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D&D 5th Edition Announced!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0000

So, Wizards of the Coast announced today that they are working on the next edition of D&D. Fourth edition was met with a great deal of criticism. Many players did not agree with many of the design changes incorporated into it. This led to many finding other game systems such as Pathfinder (using the 3.5e OGL). I personally liked 4e and I am currently playing in a campaign using the 4e D&D Essentials books. While I am disappointed that the version I am playing is "on it's way out", I am excited to see what the guys at WOTC have in store for us. I understand that many who invested heavily in the current edition may not be happy about having to reinvest in the new products, but I think is was the only course that they could take. I am optimistic that the changes will be positive.

What the Chunk is up to - Feeling more balanced than ever!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:16:00 +0000

There have been some serious changes in my lifestyle and I thought I'd share my thoughts about some of them.

A few months ago, a buddy of mine (The Thundakraka a.k.a. SNKGuns) took me climbing at a Rock Wall Gym. This was something I had been interested in trying and never got around to. On my first visit we did some top roping (climbing a high wall with a harness, rope, and a buddy acting as a belayer) and then moved onto bouldering (climbing not as high designated routes without a harness). After the first visit, my arms were absolutely clobbered, but I really enjoyed it. I bought a 2 month membership (there was a summer special) and when that expired I bought a full year one. Rock Wall Climbing is the most fun I've had in years. It's physically exerting, challenging both in terms of physicality and technique, a great deal of fun to do with a friend, and somehow relaxing. It didn't take long for my body to adapt and stop getting so sore afterwards and now I feel stronger than ever. I highly recommend that you find a Rock Gym near you and give it a try.

My new girlfriend (I'll call her by her online tag of Silvergryph) organized a trail hike for her birthday which I attended. The trail was surprisingly challenging and I enjoyed it far more that I would have expected. My family and friends tease me about being outdoors as I have to date lived a rather non-outdoorsy lifestyle. The exercise was great. The scenery was beautiful and, again, it's a really enjoyable activity to do with a friend (or friends). Just bring enough water and a snack. And insect repellent. And sunscreen.

A few years ago, I had toyed with the idea of trying Archery at a local athletic club, but I never got around to it. I recently suggested it to my girlfriend and she jumped all over the idea. We attended our first class (admittedly mostly safety training) and I am already very excited about this activity. There is something relaxing about the whole multi-step process of taking a shot that really feels great. I'll probably have more to say after doing it more, but so far it's just as cool as I expected.

My girlfriend is a vegetarian. She tends to make more meals at home than I ever have and, more importantly, steers pretty clear of a lot of boxed, pre-prepared food. On one of the first nights that we decidedly to stay in and make dinner at her place, I deferred to her due to her obviously superior experience with preparing meals as well as the likelihood that, if I were in charge, there'd likely be bacon on something. I kept asking to help her with anything I could while she prepared dinner. I sliced vegetables to her specifications while asking her what she was doing and why. We chatted about other things in the process as well, which was fun. The end result was a delicious meal. After several more dinners that went like this I observed that we were spending a lot of our evening time on preparing dinner and that initially felt like a problem that had to be fixed. We were "wasting" time doing that and it left less time to watch movies or episodes of Game of Thrones or other such things. Then it hit me. This was time well spent. Not that the movies and TV shows were now a waste of time. Just that they weren't MORE important than anything else. I realized I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent making dinner with her. I enjoyed learning more about cooking. I enjoyed the delicious (and far more nutritious than most things I'd ever made) meals. Most of all I enjoyed the opportunity to just spend time interacting. I very highly recommend spending more time and effort on preparing meals and doing it with your significant other.

In the realm of gaming I am still attending my D&D campaign sessions about every two weeks. This has proven to be a lot of fun and really scratches my gaming itch. It's geeky. It's social. It's creative. It's tactical. The people I game with are fun. I'm very glad I got into this.

I have also returned to playing some World of Warcraft with my girlfriend and her friends. This has been great. It's far more casual than I used to play. It's nice to not be focused on farming heroics and raiding in favor of just enjoying the game and some light grinding for rewards. It's also nice that i (we) don't spend nearly as MUCH time playing it as I previously have. It's just fun to fire up our laptops and spend some time in Azeroth once in awhile.

In terms of my Xbox 360, I haven't played it a lot lately. I picked up Gears of War 3, however, and this may re-invigorate our weekly Xbox Live gaming sessions. If any game can do it, it's Gears of War 3!

Lastly, Silvergryph and I share a common passion for writing. She suggested I try NaNoWriMo (that's National Novel Writing Month) this year. It's basically an event where you try to pound out a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I've never been good at producing alot of writing, but I want to give it a try. I'm prepping a plot and we'll see how it goes!

Anyways, I just realized that my life was somewhat unrecognizable compared to several months ago and the differences feel good. I still do the things I used to, as well as a bunch of new activities, but I feel far more balanced. Some of these changes I can attribute to my still new relationship with Silvergryph, some were underway before we got together. I think the lesson here is to try to mix things up. Try some new activities. I now feel that it is better to have too much to do and not enough time than to have nothing to do and feel bored.

The chunk has a new girl - and she's great!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:51:00 +0000

I haven't posted about these sort of things, but there's a first time for everything, so here goes...

After witnessing me engage in a few failed dating attempts, someone suggested I try online dating. The idea was that I was dating within my friend circle too much and that I needed to meet completely new people from outside said circles. I decided to give it a try.

First I tried PlentyOfFish. It didn't take me long to realize that POF is a total goat rodeo and deleted my profile.

Second I tried eHarmony. It was less of a clown show. I engaged a few matches. I chatted. I even met a few in person. I just wasn't clicking with any of them. It felt forced and awkward. Everyone seemed really jaded.

During all this I had attended a house party at a friend of mine's place. Also attending was a girl I had not met before. She piqued my interest and, after some inquiries were made, it turns out she attended high school with my friend and they had recently become Facebook friends. I liked her and was interested, but I didn't really make any move because of all the eHarmony matches I was dealing with. I did, however, invite her to my birthday gathering at a pub. Not only did she show up, but she stayed late into the night. The evening ended with her, my brother, his wife, and me having a late night snack after drinking. Again, I made no move (at least partially because of the amount of alcohol I had consumed). Her appearance there had definitely got me thinking though.

