Dark Messiah of Might and Magic has a single-player demo out. After a few download problems with GameDaily.com, I had to go to Fileplanet.
My first impressions: the demo is short, but packed full of action goodness. Players get to test out a little bit of everything. This is a true FPS and RPG hybrid. In the demo the player is only introduced to the first few skills in each class, but players can see the full skill trees. There is definitely a lot of potential!
The combat is fast and engaging. Players don't just spam the attack button, unless they want to watch the enemies parry endlessly. Kicks, stuns, and attacks of opportunity are key. Along with daggers and swords, the environment itself is a weapon. Kick enemies into spikes, throw crates at them, fling them into fires, or whatever a player can come up with. All are valid strategies, but could become boring if overused in the final game.
The only question mark while playing the demo was how strong the single player story will be. The demo followed no reasonable storyline, and ended up just being a couple action sequences tied together. The demo starts in the tutorial area and then whisks the player away to some caverns; a splash screen detailing "Several months later...". Hopefully there will be more of a plot in the final release.
In conclusion; I'm drooling over this game's vivid environments, intense combat, and potential for a stellar fantasy FPS/RPG multi-player experience.
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post and applied labels.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Who Wants to be a Superhero?
"Who Wants to be a Superhero?" is a new reality show appearing on Sci-Fi and I must admit I was very surprised when I watched it. Being a reality show, I didn't pay much attention to it among the flood of other reality TV shows. However, this show is far from the standard fodder.
The important part to realize about the show is the fact that Stan Lee is "The Man". He invented what it means to be a Super Hero. With that knowledge he knows exactly what to look for in these people. It isn't about some fancy costume, funny stunts, or outrageous back stories. It is about whats on the inside. Like is said in the show by Major Victory... "Stan wants us to be super humans."
It is easy to tell which contestants are there just because they were accepted and those that truly believe in their characters and the idea of being a Super Hero. There is no voting in this show and so far the normal reality TV bullshit has been avoided. Sure people like or dislike each other, but there is no secret alliances or other crap that clouds the meat of the show.
I would love to share more, but I don't want to spoil the shows! They have the suspense and twists of a good M. Night Shyamalan movie. Go and watch now!
The important part to realize about the show is the fact that Stan Lee is "The Man". He invented what it means to be a Super Hero. With that knowledge he knows exactly what to look for in these people. It isn't about some fancy costume, funny stunts, or outrageous back stories. It is about whats on the inside. Like is said in the show by Major Victory... "Stan wants us to be super humans."
It is easy to tell which contestants are there just because they were accepted and those that truly believe in their characters and the idea of being a Super Hero. There is no voting in this show and so far the normal reality TV bullshit has been avoided. Sure people like or dislike each other, but there is no secret alliances or other crap that clouds the meat of the show.
I would love to share more, but I don't want to spoil the shows! They have the suspense and twists of a good M. Night Shyamalan movie. Go and watch now!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Turbine announces they are copying World of Warcraft raids!
Lord of the Rings Online from Turbine has announced they have decided their "Friends Don't Let Friends Tank Balrogs" policy just wasn't going to cut it. So they have decided to make raid encounters and as described they are nothing more than stolen World of Warcraft raid instances! World of Warcraft sort of stole the idea from Everquest, but Blizzard just happened to make them quite a bit more fun, challenging, and less exploitable. Everquest pretty much stole the idea from MUDs, but raised the number of people and added 3D graphics.
So, isn't Turbine just following suit and offering the next upgrade in raid content? If this article is anything close to their final system then this is going to be a near CLONE of the WoW raid instances. Replace LotRO in this article with WoW and you couldn't tell the difference other than the raid party sizes. WoW has 40 and 20 person raids, while LotRO will have 24 person raids.
I really could go on and on about how this is such a blatant rip off, but its not worth my time. Turbine doesn't fucking get it. DDO is basically being redesigned and LotRO has a different design idea being tossed back into the game every other week. None of the ideas are original and there are so many of them (faction, raids, etc) that just STINK of rip off that it amazes me someone isn't suing.
