Swizza The Guru

Check Out My New Blog: MMOSwizz.com

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:02:00 +0000

Be sure to check out my new blog, www.mmoswizz.com if you are a fan of World of Warcraft and any other mmorpgs! Thanks for being an avid reader of my blogs!

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Release Date Announced

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:27:00 +0000

Blizzard giving out a release date is like pulling teeth, but lately they have been dishing out alot of info on their upcoming games, especially Cataclysm. Now the veil has been lifted on the release date of their highly anticipated RTS game Starcraft II, which will hit stores July 27, 2010.

Movie and 360 Gaming Releases May 3 – May 9, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:57:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s what us gamers and movie buffs can expect this week:
360 Releases:

Iron Man 2 – May 3, 2010
Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta – May 3, 2010
Autobahn Polizei – May 3, 2010

Movie Releases:

Iron Man 2 – May 7, 2010

May 2010 Xbox 360 Gaming Releases

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:51:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

May is looking to be a great month for gamers out there. The Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta kicks off officially on May 3rd if you have the Halo 3:ODST game or you were a loyal Halo 2 player.

Lost Planet 2 was pushed up to May 11th due to popular demand, releasing alongside Skate 3.
May 18th looks to be a killer release date. Be ready to fight shadows with your trusty flashlight in Alan Wake

Split/Second is the racing game that uses the environment to destroy your rival racers.

Red Dead Redemption is taking the Wild West and making it cool.

Some game named Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is supposed to be launching on May 18th as well. Looks like you control some Prince that can control time and is also starring in a move with the same title. /sarcasm off. Definitely worth checking out lol.

Rounding out May 2010 is Blur and UFC Undisputed 2010.
The games I didn’t mention are the games I’m avoiding. Sorry Iron Man 2, Autobahn Polizei, Shrek: Forever After, Attack of the Movies 3D(Maybe I’ll rent you), and Backyard Sports Sandlot Sluggers.

Here is how I’m breaking my gaming down this month.

Lost Planet 2 – Buying
Skate 3 – Renting
Alan Wake – Renting
Split Second – Renting
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – Buying
Blur – Renting

Happy gaming! Hopefully you will won’t anger your wife too much this month lol!

Halo: Reach Live Action Trailer (Extended)

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:17:00 +0000

Guild Wars 2: Elementalist Class Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:23:00 +0000

ArenaNet just released some info on the Elementalist class in their upcoming MMORPG, Guild Wars 2. This is the first class that Arenanet has revealed, so it may mean that more information about Guild Wars 2 is on the way.

"Announcing our first Guild Wars 2 profession: the Elementalist! This powerful class channels the destructive power of nature, making fire, air, earth, and water do their bidding.

Elementalists can inflict massive damage in a single focused lightning attack, incinerate mobs with a fiery blast, freeze opponents in blocks of ice, or trap them in giant rocky hands! Watch this versatile spellcaster in action here!"

Warlock Cataclysm Class Changes: My Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:31:00 +0000

I see where you are going with our class, Blizzard…and I like it.

My main character is a warlock, and has been since early closed beta back in 2004. I’ve never re-rolled, even through the bad times. Currently my main spec is Affliction, with Demonology as my secondary. I think Blizzard has finally defined the warlock class and has even further differentiated us from mages. I don’t agree with ALL of the changes and new abilities, but I am very excited about what’s to come.

So here is my take on the changes(NOTE: My views are PvE focused with raiding and some soloing in mind.):

New Warlock Spells:

• Fel Flame: Instant cast direct damage spell that refreshes Unstable Affliction? Yes, please! Of course you Destruction locks will enjoy Immolate being refreshed as well. And it being green fire just screams win.

• Dark Intent: The jury is still out on this spell. I’m assuming this is a self-buff since it says “target’s chance”. How long does it last? How much damage do we get from the buff after a crit? Again, not too sure about this one.

• Demon Soul: This spell looks to be the replacement to sacrificing our demons. I like what it sounds like it will be, but still we do not know what the actual effect is yet.

