Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sea is the new land.. Bioshock Review.


"I'm Andrew Ryan and I'm here to ask you a question:
is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?

No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose...

RAPTURE.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where
the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where
the great would not be constrained by the small. And
with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your
city as well."

- Andrew Ryan, founder of Rapture

GAMEPLAY

FPS came a long way, from concrete jungles to abandoned space stations.
This time, it's Captain Nemo trapped in an unknown advanced civilization with a bunch of hideously deformed citizens that roamed around in this fish tank.

Like the Universe, the game starts with a big bang. 1960 is the year, you woke up and find yourself being surrounded by flames and wreckage. It was in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, you have no choice but so swim to safety. After some swimming, you noticed a lighthouse despite the fact is in a middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

You rushed up the stairs, opened the door and stumbled upon a bathysphere. It's not like you have any choice or any other means of transportation to get home, you decided to take a ride.
After some breathtaking view, you were introduced to Rapture. A metropolis that's been run by a megalomaniac business man, Andrew Ryans.

Before you even step out of your bathysphere, you knew something had gone wrong in this city.
Rapture were overrun by hideously deformed citizens called Splicers. And it looks like you found out that there is a thing called ADAM that's corrupting the metropolis. Even worse, this so called underwater civilizations does not welcome you at all.

If I were to describe Rapture, it's like Atlantis that have just been through the Black Plague, with a little bit of a 60's atmosphere. Resulting, a shootout in a spooky environment having 60's melodies running behind background. Absolutely beautiful.

The greatest weapon in Bioshock is the human body, with the help of a so called miracle substance, Plasmids. Players could emit electric bolt out their hand, burned foes with a snap, performed telekenisis like the gravity gun, enraging foes making them attacking one another and so on. To put it simple, Plasmids are magic but it comes in a form of syringe. Mind you, you could only slot in sufficient amount of Plasmids in the game or else it will be OP.

Fire > ice simeple equation.

Other than shooting lighting out of your fingertips. Tonics are passive skills that provides enhancements to the players. Some tonics like Armored Shell reduces physical damage, statis field that zapped everyone in a radius if you are being touched or Natural Camoflouge that makes you turn complete invisible. Offensive types Tonic like Wrench Jockey, adds wrench damage, or Sportboost that adds both movement speed and melee attack speed.
Combining all the bonuses that you received from the tonic, you could be a Wrenchmaster that downed most of your foes easily by using only melee. There are more than 50 tonics for you to experiment and play around with.

He who injects the most wins.

Getting tonics and plasmids were never easy, you will need ADAM to purchase Plasmids and Tonics from the vending machine. Sadly, there is only one way to obtain ADAM.
In Rapture, you will notice little girls wandering around the corridor holding a huge syringe to sucked out ADAM from dead bodies that were loitering around the streets, they were called

Table for two, please.

Little Sisters. Not to mention, they're protected by one of the most iconic yet difficult enemies in the entire game, they were monster beneath their diving suits called Big Daddy.
All you have to do is to kill Big Daddy and harvest the ADAM from her and killing her on the process or, rescue her from the infection of Adam but gaining a few amount of ADAM. You decide, both options you pick will have consequences towards the game. Your choice.

Freeze

Before you got the wrong idea that this is role playing. Let's talk check out the firearms.
Gun ranges from a monkey wrench to a crossbow. Of course like any FPS, you have the shotgun, trench, revolver, chemical sprayer, a Tommy gun and a grenade launcher. Since it's the late 1960's, you won't be picking up any guns that were out of this world and all the guns were designed in the form of late 1960's.

Bioshock firearms seems to fall short when it comes to killing efficiency. Although you've drilled multiple shots to the body, you'll still see them walking around and that doesn't feel right all. If you are looking for a shooter that blast through enemies like a knife cutting through a butter, Bioshock is indeed not that kind of game.

