Well, its finally over. My Cambridge exams have finished. Really, that was the most exhausting period I've ever gone through (save a few exceptions). I had been deprieved of sleep, studying like mad till 5 in the morning, then had to wake up 2 hours later for the morning session. Seesssh.....Anyways, the stuff's behind me now. Hopefully it'll turn out ok....

So, back to gaming then! And what better way to start the vacation than with Forza Motorsport 2 and Command and Conquer 3, both for the 360.

Forza then. Where do I start? The car custimisation is great, the graphics look nice (I know some sites have blasted the 'clinical look', but I'd rather have a little sacrifice in detail for a buttery smooth frame rate, than the other way round), and the core racing is intense (provided you don't upgrade the crap out of your car). The only problem I currently have is that the beginning races are rather too easy, even with the harder AI setting. Otherwise, an excellent simulator that's well worth the cash.

C&C3....is a little disappointing. Its way, way better than the stuttering mess that was Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II, but the frame rate STILL drops well below playable levels when the AI's controlling a lot of units. I've got pretty used to the gamepad controls, so its just the frame rate that irritates me immensely.

Well, happy gaming everyone!

That's gonna be my break time, before I start preparing for the 'big bang', the Cambridge May/June 2007 international examinations. Until then, I'm free to sleep well, game, and be merry .

So with the mock exams finished (on the 16th of March), I've been able to add a couple of games to my collection. Here's the list : -

1. F.E.A.R. (X360)
2. Call of Duty 3 (X360)
3. Project Gotham Racing 3 (X360)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II (X360)
5. Hitman: Blood Money (X360)
6. Saints Row (X360)
7. Galactic Civilization II: Dark Avatar (PC)

I haven't tried out games 3 and 4 much, but from what I've played of PGR3, its pretty good. The best feature has to be the in-car view. Absolutely immersive! I'm a little concerned about the aliasing though. It's quite visible and dampens the feeling of perfection.

LOTR: BFME II.....

Well its not easy to play on a controller when you've spent most of your RTS hours using a mouse, but I've played enough of it now to get along. What bothers me is that the game seems to stutter alot, as if 360's got some RAM problem. I don't know why....it doesn't hamper gameplay much (the stutters are measurable in milliseconds), but it just doesn't FEEL right.

F.E.A.R......

During the early levels, I wondered what the fuss was all about. Dual wielding pistols wasn't much fun, the little girl wasn't much of a scare, and the graphics were sloppy (GoW must be to blame). But I decided to go on, and slowly, the game became better and better. Sure, the environments are repetitive and depressing, but the A.I.'s rock solid, and flanks left and right without hesitation. As the arsenal grew in size, the shooting improved, and when you're lugging a rocket laucher that spits hot projectiles at rates that rival machine guns, its hard not to break a smile.

Call of Duty 3....

Not much that's different from the previous installment. More of the same room-clearing and cinematic weapon slinging that was present in CoD2. You still have the same stupid team A.I.. They find it hard to shoot Germans half a metre away, and some of them seem to have a watered down damage rating. One baddy took 8 shotgun blasts at point blank range before expiring. The graphics, however, are up a notch, in terms of clarity and texturing. But herein lies the unpleasant part. The frame rate can be a problem, and in some fights gets below 30. The controls get a bit sluggish during such scenarios, and its extremely irritating. I'd rather have performance at the expense of some quality, instead of the other way around.

Hitman: Blood Money....

One rather underrated game. Yeah, I've never played any Hitman title before this one, but still, its an excellent third person game, and highly recommended for fanatics of assasination and impersonation. The options you have for silently finishing a target are numerous and varied, and usually humerous too (watching an FBI agent sniff a panty dunked in ether.....LOL). The graphics aren't next gen though, what with the people roaming around looking more like LEGO characters, with flat hair layers (no seperate strands of hair) and blocky outlines. Also, EVERYBODY stares at you, no matter how many other NPCs there are around you. Its pretty unnerving for the first few times when you're in a disguise, and is plain unrealistic.

Saints Row......

Another underrated game. The gang members are much, much more intelligent than those in GTA: San Andreas. They'll efficiently cover your ass as you fight hordes of colourful enemy gangs, and even pick up guns dropped by the dead. The unlimited healing system is great, and allows the fights to go on for much, much longer. Starting these gang wars, however, is pretty tedious. You only get a few rival members here and there. Kill one, then move to another spot, find another fool, then kill him, rinse and repeat, while the bar slowly rises with each downing. Boring!

