I just played the F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin demo
By KnightsofRound 14 Comments
TIME: 3:17 AM
I am now going to have nightmares. That is all.
2009.01.13 - Crysis
By KnightsofRound 14 Comments
WARNING: COMPLETELY UNSTRUCTURED CRYSIS-RELATED RAMBLING BELOW.
So yeah, I beat Crysis at around 3-4 AM on the 12th. Crysis is an absolutely AMAZING game, really, really good. You may be wondering if this is actually Crysis displayed in the screenshots, rest assured that it is indeed Crysis. I almost had a hard time believing it myself after having all of those screenshots and video clips of lush tropical scenery crammed into my face for so long. The shift in scenery throughout Crysis is stunning - even though the majority of the game does take place in the tropical areas. It took me about 15 hours to complete crysis, and I'd say that it probably changed drastically at maybe somewhere around the 10 hour mark. So the last few hours of the game at least are in some vastly different areas. I was surprised by the short length of the snow-covered island area though, the frozen paradise that was heavily emphasized in reviews is actually a very small section of the game, maybe an hour long max. Regardless it was still one of the coolest parts of the game, but I can't feel like wishing it lasted a lot longer than it did. I mostly blame it on the reviewers making it sound like the frozen jungle part of Crysis was half of the game, but it really isn't, at all. Regardless I still fully enjoyed that section of the game, as well as everything after that too. I actually almost felt like I was playing a completely different game during the later levels of Crysis just because of the massive shift in gameplay styles too. The first 2 thirds of the game takes place in these almost sandbox type areas where you can take any path you want to your objective by a variety of means, fighting against endless hordes of Korean soldiers. After a certain event that takes place you spend the rest of the game fighting against a bunch of robotic aliens that look like they came straight out of The Matrix.
At first Crysis kind of feels like Far Cry 2.0, but that is essentially what it is. Crytek took the core concepts from Far Cry that they liked and threw out everything else. The main progression of the games is quite similar in that you are fighting against hordes of soldiers in open-ended environments which eventually winds up with you fighting against something totally different in the later levels. I haven't finished Far Cry yet but I've advanced far enough in that game to know about some of the enemies you'll face and they are pretty messed up. That being said, Crysis completely ditches the immense cheese value of Far Cry's storyline and overall concept. So Crysis is basically taking the core concepts of Far Cr and applying them to a much more serious, mature, and cinematic gaming experience - which is a good thing since it goes to show that they are making great strides as a developement studio, regardless of the fact that Far Cry is an incredibly good game, Crysis is vastly superior in pretty much every conceivable way. (Note: I am not referring to any of the console versions of Far Cry in any way, shape, or form. Crytek had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of those Far Cry games and if you have not played the original Far Cry but have played the console versions, well Crysis is absolutely NOTHING like those versions at ALL. I only mention this because I have see numerous people confuse the PC and console Far Cry games assuming they are the same and created by the same developers).
Gameplay wise Crysis is absolutely phenomenal, the amount of things you wind up doing in this game is just absurdely, ridiculously, amazingly... awesome. In the later levels a bunch of really random twists and turns are thrown at you and there's just like unexpected thing after unexpected thing and you're just like WHAT? NO WAY! I don't even really want to talk about them because it completely spoils the surprise value. One moment that I really enjoyed was finally being able to just sit on the machine gun in the back of an APC and not have to do any driving. There was a section after the snow-covered section where you're on the run from a bunch of aliens sitting on the machine gun pumping them full of lead while they give chase. May not sound like anything but the standard on-rails shooter section, but definitely a very entertaining and cinematic experience regardless.
But like I have said, the ending is just amazing gameplay wise. One of my biggest complaints throughout the game was that there was a noticeable lack of character development which wasn't really that big of a deal but it was pretty much like the only thing that wasn't really explored that much. In the last couple hours there is this relatively long section where you are wandering around a ship without any weapons and people will talk to you as you walk by them, feels almost RPG-ish despite the complete lack of RPG elements. This additional character interaction and development with the other central NPCs is appreciated, but it would have been nice to have more of it since it came so late. In retrospect though there wasnt really much opportunity to have it before during the first 50% of the game.
