My First Time Playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Beta

I recently found this miraculously in my Steam library, so I gave it a go. This video shows, what I experienced:

To be fair, I like Counter-Strike. But I'm so bad at it. I just can't get better. That's why I love playing Zombie mods or other stuff, that mostly doesn't need skill.
The game itself feels weird. It's no Call of Duty, but neither a real Counter-Strike. Maybe they'll patch some stuff. It's a beta still.

Also I hate the buy menu. God damn console crap.

Project: Backlog - Update #1

So here's my first update on Project: Backlog. As you can see in the above picture, some games disappeared and some are new. Well, only one is new, which is Max Payne 2. I just finished the first Max Payne, so that isn't on the list anymore, but was. I removed three games from the list, because I will never have the intention or motivation to play them. They are just either not my type of game, or are for me personally not motivating enough. These three are Alien Breed 2: Aussault, Frozen Synapse and SpaceChem. All of these were either gifted, or I got a key for free, so I never payed for them. So no remorse there.

Right now I've finished three games. These are Half Life 2: Episode 2, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes and Max Payne. I've started playing Sam & Max 102: Situation: Comedy but haven't finished it yet.
So here are small reviews of those games:

Half Life 2: Episode 2:
This game might be old in terms of graphics and gameplay, but it is still a fun game. The story keeps you going and the puzzles and scenarios are great. I've waited so long to play this game and never understood, why everyone wanted Episode 3 so bad. Now I know. How could Valve leave us on such a cliffhanger and then let us wait for almost five years and there's still no Episode 3 in sight. Maybe they'll reveal something at E3, but that's just wishful thining I guess.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes:
I was rather surprised by this game actually. I've played the first mission a few years ago or so and the AI got bugged and then I didn't want to play any further. The campaign leads you different places on the earth, where your help is needed as one member of the responsible special forces team in that area. While the missions vary story-wise, they are basically just 'run and gun' parts, while you of course need to find cover or use a little tactic sometimes. So the gameplay didn't convince me, but the story did. For that price right now on Steam (9.99€) it's alright. You'll get Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike, so that's a nice deal, while the multiplayer servers are mostly empty. Your choice.

Max Payne:
In anticipation to Max Payne 3, I wanted to play the first two games before, so I know, if it's something I like. And boy do I like it. I can't believe I overlooked this game for so long. The story and the gameplay are both awesome, while the story really stands out. While playing, you get cutscenes in comic book style, telling the story in a different way than usual.

Easily the funniest part in the game.

I don't want to spoil the story other than saying it's really dark. I think the right term for this would be 'noir'. Check this game out, if you haven't. It's really worth it.

My First Time Playing Battlefield 3 (on PC)

As I recently got myself a gaming PC, I also was finally able to play Battlefield 3. So here's my first round:

I think I did alright, for playing BF3 the first time with a keyboard, rather than a gamepad.
If you noticed, that I already had some points at the end, let me tell you, that I already played one round before on my laptop, which barely could handle the game.

Project: Backlog is still going strong. I'll post an update on it soon!

Project: Backlog

For too long these games have just been sitting there in my Steam library. Now it's time to finally play them!
All these games are either bought at a Steam sale, or obtained a similar way, when I thought "Hey, this game looks so much fun, I can't wait to play it for 40 hours!". SCREW YOU BRAIN!

As you can see, Half Life 2: Episode Two is already installed and I almost finished it, giving me a good start. After playing these games, I might write a short review, depending on how much fun it was and, of course, how motivated I am to write them.

Wish me luck!

I finally joined the Master Race!

What was more of a spontanous buy, made me join the so called master race, in plain english:

PC Gamers

I finally upgraded to a gaming PC, or rather what I was able to buy with my money.
Here are the specs:
- Intel i7 processor
- 8GB RAM
- Nvidia GeForce GT545
- 2TB HDD

I also got a 24 inch Samsung LED monitor with a 1920x1080 resolution.

I'll upgrade the GPU, when I have the money, but till then, I'm happy with what I got.
Those graphics man...those graphics...

Since that PC is finally able to handle more programs and is generally faster, I'll try recording some stuff with Fraps. We'll see how it turns out.

