Because thus far, it's an inferior game to the original Modern Warfare in just about every way outside of visually.
The first level is short and features a spray 'n pray-type chase scene that ends before it really begins. The second level looks simply awesome, but is incredibly short and is punctuated by a snowmobile chase that has your "elite operative" firing his pistol off to the side like an ignoramus in a gangsta rap video.
Then you've got the uber-lame "No Russian" level, which follows an undercover CIA agent hanging idle (or actively participating, you choose) in an airport massacre. The level sucks on premise alone, but when you see just how pointless it is, it sucks even more.
Add in all the idiotic 420 references and it looks like Infinity Ward appealed to the lowest common denominator with this game. Don't get me wrong, it's STILL Modern Warfare, only shorter and lamer. At least thus far.
Yeah, I have no idea what that means either...
I've been playing the latest DS Zelda game for a little while, maybe 2 weeks or so, and I finally just beat the first dungeon...And I'm pretty nonplussed by the whole experience.
For starters, I don't like the control scheme. I'm all for utilizing the DS's touch screen, but not for every single bit of Link's movement and attacking. Having the option to use a regular ol' control scheme would have definitely helped me out. I don't know if I'm just getting old but I keep getting hit needlessly and have a hard time attacking enemies in the right direction. Note that I didn't play Phantom Hourglass, and I doubt I will after this experience.
Next up is the train segments. To get from A to B you have to drive your train along the tracks...And boy is that about as fun as it sounds. There's no way to fast travel or anything, and it's just slightly better than the ocean mechanics of Wind Waker in that they give you stuff to do like shooting rocks. Yeah, you read that right.
I dunno, I'm gonna stick with it a little longer, but I just picked up GTA: Chinatown Wars and I rencetly bought The World Ends With You and Final Fantasy 4. There has to be a time when I'm either done with Zelda for good or just give it up to play one of those games instead. And no, I can't play more than one game at a time for the DS, I play it in such short bursts that I would never get anything done.
Let's start this blog off the right way. Happy New Year to everybody out there. Hope you get everything you desire, and more.
All right, with that out of the way, let's talk games. On "that site that I write for", we did our Best & Worst of 2009 awards thingy. If you guys are interested, go check it out and tell me what you think. If I had to round out my top 3 games of the year, they would be MLB 09 in third, Batman: Arkham Asylum in second and Assassin's Creed II in first. So I guess that means Assassin's Creed II is my Game of the Year, eh? Deservedly so. Such a wonderful game and a huge step up from its predecessor. Don't get me wrong however, Batman and MLB 09 are both incredible games in their own right, and both are games that I never expected to like, but there can only be one. As for 2010, well the list is quite long of titles I am looking forward to. However, I modeled my GameSpot user page with my top 3 most anticipated of the new year. Can you guess what they are? (Yeah, I know, it's easy.)
Lately, I've been playing Borderlands. I got it right before New Year's and have been enjoying it ever since. Although the story and ambiance can't compare to Fallout 3, which is my favorite RPG of all time, it is quite good at what it does. The shooting mechanic is quite satisfying, as there are literally a bazillion types of guns to choose from, with different statistics and colors. I am currently a level 26 soldier, for those interested in knowing that fact. Also, on Monday, I should receive 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand in the mail (hooray for snail mail during the Holidays!). I decided to get that one after GameSpot named it their Most Surprisingly Good Game of 2009, and also because some of my buddies got it and said it was quite good. We'll see. I completely stopped playing Red Faction: Guerrilla's single player a while back, since I found it to be annoyingly repetitive and bland. Played a chunk of the multiplayer and found it quite fun though.
I guess that's it for now. I'll see you guys when I see you. Take care.
Why 15 and not 10? Because I can't make up my mind
1
Baldurs Gate 2
Release Date: September 24, 2000
Great story, great sidequests, characters, villains, and combat (unlike Dragons Age stupid MMO sty1e gameplay). Tons of c1asses and spells to choose from. Still my favorite game of all time and fun to play now. Most of the characters that join you have great dialogue and I loved the way they often interacted with each other. Excellent mods were also released for this game, one adding Xan (who was a character that could join you in the first game) and who is probably my favorite character of all time (the mod also gives the character a lot more dialouge in the first Baldurs Gate).
