Hi all! Short blog today. Just wanted to let you know that my Mysteries of Westgate review is up. Read, comment, or do whatever else you feel like doing.

The game turned out so much better than I thought it would. In my humble opinion, it ranks as one of the highlights of the RPG genre in recent years. Yeah, I really thought it was that good. It's so well put together and full of great quests, solid writing... ah, just read the review to find out all the details.

Next time I'll hopefully bring you a review of Risen, which is pretty awesome as well. Just my luck, two great RPGs in a row ... this year turned out better than I thought it would. Peace!

Hey everybody! Finally, here it is, my The Witcher: Enhanced Edition review. Read, comment, ask, say what's on your mind. It took a bit longer to finish this as I wanted to test out the two additional adventures packed with the Enhanced Edition. Both were pleasant, and short. I'd say about an hour each.

And right now I'm playing through Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, widely considered the worst of the series. The game's been sitting on a shelf for years, gathering dust. I remember trying it for like 15 minutes back in 2005 or so, I know I ended up uninstalling it because of bad controls. Never touched it again... till yesterday. It's really not a Tomb Raider game, with Lara running around derelict apartment building, Parisian back alleys and sewers, talking to people, following leads and trying to find people; there's really not much tomb raiding going on.

But I'm really surprised. The game would fit rather well in a point-and-click adventure game format. It has an interesting thriller atmosphere going for it. And, surprise surprise, I've even encountered situations where I'm given multiple paths through a quest. I've even learned to live with the difficult controls, which, it turns out, are sufferable as long as you don't use the mouse. Bottom line, I'm enjoying it. Will review, as this one's an interesting case.

Well, that's it for this blog entry. See you next time. Peace!

Hello everyone! And by 'everyone' I mean the two or three people who still read this, admittedly, not very active blog. Today I'll just do some news on some of the games I've tried lately.


Fastpunk Top Tip of the week:

STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl - this is basically a post-apocalyptic sandbox shooter, set in 2012 Chernobyl. And it manages to do a lot of things right; atmosphere would be first and foremost, an interesting game world with a lot of emergent events that make it feel alive would follow. The game mechanics and NPC A.I. aren't bad either. The problem is it gets old after a while, since the number of side quests is rather limited, and the main quests seem to follow the same pattern (explore underground lab and recover documents/turn off machines). Basically, it could use more work towards making quests and missions more unique. But, overall, it's a solid game that I'd recommend to anyone.




Also try:

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - this one's a neat team-based multiplayer shooter which I'm probably going to play every once in a while. Each scenario has a unique set of objectives, and the experience varies quite a bit depending on faction and character type choice. It plays well, it runs well, and it's fun. It's not gonna take home the gold, but it's well worth it.


Now playing:

I'm not sure if I'm ever going to write a review for the two games I mentioned above, we'll see. For now, I really want to finish The Witcher: Enhanced Edition and NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate. I'm in the last chapter of TW and the stuff's getting really interesting. MoW on the other hand, well, I gotta start over. My saved games got corrupted so... yeah. But it's the best RPG I've played this year so I'm gonna pick it up again and finish it this time.

Lastly, I just got The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, which is a remake of the timeless masterpice we've all at least heard of. Gotta say, the hand-drawn 2D graphics are superb, and the voice acting and music are both solid. Can't give you a more in depth opinion yet, since I played it for just a few minutes yesterday. More on that later.




Reviews on the horizon:

Reviews for Mysteries of Westgate and The Witcher EE are in the works, but I need to finish the games before proceeding. Hopefully, I'll review Monkey Island as well. No promises on that though.

Well, that's pretty much everything. Next time I'll hopefully bring a review or two, and I also want to do a 'games I want to play' type blog next time, since some interesting titles have emerged in the last few months. Peace and see you around!

Yup, another review is up. Read it over HERE.

Like I say in the review, this is the best Half-Life 2 game so far. At least that's the vibe I got from it. And now I'm actually looking forward to Episode Three, specially since the present game suggests a rather interesting setting for the next one. It's all up to Valve to execute it right. And they sure are taking their time... again.

Well, that's all for now. Peace!

Hey people!

Just a quick update today. The review for Need for Speed: ProStreet is up and you can read it HERE. It's a solid game that I recommend to anyone who likes to race around professional tracks and tune their ride to perfection.

In other news, got tired of Gothic 3 (fedex quests are tiresome) and The Witcher (same) and went back to play Mass Effect once more. Bioware have been hyping that some of the choices you make in ME1 will carry over to ME2, so now I kept my saved profile for when ME2 hits. Also, I finally got around to playing the Bring Down the Sky DLC, which was quite good, and very action oriented.

Now I'm playing through NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate (not done yet, but it's awesome and a review is coming) and Half-Life 2 + Episode 1 and 2. Good fun all around! Btw, what are you playing these days?

I'll be back with more blogs and reviews later. Peace!

Hi! Today I thought we'd look ahead and see some of the potentially interesting games that will be released this year. 2009 is a year of sequels it seems, wiith stuff like Assassin's Creed 2 and Bioshock 2, but there are some interesting new things as well. The list is rather short, 3 games only. So feel free to suggest a few others in the blog comments.

