Late World of Warcraft Impressions

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft has been dominating the mmorpg market for the past ten years and counting. Only just beginning to peak at somewhere around 10 million players, I decided to cast myself into the already massive amount of registered players.

I, and many of my friends, have been against playing World of Warcraft for a multitude of reasons and misconceptions. For one, we believed originally that this game only appealed to the new and old gamers alike simply because of its name. This is one of the most widely known games, you could go to most places in the world and they will most likely know what World of Warcraft is if you mentioned it. Also, we were not aware of how vastly detailed of a game it was, considering it is a mmorpg. Originally, we have only heard of features such as player versus player, honor system, raiding, dungeon instances and more. These features were already standard in the mmorpg market, and we disregarded them for that reason. Lastly, it is a pay to play game, which is really discouraging for gamers who are used to playing free to play games.

Well, most of those previous misconceptions and bad impressions were quickly proven wrong after one day of playing the game. World of Warcraft is one of the most detailed online multiplayer games that I have ever played in my life. For one, the sheer scope of the game is extremely vast. If you turn up the view distance in your graphic settings, you will be able to see for (ingame) miles at a time. There is a full system of voice acting in place, so your character will speak from time to time, the npc’s will speak and etc. Even when you type, your character will make movements to signal your speech, and if you write something such as “lol” or “rofl”. There is also the standard features such as emoticons when you do something such as “/dance” or something like that.

As for the actual gameplay, this is a game that truly appeals to players of the two standard types. There are players who

World of Warcraft Character

enjoy grinding in a game, constantly fighting the same monster over and over in order to grow their levels. If you want to do that in World of Warcraft, you can if you want, but you will probably level slower than those who chose to do quests for leveling up. Then, for the second type of player, for those who like to do quests for experience and goods, they will find themselves in a state of bliss, because there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of different quests that you can do that will allow you to sail through levels easily.The quests that you will be doing are not boring  thankfully, because no one enjoys doing boring and tedious “Kill x amount of y monster”. These quests will have you in search of items, new lands or to kill monsters or destroy items found in certain areas. They are very varied, which works in your favor.

In World of Warcraft, you will find yourself enjoying the player versus npc monsters, because of the gained skills. It is not much of a problem to level up or fight enemies, and the character designs are great, which will allow you to see new sights and not get bored of the norm. In terms of player versus player, this seems like a game that is based on gears and build. This is a good thing, actually. In standard online multiplayer games, you will often find that the different character classes are unbalanced, often leading to many people being one class and rejecting the other classes since they are already over powered. In World of Warcraft, you can find yourself dominating as any class and with any play style, which is great for those who like to have variety and freedom in their choices for a class. The gears can be acquired by constant PvP in the arena, while your build is simply judged by the skills you will acquire through your journey to level 80.

As I have not been able to get far in World of Warcraft so far, I can not comment on other things in lush detail. However, I can specify that the raiding system does seem to be quite interesting, a great activity to do with a bunch of friends or your guild. In your boredom , you will probably find yourself player killing people in the PvP realm or going for the Lich King.

As of now, World of Warcraft has successfully acquired a new subscriber and possibly long time player of the game. Blizzard really out did themselves with this one, and definitely deserves their title as king of the massively multiplayer online games. World of Warcraft has definitely left a great impression on this once skeptical player, and I recommend it to all of you out there.

PlayStation President Jack Tretton promises Killzone 3

Killzone 3

The Killzone series is extremely successful and popular amongst the fan base, so this may not come as a surprise to many, but it may be reassuring. The PlayStation president, Jack Tretton, promises that there will be a third installment to the series sometime in the future.

Geoff Keighley, the GameTrailers TV host, asked Jack Tretton a question regarding whether or not the PlayStation 3 will be equipped with a shooter ready to show at this years E3. He would not confirm whether Sony does or does not have something in store for this years E3, but he did say that Sony will certainly have something bragworthy. There will certainly be surprises, some are hoping for teasers for the new Kingdom Hearts console bound game, some are hoping for some insight on Rockstar Games’ Agent.

