Dragons, and Magic, and Bandits! Oh my!

Game of the Day

Skyrim

ESRB Rating: [RP-M] (Assuming) Violence, Blood, Drug and Alcohol Use, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Language

Easily my favorite franchise in existence, Elder Scrolls revived in 2011 (11/11/11 to be exact) with the installation of Skyrim. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, Skyrim brings the ancient and forgotten dragons of the world back to life through strange magics that you, one of the few and extremely unique of history, the Dragonborn are capable of stopping with very special powers - Shouts. Shouts are the ancient power of dragons that only few have the ability to learn, and even fewer innately possess. You're a member of the latter. These shouts don't come freely though, and you must slay the risen dragons and channel the essence of their soul in order to fuel your ability to enhance existing shouts you've learned, or ignite the shouts you have yet to learn. This is the most unique content to the Elder Scrolls system. It's like using magic without using your magicka (magic power) - if you're a warrior-type character, you won't have to be bothered with spending time upgrading your magic abilities.

As this is an Elder Scrolls game, you have access (during character creation) to the races popular throughout the series: Argonians, Breton, Dark Elf (Dunmer), High Elf (Altmer), Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc (Orsimer), Redguard, and Wood Elf (Bosmer). However, unlike previous installments like the popular Oblivion and less-popular Morrowind, races and sexes don't have distinct skills scores - it made it more unique and made you think a little more (unless you're like me and have the ambition to make anything work). A few of the skills have been removed (such as Athletics and Acrobatic), and some have been meshed together (into one-handed and two-handed weapons). Leveling up seems to be a little more strategic as well. You receive one skill point per level, and a point for an attribute (Magicka, Health, and Stamina) which increase by 10 points per attribute point. Each skill section has a skill tree which unlocks more possibilities of enhancements as that skill is leveled:

As you can see in the picture above, this doesn't inhibit your ability to learn any skill of your choosing - this was a little upsetting to me. In previous installments of the series, you were to choose Major and Minor skills that leveled at different rates, provided different ratios of contribution to leveling up, and made you think more about your character. This is not the case in Skyrim. If you want your awesome heavy armor set but still want to sneak and want to use that kick-ass greataxe you picked up earlier, there's nothing stopping you! Level those trees (Heavy Armor, Sneaking, and Two-Handed Weapons), and you're an armor-clad assassination machine! How? Who cares! You're a Dragonborn! (That's how I assume some people would have seen the game when they made it.) Sneaking is an amazing skill to invest in - it grants extra damage! Heavy Armor reduces physical damage taken significantly. Two-Handed Weapons allows your maximum output of damage, but One-Handed Weapons will increase dagger damage in conjunction with Sneaking backstab bonuses. Archery is awesome damage at a distance, and will receive a bonus from the Sneaking skill tree. Restoration allows you to heal yourself. That's really the only set of skills you truly need - at least that's how I see it.

I enjoy mods*, and so I like to download them to enhance my gameplay (not to be god-like). The previously mentioned dislikes about skill trees is removed from my game now, because a mod I have allows you to choose major skills as before, applies race and sex bonuses, and forces you to focus on your idea for a character to play. I should move on to the rest of the game: great graphics, great story, and wonderful music. This game is amazing, though I miss the spell-creation from past games. Spells are gained through spellbooks that can be bought or found through trading, looting, and exploring. Some mods will integrate new spells through combining items found in the game to grant a spellbook, or other methods. Speaking of spell creation, you can smith new items with the help of a new skill tree: Smithing (how convenient).

(Smithing at a Forge)

Of course, Alchemy and Enchanting skill trees still exist, but with a new look:

(Alchemy)

(Enchanting)

A new slo-mo killcam is pretty awesome as well. Sometimes, when dealing enough damage to finish your enemy with an arrow, a melee weapon, or a spell, the camera will change to a third-person view (even if you're in third-person) to close in on the actions made, the enemy slain, or even your own character being felled.

