Informative Gamer

Advice is good, like rice.

2010-11-14T17:41:00.000-04:00

Hello my small legion of followers. Any review you wanna see on here? I'm dry for ideas, I don't wanna go cliche and just do a new game... so something old. Thoughts?

Game Review #6: Vindictus

2010-11-10T01:04:00.002-04:00

At long last, my quick Vindictus review is ready to hit the site! What is Vindictus and what is all the hype about exactly? I'll tell it to you from my unbiased viewpoint. Let's get started...

Vindictus is a hack and slash RPG developed by devCAT and produced by Nexon. It was released to North Americans on October 27, 2010. It is the prequel to the MMORPG Mabinogi (Vindictus's code name is Mabinogi Heroes for this reason). It is the original growing storyline to lead up to the events depicted in Mabinogi. The thing that seperates Vindictus from other RPG/Hack and Slash games is its unique style of gameplay, and the fact that it utilizes the Valve physics engine. To give a really easy summary, I would simply say, this is comparable to a modern Diablo 2, with a third person 3d perspective. Let's talk about the gameplay for a moment.

I can't even get a max graphics screenshot because of how hardcore this game lags even the most modern computers.

As you can see, the character creation screen is very comparable to that of Oblivion, the open world RPG. Now, this game is free to play, but of course any free to play game has its perks if you pay into it. For example, all the things marked above with a * mean you need a premium character card. That unlocks unique looking hair, colors, and sometimes equipment (but the game is balanced around not giving players an equipment advantage for such services).

Combat is extremely similar to Diablo 2, as I stated earlier, in the sense that you are in complete control of your actions. You can left click to execute basic slashes, thrusts, parries, etc. or you can right click to deliver a final combo attack, or simply block/parry attacks. I would compare this to the system coming up in TERRA Online. A lot of people will tell you it's like the game Monster Hunter, but I personally never got to play that.

A big upside to the game is the realistic environment. For one, the game uses a real physics engine, enabling players to actually get a feel for the environment and the impact you have on it. For example, I come across a large bundle of wood blocking my path. In any other RPG you have to cry about it and go around, in this, you can destroy it. Anything wood or weak material can be destroyed by you, if not, some machines can destroy larger, more durable things.

So at this point you're probably thinking "It's just another korean hack and slash with no story, though it does sound decent". As I said earlier, the game is the prequel to Mabinogi. It is hundreds of years before the land of Erinn is reached. The people of this war torn world believe that by destroying the "Fomors" (monsters) of their land, they will be taken to Erinn (the promised land, if you will) by the goddess Morrighan. But the people of the world are losing faith and don't believe this is accomplishable. That's where you, the hero, step in.

Now, something I feel can be praised, or criticized, is the fact that you play as one of five various premade characters. By premade, I simply mean their appearance and nothing more. There are five characters playable in the world: Lann, the boy who dual wields swords and has very fast, medium attacks. Fiona, the girl who is built for sword and board play (sword and shield). Evie, the all around mage (at a certain level she gains the ability to use scythes, making her somewhat ok at melee). And lastly, a character to be implemented soon, Kai. Kai is an archer class who deals with leather items and deadly, long ranged, accurate attacks. If you're afraid it's going to not give you variety and everyones the same, do not fret. You level up the character and look very unique depending on your item preference (It's not like certain large MMO's that make all endgame players look the same... *ahem* though I needn't say more).

There is a very fun dungeon system, similar to that of Mabinogi. Basically, to get to a dungeon you gather up to 6 people (maybe more, I haven't played too far in) and you board a boat and travel to the location. The dungeons consist of you going through corridors and eliminating monsters in waves, until you reach the end and have to fight a very strong boss.

Vindictus was extremely well recieved, gaining average votes of 4/5 and 5/5 by many top gaming sites. It also was nominated for MMO of the year at E3 2010. The last note I need to make is this: When you aren't in a dungeon, the game can get REALLY laggy. Make sure you're on a 512 MB card with gddr3 memory or equivalent, and have a dual core at 2.6 GHz or higher, because in my honest opinion, this is the most graphically demanding MMORPG to date. Now, to finalize this review.

Plot: 8/10

When playing Vindictus, it feels like I'm playing a real console RPG. It's very involving and interactive for the most part. Not much else to say, it's just a well written game.

Graphics (for their time): 10/10

This game takes my 10/10 vote because of how ridiculously good it looks.

Other MMORPG games on the market nowadays tone their game graphics down for stupid reasons, or just laziness, but this game is so visually impressive I'd be astounded to see a 2560x1900 player on full graphics give me screenshots. If you are one of those gamers who wants graphics to be a priority *cough console fanboys* then you've got it.

Controls: 7.5/10

Really responsive controls, the game can be played with either mouse and keyboard, keyboard, or joypad (if you configure it properly). Any way you play it, it feels really, really smooth. Not much else to say besides that.

Replay Value: 8/10

A very replayable game, as you can play as any of the other heroes if you feel your current one is getting boring. They all play quite differently, especially the mages, since they incorporate melee with their spellcasting sometimes. It is also a genuinely challenging game if you like "hard mode" style content.

Price / Where to get it: IT'S FREE! I mean come on, what more did you want? Even if you're playing World of Warcraft or Aion (like me) you can hop on this and have just as much fun as a guy who pays for gimmicky items on it. No subscription fee, no credit card, no catch. It's free.

Final Mark: 9/10 (free to play market)
8.0 (Overall gaming)

If your computer can handle it, this is a title you shouldn't pass up on. As I said earlier, if you enjoy Diablo or any game similar to that, this is going to be VERY satisfying. It does reward skill at higher levels, and the gear in the game can be very unique as opposed to a generic set of items. The game is beautiful, and an all around treat for the free to play gamer in us all. I hope you enjoyed my review, sorry it took so dang long to do. I leave you today with more screenshots. :)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter/Facebook!

Informative Gamer's Twitter

Informative Gamer's Facebook Fan Page

Important Announcement

2010-11-07T01:56:00.000-04:00

This is in regards to the serious lack of reviews lately. I've decided to lay back a bit while I deal with more important real life matters. I had hoped that maybe I would become known enough to maybe achieve known status, but at this rate, I hope my loyal followers still appreciate what I'm trying to do.

tl;dr: I'm going to try and do weekly reviews rather than every 2-3 days. Thank you for continuing to follow me, I appreciate it greatly!

