Innistrad Previews

So it’s finally Inistrad preview time. I’ve been looking forward to an dreading this time in equal measure. It’s good for the obvious reasons, new set, new themes, new monsters (quite literally in this set.) Yet is also marks the summer holidays drawing to a close, which is hardly a fun time. I can’t dwell on that though, but instead I CAN talk about some of the cards revealed at pax.

One of the most important reveals was the night and day mechanic. It’s like flip, but with a twist – there’s something on both sides of the card. Meaning you use proxies or sleeves. It’s interesting, and to be completely honest I’m not sure how I feel. It seems that’s going to have to wait until my first draft event to truly see what it’s like, and drafting, with cards being open, should provide an altogether different experience. Rather than write 500 words on a single card, showing it’s uses in many decks etc, I’ll do a paragraph on a few reveals that I particularly liked or otherwise had reason to pay attention too. I may post a few decks once the whole set is revealed, but basing a deck on a card when half the support is unrevealed seems a tad silly :D
And before I start, a word on how I play. Commander mainly, so I’ll keep that as a main idea, but also play constructed60 and sealed, so I’ll look from all viewpoints really but dedicated competitive. I’m not quite there yet…

Ludevic’s test subject
The first D/N(day/night… hey, Death Note!) card that I really liked the look of was this. Starts off weak, but with a small(well, commander wise) investment you get a massive 13/13. Sure, they could take it out by then, but the same can be said for every card. It seems that blue and green and having a good time bleeding their colour pies as of late – green has been taking a bunch of draw power, and blue has fatties. Don’t believe me?
Take a look back. Stormtide Leviathan is fairly fat, and there are very few other creatures with over 8 power. Who knows, we could be onto something here! But I digress. It’s not quite the Frankenstein’s monster I was expecting from the first blue, but I like it even more. I like how they have shown this mechanic makes sense for more than just werewolves, as forcing an egg to hatch into this is quite fitting.

Elite Inquisitor
It should be noted one of my commander decks is mono white soldiers. I play Kazandu Blademaster, cause he’s awesome, and I look forward to having him gain an ally in this Elite Inquisitor. He’s pretty good anyway, with a nice set of abilities that really look like they belong to a higher mana cost. His protection for the major beasties is also gonna make him a potential threat in the format, certainly in drafts. And outside of the gloomy depths of Innistrad, it’s bound to come in useful here and there.








Olivia Voldaren

Until this card, I didn’t know what top down design was. Not in the sense that I didn’t understand, but that I literally didn’t know. I looked it up, and thought this was a pretty good example. It could have been executed better, but I still love it. I’m self professed to love multicolour cards, so this already has my vote. But then I actually read it, and it’s awesome. You take a bite, gain power from it, and then bring that creature over to your side. Quite fitting. Now, maybe you should have powered up their creature from it becoming a vampire, but maybe that would be a tad overpowered. And you know what, it has construted potential. For a measly two mana it can power itself up and kill a weak creature, or if it survives take control of it. It’s going to be a massive threat for commander perhaps, but I’d like to see how it plays out. If the vampire subtheme is well enough supported this could be a surprise winner. But I hope not so I can pick up one cheap myself!

Enemy Dual Lands

The reason I quote the set, and not the individual revealed Woodland Cemetery, is because they really are similar and what can be said to one will really apply to all, so it’s fair to deal with them all at once. Personally, these are my species of dual land. The reliance on basic lands means you still have to keep the fundamentals in your deck, but allows for some mana fixing when the need arises. Looking back through magic’s land history the bounce lands are perhaps my favourite for longer/multiplayer games due to the card advantage(not technically, but essentially works out that way. I don’t really count mana gen-lands as cards, but that’s another story for another time.) These are definitely my land of choice for constructed. Balanced pretty well and, if I may say so, are the best balance of dual lands to date. There only flaw is that you can only have 4, really wanting some other form of mana fixing, and as a rare opportunity for enemy colours as is I doubt we will see it. All around brilliant though, I’ll be glad to pick up whichever I can find.

