Heroes of Newerth [The evolution of DotA?]

Heroes of Newerth, also known as HoN has recieved somewhat of a mixed response by the community. On one side, there are those who love the game and on the other, there are those who dont mind the game but seem to find it a complete ripoff. However, it seems that S2Games, the devs of HoN, have asked IceFrog wether it was alright to start this project a few years back. This was underwraps of course and Icey gave the go ahead. Well now it has finally emerged for the beta phase bringing with it vicious packs of zerglings ready to tear at the next innocent victim in possession of a beta key. I myself have managed to get a beta key without the means of violence :P


Personally, I feel that this is the evolution of DotA not in terms of gameplay but from a visual aspect. The graphics are similar to that of what you see in the Diablo 3 trailers. I say this because almost everything on the map was detailed carefully, from the water to the blight. From animations, sounds, models, everything was built from the ground up. Unfortunately I can't share any images or videos which I have in possession but there are some videos up on youtube which were released to the public.


I feel that HoN would be well recieved when it is done in the future. Even in it's beta phase the hype among the community seems to be increasing everyday. I leave you with a gameplay video.

ヴァンガードプリンセス

Saw this on lyn the other day and thought it looked pretty interesting. Basically because of all the moe lol.


That aside, for a such a small file size, one would think that this game would lack any form of long lasting enjoyment. However, under the small frame lies a beautifully crafted fighter by an ex Capcom employee. The sprite work looks amazing as the attention to detail was clearly on the developers mind when he was moulding the clay.


Currently playing with my PS3 Controller, accompanied by the fact that I had to resort to Joy2Key again. Clearly, for me being an avid console gamer I pretty much stuck with the controller and gave up the keyboard to friends who were playing 2P. Speaking of multiplayer, a program called Lunaport was recently released and is still in development for future improvements. Apparently they have not set up an easy to follow GUI yet but hey, it works.


Already favorited Saki :) (vid time)




There are also support characters which are surprisingly ALL loli types >.>
They seem to be a key component in chaining combos and yes there are infinites, so bijes rejoice ;/


If you're interested, follow this post > here <
I had to use Applocale which could be found on the Microsoft Website because I had problems with NTLEA.

BlazBlue follow up

Finally got my hands on the LE :)
Getting blisters on my left thumb, but hell its worth it. Combos are pretty easy to pull off however chaining a few together may seem difficult at first but once you get used to a specific characters style set, pulling off long chains would come naturally after awhile.


The only eye candy in this game for me would be Noel >:) Had fun with her story arcs, especially the parts with Litchi's panda <3>

The soundtrack was a combination of rock-metal and a hint of opera? Something along those lines but it sure did a good job tuning in to game. It was like a bonus rush everytime the music came on lol. I haven't heard the English voices yet because I prefer the Japenese once more ;> but I heard their not as bad as the usual dubs we have come to hate so much.


I STILL HAVENT GOT AN ASTRAL FINISH T_T
P.S: OMG THE OP SEQUENCE ROCKS! Oh I mentioned that already but OMG THE OP SEQUENCE ROCKS!

BlazBlue : Calamity Trigger

                                                                              BlazBlue : Calamity Trigger LE

I want it ._.


IGN : 9.4/10
GT : 9/10
GameSpot : US = 9.4/10 CS = 9.1/10


Read more about it here


Or watch the review below

inFamous

                                                                                              inFamous           

Just finished it and I must say I'm speechless with the ending. It was totally unexpected (in a good way) This was one game that was developed NOT to disappoint. Great storyline, good gameplay which didn't seem repetetive as most other 3P action games. Kept me going for approximately 9-10 hours of playtime.

But seriously, having to tap the R1 button to shoot ONE measly zap was a tad tiring. Other than that controls were good. I loved the way you have to guide you're Lightning Storm with the Sixaxis function. Yes, I'm a sucker for motion control :P
Anyway, didn't manage to finish it on the dreaded HARD mode cos' I'm not the patient type. And my index finger will be pretty much worn out if i'd set the difficulty higher. 

Played the good guy :) but sadly I'll have to play the bad guy to see the inFamous ending :(
Yea, they make you play it again (dirty marketing gimmick  D:< ) Meh anyway I'll probably give it a go after I finish some assignments (piling up!)

                                                                            Lightning Storm
                                                                  "Guide you're Lightning Storm with the Sixaxis function"

[PROTOTYPE]

Yes I'm back after a long time(not like anyone actually cares >.>)


I've decided to continue my blog for the heck it, focusing on tech gadgets and gaming be it titles for the PC or consoles.

Prototype

I've recently got my hands on a copy of Prototype (what kind of copy doesn't really matter now does it) for the PC and decided to write down a few of my thoughts on the game after playing it over the past two days.


Let me begin by saying, I wasn't really expecting much from this game and it actually surprised me that I was actually enjoying myself playing this game. The game starts out a few days ahead of the storyline, when the infection has spread to a point where it is incurable. This is where you have full access to all the power-ups which you can acquire later on. It basically acts as a quick tutorial to the basic controls. You could call it a quick preview if you will.


