What I Hate In Storys

So I am playing though RE5 at the moment and I am getting really sick of the same thing over and over again. My major problem with RE is every good character apart from the main two either dies or turns on you from the look of things so far. I mean there where a lot of these marine special forces guys and I have to think they are well trained and well armed. I don’t see why every time you arrive at there location. They are all dead.  

Another more general thing I hate is when you come across someone that you save or what ever, they are killed off and quickly as possible just to get rid of them. No Let the pilot survive and deal with the problem for once. Story is far from the MOST important thing in a game but I wish we could get away from some of these methods that happen over and over again.

Fuck that it happens all the time in film too.

I Give In

Despite a lot of hate for RE5 I enjoyed the demo a lot more when I played it again the other day, and now have it ordered online and am very much looking forward to playing it this weekend. A friend is also getting it and a few others have had it for a wile so I should have no problem finding C0-Op buddies . I also lost the entire capture files for Shadower in college today due to an accidental removal of all the capture files. So I am starting again. In away I am glad, there where things I was not happy with so I fell I can do a much better job starting over again and have made sure the same thing wont happen again.  It could mean it will be later before its finished though.

Think I am going to have to order book 2 of “the walking dead” soon to get moving forward with that series. The first 12 issues where great and I really can’t wait for the rest. I will leave it there for now. see ya.

I-Pod Touch Review

So after around four years I have changed my old I-Pod Nano for a brand new second generation I-Pod Touch. My first thoughts where “I really wish this was Mat and not the shiny stainless steal”, because it marks very easy. That aside the device does look very nice and the screen is a good size, great for you tube videos although I don’t think I would watch a full film to often as apple promote a lot.

The menu which you can see to the left is very touch friendly, the icons are quite large so I have yet to come across the problem of pressing the wrong one but I did find this happens a few times when typing. Looking at the core apps they all work very well, the web browser is the best portable one I have ever scene and you tube loads very quick with surprisingly good quality. For the first time you can directly access I-Tunes and the app store from your I-pod. In both cases its a faster and cut down version that works great for the portable version.

 

Over all the I-Pod touch is a great little device, the battery life has been good so far and can be extended by turning off the WI-FI when not using it. I don’t think the second generation is worth the upgrade if you have an older I-Pod Touch but if you have been on the fence for a wile, now is the time to make the move. Bare in mind new versions could be announced this summer.

Starting To Think…

About what to do next. So the first year of my HND ends towards the end of May which means come that time 2010, I will be finished college and well will have to move on. Anyone who knows much about me will know I am working hard to get into the games industry as a level designer, but I just hope by that time I will have built up my skills enough to land a junior  position somewhere. As to where that will be, well not in Northern Ireland that’s for sure there is more or less no games industry here. England and Scotland have a lot of studios, but the dream one day would be America. San Fransisco looks like a great place to live and one day if I could land a job in the industry there I would love to move there.

So my new I-pod arrived and I have been geeking out over all the new features as its close to 4 years since I changed I-Pods. I have been using my PSP for all my podcasts and I will still use it for all the 1UP, geekbox, out of the game and Rebel FM ones. I like to keep each episode of those podcasts so I just grab the direct MP3. It also it means I can spread out battery time. At the moment its also the best portable gameing platform I have, some very cool stuff out there and cheep too.

O man the wire is getting good in fact season 1 ends on BBC 1 tonight and I hope they get going with season 2 very soon. Its very much like a book rather than your normal TV show, just love it so much. I need to get book 2 of the walking dead soon as the story was getting really good. I don’t read a lot of comics for the simple reason that I could not keep my self going in games and comics but I really enjoy them when I do. So that’s it loads of work to do as our college fucked up again so hoping for a good next few days before I get back. Not that I hate college, love the course.

DM-Fort

DM-Fort is finished but I have decided not to post a final version of it. I am happy with the map but I don’t feel it was as good as it should have been but I have to thank everyone who gave me feedback. I have started on the next one and its going to be another speed mapping thing this time I plan to make a beta in seven days so it will be posted on Tuesday the 21st. I am going to be updating gearsofgames.net every day until then. I spent an hour or so blocking it out this morning as I came up with the idea yesterday as development ended on fort.

I am going for a 1V1 map this time and am really excited about the setting as its not an area I have explored much before. Keep an eye on gearsofgames.net all this week for updates.

The Cake Is Gone

So i finished Dead Space if you look at the post below this one you can see a review, but its a great experience and will make you crap your points at more than a few points. Braid is a game I never picked up on 360 but with it now out on PC i got it for £9.99 and am enjoying it so far. It looks great and runs very well on my laptop so I can play in bed too.

Unreal build times are getting to be a pain at the moment as a start to finish of dm-fort. I had to drop down the lightmap resolution get get better shadows but that also takes a lot longer to build. But I am hopping to finish the map soon. 