Next Review Delayed

2010-11-02T20:09:00.000-03:00

Well I'd hate to do this since it will cause a lot of people to forget about me, but I need to indefinitely put my next review off for a few days. I have a lot of RL things to deal with and I just can't make the time to get a Vindictus review out. Not only that, my main hard drive kicked the can and doesn't run any large file now. I have no idea why, but it makes a squeaking noise when it's going to fail. Sucks. Anyway, hopefully you guys stay around while I use my creative genius to fix the situation. Stay tuned!

Random Blog

2010-10-30T14:55:00.001-03:00

Well, I was given the random task of babysitting, so I'll be out of commission for about a day or two. Hopefully will have my Vindictus review done for the 1st of November. Anyway, stay tuned for moar!

Important Update

2010-10-28T15:22:00.001-03:00

Hey guys, just letting you know I'm currently taking advantage of my Vindictus Beta codes (even though It's now officially open) and I'm going to take a quick review of it once I get settled in and experience it. Stay tuned for more. Nexon don't fail me now!

Developed by devCat, produced by Nexon using the Valve Source engine!

*Yup I'm playing Lann for sure. :>

Game Review #5: Tibia

2010-10-26T21:56:00.001-03:00

One of the oldest MMORPG's on the planet, Tibia is still alive and kicking today. Made in 1997, Tibia is a 2d MMORPG created by Cipsoft GmbH. It is still pulling it's own weight even after the explosion of 3d games for the past 10 years. So what can you expect getting into Tibia? Let's take a look...

My screenshots glitch with fraps. Curse you!

CipSoft was founded by four men in Germany back in 1997, though the game was in very early closed beta development during late 1995/early 1996. The game can be described as a sandbox RPG, because you can do whatever you want whenever you want wherever you with nearly no restriction. The world is your oyster. Of course having levels on your back certainly helps! So first let me describe the leveling and skill system in the game.

To be brutally honest upfront, if you do not like grinding RPG's (games where you level through killing monsters rather than quests) you're best disregarding the game now, because that's how the game functions. The idea is to hunt certain locations to level up, rather than do quests. I wouldn't say the leveling is hard in tibia, you gain a level in about an hour until about level 40. Being premium greatly increases leveling rate aswell. Each level, depending vocation, gives you 5-15 health and/or mana. I'll give you guys an example with a picture of my character :).


Level 123 Elite Knight with end-game tanking items. My normal shield isn't on!

The game uses a square-by-square movement system, rather than 3d movement in the 9 directions. The skill system in the game consists of the following: magic level, fist fighting, club fighting, sword fighting, axe fighting, distance fighting, shielding and fishing. All melee weapon training increase at the same rate. Knights gain significantly faster training to their melee weapons than other. Paladins are the games distance fighters (strangely enough seeing as they're 'paladins'). Druids are the games healers, but are just as strong as a sorcerer for the most part. Sorcerers are kind of like the low survivability but heavy damage/AoE (Area of Effect) damagers. Higher skills will give you much better average damages (this applies to magic level aswell). The games melee fights consist of no animation, which often deters player's interests. Instead, you and the monster attack every 2 seconds, and depending on your Armor and Defense value will decide if you hit, miss, be blocked, or be armor hit. Think of the fight mechanics as "to hit" rolls in dungeons and dragons. Magic users though have fairly nice looking spells at their disposal, but they mainly rely on wands and rods at lower levels.

Another aspect of the game is the use of their outfit systems. You do not see other players armors on their bodies, nor can you inspect them. This is because on PvP and enforced PvP servers, players would simply murder players who have good armor, because there is a certain percentage that you can drop your backpack and a piece of gear on you (which is heavily criticized). So anyway, there are several outfits acquired throughout the game. If you are a free account player, you may get up to 5 of them. If you are premium however there are much, much more.

Some examples of outfits, you can change the colors to anything you want.

The community in Tibia may be one of it's worst components however. Because the game actually respects keeping rarity of items, in correlation to how much gold it costs to do a successful hunt, players are almost never going to help you in a financial situation. There is a large element of greed to the game, basically. That is why I am going to say, if you are going to play this game, play it with friends because unless you get a strong friendly guild, you won't have any for a long time. Low level players are quite discriminated in terms of trustworthiness, and higher levels will find it amusing to try and get you killed. Another downside to the game is their death penalty. If you die in Tibia, depending on your level and blessings, you will lose a set amount of experience and items (generally, it is 2% max exp loss, which at level 100+ is devastating). Though recently, patches have been making the death loss MUCH lower. And of course, the grinding can be quite boring if not tedious. But that's where there is reward.

One of the more rewarding things about Tibia is it's rarity/loot system. Basically, every game has a certain percentage an item will drop. But in Tibia, there are basically valuable rewards to most mid-endgame monsters. They have extremely low drop rates, so when you loot them you do feel a great sense of accomplishment. This kind of negates the boredom of grinding for some players. For example, let's run a situation with me and a friend of mine. We go down to a place called Demona, where you can hunt Warlocks. Warlocks can drop very very expensive and rare items, but of course Warlocks are extremely deadly and can kill an unskilled player very quickly. So after about one to two hours of hunting, we may walk out of a hunt like this: we spend about 50,000 gold collectively on our hunt, but walk out with...

Three skulls staffs (30,000 gold)

One ring of the sky (60,000 gold)

One golden armor (20,000 gold)

That would be considered a fantastic hunt for us, as we would net a 60,000 gold profit overall (after the gold we spent on potions/runes etc).

So now, onto my final rating!

Storyline: 6/10

Should you be expecting to be following a storyline in this game? Yes, and no. Tibia of course has a very large backstory which can be found on their website (www.tibia.com). But when you are actually in-game, not so much. The only time you deal with the storyline is on their quests. Not much else to say, fairly typical of an MMORPG to deter from their plot.

Graphics (for their time): 6/10

In terms of a 2d games graphics, it looks very good, not much pixelation to their images as the sprites are 64x64. But, because this is 2010, I cannot give this game over a 6. I also cannot criticize them for not going 3d, because if you play this game you will understand how hard it would be to change to 3d. Playing this game is like... playing an online super nintendo game basically. It's for the nostalgic gamer, and the free to play veteran.

