The Year Ahead

While at work today I suddenly realised this time last year I was looking forward to Mass Effect 2 and the first expansion for Dawn of War 2. It was a great start to the new year and that brought me into thinking about what I am looking forward to this year.

The start of this year is quiet compared to last year, only things that come to mind is Killzone 3 and Sorcery (the two games that would make me buy the Playstation Move). But even then those two games are not really on the top of my most wanted list, but in way that is a good thing since gives me a chance to catch up on the huge list of games I've got from the Christmas bargains.

Anyway back on to what I'm looking forward to, there is Mass Effect 2 for the Playstation 3 coming out at the start as well which will be awesome but been there and got the t-shirt so again not on the most wanted list. End of the year as got some major games coming out which I cannot wait for! Mass Effect 3 (omgomgomg), Elderscrolls 5 (really need to finish Oblivion), Gears of War 3 (cannot wait!) and Uncharted 3 (really need to finish the first one so can get the second one). Man the end of the year is going to be awesome, might have to cancel Christmas to fit all this game time in.

There is also the Shadow of the Colossus and Ico remake coming to the Playstation 3, which hopefully will be some time this year. Loved Shadow of the Colossus, was my game of the year for 2005 and I just remembered there is also the Last Guardian game any time now as well. Oh how did I forget Bulletstorm coming out in February, actually start of the year does have something good to look forward too.

You know what I'm just going to list the rest that come to mind:

• Lego Star Wars Clone Wars (what can I say, you cannot beat lego)
  
• Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (going to be awesome)
• Deus Ex (the trailer looked amazing)
  
• Dungeons (If this is done right it could be Dungeon Keeper 2)
  
• Pokemon White & Black (Need to finish Pokemon Soulsilver)
  
• 3DS Console (Such potential, just worried about price)
  
• Dynasty Warriors 7 (really need to finish off the others I've got)
  

Ok some how I need to put my life on hold so I can get all these games completed, what are you guys looking forward too
~Iznic

My Game of the Year 2010

Going to cut straight to the chase, so drum roll please!

Mass Effect 2

No shock really since I'm a big fan of the series and the sequel blew me away at the start of the year and I'm already excited for the third one. The story kept me on the edge of my seat, I wanted everyone to survive, I wanted to know what the Reapers where up to.

It was fun, the controls where good and the new abilities menu was easy to us and did not bog you down with too many options. Also there was several great downloadable content patches realises adding some more great side quests.

I can honestly say I got my money's worth, so fair play Bioware for making another great game! You deserve this Game of the Year


~Iznic


Here is the review I did early on in the year for it Mass Effect 2 Review

Well just finished unwrapping the presents with the family and thought I do a few posts, well try too anyway since got family visiting soon and of course christmas dinner in a bit.

Here is the complete list of games so far (well i think it is, not sure if im missing any since still got quite few parcels sitting by my door lol). As you can see I've got a lot of work to do, good thing my shifts will be alot less now that the christmas rush as died down.

COMPLETED

Halo Reach X360 - Completed (Legendary Difficulty Solo)
Medal of Honor X360 - Completed (Hardmode Difficulty Solo)
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 X360- Completed
Lego Harry Potter PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Call of Duty Black Ops X360 - Completed (Veteran Difficulty Solo)
Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days X360 - Completed

THE LIST

God of War Ghost of Sparta PSP - Started
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 PS3 - Tradded in
The Sims 3 X360 - Started
Spiderman Shattered Dimension X360 - Still wrapped
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood X360 - Started
Trinity Universe PS3 - Still wrapped
Kinectnimals X360 - Started
Kinect Joy Ride X360 - Started
Kinect Adventures X360 - Played
Fable 3 X360 - Started
Vanquish X360 - Still wrapped
Fallout New Vegas X360 - Still wrapped
Borderlands Game of the Year X360 - Started
Atelier Rorona PS3 - Still wrapped
Wolfenstein X360 - Still wrapped
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 X360 - Still wrapped
World of Warcraft Catalsym PC - Playing
Monster Hunter Tri Wii - Still wrapped
Resonance of Fate X360 - Still wrapped
White Knight Chronicles PS3 - Still wrapped
Killzone 2 PS3 - Still wrapped
Gameaid Pack (Tomb Raider Underworld/Sega Superstars Tennies/Fuel) PS3 -Still wrapped
Tropico 3 X360 - Still wrapped
Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight PC - Still wrapped
Hawx 2 X360 -Still wrapped
Monopoly Streets X360 - Still wrapped

RENTAL

Shrek Forever After PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Shrek Forever After X360 - Completed (1,000 Gamerscore)
Army of Two 40th Day - Completed

MorphX X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
How to Train Your Dragon X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Alpha Protocol - Sent back, good game want to buy it
Farcry 2 - Sent back, not got time to play
Dark Void - New rental

Update on this Week

Just an update to the list of lovely games, had a few more rentals since last time. Alpha protocol I found was pretty good but all signs pointed to a very long game that would cost me alot to rent since I don't have much free time right now with work. Also since it does look good and I was enjoying it I'm going to try and pick it up cheap.

Of course after that they sent me Farcry 2, no way I'm starting that so now got Dark Void on the way. Really need to check through my rental list for any too long games

Anyway here is the updated rental list

RENTAL

Shrek Forever After PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Shrek Forever After X360 - Completed (1,000 Gamerscore)
Army of Two 40th Day - Completed

MorphX X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
How to Train Your Dragon X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Alpha Protocol - Sent back, good game want to buy it
Farcry 2 - Sent back, not got time to play
Dark Void - New rental

Christmas 2010

Ah Christmas, the lovely time of year where great deals appear in their hundreds, new releases every week and my game collection gets out of control.

Every year for the past two-three years I will buy tons of new games or old games at cracking prices to only barely complete one or two. The rest will sit on the shelf for months before being tempted to play or traded in towards a newer game.

So this year I've been trying my best to sit down and give them a good session A.S.A.P. At first it started off really well but with work piling on the hours (Retail at Christmas sucks) my game time as dropped to barely nothing. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give in, going to win this christmas! anyway below is the list so far.

Oh that reminds me there are some games on the list that came out back in september, I consider these christmas games because they started off quarter four insane new game launches.

COMPLETED

Halo Reach X360 - Completed (Legendary Difficulty Solo)
Medal of Honor X360 - Completed (Hardmode Difficulty Solo)
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 X360- Completed
Lego Harry Potter PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Call of Duty Black Ops X360 - Completed (Veteran Difficulty Solo)

THE LIST

God of War Ghost of Sparta PSP - Started
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 PS3 - Still wrapped
The Sims 3 X360 - Still wrapped
Spiderman Shattered Dimension X360 - Still wrapped
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood X360 - Started
Trinity Universe PS3 - Still wrapped
Kinectnimals X360 - Started
Kinect Joy Ride X360 - Started
Kinect Adventures X360 - Played
Fable 3 X360 - Started
Vanquish X360 - Still wrapped
Fallout New Vegas X360 - Still wrapped
Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days X360 - Still wrapped
Borderlands Game of the Year X360 - Started
Atelier Rorona PS3 - Still wrapped
Wolfenstein X360 - Still wrapped
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 X360 - Still wrapped

RENTAL

Shrek Forever After PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Shrek Forever After X360 - Completed (1,000 Gamerscore)
Army of Two 40th Day - Completed

MorphX X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
How to Train Your Dragon X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Alpha Protocol - New rental



Huge list huh, wish me luck!

