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natetodamax

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Gaming Update #16: Revisiting Old Pastimes

In This Blog:

  
( Because I'm too lazy to make a banner this time ) 

Hello. I'm natetodamax and for the past few weeks I've been helping carry boxes out of our old house and into our new one. And let me tell you, it isn't entertaining in the slightest. It's strange that all this happened around the same time that Giant Bomb was putting stuff into boxes and moving on to the new office. Coincidences aside, I'm here to talk about games. Specifically of the interactive video kind. 
 
 Tom Hansen is a dork
 Tom Hansen is a dork
In the previous house we lived in, I did not have a television in my room. Because of this, I didn't touch my Playstation 2 for well over a year. In fact, I didn't play the thing for long periods of time since 2008. But now in our new house I have the TV back, and the first thing I did was hook up my dusty PS2 to see if it still works. After some anxious and annoying cable hunting, I managed to get the thing fired up. Oh, how I missed that awful noise it makes when I open the disc tray. For real, it sounds like a machine gun is going off when I open it. It's great. It still has the marks of the stickers that used to be on it (when I was a dumb little kid I put stickers all over it because I had nowhere else to put them, and I didn't want to throw them away because I was a dumb little kid that liked stickers, so shut up!). Out of all the great games I have for the system, the game I put in to mark the first PS2 game I've played in over a year was...... Cold Fear. For some reason, I had a strong urge to play a survival horror game, and that's the only one I have that fits the genre. (I've never played Resident Evil 4....). That game is...... confusing. The combat is mediocre but works fine enough. My biggest problem with the game is that most of the time I have no clue where to go. There are no waypoints or arrows pointing you in the right direction. Whenever I get a new objective, I find myself wandering aimlessly around the ship until I manage to complete it. For example, one or more of the objectives I found myself tasked with involved finding a card to open a door. The ship is pretty big, and every time you open a door the game has to load. Because I this, I roamed helplessly around the ship until I finally stumbled upon the darn card about 20 minutes later. By that point, I had had enough of the game. 
 
 Sexualized Judy Nails!
 Sexualized Judy Nails!
Following my adventures aboard that Russian whaling ship, I headed in a completely different direction by popping in Guitar Hero II. Mainly I just did this to see if my guitar controller is still functioning properly. I'm amazed that it still works perfectly, except for the whammy bar which no longer remains in the position it's supposed to remain in. But that's no big deal. I played Psychobilly Freakout, which is one of my favorite songs on the game. It's really fun on Extreme, but I can't seem to get more than 4 stars in the career mode on it :(. I have just about every song 5 starred on Expert except for a few in the last Tier or so. Once I had satisfied my Guitar Hero II hunger (that was a terribly cheesy sentence, but I'm leaving it) I threw in the first Guitar Hero. I noticed several songs in my Expert career that were 4 starred, and I somehow managed to five star nearly every song I tried. The guitar solos in that game are definitely a lot harder than all the others because the hammer ons/pull offs basically don't work. It's way to precise and you have to hold down the other buttons to do it which is a total pain. Because of this, I just strum through all the solos which works sometimes and other times ends pretty bad. Regardless, that game has some good songs, although the cover for No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age is downright atrocious. Sounds like an emo band covering it. That's not good. In fact, that's never good. Oh, and I played a little of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80's. That game isn't very good. Oh well. 
 
