Some thing wicked this way comes...

NFL Blitz, eat you heart out, Blood Bowl is almost here! I have been looking forward to this game since it was announce, and it looks like I woun't have to wait too much lomger. Be sure to check out the trailers here.

New WAR Live Expansion just announced!

Mythic has just announced the new 'Live Expansion' entitled Call to Arms. Check out more info here. The two pics that you see are the two new careers that will be released, the Dwarf Slayer and the Orc Choppa.

The news about those two careers alone make me want to reactivate my account. I know little about the Warhammer Fantasy universe, so my excitement stems not from the lore aspect, but from a gamer aspect that was disappointed that there was not a melee DPS career for both the Greenskins and the Dwarfs.

But the announcement of this being a 'Live Expansion' is what really bothers me. Let me start of by saying that I am not against content what so ever, but it's the play on words that Mythic is using. And not only that, but also the release times for this new content.

When I hear the term Expansion with regards to gaming, I think of a product that has a major impact on the original game with the addition of content and even some balances, tweaks, etc., i.e. WotLK or Mines of Moria.

My other problem with Call to Arms is the amount of time it will take before all the content is released. Mythic has become live event happy, and that's not a bad thing at all. But so far I have yet to be compelled to participate in any of the events because they are just tedious grinds. So now there will be a live event to unlock the two new careers early, then they will be officially released. After that, there will be a live event in both April and May before the new dungeon is released in June. June?!?!?!

I'm sorry, that's not an expansion, that's just free content. I know I am being picky, and it's just a pet peeve of mine about things like this. Honestly, the amount of content that is being released is good, but it's not even on the scale that EQ2 or City of Heroes/Villains release on a regular basis.

But needless to say, it's content, and it's free, and it looks really exciting. I have been reluctant to reactivate my account because I am playing alot of WoW at the moment with some LOTRO on the side, and a third MMO will just drain any time I may have for other games that I want to play. We shall see...

Operation Anchorage tid bits.

While I was doing my normal web browsing routine this morning, I came across a link to a review of the new DLC for Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage.

Before I get into that, let me say that the first thing I did when I got home from work last night was grab the new DLC and try it out. For me GFWL was installed during the initial installation of Fallout 3, so I did not have a shortcut to start the GFWL client. But, being the computer nerd that I am, I quickly navigated to the GFWL folder, found the .exe file, fired up GFWL, bought my MS points, downloaded the new content, and was on my way.

It was easy. In fact, other than having to find the .exe file, the whole process was as easy as anything I have ever done with Steam. There very well could have been issues the first few hours after the DLC was released, I don't know. What I do know is that all those who filled the Bethesda forums with rubbish about using GFWL need to L2P you PC!!

I am estimating that I have played about an hour of the Operation Anchorage content. I purposefully made a new character so that I could run through the new content before making my way through the main story. I was level 3 when I finally made my to the Brotherhood Outcast base, and have gained three levels since. My low small arms skill and the lack of stimpacks has made AO a nice challenge. Unfortunately I am having a hard time battling the issues that have surfaced after installing a Sejong Ati 3870 video card for crossfire.

So now to the review that I brought up earlier in the post. EuroGamer has a review up already of the new OA content for Fallout 3. The review is a huge fan of Fallout 3 as stated at the end of the article, but seems rather disappointed with the new content. You can check out the review here.

I have a few thoughts on the review. First is that I get the sense that the reviewer, and I'm sure like many Fallout 3 fans, was expecting something different. Second, he took his level 20 to the new content, why?!? Another issue I have is that the review complains about how he spent 7 dollars on something that he didn't enjoy that took almost two and a half hours to complete. Which brings me back to the point that I believe many Fallout fans might have been looking at this as a sort of expansion, which it is most certainly not.

What I will agree with is that Operation Anchorage is very rpg lite and is focused on action instead, which does feel a bit out of place. And I also have not finished to DLC, so I can't comment on the ending, but a common theme on the Bethesda forums seem to be the shortness of OA, and the not so good ending. I guess I will have to wait and see.

FEAR Alma...Again!