(Me Zapping a Rabbit In Slo-Mo Killcam - Poor Little Thing)

Some enemies will scale with your level, and others remain the same. This way there are still some enemies that will prove quite a challenge to your skills, but some will still be kind of normal to give you a sense of power-gain. I think this is fantastic, because I wouldn't expect a pack of wolves to be difficult for a high-leveled character, but a group of bandits still may prove difficult. Still, there are various degrees of weapon and armor materials that grant better damage, may be heavier, and so forth - enchanting provides more bonuses on occasion.

(Small Portion of the World Map)

Throughout your adventures, you will uncover landmarks of various kinds that will allow you to travel quickly from one point to another, but also indicate whether or not it's a cave, city, camp, or ruin of sorts. This is great, because if you stumble upon a high-leveled dungeon, you can always come back later when you're better able to handle the enemies and challenges within:

(Puzzle in a Dungeon)

Puzzles reside in the world, within and without dungeons, and can sometimes end in fatal results if incorrect. Some are easier than others, you have to know where and how to look for the answers. You also have to know that there are traps in some areas, and they may result in your death - if used wisely, even the death of your enemies. There are smart ways to play the game, utilizing your surroundings. Traps are one, but oil and lanterns are another. There may be colorful liquids on the ground - this is oil and can be ignited with fire spells or hanging lanterns that can be shot and dropped causing an explosion. Beware, you're not immune to these methods of battle, and you're not the only one who can use them.

(Lanterns Above Oil)

Through magic, strength, and wits, you can overcome almost any obstacle. It's how you choose to play that varies the outcome of each encounter of each element in the game. From trading to crafting, Skyrim allows you to be very unique, and fan-made mods grant even more unique gameplay - from beginning the game in different ways to dampening your capacity to be the tankiest, sneakiest mage to gaining new types of followers to being a Jedi or a Sith:

(Sith/Jedi Mod)

This game is a fantastic purchase, computer or not, especially if you enjoy the role-playing scene (I mean come on... Dragons!)

I have yet to regret acquiring this game, and have yet to lack the drive to replay this game over and over and over in different, unique ways - through trying mods, going straight through the story, and even ignoring the main story in its entirety. Fun to be had at all levels!

Hours of playtime on my account: 345 hours (~ 14.5 days)

* = Mods available for free and only on the PC version through Nexus Mods and the Steam client.

First Impression: Sci-Fi MMO-Shooter

Game of the Day

Firefall

ESRB Rating: (I would assume) [T] Violence, [M] Online Interactions Vary 

Here we have an aesthetically pleasing MMO Shooter. It looks wonderful: cartoony, yet realistic. I really dig MMOs and sci-fi themes, and this is both! I was excited to give it a try because of those reasons alone.

Firefall is created by Red 5 Studios, a recently-surfaced gaming company that has only provided this game so far. They did an excellent job on it, but it could use a few fixings. Overall, this game has every aspect of an MMO you could ask for: transportation methods, classes, abilities, leveling up, and marketplaces. You also get rewarded on playtime per session (with items, materials, and consumable items like grenades) - the intervals increase as each reward is received.

Character creation (in the picture above) allows you to choose from one of five classes (called "battleframes" in the game): 

Assault: A generalized and well-rounded battleframe when it comes to offense and defense.

Dreadnaught: A more defensive battleframe still capable of opening a can-o'-kickbutt.

Recon: A medium to long-range battleframe with some support abilities.

Biotech: A battleframe highly capable of healing and support their allies, and chemical warfare.

Engineer: A battlefield support specialist. Can construct turrets and energy barriers, and can resupply.

What makes this game unique is that you can switch between these battleframes as you wish as long as you're at a Battleframe Garage where you can paint your armor, reconstruct your character (hair, sex, voice, skin, etc. which can also be done on the fly), assign skill points, and the likes. This is the first game I played that allowed its players to do this, and it's a major plus. Although you're confined to only one character, the battleframe switching, no matter how cool it may seem, is just like making several characters. I suppose it just cuts down on the clutter of data from the many accounts made for this game.

