Update 11/10/11

It's time for an update. So here it is.

Currently Batman: Arkham City and Battlefield 3 are occupying my time. Both of which have definitely impressed me so far, one of them slightly more so than the other. Which game I'm playing at any given time honestly just depends on the mood I'm in. If I feel like flying around a prison-city, saving damsels in distress, beating up bad guys and doing all that other awesome stuff Batman does, then I'll hit up Arkham City for a few. Oh and you get to play as Catwoman too, she's like Batman, except she's a she and she's pretty much nothing like Batman. BF3 of course, satisfies my need for shooting things, blowing things up and occasionally stabbing things. Which is a good thing. As always, their respective reviews are in progress but I'd be lying if I said either of them would be done before I spent some quality time with Skyrim and my PC.

What can I say... besides DRAGONS! Really looking forward to Skyrim. I'm hoping it will be much more than just a filler until I can get my hands on the next great MMO. We'll see how it all turns out soon enough :)

Rawr

Until then, thanks for reading!

Lineage II: Goddess of Destruction goes F2P

With the upcoming release of its Goddess of Destruction update, Lineage II has announced it will going 'truly free'. In other words, Lineage II is moving from its very long-standing monthly subscription fee to the micro-transaction business plan (the game itself will be entirely free but item packs etc., will all be available for purchase from the L2 Store, much like in PWE's games).

Q: What is Lineage® II: Goddess of Destruction™?
A: Goddess of Destruction is the largest content update in the history of the Lineage II fantasy MMORPG. Now you can play Lineage II—with its deep story, rich gameplay, and diverse and intense action—truly free. 

Q: What does "truly free" mean?
A: Goddess of Destruction gives you truly free access to the largest Lineage II content update ever. You will receive free packs at key milestones in the game that supplement your game progression. You can also accelerate and enhance gameplay with items or packs from the L2 Store. "Truly free" means you can enjoy Lineage II in a way that suits your play style and budget.

Q: Can I really play Lineage II for free?
A: Yes, you can! Goddess of Destruction content (character creation, races, classes, skills, zones, bosses, quests, clans, crafting, warehouse, auction house, chat, mail, forums, customer support, and so on) is absolutely free. While we will offer some gameplay acceleration or vanity items for purchase in the L2 Store that we hope you'll enjoy, buying them is completely optional. 

Q: Are there any incentives for me to maintain or reactivate my subscription before Goddess of Destruction launches?
A: Yes. If you continue to progress to maximum level, you will be one of the first to experience the Awakening process and the new suspenseful and action-packed high-level content in Goddess of Destruction. At launch, any remaining game time is converted to NCoin, so you'll have prepaid funds ready to spend on L2 Store items. 

Q: I used to play Lineage II, but I'm not currently a subscriber. Can I access my previous characters?
A: In most cases, your previous characters are still available and you can play them for free when you reactivate your account. Depending on how long you've been away and whether you remember your credentials, you may need to go through additional steps to gain access to your characters.

Q: Now that the game is free, will there be future content updates and expansions?
A: Yes, Lineage II continues to evolve! There are already multiple chapters planned for Goddess of Destruction, and the game will offer additional expansions for as long as players continue to support it. 

Q: Will current, former, and new players play together on the same servers?
A: Yes. When Goddess of Destruction launches, current players will remain on their current servers. Additional servers will be added to accommodate the influx of new players and returning former players. After launch, if you decide to resettle your character to another server, you will be able to purchase a character transfer.

See the details and full FAQ on the L2 site here.

Fallout: New Vegas Review

Intro
Oh boy, where to begin... Unlike most things having to do with Vegas, you won't need to worry about betting on Fallout:NV. That's because you'll know what you're getting, after all, it's been a year since it was released in October of 2010 and it will now only cost you $20. However, if you do happen to have an extra $40 on you, I'd recommend sticking with the new stuff. Like I mentioned one of my previous posts, Coming Up..., this review was mostly written with the purpose of getting another game of a different genre under my belt.

Game Overview
You, my friend, are none other than 'the courier'. After crossing paths with the wrong mobsters your character was shot, buried, dug up by a robot and then patched up good as new by the local town doctor.