Review: Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2

Finally after a long wait it came out, got to say I've been really looking forward to this game for a while. Of course soon as I could get my hands on it, this was all I was playing until it was finished (About two-three evenings).

Got to say it was amazing but there was a few points that I felt could had been a lot better which would had made this game amazing and maybe even Game of the Year for me.

First off the length was short, I was quite shocked how quick this game was over. Not as short as several other games that have come out lately but defiantly not a good length, shame really because it could had been filled quite nicely with a few extra levels.

Second

****---Spoiler Alert---****

Yoda scene was just a cameo role which was disappointing, and what in the world happened with the whole Boba Fett hunting you down. Every magazine article and advert led me to believe there was going to be a huge showdown and nothing! Very upset about that. Can only hope the third game will make up for this

****---End Spoiler---****

But now onto the good points, got to love some of the new combat moves that was added in. Nothing like stealing a staff off a guard only to swing it back and use it against them. Everything else was amazing, graphics was stunning but I expected nothing less since the first one. Story was good and looking forward to seeing how this spans out in the future.

Even though there was a few disappointments, overall I really enjoyed the game and have no regrets picking it up. It will be staying as a keeper on my shelf

P.S. The average score for game play is to do with the spoiler above, don't forget game play for me is my thoughts/did I enjoy it etc



Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 (Xbox 360)
Score: 8 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Good
Story: Good
Length: Short
Controls: Good

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Don't let those zombies get you

AiA: Noike Entry 1

Journal Entry 1 - Noike - Sunday 24th October 2010

Decided to return to my home server of Draenor, this time I've created a female night elf druid who will be Feral spec'd.

8.34pm
Just sorting out my user interface which won't take so long since they took out most of the skills now thanks to 4.0.1.
Ok done, going to start questing

8.37pm
Ding! Level 2
I see they changed how frequent the skills can be learnt now, feels odd having nothing new to learn like in the past

8.45pm
Ding! Level 3

8.48pm
So boring, done this area so many times...spiders, grells, cats and boars...

8.51pm
Ding! Level 4
taking a break to get some drinks for tonight

8.58pm
Right I'm back, getting on the with quests again, faster i get on, faster i can get out of this area
Finally picked up Moonfire and Healing touch, whoa mark of the wild is level 30 now.

9.09pm
starting area is too easy, run through cave, pick egg up, kill one spider for ichor and done
what happened to the huge fight way through

9.13pm
Ding! Level 5
still no shoes! come on drop a grey named shoes please
just learnt thorns and finishing off the last quest, well just starting it, one where you gather the moonwell water

9.18pm
Well that's the quest finished and Shadowglen all done, onwards to dolanaar

9.24pm
Made it Dolanaar, plenty of quests to pick up and some to hand in. Also got the Hallow's End event so theres a few quests for that and hopefully some achievements too!

Also going to pick up my professions, this time I'm going for Alchemy and Herbalism, i love the flask that will turn you into a drake in cataclysm and some of the potions look amazing. Might have to go back onto chamber of aspect and starting leveling my priest so she can make the potions for iznic

9.32pm
Achievement Unlocked! Sparkling Smile (10pts)
Had a mini break while browsing through wowwiki and the europe forums for info on alchemy and feral druids, just did a trick or treat and got the tooth picks.

Going to log off for a minute while i do trick or treat on my other characters

9.36pm
I'm back, just set my hearth stone and now picking up the quests and getting my new professions and going to hand in the two quests i got on the way here
Achievement Unlocked! Trick or Treat (10pts)
picked up herbalism and got the lifeblood skill, haste buff with minor healing looks good, picked up alchemy as well.

9.38pm
Bags starting to fill up, got food quests with items which take up way too much space. might have to invest in a new bag which would be the first time Ive bought a bag from a vendor.
Just learnt cooking and spiced bread recipe :) and now short on cash lol

Right I'm ready to start again, got eight quests in total to get on with so some serious leveling

9.45pm
just ticked up off rabbit for the /love achievement
had to do a run back since space is short, so sold some rubbish and picked up some silverleaf

9.52pm
Finished off Zenn's Bidding so that's freed up some space since it had three quest items needed
Ding! Level 6

10pm
Just spent pretty much all my money on buying a 6 slot bag
Just buffed my spellpower by 6 with one of the hallow end sweets :) loving the candy buckets
boots!
Dropped the earth quest off down by Lake Al'Ameth, guy is proper lagging lol

10.06pm
Add toad to the list for /love achievement

10.09pm
Ding! Level 7
Not long now for cat form, currently doing the timberling sprouts and seeds quests. long and boring. Deer to the /love achievement list

10.14pm
Just went back to dolnaar to make some room, bag space really is a problem. Did pick up entangling roots while i was there and now heading back down to the lake to finish those quests off

10.30pm
well the lake is done for now so going to go do the twisted hatred quest and hopefully level 8 from it and maybe loot another bag

wrong side of the cave!

Just got attacked by a rare grell called Threggil, dropped a white named sword (nothing amazing). Anyway got melenas' head, lifeblood saved me in the fight since also pulled a grell as well

10.33pm
trick or treat time again
Achievement Unlocked! The Mask Task (10pts)
right logging off again for a few minutes while i go onto my other characters

10.36pm
I'm back, put on the blood elf female mask :) one of the two missing ones i need for iznic, gutting!
Just handed the quest in for Twisted Hatred
Ding! Level 8
picked up cat form but cannot afford anything else

10.44pm
at starbreeze village working on a couple of quests and trying out catform without any skills lol other then default attack

Another rare, Uruson and dropped some leather white named pants
just hearthstoned back to dolnaar and handed the quests in so now can afford to pick up the skill claw. Right got one quest left in Starbreeze then i should be finished the east side of Teldrassil

11.01pm
well that was annoying, killed the 7 mystics like i needed started to head back only to realise the tracker was onlying counting 2. so had to wait for respawns and start over, least got some good exp for all of it

right handed the quest in and hit honored with Darnassus, going to call it a night. Been one long day of warcraft and i need to do a little more tiding of my room so i can get into my bed lol



Total:
Levels Gained: 8
Achievements Gained: 3

Mini Update

Thought I would do a small update with everything that's been happening with my life and the gaming world. Well last week I spent a ton of money on games and now wondering will I actually get the chance to play them. Started off with the week before with Medal of Honor (Xbox 360) which I did complete the single player campaign but not touched the online yet, then at the end of that week I picked up the Borderlands GOTY edition. Started playing it but not touched it for several days since thanks to work and WOW.

Then this week I picked up the following over two days:
* Lego Harry Potter PS3
* Legend of the Guardians The Owls of Ga'hoole Xbox 360
* Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Collectors Edition Xbox 360
* Atelier Rorona PS3

And of course Swordfish (Bluray) and 2,100 Microsoft points to take advantage of the October 800 points refund deal. So right now I got a ton of games to play and I'm thinking no time, especially with lovefilm sending me Morphx (Xbox 360) as well. Oh and lets not forget Fable 3 and Star Wars is out this week, work allows me to get the games in advance so I'm up the creek right now without a paddle lol.