Hollowhenge Scavanger

I looked at my previous card choices and saw I had represented every colour but green, yet when it came to choosing one I found myself struggling, even though we have seen 10 green cards, the most so far. I obviously can’t say this speaks for the set as a whole, as 10 cards is a minimal amount, but at least this selection is limited.
And to be honest, I didn’t choose this card because I like it as much – to be honest, I find it quite underwhelming. Yet it is the only card that shows off the morbid ability so far – and that I like a lot. In its current form it is underwhelming to say the least, but It has potential I really like. There could be a card that says “Morbid- Whenever a nontoken creature dies this turn, put a 2/2 Black zombie into play”. Perhaps not in those words, but you get my meaning. It has potential to do some really fun things for the game, and making your opponent think twice about killing your creatures is always a good thing to do – perhaps not in a graveyard set, but none the less! It’s a mechanic I look forward to reading more about as the weeks pass.

I hope you enjoyed this little slice of my mind in relation to the new set. I don’t really have any magic-liking followers (yes, that is a hint) so the standard “If you like it, I’ll do more” can’t really apply. Instead, I’ll say that I WILL being doing more magic related articles in the future. I actually rather enjoyed writing this, so don’t be surprised to see a top 10 cards of the set or even top 5 of each colour – or whatever – come the full spoiler. Until then, *insert cheesy card-related good luck pun here*.

Oh, and by the way, here’s my preview card for the new set. Didn’t I mention I had one?

I doubt I got you, but worth a try. We will probably see SOMETHING like this… but meh, who knows!
Thanks for reading.

Lack of posts

I lied.
I've been making a MC adventure map, hence lack of posts.
It'll be on here once its done.

Grand Theft Auto IV Review

Getting a PS3 certainly has been an experience. Before January of this year my gaming of the last few years consisted of WOW, Wii and the DS. While each is good it’s own respect, a gaping void was opened by this period. While the wii certainly has some killer titles, they are certainly not as plentiful as other formats. And again with the DS, there are many good titles but for a gamer like me a dry spell was placed over the last few years. So picking up a PS3 lead to the purchase of several Nintendo-unfriendly titles I had missed. And this, arguably, places above them all.
This was my first game of the Grand Theft Auto series, yet this was rarely a hindrance at any point during the game. At first my lack of experience with the genre lead combat and driving a bit of a mixed experience, yet it was not long until I had got to grips with these controls. No alienation can be found in the story either, as you start afresh as a Serbian immigrant to Liberty City named Niko Bellic. You start slow, running errands and driving taxi’s, but it is not long before a darker side to the city is revealed as you assume the role of a hired gun. There are a variety of characters that keep the story interested throughout, and as usual I won’t talk too much about specifics. It’s no Heavy Rain, but it’s certainly enough to prevent me from skipping a single cut scene. The tech is hardly impressive when compared to L.A. Noire, but considering the release date it does the job. Now may be a good time to note my way of playing this game – I’m a story man. I’ll play though the missions and sub events and rarely venture off on a tangent of killing. Indeed, many reap enjoyment from taking arms and wrecking havoc among the city, and while after a few frustrating missions it can be a change, I do not see it as a pivotal point of the game for me.

Combat is rather different to what I expected – there is a large emphasis on cover and shooting by default is automated, with your aim instantly locking and following a target – placing importance of not the accuracy of your shot but the timing. Sometimes it’s hard to resist the urge to bugger it and run in all guns blazing, which can work if your careful so it’s not set in stone how you approach each mission. The auto-aim system is far from perfect however, as every now and again your drawn towards a far off target when there’s someone shooting your ass, resulting in a swift yet annoying death which doesn’t always seem like your fault. This is worsened by ineffective use of checkpoints – often you must waste several minutes getting to the location again just to have another go. Of course there should be some penalty to dying(I don’t expect an instant replay) but it seems a bit unnecessary. You also don’t recover body armour or health if you try again, meaning there are only a few mission’s you can take advantage of what limited time saving there is, as walking into some areas without body armour is suicide for your average player. While the expansion packs fix the checkpoint issue, the body armour problem is often left unchecked, which can make a frustrating mission(in a good way) even more frustrating(in a bad way.) Ignoring this though, the core game play is very good – and that’s only the combat. There are races held around liberty city as well, with and the driving is not quite the best I’ve seen, but it does the job and is overall an enjoyable experience.
Getting to browse Liberty city on the go really shows how much Rock star cares about the product – it’s gorgeous. I played the majority of the game without HD, yet I was still impressed with what I was seeing. It feels like a living, breathing city in contrast to some other places I’ve visited (E.G. No More Heroes’ Santa Destroy ) and other than cab drivers, you never seem to see the same face twice. The same can be said for idle conversation overheard as passing by and even the complaints as you barge past a group of bystanders – it always seems like something different is going on. A completely optional touch that I loved is the variety of people you can happen to walk by and interact with. From a spoiled youth giving away money to an old friend from the war, you need never interact with these people but it shows that these characters do have a past beyond the games natural progression. In between that, the variety of cars, a mass of radio stations, and carefully constructed recognisable landmarks I would be lying if I said I was anything but extremely impressed in Rockstar’s efforts at making the game what it is.

