GosuStore

A reminder to all

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Just a reminder to all you gaming fanatics out there ^^ GosuStore goes live this Sunday and I'm hoping you guys like the site and the layout and I would appreciate any criticism as far as the layout goes and I guess what you guys would like to see on the site. The main ideal of GosuStore is to keep the customer in mind so I want you guys to be perfectly comfortable navigating and browsing the site. I myself am working on it along with another 2 developers and I can say with confidence that we are looking forward to the Sunday launch :)

We now have an affiliate program organised as well so if anyone wants to get involved in promoting GosuStore please inbox me at w10202matt@gmail.com as it's essential to get the word out to as many gamers as possible :)

We have also been playing around with the idea of having Gosu lans which will involve prizes from some of our sponsors and us of course, for competitive gamers every month and want to know what you guys think about it. So let us know in the comments section of the blog what your thoughts are and we'll see what we can do also check out our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003058403886 :)

Hey Guys just a quick update

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:22:00 +0000

This post is just to let any of you guys who have been following the GosuStore blog know that you can alternatively find out the happenings on the latest video games and game reviews in the GosuStore blog via the GosuStore twitter page http://twitter.com/GosuStore. We'll likely also soon have a Facebook page up soon and hope to hear from you guys :)

This was just meant to be a short and sweet post so I'll leave it at that. Happy Gaming to all :)

My top 3 games of all time.

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:13:00 +0000

This post will be slightly different to my usual posts but I'm really fascinated to know what video games you guys have grown up with and what games you would consider favorites? I guess I just want to list 3 games that I feel have really sort of evoked a feeling of immersion within me and have truly stuck out for me throughout my gaming years so without further ado I shall begin by listing the my 3rd favorite to this day first and of course my favorite game (or franchise) first.

3rd - Legacy Of Kain series

I know this game never really generated a huge fan base as far as I know, but I found the storyline, voice acting and lore in the game to be absolutely superb and I thoroughly enjoyed the LoK series. I found the Blood Omen games to be slightly lacking in comparison to the Soul Reaver games maybe with the exception of Legacy Of Kain - Defiance which essentially let you play as both Raziel and Kain which is just pure awesome. In any regard I definitely feel that the LoK series deserves a place amongst my top 3. It's literally impossible though to narrow down my favorite game in the series as they all have something interesting to add to the story and are all immersive in their own way.

2nd - Diablo

This comes 2nd because I remember way back when I was a wee lad I was too scared to play the single player for fear of dying to the butcher countless times. But one day I went to a friends house and basically felt a little braver with a comrade there ;D (we were 10 or so) and I actually got past the butcher and progressed quite far into the game and I thoroughly enjoyed it and thus my love for the Diablo and it's expansions and sequels began. Engaging storyline, awesome replayability and just pure fun as I'm sure most of you know :)

1st - Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

This game when I bought it way back, came on 6 cd's and I was so damn excited to play it after watching the trailers which back then were really quite a spectacle in terms of RPG's. I've always liked the variation of spells in the game. The absolutely immense level of detail that went into the story and I love how everything in the Forgotten Realms is so well connect (ie. Neverwinter, Ice Wind Dale etc.) So just because of my love of awesome dialogue in games and how you sort of have free roam when it comes to formulating relationships with so many different people in any forgotten Realms game I had to list Baldurs Gate as my all time favorite game. Sarevok is an awesome antagonist and is only topped by Jon Irenicus (Baldurs Gate 2) in my opinion. Also the voice acting in the game is absolutely mind blowing.

Space Marine

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:20:00 +0000

This review I decided would be on the relatively new Warhammer game. Warhammer 40K Space Marine. I've always been a pretty big fan of the Warhammer franchise and I had high hopes for this game after I'd caught up on the hype about the pretty fast paced multiplayer aspect of the game, and of course the storyline of the singleplayer which for the most part is pretty epic in any Warhammer video game. So I finally got my paws on this game and I will unleash a flurry of opinions based on my gaming experience.

Chaos ensued after getting hammered.