Currently playing Lego HP and trying to finish Batman AA on the PC, so going to stick with them for the time being. Going to try and get back onto Borderlands, put some time into it since I've started off really well. Think Fable and Star Wars will take over next week though

Other then that not much else as happened, actually that's a lie I have been spending a lot of time on Warcraft. Got the headless horseman's reins yesterday, very happy gamer! but other then that just grinding out reputation and doing old quests to get ready for the expansion.

That's it for now
~Iznic


P.S. Forgot, also bought Trinity Universe for the PS3 when i picked up Borderlands

AiA: Yosho Entry 5

Journal Entry 5 - Yosho - Sunday 17th October 2010

4.36pm
Another great start, crashed back to the login screen with a disconnect error.
Right finally in, think its time to finish off Stillpine Hold quests and leave this island.
Just found a chest while i was killing ravagers, nice silver bar for my trouble

4.42pm
Ding! Level 12

4.44pm
All done with the ravager hides, drop rate sucks really bad but least get some decent exp

4.48pm
Right last few quests now involving the hold it self

4.56pm
Last quest, kill the kurken
Got to say the templars verdict sucks. I've tried it with one, two and full three holy powers and it does barely any damage. Hopefully it works better as you level, i hope!

4.58pm
Couple of copper mines and one dead kurken, not a bad job
Ding! Level 13
Put my talent point into the crusade so it increases the damage of my templar verdict, crusade strike etc by 10%, hopefully start to see a difference now.
Well that's the hold completed so hearth stoning back to the watch, ah great another disconnect

5.03pm
Picked up my new skills, rezzing (woot!) and a righteous fury to generate threat for tanking.
Those moonkin in the hold where great, dropped eggs and linen so now making some herb baked eggs for cooking and linen bandages for first aid
Right I'm off to the exodar :)

5.08pm
Just handed the orders quest in and now heading to bloodmyst isle

5.20pm
Just finished the kessel run quest, always makes me chuckle at the reference

5.28pm
Almost done with the Kessel's crossing, bit boring to be honest but did get a new uncommon two-handed mace :)

5.31pm
About to save Princess Stillpine lol
Just made a rough weightstone to increase the damage by 2 for mace, draw back is they take linen cloth to make which i need for first aid but not leveled any blacksmith yet so it helps in the end.
Ding! Level 14

5.37pm
Just killed the naga warlord and the templar verdict came through, taking out 55% of the things health. Now that's what I'm talking about for a skill

5.44pm
Well that's all those quests done, on wards to Blood Watch. Got to say I'm flying through these quests, the npcs seem little threat so far thanks to the changes

5.51pm
Right logged off in the Inn for the night, well I might do some more later but more likely play on my xbox and watch a blu-ray.

AiA: Yosho Entry 4

Journal Entry 4 - Yosho - Thursday 14th October

Well 4.0.1 as landed yesterday so logging onto Yosho to see what the damage is, of course starts off well with a disconnet from the server.

10.04pm
Ohhh fancy new bar under my name, guessing thats the holy power thing I keep hearing about. Well lets reset my talents, good thing only just started so not had chance to get into anything really. I do like the new eye for eye talent, think I will take that first.

Seem to have lost my healing spells and the only one left needs holy power to use, lost pretty much all my buff spells as well. Hmm might as well forget everything I've learnt so far really. Going to pop onto the forum and see what the stats that are needed now, hopefully the same.

Well after 10 minutes of reading the forum I give up, way too much whining going on right now. Going to check out wowhead and wowwiki.

Found nothing but did stumble across Retributionpaladins.com and found strength and agility still up there. Wonderful I can now get back to actually playing a bit

10.31pm
Off to Stillpine Hold and just had the local defense warning going crazy for there, come on seriously? horde attack tonight. Guess no questing for me today

10.34pm
Just arrived and everything seems in place, no bodies anywhere so i guess they left

10.41pm
Achievement: 50 Quests Completed - 10 points
Going to call it for the night, did two quests and found not much difference really with how the fighting works with the new skills. Guess since I've only just started Paladin it won't effect me so bad

Review: Shrek Forever After

Another game to add to my 1k list thanks to lovefilm rentals. The game was a lot better compared to the last one (Shrek the Third).

This time around the camera was overhead and you can now control upto four characters that you can switch between with a click of a button. Most of the game is spent working out puzzles by moving blocks, switches etc to progress through the levels followed by several fight scenes then on some levels a boss fight.

Its an average game and it won't make anyone cry out "game of the year" but I did find myself enjoying it. The controls where easy to use, the puzzles where not that hard just time consuming and the game only takes around 4-5 hours including replays for missing collectables so you not going to be spending ages on it.

Story wise, it's pretty much on par with the movie with just a few things changed. If you want a quick 1,000/platinum trophy then this is the game for you.


Shrek Forever After (Xbox 360)
Score: 6 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Average
Story: Average
Length: Decent
Controls: Average

AiA: Yosho Entry 3.1

5pm
Found two 14 slot bags on my alts so that should help alot for the time being until I can sort my mage character out and make some 16 slot bags.

5.13pm
Just did the huge long totem quest which takes you across the island, found two copper mines and a chest for my trouble (chest had a silver bar in it, that was all of value)

5.19pm
Just freed the stillpine captives and got myself half way to level 11, also looted some linen cloth finally so I can now start leveling up First Aid. While I was buy fighting I've decided to hold off PVP battlesgrounds for a couple of more levels so I can do some damage to the level 18/19's next time. Being this low means all my attacks are just useless and its quite boring just dieing and rezzing.

I've also decided to go for all the sets, pvp level 60/70 etc and the Tier stuff for dungeons. I'm going to do it properly this time around since I didn't get that chance with my main really

5.25pm
Ding! Level 11
Just picked up my new skills from the trainer and Hand of Protection does not seem that good, 6 seconds just doesnt seem long enough. See how it goes I guess

Going to have to call it for now, the batter for my wiresless mouse is very low lol forgot to put it on charge last night and have been raiding all morning on my main.

Aia: Yosho Entry 3

Journal Entry 3 - Yosho - Sunday 10th October 2010

2.59pm
Well I'm back, wish I had a mount since I need to run back to the human landing camp (Odesyus' Landing) from Azure Watch. But was worth hearthstoning back to have some rest experience from the inn.

3.03pm
That's the venture quest done and dusted, cant wait for Cataclysm so i can play the goblin race. Thinking either a shaman or a rogue as my main goblin character
Ah finally found my first copper mine! score

3.06pm
Plenty of quests waiting for me at the camp, need to go find some night elf relics which reminds me of how i cannot wait for archeology in Cataclysm as well, the new pets/mounts look awesome.

3.10pm
The trees company quest was one of my favourite quests when the Burning Crusade came out now its just another ok quest, think the spark as vanished now.
Oh yeah just smelted the two copper ore I got from the mine then picked up a blacksmith hammer so I could make copper bracers for myself.

3.12pm
Ding! Level 9
Also another copper mine with a tigers eye this time

3.17pm
another copper mine, love the coastal area since there's plenty of spawns. Bags keep getting full though so going to do tree quest then head back to make space before doing anymore killing, need the junk loot for cash

3.26pm
Back from a small break, need a cupa of tea and got a quick cuddle of my puppy

3.28pm
skill level 10 for smelting and made some copper chain pants :)
Right lets take care of this gnome traitor and get my new mace
Just had my first duel with a level 9 shaman, was long winded but i won (go me!) got my first achievement as well so very happy about that.
Achievement: Duel-icious - 10pts
Also picked up two new cooking recipes from the trainer, spiced bread and spiced wolf meat

3.33pm
Again another copper mine right next to the camp with a tigers eye. On my way now to the naga again to finish off the quests here, need to pop over to the small island of Silvermyst to find the missing night elf fisherman

3.35pm
one more tigers eye from another mine, forgot they changed it from the old days where had to mine away for ages and now its all in one attempt.