The default view for this game is 3rd-person but can be switched with a simple click of the mouse wheel. Really, this game looks great either way. Some weapons allow better aiming when in first-person, and others will automatically zoom into first-person when the right-click precision aiming is enabled. The screen layout is simple enough: the mini-map is in the bottom right; your abilities, health, jetpack (yes, a jetpack. No, it's not a suitable form of travel) energy, ammo, and experience gain are centered at the bottom; the chat box is on the bottom-left; the top-left corner provides your name, level of battleframe, battleframe icon, and playtime reward availability as well as VIP options; the top-right corner provides messages from your contacts during missions or between missions; the right side of the screen provides the name of your mission and the next objective goal.

**Something I found very interesting about this game is that every mission message you receive from your contact(s) is voiced-over, and that's hard to find in a lot of MMOs. Kudos to you, Red 5 Studios.

The controls are smooth, and gameplay takes a slightly fast-paced role as you're busy taking on enemies from (sometimes) multiple sides. The use of the jetpack can help escape sticky situations, though the energy depletes quickly - wouldn't want you flying around for eternity and cheating your way around the maps now. But that's okay, because you're given a sci-fi motorcycle! What's cooler than that? Uh... probably some other things, but getting it as early as 1st level in any game is rare if existent outside of this game at all (I've yet to encounter this. Thanks again, Red 5 Studios!) Also, there's an interesting glider option available from some high-elevations in the game. You can travel a good distance before you'll eventually land (or crash into something). It's something new and very fun, but not too exciting - my favorite part is that I can shoot while in the glider mode and rain death from above on the weak enemies below... I'm such a simpleton.

(Vroom Vroom!)

(Glider "tutorial")

As with any MMO, there is a crafting system that I have yet to really figure out within the first three hours of playing this game. It seems as though I would have to grind for materials for quite some time in order to craft anything remotely useful. there are obvious payment options available. It's almost thrown in your face any time you press your Escape key to log out or check your settings, or, or, or. Do you need to pay? Not really, though I'm sure there are those who do to get their gameplay boosted through items and experience. Of course you're given a few armor color options for free, but a lot of the nicer ones require payment of some sort and don't seem worth the money to me. I didn't explore the payment market, though I'm sure there are many things to be viewed:

Another basic feature, as with any MMO, is a quest system. Similar to a few other games I've played (like the Borderlands series and the previously-posted Warframe), there is a sort of mission board that you can pick and choose as you see fit. Most of the missions I've witnessed are kill this, retrieve this, escort that, defend that. Not too much else going on there. While that may get tiresome and/or repetitive, the story for each mission tends to be exciting - even more so because of the voiceovers used for your contacts and employers. I can see that this game would be fun to play with a few friends. It would be easy to make some on this game, because as I've seen there is a very generous community within the walls of this game.

I don't see myself playing this game too much, but I will definitely check in once in a while to spend some time checking out the wonderful scenery - I know I said that graphics aren't my main focus in my previous posts, but this game has some very fascinating concepts behind it that make it pop more uniquely than most games I have yet to play. We'll see how far I can make it into this game before I call shenanigans (if I have to - hopefully I won't).

Space Ninjas - What Else Needs Said?

Game of the Day

Warframe

ESRB Rating: [M] Violence, Blood

As the title suggests, you play as a space ninja known as a Tenno in Digital Extreme's game, Warframe. Interestingly enough, and surely no coincidence, the word tenno comes from the same Japanese word meaning "heavenly emperor". Your character, known as a warframe - of which you have access to many, is a noble warrior of sorts. There are various factions to battle against in different missions on the planets of our solar system - from the zombie-like Infested to the robotic experts, Corpus.

(Mission Select: Planet Select)

Each warframe has its own unique abilities which sets it apart from others. You start with access to only a few, but they're not any less powerful than others you can acquire. Acquiring materials throughout your missions will grant you the ability to mash them all together in what's called the foundry to create anything with a blueprint, be it a weapon or a warframe itself. However, in order to acquire blueprints, you must either find them in missions or purchase them on the marketplace. This costs a small chunk of credits you receive for completing missions, or a small chunk of buyable (with real money of course) platinum credits. Once you're able to craft these in the foundry, you will have to wait a specific amount of time before it's completes - don't want you to blast your way through the game and not want to come back, do they? Did I mention that warframe blueprints come in various parts, thereby costing even more credits to craft? (seen below)

(Foundry)

Does the expensive crafting turn me away from the game? Somewhat, it takes 12 to sometimes 24 hours to craft items, but I just don't play until it's done simply because it's a nuisance knowing I have an item coming while I'm leveling my other items. That's not the point of the game though, so I can't say it makes much of an impact on me. I'd like to see some cheaper crafting though. 

