Anyway, I had a lot of fun these last couple of weeks.  I think it’s because I mostly just tinkered with some stuff that I’ve been tossing around in my head as opposed to watching in a VOD.  I believe I’ve nearly perfected my PvP build, which I’m very proud to admit.  It isn’t a very flexible build, and it’s certainly all-in(ish), but I won all but two of my PvP matches this time around with it.  Basically, it’s a 2 Gate Robo with an immediate Robotics Support Bay and a delayed forge.  I only build Zealots, a couple of Cannons and maybe one Sentry, saving the gas for Colossi and upgrades.  The one Sentry is pretty key, surprisingly.  The first Forcefield sometimes buys you enough time to get your first Colossus out, and if they slip on micro, they’ll take some extra Cannon damage.  So far, this build has been especially weak against 2-Gate pressure and early Blink play.

The reaction to this build is varied, but I can generally count on a couple of things happening depending on how their initial push goes. The first scenario basically has them committing too heavily to their initial attack, resulting in heavy or total losses.  This is usually the case in Gold/Plat.  They see that you don’t have many units, and either try to focus down the Colossus or micro around it to kill off the Zealots.  If you don’t lose the Colossus and push them out, generally you win because your second Colossus is on its way, along with +1 attack and more Zealots.  My opponents thus far follow up with an expansion and/or Void rays, so I’ve been pushing with 4 Colossi, a few Stalkers and mostly Zealots around the 12-13 minute mark with great success.

Scenario 2 is less common, and infinitely more deadly.  These are the smart ones who will test the ramp and back off after seeing the Colossus or Cannons.  If this happens, it’s going to come down to micro and upgrades because nine times out of ten, you’re going to be facing a whole lot of Blink Stalkers and Immortals.  The key is to make sure you’re at least at +2 attack and have Charge researched before you push.  If you keep your Zealots from charging to their doom, you should be all right.  When the attack comes, or you meet on the field, be sure to concentrate your Colossi fire on the biggest clumps of units, for obvious reasons.  If they blink in as a ball, you’re in excellent shape even if they kill all the Colossi (doubtful, but it happens). The amount of splash they’ll be taking, along with Zealot DPS, should result in a very quick annihilation.

Of course, that’s just the battle – which should have gone your way. From here, it depends on your game sense.  If you have enough minerals banked and a reasonable amount of Zealots, it’s probably best to expand instead of attack since you have the forces to defend, and the minerals to fortify with Cannons.  Being a fairly all-in strategy, this puts you in a pretty good position.  However, if your opponent expanded, he probably did it awhile back.  If this is the case, I’ve found that pressing the attack is almost a necessity, as he will be able to reinforce his army much more quickly than you.  Typically even a Zealot-only army will suffice, provided your numbers are adequate.  Again, being all-in, if your numbers aren’t good and his expansion is fortified, it’s probably GG.

While PvP is easily my best matchup right now, PvZ is my “average” matchup, going at around a 50% win rate.  Against Zerg, I’ve accepted the fact that I cannot approach the matchup like I did with Terran.  Simply put, I have no Hellions or Marines with which to put on the pressure. But at the same time, FFE has left me wanting.  So basically I’ve just been expanding off of two Gateways unless I scout Roaches or early Speedlings. From there, I just play straight-up, with Colossus into HT/Archon.  I’ve ditched gimmicky strategies for the most part, as I felt they were distracting me greatly from the mechanics of PvZ.  My aim is not to just get into Diamond league for the sake of getting there, I want to understand Protoss and do it right.

As per my last article, I’ve been further examining the importance of timings and positioning against Zerg.  Taking even more pages out of CombatEx’s book, playing a more reactive style of Protoss has been paying off for me and has helped me focus on my mechanics in a very straightforward way. Even if I lose, I’ve been able to successfully take many more games into the later stages, which is a small victory for someone with my playstyle.  With the new Phoenix upgrade providing a linear tech path to the Mothership, I’ve even started bringing her out, which is unheard of.  It’s funny how sometimes you can watch dozens of videos where people utilize certain strategies, yet you either simply don’t emulate them or you forget to.  That’s me with the Mothership.