Two AT-ATs march on.
Two AT-ATs march on.
Rounding out my PS2 marathon this weekend is Star Wars: Battlefront, a game that I value more than most of my Xbox 360 titles. I love this series to death. I have the second game which I tried to play first, but to my dismay it wouldn't work when I put it in the console :'(. I still had some fun with the first game though. I didn't do any of the Historical Campaign because I didn't feel like getting too deep into it. I did do some Instant Action though and a little Galactic Conquest. I've reached the conclusion that I enjoy playing in the........I totally forgot the names of the eras. It's the era where it's the Empire versus the Rebels. I like that better than than Republic versus CIS because I just hate the droids for some reason (both fighting them and playing as them). The game has a good Battlefield vibe to it, complete with vehicles, a Conquest-like mode, and many many dudes on the map shooting each other. The AI is noticeably weak, however. I often find 10 or so of my teammates all huddled together in a corner at one of our bases, just standing there not moving an inch. (A well placed grenade will convince them to get their butts in gear!) I've also happened upon enemies staring at a wall, completely oblivious to my presence. (A few blasts from my rifle knocks them out of their stupor!) Despite some flaws, I still love the series like it was my baby :) But man..... I wish Battlefront 2 was working. That game introduced several new features and improvements, including space battles and the ability to play as a Jedi. The Historical Campaign was much more fleshed out, and the Galactic Conquest mode was a TON of fun. The things I disliked was the fact that some awesome maps from the first game, like Bespin Platforms and Endor, weren't in the sequel (while other maps from the first game were, I believe) and they removed team commands. One of my favorite things to do in the first Battlefront is to issue the "Follow Me" command so I can flank the enemies with a squad of soldiers behind me. 
 
Oh, and I played a little God Of War but not enough for it to warrant a paragraph in this blog. That game is fun. Yeah. 
 
The two Xbox 360 games I played quite a bit since my last blog are Just Cause 2 and the first Gears Of War. I played a lot of the former in an attempt to get the Freeroamer 2 achievement, which requires you to get 100% completion in 100 different locations. This is one of those achievements that made me hate the game after I got it. I spent all my time parachuting around Panau collecting stupid resource boxes in villages and blowing up communication outposts, of which there are 75 (these are really easy to get 100% in). I don't think I'll be playing any Just Cause 2 for a long time. I went on another collectable spree in Gears Of War. I noticed that despite having the game for like, three years, I still didn't have the achievement for grabbing all of the COG Tags, of which there are 30 scattered throughout the game. I fired up the game and for some reason, all of my campaign progress was gone, meaning I was back at 0 COG tags collected. I think the fact that I haven't updated the game in a long time contributed to that. However, this made life easy, because all I had to do was play through the game beginning to end and collect the tags as I came across them (I used my Brady Games guide, or Prima Game guide, whichever it is). I actually had to replay the last train sequence to get the last COG tag several times because stupid things happened, like me dying halfway through the level and being reset to the beginning because I didn't get any checkpoints or missing the COG tag at the very end, resulting in me hitting the point of no return and having to restart the entire thing over. I did get it though, which makes me happy. 
 
This marks the end of Gaming Update #16. I hope you enjoyed this mammoth of a blog as much as I enjoyed typing it. As usual, here's a song you should listen to. I think I've gotten back into 80s metal (Poison, Motley Crue), which makes me very scared and concerned........crap..... In fact, the song I'm going to put here is going to be one from The Black Keys. The video has several pretty ladies in bikinis, as evident before you even hit the play button.
 
  
   
Until next time, children.
7 Comments

Gaming Update #15: 15, A Number, My Favorite Number


No Caption Provided

Hello fellow Giant Bomb citizens. I admit that I have been rather lazy with my contributions to Giant Bomb for a while now. No blogs, no reviews, no large wiki edits..... just me responding to random threads on the forums whenever I get a chance. I shall turn around this streak with the revival of my weekly (although I wouldn't be surprised if this turned into monthly again) blog about the stuff I've been playing. Also, Captain Price.
 
 Bows: Infinitely funner than swords
 Bows: Infinitely funner than swords
The consequence of not having a Gold subscription to Xbox Live as of right now has been felt. I find myself going back to games I haven't played in a while, and it saddens me to know that many soldiers (read: GoranP) in Bad Company 2 are dying because I'm not there to revive them. Likewise, I haven't been able to shoot anyone in the face with my M4 Carbine in Modern Warfare 2. As a result of this, I ended up playing Oblivion again and got hooked on it. I proceeded to play the game for a few weeks straight. I'm not so sure why this happens to me. I go a while without playing the game, and the next time I pop it in my Xbox I find myself exploring Cyrodiil for the next month or so. But I digress; Oblivion is still a fantastic game and holds up very well today. My Kahjiit character, Farquad, is a sneaky bastard. I've spent a lot of my time breaking into people's homes, ransacking the place, and then heading up to their room and sticking an arrow in the back of their head while they sleep. Normally I wouldn't do this in a game where I actually cared about the characters, but one of the flaws of Oblivion is the fact that nearly every character is basically the same. There are only a handful of voice actors so everyone sounds the same, and any character that isn't involved in a quest is simply there to populate the world. They need to die, and I've made sure of that. As soon as I entered the Thieve's Guild and was allowed to use the fences, I ended up selling over 5000 gold worth of stolen goods pretty quick. 
 
