The Critics of Fortune

Assassins Creed Revelations Review

2011-11-29T06:55:00.001-08:00

Ubisoft's latest instalment to the Assassins Creed series is yet again another brilliant addition to the series. It brings new and interesting additions to the series, a personal highlight for me was the hook-blade it made the combat more versatile and it also made travelling around Constantinople a lot easier. Although there was something that I did miss, that I thought was a brilliant addition to Brotherhood this was riding around the outskirts of Rome on your horse this made travelling to different locations a lot easier and I thought that was a big loss for this game as I thought it was a good feature from the other games in the series, another change that I did not like was the fact that they took away Glyphs from the game, in the previous instalments I found the Glyphs to be one of the most intriguing parts of the game I loved having to solve the historically orientated puzzles set before you that were extremely clever in the way that they were constructed. But without surprise the game yet again ended with another cliff hanger but I think it’s safe to say that Ezio's chapter in the AC story is now over, which leaves Ubisoft to hopefully move on to another stage in history (I personally hope that they base the next game around World War II). Overall though I do not think that Ubisoft's latest game in the series was as good as the last, and they could of done a lot more to make it so much better in every way, it just seems as if they may have rushed it a little. Overall Game-score: 8.3

As serious videos were already posted here, have some comedy from the internet, that always goes well.

Shogun 2 Expansion Confirmed

2011-11-28T13:30:00.001-08:00

And my god does it look amazing. I am writing this approximately 20 seconds after seeing this news on twitter. Which in turn was tweeted 6 minutes ago, so this is about as current as you get. If you want to skip my prattle and go straight to the blog I will be posting it at the bottom.

The clash of the moustache...2012

Now I will cover the Total War series in later articles, but safe to say I have been a massive fan since about the age of 11, playing Shogun, this year just passed it is safe to say I have immensely enjoyed Shogun 2, and with the release of a new expansion coming out, especially such a radical shift in time, I couldn't be more excited.

From the blog: Fall of the Samurai explores the conflict between the Imperial throne and the last Shogunate in 19th century Japan, 400 years after the events of the original game – a dramatic clash of traditional Samurai culture with the explosive power of modern weaponry.

And also:
There will be whole new land and sea unit interactions, including the ability to call in offshore artillery support barrages. Coastal gun emplacements can conversely target enemy ships, bringing a new synergy to land and sea elements of gameplay. Players can even call in campaign map bombardments – bombarding armies and cities in adjacent coastal areas of the campaign map itself.

Now the entire article is pretty short and deserves a read, but I'm really quite excited, which is rare in the video games world, such a radical departure still on the same engine, and coming the closest we have to the modern age was, for me, completely unexpected, I won't lie, I was expecting Mongol Invasion 2.

It is out in March of 2012, which just happens to be the month of my birthday. All in all, you can call this a pleasant surprise.

Here is the video, which for the record is currently at 190 views, and 8 likes. Now that is field reporting.

Blog Link Here

Oh man, that Gatling Gun

Episode 3, Y U NO HURRY?!

2011-11-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

Ohh Half Life, with your Gordonz, and your Combinez, and your sequelz.... Wait, what?

That's right, still no Episode 3. Sods Law says when I finish this the bloody thing it will be out. But no, we'll probably still have to wait after that. Here's what I think we can expect...

Each episode was meant to come out a few months after eachother. Obviously this never happened, which begs the question: What are Valve up to? They have also stated they're done with episodic gaming, which leaves only one realistic, not-gonna-piss-people-off, conclusion: Half Life 3.

If this is the case, I don't think it'll be like Valve to just say "yeah, we're working on it, stay tuned!", it seems to easy for them. That's why I ponder on whether they're working on a sequel to the Orange Box.

This would be a huge gaming event if so. HL3 released with 2-3 games at the same time. Portal 3 would more-than-likely be there, and probably Left4Dead 3. I can't see a sequel to Team Fortress 2 anytime soon.

I won't comment on what Half-Life 3 will have, whether it's a new physics engine, new Combine or Alyx and Gordon taking part in a sex quick-time event, but what ever it may be, it has a lot to live up to.

Blah blah blah, Mr Freeman...

The Week In Comics (Or what I bought this week)

2011-11-23T10:48:00.001-08:00

So, we find ourselves at the Wednesday 23rd of November, or for your average comic book loving Brit...Comic Day. I will admit that I think I only got 3 from the actual releases this week, which were as such. (Notice, for the purpose of this I will only be covering the New 52, as everyone has to have themes right?)