Nothing new to report on the PvT front. I mean, at least I’m winning some games, but they’re never pretty.  I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. There’ve been times when I know I was way ahead and still manage to not win.  Yet I keep reading that PvT is Protoss’ best matchup overall, so I don’t know.  I spent so much time examining PvP over the last few days that I haven’t really paid much attention to what’s going on against Terran.   The only thing I know for sure is that I’m feeling that stress that people talk about when going up against Terran. There are just so many openers, and so many timings they can roll with.  It gets crazy when you think you’re scouting one thing, but it turns out to be another.  I think in this case, I’m going to have to figure out a way to put on some risky early pressure, or experiment with Warp Prisms or DTs or something.  I’m just at a loss while playing straight up.

Overall, everything is improving slowly but surely.  As soon as I can get up to a 50% win rate against Terran, I should be able to shoot back up to the top of Platinum.  As it stands now, I should be graduating from Gold the next time I get a decent play session in.  So until next time, “always compete against yourself”.  GG

-DAMIAN

It does… kind of… mostly… it is good.

Let me explain. The world of Amalur is wracked by war as an element of the immortal race, the fae, has taken up religious extremism. They believe that a new god is going to be born from under a mountain and that god wants them to KILL EVERYTHING! So the mortal armies of elves, men, gnomes and the remaining fae have taken up arms to defend themselves. This already gives the developers a great narrative excuse to make a whole group of enemies respawn in front of the player without it breaking the feeling of immersion in the world (That comes between fights).

The combat system is slick and fluid allowing the player to switch seamlessly between swords to bows to magic attacks with ease. The player does not need to spend effort trying to string together increasingly long combos but it is encouraged, if only for the look of them. In the course of one fight I managed to knock an enemy into the air with my long sword and then keep them suspended in the air with a flurry of hits from a pair of daggers, which then sent them flying into a tree. With them dispatched I activated the dagger power attack and darted between my remaining assailants with blinding speed only to end up in the middle of the group, at this point I harnessed my magical powers and sent out a shockwave that catapulted me and all others around me into the air and then slammed them into the ground. I stand at the center of a morbidly serene battlefield, my enemies fallen and not a scratch on me or a hair out of place. I feel like a badass. Which makes what comes next all the more jarring.

On return to the nearby village I go to the guard captain who tasked me with the quest of clearing out the enemy forces. The subtitles start the conversation before he does and he starts before the cutscene does. This is a common experience in Amalur, every conversation feels clunky and stilted. The voice acting is agreeable but a lot of the characters come across as feeling constricted by the script. As they stand there telling me how the Dokkalfar have suffered at the hands of the Tuatha Deohn their voices filled with pain and their chiseled, muscular faces struggling to move under the weight of his own facial hair I look to the cramped drop down list of conversation points and find it very hard to give a damn.

Honestly seeing nigh unpronounceable fantasy jargon spouted from the mouths of hyper muscular knights sporting the carnival strongman look is pretty funny. Now this isn’t a bad thing, in fact there are a lot of little touches in the game that seem to imply that Amalur is giving a wink and a nudge to the audience at some of the more outlandish elements of the fantasy genre. The gnomes in centurion armor and the scantily clad elven maidens, these all seem like smiling nods at the things the fantasy genre has left behind as it’s evolved over the last ten years. As to whether or not you thought these things were better left in the past will greatly influence your enjoyment of Amalur.

Despite a somewhat jarring menu system and awkward scripting Amalur does have a real heart. When I played this game I got the real sense that it was trying to be something greater than it was. Certain aspects may need fine tuning but I would rather have a game fail for trying to do too much than too little.

Carrying on from where Mass Effect 2’s DLC left off, players are once again cast as Commander John Shepard and thrown back into the fight against the Reapers.