Killing efficiently in Bioshock is not impossible. You can always switch to different types of ammos to deal greater damage towards different types of enemies. Tommy gun has armor piercing rounds, shotguns have explosives bucks that deal splash damage, chemical sprayer can freeze,burn and electrified your enemies using napalm, liquid nitrogen or electric gel. Of course most of these distinctive ammos were not easy to come by compared to normal rounds.

This is how the game explain the plasmids.

There are only five types of enemies that you will encounter in the whole game excluding big daddy. These common enemies were known as splicers and you differentiate by the weapon they are holding. Thugs carries a wrench, Leadheads carries a pistol, Nitro tosses explosives, Houdini throws a fireball and teleports, the last are spiders that climbs ceiling and throw hooks at you.
As you proceed later in the game, they will gradually become tougher and hit harder, leading to a fight that uses various combinations of plasmids to take down the enemy. The most popular is the one-two combination that's been introduce in the early stage of the game, you shoot an eletrical bolt to stunned the opponent, then quickly following up with a wrench to maximize the damage. In fact, with the right tonic equipped you can beat the whole game by using just the one-two combinations.

You got served by a girl.

Turrets and security cameras hate you, but you can always hacked them and turn them to your side. Hacking involves playing a minigame that resembles Pipe dream, all you have to do is to make sure the water flow reached to the specific place by replacing the pipes and building the correct path. If you fail and the water overflows, it will result on a short circut and you will received damage. If you sucessfully hack turrets and security bots, it will aid you in combat, as for a vending machine, there will be a discounted price and unlocking some extra items.

Pipe dream all over again?

Boss fights are still splicers but they have enhanced health and damage. Other than splicers, the iconic big daddy is indeed the toughest enemy in the game, now I know why he is in the cover.
There are two types of big daddy, one has a huge drill on his right arm that specializes on melee attacks, it is called the Bouncer. The other, is called Rosie, laugh at his name and he will shoot you from afar and throws proximity mines in your face. Both of them have alot of health, fast, and hit very hard and will lead to undesireable deaths.
When you die, you will be revive in a nearby Vita-Chamber having a plenty enough of health and eve to live by. It is not a reload, you will be "restructure" and the damage you've inflict towards your enemies will not be erase. It does sound tedious...in fact it is, since you have infinite lives and credits.


Come to Daddy.

There alot of things happening in Rapture, you can finish the whole game in exactly 15-20 hours if all you do is follow the arrow and hints that are provided in the journal. The journal provides more than enough information like maps, hints, arrows, legends, messages and making it a bit too easy at times. During the whole game there won't be any NPC for you to talk to. So, there won't be any human interactions going on except for boss fights and some living characters that contacted you via radio.

If you happen to be a player who follow the arrows and instruction clearly throughout the game you will never fully understands what is really happening in Rapture. Bioshock contains hundreds of audio recordings regarding the lives of victims in Rapture. If you venture more for abit you'll realize that most of the audio recordings explains the situation of Rapture; before and after. It unlocks some mysteries in the game and tells a clearer story, not to mention it also helps you to advanced through to the stages by providing access code for doors and some hints. But you don't really need to be a good listener in Bioshock, because of your almighty journal you can always playback the audios and flip through the pages... so much for the 1960's.

The dark and eerie feeling while venturing the hall of Raptures is indeed an enjoyable sensation. The atmosphere were fill with the songs of 50's and 60's, you could hear splicers humming, talking, mumbling about their lives, it creates an eerie feeling and it really does have an impact on the environment. Everything in Rapture were perfectly created especially the water, if you have splicers standing on top of the water, just simply fires an electric bolt into the water and watch those sparks fly.

The A.I deploys hit and run tactics more often than dashing straight on like a bull. If the A.I was badly hurt, they will run to a nearby health machine and replenish their health. Upon deafetaing them, loots and some items can be gained.

This twisted underwater city really has alot to offer, as you proceed to the levels you noticed that things starting to get more fascinating, oxygen were produced by building a forest inside the utopia, and luxurious underwater view that you can see outside the window. It looks like everything is possible thanks to the Unreal Engine 3, graphics is superb and the water is perfect. Since the city is falling apart you will find a few leaks here and there, and experiencing the seawater rushing in after an explosion really blows you away.