3.43pm
bag keeps filling but finished the naga quests, going to take a breather in a sec and go on my mage. I'm sure she can make bags or as spare bags in the bank that I can use, going to head back to Odesyu's Landing first though to hand in.

3.46pm
Ding! Level 10
Achievement: Level 10 - 10pts
Woot! I can now do pvp, might actually give it a shot. Might suck really bad but least I can have some fun. ohhh talents finally as well, starting off bying putting a point towards increasing my parry chances

3.48pm
Joined the que for Warsong Gulch and going to head to the silvermyst isle while I'm waiting in the que.

4.16pm
hmmm well that was not what i would call fun, most of the teams where level 19/18 who stuck together. Some very friendly comments from my team as well, we got defenders who where are higher levels who then expected just one high level and all low levels to go zerg the flag...idiots.
Oone point i was fighting near are flag and my team stood watching, I died they then got zerged and lost the flag which then lost the match. If they had joined in, the guy would had been too busy killing me so they could had got a few pot shots onto him before being countered and probably would had won the match.

oh well got 92 honor with 63 kills...doubt it though, think you get kill count for just getting a hit in lol Picked up some new achievements as well
Achievement: Grim Reaper - 10pts
Achievement: An Honorable Kill - 10pts
Achievement: Know thy enemy - 10pts

4.25pm
Just completed the missing fishermen nightelf and hearthstoned back to Azure Watch, going to take a break then go on my mage and find those bags to make life a little easier.


Note: Image above is Yosho at level 10 just several seconds after he dinged

AiA: Yosho Entry 2.1

Journal Entry 2.1 - Yosho - Wednesday 6th October 2010

7.14pm
I'm back and having a quick read I found strength seems to be the one true stat needed

7.17pm
Right time to go out and do some questing, I need some money for my new skills and professions

7.30pm
All that time for two quests, the drop rate for the trapper vine is saft

7.32pm
Ding! Level 7
Got some cash from the quests and junk loot so picking up Mining for one of my main professions. Thinking of getting blacksmith to go with it as well, also picked up first aid.

7.44pm
Just looted a 6 slot bag, quite chuffed since im short on space. Anyway done a few more quests (kill some buck, gather some plants etc) and now Honored with the Exodar, need to head south to the alliance landing. Also found out the blacksmith and cooking trainer is there which is quite handy for me

8pm
Ding! Level 8
My first looted gem as well, Malachite lol

8.08pm
Right I've now got all my professions (just added blacksmith and cooking), also it means I can learn the recipe moonglaze tenderloin. Got it as a reward earlier and its wasting space lol

8.13pm
Got some eggs and tenderloin meat in my bags so going to boost my cooking up a few points. It's brought me upto skill level 15 and I can new learn few new recipes but going to hold off since money is 0 pretty much thanks to all the professions.

8.19pm
That's it for tonight, did one more quest and decided to end. I need to do some stuff on my main then going to play some Halo Reach with the guys from work, catch you all later!

AiA: Yosho Entry 2

Journal Entry 2 - Yosho - Wednesday 6th October 2010

Image below is Yosho at level 5 on his way to Azure Watch

6.26pm
Well I'm back to continue my journey with my new alt, was just on my main doing a few dailies and sent over my artifact gear for my alt. So need to make the journey to Azure Watch, wish I had a mount.

6.32pm
Ah the fable Inn quest, every starting zone as one. Someone who cannot deliver the package for some odd reason and now you have to do it, just so your introduced to the inn keeper.

Hmmm making a pit stop, fishing quest and trainer. Always pick up my professions up at level 5 so I can start early.

6.39pm
Just been rewarded a fishing pole for catching a few fish and killing some Murlocs (I want my deathwing murloc pet!), so I've picked the fishing profession up. The vendor as one strong pole in stock, so going to get my skill up to 10 and buy it. Although that's pretty much all my money gone lol

6.45pm
Right after catching no fish and just weeds, finally got to skill 10 and picked up the strong fishing pole (increases fishing skill by 5 while using). Had to be said, I really do not like my characters hair so need to pop to the barber shop for definite when I get to the city. Anyway back to the trail and onwards to Azure Watch!

6.50pm
Slight delay, putting a curry in the microwave :-p

6.52pm
Ding! level 6
Just arrived at Azure Watch and dang I've got quite a bit of mail to go through, hmmm might have to open the pet ones later since some usually leave a item in my bag and I've only got a bit of space. Did equip my artifact gear though, Polished Spaulders of Valor and Polished Breastplate of Valor, 10% experiance gain from both and stats increase with my level...sweet!
I am assuming strength and agility is for DPS Paladins? hope so anyway

7.03pm
Having a break while I have my tea, going to look up to see what I need to know about dps Paladins while I'm eating

AiA: Yosho Entry 1

Journal Entry 1 - Yosho - Monday 4th October 2010

Well this is the first entry for the "Adventures in Azeroth" and I'm starting it off with my new Paladin alt. For a long while now I've wanted to do a Paladin and so I thought why not, something I can jump onto when I want a break from the rep/dungeon grinding of my main character. Now I'm not sure how the journal entries are going to be written, they might change each time.


Anyway I've always liked the cinematic for the Burning Crusade of the Draeni Paladin, so I've gone with a male Draeni named Yosho (yes I'm a Tenchi Muyo fan :-) ). I keep being told to go Retribution and to use two handed weapons, really looking forward to playing this class and maybe have a proper alt which will be used more then once a year.

9.45pm
First thing I've done is setup my action bars and spread out my heals and buff spells. Really need to change the hair style or colour, just doesn't seem right looking at him. Also to have got plenty of mail waiting for me, probably all the exclusive pets I've got from the collection editions.

9.48pm
Doing my first quest and I really miss my Druid, being able to cast from a far without having to get up close is great. Right now I'm just running around chasing the mobs lol.

9.52pm
Ding! Level 2

9.56pm
Love the animation when you Gift of the Naaru, the Draeni symbol on the head looks awesome. Also got myself a 4 slot bag lol reward from a quest, I remember when you did not get a bag at all from quests and only had a small chance of looting one. The good old vanilla WOW

9.59pm
Already starting to see why people say Paladin's are overpowered, I'm level 2 and already got two buffs lol plus a racial buff.

• Devotion Aura +55 Armour
• Seal of Righteousness +2 Holy Damage
• Herois Presense Chance to hit +1%

10.05pm
Ding! Level 3

10.09pm
Man they really made the starting zones easy, health and mana regenerate back at stupid speeds and everything is non agro.