Yet, while playing it I felt that it was not as good as it’s reputation made out. I enjoyed it, yes, but it was far from the best I had played. Then I played something else. I realised something was missing, and it soon dawned on me just how good GTAIV was. It’s a game everyone(mature enough at least) should play. Don’t like the story? See the sights or kill some time seeing the city. Like it? Sorted. It’s strange to realise how good it is after completion, but looking back I enjoyed my time in liberty city enough to revisit it not soon after in the expansions. But that’s for another time. I highly recommend you play this game, take in the city, and be amazed by the amount of effort placed to create Liberty City. It’s far from a perfect game, but it’s got the closest I’ve seen on the PS3.
96%
A word on the expansions.
Taking Liberty City from an outside view of either a member of the lost bikers gang or a right hand man to esteemed nightclub owner is certainly a side to see. It gives a different perspective on the same city, and fix some of the originals problems. Bikes were fairly annoying in that a slight tap could sent you flying in the original, but TLATD fixes this and makes bikes the transport of choice. Both give new weapons and events that are well worth playing. I won’t say much, but I waited to review this game until I had completed both expansion packs, and they certainly make for a full collection. Issues like lack of body armour still remain, but it’s still a great play.

Infamous 2 Review

Barely two years have passed since gamer’s first encounter Cole MacGrath, Choosing to side with justice or rebel against it in the original Infamous. Yet it’s time to take charge (intended pun) again and confront the beast.

This time around, after a brief reminder of the first game, almost immediately the threat is laid out – the beast is here. Cole’s powers drained after an initial confrontation with the beast, the only path to victory lies in collection of several “blast cores”, creating a central focus for the game. However, each blast core leaves the beast a step closer, so the pressure is on to gather them all before it’s too late.

One of the defining aspects of Infamous was the karma system, completely changing Cole himself, from a revered Hero to an Infamous villain. These choices can be carried over, so if you’ve played the first game (And you really should) you at least feel your previous efforts are not completely wasted. The karma system is still in place, but this time around I noticed a few problems with it. Some dialogue shared between both sides feels out of place with establishment of character elsewhere. This is only a minor issue, and for the sake of time and plot some things need to stay central. In the first game we are lead to believe Cole couldn’t give a damn if the beast total’d the world, yet the majority of the game is spent preparing to defeat it. You are also not punished enough for taking actions contrary to your choice, making the small decisions seem unimportant.

Kuo and Nix generally have there own karma alliances, and you will see more of one depending on your karma decisions.

However, some nice touches make balance these negatives and make it worthwhile. Some primary missions allow you to choose two means to an end, and while they lead to the same outcome it makes a second play though even more worthwhile, especially for the final karma choices. Outside of missions random events can also alter karma, from silencing protestors to diffusing a bomb, building on a similar mechanic from the original but giving greater variety to constantly show off heroics or wreck havoc around the city, giving a more real sense to your choice rather than the odd mission or line of text here and there.

Combat remains fairly similar to the first game, harnessing electricity to take out enemies from any distance. There are a few new moves, with a selection of equally devastating Ionic moves, which well placed can decimate entire armies in one swoop. It’s generally a blast(did it again!) to experience, and any qualms with melee combat are solved with the amp, Zeke’s latest invention that makes fighting up close more satisfying, with a successful streak ending in a cinematic finishing move. The new selection of enemies in the Militia and Ice Men are generally fun to play against, but with some later conduits simply bypassed after a few defeats. Cole’s knack of being pulled to the closet object is great for exploring, but during combat can lead to frustrating moments of hopping between scenery under a bunch of fire. Luckily enough, this is forgivable seeing just how fun zipping around the city is, and this same pull is what allows this.

The new ionic moves look and feel great to see, and quickly defeat most in your path.

