Deus Ex: Human Revolution Bliss!
After a bit of a break, I’ve got back to playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I’ve been meaning to play it for a long time, but due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances, such as being ill, I wasn’t able to. 
It’s probably been one of my most anticipated games of the year, and that says something with games like Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 coming out this year!
So after finally picking back up on it, I have to say that I’m totally hooked. Without giving away any spoilers, I got up to I’d say halfway through the game somewhere in Shanghai. Since then, I really haven’t been able to put it down! The plot moves along very nicely at a great pace – not bombarding you with too many events but not going slow enough to get you bored. It’s just right.
On top of that, the side quests have been great throughout this game. Any opportunity I get to explore around, speak to every possible person in the game world and just loot everything, I take it. The citizens of Detroit must really be pissed off at me by now! Also the employees of Tai Yong Medical may find some cash missing when they return to their offices! Certainly made me a rich man (you’ll see what I mean once you get up to that bit in the game if you haven’t already).
I haven’t quite finished it yet, but I can tell I’m in the final stint. My only worry is that the conclusion will be lacklustre, and I’m still contemplating whether the DLC is worth a purchase just for more Deus Ex fun. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Forever Drive for iOS Opinions
I recently saw a game called Forever Drive for download on the App Store for free, and last I checked it was still free. It’s an absolutely gorgeous little racing game.
I wasn’t expecting much since there are plenty of games available on iOS that aren’t too great. However, the screenshots for this game really got me interested. It had a feel of Rez for PlayStation 2, or Beat Hazard for PC.
As you drive through different tracks, the colours change. It has a very neon-esque look and feel, and is very simple to play. You can turn left and right using buttons on each respective side of the screen. There’s also a brake pedal beneath each of those buttons, so you can choose which to use to brake. Accelerating is done automatically.
I believe there are in-app purchases, however I’ve been more than happy to just play through the normal mode and enjoy each track. You collect stars, overtake vehicles and drive in special highlighted lanes for points.
Crashing into the side wall or another vehicle breaks your combo of points and slows down your vehicle. Since you must make checkpoints before a time limit, it’s common sense to avoid them, otherwise you won’t progress far.
Forever Drive is a lovely little game. I’m not sure it’ll remain a free app for long, so it’s well worth giving it a download soon. There’s even a mode for building your own tracks, and you unlock all sorts of items for them along the way, however I haven’t dived into that just yet. I’m having too much fun racing as it is!
iOS 5 Upgrade for iOS devices
Apple has released it’s latest iOS version for its mobile devices, namely iPhones and iPads. It’s compatible with iPhone 3GS and up, and both iPad 1 and 2. I went ahead and gave it a try last time, but it took absolutely ages to install. I think the installation process was fine, but restoring everything on to the device took years!
When the update finally did finish, my first thoughts were, why are they so many new icons? Then I realised that Apple got rid off the one iPod icon and split it into two separate Music and Videos icons. Along with that is the Newsstand (where you can supposedly download magazines straight into, however each time I try download something it downloads it as a new app – maybe there aren’t many compatible magazines as of yet?) and Reminders app.
This means that there are a greater number of default icons than ever before, i.e. apps created by Apple that you can’t remove from the device. It’s started to get too clustered, and I would love to be able to remove stuff like Newsstand, Game Center, Voice Memos, etc. from the device since I never use them. It’s just cluttering up my device, and something like Newsstand can’t even be hidden away in a folder since it’s a folder of its own!
Anyway, that’s my negative views so far, what about the positive ones? There’s one huge reason why I wanted to upgrade so quickly, and that is Notification Center. It’s about time that Apple sorted out its notifications on iOS devices, since the clunky pop ups were intrusive and annoying. Now they appear in a drawer that you can slide out from the top of the screen (pretty much same as Android devices) and view notifications there. They also list on the lock screen, meaning you’re not only going to see the latest pop up on your lock screen.
Besides that, there’s also iMessages which works like a charm. It somehow figures out who has iOS 5 and automatically sends them iMessages as opposed to normal SMS messages. It works like a charm, without the need for pin numbers to exchange or anything of the sort. It just works!
Those are my initial opinions for now, I’m sure more stuff will crop up. Most of the apps have been working fine with it except PingChat, which seems to crash any time I try to write a message, rendering it useless!
Hard Reset Demo Opinions
Finally got around to play Flying Wild Hog’s game called Hard Reset, which has been in development for quite a while. It’s essentially an old school FPS game based in a cyberpunk world. I have to say, it’s been a while since I’ve played a game which is literally just a shooter. There aren’t many puzzles, and when there are, it’s very much like the old Quake style puzzles of finding some button to open up the path, i.e. not very challenging.
Graphically this game is gorgeous. It ran like a charm on my Alienware M11x with no slowdowns at all even when there was a lot of action going on. It has a unique feel to it, and creates a good atmospheric feel with the dim lighting, tall futuristic buildings and rather props placed around each area you pass through. For good measure, there are plenty of things for you to shoot that will blow up, which definitely spice things up in battle.