Story : 3/5

The game revolves around a man named Alex Mercer who has a classic case of amnesia. The storyline progresses normally after you complete a mission (not gonna spoil it for anyone). If you are the type of person to leave nothing unanswered, you can "consume" web of intrigue targets to learn more of the events leading up to the initial outbreak. The reason I used the word "consume" is because you can literally consume a person be it to regain lost health, learn more of the events leading up to the infection, heck you could do it for some plain bloody fun.Although I was not impressed with the fact that the game took place in Manhattan as I believe it is overused lately a la Splinter Cell, The Darkness, Legendary.
Despite this, it actually turned out pretty well. I haven't finished the game yet, so I'm not going to go into more detail in terms of the story. I'll update my review score when I finish the game. Let's move on to gameplay.

Ok, so I finished it a few days ago and  yes I stuck to my word. The twist at the end  was unexpected yes but the delivery was horrible. The cutscene was lost  between the earth and the sun. It was about 4-5 seconds of cutscene for the twist and I was  then immediately thrown into gameplay. Really dissapointing in terms of delivery, but somehow the story did manage to get across to me. It wasn't as original as some of the other titles out there but the gaming industry has grown so much that I guess it's harder to create new ideas now than it was 9-10 years ago. Still haven't gotten all the WoI targets yet though, but  I don't think their that important so I'm off to play GTA IV. 


Gameplay : 4/5

The gameplay in Prototype reminds me a bit of the Spiderman games back on the PS2. This is more towards traversing through the city. You have your basic jump as high as an african treefrog on steroids, a wallrun (diagonally and horizontally), latching on to buildings, and gliding! Yes, gliding. You can also purchase "Air Dash" which lets you cover ground much faster. If you're the type who likes to move fast. The sprint button will be your best friend. It is rare for me to see a sprint button built into a third person game but it actually turned out pretty well. The upgrades for sprinting will be noticeable every time you buy a new level. This is what I like to see when I purchase upgrades, some change in pace or animation.

You start out with none of the things you see in the quick tutorial at the beginning of the game. You'll have to upgrade them in the upgrade menu. The currency used is EP, which isn't hard to get. You get EP through various means such as completing a story mission, finishing an event or even killing random pedestrians. Moving on to the graphical side of the game.

                                       

   Groundspike  
Graphics : 3/5

The animations for Alex are top notch. Movement is fluid and there wasn't one instance in the game where I got stuck under a car or caught in a tree and had to wait for a fire truck to come get me down. The sprint will be held down throughout most of the game I suppose. As I said the animation is fluid and vaulting over cars to transferring from the streets to the side of the building feel smooth.


Jumping off high rise buildings or helicopters in any other game wouldn't really impact the ground you land on. However, as soon as you hit the floor, the ground shatters around you sending a shockwave which actually damages the environment.


On the down side, the buildings looked almost the same every where I went that I sometimes got lost, having to resort to pausing the game to look at the map. The mini-map wasn't useful at all. Even in the chase scene (not gonna say more than that) where I constantly fell behind because I was going right when what I was chasing was going left.
One thing I did like though was the fact that you could explore the entire city without having to bump into numerous invisible walls with the infamous  message popping up stating "Area Locked"


Audio : 2/5

The music in the game confused me at times. The tempo would suddenly escalate and I would find myself turning around only to see an empty street. And at pivotal moments where I was supposed to kill something the music seemed to die down. Even though the soundtrack was actually quite good on the ears, like I said, it was confusing at times.


Controls : 2/5

This is the type of game which is  meant to be played on a gamepad, and sadly, the gamepad support in this game was terrible.  A number of complaints were posted up on the  Activision forums stating their gamepads weren't being detected.  I found this disappointing as I was hoping to hook up my  sixaxis controller to  try it out (I did anyway, but to no avail). Anyway the default keys seemed a bit messy.


The movement keys are the basic W A S D. The sprint button is mapped to the Shift key. I found my left hands pinky finger feeling rather strange at times where I held down sprint for too long. Anyway, on  the plus side, the  Power Selection Wheel works  just like how you would control an iPod. Just hold down 'R' and move the mouse towards the preferred power/upgrade and you're set.  


The targeting system was not helpful to be honest. I would at times find myself not being able to target whats right in front of me. Switching targets was also a tedious task. I think I only managed to pull it off once or twice throughout the game. It supposedly tells you to "flick the targeting cursor" by holding tab and flicking the mouse. I even "flicked" my mouse off the table and I still wouldn't be able to switch targets.

Conclusion : 2.8/5
All in all this game surprised me in more ways than one but some of the surprises were not really desired. It's true that I actually have fun playing the game, but I would say rent it or borrow it off a friend OR you could always do that thing we Malaysians are famous for :) Either way, Prototype is worth playing but I wouldn't give up an organ for it.

Pictures courtesy of giantbomb.com