First of all I found the loading screen of the game to be pretty awesome. Essentially Captain Titus who is the protagonist and player character of the game, killing orks so that was immediately a plus. So of course soon after I entered the menu I proceeded to start the campaign and here is my breakdown of the gameplay and facets of this game through my perception. Space Marine more or less pits you against hordes of orcs for the most part of the campaign, deviating slightly by adding chaos enemies later on of course. As far as your arsenal goes, you get to choose a melee weapon and you also get to swap out ranged weapons for a suitable one depending on the need of the situation. Essentially each level is more or less pretty linear with the occasional event of finding a jump pack and being able to fly up and rain hell on your enemies by crashing down onto them with your power hammer. You also have the ability to execute your foes after stunning them which returns a bit of health to you.

I found that the level design was mediocre at best, nothing truly spectacular and I felt that any true effort put into the single player was not really apparent. The game can easily be finished within a few hours, and if you're looking for in depth storyline Space Marine is probably not the best in terms of that. I was also quite dissapointed at the lack of boss fights in the campaign mode, I think there were maybe 3 boss fights at most and they were pretty easy to defeat. But putting all that aside the game truly shines in it's multiplayer component and it's pretty apparent that it is what Space Marine was made for.

If it can cut through orcs it can cut through a giant crane

I thoroughly enjoyed the multiplayer aspect of Space Marine and it's a nice touch that they allow you to customise your armor to a very fine level of detail. You get to choose to either appear as an ultra marine or a chaos marine although in my opinion both look pretty badass. You get all of the weapons from the Single Player campaign and I found it very satisfying killing my friends with heavy bolters and plasma guns ;D

To sum it all up, Space Marine is a good game and although the single player doesn't exactly shine, it more than makes it up in it's multiplayer. Anyone who likes fast paced intense 3rd person games like Darksiders, God of War etc. will probably like Space Marine with the exception of the vast difference in storyline quality. I don't want to let out too many spoilers so check out the game for yourselves and more specifically pick it up from our store when we open up shop ;)

Just a quick update

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:46:00 +0000

This post is just a quick update on the happenings at GosuStore. We just want to let you guys know that after the opening of our retail store we will be adopting a trade in system similar to a few other retail stores but with a few added benefits including a respectable discount on any game purchase at the store. However we won't give out too many details, we'd prefer to keep you guys in a bit of suspense :)

We're also planning on selling other gaming merchandise as well, such as t-shirts, hoodies and other miscellaneous items relating to your favorite franchises. So keep your eyes out for that. Lastly we are going to be giving a 10% discount on any items bought the Gosu Retail Store on the day of the opening, so make sure you are there and make sure to tell your friends about it.

That just about wraps up this post and GosuStore will be sure to keep this spot updated.

Dues Ex - The Human Revolution (May contain spoilers)

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:39:00 +0000

So I decided to take it upon myself to give a brief review on Dues Ex - The Human Revolution. I recall a time long ago when I was a lot younger probably about 13 or 14 when I played the very first Dues Ex game and I guess at that age it was difficult to fully appreciate the complexity of an FPS/RPG of that type at the time (with all the augmentations and the like) yet somehow it still appealed to me. So naturally I was particularly excited when I heard about the newest installment of Dues Ex.

Badass Adam Jensen is badass

I will start by saying that I went ahead and purchased the Augmented edition of the game which basically features bonus content, the soundtrack and some pretty cool comics based on the Dues Ex world, I reckon it was a fairly good investment based on the amount of bonus content it provided. The game is set in the year 2027 and essentially you begin your journey as Adam Jensen who is basically assigned the role of security chief to one of the most prestigious augmentation research companies, Sarif industries. He is a normal human without any augmentations but due to certain events it was necessary for him to be equipped and rebuilt with said augmentations. As far as protagonists Adam Jensen seems like a proverbial badass with the shades but does the job of standing up for justice quite effectively.