First time playing it: I enjoyed the first Baldurs Gate and I think my parents bought me this for Christmas in 2001. It took a backseat to the other games I got because you start off having to fight through a dark dungeon, I always hate going through small dark areas in games. After I started playing about a month or two later I was quickly out and grew to love the game. The first disk broke somehow after a few years and I didn't own the game again until a few years later when I ordered the collection that came with the expansion off half.com
2
Resident Evil 4
Release: January 11, 2005
I love the way you control your character in RE4 and RE5, even though most people don't after the release of newer games like Deadspace. Shooing enemies is satisfying due to how they react to the shots and the melee attacks are fun to watch (suplex).
First time playing: My aunt bought it for me while I was looking at a Gamestop when we were in San Francisco for something.
3
Release: November 12, 2001
Release: November 17, 2004
Release: January 12, 2008
Metal Gear Solid Series
One of my favorite series. I've loved every entry in the series. Snake in Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 is one of my favorite characters (Big Boss in three isn't that great and Snake in four is horrible) as is Ocelot in all four games. Great gameplay and story, as well as some funny moments (one hit kill groin punches in MGS2). The second and third games also have two of the best endings I have seen in video games. Portable Ops doesn't make it just because of how annoying it is to play on the PSP.
First time I played: I played the second Metal Gear Solid the same way I played the first, my friend bought it and brought it over to play. He left the second one over at my house one of those times and never seemed to want it back, even when he was over and I told him I still had it, after three years of that I ended up keeping it. The third game I bought when it came out. The fourth I had to wait a few months to play, I bought my PS3 in August and I rented MGS4 the same day. It made some great changes to the series but because of some missed gameplay opportunities and Snake acting like a grumpy old man throughout the entire game it is my least favorite. The second is probably my favorite game of the series (that is including the first game, two MSX games, and Portable Ops).
4
Fire Emblem 7
Release: November 3, 2003
I've played all the games in the Fire Emblem series and this is my third favorite (the fourth and fifth on the Snes being my favorites). This was the first game I played in the series and the first to be released in America, even though it was the prequel to six. I loved the gameplay and the support conversations with the characters. Usually in games where you can recruit a lot of characters (Suikoden, Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles) you don't get to know anything about those characters (unless the game gives you some short text bios), Fire Emblem adds a bit more personality to most of its characters. I think every character gets somewhere between three and ten other characters in your group that they can talk to during battle. Every two characters that can talk get up to three conversations throughout the game and they can each have five conversations in total. It might take awhile to have the characters stand together long enough (and a lot of playthroughs) but they add a lot of personality to the characters and whenever you do finish a conversation the game saves it under the extras menu. I've gotten every support in both Fire Emblem 7 and 8 (nine I don't own and ten took them out to replace them with a worse feature in between levels).
First time played: Parents got it for me for Christmas the same year it came out. I forgot if I read about the game on a site or in a magazine.
5
Final Fantasy 9
Release: November 13, 2000
The first entry in the Final Fantasy series that I played, it also might have been my first RPG. I think I have played all the FF in the main series, besides FF7 and FF11, and this and and FF6 are still my two favorites.
First time player: Again, I got it Christmas the year it came out. I had read about it months before in a magazine, not sure which one, the only magazines I ever remember getting was Game Informer from their 100th issue on and EGM a few years later. My parents let me open one gift on Christmas Eve and this was the one I opened. I played it all through the night and had little interest opening the rest of my presents in the morning.
6
Paper Mario
Release: February 5, 2001
My favorite Mario game, even more than Mario 3. Very funny, a battle system I can enjoy a lot more than normal turn based RPGs and great characters that join you, each with their own special abilities. I rented this game and after I bought my Wii this was one of the game I bought on the Virtual Console.
First time playing: I don't remember
7
Ogre Battles 64
Release: October 7, 2000
I love this and Ogre Battles: March of the Black Queen for the Snes and Playstation. This game has my favorite battle system of all time, having a large group of characters, customizing them, and splitting them up into multiple groups to fill out your army. The only games I know of that have a battle system like it are the two mentioned and Soul Nomad and the Wolrd Eaters. There are at least two other games in the series one for the Playstation and Knights of Lodis for the GBA but those two play like Final Fantasy Tactics, though the GBA one is still a great game (I don't have the PS one). I believe all games focus on the same continent or kingdoms at different times during their history, with OB64 being a sequel to Black Queen, even letting the main character of that game join your army in this one (now with the ability to talk). Great battles, and interesting world, tons of c1asses, and branching paths make this and Baldurs Gate 2 my two favorite games of all time.