BioWare have stated their desire for the ending of Mass Effect 3 to be memorable and have devoted many man hours to doing so, making sure the players get just reward for all their hard work and no doubt countless hours of playing. However they have not completely closed the door on continuing the series, many believe that Mass Effect 3 is simply the end of the Shepard trilogy and that BioWare will continue on with the universe. Casey Hudson, Creative Director on Mass Effect 3, had this to say: “We want to do more stuff with Mass Effect, of course, and I’m sure we will. But we’re not really thinking about that right now. We want to make sure we give people the best ending to Mass Effect 3 that we can.” It certainly would be a prudent move for BioWare to continue with the title that has brought them the most success, especially with a movie in the pipeline, but this remains to be seen and it depends on whether the writing staff can compose a new story that justifies continuing the title.

Mass Effect 3 is due to be released on March 6th, with prices scheduled to be $59.99 for the standard editions on all consoles and $79.99 for the collector’s editions, roughly £39.99 and £59.99 respectively in the UK. There are also bonuses for pre-ordering the game such as exclusive weapons and armor. BioWare has also announced that a demo will be available to download from the 14th of February, giving Kinect users a chance to hone their commands before the full release. We look forward to seeing how the Kinect works and how this epic trilogy concludes.

I remember a time where work days would consist of debates with buddies about what would happen to Commander Sheppard and his crew next?

I miss the days where Games weren’t rated primarily on their name say and graphics but where story played a big part in how well a game was perceived. I realize that we are in a time period where multiplayer is sort of overrunning single player if you will, but I do not believe that this should totally negate the fact that single player is still a major selling point for some people. Rpg gamers, especially console owners should understand where I am coming from for up until now MMORPG’s were not capable for the most part on consoles.

WHY DO I CARE? Is the question of the hour, because when I play a game I don’t want to have to ask myself this? I should want to know and more importantly care about what is going to happen next, because for me that is half the battle. As a developer I would use my story telling abilities to my advantage. What is going to make me come to your game? Huh…? Huh…? I’ll tell you having a likable main character and an interesting P.L.O.T!!

SO in conclusion what makes you play a game…? Sure fun factor is a huge part of it but why play something you have no emotional attachment too? Why fight a war for a hero you could care less about? Why climb to the top of mount Olympus just to see a villain die who you never even hated in the first place? These are the questions that not only gamers should be asking, but also the developers who pump out garbage for a ridiculous sixty dollar price point.

Best game of the decade?

By:David Evans

Skyrim one of the most anticipated games of the last decade comes to bear with all guns blazing. Bethesda didn’t take any short cuts on this game. With everything a RPG gamer could ask for from a medieval setting. A vast nearly impossible to completely explore world with near realistic graphics , 150+ dungeons ,and a massive assortment of enemies to go along with that. What else could a gamer ask for? Well there is the new dual wielding capabilities that Bethesda has added.So whether you are a gamer who plays it safe from a distance you have the ability to either use thrown weapon,bow and arrow,or magic.There is also the massive array of close ranged weapons from the normal sword and shield to the massive battle axes and war hammers along with everything in between.

The “classes” of the previous installments are gone now your character is entirely yours to level and build to anything you wish .Wanna be a warrior equip yourself with an ax or two and go hack and slash.That to much for you go into your menus and equip yourself with some magic and fry those enemies from a distance.Skyrim follows the saying of “everything has an equal and opposite reaction” you train what you want when you want ,but saying on one skill will make the others seem weaker in comparison due to those skills not getting any experience.Skills themselves have been improved as well. Useless things no one ever spent points in are gone, and the silly categories of Acrobatics and Athletics have been removed entirely. The “Mysticism” skill has also been removed, its spells redistributed into the other schools. Melee skills have been switched from Blade, Blunt, and Hand-to-Hand to a more logical selection of One-Handed and Two-Handed, while Block has been overhauled to become an active defense and countering Skill. Crafting gets a boost in this game with Smithing making its debut, allowing the creation of powerful weapons and armor from ore mined and found throughout the world. Enchanting has been overhauled as well. You now learn enchantments by first disenchanting already magical weapons and armor. Also helpful is the new Skills menu, which is a much cleaner and less overwhelming scrolling display, allowing you to easily comprehend your available progression options.