Tretton went on to say that he does not know when announcements will officially be made about this, but he personally promises the release of Killzone 3 sometime in the future. Guerilla Games’ will most likely be taking their time on this game, as it has the potential to stay as one of the top PlayStation 3.

PlayStation Move, Best Motion Controller Of The Generation

PlayStation Move

Of course, speaking in terms of the video game console generations, the PlayStation Move will easily prove to be the best one available out of the big three. The footage being shown at the Game Developers Conference of 2010 is definitely confirming this thought.

The PlayStation Move is the name given to what was formally known as the codename Gem for the PlayStation 3. This motion controller comes with a wand and a peripheral that is used to hold the buttons and joystick for movement. This set up is similar to the one that the Nintendo Wii makes use of for the Wii Mote, but the Wii Mote is a lack luster device so it does not matter. When people think of the PlayStation Move, people should generally think of it as what the Wii wishes it could be.

The PlayStation Move has about 1 fps lag, which is equal to the lag on the dual shock controller. So the time it takes you to press a button and for the action to be displayed on the screen will be equal to the amount of time it takes for a movement to be registered with this new motion controller for the Ps3. What makes this device in particular special is that this will be the true motion controlling device for video games. Instead of allowing you to make a movement and having it translated into a preset motion directed by the game developers, there can now be true 1:1 movement recognition. Which, I believe, is the ultimate goal of motion controls for any video game console.

The demos shown at GDC 2010 for the PlayStation Move were fairly impressive. These demos offered situations such as you being an underground fighter and you having a fist fight with a foe, archery and gladiator battles. These are three situations that can best display how efficient this motion controller is, as these are all events with which people generally wish that had complete and original control over.  With that being said, the gladiator game did not have 1:1 motion sensing, I heard, but something quite close to it. As for the underground fighting game, titled Motion Fighter, I believe it does have a 1:1 motion control detection, but it gets criticism for having a sloppy control set up.

All in all, the PlayStation Move is making its first impression out in GDC 2010, and the impression appears to be a good one. This device is very versatile and can be used for both hardcore gamers and family mini games, which is desirable for a product, unlike Project Natal and its regrettable interface. Be sure to look out for the PlayStation Move, it will be coming out some time soon.

Another Microsoft Xbox 360 Falls Prey To Red Rings of Death

Red Rings of Death

Yet another story of an Xbox 360 owner who feels betrayed by Microsoft after having their console die on them. My Xbox 360 was over two years old, a launch title system, that has now succumbed to the Red Rings of Death. A shame, really.

For a while now, my Xbox 360 has been having problems, particularly a system tray malfunction. When this happened, I lost the ability to play all of my Xbox 360 video games. Now, what use is a video game console that is not able to actually play video games? Here’s an answer, pretty useless. So I make an attempt to stay a fan of Microsoft and decide to make use of the Xbox Live On Demand service. Although the game library on that service is down right pathetic, only allowing for some of the old hits such as Lost Planet and Call of Duty 2 (wow, ground breaking).  So I purchased Lost Planet: Colonies and downloaded the Just cause 2 demo, I was able to make due with just those games alone even though I was a bit disappointed that I lost access to half of my gaming library. You may say, why not just hand it in? Probably because I do not feel that I Should pay in order to fix a problem that is not my fault.

So anyway, it turns out that apparently, my Xbox 360 was on its last stand. It turns out that while my brother was playing Lost Planet: Colonies, the Xbox 360 froze in the middle of the gaming session. So my bro literally lets it sit and see’s if it would resume where it left off for more than 10 minutes, and it would not. So apparently, when he tried to turn it off and on, the only response was the Red Rings of Death. Really disappointing while being of great use to me as well.

With just the disk tray failure, I would have to pay in order to send it in, because I am well passed my warranty. However, with the addition of the Red Rings of Death, it saves me money because my console is not 3 years old yet. But regardless, I will have to wait over a month in order to get my Xbox 360 sent back to me which is pretty annoying when its right around the release of Final Fantasy 13.  I feel that this is all Microsoft’s fault due to the fact that they wanted to rush out a console in order to avoid competition with the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. So, Microsoft, was rushing out a console at the cost of quality.

