The month in nutshell

Happy because: I got a new apartment in the city..yay!
Sad because: my cat went missing more than 2 weeks ago & there has been no sign of it since

Haunting:
Nimhneach (kinky fun & frolics) the Halloween parties coming up! Happy birthday to Guinness too

Playing:
Endwar (again.. Mostly for the trophies I missed) batman arkham asylum (one of the best games of the year) mafia wars on facebook ..surprisingly addictive - I didn’t like halo ODST, too much of the same old thing

Listening to
Breaking Benjamin “dear agony” (already one of my favourite albums of the year), Megadeth “endgame”, three days grace “life starts now” (much better than I expected!), chevelle “sci-fi crimes” (a little too mellow for my liking), smile empty soul “consciousness” (doesn’t disappoint), kittie “in the black” (I went off this band for a while, their new album is pretty good), hatebreed “hatebreed” (hardcore is what they aim for & hardcore is what they deliver ..powerful album!), 69 eyes “back in blood” (my favourite eyes album to date)

Watching:
Sons of anarchy season 2 (tv), the Nostradamus effect (tv), trick r treat, the haunted world of el superbeasto, five minutes of heaven, the hurt locker, dead snow, the hills run red, year one, train, new town killers, blood the last vampire (live action version), drag me to hell, one eyed monster, book of blood, infestation, dance flick, crank 2, angels & demons

Looking forward to:
HALLOWEEN! New material from rammstein, arch enemy “the root of all evil”, SAW VI (I’m a sucker for the crazy gore & horror of the SAW franchise), pandorum (looks a bit like event horizon & aliens), fallout3; game of the year edition, call of duty : modern warfare 2 (nov 10th 09!)

Batman Arkham Asylum – game review (PS3) also on Xbox 360 & PC

Movie licensed games usually flop & bring nothing new to the world of games so I was a little worried about arkham asylum but then its not really based on any particular batman movie, if anything its more influenced by the darker more moodier graphic novels. The story is simple batman apprehends the joker & transports him to the island prison, during jokers processing he escapes & gains control of arkham leaving batman stuck on the island to deal with the joker & the inmates. For anyone not in the know arkham is not a normal prison it houses the cities most dangerous criminals & super villains. So the idea is simple & straight forward enough but does it actually work?.. It absolutely does so keep reading to find out why.

There was an awful lot of hype over this game so naturally I was very skeptical & didn’t even play the demo incase it spoiled the actual finished product. For the first 10 or 15mins I really wasn’t that impressed, I liked the video sequences but felt it dragged on.. soon after my opinion changed drastically. Controlling batman was awkward & even clumsy at times, he felt dull & bland even the controls felt slightly non responsive. Then a wonderful thing happened.. I was starting to really enjoy myself! The key of course was gaining experience points then using them to upgrade batman & his gadgets. The story too took hold of me & from then on I was hooked, the more I played & progressed the more I loved the game until soon every drop of doubt had disappeared completely leaving me with a big smile on my face.

The game play is sluggish at first but when it does take off it turns into a thrill a minute ride giving you a hands on idea of what it must really be like to be the dark knight. The character controls are great once you get used to them but batman mainly relies on hand to hand combat & so you quickly learn to approach dangerous situations with stealth. One of my favorite tricks was to perch on top of a gargoyle then swoop down grabbing a passing thug leaving him to hanging upside down.. then when someone came to investigate I’d sever the wire bringing him crashing down on his friend. You can also make your way passed enemies by taking cover in the shadows or sneaking under floors or by grappling high above them. The combat is mainly centered on one button but it allows you to string together multi button combo’s that become more effective as you keep them going. In short batman is not too much a complex character to maneuver & soon you will find yourself pulling off all kinds of takedowns, even gliding through the air to knock out a guard below.

Because its batman you get to use nearly everything in his arsenal of gadgets, which include.. the batarang which is thrown to stun an enemy however once its upgraded it becomes more deadly letting you take down multiple targets even using it by remote which I really liked. The explosive gadget is used to spray a liquid like substance onto walls/floors which then can be detonated by remote; this becomes very useful when you need to blow through a secret wall or passage.. but how do you see a secret passage. Included in the gadgets is what I like to call predator vision, the idea is simple enough it’s a type of viewing mode that lets you see enemies through walls/monitor their condition/locate weak walls & even investigate the environment forensically. This is extremely useful when you need to follow clues in order to locate key characters & to make your way through to another part of the island.