Soul Shard Overhaul:

I think I speak for the majority of warlocks when I say thank goodness shards are going away! I still can’t figure out how Blizzard ever thought soul shards were a fun mechanic. I liked some of the micro-managing portions of it, but carrying 32 soul shards around was never fun and it never would have been.

So now we have 3 shards that are in the UI and are only used during combat. I can dig it. Nothing is mentioned here about us being able to gain a soul shard back during combat, but I would welcome some type of mechanic to get at least one back!

The secondary effects are a toss up for me. I’m torn between a few of them. So if I Soul Burn then Drain Life I get my cast speed reduced 60%...sounds great if Drain Life wasn’t instant cast! Does this mean if I Soul Burn then Drain Life I get my next spell reduced by 60%? Again, need some clarity!

Long story short, good riddance soul shards! Bring on the resource system!

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics:

• No more DoT clipping? Yes, please! This is a joy to all Affliction locks. We can now re-apply a dot without risking DPS. Awesome change Blizz. Kudos! Haste adding more ticks to DoTs is also a welcomed change.

• So Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom are no longer curses...I can dig that. Maybe some of those other neglected curses can come to life *cough*Curse of Weakness*cough*

• Hellfire no longer dealing self-damage? Yay! Metamorphosis Immolation + Hellfire = win.

• Imps getting a DoT sounds cool. Nothing major IMHO.

• Even with the succubus’ changes, I don’t see her being used in raids. Maybe in PvP and Arenas, but she is still too squishy to be taken seriously.

• Yawn on the voidwalker changes. Good ol’ VW still will not outshine the Felguard for solo-leveling.

New Talents and Talent Changes:

• Drain Soul refreshing Unstable Affliction and Bane of Agony on mobs with lower than 25% is a much welcomed change. It really hurts my heart to see my DoTs falling off while channeling Drain Soul, having to interrupt Drain Soul to recast my DoTs, then going back to Drain Soul. Glad to see this change coming soon.

• Demon Bolt sounds cool, but not knowing how much of a damage buff it will give to our pets makes it a toss-up.

• Anything that would make my Metamorphosis’ cooldown lower is a win in my eyes, and Impending Doom will do just that.

• Making Metamorphosis immune to demonic crowd control should go into effect now and not later!

• Shadowburn might be used a little more, but only on mobs lower than 25% health and while Metamorphosis is active. Not about to walk up to a boss just to Shadowburn it without Metamorphosis up.

Mastery Passive Talent Bonuses

I find it interesting that Blizzard would put Spell Haste into Demonology and not Affliction. Other than that, nothing special about the Mastery bonuses.

Too Long Didn’t Read:

Overall, I am very excited about the changes to Warlocks in Cataclysm, mainly the new spells and the Soul Shard Overhaul. I am a little disappointed in some of the spells and mechanics, but only because not enough information was given. However, since this is just a preview, I am even more eager to see how this information progresses up until release of Cataclysm.

Cataclysm: Warlocks to Get Green Fire

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:03:00 +0000

After the many requests for us warlocks to get green fire, Blizzard confirmed today that those requests and wishes did not fall on deaf ears:

Fel Flame (level 81): Quick-hitting spell dealing Shadowfire damage. This is similar to the mage ability Frostfire Bolt, in that the lower of the two resistances (in this case shadow and fire) on your target will be used for calculating its damage. Additionally, Fel Flame refreshes the duration of Immolate and Unstable Affliction. Our goal for Fel Flame is to provide a spell that's good for mobility and for use by Destruction and Demonology specs. Also, did we mention it uses green fire? Yep. Instant cast.

Now the question still remains whether or not green fire will replace all of our other spells, but I would assume they will change since it would be a little wierd to have one green fire spell and several other orange ones.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm: Warlock Class Preview

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:51:00 +0000

In case you didn't know, my main World of Warcraft character is a warlock and has been since closed beta. I was eagerly waiting for the class preview Blizzard just recently released today. Well here they are straight from the source! I will give my thoughts and opinions of these new spells and talent tree changes for warlocks in Cataclysm very shortly. In the meantime, feel free to leave any comments below!