First time played: I rented it about seven times from a gamestore. I finally bought it a few months ago when I found two copies in a pawn shop for $15 each. Much cheaper than it is online.
8
Call of Duty 4
Release: November 5, 2007
The Call of Duty series has always had my favorite FPS gameplay and Call of Duty 4 had other great features like an excellent muliplayer, exciting story and locations, surprises, the ability to shoot through walls (finally, glad pretty much all games started to do that once this came out), and likable characters (except Griggs, who sucks and died in the stupidest way possible). I can't forget to mention the fun extras like ragtime warfare and slow motion (which MW2 stupidly left out).
First time played: I got into the multiplayer beta and bought the special edition when it came out.
9
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 Jedi Outcast
Release: March 26, 2002
The cheats, the cheats are awesome. They easily made the PC version the best. Slowing down time, going into third person with your guns and cartwheeling and back flip to avoid blaster fire while gunning down an army of stormtroopers. Controlling yourself mid roll with the game's speed set on .2 and watching all their gunfire go right in between your arm and head or in between your legs during a backwards somersault. That is my most memorable thing but the lightsaber combat and force powers were also great. This game is so much better than Force Unleashed. All they should have done was make a fourth game in this series instead of that.
First time player: We had just gotten the internet and this was the first game I ever ordered online about a month after it came out.
10
Halo
Release: November 14, 2001
The reason I loved the first Halo so much more than the others in the series was because it was the first time I got to fight with a group of allies that were not only helpful but who could actually survive throughout the level (unless you were on Legendary or fighting the flood). The marines had funny dialogue and were a joy to be around, which is odd because in just about every game or movie I can't stand marines (the rest of the Halo series takes care of my love of these marines pretty quickly though, ending with ODST where your allies would just charge through all the enemies just so they can run into a wall on the other side). The game also had great weapons and was one of the few games to introduce driving into an otherwise FPS game with great success. It is also one of the first games I played co-op in and helped to fuel my love of co-op gaming.
First played: I think it was about two years after it came out, the day that I bought my Xbox
11
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Release: July 17, 2003
A battle system that was exciting and fun to watch. Introduced a great morality system to the genre. The story was so much better than the prequel movies. I love this game like Anakin hates sand.
First Played: The day I bought my Xbox sometime in the same year
12
Phantom Dust
Release: March 15, 2005
I love card games. Phantom Dust basically gives you a card game but mixes it was an action game. You make your deck of abilities, then pick up energy and power as they appear in your spawn point, a move could be equipped to each of the four buttons (A,X,B,Y). The single player was fun and had an interesting story but it mostly served as a way to get your cards/abilities/glowing floaty balls to use in multiplayer which was excellent. One of the best and most original games I have ever played, so of course it sold poorly and has yet to have a sequel.
First Played: Bought it shortly after realease. I thought it was only out in Japan until I saw one of my Live friends playing it while I was on Halo 2, I quickly got out of that crap and bought this.
13
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Release: March 6, 2007
A great single player game but mostly it just added on to the first games terrific multiplayer. Ignoring both of those things since Ghost Recon 2 (2, the expansion, GRAW, and GRAW 2) Ghost Recon has had some of the best co-op gameplay I have played (I never played the first game in the series). Co-Op missions that are separate from the single player story, defense missions (see if you can last an hour), assault (kill all enemies), recon (check out zones while killing enemies that get in your way), etc all allowing up to 16 people to play. Tons of maps, some that could be played day or night and map packs to add even more maps and co-op missions. No ODST did not steal it's crappy firefight mode from Left 4 Dead's crappy survival mode, which stole from GoW2's crappy horde mode, which stole from Resident Evil 4's pretty fun Mercenary mode (I'll leave COD5's zombie mode out since the whole zombie thing kind of changes the games gameplay) they all stole from Ghost Recon 2's (and maybe one) awesome 16 player co-op modes (that's modes, with an S, not just one mode like all the other games had).