Arkham may not sound big but it is an actual island so really it’s a vast sprawling complex filled with modern security measures & old gothic styled buildings. There are cellblocks full of random thugs & villains just waiting to be taken out, there are medical areas & even a hospital. Under arkham island is a network of caves which can be used to get to other parts of the island. Arkham mansion was easily one of my favorite locations in the game & it looked/felt realistic. One of the most enjoying parts were discovering cells then trying to figure out who they had housed, of course using a little simple detective work would give you the answer but it was not always so straight forward. Included in the game are challenges set by the riddler & these involve either picking up hidden trophies or solving mind boggling riddles.. some of them were easy enough but there were many tricky ones that kept me guessing. As you complete these riddles/trophies you unlock little extras like character bio’s & challenges that you can play outside of the main game, challenge mode is great fun but it’s even better on the ps3 because you get to play as the joker in a whole host of new challenges.

The joker is the main villain of the piece & he plays it flawlessly with great voice acting & clever little quips however he is not the only super villain left on the island. Many familiar villains pop up to do battle with batman including.. the venom enhanced bane/the plant loving poison ivy/the scarecrow who floods the place with his fear gas forcing you to fight with him in the terrifying world of nightmares.. these fear sequences are done so brilliant that they will have you on the edge of your seat./killer croc & jokers main sidekick/lover harley quin. The boss fights were all fun to play & very well thought out but even at that there is a generous supply of thugs that keep popping up.. their intelligence is not that great but then they are really only goons.

The graphics are impressive indeed better than I expected, the lighting is fantastic & the visuals are sharp & sometimes stunning. Each area of arkham feels a little different & as a game location its definitely unique. The character animations look great & the story is intriguing & overly exciting. I don’t know if it was me but the music seemed to come & go but it definitely wasn’t intrusive & when it was there it was perfectly suited to the situation. Its not often that a game like this comes along with so much going for it & indeed it’s a contender for game of the year if not one of the best games ever so it was extremely hard for me to find anything negative to say. I’m giving it a 9 out of 10 the only reason I’m not giving it a 10 is because at times it was frustrating getting through the labyrinth of arkham & though the game is great fun there is not much incentive to play through it again once you have finished it. I’d highly recommend this game to anyone & not only bat fans, you will really enjoy it so if you have been thinking about getting it then do, its available now & you wont be disappointed. Apparently there will be downloadable content released for it some time next week so I will most likely try it out & blog about the contents ..and yes I do have my fingers crossed for a sequel!

Eircom block piratebay

Eircom has confirmed that the company will block access to the website the PirateBay.org, its related domain names, IP addresses and URLs from September 1st. Broadband customers of Eircom who attempt to access the Pirate Bay website from this time will be denied entry.

The move follows an application made in July by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) which secured an order from the High Court directing eircom to block access to the Pirate Bay website and its related domain names, IP address and URLs. The blocking of access to the website is indefinite however, should the Pirate Bay website content be legitimised in the future, eircom will apply to the High Court to have the order vacated.

In making the order, requiring eircom to block access to the PirateBay website, the High Court was satisfied that the website is dedicated to facilitating the illegal downloading of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright owners. In a statement Eircom said it recognised the legitimate rights of the owners of copyrighted material and believes that individuals who share or download copyrighted material without the authorisation or the permission of the owner of that content are acting illegally.

The statement added that eircom would not monitor customers’ activities at any stage, nor will it place any monitoring equipment or software on its network in order to facilitate this block.
The telecoms operator added that it would not provide personal details or any information relating to customers to any third party, including the record companies. Eircom has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the four major labels EMI, Universal, Warner and Sony to develop an innovative new music service for all Irish consumers, which is expected to launch in the next few months.

inFamous VS Prototype

(all pics are of inFamous as I reviewed prototype already)

Ok so both are superhero styled games with the sandbox thing going for them (open world like GTA) however infamous is only available on the ps3 while prototype is available on both systems so I ended up buying both games for the ps3. Both games came out around the same time as each other & I originally planned on reviewing both separately but having played right through each game I thought I’d review them both at the same time so I could point out the differences & features available in each.

So first I’ll talk about the games stories. Infamous has a really good story with plenty of twists & turns that will make you want to play through to the very end - also in true superhero style the story is told through a series of comic book like videos which are really fun to watch & vary depending on how you choose to play the game. Prototype on the other hand is told through video clips but its not so straight forward & you have to absorb key characters to really figure out what’s going on, this is done through a unique feature known as the web of intrigue. The web is quite interesting at first but as the game goes on it gets slightly repetitive & sometimes when you find the key character they get killed by the games AI before you can get to them.

The main character in infamous is cole, a delivery boy who is tasked with the job of delivering a strange package, it all goes wrong when the package explodes decimating half the city but giving cole superhuman powers which he can use for either good or evil. In prototype you control the character of alex mercer who wakes up in a morgue with a serious case of amnesia, after escaping the morgue he finds the city is not like it used to be nor is he. My personal opinion is that alex is more of an antihero than a hero, his powers are brutal & he goes through half a city of innocent people to get what he wants often leaving behind a bloody mess. It is hard to really figure out what’s going on in the story but in a way I kind of liked that because it lets your imagination fill in the blanks.