10.18pm
Ding! Level 4
Another buff that increases attack power and the judgement spell, blimey attacks will give 2% health when judgement is casted on the enemy. Think I will like playing Paladin after all

10.27pm
Just been given a few potions for a quest reward, I keep forgetting there are some nice potion buffs out there that can stack. Need to start using them more on my main when doing dungeons etc

10.39pm
Ding! Level 5
Well that's Ammen Vale finished with, going to call it a night for now

Warcraft Overload

Well its official, Cataclysm is out on the 7th December. Just this morning I really thought it would get pushed back to next year (January), really glad its December and not November because of the amount of games coming out in that month and in October. Just a small breathing space before Warcraft takes over my life completely.

My plan for the new expansion is to get to level 85 first so I can get on the band wagon for heroics before it becomes "gearscore" or "achievement" required. In the past I usually mess about with the new races or play on my new alt's, of course I will do that but not a much as in the past.

There is so much in Cataclysm that I cannot wait for, new pets, mounts, professions. Going to be so busy, ohh and I need to work on my alts professions since there is a lot of new goodies for some of them. Mining as a pet they can find, alchemy as a potion that turns yourself into a dragon mount.

If you cannot tell I'm very excited lol


Anyway originally this post was mean't to be about recording my Warcraft adventures, I once tried this in the past but did not get it off the ground. So hopefully I will put some time in and get it up soon, so watch this space!

~Iznic

Gamer Challenge Ended

Over the last few month's I've kinda realised that setting year long challenges as taken the fun out of gaming, I mean right now I keep thinking how I'm going to get the next 17k gamerscore by christmas or I need to clock this many games on this system. There is a ton of new games coming out that I want to play and enjoy, I don't want to be thinking "cannot waste anymore time on this game, i still need x amount of gamerscore".

So I'm scrapping my challenge altogether, I will keep tracking the score and maybe do smaller goals like when i set my challenge to get 5k by my birthday (that was more fun) but nothing huge any more.


~Iznic

Army of Two 40th Day Review

So I finally sat down this week to work on my latest game rental, I've had this game on my desk since the end of August and I've got to say I was disappointed. Army of Two had a great idea for a game and when the first one came out I was really dead excited to play it, of course it turned out to be average and nothing special.

With the sequel coming once again I had my hopes up they would had took all the bad things from the first and make a great game. But instead they made a worse game then the first one.

The game felt very short which to be honest was a blessing really with how poor game this was. The story I kinda get but I did not feel like the game explained all the reasons and if they did then I must missed it when I was trying not to fall asleep.

Its an average shooter and only worth a couple hundred gamer score unless you want to do the higher difficulty, vs mode and collectibles. But I could not force myself to waste any more time on this game right now, maybe one day in the future but for now its being sent back.

Won't be getting my hopes up if they bring out a third for this series that's for sure.


Army of Two 40th Day (Xbox 360)
Score: 4 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Average
Story: Poor
Length: Short
Controls: Average

Good Morning

Morning all,
Been quite busy the last few week's with work, once again like last year I'm going to be the stockroom manager so my hours have increased and the shifts are a lot longer as I prepare for Christmas. Of course this means I get to open every delivery box and its like Christmas every day for me when getting to see all the new games coming in.

On the gaming side of my life it was going quite well the last few weeks, I was working on my rental finally (Army of Two 40th day) but Halo Reach came out and that completely took over. Finally finished it earlier this and I'm very proud of doing it on legendary and solo. Of course with the hours at work that was it really for the xbox games, not been on live all week since. Got the weekend off so my plans for sunday is to jump back into Army of Two and have a marathon day on the xbox.

Still playing World of Warcraft on the evenings, brewfest holiday is up so doing the random daily quests for it while grinding out rep for the Wintersabres faction. Should be finished today with them and going to finish of Timbermaw while in the zone still.

That's it for now, catch you all later
~Iznic

P.S. will post up the photos later of all the Halo stuff I bought on the Reach Midnight launch

Long time no write

How is everyone? I know I keep vanishing for months at a time but to be fair I have been posting quite a bit on the Brotherhood site.

Anyway not much to say since I last hit 100,000 gamer score, mostly been working on the long games like the original Lego star wars game. Of course the game pile as doubled in size and no games completed, luckily its a month before the Christmas rush of new releases start so hopefully can get one or two games finished by then.

Of course in a months time it will be September and the worst week ever with Halo Reach, RUSE and PlayStation MOVE all coming out in the same week (of course I've got the legendary edition of Reach on order and thinking of getting the Halo Reach Xbox Slim). Although to be fair I'm not sure about getting MOVE since there is only two games I want for it, Killzone 3 and Sorcery both of which are not coming out on launch. Have to see what is announced over the next few weeks


Anyway thats it for now, probably do some more random posts later

100,000 Baby

12th July 2010 at 11.03pm I finally hit 100,000 gamerscore on the Xbox 360

All i can say is....WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!

The Brotherhood of Gaming

Well I did post some time ago about doing a gaming site with several random ideas. As of yesterday the idea as started to become a reality.

The Brotherhood of Gaming

Ideas for the site are still in concept stages but the following is what we hope to achieve:

1: Gaming nights calendar so people can see when events are happening
2: Tournament page (for the time being it will be bragging rights but hopefully one day prizes too)
3: Forums of course
4: Review games, not professional reviews more like the way you would talk to friends about a game but allow multiple people to post their thoughts on the game and have an overall average score
5: General gamings news on there of course
6: Hall of Fame for winners of gaming nights/tournaments
7. There will be a clan for the site as well :)

Anyway I've contacted several people I know who might be interested to help out, right now its just a underscontruction page but hoping to have a forum up soon so helpers can sign in and post ideas for the site and help out make it.

Here is the link
http://brotherhoodgaming.awardspace.co.uk/


If you want to help out or have some ideas for the site give a shout

Operation Spearhead Progress

Well Phase One is pretty much complete, with a list of over 70 games for this year and part of next year (not including 3DS games). So as you can imagine I am shocked, need to start going through the list and pick ones that are must buy and ones I can wait for.

The list was worth doing, even if it was geeky since I now know which month will be costly. Example in september I've got a ton of games coming out in less than two weeks costing nearly £300, lol.


On the focus of completing stuff I've already got, well I'm up the creek without a paddle. I got piles of games and I really do not know if I got enough time for all them. Just have to see how it goes I guess, wish companies would stop doing amazing bargains.

Planning

Since E3 I've found myself panicing about the amount of games that are coming out along with all the new controllers/consoles. Its going to be a very expensive year from the looks, so I've come up with a plan to help myself...well sorta anyway.

Operation Spearhead! - (Thats right, its got a fancy name ... lol)
Phase 1
Going to make a list of everything I want, this will help when it comes to six months down the line and trying to remember that weird amazing game I saw and cannot remember the name of (lost count any more times that happens). Next find out the rough release dates for everything, that way I can see which month will kill me. Also if too many are coming out on the same day I can start picking in advance. Finally see if I can find a rough idea of prices for them, can start saving up in advance then.

Phase 2
Start completing the non keeper games in my collection, I've got quite a few games that I will get rid of once I've finished them. Might as well play them so I can then trade them ready for all this lovely new stuff coming out.


I think its a good plan, going to start the list now so catch you all later and wish me luck!

E3 2010

I wanted to split this into different posts and go into depth on what I liked/thought of each conference/game etc. But in the end laziness took over, so instead expect one huge post. First off it as to be said, well done Nintendo! got to say you where the best of the show. Coming in second and nearly first would be Microsoft and finally Sony, what happened guys? making jokes of the other consoles yet nothing major new? don't get me wrong I did enjoy Killzone 3 and move but the show seemed lacking!