Moving on (as I mentioned "leveling items"), each of the weapons and warframes you obtain can be improved through missions, both accomplished and failed, giving you the ability to improve them even further through what is called upgrades (mods) - makes sense, no? There are many upgrades - from improved health, energy, and damage, to enemy and/or loot markers on your radar, to even running for a longer period of time or letting your abilities last for longer periods of time.

(Mods)

You'll pick up a lot of upgrades in your game time, but you can easily sell any you don't want, or use them to add ranks to existing ones to gain improved benefits. For example, a mod may grant +5% damage to your pistols, and improving its rank may increase it to 20% or above. Mods are only allowed on specific items, and are thus indicated on the mod info: warframe, pistol, rifle, shotgun, melee, etc. Any combination or mod upgrades can be used as long as it doesn't exceed your allotted points. As your weapons and warframes level up, these points increase. 

The gameplay is fast-paced, and requires you to move a lot, so be on your toes. To help with the space-ninja theme and the quick actions you must make, the developers threw in some fancy mechanics like wall running to keep you mobile. You play each mission with a primary weapon (such as an assault rifle, bow, or shotgun), a secondary weapon (like kunai, a revolver, or a hand-crossbow), and a melee weapon ( a sword, an axe, a quarterstaff, and knuckle weapons for example). Some players have unlocked the use of floating devices that follow their warframe and help with missions by shooting and using their own abilities. Others have unlocked a strange bat-faced dog known as a kubrow to kelp with their missions. And even others have unlocked both.

All-in-all, this game is fun. I couldn't play this for a long time, because it gets kind of grindy (playing the same missions over and over for materials, blueprints, mods, experience, etc.) Some people don't mind, while some do. Luckily, this game is easy to come back to at any point and play for a few missions to kill some time. I would recommend giving it a try, though the update for the client can be a little exhausting upon the initial launch.

(Warframe: Volt ability use)

(Arsenal: Equipment)

(Marketplace)

What Makes A Game Enjoyable To Me

I thought I'd take some time to enlighten any who would read this as to why I think games are good or bad. We all have different points-of-view when it comes to liking or disliking something - for video games it's no different.

You see, I enjoy a game with a great story or a story you can craft yourself through intricate decisions within the game. Being able to change events within a game (even to the slightest) lets me feel like I make a difference in the game no matter how small that change may be. Choice is a big attention-grabbing factor in today's games - as it should! It gives the gamer a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of power knowing they control the fate of their character and the world around them.

Another turning point for me is the gameplay. Do the controls make sense in the initial layout - I shouldn't have to change my controls right off the bat, although some people do because they're picky. If I find it difficult to play the game with the controls given to me, I begin to reconsider. If I can adapt to them easily, I don't mind that much. I guess what I'm saying is if I have to reach across the keyboard for an important key-binding, the developer in charge of this needs a swift kick in the rear for being a goof. Does the gameplay flow smoothly? From puzzle solving to sword swinging to explosion making, nothing should feel heavy, slow, or lazy. You know what I'm talking about. I'm sure you've encountered a game where a jumping animation took far to long to complete or swinging your weapon felt like forever.

Those are the most important to me, but another 1-up factor for me is music - is it annoying and repetitive throughout the game, or does it enhance the perception intake combined with graphics and gameplay? Although it's not the most important as there are often options to turn music off, I don't feel as though I should turn it all the way down for any game (though for some I do).

I don't focus on the graphics as much as some gamers do, because I feel as though you don't need the most high-def camera to tell a story through a photograph. Sure I like when the scenery looks nice and pretty and realistic, but I end up turning my graphics to medium just so I can smooth out my gameplay - I'm not focused on how many ripples are made in the water if it's raining, because that doesn't have anything to do with my travels across a river or the dragon above me or, or, or.