"In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, warlocks will receive changes to their class talents and abilities. Outlined below are some of these changes. Keep in mind that this is an early preview and that these modifications are still under development, so you may see further adjustments to the listed changes as we get closer to launch. That said, here is a first look at these new warlock spells and abilities!

New Warlock Spells

Fel Flame (level 81): Quick-hitting spell dealing Shadowfire damage. This is similar to the mage ability Frostfire Bolt, in that the lower of the two resistances (in this case shadow and fire) on your target will be used for calculating its damage. Additionally, Fel Flame refreshes the duration of Immolate and Unstable Affliction. Our goal for Fel Flame is to provide a spell that's good for mobility and for use by Destruction and Demonology specs. Also, did we mention it uses green fire? Yep. Instant cast.

Dark Intent (level 83): Increases the target's chance for a critical effect with periodic damage or healing spells by 3%. When the target lands a crit, you get a buff to your damage for 10 seconds. This effect stacks up to three times.

Demon Soul (level 85): Fuses the warlock's soul with his or her demon. This provides warlocks with a self-burst cooldown to use. The specific effects granted by Demon Soul depend on the demon chosen. Demon Soul lasts for a certain number of charges or until it expires (around 20 seconds), depending on the demon used. 2-minute cooldown.

Soul Shard Overhaul

This major change regarding Soul Shards was previously announced at BlizzCon 2009. Soul Shards will no longer be inventory items, but instead a new UI resource mechanic. Warlocks will have 3 Soul Shards that can be used during a fight and will not be able to gain additional shards during combat. Soul Shards will not be required outside of combat. Soul Burn will consume a Soul Shard resource, thereby allowing you to use the secondary effects of some spells. Soul Burn has no mana or health costs and is off the global cooldown. Planned secondary effects are outlined here.

Summon Demon + Soul Burn = summon the demon instantly.

Drain Life + Soul Burn = Reduces cast speed by 60%.

Demonic Circle + Soul Burn = Increases movement speed by 50% for 8 seconds after teleporting.

Unstable Affliction + Soul Burn = Instantly deals damage equal to 30% of its effect.

Soul Fire + Soul Burn = Instant cast.

Healthstone + Soul Burn = Increases total health by 20% for 8 seconds.

Searing Pain + Soul Burn = Increases the crit chance of Searing Pain by 100%, and subsequent Searing Pain spells by 50% for 6 seconds.

Next you will find a list of some of the warlock spell and talent changes for the release of Cataclysm. There will be further changes, but those revealed below should offer some insight into our goals.

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

All warlock damage-over-time (DoT) spells will benefit from crit and haste innately. Haste will no longer act to reduce the DoT's duration, but rather to add additional ticks. When reapplying a DoT, you can no longer "clip" the final tick. Instead, this will just add duration to the spell, similar to how Everlasting Affliction currently works.

Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom will be converted into Bane of Agony and Bane of Doom. Bane spells are considered magic instead of curses. This means you will be able to cast one Bane (e.g. Bane of Agony) and one Curse (e.g. Curse of Elements) on a single target.

Hellfire will no longer deal damage to the warlock.

Imps will lose Fire Shield, but will gain a new ability, Burning Ember, which is a stacking DoT.

The succubus melee range will be increased. The succubus will no longer have Soothing Kiss, but will instead have Whiplash, which knocks back all enemies within 8 yards.

Voidwalker Torment will do increased damage and generate a lot of area-of-effect (AoE) threat. Suffering will become a single-target taunt.

New Talents and Talent Changes

Pandemic will now cause Drain Soul to refresh Unstable Affliction and Bane of Agony on targets below 25% health.

The ability Fel Domination will be removed (because Soul Burn accomplishes the same effect).

Demonology will gain a new direct-damage spell, Demon Bolt. Demon Bolt will add a debuff that improves the damage done by the demon to the target.

We plan to add a new talent, Impending Doom, which will give certain spells a chance to reduce the cooldown on Metamorphosis and Curse of Doom.

Metamorphosis will no longer be subject to demonic crowd control. Furthermore, abilities available only while under the effects of Metamorphosis will be altered to put more emphasis on the warlock's own spells.