The enemies are basically machines killing humans, so it’s your job to put a stop to them. There isn’t much point in taking an interest in the story, since it’s all about the shooting here, hence old school FPS. You learn early on that the best way, and usually most exciting, is to shoot things in the environment that will blow up or electrocute enemies nearby. It gives an extremely rewarding feeling, especially when you see a whole group of them running your way and then blow up!
I only played the demo but I’m very tempted to buy the full game, only after I’ve got my worth in Deus Ex: Human Revolution though! If you’re looking for a very fun old school type FPS game, then look no further. It’s stunning graphically and I love to cyberpunk look and feel. If only it was an RPG in that world!
“iHub” USB Hub
Hmm, I needed a USB hub, and found something called the iHub on eBay. Now, I know Apple don’t do a USB hub like this themselves, so I was intrigued to check it out. I went ahead and placed an order, knowing that quite possibly my purchase may be blocked or I’ll receive something completely different. Low and behold, this is what I got.
It actually works like a perfectly normal USB hub! I haven’t been able to check the speed and obviously haven’t used it for long periods of time yet, since I haven’t had it long, but for those who want a nice looking (fake) USB hub that has Apple written all over it, here you go!
Caspian Border map available on Battlefield 3 Beta
The Battlefield 3 beta has been open for a little while now, and has now added the huge Caspian Border map. I gave it a go just a bit ago, but seems that the servers are being hammered since I was disconnected a few times as well as experiencing quite a bit of lag. Still, it’s definitely a humongous map!
Metro 2033 Finally Finished
Well, this post has been a very long time coming! I got Metro 2033 from one of the Steam sales in the last quarter of 2010, and played it quite a bit before getting stuck. Shortly after, I started playing quite a bit of Bad Company 2 online, so I never got around to finishing Metro 2033. I initially wrote about it a while ago having it played it a fair bit, but finally about a month or so ago, I completed the game.
First of all, I didn’t actually have much of the game left, so it didn’t take me long once I got past where I was stuck. Even though I did get stuck, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the game. I love atmospheric games that uses the environment to create moods and tell a story, and Metro 2033 does this very well.
The premise is pretty clearcut. After a nuclear strike on Russia, survivors were forced to live underground in the metro system. The surface is uninhabitable for humans due to radiation levels, and now since humans are unused to the sunlight, daytime would most certainly blind them. Not only that, all sorts of monsters and ‘dark ones’ have taken over the surface. These creatures also come down into the metro and cause problems for humans, making it a real fight for survival for those near entrances to the surface.
You are Artyom, living at VDNKH, one of the metro stations in the underground system. There has been a surge of monsters coming down into your home system, attacking and leaving many casualties. Those who survive are left brainless, scarred in a way that can’t be cured. You meet an individual passing through the station one day called Hunter and begin to suffer from nightmares. Hunter makes it your mission to deliver a message to Polis, one of the main stations in the underground system if Hunter doesn’t survive from investigating the entrance to the metro near your station.
And so your journey through the underground begins. Metro 2033 does a fantastic job at creating a great atmosphere wherever you are in the game. For some reason, the game actually needs a pretty high end system to get it running properly, but when you do, it really is worth it. The sound is great and it really does look gorgeous, except some stiff facial animations. But really, I’m more into the world around me than looking at people’s faces.
It’s difficult to talk in-depth about the game without giving spoilers, so I’m going to do my best and try tread softly. You explore part of the metro system as you go on your quest, and also get to explore the land above, which is quite the scene when you first go on there. The ruins in the snow, as you walk through with your gas mask on, look stunning and creates a rather grim atmosphere.
The AI in this game is a bit of a letdown, as they follow predetermined set patterns. Also, alerting one enemy in an area will tend to alert everyone, which could be a disaster if you’re trying to sneak your way through. It then effectively means you have to wipe out everyone!
I also got around to reading the book on Metro 2033, which is completely different from the game. It follows the main premise and some of the key events, however it’s radically different in a lot of ways and the game simply leaves out a ton. The game itself is less than 10 hours, so it’s not a long game at all. However, it is a very enjoyable game, especially if you like other titles such as Bioshock which immerse you in rich environments.
Metro 2034 has been announced and there are some trailers floating around too. I look forward to that being released, since the developers have already said that they’ll be addressing some key issues from the first game.
Saitek Cyborg V1 Keyboard Impressions
It’s been a little while since I last updated, mainly because I’ve been bogged down with work and then been on the phone to Alienware/Dell Support regarding my Alienware M11x fan. However, more on that another time, for now I want to talk about a keyboard I’ve had the chance to try out.
I’m not really into keyboards too much – as in I don’t kick up a fuss if the keyboard isn’t a gaming keyboard or has special fancy customisable features with backlit buttons. Since I’m a regular laptop user, the laptop keyboards suffice for me. I’ve been using laptops before even using a proper PC, so it’s almost natural for me to use a laptop keyboard over a desktop keyboard, which may sound crazy but it’s the truth!