Anyways, like I have stated the final moments of Crysis are absolutely unbelievable and pretty much had me completely absorbed and sitting there with my mouth hanging open - Crysis easily has one of the most memorable if not best final battles, as well as boss fight in first-person shooter history. This entire set-piece battle is just absolutely insane. (See: the last screenshot out of the ones I posted). There's just like aliens flying all over the place, a giant hulking walker, explosions going off all around you, soldiers yelling and screaming while they fire their guns, and something even more menacing than I can even describe that appears at the very end that you literally have to see for yourself because I could never explain it and do it justice in this blog post, but I guess I will attempt anyways. It's basically like a combination of that giant alien thing in the old Gears of War 1 commercial with the sad music playing and the mothership from Independance Day. Yeah.
This leads me to my biggest complaint of the entire game: the ending. Seriously, what the fuck? I know Crysis was planned as a trilogy from the start, but seriously? Come on. The ending to Crysis is LAME. If you've played God of War 2 or Halo 2 then you've seen the ending to Crysis. And if you don't know what I'm talking about it's basically one of those "OMG THIS BATTLE JUST GOTTEN STARTED LETS GO KICK SOME ASS HELLS YEAH!!!" *guys fly off* and you're like "SWEET! wait... what?" CREDITS. The biggest problem with the ending isn't even that it is a cliffhanger, but there is just absolutely no resolution or sense of closure or anything, it's just like FINAL BOSS FIGHT, 3 LINES OF DIALOGUE EXCHANGED BETWEEN CHARACTERS THAT JUST TALKS ABOUT TAKING THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY, MAIN CHARACTER AND FRIENDS FLY OFF TOGETHER, CREDITS. Basically all I'm trying to say is that I was a little disappointed because the game was so good and had this massive build up of cinematic moments that just kind of amounted to nothing but a really brief ending that just kind of ended out of nowhere.
So yeah, that's pretty much my final impressions of Crysis, totally amazing game and I'm currently debating to myself the numerical score I will give it. I've mainly focused on 1 score for this game that probably stands the biggest chance of being awarded. There is another score I have been tempted to give this game but I feel like there are a few really minor nagging things about Crysis that are making me second guess that choice, and thus I keep going back to the other one. It will be a long hard thought process before any review and score turns up though. Just let it be said that gameplay wise, Crysis is probably the best first person shooter I have ever played, and is easily one of the best first person shooters ever created.
I was also going to talk about some other stuff in this blog like music of 2008 and whatnot but it's already gone on long enough so I suppose I'll save that for next time. That being said, this blog was brought to you courtesy of a massive In Flames binge.
2009.01.03
By KnightsofRound 10 Comments
...been a while since I've posted much of anything - here's a quick update.
- Happy new years to everyone, and a belated merry christmas/happy holidays to all, hope everyone enjoyed the holidays regardless of beliefs, et cetera.
- I got a macbook for christmas - came with mac os x as the operating system (obviously), but I partitioned the hard drive and put windows vista on it as well. Here's my analysis on the situation.
mac os x:
- Runs really fast, pretty much no problems. Been weird getting used to using a mac os though, since I've been using windows since like windows 3.1 or something I don't even
vista:
- Having been using windows xp on a regular basis since 2004, after several days with the operating system, I don't like it. Vista has some neat ideas but in general, I just can't say I like this operating system. I went into it with an open mind ignoring all of the complaints I've heard about it, but I genuinely just don't like windows vista, at all. I just feel like I'm using a dumbed down version of windows xp that just changed the way some things looked for the sake of changing it just so they could sell a new operating system, and I don't necessarily think these changes were for the better either. It also tries to hold your hand with pretty much everything, and as someone who is fairly schooled in computers I find that windows xp is geared much more towards someone who actually has a slight bit of knowledge in how they work. For example, this is a minor grievance, but in windows xp when you want to open the task manager you simply just press CRTL + ALT + DEL. In windows vista you do the same thing but it goes to this screen that looks kind of like the log-in screen on vista/xp where you choose a user account and type your password. It has a bunch of selections including the task manager, and then you have to click on it, and then it takes you back to your desktop and opens it. As someone who
I do not like windows vista. Vista rant is now over. I promise I will never rant about vista in this capacity ever again in this blog. I am currently getting pre-paired to remove the vista partition from my hard drive, and then re-partitioning it and then installing windows xp because it is oh so better (imo).
- I played Crysis for the first time today. Aside from the fact that I've struggled slightly with the performance of the game it is AMAZING. Really, this game cannot be exagerrated, I
Here's an example: I was dual wielding the pistols and I was standing at the edge of a wall right beside it. The pistol in my left hand was being blocked because I was too close to the wall so my character had it lifted up near his face and I couldn't fire it. My right hand pistol was not blocked though, and I was able to continue firing it at enemies.