Alpha Protocol

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Release Date: October 2009
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

I wrote a blog about this one a while back (see here) so I'll not go into the basics. Instead, I'll be directing you towards some interesting media that made its way on the net since then:

• Latest Developer Diary
• Latest Trailer
• Alpha Protocol Feature on Gametrailers TV (this one is really juicy)

In short, I'm looking forward to this one, specially after seeing that Gametrailers TV feature. However, they still need to iron out some of the rough edges, like character animations, they probably need to tweak and balance the gameplay as well, not to mention bug squashing. But since most of the footage was collected from an early game build (devs on the Obsidian forums said the build was from last year), I imagine the game will be in a good state on release. Here's hoping the game ends up every bit as good as it sounds.

UPDATE: There's a lot of new stuff about AP, but I'll just post the more interesting ones. So here you go:

• E3 2009 CGI Trailer
• Developer Walkthrough Part 1
• Developer Walkthrough Part 2

Assassin's Creed 2

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: Q4 2009
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

The sequel to one of the more interesting games of late has great promise. True, AC1's gameplay suffered because of some bad design decisions, and quite frankly wasn't a whole lot of fun after a while. The positive side is that it provided a good platforming experience, a superb game world, and used an impressive engine. So Ubisoft has a pretty solid foundation to build upon. The setting this time around will be Firenze (Italy), during the Renaissance.

There's not much info on the game, but there is a list of improvements and new features floating around the internet. I'll mention the more interesting things only, but keep in mind that said list is NOT official.

• You'll have a ton of new weapons to choose from including an axe, a hammer, a mace, a spear, 2 different sword types, a spear axe, and 2 smaller blades.
• Each weapon has a special move.
• You CAN swim.
• Da Vincis workshop is in the game.
• Locations include Saint Mark's Basilica, The Grand Canal, The Little Canal, and the Rialto bridge.
• You play as a new ancestor of Altair / Desmond - and you will see the countryside of Tuscany.
• The main characters name is Ezio Auditore de Firenze.
• Big characters are in the game including Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, and Lorenzo de Medici.
• You'll get to glide on Da Vinci's flying machine
• Game will feature a new notoriety system that governs how enemy soldiers and people will treat you.
• 16 unique mission types.
• No more eavesdropping or pick pocketing missions.
• If you get beat up to much you will need to see a street side doctor to regain full strength.
• Hidden objects (like flags in the first one) are there to uncover but this time if you track them down you will get in-game bonuses that make it worth your time.
• New enemy types with unique attitudes and weaknesses are present in the game. Archers are mentioned, as well as elite enemies, dagger wielders, "Brutish" armored troops with heavy armor and 2 handed swords and axes, and an intelligent halberd enemy will probe hiding places with their weapons if they think you're near by.
• While hiding in a hay bail you can assassinate people this time, but it may expose your position.
• You can still climb towers and ride horses.
• The Lorenzo de Medici assassination attempt is in the game.
• There is now a night and day sequence in the game.

AC2 sounds great on paper, but then again so did the first one. So I'm not going to pass any judgements yet. I'm interested, and that's all I'll say.

UPDATE: Here's some media that just got released:

• E3 2009 Official Trailer
• E3 2009 Ubisoft Conference Gameplay Video
  
• E3 2009 Setting Interview

Risen

Developer: Piranha Bytes
Release Date: Q3 2009
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360

I must admit that I've grown rather fond of Piranha Bytes lately. I've played the Gothic trilogy, and although I've yet to finish any of them (all in due time), I like what these guys come up with. They are very good with world building, multiple choice quest, and faction play, which already elevates them above 90% of RPG developers. Of course, their game mechanics have been kind of lacking, so maybe Risen can be the turning point for that.

Risen is basically a spiritual successor to the Gothic series. It's set on a volcanic island (with a bit of a Mediterranean look) in a completely new medieval world crafted by Piranha Bytes. It's been confirmed that there will be various guilds and factions to join, but Risen will probably offer everything you'd expect from a Gothic game. Sadly, there's little in the way of solid information, so I'll just point you towards some screenshots and videos that highlight the nice graphics. I'm not sure if that Q3 2009 release date is very accurate considering the lack of info, but one thing's for sure: if you liked the Gothic games, keep an eye on this one.

UPDATE: Risen fansite 'Risen Island' has posted an interview with a Piranha Bytes dev. You can read the english translation over HERE (you might need to scroll up a few posts). The translation isn't too good, but there's some new info in there, so enjoy!

That concludes our program for this evening. See you next time! And peace!

Hi all! Another long in the works review finally gets finished and posted. So today is the day. The Star Wars: KotOR II - The Sith Lords review is HERE. Give it a read, I reckon it's pretty good. Not much else to say about TSL. It's one of my all time favorites, flawed, unpolished and unfinished as it is.

On a slightly related note, I've uploaded some wallpapers of various games (TSL being among them), and one for the TV show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which as my profile's new look will tell you, is a show I very much enjoy (despite the rather anemic middle part of season 2). It's unknown if it'll get a season 3, and until a decision is made (either way) I'll be keeping that profile banner for all to see.

Anyway, back to the wallpapers, you can check 'em out OVER HERE. Maybe you'll find your next wallpaper there.

Transmission over. Peace!

Hi all! It's been a long time coming, but finally, here it is. My Fallout review, which you can read OVER HERE.