I ended up asking her out and we hit it off immediately. We have now been together for almost 2 months and things are awesome. She makes me happy and I think I make her happy too.

What's the point of this post you ask? It's not saying that online dating is a waste of time. It was for me, but these sites are good tools to meet people you otherwise wouldn't meet. Just don't expect too much out of them. I guess my point is just to say that good things happen. Sometimes not when you are expecting, sometimes not how you are expecting, but they do happen. I just wanted to share my experience.

Back to Dungeons and Dragons

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:40:00 +0000

I've played Dungeons and Dragons throughout my life. I started with the original famous red box Basic Set followed by the blue, green, black, and gold ones (although I admit I never ran an Immortal rules character). Many years later I returned to the game in it's 3rd Edition. I DMed a few sessions with some friends, but the campaign quickly burned out.

Over the years I felt the pull of the gamer to play an RPG and D&D always had the strongest pull. Something about the classic fantasy genre fits perfectly with RPG gaming. I followed the products as they came out. I saw the launch of 4th Edition, but resisted the temptation to purchase yet another RPG that would not get played.

When the essentials line got launched, I ended up discussing it at length with one of my coworkers who had played D&D in every incarnation since the original. Some of my other coworkers were also interested in D&D, but had never played. We decided to try playing in a campaign using the essentials books.

All I can say is that, for someone wanting to play a more or less classic D&D experience, the Essentials line is perfect. It has the classes, races and monsters you need. The rules are well put together and the products themselves are affordable. We've been playing regularly for months now and are really enjoying our campaign. If you find yourself having an itch to try D&D either for the first time or as a former player looking to try again, I urge you to give it a try. Just don't split the party.

Games the chunk has been playing...

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Instead of subjecting my readers to a ton of reviews of older games, I figured I`d just list off the many games I`ve been playing and give a quick opinion.

Borderlands - One of my favorite games ever! Applying the Diablo formula to FPS gameplay proved to be a winning combination. Add the game's excellent sense of humor and the end result is wonderful.

Halo Reach - A long as you don`t hate Halo in general, there is no reason to not love this game. The story is really good (although not as good as ODST).

Halo Wars - A good attempt at implementing an RTS on the console. The story works for fans of the Halo universe and the cutscenes are well done. It just feels a bit light and too simple sometimes.

Halo 3:ODST - This game is wonderful. The story is awesome. The gameplay really captures the concept of being separated from one`s allies and feeling underpowered in the face of one`s enemies.

Super Street Fighter IV - I bought a Fightpad and I learned. This game is rewarding, but only after some practice. Shoryuken!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Somewhat simplified compared to it`s predecessor, but still fun for super hero fans.

Left 4 Dead 2- A 4-player co-operative zombie apocalypse survival FPS! What more is there to say?

Chime - An interesting puzzle game combining Tetris-like gameplay with some rhythm elements. Very addictive.

There may have been others, but that should give you an idea of what I`ve been playing...

My Android Phone!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:04:00 +0000

My work recently caused me to switch from my iPhone 3GS to an HTC Desire Android phone. Honestly, they are functionally identical in most respects with simple alternatives where they are not. I like the out-of-the-box ease with which one can customize this phone (which is doable on the iPhone if you are willing to jailbreak it). The only thing missing is the iPhone`s slick design like all Apple products (not that the Desire is in any way ugly or unpleasant). All in all I find that I am enjoying the Android experience just fine. Cost aside, I probably would not make the move from one to the other without an external reason.

The chunk is back!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:59:00 +0000

This is my first post here in a long time. I finally decided that there was too much going on in the world of my interests to not start blogging about it again. In the upcoming posts expect to see more video game, movie, book and graphic novel reviews and discussions in addition to tabletop gaming and pen-and-paper RPG stuff!

Sorry for the hiatus. Hopefully I`ll be able to post regularly! Thanks for reading!

The iPhone 3GS - Better late than never

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:49:00 +0000

I got my iPhone back in August of 2009 and all I can say is that it is wonderful. I am not a gadget guy. I don't adopt technology the day it comes out. I used to rarely text people, preferring to actually call them. I only ever had an iPod Shuffle I used at the gym. I now use my iPhone in ways I never expected. Between the email access, the easy text messaging (thanks to a wonderful, touch-driven keyboard), the built-in camera, the iPod functionality and countless apps in the app store, I wonder what it can't do. Plus, it's just slick. Apple has always nailed their presentation and the iPhone is no exception.

Gone Elemental Again

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:17:00 +0000

I've really enjoyed playing my Orc Shaman in World of Warcraft. The class is exactly what I was looking for and performs really well. After levelling all the way to 80 specced almost exclusively as Enhancement, I switched to Elemental as my guild started into the Wrath of the Lich King endgame content. Elemental was fun. I loved the big crits. After a while, however, I was frustrated with constantly competing for Heroic Dungeon party DPS slots. I decided to give Restoration a try. It was really a pain at first, but after getting some advice from a guildmate I started to enjoy it. I learned to appreciate what makes a good healer and what makes a good tank. My guildmates ran through some heroics with me and allowed me to learn (even though my inexperience caused more than a few wipes). I shared healing in our Naxx runs and I was getting the hang of it. I couldn't wait to enter the LFG as a healer and not have to wait and/or beg for a slot. A few PUGs later and I have re-specced back to elemental.

We all know that pick-up groups can be a harrowing experience. Sometimes due to a terribly unskilled player in the group, but mostly due to internet dickwad theory. PUG partly members often behave like total jerks. This is true throughout the game, but it is made more difficult being in the role of the healer. Every death is your fault. Never mind that practically AFK DPS Deathknight. Never mind that I have elite MOBs in my face the whole time that should be aggroed by the tank (or at least my another member of the group when they jump on me). Being the healer means every wipe is at least partially your fault (and it's true in many cases). Now, I don't mind it being my fault. I don't even mind being called on it. If I make a mistake that costs people time and gold because of another wipe, I'll own up. What's unacceptable is the total lack of civility in the ensuing discussion. The best case scenario I can hope for is condescending sarcasm, but what mostly happens are racial slurs followed by comments on my pending alternative sexual preferences.