In Dues Ex you get an inventory system where you can pick up various items to help make you more effective against your enemies. One thing to note however is that it is generally a very bad idea to run out guns blazing which leads me to categorize this with games such as Hitman and Splinter Cell. I personally was not such a big fan of the latter but that boils down to personal choice and whether you enjoy stealth based games. However in Dues Ex's case I felt it was a refreshing experience as I am a big fan of RPG's and I guess the leveling up skills aspect was a nice touch. You require praxis kits to level up your skills and essentially make you more of a nightmare for your foes, I found that one area that I guess could have been improved was the amount of energy you have and how quickly it gets used up. I suppose people might critisize that and say that it would be much too imbalanced to have it drain more slowly but you really have to think on your toes and plan what you're going to do before for instance activating stealth although I suppose that is where the challenge lies :)

Jensen will stop at nothing to satisfy his hacking addiction

I found the weapons to be quite diverse although still following a sort of linear trend with a lot of FPS games these days. You are able to obtain a shotgun, 10mm pistol, revolvers, sniper rifles and various other guns. I found myself using my 10mm for the majority of the time as I had upgraded it with various weapon upgrade kits that I had found and essentially it became pretty formidable even against some of the more armored foes. Something I really liked about Dues Ex was the cool hacking system that they added into the game. I tried my best to hack into every in game pc I could find as some of the emails were quite humorous and it made me feel pretty immersed in the game.

There was one particular moment that I felt really awesome about when I played and I had to basically bolt for a door because there really were no alternatives, as the room was swarming with enemies and there were no stealthy escapes save a vent a couple of meters away from the the exit point. So basically what I did was I used stealth and at that time I hadn't upgraded my energy cell quantity so it ran out very quickly, they spotted me and bullets were flying overhead yet I managed to dodge every one of them but essentially it made me feel very heroic and I give the game even more credit for evoking that emotion in me haha ;P

Do you feel lucky?

Dues Ex actually surprised me in how long it was and I guarantee you'll enjoy the amount of playtime you get especially if you do a lot of the side quests which I found quite entertaining. Of course if you're looking for an RPG where your choices regarding dialogue involve serious consequences for your characters moral alignment or the game world and where you get to experience how people perceive you because of it, Dues Ex will likely not be for you. However there is one choice which I will not disclose here due to it being a massive spoiler that determines a specific outcome in the game.

All in though I must say Dues Ex - The Human Revolution is a solid FPS with an amazing soundtrack and although boss fights may be a little easy I found the game as a whole to be very entertaining lengthy and engrossing.

Opening up shop

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:53:00 +0000

This post is just to let everyone know that the new GosuStore logo has been created and I'd love to hear what you guys think. It's pretty simplistic, but sometimes simple seems to do the job more effectively than some elaborate and detailed design. This post is also to inform you guys than GosuStore will be going live and will start selling products on the 23rd of October, which coincidentally also happens to be my birthday :P but that aside I'm really excited and I think the best present I could ask for is just being able to see all the work I've put into this idea being put to good use and turning out successfully.

you'll be able to order games from GosuStore online or at our retail outlet which will be opening at Tygervalley in Cape Town so we look forward to seeing you guys at the grand opening. Note though that the store itself will only be opening in late November but as stated before you will be able to buy our products off the online store starting the 23rd of October as our website will be fully functional.

With that being said this post was meant to be a short one just to inform of you of the latest happenings at GS. Furthermore for my next post I've decided to write up a review on a game I actually left alone because I was so hooked on killing zombies in Dead Island. This game was Dues Ex - The Human Revolution and I figured I may as well do a recap on it. Also in future I would really love if you guys could recommend games for me to review and scrutinize ;D and I'll do my best to try and highlight the good and the bad based on your opinions and my own experience.

My thoughts on Dead Island (may contain a spoiler or 2)

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:50:00 +0000

Hey guys, I haven't posted in awhile since my first blog but I figured it was time to update this space. So I decided after a bit of contemplation of what game to review, so to speak that the best choice would be the recently released Dead Island. First of all, when I heard about this title from a friend of mine, I didn't think much of it at all. I do love zombies and I thought the prospect of mindlessly killing the undead hordes would be fun but I thought it sounded like a Left4Dead clone and to be honest, personally I wasn't such a huge fan of Left4Dead or the sequel. I mean sure killing zombies is fun but it becomes monotonous after awhile and the levels become seemingly pointless as they all have more or less the same goal. But to get back on topic Dead Island surprised me in a few ways and of course has it's pitfalls like most other games.