I have used a range of normal keyboards by different manufacturers, such as Microsoft and Logitech, and on the whole they’ve always felt pretty much the same. There’s one thing that used to bug me, and that would be huge gaps between the keys. For some reason, and I think because of my affinity towards laptop keyboards, I hate having huge gaps between keys. It feels like it can slow your typing speed down and only causes your fingers to sometimes get stuck in a gap when trying to type fast. Therefore, even at work, I’ve tended to make sure I have a keyboard with slightly narrower gaps between the keys. Besides that though, I’m not that fussy. Honest!
I’ve been recently using the Saitek Cyborg V1 keyboard. Now, while it’s marketing as a gaming keyboard, I have to say there isn’t much there to really make it stand out as a gaming keyboard. The one feature, and literally one feature, that would make it appear to be a gaming laptop, is a key which disables the Windows key. Even though it’s just one feature, it’s actually a really useful one. Most gamers have experienced pressing the Windows key by accident mid-game, and cursing as a result as it’s ruined a key moment in their game! Therefore, Saitek decided it’s best to be able to just disable that nuisance button altogether, so added another button to disable it. It’s easy to tell when you’ve activated it too, as the button lights up green and is at the top right of the keyboard, next to where the light indicators are for Caps, Scroll and Num locks.
Speaking of light indicators, I have to say that these light indicators are subtly powerful! They must be the most powerful light indicators I’ve seen on a keyboard. Seriously, I can hold my hand a good 10-15cm above the keyboard and still see the red light on my palm! Nothing bad about that, just something I noticed! Good quality I guess!
Now, the actual keyboard is nothing spectacular as I’ve mentioned, but it’s still a solid piece of kit. The keyboard itself feels solid and rugged, no actual moving parts besides the clips at the back to add a bit of height to it and tilt it forward. The buttons are distinct, and has a good amount of spacing between each key. It is a full keyboard, with a numpad and the usual Insert, Home, Delete, etc. buttons and arrow keys of course.
I don’t have much else to say about the keyboard. It’s priced below £20, which is why it’s quite basic and probably a good buy for an average gamer who wants a normal-ish keyboard for everyday use as well. Quite often, normal keyboards will cost about £10+ anyway, so if you have a little bit of spare cash, I probably would recommend going out and getting this. The one thing I really would have loved to see in this keyboard, but which would also raise the price considerably, would be backlit keys. That would have made my day!
The Saitek Cyborg V1 and a whole range of other PC Gaming Keyboards are available now from GamingZap, as well as the Nyko Zoom for Kinect, making them the first with stock in the UK.
Brazil vs Ghana 5th September 2011 Friendly Match
I went to view my very first live football match ever last Monday, a friendly match between Brazil vs Ghana at Fulham, Craven Cottage. It was an extremely enjoyable experience to me, especially seeing some great players such as Ronaldinho and Neymar in action! I managed to get some nice clips before and during the match too.
Brazil warming up:
Neymar shot, deflected for a corner:
Ronaldinho’s free kick, well saved:
Console Gaming and TV’s
Most serious video game players care about more than just what games they are playing, or what consoles they are playing on. For serious gamers, lots of technical qualities matter, such as the quality of the display and the sound of the game. This is why you often hear gaming enthusiasts talking more about soundtracks and graphics than about how a game is actually played. It is also why choosing the right TV (perhaps a brand new flat screen, or LED TV from Marks & Spencer) is actually an important part of setting up your gaming experience.
Choosing the right television is not only about which screen is biggest or flattest, or which one is the most expensive or most highly rated. In fact, for serious gamers, there are actual a number of specific qualities to consider when looking for a television, as optimal gaming requires certain elements of the television to be top notch.
For example, a lot of gamers enjoy being able to play multiple consoles. It may be that they prefer certain games on certain consoles, and other games on other ones, or it may be simply that they enjoy variety. However, if you are someone who likes to hook up multiple consoles, you will want to make sure that whatever television you choose can handle multiple consoles at once.
You will of course also want to consider the visuals of your television. Generally, games involve lots of bright colours and sharp contrasts, meaning that you will want your screen to be able to display them adequately. With a high quality television you will be able to enjoy your games’ displays as they were meant to be enjoyed.
Another factor to think about is how your television will handle motion. This seems like something that would generally be handled well by most high-end televisions, yet it is actually a surprisingly common problem. Some televisions are not well equipped to handle quick motion or transitions, and will thus not be ideal for gaming.
Of course, if you are less particular about your gaming experience, most of these factors are too small for you to be concerned with. An average modern flat screen television provides strong picture and perfectly adequate handling of motion and sound. However, if you are looking for a new television specifically to improve your gaming experience, you may want to consider some of the factors listed above. Simply ask a technician or employee wherever you decide to buy a television and they should be able to tell you about their televisions’ capabilities.
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