In infamous cole is given the power to control & bend electricity to his will & while at first I thought that would be boring it was actually quite fun. You start off slow with low level powers that really don’t do much but as you progress you earn experience points & these points are used to buy all kinds of upgrades like electric grenades & my personal favourite the ability to summon lightning itself (like storm in x-men). Alex in prototype has a whole range of powers that I have to admit are more fun that coles. Alex has the ability to run up buildings/glide/jump huge distances/absorb people completely so as to steal their identity/hijack military vehicles like helicopters & tanks, & of course he can shape shift his body into various stabbing weapons/blades & even hardened armour to repeal attacks from both the many creatures in the game & the military. Prototype wins when it comes to powers.

The environments in each game are strictly cities so its lots of tall buildings, monuments & the odd central park inspired greenery. Prototype fails here, its city is fairly flat/the buildings are all very similar/there seems to be no real flow to the environment & it only really feels like its there for you to run through while you battle the many groups of creatures. The environments in infamous are really something else & though you cant enter the buildings you can scale pretty much every inch of them, there is tons of variety to the buildings & the whole map is divided up into a series of islands with their own group of unique enemies running around causing trouble.

The enemies in infamous are fun to battle & there are many kinds of them with their own interesting background. The first group you meet are known as the reapers, they used to be junkies that lurked in the shadows but now that the city is up for grabs they are out in force carrying assault rifles. There are a number of bosses that play an important role in the story & each one poses a different challenge that definitely requires you to upgrade your powers to get further. In prototype the main enemy is the city itself, a viral outbreak turns the citizens into zombie like creatures (28 days later anyone?) there are a few bosses thrown in there too that take a fair pounding before you finally defeat them, one in particular took over an hour to beat. Whereas in infamous you are tackling small enough crowds of enemies prototype is packed with them & I mean seriously packed. There can be hundreds of characters on screen at once which should be a god thing but its not, the AI is sluggish & most of the on screen characters end up being cannon fodder. At times when I was battling it out with multiple creatures at once I found myself getting flung around the screen over & over again ..rather annoyingly.

Each game has its own selection of extra features to it that offer a longer lifespan to the game. In infamous they include taking over territory/beating timers by getting from one side of the city to the next within a time limit/collecting up glass shards that unleash your powers even more & a series of dead drops that are found through satellite dishes around the environment.. The mini games were fun but they were not that fun. Prototype wins here because it has a large variety of mini games to play that include attacking military installations by consuming key personal to gain access/wiping out a number of infected/shooting down helicopters/collecting orbs which are scattered all over the city & a number of other activities.

Well graphics wise infamous wins hands down, the visuals are stunning & might be some of the best I have seen in any ps3 game to date. The lighting is fantastic & really makes the city look alive & vibrant. The lighting really stands out when cole is under the sewers & his powers are causing the walls etc to light up, it looks stunning. As for prototype.. Well, the graphics are rather poor & flat which is a pity because the game really would look better if more time was given to the lighting & environment.. However the obvious reason for this is because most of the processing power is gone into generating vast armies of infected creatures rampaging all over the screen & they do this quite well so it levels out.

I started playing prototype first & put hours/days into clearing the main game more than once, then there was the many challenges & trophies/achievements to unlock. I really did enjoy playing prototype & apart from the confusing story & slightly repetitive missions it was a blast that provided hours of entertainment. It did take a lot of work to unlock all the major powers & upgrades but it was worth it in the end & I definitely got a lot of life out of it & many many sleepless nights of hardcore gaming. The main thing infamous had going for it apart from superior graphics was the karma feature of the game. This simply allows you to play the game in a way that you see fit, if you want to be good & help out the citizens of the crumbling city you can.. On the other hand if you want to be evil & use your powers for bad then you can too. I finished the game on both good & evil endings & as you play through there are actually quite a lot of different outcomes to the game which I found pushed me further to get each desired ending along with the many achievements.

So which is better? Well to be honest they both are good games, infamous was solid/looked a treat/played a treat & immersed me fully into the role of cole ..prototype on the other hand was a whole heap of fun which didn’t require too much thought but also provided truckloads of random action & game play so while the graphics were nothing special I constantly found myself forgetting that & being drawn into just running around causing mayhem & havoc. If you do have a ps3 then I highly recommend getting infamous, if you have an xbox then its worth checking out prototype.. But maybe get it second hand or even rent it but do give it a chance. I’m giving infamous a well deserved 9 out of 10 & prototype a 7 out of 10. I’ll be reviewing batman arkham asylum next!