When it comes to reviewing a sequel, the best you can do is compare the changes, and on most fronts Infamous 2 is a far superior game to its predecessor. Yet playing though shows there are still issues here and there, yet it is not enough to take away from the overall experience. The game is at its heart an upgrade of the previous installment, so if you enjoyed that this will be just as good, if not better. While pacing seems out of place at times, it’s fun to play though and demands you return to see the other side of the story, leading to a worthwhile purchase, and with Infamous for free to most PSN owners, or cheap pre-owned prices, you really have no excuse not to pick up the pair and have a shockingly (third time’s the charm!) good time.
94%

Back

SO yeah, exams over, so 11 weeks to go now. I'll be trying to get at least 1 article/review each week, so (dont?) look forward to it!

Infamous 2 demo up now!

Hey, been an absence again. Got a bunch of PS3 games down, all going to receive a written review alongside the aforementioned title. But its 1:30am, I’m tired, but I’ve just finished the Infamous 2 demo – downloadable now from the playstation store – and I want to give a first impressions while its still fresh in my mind.
Freaking Amazing.
I won’t hide that Infamous is probably my favorite game on the PS3 I’ve played thus far. That may be a limited spectrum, but regardless it compares to pretty much any other game I’ve played from other libraries, so I can give merit to it’s awesomeness – needless to say, I had high expectations. So from a mere demo, was it to satisfy my appetite? Depends on what you get from that. Do I want to play more now? Hell yeah.
After a brief overview of the past story, your treated with 4 missions from various points from presumably the early game ( 2 good, 2 bad). While each short, It manages to showcase the immense boss battles, soaring city landscapes and new enemies in one neat package. Enough background. Here’s what stuck in my mind.
- It’s faster. I remember Cole speeding around Empire City in decent time, but somehow they made the whole experience faster, more fluid and obviously more outright fun.
- You can interact with the environment. Whereas Empire City’s landscape would not change much more than the location of cars throughout the game, within minutes I was launching a few shots to sweep the pillars from underneath the militias feet, sending them crashing to the ground. Something not previously possible, a very nice addition.
- While not scary so much, one set of the new enemies quickly invokes panic when they literally jump right at you in contrast to the usual gun line from a distance. Interesting, looking forward to seeing it.
- It offered just enough to showcase everything I wanted to know to confirm that this is a game I need, but not enough to ruin anything.
I could go on, but for your sake and mine I’ll stop here. I highly recommend you have a download RIGHT now or at the soonest inconvenience. The only excuse is that you don’t own a ps3 or you avoided the first game. That in itself is not really forgivable, but at least you can get it with you welcome back package to consolidate. I can’t say if the full game quite lives up to it without playing it, but I’m more hyped than ever now and can’t wait for June 10th. Portal 2, L.A. Noire, Infamous 2, Ocarina of Time, and adventures yet untold, 2011 looks to be a brilliant year for gaming and choosing a top is gonna be pretty hard, but if this lives up to the demo it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see it on top.

3DS "Review"

The 3DS has nearly been out for a week in the UK, and most of us have had time to mull over the ins and outs of the consoles. Its Nintendo’s most expensive handheld to date, so many will be asking – is it worth the money? My answer – yes.
Rather than give a lay down on everything the console does I’ll be commenting on features that particularly stood out to me as you’ve probably heard everything there is too already (And if not the internet has a plethora of information.) Anyway, onto the “review”.

The first thing you’ve got to notice is the machine itself. It looks brilliant – from the front at least. The surface is immune to fingerprints which I’m sure will be a welcome sign to anyone. It’s a nice finish overall and a massive step up from the DS I’ve been used too for all this time, but perhaps not as much for the DSi generation. It’s not perfect though. The stylus is oddly positioned at the back of the console again akin to the original DS. It’s also retractable and often a struggle to remove, which adds a few extra unnecessary seconds. Hardly a factor that will sway you away from the console, but an annoyance non the less. Another problem at the back is that – it’s metal. Rather than the sleek combination of black and grey surrounding the rest of the console, a metal strip sticks out and just makes me wonder why they didn’t cover it up. I assume this will be improved upon in the next iteration. Both these issues are minor niggles at the most, and really don’t take away from the overall feel of the console. The Circle pad works great in conjunction with the D-pad, both easier to use than it may first look.
However, who buys a console solely for its looks? The software is what really matters, and this is where the console really stands out from previous iterations. It’s worth considering I skipped the DSi so some of my points may not be a massive step up from that, but compared to Phat and Lite it really is a massive difference.
The menu is clear, concise, easy to navigate and can be manipulated at will, much akin to the iPhone layout.It’s a nice thing to see when you load your console and allows a small amount of multi tasking, but only 1 main task at a time. It gets kind of annoying confirming you want to quit each application, yet the features saved me once or twice. What really shines out is the sheer magnitude of features bundled in with the console. Classics like playing games (duh) alongside the DSi’s camera mode and sound are carried over, but many more gems are hidden within.