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar.....

I'll recommend this to any turn based strategy gamer. Many of the glitches and quirks present in Dread Lords have been patched up, and overall the expansion's additional features like asteroid belts, better A.I., and stabler gameplay make the game alot more pleasurable to play.



That's it. A happy gaming weekend to all of you. And if you've played LOTR or Call of Duty 3, please comment on the stutters and frame rate drops. Hopefully, it isn't because of a faulty 360, is it? *Fingers Crossed*

I was shaking like crazy. 'Jeffery Chu!' blared the teacher. I stumbled forward and reached out for my result sheet. Slowly, I looked down. HOLY ****! 3 beatiful black "A"s, all above 95%!

Dang, I could not believe my eyes. I had managed to get the highest percentiles in two of the subjects. And to say that in the school examinations, I could not even get higher than 80%........

The facts: These were the O level exams that I gave in the October/November session. I'll write down the subjects and their respective scores:

1. Pakistan Studies - 95% (A)
2. Statistics - 97% (A)
3. Commerce - 99% (A)

Ok, I still don't believe them......

Well, it was a sad moment. School finally forced me to pack up my 360. A month before, I was happily sitting in front of the T.V, slaughtering terrorists in Vegas, or blasting monsters in the fiery hell of Oblivion. One very pleasurable and memorable month. Now its all in the box upstairs.

The reason? M.O.C.K.S. Cambridge O'Level mock exams. They start towards the end of Febuary, and the real, THE 'Cambridge Exams' will take place in the May - June period.

I'll still come online and stuff (not forum visiting, I'm bored with that), cause it'll be my only source of entertainment for the period to come.

Well, hope you people have a nice, gaming-ful time!

First of all, Merry Christmas to all you gamers out there! This is the time to dust off your examination memories and celebrate, drink and be happy.

How are you going about this joyous occasion? My Christmas day started, well, in the midnight Church at 12:30 am attending prayers. After that was a good meal in a fine hotel (its once in a year ), and then a nice, 10 hours sleep to freshen up for the day that is today.

I'll see what can be done today. Maybe a gaming marathon of Oblivion? Or a Gears of War completion (Insane)?

Wheee! Read on and do tell me your opinion of the game.

The Review
Gears of War. The game that made me buy Microsoft's nice, white box. The title had been hyped to extremes, with many websites absolutely drooling over its graphics, which even in previews appeared fantastic. Without a doubt, this is true, as I shall explain later on.

The story: -

You are Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier court-marshalled and imprisoned for disobeying orders, instead attempting a rescue of his father during an assault by the Locust, a race residing deep under the earth's crust. The start of the game shows how Fenix is freed from jail by Dom, an old friend of his. Together, they team up with Delta and Alpha squad, in an epic attempt to save Humanity and prevent a complete Locust takeover. The plot isn't heavy in detail, though the progression is good enough that it'll compel you to go forward, even if its a little weak.

Graphics: -

Alright, this has to be said again. Gears of War has some of the best artwork and visual display I've ever seen in any game ever. Period. The textures are razor-sharp, and you'll see each and every detail on the character models with amazing clarity. Fenix, along with the rest of the crew, all sport excellent futuristic armour, and suprisingly huge boots. The guns
you carry will be visible on Fenix's back, and they are nice looking too.

The landscape is recreated artistically, and you'll see levels ranging from desolated cities, to underground mines, and even a speeding train. All the textures are bump-mapped, and have a great sheen to them. Reloading a gun makes hot gas fill the front of the gun, creating a hazy look that's just realistic. The mines look especially impressive due mostly to the yellow
Immulsion flowing in it.

The urban stages are equally good, with towering city halls, along with streets covered in concrete blocks and destroyed cars. The lighting shows its strength in those missions that take place during the darkness of the night, as the rays behave just the way they should. A special mention should also go to the rain-drenched levels, as they are
unlike anything I have seen before, and have to be witnessed to be believed.

However, not all is perfect (though this is really, really close to it). There are some very minor frame-rate problems, which usually happen due to Locusts filling up the screen, a certain boss fight, and sometimes for no reason at all (the compartment before the final boss fight).

Texture pop-ins are noticible, when you turn to one side quickly, though its not a problem gameplay wise. Also, in some larger outdoor levels, if you spin around at full speed, the game will freeze for a quarter of a second, as if its failing to keep up.