ALL-STAR WESTERN #3
AQUAMAN #3
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #3
BLACKHAWKS #3
THE FLASH #3
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #3
GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #3
I, VAMPIRE #3
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #3
THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #3
SUPERMAN #3
TEEN TITANS #3
VOODOO #3

OK, So out of those I only ended up getting Teen Titans (It is for my girlfriend, honest), Batman: The Dark Knight, and All-Star Western, as you will soon see from what else I got, that doesn't mean I won't be buying any of the others, but this week I was playing catch up. Due to a variety of reasons last week I couldn't go shopping, so this week was filled with number 2s, and a few more numbers 1s, just because I'm weak willed, so in no particular order.

Resurrection Man #1
Suicide Squad #1
Justice League International #2 and #3
Batman: Detective Comics #3
Batgirl #2 and #3
Aquaman #2
Green Latern New Guardians #2
Green Lantern #2

No doubt some of these will factor into reviews over the coming weeks. Justice League International and Batgirl come to mind. I will probably follow up with Aquaman when I get around to buying 3.

I think that is all for the week. I have a mountain of work to do, as well as all of this to read. Next I think I will cover Justice League 1-3, probably the most promising (also receiving most coverage, hence me reaching it later). After that, who knows. Stay tuned.

The Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword Review

2011-11-23T06:16:00.001-08:00

The Legend of Zelda's latest instalment in the simplest way I can put it is the best game I have ever played. It has succeeded all of my expectations, when I first saw that reveal trailer at E3 2010 I was a bit sceptical of Nintendo's choice to make the graphics kind of in-between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. But as soon as I got into the game I started to realize that Nintendo had done a phenomenal job of capturing the beauty of the newest addition to the Zelda universe.
My personal highlight of the game so far is the newest and greatest addition to the series, the new swordplay style, again I was worried that the new control system would lag and not live up to how Nintendo had hyped it up in all of the recent press releases. But to my delight they have done a fantastic job in making their new control system very accurate. There were only two things that has irritated me a little bit was that you continually have to centre the cross hair if you move the controller about too much. And I miss riding Epona around the fields of Hyrule! But overall Nintendo have done a brilliant job continuing the Zelda series, for about the first 5 hours of game-play I was comparing everything in the game to Ocarina of Time in order to see if I thought if it was better or not. But in my opinion they just as good as each other, I find it really hard to compare it to the game I played non-stop throughout the whole of my child hood.

Overall Rating: 10.0

Arkham City and the Wait of Eternity: Woes of a PC Gamer

2011-11-19T04:04:00.001-08:00

Today, we will be talking about two things very close to my heart, PC Gaming, and Batman, and while this is not a review per say, I feel it is relevant enough, and I am annoyed enough, to warrant the written word.

Now, just for some context on where I drop down on this matter. I was originally a console gamer, I would not know how to build my own computer, I am however, now, a hard line PC gamer, but do not confuse me for the bloodshot eyed PC Crusader you will find on Internet forums everywhere, slugging it out with equally zealous Console Fanatics. How this quite happened is by the by, but right now I am feeling rather punished for it.

As I'm sure anyone remotely vested into the progress of PC Arkham City, whether you have preordered it, or, as is seemingly the melodramatic trend, to cancel your preorder in protest, you are probably aware that Arkham City has been delayed across the board for another week from today (Nov 19th).

This has provoked considerably outrage both here and here, being the two principle rage-pits I've been exposed to. This has lead to the swirling of conspiracy theories about delays for profit, and delays for DLC to catch up, or to charge more for said DLC. One thing I will commit to is the fact that the Rocksteady staff have handled this horrifically, imposing some sort of virtual information blackout on their own servers.

There are even some quite troubling pictures on the former website, showing what appears to be a working version of the PC game, though I'm healthy skeptic about those, but if true, the implications are troubling.

A final sadistic twist of the knife came from a Steam/Rocksteady failure when, even though it was confirmed that it had all been delayed for a week, we UK fans looked at our steam library and saw "released 18th of November" and we waited until 6pm on the 18th, and when there was one hour left, at 5pm, they changed it to the 25th...Oh, it is like they are doing it on purpose.

I will not be canceling my preorder on steam though, for the sheer reason that I am a weak willed Batman fan who has been playing Arkham Asylum for the past few days and his convinced myself I will fall into coma if I don't play it, but to those of you doing so, I will not belittle you with pretentious "you are so childish/impatient/play other games/why so serious" comments, I am just going to be sad that once again the PC release schedule has been victim to unjust forces.

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Review.

