…aaand we’re back!

I apologize for being away for so long.

This time, i’ll be here more often and would prolly blog about more personal and nonsense things hahahah..

Stay tuned for the show!

Gaming Preview: Duke Nukem Forever

This is the NEW Duke Nukem Forever Trailer.

..and it doesn;t seem to disappoint. Well, so far.

After almost and eternity [12years] of waiting, it seems that the main man is really gonna be back this time. I’ve been a Duke fan since I was in Grade school, more or less, 16-17 years ago and I’ve enjoyed playing it every day after school. And hearing about “Forever” was a god send.

I just didn’t know it would *almost* take forever ti Forever comes out. But good things come to those who wait and we have waited for long enough.

Watching the new trailer, I noticed the pigs look similar to grunts from Halo. But you know its still them. The violence, girls AND guns are all there. As well as Duke’s awesome and iconic quips.

This is going to be pretty awesome.

Gaming Preview: Back To The Future

*nerdgasm*

I never knew that there will be a game for this movie franchise.

..and was surprisingly blown away by the trailer video.

From the video, it seems that Doc brown has been gone for a long time and because of that prolly hasn’t paid dues and such [the reason why the bank wants to get his stuff]. Now it’s up to Marty to go and find him and get him back. I dunno how the Delorean appeared without Doc [or maybe it has been programmed by Doc?]. The site says that this happened three months after the 3rd movie.

The voice of Marty seems spot on and they even got Christopher Lloyd reprising his role as Doc Emmett Brown. The graphics are ok even if it seems not to the liking of the other people. The music is also the same one from the movie.

It’s available for PC, PS3 and iPad [i’m wondering how the iPad will be able to play this]. And there will be 5 episodes [webisodes?] that will prolly chronicle Doc’s and Marty’s adventures. It may mean that those will prolly be expansions?

Here’s the official site: http://www.telltalegames.com/bttf

I’m excited for this being a fan of the movie, I think it’s about time for a new game for this franchise.

 

Game Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

I knew I had to pick this game up as soon as I heard about it but unfortunately, I just played and finished it recently.

Knowing that this game was not made by Infinity Ward, it made me a bit curious as how it will look and play. More so when the trailer videos went public online and judging from the videos, it wasn’t as “black-ops” as I’d hope. Everything in the video was exploding and a bit of fast-paced. I thought the idea of black-ops was going in silent and undetected and going out the same way. Still it was exciting seeing it all.

After getting the game and finishing it in a few hours, I could say that they’re in par with how long COD: MW2 was.

The Plot:

~ well, the plot seemed more or less like the PS2 FPS, “BLACK” which first came out in 2006. If you’re not familiar with that game, the player is placed in the shoes of a black-ops soldier being interrogated about his missions. As the soldier relays his story/mission, the player is transported to the story/mission itself, thus reliving it.

That’s how COD: Black Ops is. With a few twists and turns of course.

You’re put in the shoes of a black-ops agent, strapped onto a chair and seemingly drugged, and then interrogators ask you about your missions and the story goes on from there. The timeline is set during the 60’s. the time where Kennedy was president and Russia was still having its qualms with the US.

The story gets a bit boring and predictable by the time it reaches the end. But it does have its moments.

The Gameplay:

~ if you’ve played any COD game, the controls will be similar. Treyarch, who did the first slew of COD games made this one and they didn’t really deviate from the recent COD game.

The controls are fairly easy to master as they’re basically the same. You also get to pick which kind of difficulty to play in and you can adjust it mid-game. I played it on normal and I had a hard time, granted that I’m not much of an FPS gamer.

This game surprised me when it allowed me control of a few vehicles, from a 4wd jeep to a boat to a Hind. It was a bit of something new for me. I did have a hard time adjusting to the controls but it was hella sweet having a ‘Copter dog fight.