I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone who has played the game. The average stranger is a total dick. It makes civil players a real valuable asset. I'm just not willing to subject myself to the abuse on a constant basis. As ranged DPS, I am relatively immune to the comments unless I do something really foolish. In fact, I often do entire heroics without any dialog with the other party members at all. No one really cares as long as the DPS does some damage. It's not the way I'd make it if I had my way, but it sure beats painting a giant target on my back.

I'll never make fun of our guild's tree-healer again. Well, not for awhile.

The story of Unreal Tournament 3

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Sinister SID and I finally got around to finishing the campaign fo UT3 and during one of the final cut scenes, SID commented that he hadn't listen to a word in any of these cut scenes and had no idea what was going on. I quickly agreed that I was in the exact same boat.

Why did we not care enough to pay attention? Were the story elements poorly done? Not at all. The story scenes were well animated and decently voice acted. The problem is that the story is so ridiculous. This is mostly because the "campaign" in UT3 is just a series of bot matches. They try to align the idea of matches of deathmatch and capture the flag with the objectives being tied to "powering the enemy's respawners" and so on, but it just doesn't work. If you want to have story mode where the gameplay is just bot matches, just make the story about a UT Team.

With this comment aside, did I not enjoy myself? I absolutely did enjoy myself. Unreal Tournament 3 is an excellent entry in the UT IP. It's exactly what you want and expect from a UT game. It's full of frantic, fast-paced fragging and not much else. If you're a fan of this gameplay (and SID and I are), then it's a blast. If you are looking for something a little more tactical, go play Gears of War 2.

Basically, I liked the game. The "campaign" mode should just be labelled for what it actually is: An extremely long tutorial mode.

Gears of War 2 is as good as I hoped!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:59:00 +0000

Sinister SID and I finally finished GOW2 on Normal Mode and I have to say I love this game. Having not played a great deal of multiplayer other than the odd game of Horde mode, I didn't notice the ipact the recent update made (I never noticed the bugs and glitches).

ALl in all, I'd say Gears of War 2 is a great game. It doesn't stray very far from the original (which is a good thing) but adds a few things which make it prefereable.

The overall presentation is top-notch. The graphics, sound, and design elements are what you'd expect from the team that produced Gears of War. The voice acting is great. The story is more of the same action-movie level pseudo-drama, but is that really a bad thing for such an action and violence orientaed game? I think it works. The dialogue is a little weak, but that just strengthen s it's comparison to an action movie.

The gameplay is very similar to Gears, but with a few changes which are all improvements. The addition of a "chainsaw duel" event when two chainsaw wielding opponents collide is far superior to the luck and timing based random kill that occured previously. The new weapons are interesting and each maintain a unique feel. The meat shield concept is a nice touch and adds some variety to situational strategy.

My favorite addition to Gears of War 2 is Horde mode. This is a multiplayer mode where you and up to 4 other friends are pitted against 50 waves of Locust attackers. Each wave increases in difficulty and you only progress to the next wave if at least one member of your party survives. It rewards skillfull, team-based gameplay and teammate communication.

This is by far the most fun I've had on my Xbox 360 in awhile.

The Chunk returns to World of Warcraft!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:37:00 +0000

I played a ton of World of Warcraft back in 2005. A group of friends and I all got into the game at the same time and had a blast. The problem was I was playing on a laptop that barley met the video requirements for the game, so it would choke in battlegrounds and performed poorly in PVP situations in general. As I approached the endgame, I had nothing to really look forward too (as Raids and Battlegrounds were out of the question without a new laptop). My friends quickly out-leveled me and eventually I abandoned my level 52 Undead Mage and deactivated my account. As time passed, I occasionally missed WOW and on several occasions I re-activated my account and played for a bit. By this time, the group of friends I had played with were no longer playing either, so I messed around with various classes and races but generally made little progress.

Earlier this year, my girlfriend and I both bought Macs (she a Macbook and me and iMac). One of my first inclinations was to install WOW. Not only would my iMac have more than enough horsepower, but it was(along with other Blizzard games) one of the few pieces of OSX software I had. I picked up the Battlechest (to get the Burning Crusade expansion and an unfortunately near-useless Strategy Guide) and ventured back into Azeroth. I rolled a Draenei Hunter (a member of the Alliance I am ashamed to say) and had some fun levelling. Then I discovered my pals were getting back into it as well. A buddy of mine and I each rolled new toons (me an Orc Shaman and he a Blood Elf Hunter - a surprise considering his disdain of Elves) and started levelling. We were having fun again. Eventually my pal moved back to his level 60 Warlock main and levelled up to 70. I got my Shaman up to 70 (all interest in my old 52 Mage gone) and enjoyed some of the Burning Crusade endgame.

Now Wrath of the Lich King (the second expansion) has dropped and me and my friends are all having a blast. The new zone of Northrend is really well-designed with lots of varied and unique environments and denizens. I'm 75 already (slow by some standards I know) and I anticipate hitting 80 soon and really enjoying the new endgame elements with my friends.

Now, WOW has received alot of bad press over the years for being too addictive and destroying some players' social lives. I agree that the game has a draw which can become a problem. It's a result of onging reward-based gameplay. I do play the game alot, but I don't let it prevent me from enjoying my real life. A good guideline for me is that, since I watch very little television, it replaces that. I don't see how playing WOW for a few hours several evenings a week can be construed as a bad thing when the average North American spends alot more time than that staring at horrible reality TV shows. I still manage to read my novels and eat dinner at the table.

When all is said and done, I'm glad to be playing again. Alot of that is due to the friends I have (some from real life and some in-game only). If you used to play, give it a try with the new expansion, if you haven't I highly reccomend it. Just don't neglect your girlfriend, or job, or cat...