Controls: 7.5/10

The controls of the game are fairly solid, simple four direction movement (though you can side step in the other four directions). All gameplay is on a square-by-square grid, which is fairly simple to navigate, and plays a massive roll in the elements of the game. The controls are responsive, assuming you aren't laggy or have bad internet of course.

Replay Value: 4~8 (6)/10

This rating can fluctuate between 4 and 8 because, if you like the game of course you can respect it for what it is and play it everyday, and for some you may find you're playing it casually or hardly at all. The more hardcore gamer will be satisfied in the higher levels, whereas the beginning levels can feel like a chore and be quite boring. This all depends on your desire to come back and play!

Price/Where to get it:

The game is free to play! Hooray! There are of course premium features, like better outfits, better hunting areas, quests, monsters, etc. The game does not suffer from a level cap though, which is a HUGE plus. You can infinitely level so there is no maximum, free account or premium. Premium accounts are the same as most mmos, roughly 10-15 dollars a month, country depending.

Final Mark: 6.5/10

While it is a fairly good play from time to time, this isn't really a game where you should play for 20 minutes at a time. Most of the hunting elements require you to hunt for at least 1-2 hours or you may not reap a reward. But, if you are a nostalgic gamer who wants an MMORPG without next gen requirements, this is it. The game isn't crowded, and if you are a role player (people who like to act out literally as they go along) you may really respect this game. Free to play gamer or premium player, both have their ups and downs. A lot of the judgement to this game will also depend on your perspective on 2d gaming. So I leave you with this basic review for you to reflect upon. If anyone needs help in the game, you can reach me on the No-PvP gameworld Pacera, on my knight Lethium. Thanks for reading and enjoy! Here's a video of some mid to high level hunting: Tibia Hunting (2 players)

*I will attach more screenshots in the future. Use http://tibia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page for any future help.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter/Facebook!

Informative Gamer's Twitter

Informative Gamer's Facebook Fan Page

Last update before review

2010-10-26T04:52:00.000-03:00

I'm planning on just releasing a quick review tomorrow, going to brief over an mmorpg (no not WoW) that's fairly nostalgic to me even though I play it on and off. So yeah, sorry for the lack of updates! Just been busy irl. Stay tuned my pretties.

Just because it makes me laugh

Random Blog... again

2010-10-24T00:49:00.000-03:00

Does anyone else know of other advertising companies besides adBrite and Adsense/Linkbucks? I'm looking to find one that has interactive ads and ones that I can post relative content since my companies don't seem to most of the time. Thanks! Also, random screenshots.

Random Blog of interest

2010-10-23T02:28:00.001-03:00

Incase you didn't know, I am a WoW player (inb4 hate). And as such, I don't play the game to raid or do that repetitive grinding of content, I'm in it for the PvP. Anyway, since patch 4.0.1, PvP is so ... crazy unbalanced it hurts. So, to anyone out there who can relate, what classes do you despise now? What's good about your class? Let me know! As always, screenshots for your pleasure... and my confusion. Oh yeah, I also scored the Rival title *again*. Booyah!

You'll have to click to see the scores on the below screenies.

Paladin Healing is balanced... he was afk half the match!

Alliance, in a rare win situation. We suck.

Random Blog

2010-10-21T04:29:00.000-03:00

I actually am seeking some help. Does anyone know of any screenshot programs that don't sacrifice quality/compress the images? I'm looking to get 1080p quality screenshots from now on, I just need the right program. I use fraps for video/screenshots but it just doesn't cut it right now. I am willing to pay for it aswell, so if you know, hit me up in the comments. PEACE!

Game Review #4: Mirror's Edge

2010-10-21T00:42:00.001-03:00

What happens when you take the concept of modern parkour and fuse it with platforming action? You'd get a very underrated game! It was hardly known upon release, and very little word had spread about it. Probably because it was so hard to describe. But why? Let's take an in-depth look at Mirror's Edge by EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE).

Mirror's Edge is an Action/Adventure/Platforming First-Person Shooter. That's a lot to take in! How exactly did they blend all those genres into one game? The game starts by introducing us to our main character, Faith Connors. Faith is part of a group of people called "Runners". Runners are people who risk life and limb performing parkour through the cities rooftops to deliver important packages to various locations and people. The Runners have always been looked down upon by the city, and Mayor Callaghan has always urged the Runners are a no good rebel society, bred to be nothing more than smugglers. This of course isn't the case, as they only carry out what seemingly are legal objectives. Faith has always had a deep seeded hatred to their Totalitarian government. Her parents were part of the riot's to fight for the cities freedom, and not that it was said, but we can assume they died for it. Now let's move on and cover the beginning of the game shall we?

The story begins as Faith Connors is running through some practice training with her friend and fellow Runner, Celeste. Celeste is ordered to go do a job, and proceeds on ahead. Now, this walk through is a little hard to explain as most of it is just getting from location to location, so I'll try to clarify key moments.

Depicted above is Celeste running Faith through exercises. Click image to see full size.

Cutscenes are rendered through use of comic imagery. Usually.

In the first level, Faith is hurrying through some various rooftops to deliver a bag to Celeste (The bags themselves are called Runner Bags, they are yellow and resemble a metal briefcase and have Faith's eye tattoo imprinted on them, more on those later). Faith's instructor Merc, informs her after the job was done to get home and relax. Though, shortly after Faith returns to her home, she finds out that her sister might be in trouble at Pope's office (Pope was to be running for mayor, promising to turn the city into the beautiful place it should be).

Faith proceeds into the building and heads up towards her sister Kate (Kate is a police officer). The police and SWAT team (nicknamed Blues) are then tipped off by a news chopper that Faith was spotted entering the building. Being a Runner, they want her nowhere near that building and proceed to cut her off. Faith then has to dash her way up to her sister, where when they finally meet up, have a bad situation in their hands. It turns out Pope is murdered and Kate is next to him. Kate explains that someone knocked her out and when she came to, Pope had been murdered with her own gun. Both of them believe it to be a setup, by who though, we do not know.

The SWAT team shows up and the situation gets out of control, as Faith is now believed to be an accomplice in Pope's murder. Faith now has to get out of the building before it's too late.

