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Please be good to me, Tera Online

April 14, 2012 in PC gaming by with 0 Comments

I have a love/hate relationship with MMOs of all kinds, as you can probably tell from past blog posts. The last time I was totally in-love with an MMO was my first month with World of Warcraft. Warhammer Online was fun for a good while too, but after the first month, I was done. Same with Champions. Same with Rift. Same with every MMO I’ve ever played.

And it’s not the subscription fees that throw me off – I know that because Free2Play-MMOs capture my attention even less than paid ones. I’ve never spent time with an MMO in the long-term. I’ve just never had one “click,” although again, my first month with WoW was just totally magical, utter awesomeness, and I did come back when I could. Playing with some kids from my school, talking over vent and having a good time, exploring this beautiful, seemingly infinite world – it was total bliss. I don’t use the word lightly. Few games – non-MMOs especially – have managed to do that.

I’ve learned time and time again that MMOs are never an option for me in the long run. Yet I keep coming back to the genre because a part of me has hope that somehow, just somehow that MMO-magic will be found once more and I will once more be totally immersed in an ideal role-playing world. I love MMOs, or the concept at least. I think they stand out above all other genres as something totally unique because of what they are – giant, persistent,  but ever-evolving worlds that house millions of players. Experiences are made, friendships are forged, and countless monsters are slain. It’s all great, and just going over it all with you now has made me kinda happy in the pants to play one again. See?! MMOs always seem to have this incredibly strong allure, and it gets me to drop-in every couple of months – after playing the subscription fee, of course – to get a taste of what I’ve been missing.

But the realistic, frugal side of me knows I’m better off never playing MMOs because I always leave on a rather sad note, historically when my included 30 days expire. Then I return to single-player and multiplayer games for a while. Then I get curious again, and subscribe. I’ll play for a bit and, well… off I go again. Hence, that picture up there that very accurately depicts a rather depressing side of my gaming life.

*Ahem*

Tera Online is a new MMORPG releasing officially on May 1st. The main difference between it and most other MMOs – and the reason you should care – is the combat. Tera features a combat system where positioning, timing, and aim factor in to combat, meaning your attacks won’t register on foes automatically. There’s that, and the absolutely beautiful graphics, which are being powered by the Unreal 3 Engine, if I’m not mistaken. The game also passes my MMO-Racial standards (lololol racist), featuring the following:

Elves, check. Humans, check. Arch-demon looking things, check, furry otter-racoon looking guys, check, Elves check again, and then you’ve got the big stone giants who out of all six, appeal to me the most. Not a bad selection, could use a little more variety though. Actually, I think I’m missing a race here -

Oh.

And little girls too, apparently. Out of everything following Tera’s western release (it was originally a Korean title), this is what’s creating the most controversy, easily. I’m pretty much indifferent towards the idea because I think giving people more character options is always a good idea. But um, yeah. Little girls.

I’ve already pre-ordered because of the nice bonus incentives, like early character creation and a little bit of a head start – if all goes to plan. Sounds good to me. I’m pretty excited to try this one out, even if it is totally on a whim.

Expect some impressions posts and whatnot when the open beta starts on the 19th. Keeping this post in mind, I’m going to be brutally honest about what I think about this game. That being said, I really, really hope I like it. Again, the combat alone has my interest piqued.

-rav4ge

Podcast Episode 29 – Random Mitch

April 13, 2012 in Podcast by with 0 Comments

After several tries, podcast 29 is in the bag! In the sack. In the virtual folder of sorts. In this post. And hey, it can be on your iPod, too!

There’s some fun stories, ass-widening scenarios, and dick jokes. All in all, it’s a pretty solid episode.

…Oh man. I am so, so sorry. But yes, I approve of this episode. Give it a shot.

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Quake 4 – Keep it simple, stupid

April 6, 2012 in PC gaming by with 0 Comments

Since we’ve been in a bit of a slump for exciting new game releases recently, I’ve been going through my backlog of Steam games and playing things I’ve been meaning to finish. One such game is Quake IV – the sequel to Quake II, made back in 2005 by Raven Software.

As you might expect, Quake IV is a first-person-shooter, and a rather good one at that. I played the demo several years ago and really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until the Steam holiday sale of last year that I picked it up. The game is pretty much about running around through these very detailed, technological-looking claustrophobic environments – which by the way, hold up very well due to the amount of extreme detail – and shooting these cyborg things called Strogg. The Strogg are pretty much like Terminators, but instead of having synthetic outer skin, Strogg soldiers are made by capturing humans and fitting them with a series of cybernetic implants. This is demonstrated many times throughout the game, because for some reason the Strogg also use humans as data terminals and all other sorts of things, which is really creepy, to say the least. I mean seriously, look at this shit.