Also it is just crazy that there's like CRABS, FROGS, BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES? I MEAN SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS THERE LIKE A BILLION DIFFERENT KINDS OF 100% REALISTICALLY ANIMATED ANIMALS IN THIS GAME THAT I CAN PICK UP AND THEN THROW AT PEOPLE -I didn't actually do that but I did kill a duck by accident :(
Did I mention you can also BEAT PEOPLE TO DEATH WITH WATER COOLER BOTTLES, FRYING PANS, WATER BOTTLES, PLASTIC CHAIRS, AND NUMEROUS OTHER RANDOM THINGS. You can also grab enemy soldiers and throw them 15 feet away from you into another enemy soldier, thus killing both of them in the process.
Did I also mention that EVERY SINGLE WEAPON IN THIS GAME HAS A MELEE ATTACK? Ok I know several other games have done that before (Halo being the most prominent in my mind, as well as F.E.A.R.) but seriously, it's about fucking time. In this game I was actually able to pick up a frying pan in my left hand, and punch people with my right hand. So I killed a guy, by hitting him with a frying pan whilst simultaneously punching him in the face.
PLAY THIS GAME. (if your computer can, that is).
...what else, I can't think of anything else to say, oh yeah I have several new years resolutions even though I don't think I've ever really had a real new years resolution up until now and I actually have several of them which are kind of long term things but I'll talk about those later since STAYING UP UNTIL RIDICULOUS HOURS (4 AM) and SLEEPING ALL DAY is ONE OF THE THINGS I AM GOING TO STOP DOING ON A REGULAR BASIS.
awight this blog was pretty random and spontaneous, I think imma go to bed now.
R.I.P. T-Bag, 1981 - 2008
By KnightsofRound 5 Comments
It is with great sadness that we bring you this news. Troy Dixon lost his life in a car accident on Saturday night. He will be remembered for his warmth and kindness, and for the laughter he was able to bring to this world. Whether he was on the stage of a comedy club or in front of a camera, Troy was truly in his element as an entertainer. He will be missed dearly by his friends, family, and all of us at Pure Pwnage. We're grateful to have had the opportunity to know him.
http://www.purepwnage.com/
Truly sad, Troy Dixon was great as T-Bag during his time on Pure Pwnage, he will be missed. R.I.P. bro, keep on fighting the good fight wherever you may be now.
10 DAYS UNTIL...
By KnightsofRound 5 Comments
Yes.
...captain canuck TREVOR LINDEN joins Stan Smyl in the rafters of GM Place in Vancouver.
Congrats Captain Canuck, you've definitely earned it.
The Slumber Ends...
By KnightsofRound 8 Comments
Today a particular video game character created by yours truly woke up from his nearly year-long slumber.
Meet Sephiross.
The above screenshot was taken on December 2nd, 2007. Figures I have been brought back into this crack-cocaine like universe a year later.
Thus to continue his adventure where he left off (at level 17), Sephiross needed to get familiar with his surroundings again.
Apparently taking a giant detour to the left around the entire fucking continent and then criss-crossing back and then going through the mountains was a better idea than just simply going south and to the right a bit and then coming in the entrace. (Note: This is a third party add-on I downloaded that is supposed to make map nagivation easier, clearly it is not 100% reliable).
And so it was, that after getting his bearings Sephiross set out to continue his epic questing.
Little does Sephiross realize, is that he only has 10 days left from a resurrection scroll to continue his adventure before his activities are spontaneously cut short and he must go back into cryo freeze for another undetermined length of time.
Deus Ex 3 Concept Art
By KnightsofRound 10 Comments
As some of you may know, Deus Ex quickly became one of my favourite games of all-time when I finally finished it this last summer. I had owned the sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War as well as Deus Ex for a really long time, and when I tried playing the sequel I was incredibly disappointed. I have yet to get passed the first 30 minutes of that game. Regardless of this fact (I still plan to maybe try beating that game one day) I was really looking forward to Deus Ex 3 ever since it was announced. Mostly because the new studio working on the Deus Ex franchise (Ion Storm was shut down several years ago) said that they were going to remain very faithful to the original Deus Ex (Invisible War was not) and that they knew what the mistakes were that were made in Invisible War and had no intention of repeating them. That being said, Deus Ex 3 is probably one of my most anticipated right now, second maybe only to Final Fantasy XIII and Dissidia: Final Fantasy, but it's really high up there...
Anyway a fresh new batch of concept art has been released, this is pretty much the first look we've had at the game.