This scene is amazing, you're bolting out of the building while being fired at through the glass by choppers. If you're on PC, turn on Nvidia PhysX to see incredible detail.

The next objective: get to safety by going through a mall complex.

Just beautiful. But keep running!


The police are around every corner.

At this point in the game, it gives you the option to fight or run. That's what diversified this game from other shooters. I remember reading a quote saying that the game "Is probably the only shooter where you'd rather kick a guys ass with your feet than shoot him point blank". Mirror's Edge also introduced a fighting system, where the player has "runner's vision". Runner's vision is basically the concept of slowing down time to do precise movements and have easier disarms. It also provides the player with red outlines of important areas and objects to progress further.

Sometimes drains don't allows have fat Italian plumbers.

Now you find yourself out of the mall and rushing across race tracks. Once you're through that area, you find yourself at a very large storm drain/maintenance acess area. All is not over yet though, as snipers end up down in the drains.


Impressive lighting effects are strewn throughout the game.

Another important thing I should note, is the importance of the Runner's Bags. Runner's Bags are kind of like an extra objective. There are 3-4 of them hidden in each mission. They unlock extra artwork, and various other things. You'll know one is near you if you see the markings like in my screen shot. Now it's time to rate the game overall. I apologize if I didn't cover certain aspects, as there is too much detail to the overall system of the game to write in a good sitting.

Plot: 7.5/10

Most of the missions you find in this game are fluent with the plot, the only issue I see is you pretty much just go out and run rather than doing some solid objective. Although, the storyline and backing for each mission is really, really good. One thing I really like is how the cutscenes between most missions are animated, in the same style as the comic books.

Graphics (for their time): 8.5/10

When this bad boy hit shelves in 2008, it definitely pushed you to the limit. Finally using the latest Nvidia PhysX engine really shone in this game. The screenshots I gave were on low graphics settings, let alone all highest with 16x AA or 8x Anisotropic filtering. Even today the game holds up quite well graphic wise. This is also a title that fully supports Nvidia 3D engine, which supports almost all different types of 3D. Some scenes where you're tip-toe to an edge of a skyscraper are also really good visually, and will probably scare those of us who are terrified of heights.

Controls: 8/10

The PC controls of the game are the only ones I will give an 8 to. I haven't personally seen the other consoles, and honestly am a little baffled at how well they may play. Because the game is solidly first person, with very realistic motion and fluidity, it's hard to imagine the controls on a console game. If you would like to rate it, drop me a comment below! So anyway, the controls are very basic, but can be used together to create either really impressive parkour across rooftops, or make nice combos

Replay Value: 6.5/10

While it is a very impressive game that plays well and has many memorable things, I find it hard to say playing this game again is on a gamers mind. While you probably will play it again in the future, it doesn't really beg for a replay, unless you are an achievement junky or are wanting to collect all the runner's bags for unlockables. Now I personally replayed this again on a harder difficulty, but that's because I really truly enjoy this genre and this new found type of gameplay Mirror's Edge brought to the table, at the time anyway.

Price /Where to get it: Amazon.com still seems to have the best overall price, though if you're really lucky you may find this game at Wal-Mart on sale for slightly cheaper. I provided a link to each version of the game below.

Final Mark: 8/10

Another great title that sadly went under appreciated. Did you know this game has sold 2 millions copies worldwide? And this is the development team who backed the Battlefield franchise! I would blame the marketing honestly, when they created the ad campaigns (no commercials to my knowledge) through e3 and other sources, they really didn't say much about it. Infact most people I speak to about the game will simply say "Isn't that a parkour simulator"? In which I will quickly say no and slap them. The strange part is, reading the numbers for their sales, was this game even marketed to Japan and surrounding Asia? Anyway, overall this game really stands out as a unique new experience for platform gamers, shooter lovers, and action/adventure junkies. Having that gratifying feeling of running as fast as you can from a shootout and leaping across massive skyscrapers is exhilarating to say the least. The story was also impressive, and on a special note, if you can get your hands on an online or real life copy of the Mirror's Edge comic, it will really feel like a nice addition to the back story (I believe this comic was only given out if you attended the 2007 e3 event). I hope you enjoyed my review on Mirror's Edge, and if you like what you see, go buy it! Once again I leave you with some closing screen shots. Have a good day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter/Facebook!

Informative Gamer's Twitter

Informative Gamer's Facebook Fan Page

Daily Blog

2010-10-19T22:26:00.000-03:00

Today was a fairly good day, I suppose. I went out to wal-mart to shop for stuff and such. Even though I had no intention to, I remembered that a few of my good friends started playing Magic: The Gathering. Well, I saw a cheap pack of cards for it so I got 'em! I'm a total amateur at it but as long as I'm having fun playing it with 'em I think it's all good. Other than that not much more to say. I've been playing through Mirror's Edge picking up screen shots as I go, so expect a review within the week. I'm gonna also start attaching my twitter and facebook fan page to each review/post. Anyways, thanks for reading guys, stay tuned for updates. Toodles!

...As always I leave you with screen shots of interest!

Follow me on Twitter/Facebook!

Informative Gamer's Twitter

Informative Gamer's Facebook Fan Page

Updates, tidbits, all sorts of goodies.

2010-10-18T23:49:00.000-03:00

Greetings from the world of tomorrow! No not really. But here's what I plan on doing next:

_Game Review: Mirror's Edge_

_Anime Review: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun)_

So stay tuned for what is to be, a lot of athletic kick-assery.

Random Blog no Jutsu !!

2010-10-17T15:01:00.000-03:00

So before I get to work on a new review, whether it be anime or a game review, here's a question for ya, just answer it in the comments. Is there a game you dislike strongly? Anything you just need to get off your chest? Tell me! Keep it civil though you crazy internet animals you. Oh yeah, here's a screenshot for the BG fans. Thalantyr in a full blown argument, with a chicken.

Game Review #3: Baldur's Gate

2010-10-15T17:57:00.002-03:00

In 1998 gamers were introduced to what is known today as a "masterpiece of the CRPG genre", Baldur's Gate. It also led the way to producing some fantastic games such as Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale. Baldur's Gate was also numerously referenced in the production of games such as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and various other open-world adventure RPG games. So without any further ado, here is Baldur's Gate for the PC.


