EVE: Online Crime

According to Giant Bomb, the off-beat and totally cool MMO EVE Online recently encountered their first major class criminal. For people not familiar with EVEO, it's players make up the main government, which includes actually governing and making laws. Players can also own corporations such as banks, and hire real employees to work as tellers and other underlings. (This is how I understand it, someone correct me if I'm wrong)
The story goes like this: a teller went bad, and embezzled over 80 million ISKs (the main currency in EVEO) and took off. No, they didn't just sell the money online and kill their account. They weren't banned by a GM, or asked to give the money back. Players are now conducting a manhunt across the EVE galaxy looking for this person, to get the money back to the bank company.
As you can imagine, the players that had their money in the bank started to go and withdraw funds in a panic, even after the company made a public announcement that they had the funds to cover the loss.

Crazy, crazy, awesome.


What I'm playing: Crysis: Wars, Team Fortress 2, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War II MP Beta
Games I'm into: Dawn of War II, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, Burnout Paradise.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

Finally picked it up the other day, and wow. It really is a cool game, and I can see why people have been raving about it. It won "Best Ambient Game" of '07 or something around those lines, and I have to say, it sure does live up to it's name. I mean it's award. Although riddled with bugs and incredibly confusing quests, the open world aspect works very well, and the setting is perfect. I haven't noticed any music except for the menu theme, a deep, eerie string theme that's stereotyped at best, but it fits the mood. The atmosphere is incredible, if you're raiding a Freedom camp the zings of bullets flying past your head and squad commands of your fellow Stalkers are incredibly well executed. As you venture farther into the zone, almost into Prypiyat (spelling?) itself, the radiation is hampering. As you fight your way past mutants, zombie bandits, and crazed militia people into a wasteland of lighting, and anomalies that suck you up then spit you out as a pile of dirt it feels like the end of the world. Really. It does. I feel like I'm playing as Gordon Freeman and stopping the combine super portal, but Stalker style. And it's just so awesome.

Anyways, STALKER is a great game, and I hear it's recently released prequel, Clear Sky, is even better.


What I'm playing: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, CoD: World at War, Company of Heroes, TF2, L4D
Games I'm into: StarCraft II, Diablo III,

Left 4 Dead!

Well, I pre-orded it, and I got the early access demo. I have to say, though, it really wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Sure, if you had asked me what I expected before I got the game, my description would've matched my description for it now, but it feels much different. It doesn't feel like the Source engine. It doesn't feel hard, or scary, even on expert, and although it is difficult, I just don't get that sense of desparation I expected. I don't get that rush when I get mobbed by millions of zombies that I was expecting.

But.

It's better than I expected. The AI Director really is completely dynamic, spawning zombies and bosses just at the point that it's survivable if you work with your teammates. Even the weapons and items spawn dynamically, in different places every time according to how fast your team is proceeding. It really, seriously, 100% works. Very, very well. So the game's demo is amazing, and worth the 44$ with only the 2 levels that are included. Because it playes different every single time.

What I'm playing: Left 4 Dead demo, Oblivion, Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Left 4 Dead, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, Oblivion

GObama!

GObama!
Go America!
Go World!




What I'm playing:F.E.A.R. (Scary as hell), Viva Pinata (Installing)
Games I'm into: F.E.A.R., Mirror's Edge, Far Cry 2, KOTOR MMO!

Call of Duty: World at War Beta

Yes, I was skeptical at first. CoD 5? Are you insane? And it's made by Treyarch, the devs of Call of Duty 3? (Which was a flop, and wasn't even released on PC) Do they expect to get any money from this thing? Well, yeah, I was told that they do expect to get a lot of money from it, and I can say that they're getting mine when it's released on the 11th of this month. Because the multiplayer beta is totally awesome, and it seems that Treyarch has really gone in the right direction with this one. Using and updated version of the CoD4 engine, WaW takes the player back to the WWII theatre, but this time in the pacific. As you can guess, it shows a bit more brutal side of the war, (not saying that the Europian theatre wasn't terrible, but this was before they banned flamethrowers) adding more of a survival horror aspect and 2 player co-op.