Not sure why but I did watch the new Doctor Who yesterday. It was a bit shit to be honest and I wish the BBC would spend less on it and more on other programs because they have produced some classic stuff over the years.  Doctor Who can only be summed up as “my first SI-FI show” in my opinion, its far from the stuff that’s at the top. I do enjoy Torchwood though, they should push that forward more.

Before I go i did order a new I-pod which I am excited about. I have not changed it in 4 years so I went for a second generation I-pod touch. Really looking forward to getting it. I am interested in trying a bit of development for it but the SDK only runs on Mac, so I will have to look at a virtual PC work around type thing.

Dead Space Review

“Run Isaac, Run for fuck sake!”. I first said that at around the 10 minute mark in dead space and it was a common phrase right up until the very end.

In Dead Space you take on the role of Isaac an engineer that’s part of a small group heading out to investigate the goings on on board the USG Ishimura. To talk any more about the story would spoil the game big time, but the introduction sequence is very well put together as you approach the Ishimura you get a sense of just how large it is. Now its no surprise to anyone that’s something has gone wrong other wise the game would be a bit boring. Not long after docking the team is attacked and Isaac is split off from them. Its at this point he is forced to grab a mining tool to defend him self.

This is where the gameplay gets interesting. Rather than just pumping rounds into the Necromorphs you have to cut off there limbs, which will at first slow them and then kill them. The  Necromorphs will vary a lot in the game and yes it is scary as hell. The environments do vary a lot again I don’t want to spoil anything but you will be surprised. Dead Space hands down has the best HUD i have ever scene. Its all projected in 3D in front of Isaac as it would as if it was him that was reading it and the third person view allows you to check it out from all angles.

Dead Space in my mind is the best SI-FI horror experience in any media to date.

5/5

Five Minutes Of Heaven

I actually didn’t get to watch this on Sunday night due to Lost being on at the same time but thanks to I-Player, I was able to watch it on Monday as I worked in Unreal. Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt in particular are some of my favourite actors and their for one of the major reasons I watched it. That and living in Northern Ireland my self there is always a general interest in this kind of thing.

So the story starts off in the height of the troubles and Laim’s character Alistair a member of the UDA is sent to kill Joe’s (played by James Nesbitt) brother. Joe is a direct witness to the events and his mother has blamed him for it ever since. Flashing forward into modern day there is a lengthily car journey for each of the men as they reflect on the past and the meeting that awaits them. I found this next part of the film very interesting both men arrive at different times at the location where the program is being made and it was opening to see how very emotional interviews and scenes required several takes, something that happens but you would never see in the final program. At the last minute Joe pulls out and the two men don’t meet. With out boring you much more they evenly come face to face at Joe’s childhood home and the place of the murder. Joe is planning revenge,  his “Five Minutes Of Heaven”.

The ending its self was different and didn’t have the two shaking hands but one of them was able to move on from what had happened. I have always enjoyed the setting of the Troubles for TV programs but this is one of the most interesting I have ever scene and its still on I-Player for people in the UK who wish to see it and I recommend you do.

Did The BBC Rob The Wire

Sure 600,000 is massive number for the average channel on Sky (UK digital TV service) but when the top programs each week on the BBC get over 10M you have to ask your self whats going wrong? I am very grateful that its showing every week night on BBC2, but 23:20 is not prime time viewing for most of the UK. I think its time for the BBC to move past the likes of Doctor Who which has long since had its day. They could have shown the wire twice a week Tuesday and Thursday for example at 21:00 on BBC2. Viewings would have been in the millions and a lot more people would have been exposed to this wonderful show.

End of rant but I really feel that the BBC need to move beyond the shows they currently have. Some have been going on for ever and are starting to lack creativity. The prime time space needs to be shared out a lot more to newer and less exposed programs.

Left 4 Dead Review (Xbox 360)

“You’s stay there ok, stay there, I will lure him up… O Shit RUN RUN, don’t get hit”. Yea that me and a few friends trying to get the nothing special achievement on L4D and having the time of our lives. Because Left 4 Dead is a co-op game at its heart.

The game ships with four campaigns that can take 30mins to 5 Hours to complete depending on what difficulty you play on. Easy and normal offer a great jumping in point wile advanced and expert are a much bigger challenge along with extra achievements. Weapons start of basic but later into each campaign faster and more powerful weapons are up for grabs.

Verses mode allows you to take on the role of the special zombies them selves (smoker, boomer, hunter and tank). Noting is more fun than cornering your buddy who is lagging behind and riping him apart as the hunter or knocking everyone off the side of the building as the all powerful tank.

If you are planning on playing Left 4 Dead on your own then don’t waste your cash. The AI’s good but can fuck up at times and you won’t get your money’s worth. Simply put L4D is the ultimate multiplayer zombie experience.

5/5