Mod: DayZ (ArmA 2)

Are you a fan of zombies and video games, but recent games featuring zombies are not your type, because they all seem the same? Here's the solution!

This mod features a persistent world, in which you need to survive. You need to find ammo, food, water and weapons, while zombies are lurking behind every corner. The map is 225 km² large, leaving you an almost endless world to explore...and to find other players. You can either group up, or kill other players for their items. It's all up to you.

If you don't really know, what to make of this description, watch this ongoing series of videos, in which you follow a few players, trying to survive:

Did you enjoy it? Here's the link to the mod:
http://www.dayzmod.com/

The mod is still in the alpha, so if you haven't bought ArmA 2 yet and want to for this mod, be ready for complications before and while playing.

My Best Battlefield 3 Match Ever!

Here's the Battle Report:
battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/battlereport/show/38422755/2/185265493/
(If you can't go into the Battlelog, check the picture above)

My friend SamLikeCrazy23 and me went into a helicopter multiple times (he was flying, I was the gunner) and basically raped the entire enemy team. Weird enough, our team got stuck on the last MCOM. When we had 2 tickets left, Sam jumped out of the helicopter and planted it, while I covered it after jumping out too. This was by far my favorite match of all time. I just wish I had recorded it. Words just can't describe how awesome it was.
If you play Battlefield 3, what was your favorite match ever?

The Future (Nostalgia Sunday)

No, this is not a Nostalgia Sunday about a game called "The Future". Right now, I'm running out of ideas for games I played back in the day and would fit in this segment. There are still a few left, I could do in the next weeks.
Also, I finally got an internship in a company, where I will also start an apprenticeship in a few months. It will get tough to write these blogposts, but I'll try my best. Maybe I'll reduce the amount and post a Nostalgia Sunday every two weeks. I don't know, how it will work out. Time will tell and I'll keep you informed.
What I'm certain about though, is that I'll post more gameplay videos. The recording setup looks good and I play more games recently (that's definatly cool). So look forward to that.

Battlefield 3 Gameplay - Me Testing a New Recording Setup

Here are two rounds of Battlefield 3 Conquest on Operation Métro and Grand Bazaar. I was trying a new setup and I think it worked out pretty well. I think I didn't play that bad either. Enjoy!

I'll try to do more gameplay videos or something like that in the future. Depends on how much I record and how much I play.

Nostalgia Sunday: EyeToy: Play

EyeToy: Play

I thought this was so revolutionary back in the day. Well, it kinda was. The whole camera thing and without a controller was new and innovative. Alone this game was not so much fun though. Playing with friends and fooling around made it awesome. But I guess playing with friends is always more fun.

The Story:

Pictures of EyeToy: Play are hard to find, so take this Asian screaming as excuse.

You're looking for a story in this game? Ha! There is none! Only the one, you make up for yourself.

The Game:

The game had 13 mini-games to choose from, including "Plate Spinner" pictured above and "Kung Foo" pictured in "The Story". All these games were different from each other and concentrated either on your reaction or your speed. The camera made the controller useless. Everything was controlled by yourself. Apart from the mini-games, there were also a simple video recorder, or a "picture distorter", which was no real game, but more like a test for the game mechanics. It would spawn balloons for example, which reacted to your movements. This was basically all of the game, but it was fun. Atleast for a few months and ofcourse with friends.

Prequels and Sequels:

EyeToy: Play was pretty successful, so why not cash in on the whole thing and make several sequels, which all featured new games, but were practically the same. No, not really. EyeToy: Play 2 improved on the first game and the third did on the second in small parts. I only had the first one, so I can't talk about the others. It's easy to see, that Microsoft wanted to do something like EyeToy themselves, which resulted in the Kinect. The Kinect though is way more advanced, since it can detect the room in 3D, while the EyeToy only did it in 2D. I don't even have a Kinect, so I can't talk about it much either. I'm such a competent blogger.

PS2 is gone. There's no way to emulate this. I think I don't even want to. The game looks pretty boring to todays standards.