There are some errors and dissapoinments in Bioshock 3. First are the audio and subtitles, it looks like the subtitles appeared quite late after each conversation and sometimes it never even go away, it requires a patch to be downloaded before playing the game. Second is the SecuRom online activation, well I guess you know what's the purpose of this bloody software.

If you have a better machine the game will indeed look sharper more than the XBOX360 and it fully supports the 360's controller. If you are lost and don't know which version to go for, it all depends on your PC's specs. If you're running on a mid/high end DX10 machine, go for the PC. Worry not it supports DX 9 and even running on this way the texture graphics still excel the 360 if your machine can deal with it. Be sure to get the latest patch or else you will be having minor problems in the game.

Conclusion

Bioshock excels in both graphics and audio, the texture graphics were perfectly made, the water is made to be like water in reality, it reacts accordingly, the guns are loud, the voice acting and casts are perfect. The audio recordings not only creates an impression, it also help seting up the mood, hearing one crying following with a splicers mumbling, humming throughout the dark hallways is quite an experience.

If you are the typical player who likes to play with convential weapons and loves to see huge explosions firing out of your favorite weapon, sadly to say maybe Bioshock is not for you. This game is more than putting bullets in one's head, it's a game that involves battles that can be fought indirectly and enjoying it at the same time.

Bioshock terrific story telling and compeling gameplay is what you must look forward too.
Despite having some minor problems that can solved thru patching, Bioshock is a very good game and it's worth it. I give it a 4 out 5.
Until next time Game On.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ziwen's Valentine Special Post: A Heart and Hammer.

Okay Valentine is near.
Love is in the air, so as in the games.
But this post, is about pure white innocent love. While everyone is happily thinking about getting their loves one chocolates and nailing them at the same time. xD
Here I am writing and planning my ideas. To write the ultimate post of valentine that will shook the world. * Thunderous cracking sfx* Muahahahaha.

These valentine post will be about love. But the other side of love....ahh bittersweet memories while grasping on the controller so hard. The heart-shattering moments that made us wipe our tears. Oh! i just broke my mouse...
The time that makes you weep and having a tissue beside you,leading into a misunderstand that your parents thought you are doing something....well you get the idea.
Remember how many pieces of tissue you threw when you see Aeries died?
The moment when Yuna went through Tidus body?Boy, that gotta hurt.
The death of Jan Ors ? How does it feel to get slice by a lightsaber?

Here I present you, Ziwen's Valentine Special: A Heart and Hammer. It is for the heart-breaking love scene for the game. The scene that hurt the gamers so bad that it left scars and wounds that will take long to heal. And here we go, the most heart-ripping gameplay scene.

PREY.
Jen.

So first watch the video. If you're lazy I'll just shorten it up for ya.
The situation is, you've been abducted by an unknown life form. Together with your Grandpa and your hot girlfriend.

Around 30 minutes of the game. You saw your grandpa being killed in a horrible fashion living nothing but blood stains. You venture around the alien ship. Killing any aliens that get in your way in a mission to save your girlfriend before she turned into canned food for the aliens.

After blasting your way through, you came into a room. She cried for you in fear and in pain, begging you to save her, trapped in a vessel. After the long combat, you assumed that it will be a joyful-full-of-tears' reunion...but it goes the other way around.

The vessel's door popped out and a loud growling noise could be heard. This was nothing compared to the things you are about to see. Now, the entire upper-half of your girlfriend was ATTACHED/MOUNTED/FUSE, name what you want on top of the monsters' back.
It looks like...they modified her into one of them. You had no choice...you knew what to do if you wanna clear the stage.

For the entire battle, she shouted and cried for your name. Warning you to stay away from her, and save her at the same time. "Tommy help me please! Tommy, stay away from me!", you have no choice but to keep on pressing the fire button until the monster eventually falls.