I've actually written half of it last fall, after finishing my second playthrough of this wonderful game. And the news of Obsidian developing the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas offered a small push to finish this review at long last. It's always the reviews for these gaming greats that are harder to write. It's hard to explain what exactly makes them so special.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read. Peace!

Hi all!I reckon I've got a decent blog for you today. It's esentially made up of a few impressions from some games I've played throughout the last year or so, but didn't review and/or mention for whatever reason. So let's get down to business.

I'll start with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This thing is an adrenaline generator. Yes, the single player campaign is fairly short, however, it is just relentless in pacing. And the set pieces for this campaign are simply jaw-dropping. Not to mention that it takes you by surprise by also telling a fairly good story, which you witness through the eyes of a few key individuals.

But ultimately it all comes down to gameplay. And CoD4 delivers in full. Weapons feel just right, character movement is optimum, and enemy AI is pretty good and aggressive. This game is a rare case of a shooter that excels in both single-player and multi-player. Yes, the mp is excellent, just like every other CoD title. Overall, you need to try this one. Its got everything a shooter needs to have, and is further proof that keeping you on rails is not always a bad thing.

I've also revisited a few games from one of my favorite game series ever: Quake. It started with a few casual games of Quake 3 Arena, which lead to a few nights of Quake Live beta, and it all culminated with a replay of the very first Quake, a game I consider to be the true starting point for competitive first-person shooters (no hard feelings Doom and Wolf).

I had forgotten how superb this game plays. It's so responsive and fast! I played only through the single-player, which is pretty lenghty and quite challenging, but I'm thinking I want to play a bit of online as well, though I'll probably get smoked by people who still play this. Anyway, Quake is a first-person shooter unplugged, you do not want to miss it.

About the Quake Live beta, there's little to tell. This browser-version of Quake 3 already works flawlessly, requires minimum effort and drive space to set up, not to mention that it's completely free. I'd say this is a big achievement as far as technology is concerned, and I'm sure its success will generate other games like it. It's a good thing for PC gaming if you ask me. Gameplay-wise, it plays like Quake 3 Arena, which means that it's hella fun.

Moving on; one game I played but didn't like that much is Half-Life 2: Episode 2. It's basically another short HL2 episode with precious few improvements and game hours to offer. Seriously, Valve really need to stop doing this, the wheels are spinning, but the vehicle just isn't going anywhere.

Like with Episode 1, the story is almost inexistent. The only remotely important story element is the death of a character, but it's more for drama, not to mention poorly executed. I will agree that Episode 2 is a slight improvement over Episode 1 in terms of pacing and length, but ultimately there's very little incentive to purchase it. The episodic releases idea is just plain bad, specially when it happens at these intervals. I mean 1.5 years or more between episodes is too long, specially when you only get a 3-4 hour campaign with almost nothing new to offer.

Finally, I want to mention Portal. It's one of the most innovative (yet simple) games to come out in a long while. You basically just get a Portal Gun as a weapon. This gun fires two types of portals (but only on certain surfaces), and you have to use these two portals to solve all sorts of interesting puzzles, that will not only make you think, but also test your dexterity a bit.

It's a refreshingly unique game with simple rules, but interesting puzzles. There's really nothing like it, which is why I warmly recommend it to anyone. The only downside is the game's length, which can be finished in two or three casual sessions. Good things come in small packages I guess.

Well, that's about everything for now. A Happy Easter to everyone! For Catholics it's a bit late, I know, but I'm Orthodox so give me a break. Peace!

Hi everyone! Prepare for another blog a la fastpunk. This time I'll be doing a little review of the Unreal Tournament 3 Titan Pack.

So what is this Titan Pack? It's basically a big piece of DLC for Unreal Tournament 3. It's been released on the 5th of March for PC, with a PS3 version coming at the end of this month. What do you need to run it? Obviously, a copy of UT3, the 2.0 patch (grab it HERE), and of course the Titan Pack itself (over HERE).

> What's in the pack?

This is the complete list of new stuff:

* 16 new maps - 4 Warfare, 3 vCTF, 6 Deathmatch, and 3 CTF maps
* Three bonus pack maps, CTF-Face, CTF-Searchlight and DM-Morbias (with preview pics this time)
* The Titan mutator, which lets players overwhelm opponents as a 15 foot tall titan, or crush them as a 30 foot tall Behemoth
* Greed and Betrayal, two gametypes that breed new-found fervor throughout the competitive UT3 arena
* Two powerful weapons, the Stinger Turret and Eradicator Cannon artillery
* Two valuable deployables, the X-Ray Field and Link Station
* The Slow Field power-up, a portable version of the Slow Field deployable
* Stealthbender, a new vehicle that carries two spidermine trap deployables, one EMP mine, and one each of the new Link Station and X-Ray Field deployables
* Two new characters, Nova and Kana (Liandri and Ronin, respectively)
* 57 awards attainable as Steam Achievements and PS3 Trophies
* Broad improvements for PC and PS3: Significant AI enhancements, especially in vehicle gametypes; networking performance upgrades; greatly improved menu flow and UI usability; better mod support
* Client-side demo recording, highly improved Server Browser, a new maplist system, plus mid-game mutator and gametype voting functionality for PC

That's a lot of stuff for a FREE bonus pack. But since the original game didn't have that much content, this is just what the doctor ordered.

