Been a while, but I am back!

Hi everyone, well it has been a while since I have blogged...mostly I am working steady nights and it tends to wear me down, and it eats into my leisure time...but...it pays the bills.

Gaming has been busy the last few weeks, with Batman:Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Forza 4, Xmen:Destiny, the Gran Turismo 5 2.0 patch and DLC, Dark Souls, and this Tuesday is Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception and the following Tuesday is Modern Warfare 3. Once I get through this huge back log I plan on getting a review of each up, or at least some imperssions.

Back

I haven't posted in a while, reason being I got a new job. I am now working for an auto parts manufacturer...pays the bills...but nothing that I am confident will be long term.

As far as gaming goes, I have been playing Dungeon Siege 3, and have been really enjoying it.

E3 2011 Starts Monday

So, this Monday June 6, 2011 E3 in Los Angeles starts with the Microsoft briefing at 12:30 Et on Spike. It will be interesting what MS has to show, besides Gears of War 3 and Forza 4. I would expect some news on a new Halo game...what with the 10th anniversary this year. I also expect that there will be more Kinect games, and Kinect enabled games.

Keep an eye here, as I will be post info and news from each conference.

Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer.

So, Modern Warfare 3 got it's official launch trailer...and it seems like it will be pretty fun. i really enjoyed the story of MW, but felt the MW 2 got a little strayed from the story...and got to jumpy from location to location. Hopefully we get to catch up with Price, Soap and the others still alive.

DCUO ongoing review

So, being a big DC comics fan and a gamer I was very happy when I first heard of Sony Online's DC Universe Online. An MMO set in the DC universe was something I was always interested in, and was glad that SOE finally got to making it.

As a member of PS+, I was able to get into the beta in December...and played for a good month, getting a hang of the combat system, style of play,maps, and overall story of the game. I was concerned however, as there didn't seem to be a good way of telling SOE about bugs or anything else that might break the game or cause a crash. It was still quite fun, and once the beta ended, I was positive about the overall aspect of the game and put it on my to buy list.

January 11th, 2001 was release day for DCUO. I went down to my local Gamestop, with a couple of old games to use towards the trade 2 get it for $9.99. I went home, and started the install process...which took about and hour...which was both installing from the disc...and downloading a patch. Once I got it installed and patched, I then set up my account via PSN. It was painless, and allows for you to either use a recurring subscription via a credit card, or pay from your PSN wallet. I picked the pay from wallet option, as it allows more control if you want to take a month or two off. You can pick between 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, or 1 year. There is also a lifetime subscription available for the PC version of DCUO, but is not available at this time on PSN due to limitations on how much funds can be in the wallet. It is my understanding that SOE and Sony are working on this. At the time of writing, the Playstation Store was still down, so I will update pricing once it comes back.

So, once you have it installed and loaded the first thing is to create your toon. You can pick to be mentored by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman on the hero side; and Lex Luthor, The Joker, and Circe on the villain side. This will give you a preset toon, which you can then customize even more. You can also mix and match and build a toon from scratch, and customize everything from hairstyle, facial features, body size, and outfits. Once you have your toon finished, and have picked either a PVE or PVP server, it takes you into the game world. For reference, I am playing to Birthright, a PVE server.

Before I get into the starting area and first few levels, I want to give a brief on the story. There will be spoilers. The opening cinematic takes place in the future, with a war between the heroes led by Superman, and the villains led by Lex Luthor. It is a brutal fight, with Lex Luthor eventually stabbing Superman with a spear laced with kryptonite. It then flashes to the alien Brainiac taking over Earth. It then flashes back in time, when the future Lex counsels the heroes on Brainiac's intent of taking over worlds. Lex then opens a cannister containing exobytes, which can give ordinary humans super powers.

You start your adventures by fighting your way out of Brainac's ship...which serves as a tutorial on the combat system of DCUO. You are also introduced to Oracle( Barbara Gordon and batgirl from DC lore), she acts as your connection and the person who gives you missions as the game progresses You fight various bad guys, some bigger and stronger, as well as getting small amounts of money, loot and health potions (Soder Cola). Once you fight your way to the main section of the ship, you will be joined by your mentor, in my case Batman, who then helps you clear out a few waves of re-spawning bad guys until you finally beat them all. You are then directed to walk through a teleport, that takes you to a police station or night club, depending on your mentor or hero/villain side of the fight. You will either be in Gotham or Metropolis.

Leveling up in DCUO is pretty standard, you do missions, some exploring, and upon hitting the next level can spend points in your powers of your role, tank (fire & ice), controller (Gadgets and mental) and healer (sorcery & nature). You can also spend points in skills, which include movement, fighting moves, gadgets, and magic spells and abilities. Fighting moves are done with the face buttons, while special abilities( which are configurable on the on-screen spell bar) are used in conjunction with the L2 and R2 triggers. The special moves also consume power, which once depleted will render your special moves unavailable until replenished.

Missions tend to run in the familiar go here and fetch X number of that, as well as saving various citizens, helping police maintain order, breaking up schemes of the villains, and usually culminates in an instance against one of the main villains, or heroes if you are playing a villain, of DC lore. As you progress in levels, the missions and instances become tougher, Alerts ( DCUO's version of dungeons) 2 person duos, 4 man dungeons and raids, as well as PVP instances and vaults open up. PVP comes in 2 styles...legends, where you can play as a DC classic hero or villain, and standard PVP variants. You will also unlock feats and headlines, which track your carrer as you do missions and other quests within the world.