SHOCKERS!
Xbox Slim
Was amazed with the announcement of Xbox Slim, with the leak pictures of the slim motherboard I knew something was coming but not have a finished product that would be out within the month. Love the idea of built in Wi-fi though

Nintendo 3DS
3DS well, it was announced but did not expect all those lovely features and benefits. I was really surprised with the two outside cameras to take 3D photos, but built in motion sensor and the deal with Disney for 3D films. Now hearing can install games to the memory, wow just...no words can describe how impressed I am. Hopefully price and date soon, I really hope its out in time for Christmas this year.


The Motion War
Well with both Natal and Move announced at last year's E3, I was eager to see what they were going to do with these technologies. I did have my doubts and worries that it would turn into some kind of gimmick that would be fine for the first year then forgotten about after. Still got that worry but it seems alot less now after both conferences.

Kinect
Not a big fan of the name, kinda do prefer the name Project Natal but whatever. I was impressed with how smooth it seemed i the demo's on stage for Zune, video chat etc. Gaming well, don't get me wrong I'm looking forward to it but would like to see some more mainstream games to be announced for it before I buy it (got my deposit down just in case). I liked the Star Wars game they showed but a bit worried about the whole rail thing, but guess will have to see how that turns out. Did like the look of Kinect Adventures and Kinectimals is a yes for both me and Lynn lol. Do have a worry about price though

Move
I was expecting this to be a firm not getting in my mind, not because I'm biased or anything just the fact nothing announced before was to my liking. Well it was sold to me with the conference, I loved the fact Killzone 3 will be using it and Sorcery! wow what a game, i love how easy the spell casting was and the little touches like potion drinking. Price for the controller is fine but was bit surprised with how much the navigation controller is, bit high in my opinion and hopefully a price drop before release. I look forward to seeing more games announced for it before it comes out.


GAMESOf course no E3 is without awesome games and this year there are hundreds, in fact myself and several my friends are looking at are bank statements with worry lol. There are so many to name but I will limit the post to a few and over the next few months I probably will go into detail on a few as the release dates come closer.
Zelda Skyward Sword (Wii) - Nintendo you know that sword and shield you used at the start? well make that into a controller set for a limited edition and you will make millions!
Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360) - Old school lancers, bigger scarier beserkers! seriously cannot wait!
Bulletstorm (Xbox 360) - Gears of war with force powers is the way I look at this game, I will be keeping an eye on it
Killzone 3 (Playstation 3) - The demo was awesome and the graphics! wow! i really looking forward to this game next year
Assassin's Creed 2 Brotherhood (Xbox 360) - Loved the new cinematic trailer and the opening level looked impressive
Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 (Xbox 360) - The trailer...clones...omg!
Fable 3 (Xbox 360) - Looking to shape into a very nice game, still on the side lines but I am getting tempted now for it.
Portal 2 (Playstation 3) - YES!!!!!
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective (Nintendo DS?) - love Phoenix Wright so this looks right up my street

As I said the list goes on, anyway that's it for now. Check back soon for random posts!

E3 after thoughts

What a week it has been, I don't know about you guys but I am drained. Work as been killing me with all the new information coming from E3, and of course the late nights staying up to watch the conferences. But I got to say it, this year hands down was the best E3 in a very long time. Really shocked how well it turned out, Nintendo.. guys where did you come from, I was not expecting that many surprises from you guys. You came guns blazing in and then finished with a huge bang, well played!

Right i'm going to be posting quite a bit over the next few days about what I've seen and think of all the new stuff, so stay tuned!

Random Ideas

Been thinking lately of doing some kind of website based around what I've been blogging, games, reviews etc but with more friends joining in and adding some kind of community feedback as well. Maybe setup some calendars/gaming tournaments where can keep track, do a league maybe with profiles, site achievements/badges for bragging rights etc.

Not sure really, as I said its just bunch of random ideas floating around my head. What do you guys think?

E3 soon

Last few E3's haven't been that much for me but for some reason this year I'm really excited, seriously I'm a kid on Christmas day. Bad news is that both nights that the event is on I will be working :( so going to have to catch the replay later on, so just hope they put the videos up quick. Already got several mates going to text me to spoil it.

So what am I looking forward to? well everything of course! lol to be honest I just want to see what new things they got in the works as well as some information on games that have been announced.
I could go on and write paragraphs about everything but instead going to make it short and quick, so here is the list!

• Nintendo's new 3D DS console
• Xbox 360 slim true or not?
• PSP Go 2 with umd drive, true or not?
• PSP2 true or not?
• More information on Playstation Network Premium service
• Pokemon Black & White (DS?)
• Last Guardian (PS3)
• Ico & Shadow of Colossus collection, true or not?
• Assassin Creed 2 Brotherhood
• Assassin Creed 3
• Mass Effect 3
• Whats the next big for Wii
• Project Natal
• Sony Move
• Call of Duty Black Ops, whats multiplayer like, is it true paid for monthly fee?
• Medal of Honour, whats multiplayer like
• Half-life 3
• Half-life Episode 3
• Portal 2

You know what I'm going to stop right there, because this list will go on and on. But I will say this, the next few days I'm going to be on all time high when the announcements start!

One more down

Found myself spending alot more hours at work recently, then coming home I've been too tired or too busy to do anything else. When I do have time to play, either I jump into a multiplayer game with the guys from work or sit down and play arcade games.

Well because of this, I finally finished Wheres Wally on the PC arcade last night. Releasing I just needed one more arcade game complete to finish one of my gaming challenge goals, I then spent all this morning finishing off Portal Still Alive.

So I'm happy to say one more goal is down :-) and now few hundred more points added to the gamerscore along with two more games 100% completed.


Goal 8: Complete three arcade games - SUCCESS!!

Two sides of the coin

After spending more then enough hours on Red Dead Redemption, I've decided that its just like Battlefield Bad Company 2. It's like a coin, one side is the good and the other the bad. In BBC2 the bad is the single player, way too short and pretty much a disaster while the good is the awesome multi player which keeps making you go back for more.

With RDR its a mixture, me and my friends at work have been looking forward to this game for months and the last week leading upto the launch we pretty much worked are self's up for it. We planned all sorts of adventures to do in multi player but sadly most cannot be done.

Free roaming is amazing, being able to explore the entire map with friends, attacking gang hideouts or just go hunting together is brilliant. Of course there was disappoint, first of no trains on multi player? that was the big thing for us. We planned to charge after a train on horse back, jump on and rob it lol just like in the films and of course hoping for someone to miss the jump to get that perfect epic fail. Yet nothing, the trains are single player only and just now I found out you cannot rob them either only kill the people on board.

Bugs...well we have found a few, the LT aim not working most of the time which means in multi player becomes instant death. Several times friends cannot join the sessions due to "Connection issues with another player" and of course the famous stuck on loading screen bug.

Oh and lets not forget it's very easy to be grieved, most gang hideouts have one spawn point so people can pretty much camp you. The other night me and a few friends got stuck, another posse attacked up then camped the spawn. Worst part was when you spawn you got a second delay before you given control and facing your back to them. Rockstar really needs to look into measure to give everyone a chance to fight back.


But after all that I am enjoying the game, hopefully future DLC will add train robbing and future patches fix all those problems.