 I still think Oblivion is a beautiful game
 I still think Oblivion is a beautiful game
My character is also proficient in using bows. Whenever I enter a cave or dungeon, I sneak through it and stealth kill everyone/everything inside. The satisfaction I get from launching an arrow from several yards away into an unsuspecting bandit's head is immense, and it's a lot more entertaining than just running through with a claymore and going all Stabby McSlash on everyone. (I should also mention that the death screams/grunts from people when they die is hilarious). Because I chose to only use light armor (since it's good for sneaking and it's lightweight), I don't spend a lot of time exploring. I decided to sell the melee weapon I had because I really need to avoid all close encounters when possible. I'm wearing enchanted armor that I can't repair due to my low armorer skill, and getting into a one-on-one fight means it's going to get degraded fast. I also decided to not do any main quest missions at all in order to make exploring easier. If I do the Kvatch mission, Oblivion Gates will start opening everywhere, and I hate to close those things. Holding off on this mission means I can run around and do stuff without having to worry about running into one. 
 
 
 "'Who was that?' they'll say, as they point to the sad shape hanging on the wall, 'who was that?'"
But enough Oblivion talk! I've done enough of that in previous blogs. I went and revisited Bioshock 2 a few days ago to try and get the Savior achievement. This achievement requires you to save every Little Sister in the game, and you also have to spare the characters Grace, Stanley, and Gil. I was pleased to see that I unlocked it right before starting the last mission, so I was able to put the game away without playing through to the end. It's not a bad game, it's just that I really didn't feel like playing it anymore when I came to that point. Instead, I fired up Bioshock 1 from Quick Launch (bought it off Games On Demand) and I was curious to see how far I would get on the Hard difficulty. I had managed to get up to Hephaestus on Hard a while ago but an unfortunate event caused me to spawn at a Vita Chamber when I least expected it, completely ruining my chances of getting the Brass Balls achievement. This frustrated me so much that I said "Eff this game!" and hadn't played it 'till today. Let me tell you, Bioshock is mad hard on that difficulty. That may seem ridiculous to say to some of you, but it's true. The trouble I'm having on this mode might be because I was never any good at hard difficulties at all in my life. I also made the mistake of avoiding all Big Daddies up to this point, leaving me a low health bar, a low EVE bar, only two plasmids and two plasmid slots, and only two gene tonic slots for each category. This made fighting enemies extremely nerve racking, but I've managed to slowly grind my way through the level. Hephaestus is difficult because it actually requires you to kill at least two Big Daddies. I thought I would struggle with this and had accepted the fact that I was probably going to have to throw myself at them over and over again, constantly dying and reviving at a Vita Chamber, until they fell. However, this was not the case. For the first Big Daddy, I got a couple of turrets to fire at him by getting their attention and then standing behind the Big Daddy. This caused the turrets to accidentally shoot the Daddy, and he went into a rage. They killed him for me! The next Big Daddy I eliminated by creating a mine field of traps in front of him, and then launching a heat seaking rocket in his face when they went off. At the end of the day, I found killing Big Daddies with these unique tactics to be more satisfying than just running up to them with a shotgun and unloading rounds into their faces. I'm not sure how difficult the next few missions will be. In all honesty I just want the stupid achievement for beating the game on hard, and then I can call it quits on this game (although I will most likely revisit it later to play through on Easy or something). 
 