First Time Played: Bought the day it came out
14
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
Release: December 22, 2000
A great RPG, the earlier Persona games and SMT series are the only JRPGs that actually require strategy in battle and the game gives you the option to recruit enemies through different dialogue options. Making this one of the only series to do anything good with the god awful turn based JRPG battle system, it's also (along with SMT) one of the only JRPG series that is challenging. A dark an interesting story (with many censored swear words right from the get go, telling you that the game will be edgy). The conversations you can have with the demons are also pretty funny, combining certain characters lets you do anything from having the two female characters talk about cute boys to having a cop and a mobster interrogate the poor things. Depending on how they react to each conversation they can become scared, angry, or start to like you. Then can either be forced/asked to leave a fight, give you items, join you in the form of a card which you can then use to create a demon (a much better way than the idiotic ways of Persona 3 and 4 where you go around fighting stupid **** like tables and only finding demons through random minigames after a fight). Best of all, there is no ******* JPop music, only music that is actually, fitting.
First Time Played: Bought at Gamestop along with Xenogears, both for $20 on one of the last days they would sell Playstation games. Good deals
15
Deus Ex
Release: June 26, 2000
An excellent FPS with well used RPG elements (not like Bioshock) all the skills were useful there were many different weapon and ways to approach most situations (stealth, shooting, hacking, lock picking). The game also had a great story and this is still the only game that has made me feel bad about killing people, luckily a stun prod, dart gun, and crowbar...I mean police baton to the back of the head give me many nonlethal ways to take down my enemies.
First Time Played: I forgot
Almost made it
Suikoden 2
Release: August 31, 1999
Valkyria Chronicles
Release: November 4, 2008
Most hated feature of the decade
Matchmaking
I will always hate Bungie for starting this crap with Halo 2. Remember the good old days when you joined a persons match, sometimes you had a few regulars that would join the same guys game with you all the time, you could make some friends and vote about things together (or the host could decide alone) to keep everything how you wanted it. Magical times when you could do things like pick what map and gametype you wanted instead of being forced to play crap all the time (bringing up Bungie again, their idiot matchmaking game choices pretty much destroy Halo 3, at least Call of Duty 4 and MW2 give you enough options so you know what gametype you are playing).
Remember when you could play a game knowing that the host is not going to leave anytime soon because you could either ask the host in person or because the host was not there but only setting up a dedicated game for you all to enjoy (making the game run even better). Now we get to have the host randomly chosen to pretty much ensure that the games will lag and if that host should get killed or start losing he will most likely quit forcing everyone to leave the game or wait through a long loading screen to pick a new hosts, which will usually only result in us waiting to be kicked out of the game (CALL OF DUTY AND HALO and your **** communities).
Games like Left 4 Dead 2 make you have very difficult times trying to find games when you have a friend or two on, since you have no idea if it will throw you into a game that only has one person, only needs one more person, or is already in progress.
Games that don't randomly choose a host now like to use their own dedicated servers which are always horrible. I haven't been able to play Left 4 Dead 2's versus or scavenge mode for weeks (duh, being one of the most preordered games of all time gave us no indication that a lot of people would be playing and crashing our garbage servers).
Again with Halo, a game that people have made great maps and gametypes for, thanks to Bungie's matchamking crap the only way to ever enjoy any of this is to have friends on who can join you for private games. How ******* likely is it that you are going to get on Halo 2 or 3 (or any other game you want to play a private match for) have 15 friends on playing the same game as you, who are all willing to join you. It takes a pretty awesome person to get people to leave their friends, possibly real life friends who are online, to exit out of games that are in progress, to forget about anything that they had to do in real life, just to join you so you can try out your new Juggernaut gametype.
(as mentioned in the previous blog, my novel, an insight into the 21st Century Male psyche in a world wrought with impunities, set against 1940's New York, had something of a llama-related subplot. Here's an extract from my novel; can you tell me if you see anything llama-ish about it? Constructive criticism is appreciated)
I stood upon the balcony of my apartment, staring out upon the cold, dead streets below. Soulless concrete and angrily steaming vents filled my vision, while the ceaseless drone of traffic filled my ears. How had it come to this? What was my purpose in life now that Celine had died? The answer was simple and pure; there was none. Why, then, did I not simply hurl myself from this very same balcony and end it all now?
My morose thoughts were interupted by a fragrance in the air. It smelt of summers, and joy, and happiness, and the promise of love. It revitalised my soul, brought with it new purpose. It was my new girlfriend, Cindy, and her cloying fragrance.
"Come back to bed, my love." She asked of me. Lost in my world of anguish, so dark that her blinding light did little to illuminate joy, I rested my head upon the cold steel railing.
"Go away." I demanded.
"Not until you come back inside. Greg, you're frightening me."