Shadowburn will now do additional damage to targets below 25% health.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Affliction

Spell Damage

Spell Crit

Shadow DoTs

Demonology

Spell Damage

Spell Haste

Demon Damage

Destruction

Spell Damage

Spell Critical Damage

Fire Direct Damage

Shadow DoTs: The damage caused by Shadow damage-over-time spells is increased.

Demon Damage: The damage caused by pets and Metamorphosis is increased.

Fire Direct Damage: The damage caused by Fire direct damage spells is increased.

Well that concludes this Cataclysm preview for the warlock class. The development of these changes will continue to evolve in the coming months. Please be sure to provide any feedback and thoughts you might have on what was covered here."

Xbox 360 April 2010 Release Dates

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:37:00 +0000

Image by Colony of Gamers via Flickr

April is usually a slow month for game releases, minus certain titles like GTA IV, so don’t expect too much this month. I’ve always preferred quality over quantity anyway. Here are the Xbox 360 games of April 2010!

For the Mass Effect 2 fans out there, expect to take Shepherd through the first paid DLC called Kasumi’s Stolen Memory on April 6, 2010. Expect to acquire a new character, Kasumi, as well as a new loyalty power. Will this DLC deliver? Hard to say until it’s released, but Bioware has learned from the original Mass Effect about what we as gamers want. So far with the slew of free DLC Mass Effect 2 has had thus far, the paid DLC should be good as well.

Surprisingly, Ubisoft is finally releasing Splinter Cell: Conviction on April 13, 2010. It may sway some die-hard Splinter Cell fans, but Ubisoft is jam-packing Conviction with a slew of modes, including a full single player and full co-op mode. Did I mention that playing Sam Fisher is like controlling Jason Bourne this time around? He is faster, more brutal, and pissed as hell. Revenge? Yes, please. Oh, check out the demo on Xbox Live here.

Get ready for some fighting action with Capcom launching Super Street Fighter IV on April 27, 2010. Super Street Fighter IV is the same song and dance of the original Street Fighter IV, but with 10 new characters and a more feature-filled online system.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa will launch April 27, 2010. Soccer fans get ready!

Modern Warfare 2 and Xbox Live Issues After Stimulus DLC Update

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000

Image by willvbcfc via Flickr

On Tuesday, the Stimulus Map Pack DLC content for Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360 was released, but didn’t release without issues. There was a scheduled title update to go along with the Stimulus DLC, but the Map Pack was available before the title update. Then the problems were born. This caused matchmaking to become difficult in the Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live. The Xbox Live Operations team mentioned that this issue was fixed around 11am Pacific, but that wasn’t the end of the issues. It seems that Pre-Paid cards for the Stimulus Map Pack DLC that were purchased from some retailers are not yet activated on Xbox Live.

There are also some Marketplace issues hanging around as well. This isn’t surprising to me since this is the first Map Pack for Modern Warfare 2 to be released thus far, and if half of the 25 million unique players download this map you are bound to have a snag.

More updates as they come in!

Lost Planet 2: Four Player Co-op Multiplayer Video

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:02:00 +0000

Check out this awesome Lost Planet 2 video that showcases 4-player co-op in action!

Get $5 Off Your Splinter Cell: Conviction Pre-order At Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:44:00 +0000

If you pre-order Splinter Cell:Conviction from Amazon you will get $5 off! Here are the details:

One promotional code per customer. To redeem your $5 off promotional code, simply:

Go to the www.amazon.com Web site
Select the items you want and add them to your Shopping Cart.
Click the "Proceed to checkout" button. At the Pay section of the progress bar, you'll see a
box on the lower part of the page that says, "Do you have a gift certificate or promotional
claim code?"
Enter your claim code in the space provided to redeem your promotional code. Then click
the Continue button and complete the order form.
You'll know you have placed your order when you reach a screen that says, "Thank you for
your order. We will send you an e-mail confirmation shortly." If you want to review the
details of your order, click the appropriate links in the "Managing your order" box, or the
Your Account link in the upper right corner of the page.