Excession by Iain M. Banks - Another masterpiece!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:14:00 +0000

I just finished Excession last night and I loved it. It's official: Iain Banks is not only my favorite author but arguably the best science fiction writer alive today.

Excession is one of Banks' "culture" novels (it takes place in the same universe as several of his other works in which the galaxy is dominated by an advanced society called the Culture). It chronicles the events that take place after the appearance of a strange, black sphere on the edge of known space. This "excession" (also referred to as an "Outside Context Problem" in the novel) is the focus of a war between the culture and the alien Affront. Amidst this war we have Dajeil and Genar-Hofoen, two ex-lovers who's relationship ended very badly and who's reconciliation has become the obsession of a ship called the Sleeper Service. To go into any more detail would take too much space and probably spoil the plot.

Excession showcases what I believe to be Banks' two primary strengths: creativity and incredible use of language. The creative aspect of Banks' science fiction make me sometimes wonder if Bank's is a mad genius. His use of language is smart, eloquent, and often poetic. Combined with his dedication to developing interesting and believable characters (no small task in such a fantastical science fiction setting) these two traits create a perfect storm of literary goodness.

I cannot recommend this novel enough. It is a must read for science fiction fans and a "should read" for everyone else.

Shadowrun - A decent game that could have been great!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:47:00 +0000

My friends and I got really into Halo 3 when it first came out. We loved partying up and engaging other players in Team Slayer. This eventually got frustrating as the skill levels of our opponents increased and the level of foul-mouthedness increased exponentially to that. We decided to find another game to play. We tried Gear of War, but playing with your friends was strangely difficult. Then one of us suggested Shadowrun

At this point, Shadowrun was a discount title, so none of us had anything to lose. I'd read reviews and they were mixed, but definitely not awful. In my opinion, while this game has some major flaws, it is underrated.

The gameplay is pretty tight. The graphics are decent. The sound is fine. The plot is, well, totally non-existent, but this is due to it being an "online only" title. The best this game has to offer is some interesting quirks to the standard FPS template. Glider wings. Thermal vision. Smartlinked weapons. Magic spells. All these really make for an enjoyably different shooter experience.

One complaint I have is that the game does very little with the Shadowrun license. I have played a little of the old Shadowrun RPG and there was so much more that could have been done, even keeping with the style of gameplay they were going for. Where are drone riggers? Where are deckers? They took a very small sample of the shadowrun universe and slid it into a shooter. Anyone with any game experience at all could tell you that it feels like the tip of the iceberg. this game has tons of potential. Unrealized potential, unfortunately. Some problems revolve around polish. The characters float up ladders in the game. This is a next gen console game and there is no climbing animation for the character models? That's just weak. Lastly, the whole game needs more variation. More character skins for the players. Some different artifacts for the players to fight over (I got a little sick of the skull-on-a-stick). My complaints about this game lie in categories that don't entirely ruin the gameplay, but are really unforgivable by today's standards.

With all that said, we are having a reasonable amount of fun with this game. It's a shame that the developers couldn't capitalize fully on what they had going. This game could've been great. Also, since it was the first Windows/Xbox 360 cross-platform game, one would have thought that MS would have aimed higher. Basically, I hope it did well enough for a Shadowrun 2 to get made (and made right).

Scud The Disposable Assassin #21 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:57:00 +0000

I loved Scud The Disposable Assassin. I got interested in it at around issue 18 (I know, pretty late in the game as it only made it to issue 20), but this led me to buy all 4 of the trade paperbacks that collect the entire original series. I also collected the few issues of the "Tales From The Vending Machine" spin-off series as well as a few issues of "La Cosa Nostroid".

Scud always seemed to be directly targeted at me (and people like me). The art style is one that I prefer and the subject matter is entirely drawn from subjects that I am interested in. In short, I loved Scud and I was very disappointed when the series stopped at issue 20 with a cliffhanger ending.

Now, after 10 years on hiatus, Rob Schrab concludes the series with a 4 part mini series! I grabbed issue #1 (or #21) as soon as I saw it was out (a rare departure from my usual strategy of waiting for the collected trade paperback).

As far as issues of Scud go, this one is not one of the best. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be reading a new issue of Scud, but this entire issue seemed to be made up of nothing but set-up and re-introductions. This could pay off by letting the story get cooking in the following issues. Another complaint I have is that Schrab seems to be making the same mistakes that Lucas has in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He's tying all the characters together too closely. Scud somehow gets reborn back in the mannequin factory where he was originally dispensed to kill Jeff? That would be like all the Stormtroopers being clones of Boba Fett or C-3PO being made by Darth Vader or ... oh, wait. This isn't that big of a deal as the Scud series is more about a surreal bombardment of awesomeness and not about ongoing drama in the traditional sense. It's always been a little off the beaten path when it comes to plot. Some of the connections just feel a bit forced.

The dialogue is still the Scud we know and love. It's clear that Schrab hasn't lost his writing skills.

As far as the art goes, it definitely still holds the energy that I loved from reading the past issues, but it does look like Schrab may be out of practice. The art seemed more rushed this time around. Maybe it was.

While it may sound like I was horrendously disappointed with this issue, that is not the case. Regardless of the criticisms I have made, it is still great to have Scud back. I can recognize that I'm probably being an overly critical fanboy. I'm looking forward to the next issues. While it still remains to be seen if these new issues will be a fitting conclusion to the saga of Scud, I'm grateful to Rob Schrab for giving it a try.

Undertow - Not that deep, but fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:21:00 +0000

This game was well-hyped before it's release and got pretty good reviews when it finally dropped on the Xbox Live Arcade. I tried the demo and really wasn't drawn to it at all. As an apology for it's Xbox Live issues over Christmas 2007, Microsoft made Undertow free for a limited time. Not being one to turn down free content, I nabbed the full version while I could, but still never played it. After reading about an impending DLC drop for Undertow, I gave the game another try, and I had fun. Mostly.