"I will only come inside when you... when you do as I ask. When you do as Celine used to do."
"Greg, I... I can't. I can't compare to this romantic image of Celine that you have stuck in your head. How can I compete with a memory?"
"Please." I begged "Just... just do as she used to do. Baa at me like a llama."
"No!" She shouted angrily. I turned and slapped her. The echo of the blow would forever haunt my sleepless nights henceforth.
"I won't baa!" She cried, tears streaming down her face "I don't think llamas even baa."
"Of course they do! What else would a llama do? Bark? I think not."
"Giraffes can only cough. Maybe llamas cough?"
"What's sexy about a cough?" I demanded.
"What's sexy about a ****ing llama?" She retorted.
"Get out." I told her, my tone as cold and dead as the streets below "Get out, and don't come back until you're on all four legs and baaing."
So... do you think the llama theme gets in the way of the gritty, determined message I'm trying to convey about love and happiness?
Happy New Year 2010 GameSpot!
I hope we all didn't party too hard the past couple of days 
. I have one new year resolution: stop making new year resolutions.
______________________________________________________________________
Like I've done every year since I started to be active here on GameSpot here's a yearly recap of my progress and stats for the site
_______________________________________________________________________________
(SkullZoma was my old GT)
For reference purposes here's 2008's stats
It's amazing how fast that decade went by and how much gaming has changed. Let's see where the next 10 years will take us.
It' almost 2010 here, i just want to wish everyone a happy new year, I hope you all have some good things going your way this year!
Here's the link. It's been awhile since I posted a review huh? Well, enjoy! 
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/batmanarkhamasylum/player_review.html?id=699201
... honestly, this past term was a killer with all of the papers I had to write, so writing more, even if it was something I actually wanted to write about, was simply not in the equation. Regardless, all I have left now are my exit exams, so there will be more reading than writing... it's either read 30 books then take a written exam and an oral exam in front of three professors or write a 70-100 page thesis. I'll take the one that requires less writing, thanks. 
So, the last few months have been strange for me on the gaming front because I haven't bought anything except a DualShock 3. Nothing new since Batman: Arkham Asylum, which I still haven't finished yet (wanted to take care of Assassin's Creed first, which I finished the day before the sequel came out). My poor, poor backlog... yet there I was today playing Mega Man Maverick Hunter X and Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (which I haven't technically finished yet, but mastering every possible job to have a level 8 Onion Knight is somewhat time consuming). My 360 is on its last legs, and the warranty is running out in mere days... argh. I want it to die now! If nothing else, it would hinder me from going after achievements and make my backlog a bit less imposing... my sad gamerscore just broke 9000 (uh oh, meme incoming) after getting 1000 in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Maybe I should play through the Phantasy Star and Shining Force games in there, even though I should start Mass Effect or Valkyria Chronicles. 
*sigh* As much as I'm enjoying my break, I'm kinda bummed that a trip to New York that I tried to do with a friend of mine from school fell through. We've already decided to try again next year, but since she's graduated, I'll be graduating this year, and we both may be leaving the country for a while, there are no guarantees. Maybe I should become a world traveller after I graduate... just stow away on a boat to the UK and go wherever my passport will let me. By the time I get to Japan I'd have a documentary crew following me or something and they might pay for the trip back... maybe. All I know is that I would get kinda bored if I were to thrust myself into the workforce to do something I don't enjoy, so we'll see what happens. I have too much to live for to just settle at this point. 
Regardless, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Hmm... I can think of four people I know through GS that have birthdays between now and Jan. 1.
So it's currently snowing in Texas (gasp!!) and not just in the panhandle where it's no surprise. It's literally been snowing nonstop today, and with temperatures not going above freezing, I get treated to a white Christmas!!
It's a rarity here, for sure. I'm sure anyone living up north is like "Meh. We get a white EVERYTHING." but you have to understand it's pretty amazing considering that yesterday, it is in the mid 70s and then it drops down to below freezing overnight. That's quite an achievement even for bipolar Texas weather. Ahh well.
Well, that's it for now... here's a pic of my car somewhat covered in snow, it may not be too impressive but the 50+ MPH wind gusts today haven't allowed much to accumulate on my car. The ground is a different story. Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone!!