And that is one of the Strogg’s cleaner pieces of work. There are other areas of the game that resemble, well… butcher shops. This is something I really did enjoy about Quake IV though – when it does horror, it does it in a very unique fashion. Corpses nailed onto the walls, heads on sticks – we’ve all seen that done many times before in horror-themed games. The way the Strogg do their “art,” though? Totally different, and it works. You have to give them credit at least for doing something with all the bodies that stack up because of war. Waste not, want not.

It’s a shame the story doesn’t really go anywhere past “the Strogg are a threat, shoot them as much as possible, and maybe if we shoot them enough we can end the war,” but I don’t mind the lack of story-telling, really. There is dialogue, but it’s pretty much what you’d expect from an all-action movie like Doom, ironically enough. The main reason I like this game though is because of the great the level design, especially with all the detail put in. Secondly, of course, is the gunplay. It’s fast-paced, satisfying, and just plain fun.

As I came to the conclusion of the game’s single-player today though, I got rather angry – which isn’t something games tend to really do to me. I do have a bit of a loathing for end-bosses in shooters though because by that time in the game, I just want to see what happens more than anything else, and shooters have a nasty habit of making the end boss something of a bullet-sponge, which is really never that fun.

Quake IV’s last boss does just this, but the boss goes down easily enough. It’s what happened right after that pissed me off.

** Very minor spoilers for Quake IV follow – just a friendly reminder.**

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Where the hell have I been? — Spring Break Update

March 24, 2012 in Weekly Update by with 0 Comments

Just wanted to write up a post real quick about what’s been happening with this blog – or rather, why nothing has been happening with this blog.

Spring Break 2012 is coming to a close, with only the weekend left before the inevitable return to school. Yeah, it’s a little saddening, but like I said, inevitable. I’m trying to make a point of enjoying all the time I have left in each day and not let it bother me. Seems to be working well so far.

Spring break and Winter break are both great, I think. I rather enjoy getting two weeks to do whatever. Summer is great too, but when you’ve got two whole months of free time, which is a much bigger time frame, you start thinking long-term. I like the two week breaks because they feel long enough but also short enough that can just relax for the whole duration and still enjoy every second of it. Pulling the same thing for two months wouldn’t work out so well.

Before the break started, I started thinking about what I should work on during those two weeks. Historically, I’ve always just relaxed and played video games or done stuff with friends, but if you couldn’t tell from my Twitter feed, I’ve been rather into My Little Pony lately. The show has accumulated a large and incredibly creative fanbase, and some of that rubbed off on me, I guess, because I wanted to make something pony-related over the two weeks. I won’t go into further details, because I’d rather just finish it and have you see it for yourself – but do know I’ve made a good amount of progress. It’s not done yet, but I’m a little more than halfway there.

So that project alone had me compelled a lot of days to just sit down and work on it. I like feeling compelled to work on something, because it usually means I’m enjoying myself – and that was definitely the case here. I was so compelled to work on it, actually, that I ended up not playing many video games over this Spring Break. Like… at all. At least, not anywhere close to what I could have played. I finished up Mass Effect 3 which was a lot of fun, but other than that I just haven’t been feeling it for video games lately, unless it is with friends. Bennett came over a few times and we had a total blast playing Street Fighter X (read as “cross,” not “x”) Tekken and Donkey Kong Country Returns. We actually also recorded another podcast episode, but since we were missing a few people, the energy levels were kind of ho-hum and I don’t think it was that great of an episode over all. This upcoming Friday I’m hoping we can get everyone together and create podcast magic again – or as Michael often says, “lightning in a bottle.”

Anyway, I just realized this whole post seems kinda low-key, but that’s far from how I actually feel. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m definitely not done blogging. I just haven’t been into video games much lately, and as you can probably imagine it’s hard to write about something you currently have low interest levels in. I have a few reviews I’m still working on, and I’m hoping to have those out reasonably soon.

So yes, video games. Keep it posted!

-rav4ge

Podcast Episode 28 – I will kill your dick

March 10, 2012 in Podcast by with 1 Comment

Today’s episode title is an actual quote from last year’s combo-shooter-extravaganza Bulletstorm. I shit you not. How did I not know this until now? It’s also quite appropriate, because Cam spends a good amount of time talking about Bulletstorm’s absolutely crazy plot on this week’s episode. Asian cyborgs, dick-killings, and spaceships? Yeah, it’s all there.

We also have a special guest this time around, Cam’s friend Glen. He’s a totally cool dude and I’d love to have him around for future episodes if possible. His laugh is freaking magical, and he plays tons of games that none of us would normally play ourselves, so it’s great to have him cover things like Asura’s Wrath - which from his description sounds absolutely insane.

So yes, this week’s episode is here! Give it a listen. It’s pretty good, I promise.

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