So, I've passed my exams, with the grades I needed to enter the high-school I want. Good for me. Exactly after all this insanity with the exams, I started pursuing an MMO you have not heard of. Probably. It's called Face Of Mankind, and is a completely-player driven, shooter-y, space-y, MMO. Sounds great right? I managed to get the game, and actually boot the fucker up (had to actually downgrade my audio drivers to make the damn thing work), and jumped in with a friend, expecting thrills and lots of fun. That, sadly, did not happen. What we found was truly a sad, sad thing, a decayed husk of a once great MMO. It was empty, deserted, and just depressing. The most people that we found online were like around 300 people in the entire game. Pretty bad. So we jumped out in quite a respectable manner.
So now that I've gotten that out of my system, how about we talk some TF2. Over the years, I've tried to get into the damn game, but with little to no success. Now, It's starting to kinda grow on me, and because it's free, a lot more people are playing it, and I don't know, I just feel more interested in it. It kinda grows on you, which is great, I guess. Also, our good friend Metallic, is organizing a TF2 bombing run as well. This forum has all the details. Have fun, and see you in the Fortress. In case you are wondering, I play scout. Bonk. 1 Comments
Well, as the tile says, exams are coming in less than a month-And I really want to pass them.I've had a hard year in school as well, so I didn't really have time to blog much.This is just to tell people that yes, I'm still alive, and when summer starts I'll promise more activity. Anyways: -Brink is terrible, and it's only draw is easy G. -I've completely burned out on COD, and online shooters overall, but I'm still playing BC2 with the GB community. -Kinect is decent fun, still waiting for core games. -Recently started playing Halo 2, only Halo game I didn't play. -Really stoked about Gears 3 and Batman:Arkham City. -Recently came home from a vacation with some of my friends, had a great time. That's all I can think of, now, really.It's awfully late, and I'm going to bed.Thanks for reading.FirePrince out.
Crackdown 2 is the sequel to 2007 Crackdown,a game in wich you play as a superhuman "agent",that is tasked to eradicate the criminal gangs in Pacific City.The sequel has just hit shelves,and handled by a new studio,can Crackdown 2 make a mark? Story Crackdown 2's story is paper thin.The ideea is that a woman named Catalina Thorne and her gang,the Cell,has invented a new virus that transforms humans in "freaks".The Agency takes note,and creates you-the ultimate agent.After a short intro,you are tasked with eliminating Cell "Tactical Positions" and detonating UV bombs in Freak lairs.There are no characters.There is no story arc.The ending is abrupt as all hell.The only "story" that Crackdown 2 wants to share,is by audio logs,wich are uninteresting and don't really add much to the plot.You never really get to care about the city,the Agency,or the Cell.
Gameplay So it's clear-Crackdown 2 will not be your new Dragon Age of Mass Effect in terms of story.Crackdown 2 stands on it's gameplay,and sadly,it comes with it's fair share of problems.The gameplay in CD2 is split in 3:Combat,Exploring and Missions. Combat feels decent enough.You can use objects in the world as weapons(wich you won't),you can melee enemies to death with one combo and you can shoot guns.CD2's combat is mainly held up because of it's fun guns.Every gun feels great,and is powerfull in it's own way.But wait-It has it's flaws!The targeting system is horrible,targeting cars and explosive barells instead of enemies,and is annoying all the time.The game also handles difficulty poorly.Enemies are dumb,and can only take you down by spamming explosives(wich leave you as a ragdoll) or by ganging up on you.This "shines" near the end of the game-where every opponent has a rocket launcher,or a stun attack. Exploring is done by car or by foot.Agency cars are fun to drive,and have interesting abilities,but they all feel weird.Vehicles handle like crap,and I sticked to exploring by foot.Jumping and running throu the city is great-when the game works.The game fails to point out wich surfaces you can climb or grab.You'll slip,fall and die in idiotic ways,trying to get to orbs.Wich brings me to the orbs.Orbs are used to up you agility or all your powers.Orbs are placed in increasingly insane places,and become useless after you reach level 3 agility.After that no amount of shining green neon will push you to chase another poorly placed orb. The Missions are very few in number and get repetitive fast.Conquer Tac Location.Activate Beacon.Detonate bomb.Stop freak breaches.You can also engage in rooftop races and car stunts,but you won't,and you can take part in other useless activities,in wich you won't.The missions just strike me as lazy. Leveling up your character is easy,and I finished the game with all my stats to lvl 4-and I didn't even try.After you get access to a good car,some good guns,3 health bars,and a jump that can clear 2 rooftops,you are set,and nothing pushed me forward to keep on leveling.