The advantage to the WWII theatre is the single-shot rifle, which I never really liked untill now. But now that I've played with them, I think they are a lot more fun because of the disabling single shot format. You get one chance, and after that you've gotta switch to your side-arm or run and stab everyone in sight. Don't get me wrong though, there's a lot more than single-shot rifles in this game. The armory ranges from high-powered machine guns like the BAR, and powerfull sniper rifles like the Ariskara, with a ton of SMGs and rifles in-between like the MP40 and the M1 Garand.
The Perk system works almost exactly like the one in CoD4, with the exeption that they added a few more, and you get a vehicle perk slot.
All in all, this almost feels more like a gigantic, insane, rediculously polished total-conversion mod for CoD4. It addes a few new elements, like the ability to call a pack of dogs on the enemy team, and tanks, but it just feels like the same game. Still worth my money, especially with the Co-op, but somewhat boring at times. Here's to hoping the singleplayer is good!
Sorry for the lack of picture, I might add some soon if I don't feel lazy.

What I'm playing: CoD5 MP Beta, Company of Heroes, Team Fortress 2
Games I'm into: CoD: WaW, Halo 3: Recon, Far Cry 2

Goo . . . what?

Argh, haven't had time to blog in a long while. Makes me mad. Anyways, I'm here to promote Goozex! Goozex is a game trading site where you can ship your old games to people who want them, and they give you Goozex Points, which you can use to get other people's used games. It costs 1$ every time you receive a trade, and you have to pay shipping when you give games. You only get the Goozex points for your game if the receiver says that they got the game. How do they stop scams?

Delivery Confirmation. You give them the code, and they track your package for you. Works like a charm, as I have shipped 2 games out and I am receiving F.E.A.R. and Viva Pinata. (Shuddup, this got GOTY in '06.) 'Sa 'bout all.

www.goozex.com

What I'm playing: Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Call of Duty 5 Beta, CoH World Builder
Games I'm into: L4D, Fable II, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault

Crysis: Warhead

Scroll down for a Crysis Review in the next post.

Crysis: Warhead is not so much a sequel, or even and expansion, it's actually more like a gigantic patch with lots of stellar (excuse me for using that word) DLC. Except that it's completely stand-alone, and too much of an improvement from the original game to be a patch.

You play as Sgt. 'Psycho' Sykes in a parallel story line to the first game, but on the other side of the island. Although the storyline isn't memorable, it's enough to propel you through the game with moderate interest. The game play is tuned to just short of perfection, improving AI and general game flow from the original. Two new weapons include the dual-wield able SMGs, which replace your standard pistols while packing an amazing punch at close range. The other weapon is another prototype that doesn't require a lock-on to fire, which is fun for killing everything on a level in around 3 mins. The suit still functions the same, with minor tuning, and most of the guns have better skins, along with the enemies and vehicles. Two new vehicles are fun, but you don't use them more than once. The campaign runs around 8 hours, without dying once or getting stuck anywhere.

The game itself is optimized ten-fold over the original one, it runs better and looks better at the same time, but when cranking it up to max it still takes a monster to run. Shadows are more shadow-y, and the anti-aliaising even looks better. Other than that though, it doesn't look much different from Crysis.

The balance issues from the original are also mostly resolved, which makes the game much more enjoyable. You won't find yourself doing try-and-die fifty times in a row.

If you bought it at the store, Warhead gives you Crysis: Wars for free, which is the multiplayer element. Unlike the last game's multiplayer, Wars is actually a great game. It's two new modes, team free-for-all and plain FFA are fun, but those get old after several plays. The old mode, Power Struggle is polished and improved to the point that it really works well, where as the original's multiplayer was lackluster and boring.

Warhead really is the game that Crysis should have been, and if Crytek is smart they'll give the original Crysis a makeover and release both games-in-one for $50, for people who didn't play the games the first time around.

9.3/10 for improved game play and graphics, new campaign style, good multiplayer, amazing price of $30, still takes a beast of a system to make it run well
What I'm playing: Mass Effect PC, Crysis: Wars, TF2
Games I'm into: L4D, Mirror's Edge

Crysis: The Complete Pack review!

Ah, Crysis. That game that your computer won't run. I hear it's all just flash, no real material, and that it's game play is uninteresting. Is that actually the case? Quite the contrary, actually, as Crysis and it's counterpart Crysis: Warhead deliver stunning visuals and exciting game play. I'll go over Crysis first.