2011-11-17T02:04:00.001-08:00

The Elder Scrolls latest addition to the series is without a doubt a masterpiece it excels in ever area that Oblivion did, and more. The graphics have improved since Oblivion and Bethesda have done a brilliant job creating a diverse intriguing world, where there are hundreds of dungeons and secrets to be found, it just keeps on suprising you with new and interesting enemies to face, (I swear Ice Trolls are harder to kill than Dragons !) The story isn't the most interesting and riveting I've ever played but the sheer wonder for what you might find next in the world of Skyrim, just makes you want to keep playing in hope that you might find a cool new weapon or a new set of Armour.I personally choose to be a Wood Elf when I started just because I love using the bow! I actually had trouble writing this review because every time I thought about starting to write this I just ended up playing again! I had to write this when I was away from home so that there was no temptation for playing Skyrim again. I also love the new system of upgrading your perks and leveling up, the selection screen for it looks really vibrant, Bethesda have also done a good job of how to get to your next objective with the compass bar at the top of the screen it really helps you when your trying to find a new location.
The dragon shouts are also a new brilliant addition, when you find a new shout I instantly had the urge to find a Dragon so that I could collect their soul to unlock the new Shout just to find out what it did! I also have an obsession with finding every location on the map so I know where I am and what's around me at all times! So overall Bethesda's Latest addition to in my opinion there greatest gaming series is a triumph.
Overall Gamescore: 9.5.

Myths of Components

2011-11-11T23:07:00.000-08:00

A quick one here, the title says it all:

P1: Processors must meet system requirements.

A: This one bugs me the most, so I'll clear it out the way first. No it doesn't. The processor is probably one of the least important parts of building a rig. Sure, you want a good one, but when it comes to gaming RAM and GFX are hugely more important.

P2: What's the most important component?

A: Not so much a myth, but a question I've heard a lot. The answer is simple: the power supply. Without a decent one, your rig will probably explode, throwing hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into your face, killing you. Well that may not be true, but the odds are it'll burn out a lot of your components, if not all. You need to remember what wattage your getting. For a decent rig running Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on full on a high res, you'll need at least 650W realistically.

P3: I have a sound card.

A: Pah, bollocks do you. People presume they have one when in most cases they don't. You're more likely to have an integrated sound chip on your motherboard. Don't believe me? Check your PCI slots. I DARE YOU!

P4: Cases are just for looks, they don't matter.

A: Actuallllllly, they do matter. A rig with poor air flow will cook up and eventually damage the components. Make sure when buying parts that you'll have enough room for the required cooling and for easy wire management.

P5: The bigger the Hard Drive you have, the quicker your rig will run.

A: Yes and no. It is true that the bigger it is, things can run marginally quicker, but it is by literally bugger all. If you want a faster rig, over-clock your processor and/or get more/quicker RAM.

P6: "Ohh, the Motherboard doesn't matter, I'll just get this one".

A: Wut? Just leave the room... now. Imagine this; you buy your components, you take them home, lay them out, and start building. You go and put the processor into its slot on the motherboard.... well at least you try, because some moron got a 775 board and a 1156 processor. You great big tit. They need to be compatible, any old board won't do. Also, if you're going to expand into SLI or CrossFireX then PCI-E slots are something you'll have to think about.

That'll do for now. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't slept.

Battlefield 4 confirmed. Well bugger me...

2011-11-11T23:01:00.000-08:00

As if it wasn't obvious enough, Battlefield 4 has been confirmed already. Can hardly blame EA, it's the best FPS on the market at this time. *Braces self for COD fanboys throwing semtex and generally frothing at the mouth*

Having to wait to play Battlefield 3 now is killing me: "ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS UNTIL YOU HAVE MONEY! YOU CAN DO THIS!", but I already can't wait for this.

The best game? Or the most enjoyable?

2011-11-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

You've debated this, what is the BEST game you've played? For me, it's Half Life 2. It's an astounding achivement in gaming and still is to this day. It takes a standard, linier story and turns it into perfection. But is it the most enjoyable game I've played? No. That would be Burnout 3. It's rare for me to comment on modern console games, but this is a gem from the past. I got hours of enjoyment from just driving a car at retarded speeds, hitting other cars off the road into pedestrians. God knows how many people I've killed in the process, probably enough to have my own genocide. Dictators behold!

This is only a recent inkling; but one I feel strongly about. I've debated with myself on this and can never seem to come to a precise answer; how can I be sure of this? I still don't know, but it's where my mindset is. I feel like an Alzheimers patient going for a shit: "why did I go to the toilet again?".

There are many areas in which you will love a game: the gameplay, graphics, simplicity or complexity, the story. Whether or not you love a game or not, you can never be too sure on how much you really feel/care about it to the point you can say it's you're favorite.