Thats my thoughts for now
~Iznic

Warcraft Update

Spent a few hours on WOW this morning since I've had a week off from it, still enjoying the game just pretty much stopped working on new gear since the expansion looming over are heads just does not seem worth the effort to me.

In my last about WOW I mentioned about the mess that I've caused with my alts and that I was going to reset some of them. Well shortly after that post I did reset my Paladin, of course I just left him at level one because of the break. Anyway today I decided to pop on him since he some mail about to expire (pets from collectors edition etc), got him up to level 5 and picked the mail up then stopped. With Cataclysm changing pretty much stats, adding new abilities at lower levels etc I just see it being better to wait until the changes are put in so can learn the class from start.

Same goes for my other alts, just going to hang off until the changes are made :)

So in the way of Warcraft, I'm just mucking about on my main and cleaning up old achievements that might not be in game any more with the changes.

Update

About time I updated this thing, over the last month or so I've been real busy with life and gaming. My score is now standing on 93,000 and almost 94, of course I'm really happy with the progress made.

Been poping into all the Games, Gamestations etc to look for cheap games in the sales. Picked up most of the 2006 sports games for less then £2, also picked up some old games I kept saying I was going to get as well (Alone in the Dark, Mirrors Edge etc).

Have to admit though, the last four weeks or so as been bit dead on the gamescore increase. Burnt myself out really and with the extra hours at work my spare time just vanished. Need to get back into the spirit and get to that 100k marker :)

World of Warcraft

Been thinking of starting some new alts the last few months along with sorting some of my old ones out. Problem is they really not done any dungeons so there equipment is rubbish and not had any experience with them in groups. Also add in the fact not played some for nearly year plus lol i think its safe to say I'm going to be useless on them.

Also since I did multiboxing and granted levels to my alts they jumped easily 20 levels on some, so got a ton of stuff to learn and new equipement needed for them. Really bad idea on my part


So as I said I've been thinking of starting some new ones, make notes of course of using them so if I do have a major break I can easily jump back in. Also having the looking for group will be a nice touch. What I will be doing is posting here each time with whats been happening with them, thoughts, adventures etc sorta like a journal :) so keep an eye out soon for my post about "Adventures in Azeroth"

Kingdom for Keflings Review

Well I've finally sat down and finished this game making it the first Arcade game done for the year, also the first of three for my gaming challenge.

Not much really to say about it to be honest since the game is a very small simple game. You build a small kingdom and managing your Keflings to gather the necessary resources to build the next set of buildings in your tech tree until you reach the maximum set. Only problem I had was just one map to play on and one sandbox map. No story campaign at all which was a bit shocking really.

All I can say about this game its relaxing and very addictive lol, if you want a quick easy achievement arcade game then this is for you. Singleplayer achievements can be done in 5 hours and the two online ones can be done in a evening or two depending on luck.


Overall I really enjoyed it, more then I thought I would :) would recommend it to people to play


Kingdom for Kefling (Xbox 360 Arcade)
Score: 6 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Good
Story: Poor
Length: Average
Controls: Good

Thoughts for the day

Well I'm currently working on the last achievement for Madden 06, the wonderful long boring 30 years of franchise. So while the simulator is running thought I would login and do a couple of posts about what as been happening with my gaming.

Last few weeks have been boring, mostly because I lost the spark to play any games right now. But I've got it back and already the progress as been great. The other day at work I was talking to one of mates about the gaming challenge (thing we do often lol) and some calculations where done. According to him, if I'm to hit 120,000 by the end of the year, that means I need to clock around 125/131 gamer points a day lol. So I challenged myself to hit 90,000 by the end of April (although the calculations say 9 weeks) which of course the next day I started to wonder if I could hit it.

Well from the looks of it I'm going to hit 90,000 by end of next week LOL, how you ask? i picked up Madden 06 and Fifa 06 last night. Already now sitting on 600 gamer score for madden, should have the full thousand in a hour or so. Also this morning in the post arrived Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper another easy game. Finally I found out Madden 08 is just as easy as this one so tonight when I go to Lynn's and we pop to the shopping centre going to see if I can get a copy and maybe have a look for NHL 2K6 and NBA 2K6.

Its going to be one awesome week this week for achievements, hopefully I will hit it :)


Of course I'm not just playing these easy achievement games, been working hard on FXIII and did another couple of chapters which I'm proud of. Really looking forward to completing my first JRPG and since I'm starting to get the hang of it I do believe this could be the game.

Also clocked all the collectables in Brothers in Arms so now all I got left is to get the 100 days of play clocked, just keep poping the disc in each day. Should be any time now :) another game completed that I can trade in against something else, maybe if I'm lucky it will clock by next week in time to be traded in for Splinter Cell. One can dream...

PS3 Games for Trophies

I've decided today to stop replaying games on the PS3 for trophies that I've already done on the Xbox for achievements.

Let me explain better, basically I've got easily a hundred games plus I want to play and right now I'm finding myself ... (well I wouldn't say wasting my time but close enough) spending time playing games again for there trophies after getting the xbox version done.

Thing is I'm not a big fan of the PS3 anyway so not sure why I'm going for the trophies. The other week I did Lego Indiana Jones 2 again, spending at least a good part of my week playing it but at the same time FFXIII and Battlefield Bad Company 2 was out. See there is no logic to it, again today I start Tomb Raider Underworld yet I've not even done hard mode on the xbox yet for the last achievement, bad enough having to do two run through's but adding a third one for the PS3 is a waste of time really.

So as I said at the start, going to start focusing on the games I've got and the new games coming out :-) of course this does not mean I've given up on the PS3 for good. Will still play exclusive titles on there (God of War, Uncharted and Killzone etc) but just not going out of my way like I am right now. I might now and again in the future pick up a easy game but just not when I got ton of games to play already.

Review: Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising

Dawn of War as always been one of my top 10 games, I love the gameplay and really enjoy the story that is Warhammer 40,000.

So for the last few months I've been really looking forward to this next expansion and to be honest I would had liked it, just shame it was so bugged it put me off it.

I can understand bugs in games and its hard to find them all before launch and how hard it is to patch but come on this was just not funny.

The game crashed twice on the first level when ever I attacked, in the end I had to rush my squad past the first several units then attempt to attack which worked. Through out the entire game the audio for the characters was broken, the character profile pictures that popped up too kept blacking out. On the last mission I turned my speakers off since the audio was that bad.

I'm sorry but how can you launch game this broken? how did the testers not pick up on this? someone needs to relearn what testing means.

Oh and the last boss scene, forgot about him. Who came up with that idea? you need to be locked up for creating that horrible fight. Wasnt a bug but bad ideas, 15 painful minutes after the fourth try to kill him, I like hard boss fights but this was just a joke. Had to keep doing pull runs and have a squad on the otherside of the map so I could revive everyone. Oh and thanks for giving him that attack that restores most of health, really enjoyed that.

Other then that the game was ok, not great just ok. Found it a lot shorter then I thought. Really could had done with some more optional missions and the story extended. The whole cliff hangar was a waste time, since I'm not looking forward to waiting another year for the next expansion to see the end (that's if the next one will end this current story plot). Especially with how badly this expansion was done, I have no hopes for the next one.

Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising (PC)
Score: 5 out of 10
Gameplay: Poor
Graphics: Good
Story: Average
Length: Too Short
Controls: Good

Review: Battlefield Bad Company 2

This game had the patentable to be game of the year.