The combat system has been revamped as well gone are the chances that your character will block on its own now the blocking ability is controlled via the player and dependant on the equipped items .With either hand controlled with a trigger button blocking and attacking is literally as easy as pressing a button.With shields also not only just something to protect you but a weapon as well you’re not encumbered by wielding a shield as your off-hand weapon.The only draw back from the new dual wield system is when you equip 2 one-handed weapons with damage potentially doubled you lose the ability to block entirely which has a few draw backs in sticky situations.

As for mages no longer do you need to bind spells to face buttons.Magic is now set just like a weapon with double casting abilities easily at hand.The more than eighty-five spells in the game offer a huge variety of potential load-outs, and you can greatly strengthen a spell by equipping it in both hands and simultaneously casting. This variety is emphasized by the new secondary effects on Destruction spells. Fire causes a burn to do extra damage, Frost slows opponents and drains Stamina, and Lightning drains Magicka as it damages.

Stealth which is by no means new to the elder scrolls realm has taken on the aspect of killing only seen recently in the Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age games.Brutalitly is the name of the game sneak up on an enemy for a quick kill will send your character into a short killing scene in which your enemy is formally executed.That is just the beginning with added damage to bows while sneaking and a simple to understand eye shaped cross hair indicating the stealth/”seen” level sneak deaths has never been easier and more practical.

Next we will talk about the dragons .They are here and they love to destroy .Besides being fun to fight with the various difficulties found in fighting an enemy that is as smart if not smarter than the player but love to make your life hell from destroying towns killing innocents they will attack without warning anytime and nearly anywhere.Flying and staying out of melee range is one of the issues to content with.Even though they are a hassle sometimes they are one of the most important enemies in the game with their souls being used for the new abilities called shouts , there bones and scales used to make the best armor in the game,and who doesn’t like the feel of being able to say “Hey u see that dragon ? Ya , I killed it!”.

This is only a small (and i mean small) overview of this amazing game.There are a ton of other things not mentioned and hundreds of things which can’t be covered in such a short speech on this game.While there are imperfections as all games have they are easily overlooked with the rest of the game’s content.If i had to rank this game i would have to give it a 9.8/10 due to the fact that even possible perfection can be improved .

The Story So Far…(SPOILERS!!!!!)

The game kicks off 17 years after the events of Soulcalibur IV which left Nightmare (the antagonist through much of the first few titles) who wielded the evil blade named the Soul Edge, dead at the hands of Siegfried (opposite Nightmare as the protagonist) a holy knight who wields the legendary blade from which the game gets its title, Soulcalibur. Not much is known of the actually storyline for the game but does include Patroklos Alexander, the son of Sophita who was killed by and apparition manifested from the Soul Edge itself after the events of the four’s story. The story tells his tale as he tries to track down and destroy the entity responsible for his mother’s untimely demise. More on the story can be found here.

Holy Content Batman!!!

With the multitude of fight games currently out there, SoulCalibur V stands out above the rest with its stunning amount of content it’s putting forth at launch. The game will ship with almost 30 playable characters spanning from all over the Soul universe. Along with many familiar characters such as the voluptuous Ivy with her signature rope sword and the cold samurai Mitsurugi and his bloodthirsty katana, there will be some new faces including everyone’s favorite assassin Ezio Auditore from Ubisoft’s popular Assassins Creed franchise. Fighters need an arena to unleash their carnage and Soulcalibur delivers with a confirmed 20 (not a typo folks I said TWENTY) different stages that we will be facing each other on which will definitely keeps this game for hours refreshing and new for hours on end all handcrafted with stunning visuals we have come to know and love from the crew over at Project Soul. The Collectors Edition will give eager fans a myriad of bonuses. For an extra 20 bones, you’ll find yourself with a hard cover artwork book based on the game, DVD with behind the scenes footage from the developers, the original game soundtrack and free DLC with armor for all characters in the games beautifully package in the Soulcalibur V limited edition book case. Also preorder specials are available through Best Buy, Gamestop and Wal-Mart for extra characters and content based on where you buy.