I am a huge Monolith fan, they have created some of my most favorite games over the years; Aliens vs Predator, No One Lives Forever, and even one of the most underrated MMORPG's The Matrix Online.

A few of their more recent titles include the Condemned games and F.E.A.R. Condemned was one of the early titles to be released on the 360 and it looked great, had wonderful atmosphere, but was really buggy.

When I first read about F.E.A.R., I was very excited. But as I was playing through the game, I had a overwhelming feeling of the meh's. The game deviates from the horror parts too often, and the time slowing mechanic I felt was very generic and I never used it. But, the ending was the best, and all in all, I did enjoy myself.

So that brings me to F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin. I will admit that I am looking forward to this game, and for a couple of reasons. I just saw a video preview, and it looks great, but also I really have a desire to play a quality shooter. I know there's Far Cry 2 and Crysis (which are almost the same thing), but neither of those games have grabbed me like F2 is.

I will be picking this one up in a few weeks, and hopefully writing a review for it as well. Until then, check out the video preview care of GameSpot.

Where the paranoid and uninformed are given a voice!

The new DLC for Fallout 3 called Operation Anchorage was released sometime today it seems. But this is not a post about how cool the new content is, or how it plays or what not. No, this is a post on the idiocy that can be found in message boards.

The Bethesda forums are a flame with all sorts of ranting about how Games for Windows Live is terrible, that Microsoft is all about money, and that Bethesda is screwing over the consumer.

You can check out the mess here.

Now that you have had a chance to browse that mess, my question is, have you ever read anything in a message board that made you so upset that you wanted to register on the forums just to respond to the moronic rantings of an uninformed idiot?

I know I just wanted to after browsing the Bethesda forums today. Once I calmed down and had some time to get through the uninformed rants and read some legitimate issues, I began to see what was the real problem with the new DLC.

The issue is not the DLC itself, but how a PC gamer goes about acquiring said DLC. Fallout 3 is Games for Windows Live enabled, which is very similar to Xbox Live service that 360 users have grown accustomed to. In order to purchase the new DLC, you need to buy MS points and use the GFWL client to purchase and download the Operation Anchorage DLC for Fallout 3.

So the points that I agree with are these; having to purchase MS points instead of allowing the use of credit cards sucks; the DLC costs 800 MS points but they don't sell MS points in 800 increments so you will have to purchase 1000 instead, errgh; and the fact that GFWL fails when compared to products like Steam and Impulse.

So if I agree with all these points, what seems to be my problem then? It's the unintelligent, uninformed hate mongering rants that would rather not take the time to find a solution to their problem and just start spouting off against Microsoft and Bethesda and how they are being wronged somehow.

I personally have not had any issue with the GFWL client one bit. I personally like the idea and hope that more games will support the format. But I also have a Xbox 360 account and am a fan of achievement points, so I was excited that Fallout 3 for the PC was GFWL enabled.

I completely understand being upset about having to use GFWL to download the DLC and having to purchase MS points. But please have legitimate points about what issues you may have instead of making uninformed accusations filled with hate mongering rubbish.

Pretty sad...

Only one post so far this year, that is pretty sad. In my defense, I have been battling a sinus infection for more that a week now, but it still doesn't explain the lack of interest on my part towards the blog.

So, it's time I start using some discipline and get to posting again!!

Simply Irresistible...

What is it about World of Warcraft that draws someone in? I activated my account back in November to try out the new talents before WotLK was released, and had absolutely no desire to even play it. I was perfectly happy with Warhammer Online at the time.

But the longer I play WAR, the more I feel that the game is lacking some much need polish. Add the fact that some of my close friends are getting back into WoW as well making it harder not to actually play.

Ok, maybe I can play somewhat casual, but spend most of my time in WAR. Well that lasted all of a month. See, I was not excited about WotLK, I didn't want it, no desire to grind another 10 levels, and even less desire to get into raiding. But here it is January, and I am having a great time in the land of Azeroth again.

There are many things that I enjoy about WAR, and I do plan on reactivating my account here really soon, but I am having a really good time playing WoW with friends.

In the immortal words of Robert Palmer: Simply irresistible, Shes so fine, theres no tellin where the money went...