Top 50 Best Games of the Decade
1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Publisher: Rockstar Games
- Developer: Rockstar North
- 2003
Vice City simply goes beyond having an open-ended world and varied, superb gameplay - the amount of styIe Rockstar poured into this game is unmatched. Neon-lit art-deco 80's Miami, fantastic music, a plethora of colorful characters, a cIassic rise-to-power crime storyline, and finally a cool, no bull**** protagonist voiced by Ray Liotta. Vice City also sports the groundbreaking series' most engaging side-missions including masterminding a bank heist and managing a porn film studio.
2. Half-Life 2
- Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
- Developer: Valve Software
- 2004
From the opening Point Insertion level, I realized I have embarked on something truly unique - City 17 was a cold, uninviting place in which the easy-to-see-through propaganda of a puppet human government is brainwashing you from the very first few seconds of gameplay. The atmosphere is palpable, you can feel the misery of the people that surround you, and you fervently want to join in the revolt. There is something distinctly real and human about Half-Life 2 despite the fact that you're fighting off an alien invasion. One of the very few games in which the reason to fight is as important as the fight itself.
3. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
- Publisher: LucasArts
- Developer: BioWare
- 2003
BioWare managed to provide the most complete Star Wars experience with this RPG of epic proportions. Incredibly well-written staying true to its source material, it has some of the most interesting characters in the Star Wars universe, and it sports the best Star Wars storyline since the first three movies. On top of all that, you actually get to traverse through a massive Star Wars universe and decide its fate. Knight of the Old Republic is everything an RPG can possibly be.
4. The Longest Journey
- Publisher: Funcom
- Developer: Funcom
- 2000
This is the absolute pinnacle of adventure gaming and storytelling. The gameplay is exquisite, the puzzles are challenging and, more importantly, make sense. The writing is superb, you will not encounter better developed characters than this, and the voice acting is organic and natural. After playing through this game, I felt as if I knew April Ryan, as if she was someone I was once friends with. April Ryan's journey should not be missed.
5. Team Fortress 2
- Publisher: Valve Software
- Developer: Valve Software
- 2007
A multiplayer game that has it all - a wonderful art-styIe, awesome characters, insane amounts of polish and balance and--this is what it truly excels at--teamwork. The cIasses give loads of gameplay variety, the goal-oriented teamwork paves the way for awesome battle scenarios and the fantastic community provides a bottomless amount of maps, mods, servers and everything in-between.
6. Ninja Gaiden
- Publisher: Tecmo
- Developer: Team Ninja
- 2004
The guys over at Team Ninja are undeniably a sadistic bunch who managed to bring me to tears out of sheer frustration - this game is ****ing hard. I'm no fan of such punishment and if it were any other game, I'd quit in a heartbeat. But there was something about Ninja Gaiden that constantly kept me moving forward no matter how badly I got schooled by the AI - and to keep playing after enduring such punishment and ending up looking like a complete wuss to simple computer AI is Ninja Gaiden's greatest feat. Because the game is just so incredible you can't put it down no matter what.
7. Civilization IV
- Publsiher: 2K Games
- Developer: Firaxis Games
- 2005
Civilization IV elevated the venerable series' formula to unseen heights. The interface was streamlined in order to avoid unnecessary, boring micromanagement. It's also the most accessible game in the series providing lots of options and making the game faster. But most importantly, these changes were made without compromising the insane depth and scope old fans expected. Just the opposite, it has more features than ever such as the fantastic religion system.
8. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy
- Publisher: Strategy First
- Developer: Strategy First
- 2002
The easiest way to describe this game is to compare it to Heroes of Might and Magic. But you would be doing it a horrible diservice as well. Disciples II is as different from Heroes as it is similar to it. It's an absolutely brilliant turn-based strategy game with a compelling universe, deep tactical gameplay that is easy to learn but difficult to master and a fantastic art-styIe.
9. Grand Theft Auto IV
- Publisher: Rockstar Games
- Developer: Rockstar North
- 2008
The game that took the series in a very different direction. It is a back-to-basics game showcasing Rockstar's incredible restraint and vision. Grand Theft Auto IV tells a dark New York immigrant story with believeable characters and great writing. It features one of the most amazing and detailed gameworlds ever created, stunning graphics, a great combat system, refined driving mechanics, competent AI. On top of all that, there's also the video editor and the fantastic Independence FM.
10. Dragon Age: Origins
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: BioWare
- 2009
The best thing to say about Dragon Age is that nothing feels like an afterthought in this game. Everything, absolutely everything is well thought-out and deliberate. An incredibly detailed gameworld with rich culture and history, a teriffic cast of characters, insane amount of fully voiced NPC's and a deep tactical combat system that never gets repetetive.