For those of you that don't know, Deus Ex 3 is a prequel that takes place 25 years before Deus Ex in the year 2027. The game is a FPS-RPG hybrid that centers around government conspiracies and all that jazz. One thing I like about these concept images is that it looks like they are definitely trying to bring the badass value back to the main character (something Invisible War significantly lacked), Adam Jensen looks like a worthy successor to JC Denton, who sports a similar fashion style as well.
Also, there is an interesting magazine article about the game here, where you can read some more about the game's development. There also seems to be a few scenes that look like in-game screenshots. http://www.gamers-union.net/gallery/index.php?c=9
QWOP
By KnightsofRound 8 Comments
One Small Step for Gnome, One Giant Leap for Gnomekind
By KnightsofRound 9 Comments
...and another pointless task I accomplished:
F.E.A.R. Update
By KnightsofRound 6 Comments
I must say that F.E.A.R. has really grown on me after playing through it some more today. Even though I don't play scary/horror games very often, when I DO play them I make it a rule of thumb to play them in the dark. For me it just makes the experience so much more engrossing. I did this with Doom 3, and it made the game much more scary/enjoyable. I have decided to do the same thing with F.E.A.R., and thus far it has been enjoyable.
I must say though that I am glad there are no zombies in this game. There are some weird disturbing ghost things that have attacked me briefly on two separate occasions, but thankfully those did not last long. One thing I've enjoyed about F.E.A.R. so far that can kind of be seen as a drawback, is that so far I have spent the majority of the game fighting the same enemies. This can be seen as a negative, but the reason why I'm mentioning it as a good thing, is because whenever new enemies HAVE popped up in this game it's a total shock/thrill.
There was one part where I found a rocket launcher clearly placed for me to take... and not soon afterwards I was in a room with a large platform waiting to be lowered, in a largely wide open area. I KNEW there was going to be something on that platform but I had no idea what it was... I figured it was just going to be more incredibly intelligent soldiers (the soldier A.I. in this game is extremely good). Nope, a huge mech was on that platform and it started shooting ROCKETS at me. It was one of those moments where I uttered something along the lines of "what the fuck" and ducked for cover immediately, soon returning my own rocket fire at this incredible foe. The slomo ability was incredibly useful in dispatching this guy, that's for sure.
I also had a fun encounter with these incredibly annoying enemies... they were these flying robot droid things that would make a unique clicking sound before attacking you. Since I was in an office complex, they were flying in through the windows shooting lasers at me. These guys were pretty tough (their attacks were quite powerful) but I had a lot of fun going into slomo and dispatching them with the shotgun up close. Even more fun though, was destroying them with the partical cannon that basically shoots a giant purple beam that instantly disintegrates human opponents. It is also extremely useful for dispatching heavily armoured soldiers though, since often as of late most of the soldier groups are now accompanied by at least 1 heavily armoured soldier equipped with an HV Penetrator (nail gun). These guys are kind of a pain in the ass to take down with the standard firearms, even including the nail gun, but I found that the partical cannon really did a number on these guys... took about 4-5 direct hits to take them down.
My favourite moment so far though, came at the end of Interval 07 - Redirection. I was in a parking garage complex going up in a spiral to reach the roof. There were some really awesome battles in this area, and the atmosphere was really cool, with all the shadows and stuff, including the player character. One thing I have noticed though was that the scares have really slowed quite a bit. The beginning of the game was really focused on trying to freak you out, and it has kind of disappeared from the game, although did return for several moments during the later portions of Interval 07, including one moment in particular that actually made me jump (the first time the game has made me jump). This was when I was walking through a part of the office complex and the creepy Alma girl came crawling at me out from behind a corner, where I promptly yelled something like "what the fuck" once more and blasted her with my shotgun right before she disappeared. This girl has started to appear a bit more frequently now which makes me belive that things probably have barely even begun to have gotten started when she's concerned. That being said, by the time I actually reached the roof of the parking garage I was so trigger happy that I promptly greeted my friends with a shotgun blast to the face when I opened a door and they were standing 2 feet from my face to greet me (I thought they were enemy soldiers). Thankfully for them you cannot injured allied characters in this game.
That being said, with all the talk of other games such as Gears of War 2, which would be fantastic to play... it's at times like these where in some ways I'm kind of glad that I have such a massive backlog of games to catch up on... because in the following months and years I'll probably be catching up on all the current games of the now. I aim to try and wrap this game up tomorrow... and I may even write a review for it too. It has been months since I have partaken in any review writing, and maybe this game will give me some motivation to do so once more. After that, I'll most likely be moving onto Far Cry.
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