"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster... when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you..." - Friedrich Nietzsche

The game starts out on an advanced character create screen, where you can decide your characters initial race, gender, weapon proficiencies and base stats. After completing that you will begin your grand adventure, starting in Candlekeep. Candlekeep is home to you, your father Gorion, and friend Imoen. Not much is really accomplished here except getting your character familiar to the game and exploring the keep.

Once you are comfortable with the game, you can follow your father out to the wilderness to make your way to the Friendly Arm Inn. But not everything is as smooth as hoped, as you run into the arch nemesis of the game...

As you can see above, the game follows the advanced AD&D rulebook.

Yes, Saravok. If you watched the opening cinematic, you will see him throw a drunkard off a bar roof and be super obviously evil! Sadly after the struggle against Saravok, your father Gorion dies and you are left a foster child, forced to get to the Friendly Arm Inn on your own. This also introduces us to the really cool (and voice-overed) Chapter cut screens.

Not all is lost however, as your perky companion Imoen shows up to join your party. Now, in this game, it is completely customizable and you will not lose out on quests or anything like that by declining characters from the main storyline. Though, it does feel strange to not take Imoen along (for me at least). And if you want to, play the game in the multi-player menu, that will enable you to create 6 custom characters instead if you'd like. Now begins your long journey to avenge the death of your father and cleanse the land of evil.

As you and Imoen arrive at the Friendly Arm, you will encounter a stranger who wants to see you dead immediately. This fight is tedious and almost feels like a cheap shot just for appearing so early in the game. But get used to that, because it happens quite a few times when you are under prepared.

Me watching Imoen get killed in one shot and me going into Panic.

Now that he is dealt with, you proceed to enter the inn and meet up with old friends of Gorion's, Khalid and Jaheira. Khalid is a quick talking super nervous Fighter, where as Jaheira is his tomboy-esque and short tempered wife, who is a fighter/cleric multi-class. They will both prove to be very usefull throughout the game, as Khalid makes a great tank and Jaheira will prove to be a good off-tank and healer.

It is about now that the party proceeds to go through Beregost to reach Nashkel, where it is rumored to be suffering an iron shortage because of problems in the nearby mine. When you arrive in Nashkel, instinct is going to tell you to go into the inn first, right? WRONG. For the love of god avoid the inn until you go to the smithy to get yourself geared up a bit more. If you enter the inn at this point, you will be forced to fight an assassin who is hellbent on killing you, even infront of the entire bar. She can easily kill your lower hp members so make sure Khalid is taking the hits at first. It is also advisable to use Jaheira's Fear immunity ability, or else your party is going to most likely be killed on the second or third turn. Another great tip is to getting used to using the space bar to execute your chains of attacks, because it will pause the game, giving you time to think about your next move or else you may be killed. Upon her death, she will drop a scroll that gives you insight as to what has been going with these assassination attempts against you.Another good thing to add here is, I'm not sure whether it's a random chance or something that occurs after you clear Nashkel Mines, but a man who claims to be Death will attack you outside the inn, and he is HARD. He is really really hard to hit with missile weapons because he has +5 protection to missiles, and even the Nashkel guard's will tickle him.

Now that that incident is dealt with, you should proceed to the Nashkel Fair before you do anything. If you have 500 gold to spare, you can get yourself a Cleric named Branwen... but how you ask?

When you're at the Nashkel Fair (It's probably called Carnival, sorry if I'm wrong), go to the eastern side of the map, until you pretty much run into the last tent. You should see a little dwarf/halfling looking guy. He's going to be saying there is some maiden trapped in stone, and for 500 gold he will give you a scroll to remove petrification. At this point in the game it is REALLY worth it. She is a pure bred Cleric and will be a kickass healer/buffer for the party. I would also like to make note here that party management is very similar to that of Final Fantasy 7 or even 10 because if you don't want a party member now but would like to use them later you can. The only issue is, if you make them leave in somewhere remote, they will stay there and you'll most likely forget about them. Now it is time to deal with the Nashkel mines. If you'd like to get through the mines without too much trial and error, I suggest getting a map off of sites like Gamefaqs or Sorcerer's Den. Here's a little preview of the mines.

Save often, or you will be angry. A lot.

Tread carefully in the mines, for there are traps laid everywhere. For the last part of the walkthrough portion of the review, I'll help you with defeating the boss without much problems. In the first real boss encounter of the game, you will face off against Mulahey. He is a servant of Saravok and a Cyric worshipper. He plays quite a major role at this point in the story, but I won't say why ;). Here's a screenshot I took of how to place your party when fighting him.

Mulahey is in the room to my lower right.

Your best bet is to use either Khalid or Jaheira to move into his room and engage in speech with him. If you choose to surrender he will go easier on you, even though it doesn't matter, you have to fight him. A very good tip is to go to the room to the right of me in the screenshot, which has a powerful mage named Xan. He has many good spells to start out with. I personally took Charm Person because it works even on most bosses, which you can use to kill themselves under the effect. The bosses first move is going to be to cast Summon Minion I, which creates a small army of Skeletons and other little creatures. As he is casting that, run back into the room everyone else is in. This will make it so you are dealing with the small monsters before the boss even engages you. After they are dead, simply go kill the boss now, but make sure Khalid or Jaheira are soaking the blows at this point. He hurts. Oh yeah, here's another reason to pickup Xan for the party.

He's not just good for casting, after all.

Now, onto the game rating!

Plot: 10/10

Yes, I just gave this game a 10. Why? Because this game is so extremely story driven and free of loop holes you'll question why it hasn't gotten an HD remake. (Wow way to drop that bomb of a hint). Even the game manual for this game is like reading a full length novel. The creators of this game follow the Dungeons and Dragons lore and mythos so well. It is just a superbly written game and will not cease to amaze those of you who like to read well written novels or role play.

Graphics (for their time): 8/10

By 1998's standards this was average, maybe a little above average, probably because it was in production so long or I'd give it a higher mark. The artwork is where it excels. The pre-rendered backgrounds are very pretty but the characters themselves seem a little outdated. The artwork however pulls the rating up quite a bit, because the hand drawn portraits, item art, and cutscene detail are superb.