What Will Be Your fate?

With all of the games coming out this year, I get picky with my purchases but Soulcalibur V will be in my list for sure. Will you be picking up the game? Let us know if you’ll be snatching Soulcalibur V and if it isn’t, let us know why and for those joining in the fight for the fate of the world, I’ll see you in the arena. Soulcalibur V hits store shelves on January 31^st in the US and February 3^rd in Europe and Japan on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $59.99 with the Collectors Edition going for $79.99.

Thanks to Nintendo3DS blog for hosting/posting the image.

Speculation says it’s a new system for online usage of the Nintendo 3DS, but nothing other than this name is revealed.

At the same time, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is confirmed to have DLC available for purchase. It’s very possible that “Nintendo Network” is related to that.

What do you think? Could “Nintendo Network” be a cool new DLC system?

With 2011 a not so distant past (I’m still accidentally writing 2011 on everything) it might be a good time to look back and examine some of the gaming industries more…controversial…games of the 2011. After all, the best way to move forward is to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, figure out the lesson, and learn from the mistake. So without any further ado, I give you:

2011 Most Controversial and Offensive Games

5.) Deux Ex: Human Revolution:

               Let’s begin with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the dystopian action RPG prequel to the original Deus Ex that was released in 2000. This game, like its predecessors, became an instant best seller and was praised internationally for its captivating story and emphasis on stealth combat. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for players to recognize a pretty offensive flaw in the Deus Ex: Human Revolution world in the form of what many considered to be downright racism.

               While most of the NPC’s in Deus Ex: Human Revolution are so subtle as to be borderline dull, the street informant Letitia proved strangely flamboyant in her ridiculous 1930’s stereotypical Southern Black accent; Letitia’s most cringe worthy phrase perhaps being “Weellll sheeyit…If it ain’t da cap’n hisself!” Ugh.

               Considering the game is set in futuristic China, many gamers and video game journalists called out the game’s designers for this completely unnecessary, and seemingly racist, error in judgment. Not only is Letitia’s accent, mannerisms and voice squirm inducing on a level only met by the crows of Disney’s Dumbo, but in a game with so much attention to detail this was, to many, an unforgivable anachronism.

4.) Dead Island:

               Now we move onto the highly anticipated and grossly disappointing first person survival horror game, Dead Island, developed and published between Techland and Deep Silver.

               The now famous Dead Island trailer, which was rumored to have earned the makers a movie offer, was the first in a long line of strange and offensive unveilings in that the trailer had almost nothing to do with the actual game.

               After being teased with such an amazing trailer, gamers expected a breakthrough zombie experience, only to find Dead Island a zombified version of Borderlands with a handful of Left 4 Dead elements.

               Then there came the issue of false advertising: Dead Island developers claimed the game would be single console co-op for months before the release, even stating the game was 2 person co-op on the Dead Island case itself, but unfortunately the game proved to be multi console co-op only, throwing fans of the Left 4 Dead multi player style into a blogging frenzy.

               Of course, Dead Island can’t be considered truly controversial without some offensive elements, which it had in spades. Not only was an unlockable ability “Gender Wars” discovered, but on top of that the original name for the ability could be found in the easily accessible code- “FeministWhorePurna.”

               Compounded with the game’s faulty storyline, horrifying depictions of males and incomprehensible opening sequence, Dead Island proved itself unable to live up to the high standard it’s trailer had promised. Too bad, considering the game itself is both fun and challenging; but that can be the cost of too much controversy for a game of so little substance.

3.) LA Noire:

               Ah LA Noire, the long awaited noir crime game from Rockstar Games and Team Bondi. With breakthrough technology that captured actor’s expressions and actions, rather than having programmers create characters from scratch, alongside revolutionary story telling and problem solving tactics, this video game broke the boundaries of what, why, and how video games are told, played and created.