As mentioned in the first paragraph of this post I heard about this game from a friend and that was exactly that I HEARD about it but had not actually seen any gameplay or trailers for it yet. So I eventually took it upon myself to youtube the game and see what I could find. I sat back in my chair waiting for the video to buffer (Sadly our internet connections in South Africa are ridiculous) and to my surprise I found that the official game trailer looked particularly well done and entertaining. So with that done I watched a few more videos more focused on the gameplay and naturally I decided to give it a spin.

A view of the Island Banoi

To begin I must say that graphically I was very impressed with Dead Island and the scenery was nothing short of eye candy (with the exception of the part of the game dealing with the sewers), the character models were done nicely and all in all it is a very visually appealing game. To add to that it's nice to see video game developers stray from the traditional sort of dark sort of gloomy type horror genres. I was also delighted to see that round about the very beginning of the game you can actually see the door where the zombies broke through in the official trailer of the game, and I thought that it was a nice touch.

The brutal plumbers of Banoi Island

As far as weapons go you begin with an oar and decide to brave the beach of the infected Australian island of Banoi, on which you find yourself. I found the game had a very Dead Rising kind of feel in regards to weapons just due to the sheer amount of items that can be used as weapons throughout the game. In Dead Island, firearms only become available fairly far into the game and I found that in my experience it was often more effective to simply run and start hacking the zombie hordes to pieces. This brings me to a negative point of the game. I found the combat system in dead island to be a bit clunky, for the most part hacking off limbs of mindless zombies can be fun but it just doesn't always feel like you have full control over your weapons at times besides the guns of course.

As mentioned in a couple of reviews before, the fire fights with the "Rascals" bandit gang in the game are particularly lackluster and further emphasises the focus of using melee weapons in Dead Island. Another negative point I might add would be the quality of the quest content. Dead Island is not a game for anyone expecting intricate storyline, as the quests are usually quite linear.

Despite these negatives Dead Island shines in it's coop and multiplayer capabilities. I found the game to be about over 9000 times more fun playing with my friends than I did alone. There's nothing more satisfying than fighting off the zombie hordes with friends (at least not in my opinion. I'm waiting for the zombie apocalypse!) and I had a lot of fun expressing my surprise as a zombie ran up behind me only to have it's head shot off by another player watching my back. Or doing a driveby and sitting on the back of a pick-up truck shooting at the undead horde.

All in all Dead Island takes the cake as being a really fun game with solid coop and with a few drawbacks that could be improved apon. But essentially the concept is good and I've been waiting for a zombie game that made me excited for awhile. If you're looking for non-stop zombie killing action with light easy going quest chains, Dead Island will be sure to keep you satisfied.

My views on Gaming

noreply@blogger.com (XiviaN) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:20:00 +0000

This is my first post on a topic I truly feel comfortable and confident talking about. I've been an avid gamer since I was about 5 or 6. Ah the old Wolfenstein 3D days where I would sit atop my fathers lap and he would move the character and I would be presented with the "prestigious" task of shooting mercilessly at enemy nazis. So essentially since then my love for games has just grown more and more as I've grown up and to this day my love for gaming still burns inside my heart so to speak.

So I decided one day that it might be a good idea to try to start my own vdieo game retail company and I have named the Gosu Store. The inspiration for the name of course comes from a Starcraft term and I just thought it seemed appropriate and awesome (Haters gonna hate :P). Regardless the company is based in Cape Town South Africa and the site will be up soon containing release dates and preorder schedules and all the neccesary contact details.

I will also be posting reviews on this blog of some games I have played and of recent releases and my thoughts on them. I am first and foremost a pc gamer but I don't by any means believe in bashing console gamers for their preference :P I encourage all of you guys to post comments and let me what you think of my reviews and of course also to voice your opinions on the games I review as well. Criticism is always welcome. Anyway for what it's worth if you have read this far and survived, you get my personal golden star of approval!! :D Nah, but I do extend my thanks to each and everyone of you guys. I hope to hear from you guys soon. On a side note if any of you guys have ever undertaken a task like starting a retail business I'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions on how I might be able to make this venture a complete success any tips, hints and advice is welcome.

I'm going to keep this blog updated as much as time allows, so till next time guys and happy gaming.