just had to ban 2 people for doing an exploit I have never seen before but everyone should be aware of it. Basically a player was in spectate and during the round was able to move to red as a spy and backstab everyone killing them. I am going to see if I can find anything about how this exploit was done but if anyone has any information about it please share because its a pretty bad exploit.

In-Game Name: maf Active Division: Team Fortress 2 Previously a Member in xG: No Identity: Steam Community :: maf! Banned: No Teamspeak Account Synced: No Time Active on Servers: Surf for 1 wk / TGH for a few hrs. (3-4) Age: 15 (May 11, 2002) Reasons for Joining: Xeno Gamers was made to bring players together from various games to form a community. Based on my experience in xG, the players on here are really fun to play with. There could be certain mishaps or rules being broken, but all of that can be dealt with staff. This community seems to grow during the course of the years, starting from all the way back to 2010 to this day. I'd be glad to make a change; make this community a better place, by applying as a member.

Just a little boy's humble shirt idea. @Vexx

You have been declined from becoming a member- I'm editing this because it's the auto-message default thing, but reapply when you're 13 if you will. Note: I'm really sorry about doing this, but you have to be 13 to apply as was said. I'd hope you might come do so when you do turn 13 though. ~Closed

LOL I vouch for Cappy to help out as well, I just have seen Jaydow's work on our server first hand which is why I vouched for him :)

UPDATE: Bags of gold should no longer drop. To get your currency from the bags of gold you have simply break them.

If you really wanted to sell some shirts. Do a limited supply sale. Meaning that you make like fifty shirts, and once they're sold out. They're sold out. That way you're not investing into shirts when people just feel like ordering them. The bracelet idea isn't bad. Could also do stickers. That's fairly cheap and inexpensive.

I have been looking into some websites. Will talk to @Aegean and @Rhododendron if I find a good one.

Just recently got accepted to XG, have had a wonderful time with this community so far and been relaxing in the TF2 Trade server, I haven't made any enemies yet and I'm not looking to, Wanted to get out there and say hello! I'm glad to be apart of XG! Adding a'lil something~ I like payday 2, L4D2, TF2, Starbound, Don't Starve Together, and all kinds of co-op games!

Division: Team Fortress 2 In-Game Name: Plasma, the Box Identity: Steam Community :: Plasma, the Box Ban Type: Server Ban Information: I did scam a guy and i am sorry i payed him back and a little more. i have turned over a new leaf and im ready to change please i just wanna trade my stuff!

Just put a open door with vac's face for 20$ shirt and 30$ jacket 35$ with hoodie. Guaranteed buy from like 90% of surf people. (-D-D)_?

In-Game Name: Munch Active Division: Team Fortress 2 Previously a Member in xG: No Identity: 76561197966405063 Banned: No Teamspeak Account Synced: No Time Active on Servers: 7 days of playtime Age: 12 Reasons for Joining: I thought it would be about time, I havent joined the forums until recently but I absolutely love these servers and the community. So if this is accepted, great! Welp thats it goodbye.