Howver, considering the showcase this game is, its hard not to be blown away the first time you see this game in action. its further testament to the engine that even the cutscenes it renders look great, though they are brought lower by some unsightly frame rate problems, which, again, occurs when the action on screen gets too heavy.

Sound: -

Most of the voice acting is good, with great scripting and some funny lines. Its the bangs and blasts of the weaponry that really please the ears. Hooked up to a surround system, this sounds phenomenal, with bullets wheezing past you here and there, along with heavy grunting from the enemy units, and really immerses you into each and every firefight. Some of the screaming from the Locust will unsettle you badly. The music is appropriately placed, as it fits the mood of most of the scenes you'll go through.

Gameplay: -

This title doesn't get lost in its graphical powers. It delivers magnificently as a playable game. Most of the gameplay revolves around you taking cover behind some solid slab of concrete, a junked car, or any other obstacle that is able to stand up to a hail of hot lead, or in some cases, explosive arrows.  Taking cover is essential, as this game is not a run-and-gun affair. You will get mowed down if you stay in the open for too long under fire.

The health system is like Halo's, only faster. As you get shot, a red Gears icon starts to appear in the middle of the screen. The faster you lose health, the quicker the icon gets completed, and when a skull's seen, your dead. If you stop taking fire for a few seconds, the icon disappears and you are back to full health. A system like this is great, as it keeps you in the action, instead of you having to find health packs scattered through out the levels.

It's intense as the A.I. is intelligent enough to shoot you the moment you pop out your head for a quick burst. In close combats, it'll crush you, except in one-on-one situations. Howver, it doesn't flank as aggresively as I'd have though, though that's probably to ease the difficulty a little, as your team-mates are horrible in covering you and returning fire.

They'll peak, shoot a few rounds, then return under cover. Sure, up close, they usually are able to melee a Locust or two, but under fire from multiple angles, and especially from a turret, they'll drop like bricks. On the hardest difficulty, Insane, they're even less useful, and will mostly spend their time in a bow, waiting for you to heal them while you take all the shots. A more robust and capable A.I. would've helped a great deal in making the gameplay even more enjoyable, as its mostly you who's shooting the whole time.

Your arsenal consists of a few different firearms, like the Lancer machinegun, which comes with a chainsaw bayonet attached underneath, the ordinary shotgun, a bow that uses explosive tipped arrows, your standard sniper rifle, and a nice Hammer of Dawn, which sents down particle beams at enemies you point it with. All are effective at what they do, and, though common in other games, are still alot of fun to play with.

The chainsaw kills, which you may have seen in many Gears of War previews, are extremely satisfying at first, with all that blood gushing out and splashing on the screen, but starts to get old after a few playthroughs of the campaign.

The opposition has some variations, though you'll be fighting through the Locust grunt for most of the game. Later on, the elite troopers come in, and you'll also meet with blind ones. The Locust could've been more diverse, but the A.I. is good enough to keep things fresh till the end. They do have this problem of allowing you to shoot them to death while behind cover, as they don't occasionally don't respond to your bullets.

Boss fights are also present, though they don't offer much of a challenge, with the exception of the final boss fight. Its a disappointment, as the cutscenes show them ripping human flesh and grounding structures with ease.

One part where Gears of War strays from the norm is in its reloading mechanism. You can reload your weapon with just a press of a button, but its much more faster and rewarding to play the small minigame under your gun's icon, as it provides you with a much reduced loading time and a damage increase as well. A bar goes from left to right, and you have to stop the bar in the grey or white area for these. If instead, you halt it outside, your gun will jam, making Fenix utter a few grumbles, and it will take far longer to load a clip. This process feels nice, as every reload is satisfying, cause you get the feeling of deserving the extra damage and speed.

All in all, a wonderful gameplay experience, marred only by foolish team A.I. and the small enemy variations.

Value: -

Given the great enemy A.I. in the Hardcore and Insane difficulty levels, the battles will change somewhat everytime you fight it again, and then there's those achievements to unlock, which means this game will be something you will be playing for some time to come. The gun-play and cover system is great enough to warrant many playthroughs after the first one.

Overall: -

No gamer should miss such an amazing title. Some may say its overrated, due to the lack of innovation, but this game nails the usage of its weaponary so well that it doesn't matter all that much. Please, do yourself a favour and get it.