> The highlights:

In an attempt to keep this blog reasonable in terms of length, I will not go over everything, just the stuff that's really worth discussing.

The Titan Mutator would be first on the list. It works with every game mode, and the first thing you'll notice is a meter on the bottom right side of your screen. This meter fills up as you score frags or points. When the meter is full, you can turn into a 15 foot tall Titan. You'll be viewing your character from third person and you'll be armed with a super rocket launcher, a super shock rifle, plus you'll be able to perform a mean melee attack. If you manage to fill the meter again, while still in Titan mode, you can become a 30 foot tall Behemoth and be virtually unstoppable. If, on the other hand, you get killed, a countdown will start and at the end of it, your body will explode in a massive blast, killing anyone in the radius. One last detail: you cannot use vehicles, pick up items of carry flags and orbs while in Titan mode.

Now, how does this play? Well, I wouldn't recommend it in free-for-all deathmatch as it will unbalance the game quite a bit. It's the guys in front that will get to transform into Titans and it takes teamwork to take one down, teamwork that's not likely to be seen in a free-for-all match. In team games though, it adds a whole new layer of tactics, specially in vehicle-based game types like VCTF and Warfare. Why? Well, because the mighty Titan is easier to kill if you work together, even more so when you use vehicles. On the flip side, the Titan is pretty strong and can turn situations on their head if used properly. It's an awesome idea that truly shines in team play.

Another thing worth mentioning is how good the AI is with using the Titan mutator. For example, in one VCTF game, I managed to score a flag capture early on. As time was running out though, the opposing team got desperate and launched a full assault, using no less than 3 Titans, a Nemesis tank and a guy on foot (to act as a flag carrier). And then they immediately tried again with a second wave, using only 2 Titans this time, but supported by a Darkwalker and a two guys on foot. So instead of using the Titan mode immediately after filling up their meter, they saved it for a concentrated assault, in two waves no less. It's pretty impressive teamwork if you ask me, you don't get to see this sort of stuff online, unless you're playing with close friends.

The second most interesting new feature is the Greed game mode. Greed started out as a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, it can be played on all CTF and VCTF maps, and its rules are pretty straightforward. When a player bites the dust, he drops a skull (representing his own life force) in addition to any other skulls he might be carrying. Because that's right, skulls can be picked up. To score you need to get all the skulls you are carrying over at the enemy base and drop them into a circular container (it's located where the flag used to be). The number of skulls you are carrying is displayed above your head, so the more you have, the more you'll be shot at. But to balance this out a bit, carrying more than 10 skulls at once will give you a damage bonus, to help you defend yourself.

I've played this one quite a bit. It works great with the Titan mutator, though keep in mind that the Titan will not be able to carry any skulls. Greed is the type of game that works best when many players are involved, regardless of map size. It's nicely balanced and the AI bots are pretty good at it, so playing with bots is a valid alternative to online play.

Alright, now let's see some of the highlight from those 16 new maps.

First up is DM-Darkmatch, an arena inspired by the DarkMatch game mode for UT99. Obviously, the arena is really dark. Player skins have a slight glint from up close, and the map is lit intermittently by some sort of particle accelerator. Gotta say, the ambient sounds coming from the accelerator are awesome, and the map as a whole, provides a really atmospheric experience.

DM-KoosBarge is among the highlights as well. It's set on a frozen cargo ship, and as the name suggests, it's a partial remake of DM-KoosGalleon from UT99. The map is very good for 1on1 matches, but you can go up to 4 combatants without it getting crowded.

DM-OceanRelic gets a mention for being nicely layed out, looking really awesome, and having a few twists as well. First off, this map features the SlowField power-up, which creates a protective field (looks like a gelatin cube) around the player that slows down any incoming fire, making it easier to dodge. Second, it features two pools of water that regenerate health. However, when using them, a sound effect plays throughout the entire arena, signaling opponents that someone is using the pools. And finally, the arena is visually superb, it's set under water and it kind of reminds of Bioshock as far as atmosphere goes.

From the deathmatch maps, DM-Turbine is also worth mentioning. Yes, it's a remake of the UT99 map with the same name. Chances are you already know what to expect, so I'll just add that it also looks old school, similar in tone to the original one.

As far as CTF goes, this game mode received a much needed infusion of quality maps. Four to be more precise (six if you count CTF-Face and CTF-Searchlight, which were initially released in the first UT3 bonus pack). All of them play very well, but CTF-Shaft takes the cake. It's becoming one of my absolute favorite CTF maps, from any UT. First off, this map looks old-school to the max. Second, it has an excellent layout, with plenty of ways into the enemy base, and three entrances into the flag room. Overall, it plays very well, with matches often going down to the wire. In one word, CTF-Shaft is tyte!

Also worth mentioning are the VCTF maps Stranded and Railes, and the Warfare maps Cold Harbor and Hostile. They're all nicely layed out and balanced properly.

