Friday, 26 June 2009

Where the Time Went

Two of your flesh mortal months ago I mentioned that much of my time was being siphoned away by some delicious but unnameable force. It appears that recently that force has revealed itself to the world.

I am to Battlefield Heroes what a pig is to mud, the devout consumer. I've been sampling this game at regular intervals for months now, alone and friendless, but now we may all bask in its' glory together. The full release version of the game has been slightly nerfed from the beta version though, I especially missed the "Get cash items for free" feature, that was a personal favorite.

Really, I'd recommend everyone to try it out, remember to add IcedInferno* to your friends list. Hey, why not? It is free.
To make me seem like a little less of a fanboy I'll concede that there a few foibles here and there that I am contractually obliged to present:
  • Purchased weapons and items last for either a week or a month, no permanent unlocks
  • At least in Vista the games' launcher can be very temperamental
  • The team I'm playing on generally starts losing when I join
  • Royals always seem to lose (See point 3)
On the bright side Dice's latest trailer makes me happy.

*I'm not sure if the friends list goes on character or account names, if it is the former add Georgefrey instead

Run away with my heart

Sunday, 21 June 2009

A Game of Cards

Sacred 2 arrived at my door a few days ago. In this post I had originally intended to inform all of you that I wasn't hooked on this game. It is good, do not misinterpret my words, but I could turn my console off without an intervention. Everything was cool, I was wandering around, a member of the nearly extinct race of cyborg Anubis tribute acts, fulfilling my destiny as a grisly envoy of the end with enthusiasm and vigor, but then it happened. A friend of mine, one of the ones who had touted this game as digital crack, encouraged me to create a new character so that we could play together, and do it from level one. From that moment onwards I started describing Sacred as addictive. Also, High Elves ftw.

The deeply intuitive among you may have tapped into the force and guessed that there is another heavily opinionated paragraph chambered and ready to fire. You may have also guessed that it is on a different subject. You may have guessed that it is about being able to play as Johnson in Halo ODST. If you guessed that last one, you guessed wrong.

Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers
is a game targeted directly at me, in fact if I look north at any time, I become blinded by the laser sight trained upon me. I am the kind of person who seeks to become a nerd in every way possible. Magic, like Dungeons and Dragons, is a game that I would whole heartedly like to sample, but due to a lack of friends willing to take the plunge with me, I haven't been able to. Duels of the planeswalkers emulates the willing friend fairly well, its' tutorial did an excellent job of explaining the game to me (although admittedly I have played multiple similar card games before, so I do have an advantage over regular newbies) and has delivered a satisfying, yet upsettingly short, roster of foes. The only thing missing is the ability to weave your own decks out of whole cloth, rather than just editing pre-made ones.
Still, if you've ever been curious about Magic: The Gathering I'd recommend this, but expect to have your arse handed you the first few plays, experienced Magic players will probably be underwhelmed though. Not that I'm an expert on Magic players.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get molested by the love child of a sea urchin and mighty Cthulhu.

It’s a kind of magic