*Edit: A commenter pointed out some good comparisons so I went back and re-reviewed the graphics score

Controls: 6/10

I gave this a 6 (above average) because the game uses a point and click movement system, and also doesn't have an easy hotkey system. You can customize the hotkeys, but it is in a very inefficient way that would take your entire keyboard and then some. This game could have really just used an arrow key movement system (and if there is one I apologize but it's probably a mod). It could be argued that would make party movement sloppy, but I'm referring to single people, especially tanks.

Replay Value: 9/10

No matter how many times you play the game, starting the journey anew with different class make-ups will make the game feel fresh and fun. It also seems every time I play through the game, I find more and more hidden treasures and dungeons. Completing the game also allows you the chance to import your character into the sequel, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadow's of Amn (and Throne of Bhaal). Not much more to say besides the fact you'll enjoy replaying the game even in 2010!

Price /Where to get it: Assuming you are after the 5 CD box set with the bonus disc (damn straight I have it!) you might pay upwards of 50-60 dollars. Yeah, even 12 years later it's still hefty! But that's just the collector's box. Amazon offers the basic 5 CD set for $28.99 (and now on sale for $8.82). There is also a newer one DVD release version, which can range you from 8 dollars to 30 dollars depending on the source. If you use Amazon.com, just go to the "collectible" section for Baldur's Gate, and you can snag the entire 5 disc with the foldout cd case and 159 page guide for only 15 bucks!

Final Mark: 9/10

A truly superb game for the CRPG genre. If you like Dungeons and Dragons-esque game-play or just lengthy (and I mean lengthy) RPGs in general, this is a great title to pickup. There is one final thing I should address. This game works online, and you can play with up to 6 people at a time. It also has spectator support if you have Gamespy installed. You should look up guides on how to do this though, as it is a bit harder to setup if you're on any system later than Windows XP. Which reminds me, this game was actually made for Mac OS X too! So all in all, this game really set a standard for future RPG's which I have yet to see met in most modern games. They should take example from a game made 12 years ago, that games were once story driven and provided a real fantasy experience and a level of difficulty you just cannot find today. And so I leave you today with some screenshots (Sorry if the site seems a little laggy, my last few posts have a lot of screenshots). Enjoy, and I hope you enjoyed this lengthy review of Baldur's Gate :).

Random Blog

2010-10-14T17:48:00.000-03:00

Yeah yeah yeah I've been working on my Baldur's Gate review (getting screenshots, playing through etc.) and it got me thinking. What really defines a great RPG? Is there something in an RPG that you absolutely want or you won't play it? Tell me in the comments below! Now back to my constant dungeon dwelling... for the glory of Amn! Here's some screenshots to keep you amused in the meantime.

"You should see the other guy" ... classic.

I really do enjoy these chapter screens.

I'll also make sure to give you guys some early game tips, incase you want to get through the game without ripping out your hair.

Flawless Victory: Baldur's Gate

2010-10-12T17:47:00.000-03:00

Thanks to you guys choosing Baldur's Gate by 100% to 0% I'm going to review it next. I'll brief you on some of the stuff I want to discuss. First of all, the storyline is so immense and detailed there's no way I can run that over, so I'll cover the first... 2-ish hours of the game, assuming you are playing for the story and not just going to maps to grind. Also, I'll try and give a lot of character bios, my apologies if I just quote some... I never got to play a lot of characters (especially the museum robbing dwarf girl, man she was an odd one!).

And just because it's obligatory when talking about Baldur's Gate...

"GO FOR THE EYES BOO, GO FOR THE EYES! AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!"

Game Review #2: Resident Evil 5 & History of the Series (Part 3)

2010-10-11T23:47:00.000-03:00

And now, after all that long reading you did on the history of the games (or at least I think you did), here is, Resident Evil 5.

Damnit where's that any key?

Resident Evil is the 5th chronological game in the Resident Evil series. The game takes place in Kijuju, Africa, where a terrorist threat is posed and the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) are sent to intervene. Upon arriving at their destination (a small village in Kijuju) they soon realize something is terribly wrong. The locals become hostile and Chris calls for backup. Chris also notes that the villagers are acting like the Ganados, as detailed in the Kennedy Report (Resident Evil 4).

They seem friendly...let's just be careful

Chris and Sheva soon discover that a BSAA unit had already gone ahead... but were unlucky and met up with a mutated B.O.W. (Bio Organic Weapon) that destroyed the entire team, even the members who wore enough armor to be a one man army.

They soon after proceed down into a furnace area where they discover what exactly killed all their comrades...

B.O.W. down before me... get it? Get it?!

They dispatch him through the use of a conveniently constructed furnace. Well what, did you just expect him to die to your dinky handguns? Well he can, but you probably are on a second play through. Soon after these events, Sheva and Chris decide to proceed to the mine, where Irving (the Antagonist thus far) is supposed to be making a weapons deal. At this point in the game you become rescued by Josh Stone, an old acquaintance of Sheva's. This is where the game throws a twist at you *spoiler alert* Chris finds out that Jill Valentine, his partner who was presumed dead when she fought Wesker and fell off a cliff, is seen in a recent photo. Chris now has a personal stake in the whole affair and decides to disobey HQ's commands and seeks out Jill. *Spoiler done* Irving is confronted soon after in a small building, but a smoke bomb is thrown in the room and a mysterious cloaked person carries him off.

That's about as much as I can delve into the story before I hit spoiler territory. So there you have the beginning of the game, in a nutshell. Now onto the review.

Plot: 9/10

Resident Evil 5 faithfully follows their plotline and tries to keep plotholes to a minimum. The only reason I won't give a 10/10 is because the location of the game felt a little off at first, but slowly became acceptable.

Graphics (for their time): 8/10

When Resident Evil 5 hit store shelves March 13, 2009, this game was equal to if not better than a large majority of any title you could pickup at the time. It held up visually and kept the African landscape nice and colorful. The only downside is there are some scenes where the HDR lighting is literally overwhelming and unpleasant. That isn't as apparent in the PS3 version, but none the less, this is for the overall.

Controls: 8/10

I honestly have not played the PS3 version, but I do use a PS3 controller for the PC, so I will not judge the PS3 controls here. The Xbox 360 controls felt smooth and responsive, though I would have definitely remapped some of the button locations for things like inventory and others. The PC version is very smooth and responsive, but sometimes felt like a chore when going through the equip menu (if you weren't using the numpad for item switch).