 Eff you and your brains     
 Eff you and your brains     
The third game I've been playing for the past few weeks is Borderlands. This game, like Oblivion, was successful in drawing me in and didn't let go. I was driven by the desire to reach level 61, a feat I had not yet achieved. First of all, I played a ton of Zombie Island in Playthrough 2. I was disappointed to discover that all of the zombies were pretty much locked at level 42 or 43, and were getting killed by me in one shot. I was only getting about 2 XP for each enemy I killed. Regardless, I played through it all and managed to level up a few times from completing quests. I then remembered that I still hadn't gotten the Braaaaaaains achievement for completing the quest of the same name (albeit a few more a's). I opened up my quest journal and saw that I basically had to start the quest from the very beginning. Collect 10 brains. I knew that the last part of the quest requires me to collect 250 brains. However, it is not all cumulative. At the end of the day, I had collected a total of 435 brains. That's 435 headshots, and 435 zombies. It took me probably over an hour to get. But I sleep easy at night knowing I will never have to do that stupid quest ever, ever again! I did manage to reach level 61, which was awesome. I believe I reached it by shooting a bandit in the face at point blank range with my awesome shotgun that shoots crazy fast and is as accurate as a sniper rifle. Sweet. The next achievement on my list is the one for completing all of the missions in Secret Armory. I noticed it was rare on Giant Bomb and thought that was strange, but then I remembered that killing Crawmerax is required. Thankfully, I do have Crawmerax beaten, but I beat him in Playthrough 2. This means I have to beat the rest of the missions in Playthrough 2, which is pretty difficult. I already have some done, but the quests I have active right now take me all over the place and I'm not sure I have the patience for them. The thing I dislike most about the Secret Armory DLC is the lack of fast travel. There are three main large areas in the game: T-Bone Junction, Sunken Sea, and Deep Fathoms. To get to the last two, you need to drive down a long highway that has military bases throughout them. This is a pain on its own because it takes so long to get to your destination, and you can't fast travel anywhere. It's obvious that Gearbox wanted to increase the amount of time people spent in the DLC, but this was the wrong way to do it. 
 
Oh, and I've also spent some time playing Gears Of War 2 campaign on Normal. Cole is still a hilarious character. 
 
So there you have it folks, the three main games I've been playing in the past month of so. Hopefully  Now, here's a song you should all listen to. 
 
  
  
 
Until next time, children. 
 
 
 
 
 

 This is a pangolin, my favorite animal
 This is a pangolin, my favorite animal
9 Comments

Do any of you listen to Fatso Jetson?

So something good actually came out of Last.fm the other day. I went to Queens Of The Stone Age radio and it played Fatso Jetson. I got aggravated and was all "Oh come on, what is this????" but actually started to like what I was hearing. Now this band is one of my favorites and wanted to know if anyone else really likes these guys. Cruel & Delicious is truly a fantastic album. Below is my favorite song. It's got such a great sound, and I love the lyrics. 
 
  

3 Comments

Revisiting the Last Generation of Games

My Xbox Gold Subscription expired a while ago, resulting in me playing hours upon hours of Oblivion and lots of Borderlands single player. Because of my lack of Bad Company 2 and Modern Warfare 2, I have been playing these two games so much that I really don't feel like playing anything anymore until I go back to Gold. However, I have spent some time thinking about my PS2 sitting in my closet upstairs, and the fact that it hasn't been turned on in probably over a year, maybe even close to two years. I now have the urge to fire the thing back up and get some games that I never got a chance to play when the PS2 was the only console I owned. Two titles come to mind that I'm thinking about trying out, and I would like some encouragement from the Giant Bomb community ('cause you guys are awesome) to go out and buy these games. Or, if you think one or both of them suck, tell me why!
 

  • Final Fantasy XII. It's weird thinking back a few years and recalling how I really wanted to check this game out, but for some reason it just never happened. I just now remembered its existence, and I feel inclined to head out and finally get the game. How well does the game hold up nowadays?
  • Persona 3. A few of you might be saying "Why not get Persona 4?", but I watched over half of the Endurance Run (yeah, I never did finish it because I couldn't find the time to do so) and I know how the game ends. However, I was curious about this game, and watched some stuff on it and read some stuff on it and I'm convinced that it is somewhat similar to Persona 4? If I am completely wrong with that assumption, please excuse my ignorance. There was a point in time when I really wanted to get Persona 4, but then I remembered that I had read the plot synopsis over at Wikipedia, so that was out of the question. I would like to give this game a try.
 