Somehow, I managed to coax my parents into buying me Microsoft's nice white box. How strange. I had been aiming for a March 2007 assault date, but my mild persuasions and a long face convinced them to get me one.

Anyhow, that completely kills my chances of getting a PS3, but hell, with the launch it has had, I started to have second thoughts about it. Developers may turn away (check the Assasin's Creed news of Ubisoft defecting to the dark side), which scares me.

So, now that I have the 360 comfortably stuffed in with my PS2, I'll have some real next gen fun. Gears of war is awesome! Graphical, its a monster. I don't know why people say Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's so hot though, it doesn't look that much to me (well, maybe that's because of Gears of war). Oh, and I wanted to ask a question, from those who have Ghost Recon. Does the textures pop in at times, like turning around quickly? I experienced quite a bit of stuff popping into view when I spun around. Nothing like this happened in Gears of War, so I thought maybe this is game specific? Answers anyone?

Today, the 14th of November, I had to endure sitting for an hour in a large, round banquet hall, with my body hunched and altogether uncomfortable, and the air conditioner blowing me ice cold. However, my pains were to be rewarded today. This day was the very last day of my Cambridge International Examinations!

And thus ended the reign of chaos, days in which I had to stay awake till 5 in the morning, staring bleakly at a Commerce book, trying to dodge my parents from catching me awake (Yes, they do try to keep me alive ). No more studying for your life, no more internet-less stints, and hell, no more staying away from my PS2 and Xbox.

I gave my Commerce paper 1 today, which consisted of 40 MCQs and all had to be answered. Seemlingly, I've done rather well. But I still have to worry about those others exams I've given. Well, January will enlighten me quite nicely (The reports come in then ).

So, no more exams for me, at least for this year (I got a small-time school test, but who cares about that?). Time to go bust me some fools. Now where is that GTA DVD gone.......

       Just yesterday, my level was 15 at 98%. Now, its level 16... at 88%? WTF? Is this some crazy Gamespot Glitch or did I really do something so spectacular as to level up so quickly (before, at level 15, my percentage increased by 4% everyday )?
       I rather like this level (Magician Lord) .....bah wonder what the next level's gonna be.

With exactly 55 days to go before my Cambridge O'Level exams, I've decided to take leave from Gamespot and gaming till the end of December.

My exams will start on the 16th of October. The first one will be for 'Stats'. On the 19th of October, I'll have to give two exams: 'Pak Studies' and 'Commerce'. Finally, on the 14th of November, my second paper of 'Commerce' (Last of my exams) will take place.

I'm hoping for those nice As, but you can never tell. Hopefully, these exams will be my stepping stone onto scholarship and out-of-the-country studies.

What a bad month. Somehow, I managed to burn my Geforce 6600 (overclocked it). Father took the PC to its doctor for a replacement. Well, it would've been a small affair had it not been for the incompetence and dishonesty of the repairing guy.
He not only tried to rip me by fixing the burnt out 6600 for the price of a new one but also erased and re-installed Windows XP on my system.
Now I lost all my summer vacations homework and got only about 10 days to finish it! All my photoshop stuff, documents, vanished.
And on top of that, I'm gonna be running the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 for a long time cause father said he ain't gonna buy me a new card. The horror!!!!!

Call of Duty, Dawn of War, Command and Conquer Zero Hour.......I bid my farewell to you.....*sob*

Here's a glitch I encountered when fighting the UF wielding clone in Mission Mode of Ninja Gaiden Black. When I was doing the three 'X' mid-air slashes of Izuna Drop on one of the windmill guys, I somehow connected with the clone on the Izuna drop and pile drived him. However, instead of hitting the ground, me and my clone warped and reappeared at the top of the level and fell. He got stuck mid-air while Ryu released him and fell to the ground. I then killed him using projectiles.

Sorry the video isn't too clear.

Here's my new emblem :-

Love thy neighbor.
Those who are neighborly have a good number of mutual friendships, and the community as a whole is better off for them. Perhaps these individuals, in actuality, live in college dorm rooms, parents' basements, dingy apartments, or other such facilities devoid of actual, physical neighbors. Like, you know, the ones who come over to ask to "borrow" a cup of sugar or to use your lawnmower? Those worthless freeloaders, I swear... Oh, never mind.

After months of playing Ninja Gaiden, I'm back to Los Santos for another adventure of crime and rides. And this may be the last game I'll play cause my exams will be in October.
I'll start preparing for them by the end of August (These exams are the serious ones....Cambridge finals for O'levels) and thus may not have much time for union posts. Well I still got another month or so .....