People don't seem to understand this, the best thing isn't necessarily the most enjoyable. You can be in love with something, but crave another, that's how it works.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Review

2011-11-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

The game series we all love to hate, but just can't help but buy it, because you feel left out if you're not playing with your friends. Infinity ward have done it again, they've made an addictive and brilliant game, The story is finally concluded in Activision's latest installment. I won't ruin any of the story but it is very interesting to see what finally happens to Price and Soap.
But yet again the main focus of any COD is the online play, once again it is extremely addictive and the only noticeable change is the weapon's and perks and obviously the maps, I wasn't to keen on the new maps to begin with weren't that brilliant, but as i got more into them, I began to enjoy them (apart from the one set in Paris, it sucks). The game play is again brilliant but once again if you get the annoying d**k with a bad connection, they'll ruin the game for everyone with terrible lag.
Right for now I'll leave it to you guys to play for yourselves. Let me know if you have any comments on the matter, here are some videos of game-play and the story footage.
Overall Gamescore 9.3

The Many Face's of Lara Croft.......

2011-11-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

With the announcement of the newest episode in the Lara Croft series at this years E3 I thought it would be an interesting subject to cover, on things such as how Lara has evolved over the past 15 years.
The first game in the Tomb Raider series was an instant hit winning the hearts of the gaming community, it was originally released on the Sega Saturn, but due to popularity of the game Playstation copies quickly followed.
The story followed Lara Croft a young British archaeologist traveling around the world breaking into Tombs searching for hidden treasures.
But unfortunately some of the games that followed in the series were not quite as impressive as the first few in the series, they lacked in the feeling that special feeling that you had when you were playing the first game, almost as if you had been there and done it before.
But there is hope yet, Lara's new adventure soon to come, looks set to impress. The trailer shows a very different Lara to what we have seen before, she doesn't seem like her usual self "un-phased by anything that is thrown at her" Square Enix seem to have made the game much more mad, more like a horror. In the trailer we can clearly see that Lara is actually scared of what is happening around her.
I'm looking very forward to the latest installment in the series and what it has to offer, but more importantly if it will beat my favourite the very first Tomb Raider. Here's a trailer have a look for yourself.

Comparison Trailer Shows Just How Far GTA Has Come.

2011-11-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Just a quick follow up to the Previous Article on the small snippet of information we have about the latest instalment of the behemoth franchise that is Grand Theft Auto. With the lack of any news since the trailer's realise and implied confirmation jumped Rockstar shares by about 7%.

Now while obviously impressive recreating nearly every scene, the more interesting points arrive where it is impossible for them to replicate. Now one GTA game probably holds a special place in the heart of most gamers, and for me it is San Andreas, I remember people went crazy over how big and advanced it was, and I feel looking at this you can see just how far the industry has a whole has come on since then, with the fluid movements, and literally glistening landscapes. And while there still remains a divide between those who long for the wacky days of San Andreas, compared to the more somber tone of GTA IV, and possibly GTA V (though at this stage, it is still too early to call it), the quality of this game will be most likely indisputable.

The music however, might be...

Assassin's Creed Revelations, will it be the best in the series yet ?

2011-11-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

With Revelations approaching swiftly I thought it would be fitting to discuss Ubisoft's latest addition to the AC series and what changes/additions Ubisoft have made to their latest installment.
To begin with after the last two games in the series being set in Italy it looks as if Ezio will be traveling to the middle-east in his latest adventure, searching for clues left by Altair, so that he can complete his lifelong quest to stop the Templar's from gaining devastating power capable of helping them take over the world. Ezio seems to be traveling to Masyaf to try and find important secrets that Altair my have left behind in order to help him defeat the Templar's.
You will also encounter new enemies that are harder than ever to defeat. Other new additions include Ezio being able to use zip lines to travel around the games new environments faster. Not a lot yet is clear though as Ubisoft are keeping a lot under wraps until the game is released later this month. So this is all I can offer you for now, I shall talk more about Revelations once it has been released until then here are some video's to watch.

Release Date: November 15th

The next generation of Counter Strike

2011-11-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

It started with 1.6, then Condition Zero and then CS:Source. Now, we have Global Offensive. Seeing as all anyone has to go by is a small teaser trailer, lets talk about what we know.

Visually it keeps the old CS enviroments, plus, as you'd expect, some new ones. The menus have been completely rehauled and they've also added new weapons. Graphicly it isn't anything special, it looks more like an experiment of a game more then anything else, although from what we've seen the game is still in Beta, so that could change.