Giant Bomb, let me know if I should get these games or if doing so would be a waste of time!
30 Comments

A History Lesson with Natetodamax, Over Skype

[12:08:39 AM] Nathan Andrews: But Canada is a myth
[12:08:55 AM] Nathan Andrews: You see, Canada is actually part of the United States
[12:09:08 AM] Nathan Andrews: We just refuse to acknowledge that because the US doesn't like people that live up there
[12:09:22 AM] DanielJW: Actually we're totally still ruled by Britain
[12:09:41 AM] Nathan Andrews: No, Canada is the 51st state of the United States. Britain is the 70th state of the US
[12:10:00 AM] DanielJW: The U.S. was a byproduct of British colonization
[12:10:23 AM] Nathan Andrews: The US had no affiliation with Britian prior to the acquisition of the country
[12:10:55 AM] Nathan Andrews: You are blind to the facts
[12:10:56 AM] DanielJW: You're all a bunch of ingrateful Brits
[12:11:00 AM] DanielJW: We're grateful Brits
[12:11:04 AM] DanielJW: That is the difference
[12:11:13 AM] Nathan Andrews: No, you are American, just like me
[12:11:20 AM] Nathan Andrews: There is no such thing as a British person
[12:11:27 AM] Nathan Andrews: A British person is an American person
[12:11:39 AM] DanielJW: Incorrect
[12:11:39 AM] Nathan Andrews: It's all connected
[12:11:46 AM] Nathan Andrews: The US owns every country in the world
[12:11:51 AM] Nathan Andrews: Including Afghanistan
[12:11:54 AM] DanielJW: If anything an American is a British person
[12:11:56 AM] Nathan Andrews: The war over there is actually fake
[12:12:15 AM] Nathan Andrews: You see, the President sends troops there to make people think the world is in danger. It makes people believe that Afghanistan isn't a part of the US
[12:12:20 AM] Nathan Andrews: When, in actuality, it is
[12:12:37 AM] Nathan Andrews: He does this so people don't know that Afghanistan is a US state.
[12:13:00 AM] Nathan Andrews: Thus, creating the blind perception that there are multiple countries in the world, when in reality there is only one.
[12:13:04 AM] Nathan Andrews: The United States of America    

10 Comments

So this dream I had last night....

For some reason I feel like writing down what went down in this extraordinary dream I had last night. I remember it so well......weird... 
 

 First this!
 First this!
So in the state I live in tornadoes are rare but they can happen. The dream started out with me in school. Nearly the entire school and I were waiting outside for buses. It was extremely cloudy out. All of a sudden, a mother effin' tornado touches down in front of us. We all booked it into the school and for some reason I sprinted upstairs, ran all the way down the band hallway (which was covered in glass doors and windows), and took cover in a little room. This is weird because the band hallway at my school isn't upstairs, it's downstairs..... 
 
Anyway, the tornado passed fairly quick and part of the school was damaged. I don't think anyone died. Or maybe lots of people died. I dunno. This part of the dream freaked me out because I used to have recurring nightmares as a child about tornadoes. I regrouped with some friends and then went home safe and sound. At home it was all sunny, a beautiful day. My home was different in this dream: it was in a suburban area with bright green fields all around. The house was also very small. I recall laying in the driveway on a lawn chair or something and talking to my nephew and sister who were up in the attic looking down at me from the window. I have no clue why. I went inside the house for a few and then all of a sudden a mother effin' earthquake happens. This was probably the most frightening part of the dream. You know that feeling you get when you fall a great height in your dream? It feels like your stomach and pelvic region are exploding, you know? Well imagine that times 10. The whole ground was shaking. Because I didn't want the house falling on me, I ran outside and kinda went prone on the ground. It kept going on and on....eventually it stopped. I quickly ran into the house to check on my nephew and sister. When I got to the attic, I saw wood everywhere. The roof had pretty much collapsed. But I could see both of them, laying next to each other, apparently dead. It was a terrible moment. I could hear sad music playing in the background like it was a freakin' movie or something. And then they woke up and looked at me with confused faces. 
 
 Then this!..... I think?
 Then this!..... I think?
And for some reason, I recall a volcanic eruption following that although I don't remember anything from it. I woke up right as it was going on I guess. 
 