Wake up Turbine! World of Warcraft is here and they have hit the nail on the head for achiever oriented game play. You have THE MOST BELOVED fantasy license of ALL TIME in your hands (Lord of the Rings is 2nd only to the Bible in all-time book sales BTW). Do something true to the nature of Tolkien's work. Don't throw the MMORPG copy-cat bullshit out on shelves with the LotR trademark as you did with Dungeons & Dragons Online. Screwing up DDO is recoverable, fucking up LotR is not.
NOTE: I realize that a big budget AAA title is nothing to go hog wild with. There needs to be a solid and proven game design under the hood. However, this does not mean Turbine needs to go back against their initial designs to include things that are DESTROYING other online communities. Turbine had a very different game with Asheron's Call and I can't understand why all their new games stink of copy cat bullshit. They don't even make the slightest attempt to hide it...
Update: 5 Aug, 2009 - Edited post, applied labels.
So, isn't Turbine just following suit and offering the next upgrade in raid content? If this article is anything close to their final system then this is going to be a near CLONE of the WoW raid instances. Replace LotRO in this article with WoW and you couldn't tell the difference other than the raid party sizes. WoW has 40 and 20 person raids, while LotRO will have 24 person raids.
I really could go on and on about how this is such a blatant rip off, but its not worth my time. Turbine doesn't fucking get it. DDO is basically being redesigned and LotRO has a different design idea being tossed back into the game every other week. None of the ideas are original and there are so many of them (faction, raids, etc) that just STINK of rip off that it amazes me someone isn't suing.
Wake up Turbine! World of Warcraft is here and they have hit the nail on the head for achiever oriented game play. You have THE MOST BELOVED fantasy license of ALL TIME in your hands (Lord of the Rings is 2nd only to the Bible in all-time book sales BTW). Do something true to the nature of Tolkien's work. Don't throw the MMORPG copy-cat bullshit out on shelves with the LotR trademark as you did with Dungeons & Dragons Online. Screwing up DDO is recoverable, fucking up LotR is not.
NOTE: I realize that a big budget AAA title is nothing to go hog wild with. There needs to be a solid and proven game design under the hood. However, this does not mean Turbine needs to go back against their initial designs to include things that are DESTROYING other online communities. Turbine had a very different game with Asheron's Call and I can't understand why all their new games stink of copy cat bullshit. They don't even make the slightest attempt to hide it...
Update: 5 Aug, 2009 - Edited post, applied labels.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
A gamer is married.
So my little AFK is over. I am now a married gamer. A happily married gamer. I haven't touched a videogame in almost a month now due to wedding activities. My little brother on the other hand enjoyed rampaging accross the lands of Azeroth in World of Warcraft. I think he spent more time with his Tauren Warrior than with his soon to be married brother. I dragged him away for quite a few matches of the board game Carcassonne and that was all the gaming I got done. Anyways onto the wedding.
It Rained
The day we were to be married the weather was overcast. Clouds hung in the sky, but for the longest time the rain held off. All morning and afternoon there was no rain in sight and the weather radar looked good. We had an early evening garden wedding outside of a historic inn up in the mountains of North Carolina.
Right as our ceremony began the rain started to trickle. By the time "Here Comes the Bride" began to play the rain was at a medium pace. Everyone held firm and the minister did not speed up one bit to get going faster. The light to medium rain continued throughout the ceremony. We have some GREAT pictures of people hiding under trees in the audience and the lighting actually made for better pictures overall.
Funny thing was as soon as the ceremony ended the rain stopped and the sun came out! By the time formal pictures began the rain was no where to be found. The reception followed and a great night was had by all. I probably drank a bit too much wine, but I remember almost everything. I made sure everyone had a good laugh when not thinking I nearly chugged the entire glass of champagne we drank before the cake cutting. My wife elbowed me to stop. Then after cutting the cake my wife handed me a hardened sugar flower. I thought it was soft and chewy... which I was very wrong about. I didn't know if I should spit it out or keep trying to chew it. Thats when the real laughter started and I had to bear trying to laugh and chew this HARD candy flower.