The game is basically a team-based 2d shooter where you have to capture control points in order to whittle down your opponent's score to zero (which is primarily done by controlling the majority of control points on a map). It features 3 armies to choose from: the Humans, Nemoidians, and Atlanteans. Each of the armies units have a unique look, but are all equal in terms of how they handle and perform. You can select one of 4 unit types (think classes) which perform variably well depending what units your opponent is using. The unit types can be upgraded during the course of a game up to 3 levels.

Undertow was clearly designed to be a multiplayer experience, so the campaign mode is basically a series of VS matches against computer opponents with cut scenes in between explaining who the three races are and why they are fighting. I didn't expect much in the way of plot and I shouldn't have. This is hardly a unique limitation to Undertow.

The multiplayer in Undertow is where the game really shines. The ability to play games with up to 16 XBL players is really great. The only problem I found was that there aren't a lot of people playing online at this time. Maybe the DLC just released will drum up some activity.

The visuals in Undertow are great. It was built with the Unreal engine and one can tell that Chair put an appropriate amount of effort into the look. The sounds effects are fine. The voice acting is cheesy, but acceptable. The gameplay, both online and offline is smooth and responsive.

In the end, I think this game is an excellent addition to the XBLA. It fills the multiplayer niche perfectly and definitely stands above most of the games in terms of production quality. I recommend this game to anyone interested in a more casual multiplayer experience on Xbox Live Arcade..

Multiplayer Ranked Play on Xbox Live - All I want is to play with my friends!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:01:00 +0000

I have recently started playing some Gear of War online (I know, I know - I'm behind the times). A buddy and I went into the Versus menu and tried to play a ranked game, but there was no way for us to play in the same game. We tried hosting a game and inviting the other player, but invites were disabled in ranked matches. We tried hosting a game and relying on the other player to join the game, but the games list does not display the hosts name (apparently this is due to an intentional change in an update some time ago). Both these avenues are available to us in Player matches, but not in ranked matches. Even if we do end up joining the same match, the ability to be on the same team is dependant on other players joining the other side.

I did some online research and, as I understand it, Epic had to chose between making their own matching system or using the Xbox Live system. They went with the Xbox Live option and, due to constraints placed by Microsoft on that system, Ranked matches cannot involve teaming up intentionally with friends. I suppose there is a good reason for this at some level. It prevents people from abusing the situation to improve their rank and/or get achievements by playing against friends who let them win and so on, but it just seems not quite right. The official argument is that we can play Player matches if we want to be social (that's what Player matches are for). OK, that seems fair.

Now, lets bring two other games into the mix for comparison: Halo3 and Team fortress 2.

Halo 3 has it's own ranking system, so it completely circumvents the whole problem. Groups of friends can team up and then join ranked matches. the whole thing works well with rankings even being divided into multiple game types (Lone Wolves, Team Slayer and so on). Most of the multiplayer achievements need to be earned in Ranked play and it seems like Ranked matches are the preferred choice. The Halo 3 system matches you (and any other players you are grouped with) against opponents of similar skill. This does ensure that you play a competitive game. It avoids the situation where a well-oiled team of hardcore PVPers totally destroy a team of complete newbies. It also gets frustrating for the even-slightly casual player. Your skill rank basically increases until you reach a point where you are getting consistently beaten, and then you are stuck at that level forever. This is less of a problem if you are a very frequent player and you skills can keep increasing, but us adults with careers and girlfriends who are only playing once a week with friends are somewhat screwed.

Team Fortress 2 does not implement it's own Ranking system. But players can still see the host in the ranked lists and so it's relatively simple (although not as slick as in Halo 3) for some friends to all join the same match. TF2 has it's own problem, however, with Player matches in that, since you can join games in progress, you and your friend may (and most likely will) end up on opposite teams due to the rules dictating what team you can join once a match has been joined (this is to prevent uneven teams as much as possible - in fact, you may be suddenly re-assigned to the other team during a game). The achievements can be earned in either the Ranked or Player matches. This makes it really easy to cheat for several of them. I find that the only difference between the two is that, since people can join in the middle of a match, you are less likely to be stuck on uneven teams when someone leaves a game in progress. Also, player matches are easier to find since the only opportunity to join Ranked matches is in the lobby before they begin.

I don't mind the skill matching problems because either way has it's ups and downs. You either get matched consistently against competitive opponents and reach a point where it gets frustrating, or you are matched at random and sometimes the team skill levels are totally uneven.

The feature that I appreciate the most (when it has been implemented) is the ability to group with my friends. Clearly Halo 3 has the right idea and hopefully all future games (like Gears of War 2) with follow suit. Also, one hopes that Microsoft will enhance the Xbox Live Ranking system to allow this obvious scenario to be easily handled more appropriately by game developers. I'd love to have this functionality added in an update to TF2 and Gears of War so me and my friends can wreak ranked havoc together, but I'm not holding my breath.

Comic Books vs Collected Editions - Why Comics Aren't Graphic Novels But Should Be

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:28:00 +0000

I collected comics when I was younger. I had my favorite books that I bought every month. I bought bags and boards to protect them. I also dabbled in back issues a bit (usually when I found a series that I had missed the beginning of). I bought trade paperback collected editions as a convenient way to grab a series of issues that I had missed and to avoid the hassle of back issues (the market for which had already peaked and was starting to decline).

Midway through high school my attention was diverted (girls, teen angst, playing in a band) and I stopped collecting comics (although I would still occasionally buy trade paperbacks from time to time).

When I was in college I spotted Deadpool #4. This issue's cover (drawn by the amazing Ed McGuiness) featured The Incredible Hulk with Deadpool on his back yelling "Deadpool smash". I had to buy it. I then bought the previous 3 issues of Deadpool. I then scanned the racks for any new series and bought then as well. A few months later I was buying a few series on a regular basis. After a few more months I started going for back issues, trying to catch up on the years I had missed. It started to get expensive (for a college student) but I kept it up for a few years. When I graduated I was again distracted (career, girls, playing in a band again) and I again abandoned my comics.

