I know Assassin’s Creed has been out for a while, but I have been busy playing Crysis and Gears of War. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in since it suffers from mixed reviews. On one hand you hear the Game of the Year, on another you hear the only ifs. Starting with the graphics, its stunning, on par with Crysis, which may be a bad sign. The world is very free flowing ala GTA, you can run everywhere. However, at its heart its a stealth game, you don’t want to attract attention. It hampers you from going all out and having fun, you are restricted to walking slow and being docile. I agree with some reviews the controls are not easy to handle and require some fine tuning. Its understandable with the free range of motion, but it sucks a lot when you fall off the roof and get stabbed just because the controls didn’t respond. I admit I am only in the beginning stages, yet it hasn’t captivated me. The plot is hazy, wtf am i supposed to be doing? I see potential and will stick it out even though I’m not clamoring for more. Oh if only…
My brand new computer rig is running, now to test it with the mother of all games, Crysis. Lets skip past the part where I had to update the nvidia drivers, download Vista updates, patch the games, and speed up the fan so the 8800 GT graphics card does not overheat. Crysis, is a very beautiful game, its ultra realistic, even not on the highest setting. The initial game play was engaging with the armor suit capable of special abilities. However, the biggest drawback is even though the environment is reactive, the AI is intelligent, nothing about the game is intriguing or draws you in for more. I was having more fun playing Gears of War than Crysis. Even though the graphics was amazing I felt it lacked the imagination and emotional impact of even an older game like Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Is Crysis a must own? No, I would not upgrade my machine just for Crysis, wait a bit.
3Dmark06 score: 11514
The Hardware
If you have been reading up on Vista and the state of gaming, my issues will sound familiar, but there’s nothing like sharing misery, chuckling over mistakes, and in the end you may even learn something new.
To kick it off right, I needed new hardware. Vista Aero is a huge hog and to play the latest and greatest games with DirectX 10 (more on later how much that sucked) I need the latest graphics card. I went cheap with the CPU and went with the dual core, but I bought the Gigabyte P35 motherboard that would support the latest Penryn 45nm Intel chips. I bought 2 Gb of ram and the current champ of video cards, NVidia’s 8800 GT. TechReport has a good system guide here. Slightly off topic, in order to save some cash I decided to reuse Dell’s case, a BIG mistake. Dell has the greatest deals on systems, however to prevent you from cannibalizing their parts they have a lot of non-standard parts. The case fans on Dell have non-standards plug wiring such that if you plug them into any other motherboard they do not work. The motherboards do not have the standard screws into the case, this was my gotcha, double check between your new motherboard and the case there is no short circuit. After a lot of hours, $30 dollars poorer, and more pissed off at Dell, I did get it all to work.
Newegg did the job, no major complaints, parts did come in two separate shipments. Its another story on getting it over clocked and stable, but next time we actually get to how Vista doesn’t play nicely with Crysis.
The long anticipated GoW2 is out for the PS2 and it looks awesome.
Heres a very funny site with clips featuring live actors as Kratos, God of war - Battle of the Gods
So I been playing quite a bit Final Fantasy XII so I decided to write a review to convert those still on the fence about the quality of the game. I am sure by now all the hardcore fans are already drooling over it. My mindset starting off was one of dread, doubt, fear, and anticipation. The twelve is an indication of how long the series is from producer Squaresoft. I lost track of the numbers after 7, but I remember with horror one where I had to change her dress to control her powers and one where I was controlling a squirrel looking boy. SO it was with trepidation yet hope when I booted up my PS2 with FFXII. The graphics are sweet, expected of any Final Fantasy game. The sound is ok not on par with the previous games. Now the game play is what stands out, its been changed drastically and for the better. Remember all those annoying enemy encounters when you walk, well GONE. FFXII combat system is a combination of traditional RPG and MMORG. Its real time in the sense that you can choose the enemies to fight and there is no combat mode. Other enemies can wander in to the fight so you have to be more careful. The combat and magic upgrade takes some getting used to, its still a grid system but now requires licenses. I’m still in the early stage, but if you need something to keep you occupied while you wait for the Wii or PS3, buy FFXII.
On a side note, if you like old school fighting/brawler games, definitely give God Hand a try, its awesome you’ll love it.