Crysis puts you in the suit of a super soldier, on a mission to rescue archeologists on an tropical paradise. You fight Koreans with a squad of other super soldiers like you, although most of the time you're a lone wolf, so don't get me wrong; this is no tactical shooter. The suit you and your chumps are wearing has several different features, an armor mode, which lets you absorb more damage, a speed mode, which lets you move much faster, a strength mode, which lets you, well, be strong (to jump higher, and throw things farther), and a cloak mode, which renders you invisible for a limited amount of time. The effectiveness of these modes are all based around your suit energy level, which recharges moderately fast but also is spent as fast.

The gunplay in Crysis is somewhat different that most games, the guns feel heavier, more realistic, and all around more awesome. But that doesn't stop you from dying more than ever. The difficulty of the game waxes and wains, as sometimes you'll be able to breeze through enemies like a tank, other times you'll find that you have to try and die ten times before you complete an area.
Amazing physics and great visuals really complete the game, and I know you're saying "yeah, on your computer", but I have no dream machine, I was able to run everything on medium with a dual core 2.6 ghz, and nVidia 256mb 7600gt, and it looked great.
The story of the game is interesting enough to keep you captivated, and although it's not a very original idea, it's still fun. The game play ranges from person to person combat, stealth action, survival, jet flying, car chasing, massive tank skirmishes, sniper wars, and a number of other innovative mechanics.
My only complaint is that just as you get the hang of it, you're onto the next thing.
I finished the campaign in around ten hours, minus load times and reloads due to dying, around eight and a half hours. The experience is short and sweet, at worst; lackluster and frustrating, at best; pure genius. I hear there is a map editor somewhere in there too.

Check back for a complete Warhead review in several days.

8.6/10 for innovative game play, amazing graphics, map editor. Frustrating at times, un-original story, unbalanced combat.
What I'm playing: Crysis: Warhead, Mass Effect
Games I'm into: Left 4 Dead, FarCry 2

What Blew my Mind at E3.

This post was originally posted after the Electronic Entertainment Expo event, but due to some technical difficulties it is only being published as of now.
-TJ


Alright, Jimmithen's back from summer hiatus bliss to cough up another foray into gamin' with the whole E3 biz. People can say what they will, E3 may be going downhill, but I gotta say, this year the show delivered, and no one delivered better than Microsoft. With a linup headlined by such titles as GoW2 (which actually impressed me, though not so much when Marcus and Dom talked, damn crappy dialogue), Fable 2, Resident Evil 5, and my personal favorite out of the fantastic 4 (did that on purpose, sorry guys), Fallout 3. Now, for the oldschools who played the originals, or one of the two, you can skip to the end of the article, because you already know what I'm talking about. To be continued in next post.

Far Cry 2 Video

It's not letting me embed the video so here's the youtube link.


Enjoy!
Edit: It works now
-TJ

What I'm playing: Halo 3, World of Warcraft, Starcraft

Games I'm into: Mirror's Edge, Farcry 2, Gears 2, Rock Band 2, (lots of 2's)

I love the whole world!

This great game adaption of discovery channel's commercial is Ahwsum. And did you hear?? DIABLO III was announced today in Paris! My life has ended. :)

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

What I'm playing: Team Fortress 2, Company of Heroes
Games I'm into:Left 4 Dead,

Battlefield: Bad company

I have this great video here for everyone of EA's new title that became available today, Battlefield: Bad Company for Xbox 360.

Video courtesy of Ctrl+Alt+Del
EDIT: Okay the video isn't working so here's a link to CAD's blog post with it embedded.


What I'm playing: Team Fortress 2 (I got the new flare gun!!!)
Games I'm into: Left 4 Dead. I am so darn exited about this game that I will explode when it comes out. Let's type some of these for it's honor: !!!!!!!!!!! Exclamation point toast!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. There are a lot of other humorous videos about BF:BC over at gamevideos.com. LINK!

Summer Inactivity

In case you haven't noticed, we are going inactive over the summer. Thanks for reading!

What I'm playing:Company on Heroes, Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfart
Games I'm into: Mass Effect, GTAIV, Rockband
Games you should check out: Synaesthete

Everyone's special. Or not?