Aside from the vehicles, the weapons were also cool. I absolutely loved using the crossbow and G11, unfortunately it only shows up in a few missions. There were a slew of new things to decimate your enemies. From handheld grenade launchers to flame throwers and even ballistic knives.

The missions are always fast-paced. being in the Kennedy era, you would expect to be dropped into ‘Nam, which you do. The enemy AI are a bit tough, even on normal [or that’s just prolly me LOL]. At times though, there’s so much happening that you tend to forget where you’re supposed to go or what you’re supposed to do. Granted you’re allowed to free roam a bit while the AI tells or shouts you to “go here!” or “do this!”, as long as you’re not getting shot up the butt.

The Sound:

~ the sound effects and background music was exceptional. they captured the sound and music of that era especially during the missions in ‘Nam. Everything sounded as they should be and everything made sounds like they should have.

They also had a surprisng pool of voice talent in the game. i was surprised to see who voiced who only after playing the game. Three words: Gary Fucking Oldman.

Overall:

~ its a great game plus with the DLC and *extra features*, it makes it a sure buy for COD fans and FPS gamers alike. It’s fast-paced action with an ok storyline built around it plus it has GARY FUCKING OLDMAN. Well they did have him also during COD: World at War but…..I..really haven’t played that one yet LOL.

It does have a few kinks here and there but it’s still worth  a shot.

Gaming News: Demon Hunter class for Diablo III

..and that’s her, the Demon Hunter. A screenie taken from the Demon Hunter trailer found here.

I read all about the news from Kotaku and watching the vid, it looks like it’ll replace both Ranger and Assassin classes. Dual-Crossbow wield? Check. Traps and Bolas? Check. Can you say bad-ass? Definitely!

I haven’t really read much of the updates from Diablo III but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about it. Like all fans, I’m eagerly awaiting its release. Blizzard is doing well giving the fans updates on the development.

Being a Diablo player, I mostly used the Druid class and when I did use the Assassin, I didn’t use much of her trapping skills. So I’m not sure if I’ll be also using the Demon Hunters’. Still, it’s too early to say what it can and cannot do. But watching the early gameplay, I cannot help but get goosebumps.

Blizzard is doing quite well in keeping its loyal fans and followers excited and satisfied.

 

Gaming News: DOTA 2, Torchlight II!

I almost play videogames 24/7 [working for a Game company helps LOL] and I was excited about the game news I came across yesterday.

Torchlight II

Website: CLICK ME 8D

^Sneak Preview

~ I’ve played Torchlight since last year and I’m still playing it and enjoying the experience. I came across this game while reading up on Diablo III news. After seeing a few screenies, I decided to give it a try and BAM! Instant game addiction. It helps that they allow modding, from the levels, items, pets, characters and character classes to make the game more fun and replayable.

For me it was Diablo III for kids, as it was the same dungeon crawling experience but on the lighter side. But it lacked Multiplayer, whcih was the only downside of the game…until now. Seeing the Torchlight II site/news/video made me anticipate the game so much now as it proves to be epic.

Just by reading the new features, you can tell alot of people will be pre-ordering this one and/or getting it on its release day. I know I will.

DOTA 2

~ I love playing Warcraft games and especially the DOTA [Defense of the Ancients] mod. I did hear about the news that they’re going to make an official DOTA game with the help of IceFrog [which I think they employed] but this was a big surprise for me when my officemate showed these pics yesterday.

My jaw dropped. These teaser pics were gorgeous! The character designs are such detailed. They’re trying to make DOTA into a game on its own, separate from its WarCraft roots. But it seems that VALVE is now handling the game which is another surprise. We then joked around on the idea of Gordon Freeman, HeadCrabs, GlaDos and even a chocolate cake being integrated into the game. Still, it’s making us DOTA players yearning for it more. If these pictures blew us away, what else would a teaser vid would do?