I guess these are just some things I take into account when I "review" games, even for myself. They're not in any particular order - just in the order of my thoughts. A rant of sorts, albeit informational and highly opinionated.

Game On!

Warfare games? No... Wait. What?! Yes!!

Game of the Day

Mount & Blade

ESRB Rating: [T] Alcohol Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

The developing company, Tale Worlds, has released several Mount & Blade games with the help of publishing company Paradox Interactive. The first game, Mount & Blade, was released on September 16th of 2008. Since then it was given a boost to its lifespan thanks to Steam. However popular this game may be, some still judge games based on looks - this game would be a bad choice for that mindset. It's a good thing its 72/100 rating (which is pretty good for an indie game) indicated there is more than meets the eye.

Looks like a fellow you might not want living next to you. In regards to the level of graphics this game contains, there's not much you need to see in beauty. This game is very much about strategy, and how well you play your cards. From simple battles as a manhunter (capturing enemies to sell them to the ransom broker), to larger battles as part of a kingdom (even your own), this game calculates your outcomes from saving villages and making a kingdom prosper to sending military of opposing forces after you to capture you for ransom. While playing, you'll see messages appearing on the left-hand side of the screen alerting you of kingdoms' economic standings or the victory of a noble in battle.

There are several kingdoms that are built from past civilizations:

Khergit Khanate: based off Mongol and Turkic civilizations specialize their combat in horseback archery and light cavalry.

Kingdom of Nords: based off Viking civilization specialize their combat in various infantry units.

Kingdom of Rhodoks: based off olden Alpine Kingdoms specialize in crossbowmen and spearmen as the French (Burgundian) and Northern German civilizations are depicted.

Kingdom of Swadia: resemble Western European kingdoms, and focus their troop specializations in heavy cavalry.

Kingdom of Vaegirs: resemble Eastern European civilizations, and specialize in archery.

The sandbox-type style of this game creates nearly infinite possibilities for you to explore, and gameplay will never be the same twice. Your attributes, skills, and (weapon) proficiencies upon character creation and leveling up: 

STR (Strength) will make you more resilient in combat by adding hit points to your character's life force while also granting the improved capacity of points in certain skills such as Ironflesh (adding more hit points) and Power-Throw (increases damage from throwing weapons like javelins and throwing axes).

AGI (Agility) grants weapon proficiency points and increases the capacity of points on skills such as Shield (reduced damage to your shield and grants coverage by your shield), and Horse Archery (reduces penalties to ranged weaponry used while on horseback).

INT (Intelligence) immediately grants an extra skill point, and improves the capacity for skills like Path-Finding (increases your party's movement speed on the map) and First Aid (grants bonus hit point recovery from hit points lost after a battle).

CHA (Charisma) grants a party size of +1 per point, and increases your skill capacity for three skills: Prisoner Management (allows you 5 prisoners per point), Leadership (allows you to command 5 troops per point, increases party morale, and reduced the costs of your troops), and Trade (decreases your trade penalty by 5% per point)

I could go through all of the skills I didn't mention, but that would take far too much time. In a summary, skills increase your abilities in combat and out of combat - increased weapon accuracy and damage; ability to trade, talk to nobles, or manage inventory space; grant extra experience to troops and help with the recovery process between battles.

Your proficiencies increase your damage and accuracy with specific weapon types: One-Handed, Two-Handed, Polearms, Archery (Bows), Crossbows, and Throwing (axes, javelins, darts, etc.)

Remember the detail (or lack thereof) during the character creation? Good news! You don't look at your character's face, so suck it up! Downside - You get to look at enemy and ally faces... So I guess there's that. We can disregard all of that, because the battle is quite strategic and doesn't focus on how pretty your surroundings are. You can direct attacks based on your cursor's location in relation to your character or the movement key you're using. An over-handed swing (chop), a swing of your weapon from side to side (slash), or even a thrusting attack are all possible. In the screenshot above, you can see my character making a slashing attack from horseback.