And before wrapping it up, the improved menu needs to be mentioned. Do not expect a total overhaul, Epic took the old menu system and added functionality, improved performance and eliminated that clunky feel it had. Epic also changed the color scheme to carbon fibre black, which doesn't look that great, but definitely better than the old one. The Advanced Video settings tab has received a lot of new options, including disabling the Bloom and Depth of Field effects which bothered so many gamers, including myself. Improvements have been made to the server browser as well, and the there's better mod support too. Finally, it seems the engine has been optimized a bit as well, since the game runs even smoother than it did before.

> Verdict:

Epic have handled this bonus pack in a very smart manner (though I reckon it might be a bit late). The Titan Pack doesn't change the game in any radical way. Instead, it focuses on adding a few twists here and there, to spice up the experience. They also focused on correcting two major issues of vanilla UT3: lack of content, and the clunky menus.

If you already own UT3, you owe it to yourself to try this. There's a lot of new content to explore, and ultimately, there's a lot of fun to be had with all this new stuff.

If you don't own UT3, then you've got a nice opportunity to buy it real cheap (12 bucks to be more precise), from Steam. But the offer is only available until March 15, so think fast. Besides, there's not much new stuff getting released this time of year.

You already own UT2004 and don't know if you should upgrade? Well, it all depends on how comfortable you are with UT2004. If it still gets your adrenaline levels high then maybe you should stick with it a while longer. But if it doesn't do the job anymore, you should seriously consider UT3.

Having said all that, I'll wish you guys happy gaming, regardless of what you're playing.

Hey! Here's another blog, and this time I'm going to talk about a lot of stuff, entertainment related mainly. I've had a little bit more free time lately, so I checked out a few movies, games and music. So scroll through the blog and see if you like anything.

This is Gamespot after all, so I'll start with gaming. There are quite a few things regarding it that I'm excited about. First on the list is definitely the Unreal Tournament 3 Titan Pack, coming on the 5th of March.

As you've probably guessed already, it's basically a bonus pack. It gets its name from the new Titan mutator, which can be added to any game mode. It adds a meter to your HUD. This meter fills up as you complete objectives or score frags and when full you can activate it and become a titan. Now you're big, wield a super Rocket Launcher and have a few extra attacks for those who get too close (as the screenshot above depicts). But besides this mutator, the Titan Pack offers a lot more:

• 16 new maps - 4 warfare, 3 vctf, 3 ctf and 6 dm (also includes the exclusive maps from the XBox 360 version)
• two new game types - Greed, and Betrayal
• two new weapons - the Stinger Turret and the Eradicator Cannon
• two new deployables - the X-Ray field and the Link Station
• a new powerup - Slow-Field
• and two new characters

And that's not all. The pack will be joined by the UT3 Patch 2.0, which probably has a longer list of fixes, improvements and enhancements than all the other 3 patches put together. There are a lot of improvements, like much better menus, improved networking performance and AI, as well as a lot of extra functionality. Just head on over to BeyondUnreal and read all about it.

Second up on the gaming list is Painkiller: Black Edition. I got it off Good Old Games (gog.com) for 10 bucks and it comes with both the original Painkiller campaign, and the expansion, Battle out of Hell. It's a real bargain, considering that there's plenty of online fun to be had as well. For those who don't know much about Painkiller, it's basically an old school first-person shooter made by People Can Fly. It's as frantic and straightforward as the old Doom and Quake games, very much worth getting if you're into old school shooters.

But right now I'm playing Need for Speed: Prostreet. I had played the demo back in 2007 and didn't like the drive model at all. Cars felt super stiff and the game world wasn't much to look at either. But I really wanted to play an NFS. I actually tried the newer and prettier NFS Undercover on a friend's 360. However, that game turned out to be completely soulless. Easy as well. So ProStreet won.

Turns out there's plenty to like, especially for virtual petrol-heads like myself. The drive model is still stiff and there's little track variety. But there are a lot of customization options, specially in terms of car performance, which is awesome. It's pretty much the reason this game has got me hooked at the moment. Get it if you like tuning and tweaking exotic cars, then racing them around a track. But be warned, it's not the arcade-y NFS people are used to.

Alright, alright, enough with these games already. Up for some TV shows or movies? If yes, read on!

I've seen a really good movie called Blood Diamond. It's a bit older, 2006 to be more precise. It stars Leo DiCaprio (who has a wicked South African accent in this one), Djimon Hounsou (played in Constantine, he was that shaman, Midnight or something) and the lovely Jennifer Connely.

The story follows opportunistic diamond smuggler Danny Archer (DiCaprio), who overhears about a big @ss diamond found (and lost shortly after that) by a worker called Solomon (Hounsou) in the diamond mines of Sierra Leone. It chronicles the quest of both Solomon and Danny to find the diamond as they are working together, although both have different agendas. That's the simple version, the plot is much more complicated. It's very much a characters film, you experience the characters changing, evolving as the movie unfolds. Blood Diamond also depicts some of the problems with which some of the people of Africa are confronted on a daily basis, so there's a political undertone as well. It gets a huge thumbs up from me, as the characters were deep, dynamic and very well portrayed, while the plot and cinematography were both really solid. Check out the IMDb page for more info.

On to lighter things. One of the shows I've been following since its debut back in early 2008 is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

It's not really too faithful to the Terminator movies, it's more of a spin-off. There's a lot of time travel and some killer cyborg action every once in a while. But this is more of a character driven show. However, I can't say any of the characters are excellent (except maybe for Sarah Connor herself, very well portrayed by Lena Heady) but they're decent enough. The show is on its second season (getting close to the end), which kind of dragged in the middle part. Thankfully, the last two episodes were very good and picked up the pace and plot. If you're up for a decent sci-fi TV show, this one might be worth considering. And check out the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles blog for more info.