A few years later I realized how much I missed comics. I decided to start buying trade paperbacks. Buying the individual issues just didn't appeal to me. I much preferred to have complete (or at least larger chunks of) stories to read. This is the mode I have been in since. Sometimes I am very picky in terms of what I buy (I get the scoop from reviews and stuff) and sometimes I buy some fluff right of the shelf because I am a huge fan of the character, artist, or writer. I much prefer this method of consuming my beloved stories.

I find that the wait for the collected editions to be released is, for the most part, far preferable to the hassle of collecting the flimsy individual issues (and the required bags and boards to take care of them). I think the publication of comics in this format to be well on it's way to being obsolete. This manner of publication is a throwback to a time when the stories only lasted the one issue and the target readers were kids in the supermarket with Mom, begging for something more exciting than canned tomato soup to look at.

Things are different now. The story arcs span many issues. The writing is more mature (potentially). The characters are more complex (again potentially). In short, the art form has evolved. The next step would be to evolve the way they are presented.

I think that these stories should make the jump to actually being Graphic Novels (a name that us comic book fanboys have been trying to get used as the common vernacular for a long time). They should publish complete stories in a single volume and leave the serialized concept to newspaper comic pages and webcomics. All the best stories are usually created as a pre-conceived story arc anyways. A series of sequels provides the same ongoing story that a serialized comic book would have and without the many drawbacks of a monthly release schedule. I hate the obvious "fill-in" issues where it is apparent that the only people interested in getting this story published are the accountants at the publishing company. Get rid of all that garbage. Get rid of useless crossover events and instead put out a well thought out, well drawn, and well written story.

A large part of this issue is entangled in the way that comics are handled by their publishers. They have an infrastructure in place to produce the monthly serialized books and, in order to make enough money to keep publishing, they have to sell more and more issues. This leads to there being multiple series' featuring the same character due to their popularity. It leads to issues and sometimes entire arcs being published as a result of editorial mandate instead of any actually interested creative team. What this shows is a lack of respect on the part of the publishers for the very people that buy their merchandise. They take advantage of the collector and completist in us all and try to get us to buy tons of mediocre product. Now, this is not entirely their fault. We, as the consumers, are very much at fault. How? We buy all this garbage.

I imagine a world where the publisher is actually concerned about quality of their finished product. Good art, good writing, and a good story concept. I imagine a publisher who would say "No, we can't publish that. It's crap. It's insulting to our readers and it'd be an embarrassment to us as a publisher" instead of shamelessly producing a constant stream of sub-par junk. In order to get to this state, the consumers (that's us) have to stop buying everything that comes out and actually be selective. the publishers need to take notice and start the process of selling based on quality instead of marketing and hype. With the quality and maturity levels increased to where they should be, hopefully new consumers will jump on board and it won't just be us comic book nerds anymore. These great works of art deserve to be treated the same as great novels.

Now, with all that said, there is a ton of good stuff being produced these days. Don't let this rant lead you to believe that I think comics are junk in general. There are people who care about what they produce and I thank them for all their hard work and dedication. I'm sure it's difficult to produce high quality stories within the constraints of a large corporate publisher (especially when producing stories involving money making intellectual properties). I'm also sure that there are many factors in this system that I am not aware of. I'd also like to say that I see good things happening. The last decade has seen an excellent shift from focusing only on artists to a much-welcome focus on the many talented writers. This is a move in the right direction (not that we should forget the pencilers or, god forbid, the inkers).

When all is said and done, I think we just want good stories and more of them and I think the industry needs to adjust to make this possible.

Arkadian Warriors - A fun little dungeon crawler!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Arkadian Warriors is a dungeon-crawling action adventure game developed by Wanako games for the XBLA. I anticipated being really into this game when I first heard about it. When it was finally released, I gave the trial version a quick try and I was somewhat unimpressed. I read the various reviews for the game over the following week or so and this further jaded my opinion. The reviews mostly stated that while it contained alot of content for an XBLA game, the gameplay was simplistic, monotonous, and generally uninspired. I was inclined to agree and so I never unlocked the full version.

Then last night I received a chat invite from my buddy, Sinister SID. We happened to both be playing Puzzle Quest and we discussed how addictive that game was. Then we decided to play something together. We weren't really in the FPS mood (thus no Halo 3), so SID suggested we try Arkadian Warriors. I unlocked it and we rolled through a few quests in co-op mode. I had a ton of fun. This made me want to re-evaluate this game.

Yes, the game is pretty simple. It lies somewhere between Gaunlet and Diablo II in terms of how it plays. The basic gameplay involves receiving a quest from a person in the town, going through a portal to a dungeon where the quest objective lies, killing monsters while exploring a dungeon, achieving the objective by either acquiring an object, a certain number of objects, or slaying a specific monster, returning to the quest-giver for a reward, hitting the shop to buy some new gear, and repeat. Admittedly, it would get old fast, except that I was playing with a friend. The straightforward nature of the game made for a very enjoyable experience while SID and I talked and joked. Was it a bit simple? Absolutely. But if we wanted a more immersive experience we both would have flashed up our long-dormant World of Warcraft accounts. This game filled a specific need. We wanted a co-op dungeoun crawler with some RPG-style persistance. In this respect Arkadian Warriors totally delivers.

As far as graphics and sound go, the game is fine. Not great, but not bad. Is it pushing the boundaries of the Xbox 360's capabilities? No, but it looks and sounds good enough. In the gameplay department, there are a few snags. In co-op, both players share the same camera angle and can both control the camera. This can be a bit annoying as one player adjusts for his own purposes. I don't see why each player couldn't have their own independant view. It seems like the co-op mode was designed for local multiplayer instead of over Xbox Live. Also, in order to go from buying to selling (or vice versa) at the shop, you have to quit all the way out of the shop menu and re-initiate a dialog with the merchant-guy all over again. Not a huge deal, but it seems like this should have been implemented a bit better. The lack of 4-player co-op also stands out as a huge oversight.