In this screenshot you can see my character using a crossbow from horseback as well. Those three cursor marks indicate any area my bolt can travel once I fire my crossbow - at this point it is readied to fire. What's interesting is once the attack button is held for a ranged weapon, your cursors will focus in for a moment and slowly move outward. This indicates the lack of steadiness due to strain on your character's arms (with a bow's pull weight or the weight of a crossbow in general). Fire quickly but precisely. Also, each marker stands for something in particular. Firing when these points are on your enemy when focused in and moving will grant you more accuracy - you can learn about this in the tutorial (which I suggest). Be careful though, you don't have an abundance of ammunition unless you stock up various ammunitions in your inventory slots seen below:

From doing quests for villagers get rid of bandits or retrieving runaway livestock to playing the game as a trader to help all kingdoms prosper to conquering all kingdoms for your own sake, this game allows many hours of gameplay. I currently have 47 hours on record and plan to drop some more on the table. It's the kind of game I can play once in a while, but I will play for several hours before I stop for the day or night. It can keep you busy, keep you entertained, keep you thinking, and keep you wanting more.

For only $9.99 on Steam, I'd say it's a steal. However, during sale times (especially with the winter sale coming up soon) it's practically a free game when on sale for 50% - **75%** off.

Hire some villagers, ransack a village, hijack a caravan, capture some bandits, raise an army, and become your own man/woman in this great game.

Leveling the Troops

Selling the Prisoners

Apocalyptic Games Are Apocalicious!

Game of the Day

Fallout: New Vegas

ESRB Rating: [M] Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, 
Use of Drugs

The Fallout series, published by Bethesda Softworks, has always been a favorite among many gamers. Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, didn't fail to meet my expectations. In fact it surprised me with a few new features that the other games didn't have - weapon modifications, for one example. This growing series is set in various areas - from Washington D.C. to Las Vegas, Nevada and more. However, they're not set to current dates. They're set in the future after an apocalyptic mishap. It's interesting, because the design styles in the game such as billboards, vehicles (what remains of them) and buildings resemble many styles popular in the past but with a slight futuristic twist.

The world of Fallout is plagued by radiation, mutant animals, mutant humans, and normal, every day humans. I forgot to mention that there are blood-thirsty humans as well as greedy bandits. By blood-thirsty I mean, well, blood-drinking. Luckily, you've got a bunch of lovely stats and perks to play with in order to kill things more easily... Oh, and do other things like talk to people, buy low and sell high with traders, hack computers, and pick locks... but mostly kill things more easily! This game has always been one of my favorites. It's got some replay value, but not immediately. Not for me anyway.

You've got this lovely little wrist watch called a Pip-Boy. This allows you to access your equipment, check your stats, check for radiation poisoning or physical conditions, view the map of the local area or the entire game map, check your quests, and even listen to music - choose from old-style country or jazz in New Vegas (a few others exist). Sometimes the music helps in a boring wasteland as you travel from settlement to settlement completing tasks give by many people inhabiting the "nuclear wonderland" (as said by the wonderful Wayne Newton himself as the voice of Mr. New Vegas, a radio broadcaster in the game).

Aside from the mindless running around you can do, you've got a reason in this game - to find out who tried to kill you and why. You (rather, your character) have been murdered (almost). You were recovered and have no memory of prior events to waking up in Doc Mitchell's house. Along the way, you'll make friends and enemies - many enemies, but that's okay! Why is it okay? Or maybe you didn't ask... I'll tell you anyway! You, the Courier (whose name you can change when you create your character [male or female]) have the ability to change the fate of the Mojave Wasteland in which you exist. For good or for evil. It's all up to you, and each decision you make will earn you respect, love, disapproval, or hate. Either way you swing, karma catches up, and it's not always pretty - hired gunmen (and gunladies) will be itching to take you out.

Happy trails, pardners.

Best MMO (For Me!) Guild Wars 2

Game of the Day

Guild Wars 2

ESRB Rating: [T] Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

It was a mistake to review this game for today's post, because I forgot how amazing it is! I'm a fan of MMOs, and Guild Wars 2 (hereafter mentioned as GW2) takes the spot for my favorite MMO. It's beautiful, engaging, versatile, and quick to get used to.

ArenaNet does a great job at accompanying its gamers old and new. I haven't played this game in over a year, and coming back to it I've noticed that a lot of things have changed. The general grounds for the game have stayed the same though. These changes were made to accommodate newer players, and to allow veteran players the ability to progress a little bit quicker than before to the end-game material without ruining the gameplay in anyway.