I have recently heard a rumor about the Xbox 360's upcoming firmware patch. The rumor I heard was that you can install games and run them without the discs on your 360. Of course, this is Microsoft we're talking about, so there is going to be some kind of copy protection. It might be something ridiculous, or just a CD code. Maybe you'll have to register your "gaming library" to your 360, not letting you trade in games or borrow them from friends. Sound familiar? Unless you have been living under a rock, this is like the PC gaming storyline these last few years. These two worlds are getting closer, and closer, and closer, to the point that at this rate in 3 years, you'll be shopping on Newegg.com for an nVidia 16000 for your XboPC. Not cool? Or is a good thing? It seems like a good thing to me, as it makes everyone's hardware reflect their surroundings and personality. If you know what I mean. On the PC side, we have been getting closer in the software world rather than the hardware world, and I don't just mean 360 Ports. Take wake-on-LAN, for example (although a rather bad example it is) which let's you turn on your computer from any thing plugged into your computer's network card, similar to the way one would turn on their Xbox. I am using an Xbox 360 controller for quite a few of my games. It can't be too long until the 360 and the mother of all platforms become one!


The PS3 is pretty much a combination of the PS2, Wii, and the PC. SIXAXIS motion controls, otherwise standard controller layout, and beefy hardware. The sleeknes comes from the PC too. The Wii is the only special thing out there (besides the PC) and it is currently lacking on the visual and online side of things. Everything else is in between. I don't know there the PS/Xbox controller comes from though. Hmm. Maybe it's the wake-on-LAN thing. If I bored you or offended you or spelled bored wrong, I'm not really sorry. This is just my opinion!



What I'm playing: Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Mass Effect, Beyond Good & Evil

Dark Void

I apologize for the recent lack of posts, we have been busy with our summer lives. But I have traveled back from the mortal realms into the video gaming realm, and upon my arrival, I looked at Capcom's Dark Void. This game looks pretty intense, mostly because all of it takes place on cliffs. No, not the tops of cliffs, the sides of them. And the sides of big alien ship-thingys. Considering you have a jetpack, that shouldn't be a problem though. But they have to spoil all that flying fun and give us more fun with climbing fun. The climbing/booster pack combination looks pretty cool, add a gun in there and we might just have an awesome game!

I'm posting a video here courtesy of Giant Bomb




What I'm playing: Audio Surf, Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Dark Void, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead

Beyond Good & Evil 2 Trailer

Here is the BG&E2 first trailer/gameplay video. I hope ya'll like it!
Also, Mass Effect PC came out today and I am so super CyKeD! It looks so good, with updates to everything and hotkeys (awesome!) for anything you want! And everything else is different too. This isn't just some 360-PC port. This is another game!



We recorder our most recent NewsPodcast and I hope to have it up shortly.

What I'm playing: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
Games I'm into: Mass Effect PC and Left 4 Dead

Salvation is Ubisoft's Middle Name.

I have just recieved possibly the best news I have heard in gaming since I saw the first footage of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (a personal gaming epiphany, but you get the idea). Ubisoft, at an event just a day or two ago, released footage of... wait for it... BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL 2! Now to me, a gamer who was blown away by the first, and the first residing comfortably at the top of my favorite games list, I had about given up hope on ever seeing a sequel, as the first sold like crap dispite critical acclaim, and left the few who did play it with a cliffhanger of the century (If you havent played the first, go onto steam right now, dont even bother finishing this article, and start downloading it. Best money you will ever spend. Then come back to the article) that was yet to be unanswered. Michael Ancel himself (the creater of the Rayman series and the rather good King Kong game) said his desire was to make a trilogy to this game, which never came. Until now.
The trailer released actually never says if it is the trailer, but to those who have played the game, you will know after watching the 2 minutes of footage that it's the real deal. Along with an incredible new graphics engine, the BG&E2 trailer features a familiar looking flying car, a woman with a red parasol (presumably Jade, the heroine from the first game) and good ol' Pey'j, the fat jovial talking pig who snorts up a bug. At the start of the trailer, "1. The Pig" comes on screen, showing that more of these untitled trailers will be coming. I, for one, have been going nuts ever since I saw this footage, and would urge one of my fellow bloggers to post the video and the pics, for my computer sucks... Anyways, look for more on this game in the future, and download the first!

What I'm playing: Rock Band, GTA4, Beyond Good and Evil
Games I'm into: Beyond Good and Evil 2 (duh), Fallout 3

Post Launch Note from Eric

Well, I don’t know exactly how many readers we have right now, but I’m starting to think that we have more writers than readers. If you just so happen to be someone reading this blog that doesn’t write for it as well then, yay for us! I think that I can speak for all of us here at PS Wii, 603 and PC when I say “thanks reading our blog!”. Please tell your friends about us and please come back to the site soon (we have new articles all the time). We are just getting starting here so forgive us for any informalities or colloquial attitudes (after all, we are gamers). If you have any suggestions or remarks (whether positive or negative) go ahead and leave a comment. I’m all for constructive criticism. I suppose it would be a good idea to start getting our blog some publicity; feedback on where or how to get hits is welcome!