The world consists of Gotham and Metropolis, with each faction having a home base. The Watchtower for hero and Hall of Doom for villain. There you will find access to teleports between Gotham and Metropolis, vendors for high level weapons and armor, and pvp entrances, as well as your bank.

Well, I will update this review again in the near future with my game play and level progress. Being an MMO, I think DCUO is suited to a longer review process, as it is an ever evolving world and game.

PSN Outage

So, this was the big news in gaming for over 3 weeks, the outage of PSN due to hacks and attacks on the Playstation store.

The PSN outage, which also ended up including a breach on SOE, was I am sure, devastating to Sony and it's publishing partners. Much has been made, and lots of rage at Sony. I do feel Sony should have some anger directed at them, the sell free access to PSN as a selling feature, and usually is only down for a bit during maintenance periods.

That it was out for so long, and that Sony took so long to confirm the hack, and how safe or unsafe our data was, was a big sticking point to most people. I only use PSN cards, but still don't like that my personal info may or may not be used in an attempt to commit identity theft. In my thinking, Sony was wrong in waiting so long to confirm the hack, and could have provided updates more often than the every couple of days we were getting.

SOE, informed us right away that they had been hacked, and older credit card info, from Europe mostly, was attacked. This showed a bit more grace to their customers, and they tried their best to keep us up to date.

Both Sony and SOE have offered welcome back packages, and Sony is going to offer Identity theft insurance and credit monitoring free for it's customers, and is in the process of rolling those programs out in the various regions.

Killzone 3 Review

Even though it has been out for a f ew months, I wanted to post my review written at digitalbbq.net

Game: Killzone 3
Reviewed-By: VanishedNine (Rod Blackstock)
Platform: PS3
Genre: Shooters

Presentation-Rating: 5 out of 5 Briquettes
Presentation-Comments: Killzone 3 has great visuals and cinematics that keep you engrossed in the game. Cutscenes come fast, as there is usually 2 per level...which keep you motivated to get to the next one to see how the story will play out.

Gameplay-Rating: 4 out of 5 Briquettes
Gameplay-Comments: Gameplay was standard FPS fare. With a good cover system, lots of ammo crates for reloading and some new weapons. The WASP is a grea weapon that shoots a group of three rockets towards a target. This is great for taking out tanks, some of the bigger enemies, and can also zoom in for a more accurate shot. There is also a bolt gun, which will pins enemies to walls if suitable, and the Arc Cannon...which turns enemies into a gooey explosion. Some areas get frustrating with the sheer number of bad guys, and they now try to flank you...which causes you to die a lot. Your AI counterparts are hit and miss in places. Also, when an enemy is in close range, you can use L1 to brutal melee...if he is facing you, you stab him in the eye, or break his neck and it never gets old. Definitely not for the kids.

Audio-Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 Briquettes
Audio-Comments: The sound is fantastic, with lots of sounds that should be there. Machines sound full and loud, guns all have a distinct sound, and when you brutal melee a guy, depending on how you do it it sounds quite gruesome. There are a few hiccups...but not too many to make it affect gameplay.

Graphics-Rating: 5 out of 5 Briquettes
Graphics-Comments: This game looks fantastic...from the opening section, to the cutscenes, to the in game graphics it looks fantastic. Once in a while...at the start of a level but before the shooting starts...I would look around and take in the scenery.

Longevity-Rating: 5 out of 5 Briquettes
Longevity-Comments: I played on the normal level, and there are still a couple of higher levels to play on, and I haven't really tried the MP part too much but I am sure this will be one to rival COD:BO and Halo:Reach on PSN.

Overall-Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 Briquettes

Final-Thoughts: With the small audio glitches, Killzone 3 is a fantastic game, with a good story( cliffhanger at the end for the inevitable KZ4), excellent video and graphic presentation this is a game that everyone should eventually have in their collection

iPad

Well, it has been some time since I have written...but now I will be trying to write on a more consistent basis. I thought my first post in a while would be about my iPad.

When Apple announced the iPad 2, the price of the first iPad dropped by $130.00...so I took the plunge. I am very glad that I did.

It fits very nicely in my hands, very comfortable to hold and use, and does not generate much heat. It uses all the accelerometer and tech that is found in the iPhone, and switches from landscape to portrait view very easily and effortlessly. the home button at the bottom of the device, as well as volume and on/off buttons are placed similarly as on the older 3G iphones. When you turn on the device, you are greeted with the same swipe to unlock screen as on the iPhone, and are greeted with the same home buttons and app buttons as on the iTouch. The standard Mail, Safari, iPod, and Photo apps are there, as are iTunes, App Store, and Game Center...which allows you to compare scores and play against other Apple customers with supported devices. The iOS has really grown and evolved since being released on the first iPhone...and really shines with the iPad. A new app, that is a free download is iBooks...which is Apples take on the e-book reader. It is easy to use, has the iBookstore built right into the app, and shows your books like they are on a bookshelf. Books are quite inexpensive as well, with new releases around $14.99. I am enjoying this app very much.

Setting up and syncing are very easy, and not much different if you have ever used an Apple iOS device. It is a bit too big to use as any type of MP3 player on a daily basis...but is a great dvice for surfing in bed, on the train, or on the couch without having to boot up your computer.