Studio XPS 9000
Intel Core i7-920 processor (8MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 260
1TB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
6X Blu-Ray Writer and 16X DVD+/-RW
Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium
Hauppauge HVR1250 hybrid TV Tuner with Remote Control
Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speaker System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition Edition English
Over 6 years on GS forums is a pretty cool accomplishment,Been threw it all and seen it all,yet i still come back because this place you realy can't get enough of it haha.Now a days I just Lurk,anyway.
I know i haven't blogged in a while but i think i'll get back into it.A few things,1 is im planning for another build it won't be as high end as this build i have right now it will be mid-range gaming PC and that one will be for sale once i get done with it.As for as my Tank,Upgrades for the PC are coming soon.
Hey people, after a long long time, its a blog from me (omgomgomg). I've been obsessed with Batman Arkham Asylum since the past few days and to describe it in one word : AWESOME. If you remotely like action/detective/platformers/stealth games, you should NOT miss this.Too lazy to write a full review, but here are my short thoughts on the game...
I play on the PC with maxed settings and the game looks simply awesome. The environments are dark yet colorful and realistic. Too bad we need to spend so much time in detective vision.
The story is the usual I-want-to-take-over-gotham-with-my-ingenious-plan-type but the progression is weaved nicely with the sidequests, the riddler's riddles in particular. Those are fun to figure out. Collecting trophies which are hidden in different locations is fun too. I was more worried about collecting trophies rather than saving the hostages at some points
The combat, according to me, is the best aspect of the game. There is a freeflow combat system which allows you to chain combos together. You can counter, flip-dodge and perform some takedowns without losing the flow, making the dark knight faster and more agile as the combos start to build up. Batman sure knows how to dance. Take a look at this challenge mode challenge to see what I mean...
Did I tell you the combat is awesome?
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Until next time...bye!
I've been a bit remiss in posting on GS, but I'm not quite a ghost yet.
I came back from 29 Palms a bit earlier in the month, only to find out that I had a week-long field op the following week. Totally burned out from back to back fieldings, I just became kind of a recluse, so I'd like to apologize once again to those I'd shunned on XBox Live. It's the nature of the profilic beast that when I'm signed in, I'm also online, and I just wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. (Trust me, my wife says I was quite the bear when I first came back from Cali.)
At any rate, I'm once again between field ops, since October promises another trip to Fort Bragg for a month (20 or so days) of pure military goofiness. Ah, who cares about that?!? You guys are here about the games!
One of my buddies heading out to Afghanistan hooked me up with a bunch of games to bolster me between GameFly titles, so I'll be playing quite a few. While I finally got rid of my copy of Halo 3, I can probably be enticed to play online with Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 4, or GTA IV if you can handle a bit of n00bishness in the mix.
I finished my first playthrough of Inifinite Undiscovery, putting a final touch to 26 hours worth of game. It doesn't sound like a lot for an RPG, but I'll admit to blazing through the latter parts once I realized that a lot of content simply wasn't available on the initial playthrough. It'll be a while before I tackle the next difficulty and the secret dungeon. I know there's a lot of content I missed out on, and I have quite a few achievements waiting to be picked up here.
I also played Ghostbusters recently. Fun game, filled with the same wit and mayhem from the two movies and the cartoon series. Worth picking up if you're a fan, and the online content is really interesting. Along with teaming up with fellow Ghostbusters to bust ghosts, there are certain type of ghosts (Most Wanted Ghosts) that appear only after you've captured other ghosts from other levels. It's a nice bit of flagging that's not available in other games, and is a bit more exciting than what can be found in other titles. Plus, you can earn money to buy other costumes and whatnot. Really fun!
Also put to rest was Batman: Arkham Asylum, hands down the best Batman game to date. And while that's not saying much in regards to the Batman series, this game is definitely getting my game of the year vote. Fluid combat, dark atmosphere and visuals, killer soundtrack and voicework, plus penned by the master himself: Paul Dini of DC Comics and Batman: The Animated Series fame, this game has it all! If you haven't played it yet, you owe it to yourself to rent this game. (Because of the length, I wouldn't recommend dropping $60 on it!!)