Replay Value: 9/10

This is where I honestly feel the title shone the brighest. After you play through the game you now have a plethora of new things to do. One of which is the Mercenaries. If you don't know what that is, I'll give you a briefing. The Mercenaries is something that began in the Resident Evil 3 game. After you beat the game, you played through mini missions where you were sent out to rescue people... but when Resident Evil 4 and 5 came along, they just dwindled it down into a zombie survival scenario.

You receive waves of zombies at a time and try to hold out until the timer ends, killing zombies to improve the score. Ok ok technically not zombies, but Ganados, but hey, whatever. Also, playing through the game for a second time will keep your previous inventory. This was a badass decision on Capcoms end, because with all the upgrades and new ultimate weapons, you tear through the campaign in style. The Veteran and Professional difficulty also proved worthwhile as they were both brutally hard.

Price /Where to get it: Because the game became a platinum hit, as of now it can be snagged up for 29.99 at EBgames.com. Some local wal-marts might have it, but I tend to find it there for over 40 dollars, which for a year old title doesn't feel right.

Final Mark: 8/10

Definitely a worthwhile title in the series, but often criticized for doing more than making the series descend away from the survival horror genre it once was. In my personal opinion, it's not that big of a deal. Resident Evil 4 was action oriented but kept the survival horror aspect of it at a nice median, whereas Resident Evil 5 was more action oriented. Knowing Capcom, expect Resident Evil 6 (which has been announced in development but no details given) to feature someone like Leon in a dark scenario again, or hell, I'm going to ballpark the idea that Claire Redfield makes a feature game since she's been MIA since Code Veronica.

Some after thoughts and info:

Did you know ... that this game had a lot of skeptics, claiming it was racist?

Did you know ... Resident Evil 5 is the highest selling game in the franchise at 5 million copies?

Did you know ... Resident Evil 5 was one of the first 3D titles for the PC?

And to finalize this review, here's some screenshots I took (or the respective person did) of the beginning of the game, and various further areas.

... And that's it for my review, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, as I loved getting to play this title again to write it :)

Facebook Fan Page and Twitter

2010-10-10T22:13:00.000-03:00

Good news everyone! You can now find Informative Gamer on Facebook and also Twitter. I don't even have fans yet, so if you wanna help my blog expand, go ahead and like it :) I will appreciate it forever.

Informative Gamer on Facebook
Informative Gamer on Twitter

Game Review #2: Resident Evil 5 & History of the Series (Part 2)

2010-10-10T21:06:00.000-03:00

A very notable game I did not cover with my history of Resident Evil is actually one of my personal favorites. Which game? Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

This game takes place 2 months after Resident Evil 3, where they are at the climax of the Raccoon City incident. The game opens with Claire Redfield (dear god come back for Resident Evil 6) infiltrating an Umbrella facility in Paris because she is searching for her brother, Chris Redfield. Sadly she is captured and detained in a prison on Rockfort Island. Lucky her... or maybe not so lucky, the T-Virus shows up and infects the entire island, and a spanish man lets her out of her cell. Soon after exploring and ending up in the courtyard she encounters a man (or more like man child) named Steve Burnside.


"Let's get off this cuh-raaaazy island!" - Legendary Frog <3

Now Claire and Steve team up to try and escape the island!... or so you'd think, no of course Steve wanders off because he clearly can't be near a woman especially one who's properly armed. I'm going to stop telling the plot here because I don't want to spoil anything for you guys. Anyway, Resident Evil: Code Veronica also explains how the T-Virus is beginning to "evolve", as you'll see in Resident Evil 4. But what exactly makes this game notable to the series altogether (beside the solid plot and inbetween storyline)? This game is HARD. I'm not talking hard because of just limited ammo (boy if you waste ammo you may as well restart the whole game), I'm talking about the notoriously confusing and lengthy puzzles it will present to you. Some of them don't even tell you where to go, you have to use a lot of past references to get it down pat. There are also a lot of classic enemies appearing, one of which is going to murder you before you can even aim the gun (and if you don't have a B.O.W. round ready, RUN). Which one is that? Let me give you a hint...

AAAANNNGHHHHH - tap tap tap tap tap *dead*

Yeah, even hunters make their appearance! ;__; So to wrap this up, this is probably one of the better Resident Evil titles because it has a lot of replay value if you're one for unlockables. Stay tuned for the final part where I'll be doing a review of Resident Evil 5 including my predictions for the next game.

Random News No Jutsu !!

2010-10-10T04:44:00.000-03:00

Thanks to my computer not being a pile of !@#$, I can now also record live gaming for most modern games and pre-2009. So expect some let's plays in the distant future. Also, going to make sure the Resident Evil 5 review is in depth. Expect spoilers! I'll try and wrap spoiler tags for it. Toodles~

Game Review #2: Resident Evil 5 & History of the Series (Part 1)

2010-10-09T18:00:00.000-03:00

Since the very beginning, the Resident Evil franchise has revolutionized the way gamers experience fear and suspense through a video game. But what happens when the games turn to the action genre? You get an action/survival horror mix called Resident Evil 4 & 5. Before we get into too much detail, let's go over the history of the games.

Does this feel familiar to you Resident Evil fanboys? This is Resident Evil: Director's Cut for the Playstation. You are part of the STARS Bravo team, and your chopper had crash landed near the mansion. You have the option to play as either Chris Redfield (Yes, the same one from Resident Evil 5) or Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 3). I remember when I was younger, this scene depicted above especially scared the crap out of me. The setting for the older games were: you had been investigating an incident in the Arklay Mountains (Raccoon City), and get split up inside the mansion. Soon after you are on your own with limited health and ammo deciding when to fight or flight against zombies. This is the true definition of survival horror.

Resident Evil 2: The police aren't always friendly

Remember what it was like to be trapped in a police station, going into narrow locker rooms filled with zombies? That was Resident Evil 2. Resident Evil 2 takes place immediately after the incident in the Arklay Mountains mansion. The series didn't fail to impress when they included the option to play as two different characters, giving a lot of alternate endings and reasons to play through the game again. Not to mention the better you played through the game, the more unlockable goodies you had. This was also the first *true* game to feature that bad-boy Leon Kennedy, who would prove to have one of the best games in the series later on.


Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, where hearing "STARS!!!" Meant OH GOD RUN

Now as for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the first half of the game takes place 24 hours before Resident Evil 2, and the later half takes place 2 days after those incidents. You are playing as Jill Valentine, trapped in Raccoon City. Jill and others are now on the run, because Umbrella knows the STARS team has found out that Umbrella was behind the prior incidents in the last games. But what are they running from exactly?

Is there something in my teeth?

That's right, the Nemesis. He was created by the Umbrella Corporation in order to exterminate the STARS members in Raccoon City. This was their way of "cleaning up the city" prior to the events that would...change the city forever. Nemesis was a super creation and was nothing to mess with, guns or not. As for Resident Evil 3, it was pretty much the game to get the series on the map for most newcomers. It also was the storyline that would create the Resident Evil: Apocalypse movies... even though they tried to be artsy and goofed it up, but anyway... now for the dramatic turn of the series, which was for, mostly the good.

Resident Evil 4, the game that drastically changed the way the future games would be played. Action style. But was it for the best? Let's look at how the game plays now.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

Now, a lot of things have changed. For one, you are no longer confined to a single camera view per area you visit. And as you can see, it's a fairly good looking game (Sorry I cannot find any pictures of the Wii or updated PC version's graphics, which are superior). The aiming system now is... FANTASTIC! Especially if you're playing on a Wii, the controls are smooth and precise for the most part. No more auto-aim at zombies and shoot bullets and hope they die, now you take aim and shoot specific body parts to make the biggest impact. The A.I. for this game was also increased by a lot. Most zombies will try to surround and attack you while moving quickly, whereas the older games featured zombies that sluggishly came at you slowly. Not that that was a bad thing, since it provided a sense of impending doom if you had no ammo. A lot of new types of enemies have appeared too, such as zombies with chainsaws and crossbows. The boss fights are also something you won't forget. Now, let's get back to the story of it, shall we?

"A VOYA MATAR"

Leon Kennedy is more than pleased that Umbrella has now been brought to Justice in court, and Umbrella's stocks have plummeted, effectively ending their reign of biological terror. But a new terror has arrived. Leon is dispatched to a small village in Europe, where the president's daughter Ashley Graham has been kidnapped by a cult called the "Los Illuminados" (Leon has since moved on to working for the U.S. government's secret service in this game). The cult is using parasites known as the Las Plagas, an ancient virus brought to light, and also found to be partial evolution of the T-Virus (T-veronica virus). I definitely do not want to move into spoiler region, so if this sounds appealing, I'll be writing a full on review of the game in a later blog.

"This is a mammoth of a problem, sir!"

Don't worry, I didn't forget about the other games, such as Resident Evil: Outbreak, Survival, Zero and Resident Evil: Code Veronica (which I may review one day). I haven't played through most of the above myself, but I'll definitely get around to them someday soon. I hope you enjoyed this brief history of the Resident Evil franchise, and stay tuned for my review of Resident Evil 5, where surviving is just as hard in Africa in the sunlight as it is in a dark mansion in the middle of mountains.

Everyone, Get to the Lab!

2010-10-09T14:13:00.001-03:00

Good news everyone! I've decided to do anime reviews very soon. These will be your filler between me playing through games for a proper review, yeah that's right, I play through the games first so I can get my own experience and not just rip off wikipedia like some people. That's all for now. Keep gaming~~

Game Review #1: Audiosurf

2010-10-09T03:25:00.000-03:00

Audiosurf, probably one of the best games-you've-never-heard-of titles for the musical gamer out there. But what exactly set this game apart from any other game? Let's take a closer look at other games in the industry for a minute.

Image above is a display of Rock Band's large list of playable songs.

With games such as Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and all the other strange clones it has produced (I'm looking at you, Guitar Rising and other Disney music titles...) you get a chosen set of songs, so you might pick up a title and get around 30-40 songs. Sometimes it's great! Sometimes it will frustrate you to see the next game have screamo and pop music. That's where Audiosurf succeeds. Audiosurf has every single song ever made. SAY WHAAA? If you have a song on your computer you want to play, you just select it in the song browser, and the game will generate an entire level.

But before I go any further, what the heck is Audiosurf?

Me playing Audiosurf and nearly having a seizure on Iron-mode.

This is Audiosurf. Basically, you are a futuristic vehicle that travels down a musical highway, avoiding "traffic" (Grey blocks) while collecting the colorful blocks. Think of it as Tetris, Tetris with colorful explosions that will make you think you're overdosing on heroine. The "highway" your vehicle travels is shaped by specific things. Bumps on the road are caused by Bass. The faster paced the song is, the faster you'll travel and the steeper downslopes will be. Heavy bass songs such as Rap and Drum&Bass provide the bumpiest rides for you. You can unlock Medals and Achievements by doing many unique things in the game, such as beating a level without touching a single grey block, or getting a high score. Your songs are also ranked by a leaderboard around the world. So if you're looking for a kick-ass game to play and you wanna play your own songs, pick this bad boy up today.

Time for the final verdict!

Graphics (for their time): 8.5/10

This game is a real treat for the eyes, with colors that you can select and many unique patterns going on at once, you'll be seeing rainbow stars and highways when you close your eyes!

Controls: 8.0/10 (Mouse) 7/10 (Keyboard)

Changing lanes when playing on a mouse is extremely smooth feeling and the easiest way to get precise and hard to reach blocks. Playing on the keyboard however can feel a bit clunky, as your car feels like... it moves in blocks rather than being free motion. So I do strongly suggest playing with a mouse.

Replay Value: 9/10

Realistically I shouldn't even rate this, since you have an infinite amount of songs to work with, but even playing the same ones can generate new and awesome feeling levels every time. So many hours well wasted here, folks.

Price /Where to get it:

You'd be surprised to find out that this game is only 10 dollars on Steam as of now. Yeah, Steam! It was developed by Valve (the creators of Half-Life and Counter-Strike and many more classic titles)

Final Mark: 8.5/10

This is one of those titles that no matter how old it gets you're going to find yourself going back to it again, and again, and again. The fact of the matter is, you can play any song you'd like to, so there's no need to go get every single sequel game (like Rock Band and others) just to get new songs. And for 10 bucks, this is quite a good game. So if you've got some change and a steam account, go give this one a try, you'll be pleased :)

--More screenshots to be added soon.