I wanted to use most of the time being sick by playing games. The recently-released ones, mostly. So I stockpiled a bunch of them, and started playing.

First on the list was Crysis. It was fun, at the start, but as I progressed further, all I wanted is to complete it already. Graphics were as expected; amazing. Nano-suit was fun, but I expected more. So I gave it a 8.5, and now I'm looking where to get Warhead.

Next is Assassin's Creed, which I very much wanted to play. It turned out to be pretty satisfying, but nothing more, as it got repetitive later in. And the story was hard to follow. 8.0 for exciting moves. But I hate cliffhangers (especially as stupid as this one).

And Far Cry 2. I think I see a pattern in these "Cry" games. Cool new tricks (why no one used them before?), amazing graphics (for uber-hyping up), and then disappointing gameplay (mostly just frustrating) and sucky story (let's not forget awful voice acting). But Far Cry 2 was a really frustrating experience for me. Most of the missions are completely alike, moving trough the world is long and tiring, and the story is almost non-existent. Very disappointing (6.5). But there are some nifty tricks with graphics (like your eyes adjusting to the light) and gameplay (repairing cars and gruesome healings).

On the to-complete list are also Red Alert 3, Witcher, Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Psi-Ops: Mindgate Conspiracy. I also purchased Left 4 Dead (thanks to UpInFlames' blog post), which I'm now playing 24/7. I'll write about it next time, now I have to go kill some Infected (and maybe few Survivors )

Looks like I got pretty sick. Nothing serious though, I just have to rest for a few weeks (maybe months). Sucks anyway. I'm stuck in bed, can't work on the PC, even worse, can't play on the PC. And I just installed Assassin's Creed...

So, just to let you guys know, I'll be away for a while. I hope you can do without me

Hey there! I've been busy trough the summer with a lot of things, but mostly with the new PC (see the previous blog post). I finally completed Unreal Tournament III, which was somewhat disappointing, but still very good (8.0). I also decided to go all the way with the new configuration... and try Crysis. Oh yeah, Crysis. It mostly played very smoothly at high settings. Yes, the game is very beautiful, concerning the graphics. Other than that, it wasn't disappointing, though I didn't expect much from it. Basically I expected Far Cry with Nano-Suit. Crysis seamed more linear and shorter, and I didn't get any urge to re-play it, but it was pretty satisfying (8.5)

Next on the list is Assassin's Creed and Gears of War. In the meantime, I'm still playing World in Conflict and Team Fortress 2 online. And re-playing GTA: Vice City for the x-th time.

Oh yeah, and the new Gamespot is here. It's not bad, though it's still unfinished. Unions are still the same, as well as the PM system. I hope they will fix that soon. It looks simpler this way. All I have to do is to get used to it

So, I got my PC. I've been installing software for the last few days, especially... games. First thing I installed was Unreal Tournament III, and started the campaign. And boy, this is a big improvement. For my PC, not the UT franchise, I mean. Everything is so... shiny.

Like I said before, the configuration; I changed this:

Intel Pentium 4, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
ASRock P4V88 (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN)
Radeon 9600/X1050 Series Secondary (Omega 3.8.442) (128 MB)
ST380011A (80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
DDR SDRAM 2x1Gb + 2x256MB (upgraded before)

for this:

Gigabyte EP35-DS3 V2.1, s775, intel P35+ICH9, FSB 1600 O.C./1333
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 , 4x2.4GHz, socket 775, 8Mb G0
DDR2 2048Mb ( 2Gb ) PC6400 Kingmax MARS , 800MHz, CL5 x2
Gigabyte Radeon HD 4850 512MB DDR3,256bit, DVI-I / D-sub / HDTV
HDD Seagate 500GB, Serial ATA II,7200 rpm,Barracuda 7200.11 32Mb
PSupply CORSAIR 550W, VX Series CMPSU-550VXEU, 12cm vent., ATX
Pioneer DVR-215DBK, DVD±RW, 20x DVD±R ,12x DL

(Note: I just copy-pasted this, cause I don't know **** about hardware) All for less than 4800kn (cca. 664,90 Euros or $1,050).

So right now, I'm playing games like crazy. I have to beat UTIII campaign, get back on World in Conflict's ladder, catch up with achievements on Team Fortress 2... Lots to do. So, if you want to play with me, let me know. Contact me any way you can, I'll probably be in-game.

Don't worry, I'll still be around

I think I should start this blog post with a conclusion for a last one. I finished S.T.AL.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (a long time ago), and gave it a 6.5. The game was rather disappointing. Although it had some fun moments, I've been mostly frustrated playing it. Long, dull levels, even longer loadings and constant enemy respawns really ruined the game. Also, I was actually surprised how linear the game is. It has an open world, but almost all the missions for the main... quest (or goal or mission) are underground and pretty straight-forward.

I also played some other games as well. LucasArt's Full Throttle (8.5) and Telltale's adventure Sam & Max Episode 104: Abe Lincoln Must Die! (7.5). Yeah, I've been "experimenting" with adventures. I'm also planning to try to complete all the Monkey Islands. Beside the adventures, I remembered Red Faction (guess why). I played it before, but never finished. So... I did it now (8.5). And it was worth it. The game reminded me so much on Half-Life, that it got me back actually playing games, not just playing around with them. I missed real shooters.

Speaking of real shooters, I was unable to play any of The Orange Box games, due to my computer's drastic performance decrease. I don't know why, cause I take good care of it. So now, I decided to dump it and get a new one. I figured it was about time. I'll write the configuration next time, when I'll probably be writing the blog on the new PC. Anyway, I have to go now, off to Brač on a little vacation. Bye!