After you pick your character's looks, attributes and special skills you are free to do whatever your heart desires. No really, I mean it, if you want to try to take over the town that just saved your life the only thing to lose is, well, your life that they just saved. While your primary objective is to track down the friendly folks that tried to murder you, New Vegas offers a vast wasteland crawling with bandits, giant scoripions and the undead, all of whom are begging for both discovery and some rain.

And here's where I spent most of my time as a child

As is often the case with huge and open action RPGs, there are so many possible paths to take that no one will have the exact same experience on their way from point A to point B.

There's nothing like some good old fashioned art to
brighten up the workplace

Something to keep in mind: The game's level cap is 30 and with all the downloadable content that cap can be raised to 50.

Tips
- Get into the habit of saving the game frequently, if something goes wrong (which it will) it becomes a very handy time-saver

No worries, we're just both on fire

- You might have a valid point if you're thinking this should be considered common sense but hey... you don't know until you give it a try. Turns out it's in your best interest to refrain from using a flamethrower in a small enclosed space
- Pick up all the quests you can, even if you don't think you'll do them. They're the quickest and easiest ways to level up and increase your rep with the locals

Pros
- Attaining attribute points and special perks (of which there are a ton, 82, to be exact) after each level allows you to mold your character into some as specialized or as well-rounded as you desire

Using V.A.T.S.

- The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.) allows you to simply pause the game, pick the parts on your target you want to aim for and watch as it carries out your combat instructions from a 3rd person camera view in slow motion

Cons
- Your only mode of transportation in this enormous desert hundreds of years in the future, are your legs (now I can see where it would take away from the experience if I were able to ride around in my hover car at 100 mph, but my point is, the walking definitely gets old)
- Bugs, the Mojave is unfortunately not a glitch/bug-free environment
- Neither is it a diverse environment, it's pretty much just the same overly expansive desert

Other Thoughts/Suggestions

- Would've loved to have been able to drive one of the many vehicles that I saw during my travels (on foot)
- I love having the freedom to be the bad guy or the good guy or the 'whoever-my-choices-make-me' guy, although I almost always end up being the good guy; the fact that I can save the game and then kill the shopkeeper that just ripped me off and go back to my save point like nothing happened just gives me that little bit of satisfaction and almost makes up for the fact that he took all my money
- The game itself is over a year old, and I have yet to play the additional content that has been released since then

Bugs
- The Mojave Wasteland is full of them, in fact the very first things I killed in the game were giant praying mantises that had 'taken over' the town's schoolhouse...
- On a serious note though, New Vegas does contain a few bugs that may require reloading your game from previous save to fix... For instance, these gang members that I needed to kill for a quest bugged out to where they weren't able to be killed, but they also didn't attack me either, they just stood there absorbing Ringo's bullets:

My buddy Ringo on the left still thinks they're fair game,
after assessing the situation for a few minutes it
was clear that he'll run out of ammo

- Some less serious, but equally entertaining issues

Beware: Angry Floating Dog (AFD?)

Something tells me she needs to get her eyes checked

Score - 70
I can't help but appreciate all of the content that this game has to offer, including that which I wasn't able to experience firsthand. That being said though, it's mostly non-issue glitches and dry gameplay make it a relatively easy call as a second to most of the latest releases.

*Note: I have yet to play this game even close to 'all the way'* through, but my priority now has to turn to the latest releases
*I honestly don't even know what all the way through means with Fallout:NV

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

It had been a while since I checked up on that MMO I played for so long, so I decided to see what, if anything, had changed. After scouring the web for days without food or water I found, among other things, this trailer of the expansion's new race/class combo, the Pandaren Monk:

I also came across this screen shot on mmo-champion... funny stuff:

I know it has been a while since I've played WoW, but seriously, what in the world of warcraft is going on? After watching a Kung Fu Panda jump around and beat up some monkeys I really don't know what to make of this game anymore. I'd heard about the next race likely being pandas quite a while back and the idea didn't bother me at all. Now that I've seen this trailer though, I can't help but see the Kung Fu Panda game that came for free with my Xbox a few years back.

All of this nonsense begs the obvious question,  does
WoW + Kung Fu Panda = Mists of Pandaria?

What's that name in the
bottom right corner?