Presentation Crackdown 2 looks decent,with some nice character and vehicle models.The rest is just meh.The city doesn't look too atractive,and the fact that it's now completely trashed doesn't help it.Explosives look pathetic,and the art style is plain and boring. The game's sound departament is a bit lacking too.No real music,besides the one in Cell cars(wich is annoying).Weapons sound great,and everything else is decent.Your boss is bound to get annoying when he starts repeating the same lines,and has a bad habit of insulting you when you are losing pacience to the overall bad design of the game. The game also has it's fair share of glitches.Pedestrians can be thrown throu buildings,the physics engine sometimes goes insane,enemies stop working if you get too close,and sometimes missions don't start,even when you are right next to the marker.
Conclusion After all has been said and done,Crackdown 2 can be very fun.When the game works,it's fun and a blast.The game is way better than the sum of it's parts.There is a very good game behind all the crap,but CD2 fails to justify a purchase.It expects that you ignore every single flaw that it has.It has solid shooting and action,and can be fun in short bursts.Had Ruffian Games paid more attention to the flaws in the first game,they could have made something special.As it stands,CD2 is a lighthearted and fun game,but the huge array of problems drag this game down. 7-Rent it or skip it. PS:The agent suit you get for finishing the game isn't so hot after all. Like it?Hate it?Tell me in the comments.
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If you've never heard of Disciples,let me fill you in.Disciples is a turn-based strategy game,in the vein of Heroes,where players pick a race,build a castle,explore the lands and do battle using different armies.As you play,you level up your hero and units(as not seen in heroes).Heroes become stronger and can pick different "Perks" as they level,and creatures can evolve to different forms.Combat is done in a very different manner.You have 2 rows-back and front,wich you fill in with ranged and melee units(in that order).Units are then locked in place,and do battle from that specific postion.It's a fun and time-consuming game.And now....we have a sequel.
Disciples 3 continues the story of 3(of the 5) races of Nevedaar:The Humans,The Elves and The Legions Of The Damned.The game spans 3 campaings,each with their own missions,heroes and stories.Missions take a decent amount of time to finish,and the story is decent enough to keep you going.But what does Disciples 3 bring new to the table? The gameplay.Exploring the lands is just as fun(now in HD) but the real change here is in the Combat-First of all,your hero can now become much more powerfull,he can equip loot that is visible in gameplay,he can progress in a tree of skills,and feels like a much more important unit overall.
You can now also have more units in your army,wich is always a great thing,and can lead to some epic battles.Leveling is also harder now,and so is the combat.Before,a good party could anihilate most random encounters or enemy armies,but that is no longer true.Armies do not feel as powerfull as in the first game,and battles take much longer.Using items and scrolls becomes very important when faced with large armies,as you struggle too keep your most powerfull units alive.Units now also have different special abilities,like poison and the like.Thou the rows of units are still intact,gone is the "fixed" combat system.The game now plays more like heroes-units can move freely in combat.With that in mind,the developers intregrated something I like to call "hot spots".Hot spots,are places on the combat map,that can boost different stats,and play a important role in combat.Controlling hot spots means that your units are going to be better at offense,wich is the key to victory.Combat feels good,and is rewarding,with great loot and XP.
The game looks and sounds decent,with nothing special to note,as it is made by some Russian developer,that I can't even recognise.What I can say,is that the great art style is preserved in this game.This was always a great part of this series-it's art style,and it is just as awesome here.Low level units start horrible,and as they advance,they become some really impresive creatures.Props to them for remembering the small things.The game was released some time ago in Russian,so I guess they did what they could with the resources they had at the time.
