Play-Asia - buy for $60 with PayPal before year's end and receive a $6 off coupon.

Here: Grab a US$ 6 off US$ 60 Limited Coupon!

Might be nice if you're a frequent customer. ;)


Oh, and Skyrim is still very nice. Level 20 and going strong - have left the main quest line nearly untouched and just played the side quests that go on, and on, and on and...

Skyrim!

Finally got to play Skyrim last sunday (got it since the release day) and all I can say is that it's good, good, RPing, slashing & hacking, sneaking & spellcasting good.

Yes, it's basically Oblivion V2.0 and the console versions are really starting to show the age of the current consoles vs the PC that nowadays has 4+GBs of memory and 1+GBs of dedicated video memory - where it really, and I mean REALLY, shows is the texture resolution.

Looking at the screenshots I'm left feeling I should've gotten Skyrim for the PC instead of the PS3.

Then again, I like sitting in the living room and playing with the wireless controller (which I could do if I dragged the huge PC there and set up the controller with some crazy software, no thanks ;) ).

Yakuza 4 & L.A.Noire sale

Update:

L.A. Noire for the Xbox 360 is sale for $19,90 + p&p.


And Yakuza 4 is still on sale:
Yakuza 4 (PS3) is on sale at Play-Asia for $17.90 + p&p... ;)

Deus Ex: Finished

Gotta say that it's one hell of a game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Made very much in the spirit of the original Deus Ex and repeats no mistakes from the sequel.

Very good, a 9.5 out of 10.

Has it been a month and a half already since last update? Damn...

Sorry about that.

I've been too busy playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution (damn good, so good it wipes the second Deus Ex from your mind and brings back the warm feeling from the first, classic one).

Oh, and the damn Rise of Isengard expansion for Lord of the Rings Online. Blah... ;P


Oh, and I did try (briefly) the new Call of Juarez game ("The Cartel"). You know, the one that's based in our time and tries a lot to be like GTA, but succeeds mostly in being like Kane & Lynch 2?

What an god-awful screw-up of a good intellectual property and two good western games... ;P


Oh, while we're on "everything" -subject here; if you like independent fantasy/suspense/whatever films - rent / buy "Trollhunter". It's a Norwegian film that's surely going to get a watered-down Hollywood version later on, but it's refreshingly new. And the Norwegian nature is really beautiful (well, except for all those damn big trolls :D ).

Vacation's over...

... well it's been over for two weeks but little to no gaming (of new games, at least; some Darksiders and Riddick there).

I did try From Dust (on the PC); it's a nifty little god game with raise/lower earth/water (or lava ;) ). Very "Populous for the 2010s" -kinda thing. Recommended.

Oh, and Conan, the MMOG game, went free this summer. I still can't get myself to play that one. It just seems there's nothing much to do and lots of running around to find even that little thing to do. I had a two month subscription and probably logged in four times. Good thing the pre-paid card cost me less than 5 euros... ;)

PA Weekly Special

Operation Flashpoint: Red River (PS3) $18,90

The third installment in the Flashpoint saga isn't half bad - way better than the second one (Dragon Rising). At that price it's a must-have for any wargame fan. ;)

Cheap games for the summer.

PA has some offers going, so if you lack some gaming for the summer (or are allergic to the sun or something) check these out:

Xbox 360 (region free versions):
Where the Wild Things Are $9,99
Dante's Inferno $19,90
Legend of Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole $12,50
Tropico 3 $14,90
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Platinum version) $17.90
Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception $9,90

PS 3 (always region free):
3D Dot Game Heroes $18,50
Fallout: New Vegas $17,90
Katamari Forever $19,90


PC (region, what region?):
Red Faction: Guerrilla $3,99
The newly released Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale $19,90
Dynasty Warriors 6 $7,90

June update; Witcher 2, L.A. Noire and other stuff...

Been a tad busy building a three by five meter storage shed in the back yard, so very little gaming going on.

I have tried Witcher 2: The Assassins of Kings though; very nice box with a coin, map, cutout characters, etc. And incredibly unforgiving combat system with no clue as to when a particular mission is suitable to your character's level or skills. Very nice graphics, aside from the occasional uncanny facial animation...

And L.A. Noire; I really don't understand what all the fuss is about. The game has been in development since 2006, and it shows in lots of places as crappy low res textures, low polygon houses, etc. And the cases? Might as well call it "serial woman slaying investigator, the game". I mean, how many laid out naked, strangled and assaulted women you have to put in cases in a row? Five? Enough? Get repetitive at all? Sheesh...

Don't get me wrong, the voice acting and the motion capture are top notch, and I actually recognized many of the actors from their faces ("Hey, it's the cop guy from heroes!") - and it's not a bad game. I just get the feeling I'm being led through my nose towards an ending I have very little power to affect... ;P

QnD Quick Review: Singularity (PS3)

"How come you haven't aged a day, captain Rambo. Err, I mean Dumbo? Uhh, Renko"? The Russian officer said.

"I don't know, but after an hour it sure feels like I've been playing this game for days!" Nathaniel Renko answered, tight in the grips of two Russian special forces soldiers.

"If you don't tell me the truth, I will make you play Singularity for another two hours!" Yelled back the officer. 

"No! Remember the Geneva Convention! Anything but that! Noooooo!!!!"

That's pretty much how I picture my first hour and half playing Singularity.

Ok, I knew the game was cheap. And flopped. And it looked like a standard 3rd person shooter. But...

I thought it would have a "time gimmick", like TimeShift. Or it didn't resort to "spawn behind you" mutant-zombie-teleport-horror-monsters like Wolfenstein did, 10-or so years ago. Maybe it would have new interesting weapons? A good post-apocalyptic wibe, like Metro 2033?

Bulls*it!

Every minute playing Singularity just reinforces the feeling that "some other game has done this better". Usually a lot better.

The graphics aren't bad, just uninspired and sometimes bland. The monster design is "so-so" and you spend the first hour shooting at the same model until you get an upgrade and spend the next hour shooting at that one - with the welcome exception of shooting some human-Russians in the meanwhile (that makes the model count... 3.).

Then there's the absolute glass-pipe game play; no freedom of choosing your paths.

And the gameplay in general; Even when it comes to weapon choices the game throws it in your face; you're offered a "pistol - assault rifle - shotgun" upgrade path while you play through the early game, and for GODS SAKE - take the shotgun even if you feel like you prefer the rifle.

Why? I'll tell you why - the game stops giving you rifle ammo in the next game section, instead of lavishly giving you shotgun ammo. So if you forgot to upgrade before the one-way door you just passed closes behind you, you're in for a fist fight after you run out of rifle and pistol ammo (and you will run out, as the tough buggers will take around a clip of pistol ammo before they drop).


Oh, and when the game wants you to do something "The Way It Is Meant To Be Played", it REALLY wants you to do something. As in spawning monsters until you run out of ammo and health, while figuring what the hell it wants you to do, or go. Like in one instance where your entrance and supposed-to-be exit are both blocked and you should find an "alternative route". Err, what f*cking route? Argh! Oh I died - rewind back few minutes, rince and repeat (ie. die again), until you Google search what the heck the game designers were thinking at that particular moment (I guess it depends on if they were on uppers or downers... ;P ).

All in all, Singularity is average, uneven and uninteresting. There are better games out there waiting to be played.


Score: 6/10