Just thought I'd share that.
9 Comments

Whoever sent me this lovely email....

Please, make yourself known if you are here. 

You should be tossed off other sites for posting DICKHEADED remakes. If the topic does'nt suite you or does'nt PERTAIN to you, than you should keep your fucking mouth SHUT. Some of us rely on posts to make a living, your trash COMMENTS don't help. Imaturity is a bitch though, and you show enough of that! ASSHOLE if I could find you I would, believe me.    

I asked who this was, and got this reply: 

Lets just say it's someone YOU made a comment about and don't wanna mess with. Watch what you say on the internet my friend.    

Charmed, I'm sure. 
 
EDIT: I should mention that the first message was posted on my blog at WordPress (I got an email from it)
35 Comments

Best Of Brad: A Deadly Premonition Compilation

Wanted to post this on the forums for more to see, but wasn't sure if it would be Youtube spam (most likely would be). 
 
Not sure who made this, but I thought it was great. It is a compilation of Brad failing in combat. What makes the video even better is the absolutely amazing guitar version of the Whistle Theme playing in the background. Enjoy! 
 
  

  

12 Comments

Just Cause 2 Review - "You Are The Scorpio, No?"

Since most people probably don't bother to read the user reviews on this site, I figured that I would start putting them in blogs as some people have done in the past so more people can see them
 
Just Cause 2 is one of those games that you can spend an hour playing doing nothing but retarded things like base jumping off a building and jacking a helicopter in mid air. If that's not crazy enough, try blowing up a satellite as it launches into space. Blow up some military bases in your spare time. If you're really bored, attach a civilian to a commercial jet and fly off. Just Cause 2 excels not because it tells a great story, but rather it's a stunning destructive playground where almost anything is possible.

 Just Cause 2 in a nutshell
 Just Cause 2 in a nutshell
If you come to Just Cause 2 to experience the story, you have the wrong idea about the game. But for those wondering, you are put into the shoes of Rico Rodriguez once again and are sent to the island of Panau to overthrow a dictator abusing his power. While you're there you'll get to know the three main factions on Panau and will complete missions for them and help them take over strongholds (which basically become safe zones for you). It's a shame that variety only exists in the main story missions (and it's even more unfortunate that there are only 7 or 8 story missions), so every time you do a faction mission or a stronghold takeover you'll know what to expect (but to be fair the faction missions can get pretty interesting on occasions). The only good thing I can say about the story is that the dialog is borderline atrocious. The reason I say this is a good thing is because even though the game seems like it was written by a 12 year old, the accents all the voice actors use are sure to make you laugh. I seriously can't decide if is the voice acting is the worst I've ever heard of the best I've ever heard. But no matter which way you slice it, it's special in it's own good and bad way.

Rico's most important tool is his grappling hook, which you've no doubt seen or heard about. The grappling hook provides an almost endless amount of opportunities to do some really insane things. Besides being able to grapple to any vehicle you find to steal it and using the hook to zip yourself wherever you point it, you can also grapple enemies and even tether two things together. By doing the latter, you can attach enemies to vehicles and drag them across the ground, or pull your favorite car out of a ditch. For even more fun, you can attach two vehicles together, hop in one of them, and drive off a cliff. You also use this ability to topple statues of Baby Panay that you find around the island. The grappling hook also plays a role in what will probably be your primary form of traversing the island. By activating your parachute (which is unlimited), you can then grapple the ground to create lift and zip yourself forward. By doing it's possible to float around in the parachute forever instead of slowing floating to the ground.

 I'll take that
 I'll take that
Just Cause 2 is all about blowing things up, so it's fitting that you need to cause Chaos in order to get new missions. It's a very clever that works really well: by destroying government property (anything marked with the Panauan star) you generate Chaos which then fills up four bars (Agency Mission, Faction Mission, Stronghold Takeover, and Black Market Item). When the bar is filled, you will unlock whatever the bar is for. There are also races you can do around Panau Island, but I never really felt compelled to participate because there's always a chance to do something much more explosive and entertaining. 
 