Pfeu! This blog is getting a bit long. but I'll not close it until I mention some music. So let's see, what's worth mentioning... Ah, yes. For a bit of soul, jazz and electronica, check out the superb new album from Jazzanova, titled Of all the Things. And for trip-hop fans, check out Loopa Scava & Cayetano's first album, Up and Down. It's an interesting piece of music, built on some wicked bass-lines and decorated with a touch of dub and abstract jazz. Both of these albums are worth it, specially if you're looking to chill, with or without friends.

So yeah, that's about everything. Feel free to share some opinions about the stuff presented here, or whatever crosses your mind. Or maybe offer some suggestions regarding some good games or movies you've enjoyed lately. Peace and easiness to all!

Ahoy! This one's about Gears of War, the game I've been playing for about 3 weeks now. So I've played some good games in the past year, but none of them have actually been great. If you take a look through my reviews, you'll see that plenty of titles got an 8.0 or an 8.5, but you gotta look all the way back to NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer for a 9/9+ game. Gears of War is the first 9/9+ game in over a year. Yup, it's that good.

There are plenty of good thing to say about GoW, story and characters are not among them. But as far as shooters go, I've always valued the responsiveness of the controls, the feel of the weapons and the level design first and foremost. This third-person, cover-based shooter scored big in all those three aspects. You might as well add atmosphere and challenge to the list of pluses btw.

I've played through the main campaign three times now, and finishing it on Insane (the highest difficulty level) was beyond awesome! It really takes the highest challenge to appreciate how good the cover system is. Some scenarios were an exercise in reloading the previous checkpoint, but overcoming them in the end felt great. Online is fun as well. And I've also tried this mod called Lance2, which adds a couple of new maps with bots in them, for quick offline action. Try it if you have GoW.

Gotta give it to those folks at Epic Games, they always knew how to make a competitive shooter. Anyway, I wrote a review, which you can read by clicking HERE.

That's all folks. Peace!

Hello everybody! It's finally that time again: a new blog. And this one's going to focus on Tomb Raider: Underworld, one of the games I was really looking forward to last year. Sadly, it didn't deliver in full, but it was good enough to warrant two playthroughs. You can read my full game review by going HERE.

The best thing about the game were the set pieces. Really epic stuff, it's one of those cases where 'epic' is not just an empty buzzword. There were also a lot of nice, varied puzzles, all taking place in some really detailed and atmopsheric environments. So yeah, exploring the exotic locales of Underworld was by far the best part of the experience.

The story was rather decent as well. Not great, but most certainy an improvement over previous installments. I heard the game got nominated for best writing in a video game by the Writers Guild. I wouldn't call TR:U writing award material though. The story itself is fine, it's the characters that need more depth. The voice actors really saved the day for this otherwise two-dimensional bunch.

What I didn't like was the way combat encounters were designed. There were too many cakewalk encounters with bats and other small animals. The harder opponents show up less often and are a decent challenge. Problem is that the camera is a bit unruly, making combat in tight areas a headache. Actually, exploring tight areas is generally a pain because of the aforementioned camera. It could have used some polish.

So yeah, this is a good game overall. Check the review for more details if you're interested. I reckon this is a pretty friendly game for newcomers. But all in all, 2007's Tomb Raider: Anniversary is still the best game in the series, and the one I'd recommend first and foremost.

Peace!

The title says it all. Merry Christmas to all!

P.S.: I wrote a new review for anyone interested. It's for the new Prince of Persia game and you can find it HERE.

Peace!

Hi! Got a short blog today, though it introduces a pretty long review. Like the title suggests, I've been playing Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir and I've written a review for it. So go HERE to read all about it.

It's a lot of fun, though it has disappointing bits too. Actually, the score I initially tought about was 8.0 but it was just too much fun. I played like 5-6 hours just today, few games keep me plugged for so long. I'm usually the type of gamer that plays for short stints (2 or 3 hours max).

Well, that's that. Enjoy the weekend. Peace and easiness to all!

Hi! How's it going?

I've got a short blog today. Been gaming a bit and the most recent game I finished is Dead Space. I wrote a review of course. So if you're interested in this quite surprising horror sci-fi shooter then GO HERE and read all about it.

Overall, I liked it a lot, it felt like a spiritual successor to the System Shock series. Unlike Bioshock, Dead Space managed to capture the feeling of isolation and tension of SS games and that's quite an achievement. Anyway, you'll find all the info in the review. See you next time! Peace!

Long time no blog, I know, so I figured I'd just drop by and say hello. How's it going?

Gaming's been slow for me, which is why I haven't blogged in such a long time. Truth be told, I tried a few games - Sam & Max Season One, Gothic 3, Sins of a Solar Empire - but nothing sticked, although I must admit that Sins is pretty awesome. Actually, I didn't dislike any of these games but felt like I wanted to play something else.