14.000 Mass Effect Fans Want an Altered Ending to ME3...Really?

Are people really this stupid now? Here are two links to the twitter and facebook pages:
https://twitter.com/#!/RetakeME3
https://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3

So you bought this game and didn't like it, or specifically the ending. Alright, that's your opinion. Others propably enjoyed it. But now you want Bioware to create a different ending just for you, so you are satisfied? Come on!

I hate how people nowadays always create a petition for everything, just because they don't like something. The ending of the game might suck, but it's not your personal right, to basically get a refund for the game. Sometimes you just have to accept it.

Note: I never played a Mass Effect game in my life.

Nostalgia Sunday: XIII

XIII

This was a great game for me back in the day. The comic look was cool and multiplayer was really fun, even if only two people were playing. The story was interesting and compelling. I would have finished the game, wouldn't it have been for a part in the game, where I had to hide and always got spotted, making me hate this game. Weird.

The Story:

You, XIII, wake up on a beach, with no memory of anything. While trying to recover, people arrive with a helicopter and guns, trying to kill you. The only thing to do, is to defend yourself and find out, what has happened, that erased your memory. If I told you more, it would destroy the meaning of finding out, what XIII forgot. The story is good and is adapted from the comic book series with the same name "XIII". The game though only consists of the first 15 issues of the comic book.

The Game:

The picture above already shows the comic book look, or so called cel-shading. When something explodes, or someone is walking towards you, the sounds will be visualised, just like in comic books, with a "BLAM" or "KABOOM". Other than that, it is a normal first person shooter. What most other games might not have, is the type of armor you can wear, being a helmet and a vest, which can be picked up from dead enemies, or other places. The levels vary all from the other, while XIII tries to find out, what has happened to him. Apart from the singleplayer, there is also the multiplayer, giving you the traditional game modes like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch or Capture the Flag, and console specific game modes like Sabotage (Xbox, PC), The Hunt (PC, PS2, Gamecube)and Power-Up (PC, PS2).

Prequels and Sequels:

While the game XIII got fairly good reviews, it wasn't a financial success, so no real sequels were made. The only thing that came out and called itself "XIII 2", was a cellphone game. Eight years later though, the publisher Anuman released a adventure game under the name "XIII: Lost Identity". Rather than a sequel, it was a reimagining in point and click style. I never knew it existed and most people propably didn't too. I don't know how successful it was, but I think, it wasn't that much.
Check out the launch trailer here:

While I don't have this game for the PS2 anymore, I have it for the PC. I played it some time ago, but haven't since. I definatly enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Me, when not having to write a blogpost.

Well, it's my birthday. So my wish would be, to not write a blogpost for today. You reading this, makes it some kind of paradox...uhm...yeah. Next post on Sunday WOO!

Rumour: Valve works on a Console

Sources: 
http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/2/2840932/exclusive-valve-steam-box-gaming-console
http://kotaku.com/5890275/is-this-a-photo-of-valves-rumored-console 

Rumours have appeared about a console, made by Valve. Nothings clear yet and all is just speculation, but some things are said to be true. For example, the specs of the console have been "revealed", having a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU. This seems to be true, because an employee of Valve posted a tweet on the 2nd November last year, with a picture.

"Built this tiny PC. i7 quad core, 8GB ram, Zotac Z-68 mobo w/ onnboard Nvidia mobile gfx. Runs Portal 2 FAST."

Apparently, the so called "Steam Box" will be made, because Valve wants to establish a new standard in a gaming service, pushing other developers, to create new and innovative gaming devices.

I'm kind of excited for this. Valve pushing boundaries again. But still...couldn't I just buy a normal PC then? It's not a real gaming console after all, but rather a PC, made for gaming. I'm looking forward to more news on this.

For more info, visit the sources mentioned above.

Nostalgia Sunday: Driver 2

Driver 2

This game was definatly part of my childhood. Even though most reviewers didn't like it, I had so much fun with it. Walking through the cities and finding new stuff, exploring new areas was the most fun part. Back then, I didn't use the internet much, so it was a much better experience. Of course the driving was fun too, and I liked the story. But more on that below.