Microsoft's "Make Room for More Entertainment" Campaign Pushes 250GB Hard Drive

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:47:00 +0000

If you turn on your Xbox 360 and connect to Xbox Live, you may notice a new ad campaign urging gamers to purchase the 250GB hard drive. Kotaku mentioned that although Microsoft is advertising the HDD, no gaming stores currently have any, but may start coming in really soon. The jury is still out as to what price Microsoft will set the 250 gig hard drive. For reference, the 60GB HDD is $99 and the 120GB HDD is $129.

Do you plan on buying a bigger hard drive for your Xbox 360?

Kotaku Article

Just Cause 2 In Stores Today

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

From such a successful demo launch, Just Cause 2 should get some gaming love. I will be picking up my copy for the Xbox 360 today, so look out for my initial impressions which I will have posted by midnight tonight.

Are you getting Just Cause 2 today? Sound off in the comments!

Check out the Just Cause 2 Launch Trailer

Read My Demo Impressions of Just Cause 2

Mass Effect 2: Kasumi's Stolen Memory Priced

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Bioware has released pricing information for its first paid DLC Kasumi's Stolen Memory. The DLC will come in at 560 Microsoft Points, which equals $7.

IGN

Week of March 21-27 Xbox 360 Releases

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:03:00 +0000

Just Cause 2 - Rent From GameFly!

For his next assignment, agent Rico Rodriguez has been sent to the South East Asian islands of Panau. His destination might as well read: Playground. Just Cause returns with an incredible new almost-400-square-mile, open-world, action-hero paradise where everything is fair game to be jumped off, blown up, or shot down. Explore the islands at will, completing missions however you want. Leap out of planes and drop 10,000 feet. Jump off bridges and parachute onto moving vehicles. Tether your enemy to the wing of a plane and wave good-bye as he takes off. With stunts like that at your disposal, playing "however you want" will probably involve some serious action.

How to Train Your Dragon - Rent From GameFly!

Training a pet to roll over or fetch is fun. Training your pet to do battle is way better! Teach your dragon some combat-ready tricks in this game based on the How to Train Your Dragon movie. Play as Hiccup or Astrid and start by creating your own dragon. Choose from six different species, then pick from thousands of options to customize your dragon's look and skill. Set off on an amazing adventure where you'll complete challenges to train your dragon, increasing its speed, power, and fire. If it's pure action you want, enter Arena mode and fight as many multiplayer battles as your dragon can handle.

MotoGP 09/10 - Rent From GameFly!

Chase glory through two seasons in this one full-throttle racer! Play out the '09 Moto GP season, then download free '10 season content as it unfolds. Compete against the best riders on 17 official Moto GP circuits as you play those seasons in Championship Mode. An extensive Career Mode goes way beyond just gunning the throttle. Start with 125cc bikes, manage your reputation, score points based on style, and hire a team - from engineers to a press handler - to get you to the top. Race against the clock in Arcade Mode, race your ghost to practice how to attack the track, or go online.

Leaked Modern Warfare 2: Stimulus Package Video Preview

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:38:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to the guys over at ConsoleTech.net, here is a preview of a few of the maps included in the Stimulus Package for Modern Warfare 2. You decide if it’s worth the announced $15.

One thing to notice from the new Storm map is the size. It is a huge warehouse area, possibly the largest of the maps in Modern Warfare 2 currently. Of course we all know Crash and Overgrown already, looks as though nothing new has been added to the original maps from Call of Duty 4.

The names of all the maps are:

New maps:

"Bailout," a multi-level apartment complex

"Storm," an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery

"Salvage," a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars

Modern Warfare maps:

"Crash," a war-torn urban environment

"Overgrown," which features a massive dry creek bed

The maps shown in this videos are Crash(Call of Duty 4), Overgrown(Call of Duty 4), Storm(New).

Xbox 360 Getting USB Storage Support This Spring?

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:45:00 +0000

It looks like we can save some cash if we want to get more space on our Xbox 360s. Joystiq is reporting that in the upcoming spring 2010 update, Microsoft will allow us to use our own USB mass storage devices on our Xbox 360. This includes external hard drives and flash drives up to 16GBs each. However, you can only connect two devices at a time, which means you can only get as much as 32GB of space.