Here comes the hard part, after defeating the brute and realizing that you had no way to save her. She begged you to end her life. Yes, close your eyes and point the crosshair towards her face and shuts the living daylight out of her for good. So miserably sad ...and romantic at the same time. Which is more sad? Having your girlfriend getting killed by someone? Or Having to pull the own trigger?You decide.

FINAL FANTASY 8
Ragnarok Scene.


This part is where every human emotions meet. Happy, sad, fear, funny....and not to mention love. Hehe.. actually is the most cheesiest part of the game.

The background music... the moment....the sensation..the conversation.
FF8 veterans will know this is one of the saddest yet happiest moment of all time.
Although the ending were a bit sad. We will bound to know that Squall is alive so it's not a big deal.

I pick this part because of it's "unknown future" factor. When we first played, this is the part where keeps me thinking. "What will happen next?","Will Rinoa really being held captive?","Will Squall save her? What will he do?Why can't I be Squall so I can hug her like that?WHY?" Okay... this has gone overboard.
After the scene, the damsel is in distress again, being held captive. After all that and it's back to square one.

Final Fantasy 7
Aeris Death Scene.



One of the most memorable moments of gaming history.
I would like someone to introduce me to anyone that doesn't feel sad about this scene. Poor Cloud.
After chasing her for thousands of miles, from another continent to another continent to be exact. The moment you thought she can rejoins the party and celebrates together.

Suddenly Sephiroth jumps out of nowhere and stabs through her. The end.
Noo...you kill my healer! That is the first reaction =_=.
Forget to mention when Cloud dropped her into the lake, my heart falls along with it. Of course it came back when slay Sephiroth with Cloud. Muahaha.
PS. Omnislash back then is way cooler.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots.
Naomi Hunter's death scene.



Scroll to the middle bar...

I bet most of you know what actually happened. I just cut it short.
Naomi has contracted cancer but with the help of her Nanomachines she was able to prolong her life. Now, as you can see she disables them. The reason? She needs rest. She has been through alot. Trust me and she is going to die anyway.

In this scene, Otacon(the one in the Machine) is the main victim here. Same like me, he fell into deep abyss of never-ending torment, which called love. LoL.

Okay, back to tear-jerking moment, the building starts falling apart, enemies are on their way. No time to even say goodbye to her. AND everything goes to slow-motion....slowly he is getting further and further carried by Raiden. The more further he gets, the more pain as it is in the heart. Look at the flashbacks. Those were his past girlfriends alright and every single one of them died. Including this one....Damn. Sucks to be him...*sniff*

Final Fantasy X
Yuna and Tidus Separation Scene.



At first it was okay, because it is expected that Tidus will be going anyway.
It starts to get a little bit sad when Yuna shook her head. Here comes the heart-cracking moment, Yuna rushes in for the final hug, with open arms...and it eventually went through him and trips to the ground.
She stood up and said it, those words...now that is a heart breaker...
Look at Tidus' face...i have no idea is he sad or relieve...=_=.

But I have to admit, he got guts leaving Yuna and the company.

All is good until Squarenix decide to develop FFX-2 argh &^*^*#$^ the love story....Damn you money-grubber. *Shouts and throw stones into the sea in an evening sunset beach.*


Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Death of Eli Vance.



It was so happy and I was expecting a happy ending. Suddenly an alien life form came crashing through the window. Capture Eli and sucks his brains out. Damn. Gruesome and sad scene.

What most disappointing here is you, yes, the almighty legendary, Gordon Freeman can't do anything but watch. So what, if you save the world, you can't even prevent this to happen. You really do feel for them,especially Alyx.

Then you will see, Alyx crying and sobbing over the death of her father. What worst, it really is the ending as visions faded to black and the credits start rolling.
Episode 3 is the answer my friend. Episode 3.

Well that is all, I hope you guys like it. Until now Game on and Happy Valentine.

I don't need a reason.

I have to admit that I don't really do post anything about myself.
I mean, the readers don't even really know about me.
All they just know that I write about games reviews and make fun of stuff.
.........
Okay perhaps I should blog about myself a little.
Today's theme is "Reasons I don't blog about myself."
Ziwen's alter ego will do the questions. And I will answer it myself xD.