So I decided to install Mass Effect PC again, this time doing a renegade playthrough without any of those tedious side-quests. Plus I juiced up the difficulty all the way and played a Vanguard class (proficient with pistols and shotguns but can also use biotic powers, which add some diversity to fights). It turned out to be good fun actually, I must say that ME's combat system is probably the best Bioware ever made (except the Baldur's Gate series). Plus, not doing the booooooring side quests really makes the game feel more focused and generally more fun.

And since I'm replaying stuff lately, I decided to give NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer another go, this time with a Spirit-Shaman character. I'm gonna have a hard time but I'm almost done with chapter one and so far so good. Did I mention that I love this game? I'm probably going to play some more Sins of a Solar Empire too, it's a really cool (and different) RTS. I'd say try it if you don't mind the slow pace.

This rant got longer than I planned so yeah, sorry about that. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some reviews and that Indie RPGs blog I mentioned probably one too many times. So until next time, peace! And seriously, what are you guys playing lately?

Hi! How's it going?

I finally got around to writing a review... they're not coming to me like they used to. Must be the damned heat, it's ridiculously hot over here. But after playing and finishing Assassin's Creed I felt that I had enough info to write a good review. It's an interesting game but not without problems. The score obviously suggests this. But in the end I got a solid 15 hours of decent fun out of it. Me and Assassin's Creed is defintely a love - hate thing. But like Yahtzee said in one of his reviews (he was making a point about immersion and offered Assassin's Creed as a good example), this game will suck you in if you approach it with the right mindset, despite the many bad design decisions. So without further delays, HERE is the review.Enjoy!

I can't leave with just that though. If playing and/or reading about games is one of your hobbies then you might want to check out an interesting feature about Assassin's Creed on CG Society. It's a nice read and offers some insight on the creation of this breathtaking gameworld. Probably the best looking game I've seen so far.

So yeah, Assassin's Creed was a nice experience after all, and a game I'll surely remember, for both good and bad reasons. Anyway, that's all for now. See you next time and peace!

Hi people! What's up? As promised, I'm back with a new blog, focused on Storm of Zehir, Obsidian Entertainment's other star from this year's E3. But with a little extra too. So let's get this blog going.

1. Storm of Zehir Preview:

So what is Storm of Zehir? It is the second expansion pack for the Dungeons & Dragons game Neverwinter Nights 2, an expansion that wants to take the series in a somewhat different direction. How so? Well, Storm of Zehir (we'll call it SoZ from now on) focuses more on open-ended exploration of the gameworld, being less focused on story and characters. It's set partly on the old Sword Coast, partly in the jungle of Samarach so we should be seeing some nice vistas along the way. Moving focus away from story might not sound too appealing at first, but maybe it will sound better after we go through some of the game's features.

So what's new? The first feature that comes to mind is the ability to create a full party of characters, like you could in Icewind Dale, though the limit here is set to 4, not 6. There's also the option to recruit various NPCs you find during your quest so you'll have plenty of options concerning your party formation. This expansion also brings us back to lower level D&D adventuring. You'll start off at level 3 and you'll make your way up to level 15, which is a pretty sweet area to be in and could yield interesting results if encounters are balanced right. Hopefully, combat encounters will be more like in Mask of the Betrayer (the first expansion to NWN2), which had fewer of them, but of larger scale. This would play interestingly in these lower levels as some character builds that normally lose efficiency in epic levels will definitely be more useful here.

Though probably the most interesting new feature is the Overland map. When you're in Overland map mode you're practically still in 3D mode and travel across a 3D representation of the explorable game world. You'll get to find various items and places or experience various encounters with hostiles or friendlies. Skills that have been put to less use in past NWN2 campaigns will be important in SoZ (Find Trap, Spot, Survival etc.) , as the Overland map takes them into account when calculating your chances of finding items of avoiding unwanted encounters.

Another new feature is the Trading System, which plays an important part in the game and has a few quests tied to it. It basically offeres a reactive world economy which you can either exploit for personal gain or just be fair and do good for the economy as a whole. I suspect we'll find out more about this feature as we near SoZ's release. But the premise for it is certainly interesting. And then there's the Party Conversation System through which every member of your party can contribute to a convo by adding in his or her parlay skills. But this feature is still a mistery so I'll avoid making any speculations about it for now.

Last but not least there are the extras like spells and enemies. SoZ marks the return of the Yuan-Ti, a race of snake people that can also take the form of humans, a shapeshifting power they use in order to infliltrate human society, so encounters with them might not be so obvious at first. Those who played Icewind Dale will probably remember Dragon's Eye and Yxunomei and they'll know what to expect. In terms of character types, so far we know of two new additions: the Swashbuckler (I wanted this one for a long time) and the Doomguide of Kelemvor. There are others too but they'll be revealed later. Also new are the Symbol spells, like Symbol of Death, which lets you inscribe a rune of power on a surface. When triggered it basically slays any nearby creatures. There are also some new Summoning spells; now you can call forth a powerful Baatezu (you'll probably remember them from Planescape: Torment, if you've played that game) to aid you. No words on any new playable races so far but who knows. It's also worth mentioning that all these features are going to make into the toolset, so you'll be able to create your own Overland map to use in your mod if you ever plan to make one. There's certainly potential for an exciting new experience in SoZ. I'll be waiting for this one. Also, if you want to see some footage of SoZ (specially the Overland map) head on over HERE and enjoy the video.