If you need ammo or a ride, you can call in a black market dealer who will drop whatever you need (after a fee, of course). You can use weapon parts and vehicle parts (which are considered collectables that you'll find all around the island) to upgrade your stuff too. The weapons themselves are very basic and there's nothing that you haven't seen before, but the shooting feels pretty good. The driving is a mixed bag. I noticed that the faster the car is, the easier it is to lose control. I once found a car in Panau city that probably went 0-60 in 2 seconds, but as soon as I started going remotely fast I spun out every time. Oh, and you'll eventually gain the ability to fast travel using the black market dealer.

 Enjoying a sunset on Panau...or should I say over Panau
 Enjoying a sunset on Panau...or should I say over Panau
Visually, Just Cause 2 is great looking in terms of scale, but up close the character models can look pretty generic. Explosions both look and sound great, and you'll be amazed at how spectacular the draw distance is. This is one of those few games where you can stand in the middle of the desert, stare way out at some snow capped mountains, and be able to say "Hey, I was just there". Panau itself is absolutely massive: I once stood on one end and put a marker on the opposite end. The distance was 22 kilometers, which translates to 13 miles. That's crazy.

I'll end this review with a recent experience I had during the game: I attached a small personal jet to a large truck and started driving down a hill towards the edge of a cliff. When I went over, something amazing happened. Because I was going so fast, the jet attached to my truck started to take off slightly, and as my vehicle flew towards the ground it began to get pulled forward by the aircraft as it tried to escape. The jet failed, however, and when my truck hit the ground it shot back up into the air, spun around probably 50 times, landed in a river, and exploded. Just Cause 2 is a game where the craziest things can happen with just a few button presses. It's an extremely unrealistic game that defies pretty much every law of physics, but the end result is something really special that shouldn't be missed by anyone.     
 
If you want to recommend this review, here it is
7 Comments

Gore in Video Games: What's the Deal?

A video I watched recently in which an elderly women claimed video games cause children to be sexist, racist, and violent sparked my interest in the concept of blood and gore in video games. I have seen debates in the past regarding this concept and whether or not the gore we see today in games like Gears of War and God of War is too much, but a side of the argument some people fail to explore is the side I support. It's that gore is not necessarily excessive; rather, our technology has improved over the years, allowing developers to explore the art of blowing off limbs in more detail than ever before.
 

 Not even morphine will make that wound feel better
 Not even morphine will make that wound feel better
Innovation is key to the development of video games. It now plays a bigger role in consumer enjoyment than ever before. It's not rare to see a game receive mediocre reviews if it didn't bring anything new to the table. Is the increase in gore an example of a previously not-well-known concept going through the process of innovation? Ever since video games first hit the market, our technology has progressed at such a fast rate that developers are given more opportunities to take advantage of the technology. Personally, I think blood and gore is an example of the developers doing just that. In the early days of games, did you see limbs flying off of bodies and rolling across the floor? Probably not, because the tech we had back then made it impossible to make that sort of thing happen. But in the current day and age, developers can now make body parts break off when shot and create a plethora of other grotesque ways to mangle bodies.
 
 ARGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!1
 ARGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!1
The question now is whether or not the gore we see nowadays is excessive. Your answer to that question may be different from others due to personal taste, but I think an important factor to consider is the game. Let's take God Of War as an example. Kratos is a very, very angry person. He has blades attached to his hands, and he's out to cause as much damage as possible. The man killed a god! Would this game be any worse if the gore was turned down a bit, or even taken out completely? The answer is yes. Playing as a big burly man with this much rage wouldn't be as fun if he wasn't tearing enemies in half and gutting creatures with his blades. It would seem silly, almost as if the developers were afraid to include gore or were just too lazy. 

Over the years, we've seen a major increase in visual/graphical quality due to technological advancement. The same thing is happening with gore in video games. Is there anything wrong with developers taking advantage of the rise in opportunities? No. Gore in video games becomes a problem when the developer focuses too much attention on it and as a result the core gameplay of said game is affected in a negative way. I think we have yet to head down that path, and I don't see any reason that we should. Gore, like pretty graphics, is meant to enhance the experience for the player, not hinder it. So let's be thankful that video game companies recognize that they can make games better than they could years and years ago. Let's appreciate the developers for introducing gore as a way of saying, "Hey, look what we can do now!"    
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