There are 3 games bundled in with the console that will entertain for a few hours (Face Raiders, AR games, Mii Plaza games). They are surprisingly fun, yet short, but for free you really can’t ask for much more. They serve to highlight some of the 3DS’s new functionality in the gyroscope, pedometer and AR use more than as standalone games, yet there is massive potential in each of these titles. I personally spent hours exploring before even loading my bought game. The Mii creator from the wii has also been ported over and expanded for 3DS use, able to go through the old method or take a picture to Mii-ify. It fails at times, but often gives surprisingly good results. It’s nice to see this feature is here to stay, enabling there use in games such as Pilotwings.Going through what I love about each feature would need an entire review in itself, so I’ll stop at this – prepared to be impressed.

But there’s more. I’ve managed to get this far without even mentioning what is a key feature to many potential buyers - the 3D. “Believe your eyes” is a the main element of nintendo’s ad campaign, so how does it stand up in the real world? Simply put, it works. Everyone seems to see it slightly differently, but as a general rule the layers of depth it adds really is something to see. It works. And it’s great.
But is it necessary? Nope. Even on launch day, I soon found myself switching between the two with a pretty even split. This may be down to Street Fighter able to produce fantastic images due to its game play. I even found it distracting at times, having to keep in the sweet spot during a tense battle can sometimes be troublesome. But with the ability to adjust 3D levels without so much as a pause, it’s easy to adjust given your situation. It’s nice to have, and the console excels with 3D or without.

However, there are a few things that I have a problem with. The first issue stems back to a hardware problem, battery life. 3-5 hours is abysmally low for a handheld, and this could easy push away buyers who save there handhelds for long trips – it just won’t last. Eventually either Nintendo or a 3rd party will remedy this via a battery pack or an updated console, but for those who are wanting to purchase now may question its immediate use.
The streetpass feature is also a really neat idea – you walk past someone who also has the mode turned on, then your two consoles exchange data without so much as a sound. It can be nice to open your 3DS and see your trophies have battered another’s in Street Fighter; or even that another Mii has appeared to help save the king in Streetpass quest. Yet this stems back to the battery life. The console has a short battery life as is, having to leave wireless active on the go just in case is a hard sell. This is especially hindered by the lacklustre numbers that come with every launch, coupled with UK tradition will make the occurrence rare outside of game stores. If this didn’t require that extra battery life from an already short lifespan I would love it, but for now it’ll have to stay off unless on short journeys.
A similar situation lies in the pedometer – the console needs to be on for it to work. If you take your console with you it’s generally off to start with, so being forced to ensure it’s on (using precious battery life) is frustrating. It may be necessary (I’m no technical wiz) but frustrating non the less. There’s life in this though, as for the steps you take you earn play coins which can unlock nice little features like extra AR games or rent-a-hero in streetpass quest. It’s worth doing it for the 1000 steps a day to max your cap.

I hate to end on a bad note, and for a console like this, I can’t.. I love it. The problems I’ve outlined are the only downsides I can find other than an underwhelming launch line-up, but that will soon change. I started this review aiming for a quick review, but I’m already over 1000 word. I’m just bursting with stuff to say about the 3DS. I could now easily go on for another few thousand words about just how much I love it, but I need not bore you any longer. All I can say is that if the negatives put you off, think again. They may be frustrating, but the overall package is fantastic, even for its hefty price tag. I would recommend it to anyone with only one barrier to instant purchase – the games. As innovative and outright fun games like face raiders are, they don’t quantify to such a purchase. If you want to wait for the killer apps to be released, fair enough. Prices may have changed or upgrades are release. But there’s something for everyone (even your grandma) in this little machine, so sooner or later, you should add one to your collection.