2. The Gloating Part:

But before I go there's also a small matter of me gloating over something. Today, ATI released its latest top of the line graphics card, the Radeon 4870 X2, but also officially announced (surprisingly) the Radeon 4850 X2, a cheaper dual-GPU alternative.

Reviews of these new parts are coming in from all over the place and it seems ATI have got themselves an undisputed winner. Like the guys at The Inquirer put it, this is a clean kill in every way. The Green Goblin (a.k.a. NVidia) is in a bit of a pickle right now as it doesn't really have anything with which to retaliate. There's that GT200 revision on the way but I doubt a revision can boost the performance (of what essentially is a bloated G92 core) by 25 to 30%, in order to challenge the new ATI offerings. Add the problems they're having with the 8 series mobile graphics cards and you've got a hell of a situation. So why am I gloating? I'm glad that someone brought NVidia down to earth. Their ridiculous pricing policy and generally big mouth attitude needed to come to an end. I do so love it when big corporations receive a lesson in manners. Checkmate!

Right, sorry for that fanboy moment, it's just something I really wanted to say. Anyway, have a nice week and peace!

Hello! Long time no blog, I know. Didn't really know what to write about and I haven't been gaming too much lately. However, I did play through Fallout once more. It's such a great game. I wanted to review it a long time ago and I think I'll finally do it. I'll let you know when the review is up.

So we had E3 two weeks ago. Obviously, the consequence was an avalanche of information about all sorts of games. To be honest I didn't follow closely, my only interest in this E3 was Obsidian Entertainment and the two games they showcased there: Alpha Protocol (AP) and NWN2: Storm of Zehir (SoZ). I'll talk about SoZ next time, for now lets focus on AP.

Simply put, Alpha Protocol is an espionage themed Action RPG with a modern day setting. Strangely enough, that's something we don't see too often. To get a general feel of what this game is, just think 007 or the Bourne trilogy. In AP you assume the role of Michael Thorton, a CIA agent that's been cut loose by his government and is now on the run. Of course, there are larger things at play here and Michael seems to know something about it, thus becoming a target. You'll get to travel all over the world (some of the locations mentioned are Moscow, Rome, Saudi Arabia and Taipei), cut deals with all sorts factions and do various quests that play out in different ways, depending on your choices.

Actually, Obsidian is stressing the fact that your choices will matter. The hands-on preview at E3 was actually focused on showcasing this aspect. Journalists were given the opportunity to see a bit of the Moscow mission. Michael (the above pic, guy with the smug expression, that's him) is trying to reach a contact of his at the American embassy but said person is under U.S. Marine protection. Apparently, said contact is a target too, but it's unknown who exactly wants him dead. The choices given here we're quite intriguing: go around the back and sneak in (roof access is also an alternative, probably through the fire escape), go in guns blazzing or actually talk your way in.

So lets say you choose to go straight to the front door and talk to the guards to let you inside. The dialog system uses stances instead of dialog lines so you're given three options: be friendly, try to bribe your way inside or just draw your gun and force them to let you in. If you choose the friendly stance they will want to see some ID. And when Michael fails to comply they phone in to check if he has to be detained. At this point, the dialog system presents you again with three choices: walk away, draw your gun or just wait. But now there's a timer counting down and you have to make a choice quickly. Once you make the choice there's no going back. Now for the consequences. If you choose to wait, your contact inside the embassy instructs the guards to let you in. If you walk away you'll have to find a different solution. And if you choose to draw your weapon then... well, let's say you're not making any new friends there. As a twist of events the embassy gets hit hard by some hostile counter-spyes (probably coming for Michael's contact in the embassy... or maybe for Michael himself). Fighting starts and Michael is caught in it. If you took the diplomatic approach with the U.S. Marines then they'll be your allies but if you drew your gun at them, you'll have to fight them too. Neat! The game promises many choices but also a lot of consequences for your actions, so in a way, you can look at this game as something similar to Deus Ex.

Speaking of combat, players of Resident Evil series should feel right at home here. It's third person, over the shoulder and uses a cover system like Gears of War. It seems the system is pretty solid, at least that's what most previews have stated. Some have mentioned good AI and very nice flow to dialogs but it seems the graphics aren't all that spectacular. We'll see how true all this stuff is, these aspects are certainly important. Among the other aspects that are worth mentioning we have a visual customization system. While Michael's facial features are pretty much unchangeable, you'll be able to use all sorts of fake beards, wigs and change clothes in order to blend in. It seems this aspect will play an important role for the stealth approach. There's also a character customization system where you get to invest Advancement Points (which you earn by completing quests) in various skills, like stealth or guns or unarmed combat. And as you invest more points into certain fields you'll get all sorts of special abilities, like making a series of fast and very precise shots thanks to a slow time effect. You get the idea.

All in all, Alpha Protocol seems very interesting. It's true that environments look a bit generic and many things could go wrong (like unbalanced combat or poor AI or bugs) but so far, the game looks rock solid and the premise is interesting. The first gameplay videos should give people a more precise idea of what AP is like but we'll have to wait for those a bit longer. So far so good though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

That's about everything for this blog. Next time I'll preview NWN2: Storm of Zehir and hopefully bring you that Fallout review. Until then, peace!