Its the only game I will actutally sit down and play random multiplayer with strangers. When I play multiplayer in other games its with friends only, so as you can imagine this game has an outstanding multiplayer part.

Honestly the first week it was all I could talk about, the spark was there. My favourite mode is Rush where one team defends and the second attacks, nothing like it to get you heart racing as you and 11 other strangers work together to take down a base.

On the first night I had a dozen stories of adventures that had happened in the matches, its so much fun you cannot believe it. Of course I did say this had the potentable, single player was a huge let down.

The story is very short, you can easily do it in one evening and there is no reward for doing it on hard mode except the last level which is a joke. Every time a level ended I was shocked how fast it was over with, nice for the achievements but still I was hoping for something decent. The story isnt good either sorry to say, whats with modern warefare games these days. Once again the Russians are invading...this is getting old and very fast.

But least the mutiplayer makes the game worth the money, I still recommend picking it up just to play that. Hopefully the third one in the future will bring back a good singleplayer.


Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)
Score: 8 out of 10
Gameplay: Good
Graphics: Good
Story: Average
Length: Short
Controls: Good

Review: God of War 3

Still cannot believe the wait is over, I loved every game in this series and the third is no exception. After two very long days I finally finished the story, so its time to review it.

I would recommend this too anyone, not got a PS3? then go buy one just to play this game!

The entire game is amazing, the detail that went into the bosses was out of this world. The idea behind each one blew my mind away, Poseidon at the start was breath taking with the horse serpents. Even the levels had a ton of detail added, several times I had to stop to check out the view. Espically at the start while you climbing up, in the background you can see the Titans slowly climbing up and its awesome.

Gameplay is just the same as the past games making it easy for all. Always loved how easy it is to do the different chain attacks, you dont have to button mash which is always a plus in my books.

Story end was good but still think it could had a little bit more to say this is the end of the series, I am hoping for a fourth in the series to explain a bit more :) it cannot end like that. Hopefully the rumors of dlc will be true.


Overall, go buy! its a great game and if you not played the past versions then go get them too!


God of War 3 (Playstation 3)
Score: 10 out of 10
Gameplay: Good
Graphics: Good
Story: Good
Length: Decent
Controls: Good

End of Month Posts

OK February had no post and march will be getting a small post but to be honest I forgot what's really happened this month. So for April I'm going to create a saved draft post and anything I think that needs to be written down will be added there, so by the end of the month I should have a detailed post for the months progress. Well that's the theory anyway and if I stick to it, but knowing me probably won't lol

Another Goal

Well Another Code R was my first Wii game to be completed which means I finished my first goal for this years gaming challenge. Took alot longer then I thought since I was meant to get this game done in January but glad it's finished now. Now standing on two of the eight goals completed, so I feel like I'm doing ok with it.

Also clocked Disney UP on the PS3 the other day, now I have one of three platnium trophies for another goal too.

Lets hope I can keep this up


Goal 1: Complete at least one Wii game - SUCCESS!!

Review: Another Code R

I've written out this post about three times so far, finding it really hard to write what I want to say about this game. So let's start with the beginning, Another Code first came out on the DS and was one of the first games I bought for the handheld. I loved the game, the story was ok and I did like solving the mystery but it had nothing special too it.

What made me love the game was the puzzles, you had to think outside the box when it came to solving them. Two come to mind, one was to close the DS to stamp some paper and the other turning the DS on the side like a book to reflect the screens onto each other so you can see the whole picture. I loved it, of course since the story was just ok I never really wanted to go back and play it again.

Of course now there is sequel, this game came right under my radar. I was shocked when it arrived in store, normally I spot stuff like this months in advance before they released. Although the story in the original was lacking, I had my hopes up and could not wait to see what they did with the puzzles this time around.
Well after ... must be 15-20 hours at least, I finally finished just now. Spent 10 hours today working on it (my day off lol and was very determined to finish it today). Again I liked the game but it still doesn't have that spark, in fact it was lacking compared to the DS original. Think the thing that got me down the most about it was the loose ends. Before I go into any details I must give you warning


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!STORY SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three major points that let me down and they where Matt's Dad, Matt's Sister Kelly and the lakes pollution.


Matt's DadI was disappointed with the whole friend mystery, near the start of the game you meet Matt. A young boy who's father went missing five years ago, as you journey through the game solving the mystery about your mother you look for clues on his father. What seems ages you start to piece together a picture of what happened to him when suddenly, its forgotten about. Matt goes to a house to wait for you while you go talk to your dad and this part is the end of the game. You learn the truth about your mom and that's it, Matt is forgotten about. I was really shocked, everything you done seemed a waste of time. At the end all the characters come to say goodbye and you then learn someone as spotted a man that looks like his dad....that's it....wtf!

The game as a very slow start, the first 10 minutes are great. The story is setup but then you seem to waste like 10 hours about half the game getting small clues, chasing the boy around and around and around. This could had been shorted and the time used to answer the dad mystery.

Was really looking forward to seeing what happened to him and find the truth out, the game was really focused on his missing dad which shocks me they ended it like that.

Lake Pollution
And another thing, the lake pollution was caused by JC Valley at the end??!?!? "oh yeah are bad, it was us". Ok that we get hints about the pollution, its talked about a lot and that's it!. Why where they doing it? what was causing it? why did they blame Crusoe Resort?

Come on, would had been nice to have some answers
Matt's Sister
Finally his sister, this had to be the biggest shock in the game and the biggest WTF! Suddenly you find out she drowned at the boathouse, there are no hints that something bad had happened to her. Right out of the blue they drop this on your lap then we talking two minutes later the game forgets about it. The characters back to happy self's....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No doubt if they make a third in the series I would play it, but honestly please please guys tie up the loose ends. I loved the extra mysterys to solve but not ending made this game poor, oh and please shorten the start of the game. Thank you!

Another Code: R (Wii) A journey into lost memories
Score: 6 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Good
Story: Average
Length: Long
Controls: Average

GOTY10 Update

Ok time to update the list

2010 GOTY
Mass Effect 2

Runners Up
Dante's Inferno

Still ME2 taking the lead with DI just added but only taking the silver so far. If the story and length had been better (See my review) then it would had been GOTY easily. Looking forward to seeing the next couple of weeks since we have Bad Company 2, FFXIII and God of War 3 coming out. Three of the biggest AAA games this year

Reviews

I know my reviews are short or pretty much rubbish lol. To be honest I'm not trying to be a review site or anything, just post my random thoughts of the game for friends to see since I pretty much play most games. That being said if you do want something changed like go into more detail about levels/bosses etc then ask and in future reviews I will try to add it. But as I said they here for fun, want proper reviews check out the professional websites :-) there are plenty!

Review: Spongebob's Truth or Square

I wasn't going to review but here goes lol

Graphics are ok for what it is and the game is well ... short but to be honest it's good in a way because if it was longer then I would had chucked it out the window lol.

Story is ... I think he lost something and basically you playing through memories which are past episodes. So if you are fan, then you will love it. Myself, found it boring but then I wasn't playing it for fun, just the gamerscore :-)

Overall good for gamerpoints or kids but its a rental, would not waste any money on it


Spongebob's Truth or Square (Xbox 360)
Score: 4 out of 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics: Average
Story: Poor
Length: Short
Controls: Average