Finally, I am plodding through Resident Evil 5, not because it's a poor game, but because it's M rating means that I only play it when my daughter's not around to get freaked out by the non-zombies and epic violence. Still not crazy about the controls, but Capcom has yet to make a game that I'm completely impressed by. Is it just me, or is Chris just hard to control? I feel like I'm slightly retarded every time I aim in on a non-zombie.
Anyway, that's me for now. I'll update soon! Thanks for stopping by!
I just bought a new boat and decided to take 'er for the maiden voyage this past weekend.
This is my first boat and I wasn't quite sure of the exact Standard Operating Procedures for launching it off a ramp, but I figured it couldn't be too hard.
I consulted my local boat dealer for advice, but they just said "don't let the trailer get too deep when you are trying to launch the boat".
Well, I don't know what they meant by that as I could barely get the trailer in the water at all!
The stupid truck would die and start floating before the trailer even got close to deep enough!
What am I doing wrong? Should I load the truck down with some lead or maybe rocks so it doesn't float?
Anyhow, here's a picture. See for yourself. What am I doing wrong?
Three years later, I no longer have braces on my teeth. Feels very good. About ******* time, if I may add.
Also, I'm now writing for Antiquiet, which is an awesome music website that you should totally check out:
Cya later, Gamespotters!
For the first time since "First Contact," the "Star Trek" franchise has gone where no "Trek" has gone before.
Instead of continuing ahead with "The Next Generation" or spinning a movie out of the prequel "Enterprise," J.J. Abrams boldly decided to reboot the venerable franchise and start over from scratch. The final product is not only a credible entry into the franchise, but a new lease on life, not unlike V'Ger's resurrection at the end of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
The simply titled "Star Trek" delves into the untold history of Captain James T. Kirk's formable years at Starfleet Academy. Certain events have been altered thanks to the intrusion of a time-traveling Romulan named Nero. Instead of the standup cadet who cheated on the Kobayashi Maru, Kirk is a partying farm boy who loves to get into trouble. His famous solution to the unbeatable test is finally shown, including the reaction from his fellow cadets and the academic elite.
Mr. Spock's origins are also touched on as he tries to find the balance between his Vulcan and human identities. Zach Quinto's Spock is a much more conflicted person than Leonard Nimoy's portrayal in the original series. This uncertainty, combined with the actions of Nero, puts the uneasy relationship between Kirk and Spock to the test.
The marketing hype is correct: this is not your father's "Star Trek." There's more drama, more suspense and a much deeper insight to the characters than any other movie in the franchise. The opening scene alone is reminiscent of a science-fiction "Saving Private Ryan." As much as this writer has always loved "Star Trek," the emotional depth of the characters in the original series has always been as shallow as a wading pool. That's not the case here. You see the characters grow and evolved over the course of the two-hour movie.
The only problem the movie has is a shoehorned love angle between Lt. Uhura and Spock. The relationship makes no sense and plays out like nothing more than a feeble attempt by Abrams and Company to attract a female crowd. There is a distinct lack of chemistry between Quinto and Zoe Saldana and every intimate scene between the two feels forced.
However, any "Star Trek" fan, or "Trekkie" who has been worried about whether this will live up to the franchise's legacy need not worry. The actors are a little young, but the perfect thing about them is if you didn't know their names or their roles, you could easily pick out each individual character based on their mannerisms and the delivery of their dialogue.
The casting job was nothing short of perfect. While there will always be only one James T. Kirk, and he is William Shatner, Pine fills the role well with the trademark Kirk sleazy look. The star of the show has to be Karl Urban, who plays Bones, the ship's senior medical officer. He is perfect for the role. He looks and sounds like a young DeForest Kelley. Quinto also does a credible job as Spock, which is perhaps the hardest character to play in the series.
The music and visuals are both a sight to hear and to witness. The Enterprise NCC-1701 has never looked more beautiful on the big screen. And while Michael Giacchino's score doesn't necessarily sound like something from older "Trek" movies, the final credits music is straight out of the original series down to the campy 60s overtures.
Perhaps the best way to sum up the quality of this movie is to compare it to the watermark of the franchise, "Wrath of Khan." While not necessarily as good as the franchise's second movie, "Star Trek" succeeds in everything possible. The visuals, the music and the acting are all top notch and worth of the legacy. This is a movie that "Star Trek" fans will grow to love with its inside jokes and shout-outs to the series. And it is a movie that will pull new people into the fanbase. Even if you've never liked a "Star Trek" before, check this one out.