Heard about that Xbox 360 Slim rumor? This only furthers the rumor about trimming down the 360’s size to a smaller unit, since Microsoft can now get rid of the Memory Unit slots on the console.

Splinter Cell: Conviction Demo Walkthrough Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:45:00 +0000

Image by Michali_ via Flickr

III. Rescue The Scientist

After the cutscene ends, walk around the wall with the “Rescue the Scientist” on it. Hit your goggles with Up on the directional pad to check out the enemies in the area. Make a quick right and move up behind the guard standing there with two other guards in front of him, but WAIT UNTIL THEY FINISH TALKING! After they finish talking, even though you don’t have Execute ready, mark the two guards with the Right Button anyway. Next, hit B to melee kill the guard standing in front of you. This will make your Execute ready to kill the remaining two guards, so hit Y immediately. After you Execute the guards, kill the human shield and move on.

Before you move on from this point, mark the two guards to the far left of you in the next room. After you’ve marked them, walk directly in front of you a few clicks towards the pipe along the wall. Hop on the pipe and climb all the way into the next room. You will be directly above a slit in the room where a guard is pacing. Perform a Death From Above with the Left Trigger on the guard and IMMEDIATELY perform execute on the guards. YOU WILL BE SEEN! It’s okay it is a part of the mission. A few more guards will run in so take them out. Shooting enemies in the head is the quickest way to kill them so aim high.

[EDIT] If you shoot the light out from under the two guards, they will be aware of your presence, but you can sneak around them when they come looking for you. After you shoot the light out, climb the pole and head across until you get to the next room. Fall down from the pipe and head through the door. You will have to use your sonar to see them since the room will be fairly dark.

After the wave of enemies are dead, walk through the entrance into the next area where you will see a flight of stairs on your left. After walking up the stairs you will see three enemies alert of your presence and are anticipating you. Walk to the rear of the room and hop down on the ledge. Mark the 2 guards on the other side of you then perform a Death From Above on the singled-out guard. After you kill him, Execute the 2 guards. Walk towards the mission arrow and you are all set!

Splinter Cell: Conviction Demo Walkthrough Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Image by Dekuwa via Flickr

This is a guide to getting you through the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo on the Xbox 360. Although the demo is short, it gives us a great idea as to how the gameplay will be. The demo is broken up into 2 sections: the restroom interrogation and infiltrating the warehouse.

I. Restroom Interrogation

The opening scene of the demo requires you to only press B when prompted. Be sure to hit B next to either the bathroom stall door, urinal, or sink. After three beat downs, the scene will end. Notice after each beat down a film will play along the bathroom walls which helps enhance the story progression. On to the next stage, which is the most involved.

II. Infiltrate the Warehouse

After a brief cutscene, you will begin outside of an abandoned warehouse where a mini-tutorial will begin. Follow the on-screen guide until it tells you to Move Cover to Cover. Take out the enemy with the B button. Once you’ve killed him, mark the two targets ahead by moving the crosshairs over their heads and hitting the Right Button. This is your first kill with the Execute command. Hit Y to finish them off auto-style! Pick up the MP5-N if you prefer.

After the Execute kill of the two guards, walk behind the standing enemy and melee kill him with the B button. Then immediately target the two enemies ahead with the RB and hit Y to Execute them.

After you kill them, you are now faced with a choice; there are two entrances to the warehouse. The left side of the warehouse lets you climb a pipe through a window on the upper floors, while the right side takes you into a backdoor on the lower level. I’ve personally found the left side to be a little more challenging, but more fun.

Walk towards the left side of the warehouse and hit A along the pipe to climb up. Shimmy across the ledge of the window and hit B to take out the guard. Climb up the window and hit Up on the directional pad to use your sonar goggles. This is where the fun begins.

Hop on the pipe that extends across the room to and make your away all the way to the other side of the warehouse, but don’t climb down the pipe. Go as far as you can along the pipe to the other side but stay upside down. When the guard walks under you, hit the Left Trigger to take him out. If done correctly, you will not be noticed. Immediately take cover along the guardrail to avoid being seen.