Of course not... But it had to be mentioned. Realistically speaking, it's clear this common "Kung Fu Panda" theme won't define the whole expansion like it does the general feel of the above trailer. On another note, if there's one thing that I'm sure about in this whole situation though, it's that the Activision of, Activision Blizzard, had nothing to do with this.

Tomorrow: Battlefield 3 + Natasha

It's about time! And with it will come my first game review for Xbox! That is, with the release of Battlefield 3.

Some interesting stats from BF3's Open Beta

Tomorrow will not only be the day of unveiling for a highly anticipated shooter on my game radar, it will also bring about the unlocking of the final member of Rusty Hearts' cast of character classes, the dual pistol wielding Natasha.

Thanks for reading!

Random Blue Screen Errors

After troubleshooting some recent blue screen errors and updating my video driver (hopefully that fixes it), I noticed something rather depressing... I have yet to make it through one whole month (since assembling this PC in April) without coming face to face with at least one blue screen of death. It seems like every time I think I've found the cause and remedied the situation accordingly, I get a new one out of no where. At this point it's just more of a nuisance than anything. Just one of the less attractive aspects of my dear friend Mr. PC I suppose... 

bleh

Good thing I can Check for a solution...

Blue screen errors make everyone sad :(

To be honest though, I'm feeling good about November... I'll be sure to share whether or not I'm able to survive, especially since I'll likely be pretty upset if my Skyrim sessions are interrupted.

High Quality, No Cost: PWE's Free Games

These games are completely free to play and offered me a quality gameplay experience.

Perfect World International (PWI) is an MMO that boasts an enormous world and an unheard of level cap of 105
- My personal experience: After leveling a wizard to somewhere in the mid 40s I was discouraged enough by the advantage given to players that spent money through the game's micro-transaction system to call it quits. Because my priority was PvP I knew from reading a lot of forum posts that it would be nearly impossible for me to compete without spending a fair amount of money, which I wasn't willing to do
- Although I stopped playing, I have to clarify that this game has a ton of potential and can be a lot of fun, unfortunately the same can not be said for most players whose main focus is PvP

Rusty Hearts is a game (hack & slash MMO) I've talked about a lot and for good reason (see below)
- For being in a beta testing period this game is looking very polished
- PvP is minimally affected by items available through micro-transactions, at least in the current beta stage
- Latest patch, Awakening, offers loads of new content
- In-game events are a daily occurrence in the Rusty Hearts world that offer incentive to both casual and hard-core players alike
- Natasha is now playable as of October 25th*


Of all of PWEs games, which are free, I've only played these 2, but be sure to check out their full game list by clicking here.

Riot Games' League of Legends - Downloading the DotA inspired game as we speak (as instructed by a friend), I'll be sure to update this after I've fiddled with it some.
- Turns out DotA inspired is very much the case, despite being a DotA remake I've quickly become addicted to its co-op and pvp gameplay

Also, see NCsoft's Lineage II: Goddess of Destruction goes F2P

As of November 1st DC Universe Online is F2P as well!

Giveaways Galore

Just thought I would share some of the worthwhile giveaways that are going on right now. Beta keys, awesome hardware, you name it. Everything is being handed out these days, now if they would just hand them out to me... yeah, that'd be great.

Diablo 3 fan sites like diablofans.com have spare beta keys that they can't wait to give away to fans like you and me. Here you can check out this week's current contest and enter for a chance at your very own key to the beta. So if you haven't already, give it your best shot and be sure to participate in the upcoming contests over the next few weeks as well.

The fine people over at Perfect World Entertainment are almost always holding some type of in-game event or giveaway, but this one in particular is one you can't miss out on. You only need to have one character reach level 5 or higher between now and October 30th and you're entered to win yourself the ultimate 3D prize package (video card, 3D glasses and monitor). If you already have a character level 5 or higher, all you have to do is log in to be entered.

Good luck!

Battlefield 3 Limited Edition Pre Order: EA Makes Big (Little) Mistake?

You can decide for yourself by reading one customer's dilemma here. While I don't agree with the title and overall theme of his post, (that it's all at the fault of the customer service department) I definitely agree that EA is at fault for failing to specify a time zone for their Beta offer, which was to grant Open Beta access to anyone who pre-orders the game from origin by September 25th. As seen here.