Jamaica and the amazing Mr. Houdini
Our honeymoon was to Jamaica to an all inclusive resort. If you ever have the chance to enjoy an all inclusive resort I recommend it. For one price you get your entire trip paid for. You can eat as much as you want. You can drink as much as you want. You can do whatever activities they offer for no extra cost. I can't tell you how relaxing that makes the whole experience.
We did some snorkeling while we were there and the ship captain was nick-named "Sponge Bob". His deckhad didn't have a nick-name so he asked for any suggestions at the end of our trip. Since the deckhand kept ducking down into the hull of the boat and popping up to run across the roof and appear on the other side I recommended Houdini. I swear if you didn't keep an eye on him you would think he had a twin stashed on the boat. To my surprise on our next snorkeling trip a couple days later the name, Houdini, had stuck. Later in the day I saw Houdini walking past the beach bar and someone that had been on our trip called out to him with his new nickname. He responded and I was satisfied that I had chosen a good name.
Jamaica was great while we were at the resort. Otherwise the airport sucks, the road trip sucks, and its sad to see what some of the surrounding areas look like. The resorts or dreamy, but the local shanty towns are dumps.
The End
It Rained
The day we were to be married the weather was overcast. Clouds hung in the sky, but for the longest time the rain held off. All morning and afternoon there was no rain in sight and the weather radar looked good. We had an early evening garden wedding outside of a historic inn up in the mountains of North Carolina.
Right as our ceremony began the rain started to trickle. By the time "Here Comes the Bride" began to play the rain was at a medium pace. Everyone held firm and the minister did not speed up one bit to get going faster. The light to medium rain continued throughout the ceremony. We have some GREAT pictures of people hiding under trees in the audience and the lighting actually made for better pictures overall.
Funny thing was as soon as the ceremony ended the rain stopped and the sun came out! By the time formal pictures began the rain was no where to be found. The reception followed and a great night was had by all. I probably drank a bit too much wine, but I remember almost everything. I made sure everyone had a good laugh when not thinking I nearly chugged the entire glass of champagne we drank before the cake cutting. My wife elbowed me to stop. Then after cutting the cake my wife handed me a hardened sugar flower. I thought it was soft and chewy... which I was very wrong about. I didn't know if I should spit it out or keep trying to chew it. Thats when the real laughter started and I had to bear trying to laugh and chew this HARD candy flower.
Jamaica and the amazing Mr. Houdini
Our honeymoon was to Jamaica to an all inclusive resort. If you ever have the chance to enjoy an all inclusive resort I recommend it. For one price you get your entire trip paid for. You can eat as much as you want. You can drink as much as you want. You can do whatever activities they offer for no extra cost. I can't tell you how relaxing that makes the whole experience.
We did some snorkeling while we were there and the ship captain was nick-named "Sponge Bob". His deckhad didn't have a nick-name so he asked for any suggestions at the end of our trip. Since the deckhand kept ducking down into the hull of the boat and popping up to run across the roof and appear on the other side I recommended Houdini. I swear if you didn't keep an eye on him you would think he had a twin stashed on the boat. To my surprise on our next snorkeling trip a couple days later the name, Houdini, had stuck. Later in the day I saw Houdini walking past the beach bar and someone that had been on our trip called out to him with his new nickname. He responded and I was satisfied that I had chosen a good name.
Jamaica was great while we were at the resort. Otherwise the airport sucks, the road trip sucks, and its sad to see what some of the surrounding areas look like. The resorts or dreamy, but the local shanty towns are dumps.
The End
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
AFK for wedding
So, my wedding is almost here. Soon I will be a married gamer. I don't know when I'll start posting again, but I have better things to do for a while. I'll be back, so don't worry.
Peace.
Peace.
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