You should have the ability to use Execute at this point. Mark the two guards closest to each other, but don’t Execute them just yet. When the walking guard walks closest to the EMP in the ceiling, manually shoot the EMP to cause it to fall on the guards. If it doesn’t kill both guards, manually kill the alive one. Immediately hit Y to Execute the two guards you marked. Be sure to crouch right after the Execute so that the guard behind the window doesn’t see you. Shoot him in the head and move on!

After you kill the guard behind the glass, walk behind the control room and hop along the pipe. Head across and down to the lower level of the warehouse. Head along the narrow corridor until you get to a huge hole through a wall. A cutscene will play out with a scientist being caught for doing something naughty. Now it’s time to save her!

(Note: There may be a way to go completely unseen in this part, but I guess I need to keep playing to figure it out!)

Continue to Part 2 >>

GameStop Ends BOGO Deal Early

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:02:00 +0000

Image by Brian Clayton via Flickr

It looks like the sale that GameStop had yesterday was more successful than they expected. The Buy One Get One Free sale was supposed to end Wednesday, March 24th, but due to the unexpected was ended today. So if you missed out, you missed out on a GOOD deal. I purchased 6 games for $60. Yep, that’s all I paid.

As soon as GameStop or any other store has a sweet sale like this one I will announce it ASAP!

Get Your Secret Weapon Code For Splinter Cell: Conviction

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:57:00 +0000

Ubisoft is giving away a free secret in-game weapon for Splinter Cell: Conviction for the Xbox 360. How do you get it? Text WEAPON to 44144 from your cell phone and you will receive your code! It seems like keys are limited so act now!

Splinter Cell: Conviction Demo Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:18:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

After many delays, Ubisoft teases gamers even more by releasing a short demo of Splinter Cell: Conviction. When I said “short demo”, I meant it. The demo lasts roughly 20 minutes, but boy what a 20 minutes it is.

For those worried about whether or not Ubisoft completely changed the Splinter Cell series for the worst, worry no longer. This is Splinter Cell at its heart, except this time Sam Fisher is more of a Jason Bourne type character. What I mean is, Fisher is pissed and wants answers and revenge, just like Jason Bourne. He is a lone soldier with years of experience, very similar to the movie “Taken”. If you’ve seen that movie, that should give you a good idea as to what Splinter Cell: Conviction will be about.

Enough about the story, let’s get to the gameplay. As I mentioned, Fisher is pissed. He pretty much kills first and asks questions later. In this demo you feel his anger as you’re controlling him. The opening portion of the demo has you bashing a would-be assassin to death to get answers about why he was trying to kill you. Let me tell you, the Unreal 3 Engine is mastered in this game. The scene feels real, almost too real. The coolest addition to Conviction is how objectives and key story elements are shown in the game. Instead of hitting pause to see your objectives, it is projected on the walls inside the game. For example, while you are interrogating the killer, he mentions a name. That particular name is shown along the bathroom walls with a film-like look. If you remember film projectors from back in the day you will understand what I mean. But let me emphasize more about this interrogation process. I mean you really are beating this guy silly! I smashed the guys head into the bathroom sink and then punched him through it. Yeah, this game is badass.

After you beat this guy senseless the demo skips ahead to not give away too much of the story. The meat of the demo happens here, when you have to infiltrate a warehouse. A brief tutorial shows you the ropes and also introduces you to the Execute command. This is not as automated as you think, because although Sam does kill the enemy instantly you still have to plan your attack very carefully. You can only use the Execute command after a melee kill and you can only target three things/people. So if there are 5 people in the room, you still will have to do some manual shooting, or remain in stealth and melee kill. The choice is yours.

I like that in Conviction being spotted is slightly more forgivable than previous Splinter Cell games. If you are spotted, however, you can only take a few shots before you die. So you better shoot really fast or run to cover.

As I mentioned, the demo is unfortunately very short, but definitely convinced me that the wait was well worth it.

Rent Splinter Cell: Conviction From GameFly

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noreply@blogger.com (SwiZZa) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:29:00 +0000

Just Cause 2 is high up on my “Can’t Wait to Play” list. Check out the launch trailer!

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