We're gonna be treated to ranked match-making. Judging by this the game is going to be aimed at the tournement ring, like previous titles. In a sense, this is a shame. Comparing this with COD you can see Valve jumping on the band-wagon of shooters with this approach. It's good to see Valve keeping an eye open for the Pros but it would be good to see the game stay to its old roots which many of us grew up with.

I think the biggest possible downfall for the title is Cross-platforming. Never a clever idea for an FPS, due to the blatent advantages of PC gaming over consoles. I personally hold the opinion that FPS's should be developed for Windows, it allows so much more freedom. I'm sure this will add to the 'hate' between PC-fags and Console-fags, but really, who cares?

The lack of expansion from CSS suggests that this is a test run for something else from Valve. Most things, par the Cross-platforming and Match-making, have been added through mods that download straight to your client. I can personally see a lot of anger being vented towards Valve, but as soon as we know more, we can see where this is going.

Skyward Sword, will it be Nintendo's Best Zelda yet ?

2011-11-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

When ever you ask anyone what their favourite game from the Zelda game is, sometimes you'll find the odd person that'll say "Majora's Mask or even the odd Wind Waker", but the majority of people will always say the Ocarina of Time, (and I agree !), I spent months of my childhood playing it, trying to find every single collectable, heart piece and any hidden area's. I literally couldn't stop playing Twilight Princess until I had everything, even all the fishing lures in the fishing hole. And I haven't got any doubt in my mind that Nintendo's latest installment is going to change, I expect I'll be glued to the screen for hours with an enormous smile plastered all over my face.
The release of Skyward Sword brings a few new additions to the Zelda series such as, a more acrobatic link, apparently Nintendo have eradicated the famous torch puzzles, but in response to this they have rein visioned the way that players will complete puzzles, Nintendo have also added bird's for link to fly around the games environment, Skyward Sword uses Princess Zelda as more of a realistic person again, like they did in Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time. I really enjoyed how they made Tetra and Sheik (Zelda) different from your usual sit around and do nothing Princess, to ass kicking, interesting characters. But the most important addition to Skyward Sword is most defiantly the use of the motion plus controller, which is going to revolutionize the way that you fight battles with Link, in all of the game play trailers I've been watching the motion plus control method seems to work extremely well and there doesn't seem to be any lag whilst using the control system. People are also wondering if Gannon is going to be the main villain to, it seems that Nintendo have decided to try and do something similar to, The Minish Cap and Majora's Mask.
Well I think I'll stop now and let the game speak for it self when it's released, but for now here's some game play footage, enjoy.

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, T-minus 7 days !

2011-11-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

Say good bye to your life in 7 days, if Skyrim is even just a little better than Oblivion was ( and I'm pretty sure it's going to crush it) then your close future is going to be monopolized by this game.

I've even heard stories of people even playing over 300 hours of Bethesda's previous games in the Elder Scrolls series and still not even completing the core story. So i think it's is important for them this time to help people along the way to complete the games main story, but I think Bethesda's main focus is to provide a hugely open world for people to explore every aspect and detail of, all of the video's and photo's I have seen make Skyrim's world look beautiful. All of the landscapes look so vibrant, all the tiniest details of the landscape looks like they have been covered to make it just that bit more impressive.
Again like in the previous Elder Scrolls games your actions within the game influence the outcome of what happens during the story line, your actions can influence even the characters you meet to the quests that become available.
So with a week to go it will be extremely interesting to see what changes Bethesda has made in there latest installment.

GTA V Trailer Revealed !

2011-11-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

With Rockstar's last installment in the GTA series not living up to peoples expectations, there is hope yet, with the revealing of the first trailer today for GTA V and I'm sure your all just as excited as I am to see what's coming In Rockstar's next installment. Here's the trailer.

My First Review, Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception

2011-11-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

In an few simple words, Uncharted 3 is a work of art,this game is the reason I play video games from start to finish I had a smile plastered on my face, at the start and finish of each chapter I was glued to the story line, eagerly anticipating what was going to happen next. The story line opens with Drake in London, and then progresses on to several different locations around the globe. Each location as interesting as the last, graphically Uncharted 3 is an extremely impressive game it impresses both in cut-scenes and in game-play. It makes the most of the landscapes used within the game from all over the globe, the Naughty Dog team portray all of them beautifully from places such as the dark alley ways of London, a graveyard of ships and the dunes of a desert.
Uncharted 3's finale was a brilliant tribute to the end of an amazing gaming series that has made an important impression on the video-game scene that won't be forgotten any time soon.

Overall Game Rating: 9.8