The player begins by choosing from one of five races. The beast-like Charr, Humans, the Norse-like Norn, the Slyvari who seem to represent the ideas of Elves in many other games, and the technology-savvy Asura. 

After choosing the race (and sex) of the character to be played, another screen will appear where the player will choose from one of eight Professions, or classes according to many other RPG set-ups. Each race has its own beginning story-line quests which make you feel special compared to other races. However, they all meld together during the mid-level gameplay, but by that point the player gets so involved with the story that it doesn't seem to matter all that much. At some point a choice has to be made to join one of three "orders": the militant Vigil, the scholarly Durmand Priory, and the covert Order of Whispers. 

Choices, if you haven't noticed, play a big role in this game's style. From choosing which weapons to fight with - be it a staff, a sword or a mace - to placing points into your Talent trees to grant additional attribute (stat) bonuses and bonus skills, the player's gaming style slowly changes. For example, playing as the paladin-like Guardian allows the player to use multiple weapons, but using a sword and a shield is much different than using a greatsword or a scepter and focus. Each weapon has five skills that are different for each profession. I find this very unique among the games I've played, and that's not bringing into account that the combination of main-hand and off-hand weapons also changes the 1 - 3 and 4 - 5 keys respectively. The thief profession is even more unique in that the combination of main-hand and off-hand weapons allows a skill - linked to the number 3 key - that combines both weapons when used (i.e. a dagger-dagger combo has a different attack than a dagger-pistol combo). As the character levels up, each successive combat skill unlocks. Soon, the class skills will unlock and the player can invest in unlocking specific ones to meet his or her combat-style. Not to worry though, because all of these skills can be purchased eventually so the player can mix and match with anything possible. You also get to fight while you're dying! That's right, you don't die as soon as your health is depleted! You entered a state called "downed", and have a chance to heal yourself back to life (without interruptions) or be revived by other players. Each Profession has its own set of downed skills except for the self-healing skill.

Another interesting point in this game's development is the Events system. There aren't any actual quests in this game, but events the player can complete without really having to feel obligated to do so. Dynamic Events (as seen above) are a great example of this. These events happen everywhere, all the time, and there's no need to do them. In the above picture, I (and a few other players passing by) decided to escort a woman and her pack bull (both NPCs) from a small settlement to a larger village. At the end of these events a reward is bestowed upon the player as a small pat on the back and a "thanks for putting up with it" pep-talk. Personally, I love it. When I do these Dynamic and World Events, I feel like doing them to help other players and to give myself a reward for helping them. It's a fair way to build a community or friendship. That can lead to friends, or even guilds to play with - neither of which are bad.

PvP in GW2 spans many categories - from capture the point to solo or group arena fights to the glorious WvWvW styles. My personal favorites are the different WvWvW styles. If you're not aware of what WvWvW is, I'll spell it out... literally. It's World versus World versus World. This means that three worlds (servers) are all battling it out on the same battlefield to assert their dominance in PvP(vP) combat. It's fast-paced and mostly geared toward those of higher levels, but lower-leveled players are still rewarded for playing. 

The artwork and graphic detail of this game are phenomenal. The artwork has a very whispy look to it that's very unique to GW2 (but has become more popular since), and shows how adventurous ArenaNet was in making this game. I also have to say that this game has the best music I've yet to hear in an MMO, so it definitely wins the MMO Music Award from me - if that were a thing (and it's not [because I don't have those {ever}]).

GW2 is free to play -- in a sense that you don't have to pay subscription-based fees. However, you must purchase the game at the well-worth-it-price of... (Warning: This game is on sale as of September 25th until October 5th, 2014) $24.99, from the regular price of $49.99. There is a greater edition of the game, but you can easily survive without it, for $34.99 (sale price) from the original $69.99.

Do I recommend this game? If you've got a computer to run it on even minimum settings (which I did for quite a while before I received this current computer), then yes. It's a fantastic game that doesn't obligate you to play just because you're paying a monthly fee to promise them you'll continue to play.