Music Review: Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

 

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Tracklist:

1.     “The Requiem”
2.     “The Radiance”
3.     “Burning in the Skies”
4.     “Empty Spaces”
5.     “When They Come for Me”
6.     “Robot Boy”
7.     “Jornada del Muerto”
8.     “Waiting for the End”
9.     “Blackout”
10.     “Wretches and Kings”
11.     “Wisdom, Justice, and Love”
12.     “Iridescent”
13.     “Fallout”
14.     “The Catalyst”
15.     “The Messenger”

~ It’s been awhile since I’ve listened from Linkin Park so when I heard the *The Catalyst* Preview, I was absolutely stoked! They sounded fresh and new as the day they came bursting into the scene a few years back.

Now that I’ve listened to the whole album, I’m more convinced that the boys are back on track to light up the airwaves with their music. The whole album is a bit mellower than their usual ones but I guess it comes with the age? Still, they do have a few hard rocking hits.

It seems that they’ve mixed in Mike Shinoda’s work from Fort Minor, integrating drum beats and the mixes. It almost sounds like the boys are progressing more and more into Prog Rock as you listen to the album more and more and over and over [which I have].

It opens with a brief intro and a quote from Hindu Scripture then followed by the  hauntingly beautiful “Beautiful Skies” [sample lyric: “I’m losing what I don’t deserve”]. It is immediately somewhat overpowered by the heavy drumbeats of *When They Come For Me* which makes your head just bop up and down with the rhythm.

The whole album is full of great songs that can cater to different kinds of musics old and new Linkin Park fans are accustomed to. The main single of course, *The Catalyst*, is very, very well done and is somewhat gives of a *trippy* vibe and feel to it. It even became the new opening theme for the new Gundam Vs. Gundam game on the PSP.

All in all, the whole album is a great listen to for old and new fans. For an older fan like me, the whole thing is a breath of fresh air and IMO reinvents the whole band into a whole new package. For the new fans, it will give them the opportunity to listen to how versatile Linkin Park is and on how they’ve musically matured to the years. It’s a solid buy and a wonderful addition to your music library.

Here’s hoping for a remix album! :]

New X-Men game: X-Men Destiny!

I stumbled upon this while browsing for new comics to read.

EDIT: I read on Kotaku that this wa s going to be a game.

A new X-Men cartoon game! The trailer [which isn’t much] can be seen here on their site and it features a Prof. X voice-over along with silhouettes of some of the characters from X-Men.

I’m not sure whatwill be the driving force of this game but I hope it  will follow but I’m hoping it’ll be somewhat close to the comics. With all the great stories and action the X-Men has experienced for the past months, you’d think they’d transfer that into an animated form. Anyhoo, I hope they put in Maverick and Deadpool. :]

Captain America: Super Soldier trailer!

Aside from being psyched from Cap’s appearance in the MvC3 video [where he deflected a freakin’ helicopter!], this takes the cake.

I’ve heard of the upcoming game and saw screenies from Tumblr but when I saw this, it blew me away. I cannot wait to get my hands on this, it juts looks pretty awesome….and legen…wait for it..DARY!

I’m thinking this will coincide with the movie, better clear up some space on my PC LOL.

PS.

I hope Bucky is in the game somewhere…along with a few Invaders cameos. :]

A New Direction..

Hullo everyone!

I’m breathing life back again into this blog of mine and it will mainly be for reviews on toys, movies, games, comics/comic series and whatnot.

But first a few personal updates.

Since the last post, I’ve found myself a new job and it has been going great. I still cannot grasp that I’m doing one of my dream jobs as it’s a bit surreal.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been as active as I was with my cosplay/toy convention attendance as well as with photoshoots due to the work schedule. Still I try to squeeze it in if there’s time. Although, I’m more of a toy collector nowadays than a cosplay…er..*enthusiast* [even though I don’t cosplay…yet] so I’m more partial to attending toy conventions than cosplay ones.

Anyhoo, I’ll try to get things rolling in the next few weeks. See ya tll then ;]