-- Eric (aka Zaputh)

Left 4 Dead

Well, with the Left 4 Dead due date slowly (but surely) getting closer and closer I think that I can safely say that gamers all over the world are getting pretty psyched. We certainly have good reason to be happy, for if everything that Valve Software says is true, Left 4 Dead will be one freaking awesome entertainment product (but please-tell me-when has Valve ever disappointed?). The revolutionary AI, the stunning graphics, the immersive levels, the ballistic weapons, the swarms of zombies, the tanks, boomers, hunters, witches, and not to mention the dynamically flowing hair of Zoey are all things worth being excited about. Seriously, what could be better than getting yourself and seven other friends together solely for the purpose of consuming caffeine, owning zombies, and generally freaking each other out? I know that I’m going to be one of the many who get to enjoy these luxuries. Now, enough gloating over Valve’s future release, let’s get down to business. I would imagine that you already know this but for the off chance, Left 4 Dead is an eight player coop first person shooter that takes place in a “rabid zombie ridden world”(yes, they really do have rabies) that has no mercy for the four survivors and every bit of sympathy for the lucky four who get to play as the zombie “bosses”. Eight players in an online coop game? What happened to the swarms of zombies? Aren’t there more than four in a swarm? The answer to most of your questions is: The Director. Plain and simple, it is exactly what it sounds like. The Director is artificial intelligence at its finest. Valve and Turtle Rock Studios have put their heads together to create pure bliss, a program that tells the many computer controlled zombies and players where to spawn creating a unique style of game play that is never the same twice (for real this time, forget all of that “replay value” talk given by 2K Boston). When the four survivors are prancing down the creepy alleys of urban cities the Director is busy planning its next attack. Yes, I think you know as well as I do, Dave. Not only are you fighting the many rabid zombies, you’re fighting against the smarts of code. Don’t’ get me wrong, this evil cousin of Hal cannot be tricked. You aren’t fighting it as much as letting it mess with you. Creepy ‘eh? So, besides the world dominating Director what else is cool about Left 4 Dead? Lots, more than I want to tell you right now though! I’m going to cover the game in a few short articles, each focusing on one or two topics: The Director, the survivors and zombies, the levels, and the many weapons. Expect a few more articles from me regarding this beauty!


What I'm playing: DOD:S, TF 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Games I'm into: Mirror's Edge, Mirror's Edge, and more Mirror's Edge

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

You know when you get 5 bucks for mowing the lawn or some other normally abnormal thing that you usually never do for money? And then you think, gee, this would buy me an Xbox Marketplace arcade game, or a Steam game. So you're browsing, you find some little games that catch your interest, then you go back and look at them all, and they all seem to suck. All but one of them suck. But you didn't know that, did you? That's why you bought an insanely priced milk-shake instead. (Or you deposited it into your bank accout, but who does that?) Rewind! You're surfing the games and you find a game called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Huh? Yep, you buy it and in five minutes you're playing it, and it's really hard and you can't even get past the third "target thing" flying at you till you die. This is exactly what I did. I bought it, I failed horrendously at it, and I gave it up. What a waste, eh? Yesterday, I booted it up for no reason what so ever, and tried my mouse at it...and I got a stunning score of 86,250. (Approxomately 85, 950 more than my previous high score) That's cool right? Maybe that four dollars wasn't a waste after all. If fact, it turns out to be totally cool! The intense panick of your play screen filling with nifty green shapes that evade your lasers and crowd you is really thrilling! And totally intense! So many close calls and dissapointing defeats mixed with retro sound effects and amazing visuals makes this my casual game of 2007. Yeah, I know, I'm REALLY late, but if you didn't pick this game up the first time you saw it, pick it up now. I's only four dollars on Steam and (correct me if I'm wrong) five dollars on Xbox Live Market Place. Trust me, it's worth it. It sucks at first, but once you figure out that you can move around (yeah, I didn't know till last evening) it's truly amazing. And it's beautiful. That's about it!


GEOMETRY WARS: RETRO EVOLVED: 10/10

Awarded for outstanding visuals, sound, and being a great arcade shooter-
Loshon's Casual Pick of the year. (So far)

What I'm playing: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Mass Effect for PC, Mirror's Edge