So, in the end, I'll admit the game is not the next Diablo or anything, but it's an XBLA title for 800 MS points! There's alot of game here for the low cost. You won't find me grinding through the quests on my own very often, but I can see myself finishing the game at least once with a friend or two. If you think a game described as "Diablo Lite" sounds like fun, you may get alot of play out of Arkadian Warriors.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I loved LEGO as a kid. Who am I kidding, I still think LEGO is pretty awesome. Years ago, when they came out with the Star Wars line of LEGO products I remember asking why didn't they have that awesome stuff when I was a kid? Then I bought the LEGO Slave I kit. I remember hearing good things about the first LEGO Star Wars game. I remember thinking it was a cool idea. I just never payed alot of attention. Then when LEGO Star Wars II came out, it really made me ask myself what I may be missing. Finally, when LEGO Star Wars The Complete Saga was announced, I knew I'd have to grab my chance.

LEGO Star Wars is truly awesome. At first glance, LEGO Star Wars: TCS is a humorous romp through the Star Wars films with all the characters, vehicles and environments comprised of LEGO. You start out playing the main protagonists from the corresponding films and eventually can play almost any character found in the saga. It's pretty cool. Sure, the characters do tend to look all cutesy, but if you ever owned any LEGO, this will probably appeal to you.

Where LEGO Star Wars The Complete Saga really shines is in it's replayability. There is a ton of content to unlock in this game, and much of it cannot be unlocked the first time through. There are studs to collect (the lego studs are the currency in the game). There are characters to unlock. There are mini-kit parts to find and bricks to acquire. Combine all this with the Xbox 360 version's corresponding achievements and you have a winning combination.

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien - A Review

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:52:00 +0000

After The Lord of the Rings films came out I felt a desire to immerse myself more deeply into all things Tolkien. Having read and reread the trilogy itself (as well as The Hobbit) I wanted to go beyond those works. I received Unfinished Tales as a gift (and I have yet to read it), but I wanted to start at the beginning. Enter The Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's background history of the world in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. It was edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien after his death based on his many notes and unpublished writings. The book itself is divided into 5 parts. The first part, Ainulindalë, deals with how the world of Eä came into existance. Valaquenta, the second part, describes the Valar and Maiar (the "Gods" of Ea). The third part is the Quenta Silmarillion. This is the main part and it accounts the history of the First Age of Ea. The fourth part is Akallabêth and it tells the story of the Downfall of Númenor in the Second Age. Part five tells the history of the Rings of Power and the Third Age and more closely links the earlier events to what transpires in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Following all of this is, of course, an Appendix.

I enjoyed The Silmarillon a great deal. It fills in the gaps of knowledge concerning Middle-earth nicely and is an interesting read. I will admit that it gets a bit dry from time to time. This is mostly because it reads like a historical account and not like a novel (which makes sense because that's what was intended). This makes it somewhat difficult to really generate any attachment to any of the characters. I found myself enjoying the anticipation of getting to a part that I recognized from some reference in Lord of the Rings. Of this, there are many. What really shines in this work (and in all of Tolkien's works) is the sheer magnitude of it all. Tolkien had everything down on paper.

I suspect the Silmarillion will not be for everyone. Even a fan of fantasy in general may find the dry account of events unappealing. For the serious Tolkien fan,however, this is a must read.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:58:00 +0000

I first heard of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords by reading Penny Arcade. At that point it was out for the Nintendo DS and the PSP and I was captivated. Seeing as I had been playing tons of puzzle-based games (mostly on the Xbox Live Arcade), it sounded like a perfect fit. Due to being busy with other games and other things I never got around to picking it up. Then I heard it was being released on the XBLA. I knew I'd get it then. So I downloaded the trial and unlocked it almost immediately (a habit I have since broken).

Puzzle Quest is a fusion between a jewel-like puzzle game and an old-school RPG. Basically you create a character from a small assortment of classes and pictures, you roam a map initiating dialogs with various NPCs, and, when it comes time to engage in combat, you play a jewel-matching game with your opponent. As you complete quests and vanquish evildoers, your character gains experience, resulting in increased abilities, additional spells, more gold, and better gear. You can also face other players either locally or online.

The puzzle-combat consists of a board covered in various symbols (Green mana, Red mana, Yellow mana, Blue mana, Skulls, Stars, Gold coins, and special multiplier pieces). As you match these into a row of 3 or more, you gain the corresponding mana, gold, or experience in the case of stars. If you match skulls you do damage to your opponent. Once you have the required mana for a spell, you can cast it for a wide variety of effects (this is really the core of the game play). 4 or more in a row yields an additional turn. If you get your opponents health to 0 before yours is gone, you win.

I think this description inspires one of two reactions: Either you are captivated by the possibilities, or you have already closed this browser window and, if you are one of my few subscribers, removed me from your RSS feed. I fell into the captivated lot.

I started playing expecting a truly awesome experience. The guys at Penny Arcade loved this game and they are rarely wrong in my opinion. I was pretty disappointed at first. While I agreed that the idea was excellent and the execution was successful, it just didn't grab me. Part of the problem was the truly old-school RPG presentation style. Part of it was that I found the puzzle aspects kind of shallow. So I played the game less and less.

Then, I levelled up. Then I gained a spell that changed the dynamics of the battles I was fighting. Then I built a mage tower in my citadel. Then I layed siege a city and added it to my empire. The depth of the game started to draw me in. I am now plugging my way towards completing this game and loving every minute.

Graphically, the game is pretty old-school, but the artwork is in HD on the XBLA.

The sound is acceptable with an epic-sounding score.

The game play is well-implemented and intuitive. The only issue is the view when moving overland in the map screen. If you go a long distance it doesn't follow your cursor until you actually get to the location. It's a minor annoyance, however, and becomes less of an issue once you start travelling in smaller "jumps".

I think this game is an excellent example of a successful fusion of two different genres. Also, I think it's an excellent sign of great things to come as a new genre is born. I am hoping the inevitable copycats will push the possibilities even further.

In the end, you will enjoy this game a great deal if you like puzzle games and are at least not adverse to RPG elements.