The Story:

The story takes place in four cities: Chicago, Havana, Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro. The Undercover cop Tanner and his partner Tobias Jones are trying to find and capture a guy named "Pink Lenny", who is the only witness of a shooting in a bar, which he could escape. They find him and ask him about it. He tells them, that the killers were after him and not after the other people in the bar. Apparently he is laundering money for Solomon Caine, one of the highest mobsters from Chicago to Las Vegas. The people he met in the bar were brazilian though, which makes it appartent, that he double crossed him with Avaro Vasquez, who wants to expand his business from Rio to the USA. A huge war between those two is about to explode. 

The Game:

The missions mostly consisted of "Follow that car", "Ram that car", or "Escape the police". You had a time limit most of the time, which could get pretty frustrating. Also there were some "on foot" missions. Apart from the story mode, you could get in a "free roam mode", which let you explore the cities. I don't remember much, because it's so long ago, when I played this game the last time, so I can just hope, you understand, when I say, this was a classic "driving game" game, with on foot segments. It also featured a two player splitscreen mode, which was a nice addition.

Prequels and Sequels:

Before a game with a "2" at the end, there is of course the first one, "Driver". While I never owned the game, I remember going into a shop one time, where the demo of the game was available to play. Now, the demo of course started with the infamous parking lot tutorial. I never got it done, making me not want to buy this game. After enjoying Driver 2, I was looking forward to Driv3r. Smart move by me, I lent it first from a video game rental store. Man, was I dissapointed. It tried too much to be a GTA, rather than to be a Driver. The weapons were unnecassary and I remember it being very glitchy. After that game, I didn't care about Driver games anymore, so "Parallel Lines" totally went under my radar. The latest game in the franchise though, Driver San Francisco, sparked my interest. I played it first on the Gamescom in 2011 and then later tried out the multiplayer demo on XBox Live. It's a good game, with the cool "Shift" feature, which is a nice addition to the franchise. Something you should check out.

I'll propably try this game on an emulator again some time. Might be still good.

My First Time Playing Tribes: Ascend Open Beta

Last week the game Tribes: Ascend went open beta. I heard alot about it, so I downloaded it and tried it out. Here's my first multiplayer match. I only did some practice mode before that, so I wouldn't be a total noob.

Please excuse the horrible framerate. My laptop isn't that good and recording makes it only worse. While not recording, it's pretty smooth and playable. I got definatly better over time. It has a nice learning curve, where at the beginning you are pretty bad and get better pretty fast. I encourage you to try it out, because I never had so much fun playing a FPS recently.

Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my name is "Weezle91".

Nostalgia Sunday: Simpsons Hit & Run

Simpsons Hit & Run

While not being the best Simpsons game there ever was, this game still has a place in my nostalgic games. I never finished it, but what I was playing was pretty fun. The humour was good and GTA like playing style was great. It had some issues though, that as a kid, you can't really make out.

The Story:

Strange things are happening in Springfield. Robot wasps swarm the city and Bart disappears, after being kidnapped by a tractor beam. The Simpson family tries to find out, what is going on, uncovering that it all was done by aliens (of course). If I'd tell you more, I'd spoil too much, but that's the story. You'll get missions by the citizens, which mostly consist of races, and by completing them, you advance in the story. But there's so much more to do, as you can see in the segment below.

The Game:

While not doing the missions, the citizens give you, you can explore the city. Hit & Run is a sandbox game, having many similarities to GTA 3, which came out two years before. Instead of police stars, you have the Hit & Run meter. If it gets full, the police will start to chase you, till it's empty again. It's pretty much the same as in GTA 3, with a little difference. You can also unlock new character models or cars, by collecting coins in every level. The game had some issues though, be it the graphics, or some gameplay issues, concerning the games AI or the camera.

Prequels and Sequels:

The Simpsons being so successfull, of course made a path for a lot of video game adaptations. The first game, released in 1991, was "The Simpsons Arcade Game". Being the year I was born, I never played this game at the time and didn't till today. It has been released recently for Xbox Live Arcade, so it might be worth a play. Over the years many other Simpson games were released, ranging from platformers, to racing and sports games. Some where known for their incedible difficulty, others were just bad. In 2007, "The Simpsons Game" was released, being the latest of the Simpsons games and being a good one. Reviews mostly gave it a 7/10, which in my opinion is pretty good. I haven't played it, but saw videos of it and the cutscenes in the game, which are just plain funny Simpsons humour. You might want to check it out, but don't take the word from me, because you know...I haven't played it ;).