               Sadly they also broke a few legal boundaries, forgetting about the who; LA Noire’s actual creators. Not only did game testers come forward claiming illegal mandates (such as lack of breaks, unfair pay, etc.) but over 130 employees came forward to accuse Team Bondi of exploitive working practices including massive amounts of uncompensated overtime, destructive work environment and lack of recognition (not being listed in LA Noire’s credits).

               On top of all that the game itself faced a few minor gender and racial issues; mainly in it’s depiction of young girls and African Americans. Several gamers and gaming journalists noted that while the game stayed true to it’s 1940’s theme, the overabundance of racial stereotyping and over-sexualization of young girls within the game hinted at a production team using 1940’s culture as an excuse to run rampant with offensive characters.

               This was more so about the several young girls within LA Noire who often claimed enjoying rape and forced sex with multiple older men; something Team Bondi and Rockstar Games has yet to comment on or explain.  

2.) Bulletstorm:

               Here’s a game that had the misfortune of being called out for it’s crude, weirdly sexist humor, but the good fortune of having the entire gaming community rally around it.

               If you somehow stayed out of gaming news entirely, you’ll be surprised to learn that in February of 2011 Fox News ran the story “Is Bulletstorm the Worst Game in the World?”

               Aside from the fact that boy howdy is Fox News good at asking loaded questions, the Fox News team then backed up their story with psychologist/author Dr. Jerry Weichman who claimed that “the increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of (sexual) scenes in video games.”

               Ignoring the fact that there has been no study even proving that there is a positive correlation between sexual crimes and video games, let alone causation, Fox News continued to question the effects of violence in all video games as the entire gaming world rose up against them

               Now, while the claims made by Fox News and their psychologist were in no way correct and completely misleading, it was interesting that no one asked the question if Bulletstorm was maybe in the wrong at all with their over the top inconsideration and blatant crassness.

               After all, Bulletstorm is a game that has playable moves like “Topless” and “Gangbang,” is there really nothing wrong with that? The game is rated M, but is a gang bang really something that only children could find offensive? Has it become completely acceptable to alienate an entire gender of gamers just to get a chuckle out of a handful of the opposite gender? Bulletstorm could have been cleverer and less offensive, but it went for a Duke Nukem type of humor and failed miserably; it may deserve our ridicule, but it definitely doesn’t justify the entire video game industry being called into question.

1.) Duke Nukem Forever:

               Topping this list we have Duke Nukem Forever, the fifteen-year old bastard child first person shooter of more creators that you can stick a shake at (but for good form, here they are: Gearbox Software, Piranha Games, 3D Realms and Triptych Games.)

               Duke Nukem himself is hardly a paragon of political correctness or courtesy, he’s more like the god of crude, lewd and rude. In the world of Duke Nukem, women are ridiculously dumb slut puppies with barely there clothing and forever open mouths, but then the men aren’t much better. Varying between complete morons and crudity obsessed fools the males in Duke Nukem Forever mirror the females in that they too are the perfect examples of the sexist ideal.

               Obscenity is the name of the game, and if you don’t get offended in some way while playing Duke Nukem Forever you’re not having enough fun; being ridiculous and offensive is the point, revel in it and recognize that what Bulletstorm tried to do and failed, Duke Nukem succeeds with a grunt, grab of the balls and a booty slap.

And yes, Duke Nukem Forever is also offensive in that it is a terrible game that unsuccessfully mashes fifteen years of game play into an incomprehensible storyline that drags from scene to scene, but at least the mass amount of offensive material somehow conglomerates into a hysterical, have to experience mess.

               Of course the gaming industry is under a lot more pressure and scrutiny as it becomes a more popular and mainstream industry. The games listed above were chosen for frequency of publications and news articles related to them, but of course most games have some controversial elements. If you have a game not on this list, please share it with us the and why you find it controversial!