1. Are you against the idea of "Blogging about yourself."
No, I am not. Honestly, I think it's good you can express yourself in a post. But I prefer the good ol' fashion way. ^_^ I am from the 90's.

2. What makes it so hard about blogging yourself?
Well, first of all. I did nothing of anything particularly special. I don't bake cookies, I don't go clubbing, hell even if I did I won't be showing it to anyone and I won't have time to take pictures, I don't do anything special of the sorts. I find it hard to express myself through blogging.

3. Those were the reasons? I mean... it's a blog you know. Readers might be more interested in you more than your stuff that you are offering now.
I am not offering anything. What I am doing here is to show that I can review a game. And for the sake of improving my writing of course. If you this find this blog interesting well, I sincerely apologize for wasting your time.

4. If you should blog about daily activities. What are the activities you will NOT be blogging about?
Not be blogging about? Love of course. Because I do not want EVERYONE to know that I am sad. Be it a break up, an argument, or any social activities that brings negative energy. I prefer to keep it for myself.

5. You are trying to say you only blog about happy stuff and stuff that worth mentioning. So, what is most important to you right now?
I've fulfilled one of my missions. Now, I am on a grand scale. I did not plan to expose about it.

6. Could you predict when you will be posting stuff about yourself?
April 7th or April 6th of 2009. It will be my 21st Birthday. If it turns out well, of course I will.

7. Express yourself. Go on.
For the people that always blogs about "as if the world is against you" that type of post.
I advised you to stop doing it. I know you are weak but sometimes you need to pretend.
I know blogging is good and is a sort of way to express yourself but there will be consequences.
So, if you wanna blog, at least do it.... smartly.<---dedicated to some friend.

8. Any advice?
What the heck I just gave.... Don't drink and write.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fictitious Reality.

Forewarning this is a joke post.
Few days ago, when I was up in the mountains. An inspiration struck me like thunderbolts. Sending infinite resources of ideas. I don't even have the time to write it down because I was in the tour van and that tour guide is as noisy as hell and not to mention the passengers. Here it goes.

"I hope now, an alien mothership will hover above us and start sending it sentinels and blast the shit of us.", one of my friend says it before. I kinda agree but what are the let downs? In game you are limited by the game's system. While in real world, the possibility are infinite. Thus it leads to this post.
The idea here is, if the gaming world and this living world merged. Like this.

Zombie Apocalypse.
Resident Evil (yes)
Left 4 Dead (no)

Disadvantage.

Okay, now here is the deal. Unlike in any video games, your life were either indicated by numbers or pulses.
In the real world, human are fragile beings.
No numbers, No instant herb cure, medipack cure, health from the vending machine or any other items that increased the number.
And the worst, in real life.Friendly fire is enabled.
Hand a gun to a newbie without training = death of millions of own kind.
The worst of all, no save points.
If you ever stumble upon a type writer and you happened to have an ink ribbon be sure to type it in so the zombies can chew you from behind. Example for an RE in-game save game that is happening in the real world.

A type writer! Save your game? Yes. *types in*

YEONG ZI WEN (^_^v) <--picture.
Date Saved: 9.33 AM 31/2/09.
Living Hall- Mansi *(fadsfasdasdhpjbbcn^jhaksljdhaks <--- typo due to attack from zombies.
__________________________________

You Are Dead.

Good job. No save points in real life.

Other disadvantages: No infinite ammo, no difficulties settings, no options available.
Other worst disadvantages: Assholes of your own kind. ( shoot you from behind, human shield, take your food, rape zombies. opps).

Okay, how bout advantages.

Advantages

Physics if fully applied in the real world. You can move anything. Unlike in game, barrels and boxes were only serve as background.
Barricade, create walls. Well it's plus advantage.
. . . . . .
Sorry, that's the only advantage if you are like me. Unless you have a shotgun in the basement or a chainsaw. I don't think you have much option other than running if you live in Malaysia.