Long story short: The game was sold along with my PS2, so I can't play it. I don't really have the ambition to either, because it doesn't look as good, as I might think.

My First Time Playing Modern Warfare 3 (Multiplayer)

The Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer was free to play last weekend, so I though, why not check it out. Lucky for you guys, I recorded my first EVER match in MW3, I ever played. It pretty much shows, why I don't like the game. Not to mention all the hackers, that weren't in this video.

That said, I of course played the game more than just that one match and I have to say: It's not that bad. It was fun to play for that weekend and I can understand, why people play it. But still: I can have all that fun in the older Modern Warfare games too. Not much has changed and the third game feels much like the first one (CoD4).
What I hate about this game though and I think it shows in the video, are the killstreaks. They are stupid and overpowered. The whole game is fun, till someone has to use e.g. the helicopter and be the Terminator in person. That's why I like the Pro Mod in CoD4MW more, than any of the other games.

Nostalgia Sunday: Tomb Raider

Yep, I still have the original CD!

Tomb Raider

When my father returned from a business trip to the Netherlands, he had a surprise for us. This game. It was a great surprise, because who would have known, we would have played this game for so long. Unfortunatly, my brother did overwrite a savegame at a point, where Lara is falling down and then dying, giving us no chance to continue. That pretty much killed it, though I think we saw the ending by using cheats.
The Story:

 

The story of the game is really complex, so I'll try to tell it as easy as possible.

After an eartquake and an explosion in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, an ancient device gets exposed, which, after being unlocked, reveals a person in suspended animation. This was the past and Lara, now in the present, gets the mission, to travel into the mountains of Peru to Qualopec, to find a mysterious artifact called Scion. After getting it she gets attacked by a man named Larson, which, after he's been beaten by Lara, tells her, that the artifact she has, is only one part of three. Lara now sets out into different areas in the world, to find the two other parts of the Scion and trys to stop the bad guys from getting it first. Sounds a little short and dumbed down, I know. Look the story up on Wikipedia, if you want a more detailed one. Check out the intro of the game below, if you like.

 

The Game:

The first time I shit my pants in a video game

Tomb Raider was one of the first 3D platformers, meaning you would have to overcome obstacles, by jumping from ledge to ledge and climbing along walls. While exploring different caves and areas, there are also enemies, which must be killed through the use of weapons, though that isn't the main focus of the game. You rather have to, like said above, get onto platforms and reach a certain object, being mostly an artifact. To get to them, you also have to solve puzzles, which makes those two the main parts of the game.

Prequels and Sequels:

Well, who do I have to tell, that there were many, many sequels to the original Tomb Raider. Guess what? I never played any of those, except a demo for Tomb Raider 2, if I remember correctly. From what I hear, the games got worse over time. In 2007, Eidos released a remake of the first Tomb Raider game, for the 10th anniversary of Lara Croft called "Tomb Raider Anniversary". I haven't got around to buying and playing it, mostly because I'm not really interested in those kind of games anymore. But what I'm looking forward to is the new Tomb Raider game, which should be a reboot to the series. We don't know much yet, but it takes a different approach, than the earlier games, making Lara younger and more vulnerable. It will be released 2012, if nothing goes wrong.

I haven't played this game for a good 10 years. Might aswell try it out again and see, if it holds up to today. It's an interesting and fun game after all.

Double Fine Makes an Adventure Game (Update #1)

Click the link, Schafer won't hurt you, I promise!

One week after the kickstarter donation thing for Double Fines adventure game started, Tim Schafer now posted an update. With the extra money, they are now able to make the game not only on PC, but also on Mac, Linux and on Smartphones. Further, they are now able to have voice acting for the english version, which will be translated in text for the French, German, Italian and Spanish version.

It's great to see this project take form and expanding. I hope for more good updates in the future.