Well, thats my rant for the day, I am officially suspicious of all Microsoft video game related products to come in the future and will most likely be going with the PlayStation 3, its sequels, and the PC from now on. RIP to my Xbox 360 that died of the Red Rings of Death disease.

Just Cause 2 Xbox Live Demo Impressions

Just Cause 2

The Just Cause 2 demo was released over the Xbox Live marketplace earlier this week, and it is receiving fairly positive reviews and impressions all over the internet.

I am completely unfamiliar with Square Enix’s Just Cause 2 in terms of its storyline. Picking up the game, it seems that you are a vigilante or rebel of some sort that is seeking out to help an organization that goes against this other tyrannical group. Again, I am not sure of what the story is, but after 5 minutes of playing this video game, I am sure it’s selling point is certainly not its storyline.

The Just Cause 2 demo is timed for thirty minutes or so, but you are given plenty to do. The time limit does not start until you exit your safety zone of sorts. You are on a mountain at a pseudo-hide out and you have targets that you able to shoot, explosive tanks that you are able to explode  and ammunition that you are able to pick up. The first couple of steps that you take gives an immediate good impression. You are able to sprint, shoot, jump, dodge roll, everything that is to be expected in an action adventure game, especially for those of you who are familiar with this game. However, the game take as turn for the better once you take your next steps… off of the cliff.

You are able to sprint and leap off the cliff in an epic fashion and begin free falling down to the rocks below, able to

Just Cause 2 Freefall

speed up or slow down your descent in the process. That part in particular is quite entertaining, and you are able to open up your parachute a couple of feet right before you are going to come into contact with the floor. Not only that, but you can also shoot your grappling hook to zip over to an area while in mid air, which breaks your fall.

Apparently, your task is to start chaos within the small villages you will run into. Just Cause 2 apparently places you in an area that is run by a shady organization. While in my first village, I managed to see a propaganda cart in which the president was trying to instill fear within the civilians. Not only that, but I also saw a civilian car crash into a police car, and the policemen came out and murdered the civilians. Scenes like that give life to the game, and makes it seem as if the characters are very intelligent which only improves the immersion that the player will experience. Since this is just the Just Cause 2 demo, this is vital in order to sell the game.

You are able to create havoc by going around busting water towers, killing the officers, blowing up cars and other chaotic actions. Often, during car chases, you will find that this video game may resemble Indiana Jones a bit. In one event, I was on a motorcycle being chased by three police vans and I tried to jump a little hill while in the desert. I was not accelerating fast enough and I was going to crash into the wall, so I opened up my parachute and ascended enough in order to escape certain death while my bike continued into the wall to create a fiery explosion that the police vans followed into.

Just Cause 2 Explosion

You are also able to possibly find and kill Colonels that you may find in mansions or other prestigious areas. I do not know how many colonels are included in the demo, but I managed to find one. Colonels will often have heavy armor that will repel a majority of your bullets, but I found that when I zipped to the top of his mansion, I was able to not only steal $2500 from him, but take out an enemy up there who had a sniper rifle, with which I was able to one shot kill him. This was convenient and a welcome surprise, actually, and it gives more of a goal to be accomplished within Just Cause 2, opposed to just going around creating havoc and chaos.

My over all impressions of the Just Cause 2 Xbox Live demo would have to be very good.  The graphics and animation in the game are very appropriate and well done. The lush foliage you will find your self wading through is very well made, and appropriate to the environment. In one case, I was sprinting away from certain death by officers, and it looked very authentic as I was running past tree’s and then zip lining up a mountain, losing them. This is a very action packed game, and the action is portrayed in a proper and efficient manner, surprisingly. I was not expecting to have such fun with this game.

One problem I would have with the Just Cause 2 Xbox Live demo is how it is seemingly too easy to lose the police. Climb up one mountain and they will pretty much cease chasing you. Not only that, but if you simply veer off the road, you will most likely lose them too, as they are seemingly afraid to pursue in off-road chases.  That’s not to say that Just Cause 2 is a lack luster game, but you should really try the demo that is available on the Xbox Live market place yourself, it is a great demo and has a lot of replay value.