Poor France. Till extra time, the odds were pretty even. But once Thierry O'Henry (he was substituted) and Zidane (he plunged his shiny head into Materrazzi's chest and got a red card for it) were out, Italy were looking much the better side. With two of their primary penalty takers out of play, the French were in relatively hot waters. Pirlo was scored Italy's first goal in the penalty shoot-outs. Barthez, the French goalie, dived the wrong way (in fact, he shouldn't have dived at all) while the ball went past him into the center of the goal. Wiltord (France) and Materrazzi (Italy) followed with successful spot kicks. However, David Trezeguet's shot came off the crossbar and back out, making the scoreline 2-1 in favour of Italy. De Rossi (Italy) followed with a goal, making it 3-1. Abidal (France), Del Piero (Italy) and Sanyol (France) all converted their spot kicks. It all came down to Grosso (Italy), and with the score at 4-3, another goal for the Italians would ensure them the Golden Cup. After a few heart stopping moments, the ball was in the net and the stadium erupted in cheers and screams of joy. Italy had won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The start to this match had been rather dramatic, with an early penalty call by the referee (Malouda had been fouled in the penalty area) in the 6th minute against the Italians. Zidane, determined to mark his place in history, scored a fantastic yet cheeky goal by chipping the ball into the net. It first hit the crossbar, bounced over the goal line and came back out. There was some confusion as to whether it had been a goal or not but the slow motion replay proved positive. France were leading 1-0. Unfortunately, their spirits were to be dashed by an equaliser from Materrazzi's header off Pirlo's cross from a corner kick. And for the rest of normal time, these were the only goals.

Italy were the superior side during the first half and came forward on numerous oppurtunities. Especially threatening were Pirlo's crosses, which almost always touched the head of some Italian player. Cannavaro, Italy's inspired captain, played an impressive game of soccer and foiled many of the French attacks. Totti, a potential source of trouble for the French side, didn't quite impose himself in the match and was later replaced. Pirlo had an excellent change of scoring from a freekick. His shot went a few inches wide, much to the despair of the Italian fans. In the later stages of the game, however, France started to regain their flow and composure. O'Henry went near the Italian goal several times, dodging and fooling defenders, but his final touch proved to be weak. Malouda also had an exciting time on the field, with his feints and runs. Zidane had an awesome change to take the lead back for France when his header was deflected by master goalie Buffon. Due to some unknown reasons, Zidane sinked his head into Materrazzi's chest, which forced the referree to show him a red card. It was quite disappointing really, seeing as he's a modern legend, and to see him end his career in such disgrace was shameful.

In the end, France were taken down with impunity. Grosso's goal ensured his name in soccer history and Italy the World Cup. Better luck next time, France. And damn you Zidane!

It finally ended. The German Dream. The Hope of reaching the finals. Two goals, courtesy of Grosso and Del Piero, sealed Germany's fate. And it is all the more disappointing for Germany, for the goals came in the second half of extra time (Grosso's at 119th minute and Piero's at 121st minute).
The German defence had been especially restrictive, though not completely invulnerable to the Italian attack.
There were many chances missed by the Italians, like Pirlo's cross from the free kick which nearly missed the head of one of the Italian players. Germany, too, had some chances. One particularly dangerous one was a kick that was saved by Italian goalie Buffoon (Don't remember the German kicker).
Cannavaro, Italy's ferocious captain, proved quite useful and his tackles made sure the Germans had lesser chances at goal. And so Italy will go to the finals, where they will confront either France or Portugal, in a match that will test the strength and nerves of either countries.

Hopefully, the final will be as exciting, if not more, as this match had been. Cheers!

My send-ups finally ended on the 2nd of June. Man, now I get to have some fun. Maybe some Ninja Gaiden and a bit of Galactic Civilizations II should do the trick.

This is it. The big one. Ah well, its my send-up exams to class 11. And it starts on the 17th of May. I'll be away till June so wish me luck!

It's been a long time since I had that game in my PS2. The memories are still quite nice. Guess I'll go and end it again.

Also, I wonder if anyone still plays this game?

Finally finished Ninja Gaiden (The original one, not the Black). The final boss really disappointed me. Really, is this the best the Dark Dragon Blade can do? The fight didn't even last 2 minutes. The first Alma was way, way harder than this fool.