It really isn't a big deal in the scheme of things (2 day early access to beta?) but nonetheless he has a very valid point. Oh and let's try to ignore the fact that he waited until the very last 2 hours before making his purchase. And as to why this post is on a diablo III forum, I assume he's trying to spread the word.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine PC Review

I have seen the future... and it is glorious. That is, if you're captain Titus of the elite squad known as the Ultramarines, as for anyone else, well I can only be certain that they won't have nearly as much fun.

Game Overview

You begin your campaign on an 'ork' flying craft, from there you are immediately thrown into battle against their swarming defenses. You don't panic though, because you're the mighty lord, Captain Titus, who has seen and dealt with far worse. After following the on screen 'suggested' attacks (or not) and slaying 100 enemies you will have unlocked your first achievement in Space Marine. Wielding a firearm in one hand (with a total of 4 at any one time to switch from) and your melee weapon in the other, you are the ideal killing machine or in this case upholder of justice.

I couldn't get enough of the close combat and watching my chainsword slice through a wave of enemies as I put together combos and appropriately finished any lone survivors off with a slow-motion execution move. That includes the animations, which are so smooth and engaging as the orks are practically falling on my blade.

Just when I thought I might be getting a little bored with my chainsword I was upgraded to a lightning infused axe, appropriately termed the power axe. That meant new combos and new awesome combat animations. Truthfully it wouldn't have mattered though, I'm not too picky when I'm given a new sharp glowing weapon. 

Did I mention you're given a jet pack on a few special occasions throughout your quest to recapture the forge world, and that its use in smashing your enemies from above is very satisfying? In Space Marine, jet pack is called a 'jump pack' and jump pack = Fun! So much so that when my man Titus would say, "Out of fuel" and drop it into oblivion I found myself fighting off the onset of what was most likely a serious case of depression.

And finally, quite a bit later in the game, we are introduced to the almighty thunderhammer, which is so thunderously huge and epic, that you are only allowed the use of your 2 basic guns while wielding it. That's more than okay though, because let's be honest, it's a freaking thunderhammer...

I was going to show another one of my totally lam..err I mean totally awesome!.. videos but I came across this one that seemed slightly more informative.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not usually one to follow the story of a game, let alone actually be interested in it. That being said, I should congratulate Relic Entertainment because it kept my attention for a good part of Space Marine's story. A difficult feat for a game that also had such entertaining gameplay awaiting me after almost every cut scene.

PvP
After the campaign (besides repeating on a higher difficulty level) there is still the option to PvP in the online multiplayer which although is nothing particularly special, with the typical objectives (capture this, defend that), your typical leveling system, perks etc. Regardless, it provides a reason to continue playing and for some it may be enough to purchase the game if you're the online multiplayer type. One thing I did like about the PvP though, being the noob that I am, was the option to copy your killer's loadout after each death. It's a simple way to help balance the playing field and balanced PvP makes me happy.

Tips

I don't think that tin can on his head is laser proof

- Grenades are your friend, don't be afraid to use them generously
- When facing a Nob (elite ork) or other higher ranking enemies, be sure to furiously spam your left mouse button when trying to execute them, or they will counter your execute
- Your aiming sights will turn yellow when you have an enemy or an explosive in them (basically anything that your bullets will affect), knowing this can come in handy
- Tap the left shift key to sprint/charge at your enemies and right click when you're in range to knock them down

Pros

- Exciting array of powerful weapons at your disposal, including my favorites, the jump pack and thunderhammer

- Mission content is varied and creative
- The world, especially in jump pack usable areas, is huge and impressive
- Relic Entertainment tells an engrossing story of bloodshed, betrayal and brotherhood
- Awesome execute animations
- The game itself was just a heck of a lot of fun


Cons
- Slow executes don't slow the enemies around which leaves you vulnerable to attack. And being your only reliable source for health gain, you're likely already in some trouble.