Guild Wars 2, I love you.

Easily one of my favorites: Orcs Must Die!

Game of the Day

Orcs Must Die!

ESRB Rating: [T] Blood and Gore, and Violence

Genre: Action, Strategy, Indie

This game is much like a tower defense game that many gamers can relate to - even those who aren't so very much into games but play Flash games as well. The only difference between a tower defense game and Orcs Must Die! is that the player is on the ground with his or her traps, troops and enemies, and is able to battle to victory through strategic placement of prior stated traps and troops, and through a vast array of weaponry.

Orcs Must Die! was published by Robot Entertainment in October of 2011, and is still a very popular game among the gaming community. In fact it was so popular that it was given a sibling, Orcs Must Die 2!. This game has been one of my favorites for a while, because it's fun, funny, strategic, hands-on, easy on the eyes and addicting.

In this game the player, known as a War Mage, must protect mystical blue portals known as rifts that the Orcs and other monsters are trying to enter and destroy. As the War Mage progresses through the game's campaign, he (in this game) unlocks new traps and weapons (with upgrade unlocks), new guardians (such as archers and paladins) and skills to invest in. Through investing in these skills or upgrades the War Mage's arsenal grows stronger so he can take on stronger and more numerous amounts of enemies. As the player, you'll encounter flying enemies as well, so you've got to be able to understand your enemies when placing traps or guardians, and being able to think on your toes in order to deal with new enemies as they enter the level to reach your rift! Even though the enemies come in waves, you will have enough downtime to set new traps or guardians, or even sell old ones. The game's controls are easy to get accustomed to. The number keys on the top row of the keyboard select the arsenal the player acquires throughout the campaign. The W, A, S and D keys move the character in the corresponding direction. The Space Bar causes the player's character to jump. The mouse and its buttons will allow the player to look around, set traps and attack with either primary or secondary weapon abilities. There are a few other buttons, but they pop up on the screen when it would be appropriate - you won't miss it, and won't feel silly if you didn't know before you read it!

The quick pace of this game is seamless (ignoring the fact that there are breaks between waves); the music can be quite repetitive but that's not why we're here; the witty remarks and jokes keep this cartoony game laughable but playable; the ability to upgrade any traps, guardians, weapons or skills you want allows for great customization based on individual gameplay; and the amount of time many gamers have spent on this game will ensure that it will continue to provide a sense of replay value.

If you have some spare cash and would want to purchase a simple game that allows hours upon hours of gameplay, but doesn't require you to play hours upon hours per day, I would highly recommend this game. It has elements of familiar Role-Playing Games, interactive like an Action game, thought-provoking like a Strategy game, and doesn't require a lot of knowledge about gaming in general. It's easy to learn, fun, and good for a single level per sitting, or if you want to sit down and beat it in one day.

What's This?!

Blogging... I never thought I'd catch myself doing this, because I can hardly remember to wash my clothes weekly - don't worry, I wash them when I run out of clean clothes in order to keep myself fresh - let alone post about who knows what on a daily or weekly basis.

Too bad! I'm doing it, and I'll like it (this is my scorning myself, because I should know better, it builds character, etc.).

What inspired me to create this blog in particular is my passion for video games - or games in general (maybe tabletop, because I'm a nerd and that's how I... *Roll*... Hah!). I plan on reviewing games I've played and do play, and reviewing information given on titles to be released that interest me in the slightest way. Does that sound subjective? -- Damn right. It's my blog. Hardy-har-har.

If there are other titles that are making a fuss but don't interest me as much, I'll go ahead and see what they're all about. I'm not biased (yes I am) or prejudiced against games (or people - just making this clear).

I'll give the newer games that I'm trying out a few hours (if not the entire game) of "test running", I guess we can call it. First impressions are what capture the gamers and draw them into a franchise or even a single game title. I'll glance over the visual details and my response to them, as well as analyze and respond to the came's content: story, character development (if noticeable), UI (user interface), control response (we don't like playing games that are difficult or sluggish to touch), music, and other relative content.

Let's give it a spin and see where it leads us.

Will you join me?

Will you read these once in a while?

Will you ignore me?

Let's find out!