Tom Clancy's End War & Street Fighter Madness

This game excited me when I first found out you could use a mic to order your troops around the map. What a novel concept! After a bit tho, it got tiresome; try barking orders out for 2-3 hours non-stop. Not to mention the speech recognition system sometimes gets it wrong (Unit 1, retreat *Unit 1 attacks Unit 2* WTF stop killing my babies!) so it can get tiresome. Apart from this little quirk, its an all round normal strat game. Rock-paper-scissors like. I heard the multiplayer was somewhat interesting but as far as I can tell its going to be the same as the single player, just with human players. While maps are beautifully detailed, the units and battles are just bland. Music is non-existent, sound effects are generic. 6/10.

Now on to Street Fighter. I'm a King of Fighters veteran, having played the game for some 13 years or so now. Along comes Street Fighter 4 and what can I say, I'm hooked. I've only played this game like 4 times now and I'm loving it. Maybe I'm just an attention whore, since the last time I played was at some Games Convention I stumbled upon and I started mixing it up with some of the best of them there. It was a good experience and it just keeps me wanting for more. I'll be getting the game today, hopefully will find some time to get some matches in every night and improve my Abel. I've got the basic movements and game down (not too hard since I am a master practicioner of the One-Button-Kungfu Style) so its time to get some experience on character frames and moves from some real fights. I main both Abel and Ken, Abel being the stronger character IMO just because no one knows exactly what the hell he can do.

Too Many Games & Birthday Wishes

Just a heads up of the games I'll be playing (and finishing) for the next 1-2 months probably. Could be longer, trying to fit in some solid game finishing here and there but SFIV keeps calling to me. I play a mean Ken Masters. His attacks aren't particularly spectacular or anything but he's efficient and gets the job done. ANYWAY... games I will finish here (in no particular order):

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Tom Clancy: End War
Knights of the Old Republic II
Resident Evil 5
Street Fighter 4
Soul Calibur 4
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
CryoStasis

Birthday coming up soon... should be good, plenty of friends around for a solid night out. Don't expect any wishes from "yours truly", probably busy with one thing (or person) or another. But yeah, looking forward to it. Its overrated anyway, I'm just using it as an excuse to parteh. Heh.

Street Fighter 4 & 32" HDTVs

I've played SF4 twice now and my first impression was: clunky. No way as smooth as KOF or Soul Calibur and no where as flashy. My 2nd time pretty much got me into the game... I think it has to do with the calibur of the competition you're playing with i.e. non-button mashers. There's a lot more depth to the game other than its flashiness and revamped graphics and it seems clunky but the clunkiness actually makes it fresh. Its hard to explain, play it for yourself and see. I'd still rate SC and KOF above this game, but this is a close 3rd. 7/10.

Got my new 32" HDTV for a low, low price so been feeling good. It looks SO good in my room right now, I'm in love with it. I've devoted myself to furnishing my room with cool stuff to have, and I'm going to redecorate it this weekend. Well, basically just shifting stuff around the room. And heck, I need the change, the layout has been the same for the last 10 years. Haha, it seems I'm starting a trend of changing things that have lasted for 10 years. Ah well. Anyway, next addition to my room: a bean bag. A black or silver or dark blue one. I hate green. My whole carpet is green, I wanna rip it all up LOL.

Shellshocked 2:Blood Trails & Congratulations

Another zombie horror game in the midst of it all, but the twist is that this happens during the Vietnam War (the US one). It plays out like L4D but the zombies are harder to kill; you need to headshot each one of them. Though there aren't as many zombies, it can get pretty rough especially when 5-10 of them get really close and start pounding on you. Its pretty crap to be honest, voice acting is shit, gameplay is your general FPS + zombies, graphics are just there, and audio is really bad. They even have generic death scenes for the soldiers! 4/10.

On a shorter note, congrats to you. Its a fine choice you made and I'm sure you are and will always be happy with it.

Gears of War 2 & Working Late

I went into this game with chainsaw bayonet revved and lancers ablazing. What I got for my efforts were a bunch of mixed feelings. While the game holds true to the same formula as it did in GoW, it kinda felt repetitive. Locust come up, you shoot it. Locust go down, you stomp it. Atmosphere is different too. COG is losing the war but you don't feel the urgency, the panic that should be felt. From the way things are portrayed, you just KNOW that they're going to win. The same trend goes with any typical movie (hero/heroine blows up villain(s) and saves the day) but its just so pronounced. I'm not liking the graphics either, the character models seems less detailed and more gritty in GoW2. Still a smashing hit overall, I just think it could have outdone itself a lot more. Maybe my expectations were too high. 8/10.

Talking about working overtime, I've been working till really late the last couple of weeks. My normal working time is late enough, but ending at 10-1pm everyday is really taking its toll. I'm not really complaining though, at least it takes my mind off other things. Besides, I wouldn't be sleeping at that time anyway, I'd probably be tossing and turning contemplating on stuff. Yeah, I contemplate a lot nowdays. Mostly on one specific thing. This month should be good I think, less work and more free time to get on with my free research (they gave me the freedom to do my own research! Woohoo!). Long weekend coming up too so its time to kick back and rest my laurels for a bit. Maybe catch up on finishing more games.