Annihilation - Catch the wave!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:24:00 +0000

The Annihilation event interested me in many ways. First, I love the cosmic storylines in comics. Even in the DC universe, my favorite is the Green Lantern Corps. Second, I love Annihilus. I have a pal who loves Annihilus in a way that few can. Third, it's just a nice vacation from Civil War and all it's related goings on. I was excited that it was being collected (I'm a pure trade paperback buyer) and it was recommended to me by a frend (the Annihilus fan mentioned above), so I bought all three volumes as they came out.

In terms of content, the story delivers. We have Nova, Ronan, Drax, Super-Skrull and many others fighting the good fight against "The Annihilation Wave". What's not to like, right? But, in terms of writing, I was a bit disappointed. I'm not saying the writing is bad. It's just that the story didn't come across as very epic. The individual stories wouldn't have held much interest if they weren't part of the larger event and their ties to the core are a little weak. Basically the majority of the individual plots are unrelated until the very end. The tie-in to the Annihilation event is really unfocused. I personally would have preferred if it had less trite dialogue and a more melodramatic feel.

The art is hard to comment on because of the many artists involved. I like the art in Super-Skrull the best, but that's because I enjoy the cartoon-like character designs. The other artwork is high quality, but doesn't hold a candle to the incredible covers (all done by Gabriele Dell'otto). The covers are what totally sold me on the series. They are truly great. The disparity between the cover artwork (which conveys the epic feel I was hoping for) and the interior images adds to the unfocused feel. Again, the art was totally acceptable, just not the same caliber as the covers.

My biggest complaint is that the Annihilation Wave does not seem as powerful as we are made to believe. The dialogue in the book refers to how unstoppable and awful this horde from the Negative Zone is, but I never really felt it. The splash pages of the oncoming wave are meant to make the reader go "Wow, that's a huge army of unstoppable Negative Zone killing machines!" Instead, I found myself saying "Oh, look. Some bug-like guys in bug-like spaceships." Also, Annihilus does almost nothing. Similar to Apocalypse in the Age of Apocalypse event, we see him sitting around and talking to lackeys instead of dealing out death and destruction like the Living Death That Walks should. Also, I liked the old Drax more that this knife-wielding, hardcore version.

All in all, I enjoyed the Annihilation event. It's a fun romp through the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. I would have handled it differently, but what fanboy wouldn't say that?

Mutant Storm Empire - More twitch gaming goodness!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:57:00 +0000

The first Xbox Live Arcade game that was shown to me was Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. I was totally hooked by this game and ran out and bought my own Xbox 360. In the first round of purchases was a similar game: Mutant Storm Reloaded. I liked this game as much as Geometry Wars. Thus began my one-sided love affair with twitch gaming.

Now we have Mutant Storm Empire. An excellent evolution of the fantastic Mutant Storm Reloaded. I love this game! Mutant Storm Empire is pretty much the same mechanics as it's predecessor. It's a twitch shooter with the player's ship being controlled with the left stick and the shooting being controlled with the right. It's level-based (unlike Geometry Wars) but this time with a slight twist: now, in between levels there are passageways which must be traversed and that are often filled with enemies. This change provides the game with a smooth feel in contrast with the start and stop feel of Reloaded without sacrificing the level-based feel which distinguished it from Geometry Wars. There are still belts to be achieved (like in martial arts) and two player co-op mode is still supported (another distinguishing factor).

The graphics have been revamped and look great. They sacrifice some of the organic feel in favor of a more techno look and feel and it really works. The animations, textures and explosions are all gorgeous. The sound is great. The gameplay is wonderful (it feels very much like Reloaded).

There's not much bad to say about this game. There's really not a lot new in this game than in it's predecessor, so it might be tough to justify the purchase if you already have Reloaded (unless you're really into twitch games). If you don't have a twitch shooter, Mutant Storm Empire is a no-brainer. It's also considerably easier than Reloaded (at least in my opinion). The achievements are falling before me like dead leaves, whereas I only had a few in Mutant Storm Reloaded and Geometry Wars combined. This isn't really a bad thing, as the game still gets very challenging, just not as early.

If you like twitch gaming, give Mutant Storm Empire a try.

Halo 3 Multiplayer - I never want to finish the fight!

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:01:00 +0000

As I said in my Halo 3 review, I never played much of the first two Halo games. I picked up Halo 3 because I knew everyone and their dog would be playing the heck out of it and everyone needs their little dose of team slayer now and again. It turns out I need more than a little dose!

Me and my friends (Sinister SID, Quotho, and ApoPen) have been playing regular multiplayer matches on Monday nights for a few weeks now and we are all having a blast. We have played mostly on the ranked team slayer list. I'd have to say that we are getting pretty good. We stick together. We comunicate. We cover each other's backs. We rarely take out our entire team with the flamethrower (sorry about that guys). Sure, we still get stomped by some teams, but I think that is more due to the fact that we have jobs, have actually seen the sun since Halo 3 came out, and are over 14 years old. Most of our games end with a pretty close score. This shows how good the matchmaking is. I'm still a little curious how the skill rating is worked out (Sinister SID seems to get MVP in every game we play and yet his skill isn't going as high as I'd think) but the end result of competetive fun is pretty clear.

Most of the opposing teams we've run up against have been pretty good sports and participate with the friendly "Good Game Guys" in the post-game lobby. Unfortunately, most of them is not all of them. Some of these kids are so lippy and full of smack talk that they seem retarded in some way. This phenomenon is not limited to opponents, either. I spent the first few minutes of a large multiplayer CTF game muting all of my apparently retarded teamates. Seriously, they wouldn't shut up. My solution is to primarily play with friends whom I screen for minimum IQ requirements and lack of any mental condition that causes them to yell and curse for no reason.

All in all my Halo 3 experience is panning out to be a very good one. The multiplayer gameplay is as close to flawless as I can imagine. This, in addition to online 4-player co-op (which we play as a warm up for multiplayer) makes it one of the most enjoyable games I've played.