- On rare occasions mobs would bug out and get stuck, usually around the boundaries of the world

Other Thoughts/Suggestions
- Not sure you're ready to buy the full game?? No problem, download the free demo here and give it a go yourself
- I played the entire game on normal difficulty and a fair amount of PvP and not once did I encounter any type of crash or other problem that kept me from enjoying my purchase

- There were some gaps between enemies that were just too long. I would run through room after room and get impatient waiting for my next ork filled room to slaughter
- Now, if I'm going to be completely honest here, there are way too many elevators in the future. No really, that's a legitimate complaint. It went something like this,
"Let's get out of here, quick get on that lift!"
"There's only one way we're getting out of this, and that's down the lift over there."

Oh thank the Warhammer gods

Is it a problem? Of course not, I just could have used a bit more variety was all. 

Bugs

- There weren't too many and none that I came across were anything to worry about

- Mostly just npc's getting stuck or in this case not being able to reach or detect me, which is always fun:

Score - 84
Space Marine had me from the beginning with its honourable hero and his awesome accent, from there I was engulfed in its superb combat animations, addictive gameplay and fresh level design. The only thing holding it back for me, was the lack of content for those not so fond of PvP.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Demos

There's a reason I have the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series on my most anticipated games list. I'll let these demos speak for themselves. If you're short on time though I'd suggest skipping straight to the 3rd demo for some dragon slaying awesomeness.

Unfortunately when I posted the videos here it wasn't letting me watch them in full screen so here are the youtube links...

Demo Part 1

Demo Part 2

Demo Part 3

Rusty Hearts Open Beta

As most of you might have noticed, other than posting one article, I wasn't particularly interested in the second phase of RH closed beta. New content was nonexistent, there was no level cap increase and really nothing new for me to do. Fortunately though, open beta (obt) plans to change a lot more than phase two of the closed beta did. RH OBT promises a level cap increase up  from level 20  to 25, 200 new quests, 16 new dungeons, a new town, 500 new items and 15 new skills (4 for Tude, 4 for Angela and 7 for Frantz). Now that's more like it! You can view all the details here.

Besides having 2 other games to play and having to start over with a brand new character, I've no reason not to be excited about open beta, especially now that the stamina system has been 'entirely revamped'. Although that is a pretty big besides...

Rusty Hearts Open Beta is set to open tomorrow, September 13 (exact time has not been specified, but I'll be sure to update as soon as it's released). Also, for those players that are EU based, it was just announced that there will be dedicated servers for European players! Sounds like good news to me.

Grammar Man Saves the Day!

Grammar man simply had to help the situation

So help he did.. with a smile

Working too* quickly? Grammar Man understands

Just another successful day at the office

Hope you enjoyed that nonsense. On another note I should probably mention that today is the final day of RH beta, servers are scheduled to go down at 5pm EST. Open Beta is scheduled to launch on the 13th for those who are interested. After today all closed beta characters will be erased and everyone is going to have to start over when the OB begins in 5 days. Also be sure to log in today if you want a chance at winning a poster (5 unsigned?), a signed poster (2 total) or a Logitech F710 controller (2 total).

The full article can be found here.

Coming Up...

Hey everyone, I just wanted to give you all a preview as to what I've got planned as far as game reviews and other updates. So, I know I'm a year late but to broaden my gaming horizons I just picked up a copy of Fallout: New Vegas and yes I was required to show the cashier my ID, which I still think is funny (we definitely wouldn't want kids playing big boy games, at least here in the US). And yes although it has been out since October of last year, the plan is to provide my own review of the game, which will be posted here in the near future.

Also, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine was released yesterday and is definitely next up on my play list. It's safe to say I won't be in short supply of futuristic rpgs.

Lastly I wanted to share that I'm going to try to get some fraps type software installed and working asap so I can start posting some gameplay videos along with my reviews.

Thanks again for reading! Till next time.

Moar Pitchers!

While I'm looking for another game to to entertain myself, I figured I might as well share a few more screen shots I have sitting around. Like my favorite environment visual from darkspore: (you can't really tell from the picture but the black hole is actually pulling a ton of debris across the screen as you pass it, which I thought was really nifty)

What's more epic than a black hole?

 Hmmm 8 out of 7, I think there's something wrong with that math.

Too bad we didn't get any bonus points at the end

As far as looks are concerned, this guy is high on my list.

Shiny

SRS-42 also has one of my favorite hero-unique abilities, missile barrage.

I'd be in trouble if the EPA saw this

What you wanna kill?

Finally some decent boss loot