Best Advantage : Companion. A dog is too stereotyping, so as the basketball. How about a female? A hot one around my age I guess. xD.

Bestest Advantage: Having a hot girlfriend that is willing to sacrifice anything for you during the Apocalypse. Sounds familliar don't you think.

There is really no advantage. Be prepare to face extinction.

Alien Invasion

Be it an egg that produces facehuggers or a mothership that sends a platoon of pew pew flying saucers to invade our planet.

We can never rely on two things if this were bound to happen.
1. Our pitiful race.
2. Tom Cruise.

Chances of Aliens that travels millions of lightyears were afraid of bullets and bombs were more than getting killed by a sneeze. Imagine what the alien will report to it's leader.

Alien: Your Almighty, we have been defeated.
Almighty Alien : How? You said that our weapon technology surpasses the human's one for at least million of years. I demand an explaination.
Alien: I am prepared to be punish o' almighty. The R&D department has tested it. It looks like the humans are capable of spreading germs from their mouth and noses.
AA: What? That's preposterous. Well, let's retreat for now....For infinity and beyond.

*imagine what our fart could do.* xD JK.

Fantasies.
Look! Papa! My hand is on fire. This is what happen if you teach your kids magic at a very young age.

Well, you see. Fantasy is a term that made by humans. So, dragons and other mythical being will be included in this section. And the settings, most of it, it's medieval style. Well, other than Final Fantasy series of course.

Let's choose the Final Fantasy series settings. It's more than enough fantasy for that one.
Magics and Summons were common in the Final Fantasy world.

Put that in reality, you will see signs like this.

Uses of magic will be shot.

The sign: A mage being shot by someone.

$500000 fine for every magic use.

or maybe a statute regarding Magi act.

So, with all the restrictions. It has concluded that magic is not meant for daily practices. LoL.
It's better to be human.

With magic around I can see why, most of the fantasy were in medieval setting. There is a logic behind it.

If you can levitate, why do you need a car?
If you can create fire out your palm. Tell me what is the purpose of the torch light.
If you can end a war with magic will there be guns and tanks and world war 2 movies?

LoL. That is the logic.
See ya next time. Game on.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Trip to Cameron Highlands

Before anyone asked, this was my XX days without my set of wheels.
I don't even remember since when I had waited for my car to return.
Yes, my bro's car is still in the repair shop. So, this is what happens if you whack your car in the middle of Chinese New Year.

I shall now describe the painful feeling of not having your own car to drive to Cameron Highlands.

I am forced to take the bus. When uphill, for people who will easily puke, I do not recommend the bus. You will get dizzy more easily compared to a car due to the high center of gravity. So, every turn the bus takes be sure to keep your eyes on the road or else there will always be plastics bags provided by the bus for you to vomit in. I have a good stomach and sense of balancing so I didn't puke.

After all the windings, sharp turning, plantation views, landslide markings and such. We've reached our destination. Once the bus stopped in front of the Tourism Guide of Tanah Rata, one of the tour agent stepped in and greeted us.

After settling our tours packages and stuffs. It's time to check in to the hotel. No pictures of the Hotel. In case, you're wondering it's called Hotel Kowloon, a name that brings a lot of misunderstandings.

So, remember kids. Numbered List
Do not go up to Cameron Highlands if...

You don't have a car. Sucks to be me for the moment. Curses....

Tours and Guides were not necessary. It's even better without them. Taxi charges RM 25 per hour. Plus, you have the privacy. So, for me taxi is better although a bit pricy.

There were two highways to reach there, Tapah and the new highway. Always take the new highway. More straight roads and less dangerous.

If you have a weak stomach, go Genting. The journey from foothill to the top for Cameron is at least one and a half hour. While Genting is....thirty minutes I guess. Or maybe 45, around there I guess.

If you love smoking, go Genting instead. Every farms, gardens and plantations forbid smoking.

it was a fun trip, I shall return there when I have my car!...and money.

Okay that's all, time for pictures.