We are coming to an end now(you:YEAAAAH) so I must say-they did a better job than I expected.Not only did they improve the game,they made it feel fresh and unique.The Turn-Based strategy genre is slowly dying,and I can't belive that such a unknown studio could produce such a good game.It is far from perfect,but it feels good.The art,the graphics,the gameplay,the story-everything.It feels like a Disciples sequel.And a good one. PS:Remember people-these are just my thoughts,this is not a review or anything,it is just what I think about the game.Also,should I use some other picture format?Let me know.That,and other tips so that I can make the reading expirience a better one for anybody who reads this bullshit.Just kidding.
FirePrince,Leader of the Legions Of The Damned-Signing Off.
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This weekend,I decided to visit the "Cultural Capital of 2007"-Sibiu,here in Romania.It is one of the better towns in Romania.The central part of the city has been kept intact.What is the central part?The old Castle,built around 1911 under the name of "Cibinium".It was later attacked by mongolians in 1241.They destroyed it and robbed it.It was then repaired,and it quickly became a flourishing town.In 1897,Sibiu finally got acces to electricity.In 1928,it builds itself the first ever zoo in Romania,and finally 1989,it becomes one of the towns that joins the revolution that was trying to end the Comunist Reign.In 2007,the city becomes a "Cultural Capital" due to it's high cultural value and great economy.It is a beautiful town,and one of the few places here that makes me proud that I am a Romanian.If you ever intend of coming here,visit Sibiu.It is truly a awesome town.Sure,there exist many other breathtaking towns,but this is the only one that I have visited,and I loved it.I visited the old castle,the many towers it has,a bunch of churces,the Bruckenthal Art Museum and the Wildlife Museum.Now,how about some pics?
The clock tower.
Yup,it has churches too.
Pidgeons!Also,the Bruckenthal art museum.
Rawr.
Something Gaming Related. I've been playing a lot of MW2 lately-so if you want,please do add me on steam.My user is ^1FirePrince,and I am eager to play with some fellow GiantBombers! Thanks for reading,FirePrince out.
Am I the only person here that hates series that "adapt".And by adapt I mean butcher the original ideea to come up with something good.They try to mix things up,and the result usually is succesful.Good for the company.Bad for me.Let me demonstrate using 2 examples:
1.Dawn of War 2 I realy don't know how they came up with this.They tried to make it more like the board game.And that is the problem.The first games where kinda like the boardgame,but still dfferent.Some problems:Removing Basebuilding-No,no,and no.It only worked in World in Conflict.Removing basebuilding just doesn't seem right.Focus on individual squads-The first game had this thing,and it made me love it.The second went way over the line.Too much focus on the units themselves.Not a bright ideea.Company Of Heroes=Dawn Of War 2.I couldn't help to think that the moment I saw "Throw a satchel charge on that emplacement",the green dots behind cover,the radius of the machinegun,the highlights when clicking buildings,the explosions.Way too familiar.
2.C&C 4.(This is getting long,so i'll sum it up).1.Removal of Basebuilding.2.Making the graphics look cartoonish.3.Removing the Scrin(I am so dead for saying that).The opinions made on C&C 4 are from the beta and may(not) change. God damn EA,you murdered Red Alert 3,now butcher this series too?.You Bastards!
Thanks for reading this wall of text.Cookie for you,and tell me what you think.
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Does anybody know Romania.We are in europe.BORAT WAS HERE!!!
Anyway,i prolly will be making more of these blogs about romania.So let us delve into Romania Romania, a country in central Europe,known for being invaded by almost every nation near us.We wore comunists back in the 60-70.Too bad for the dictator.He was Ceausescu.He was very evil.And people knew it,and started a revolt.Blood was spilled.Mainly friendly fire,belive it or not,as everybody had an AK,and opened fire on guys that had suspicious looking uniforms.Then,after a lot of idiotic friendly fire and yelling,Ceausescu and his Wife got executed.Why is that?Because,in that time,there was no food,water,milk,etc.You had to wake up at 4 in the morning to get milk.FTW.So after being comunised(lol,not a real word),we got our freedom.Yay.Your free trial has expired.See you in my next blog post!
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