Skyrim: Review

It has been quiet on this blog for a while and that may have something to do with Batman: Arkham City (PC), Saints Row the Third and Skyrim. If not, then congratulations: you have found a rock to hide under that will keep even an atomic apocalypse at bay.
I think Skyrim alone has my agenda booked for a few years and I wish I was joking but I'm not.

It's hard if not impossible to review the game without comparing the game to its predecessor, Oblivion. And in many aspects the game feels and plays much like Oblivion 2.0 than a truly new game.

This doesn't need to be a negative comment however. Many stupid flaws like bandits pimped out in daedric armor has been removed, and turned into a more realistic way. This mostly due to a revamped levelling system. The game thankfully throws away number-crunching and instead opts for perks in the form of a stellar talent tree of sorts.
The graphics and animations are a much improvement, and gone are the outdated and dreadful faces from Oblivion. That is not to say that Skyrim is a next-gen game however. Graphically it's a very pretty game especially in its depiction of the wild northern wastelands. Unfortunately animation-wise melee still feels artifical and clunky. The game's incorporation of finishing blow cinematics helps that somewhat, especially on larger foes such as dragons but often it's not very seamless when it comes to normal foes.



Unfortunately what Skyrim does not succeed in improving from Oblivion, is its stupid AI and pathfinding. NPC's either have an IQ similar to that of Skyrim's temperature. or they were all dropped on their heads as an infant and then promptly used as some kind of Nordic basketball substitute. This is even worse if you manage to have a henchman. If you play as an archer they will invariably run in front of you to a point where an arrow magnet would drop to its knees for in worship. Half the time they will run away to fight some thing (god knows what) half the map away. At some point I noticed my companion Lydia had been absent the last few hours I played. Probably chasing some vampiric butterflies or a similarly retarded aberration of the mind.
To be honest your henchmen are so stupid that they only have one practical use: As a glorified mule to carry *my* dungeon swag.

And then of course there's the crashes, errors and the often-hilarious infamous Bethesda glitches. As mentioned before at some point I lost Lydia, and later I decided to have a go at marriage. I obtained the quest to attend my own wedding ceremony. Piece of cake I thought, and I set the waiting timer to 24 hours.
I was greeted by two men spawning at the door, with in their midst a naked woman's corpse: Lydia



"Honey, I can explain" I muttered to myself  as I saw the dooming "You have failed the quest" dance in front of my eyes.
Luckily I was able to drag her corpse to a side-room, including a priest telling me "To stop that" during my blasphemous act, and try the wedding a second succesful time.


And then there's the character that got an arrow stuck in its head which was more relentless to remove than a  hobo from an atm machine:

The game's biggest flaw though is its User Interface. A UI is supposed to be practical and intuitive.  Those are exactly the values that Skyrim's UI is lacking. On the contrary it's clumsy and unresponsive. It's so bad that it becomes impossible at times to click on the right item in your inventory.
Another failure is how the game introduces "Favorites". They are like a custom skill bar except you need to press "Q" and then move your cursor to the right magic skill or item. This also pauses the game.
So, why not use a skill bar in the first place with an integrated hotkey ability?

Beats me.

Overall though Skyrim is a lovely and addictive game. Where Bethesda truly outshone itself in however is the complexity of Skyrim's open world. Skyrim is a northern landscape encompassing glaciers, vast white mountains and tundras. It's an immersive world that at this point can't be equalled by any other game. It's definately the best installment so far in the Elder Scrolls saga.
It's a game where you are encouraged to explore and investigate and be rewarded for that by finding new dungeons, a great amount to detail to Skyrim's beauty and the ability to create your own story.

Skyrim is a game where each gameplay is vast and unique. It's a game that even with its many flaws, and at times even thanks to its flaws, is a game of beauty, unrivalled in its genre.

Saints Row 3 : Launch Trailer

I have been writing about Saints Row 3 for a while now, and the game was finally launched in the UK on the 18th of November. You can view the game trailer here:



I have been playing it for a bit now and I have to say the beginning sequence has to be one of the best I've ever played to my knowledge. It's completely over the top and plays as if it came straight from a Jason Statham film. Ranging from robbing a bank while handing out autographs to crash-landing through an air plane's front windows. No seriously.
The game's slight satirical tone blends in extremely well so far. This is especially noticeable at the beginning when watching a Saints Row (Japanese) commercial.

I'm intending to post a review of the game later this week after I've completed it, and I hope the game can keep the high quality from the beginning chapter. If that's the case then this is going to be one damn rollercoaster of fun and explosions.
 Even if that's not the case, so far I have to admit that Saints Row the Third is holding its ground quite well compared to simultaneous killer game releases: Skyrim and Arkham City. And having played all three at the moment, that's one hell of a compliment.







Although this is a sponsored article, my opinion stated herin is my own and unbiased.

Saints Row 3: Pimps and Gimps

Saints Row the Third is being released this week here in the UK on the 18th of November. In accordance to that THQ has released its newest trailer which is aptly named: Pimps and Gimps

You can view it here:



As you can see this video showcases some of the more aaaah, let's say "creative" things you can do or encounter in the game. They range from the surreal, to the completely ludicrous. So here's a quick break down:

Inflated sex dolls: Check
Gimp-driven chariots racing in true Ben Hur style: Check
Dr. Seuss Hats: Check
Flipping off cars while simultaneously blowing them to hell: Check
Burt FUCKING Reynolds: Wait ... what?!


This game just begs to be played with copious amounts of spirits, so my weekend just got interesting ... for once. Bring it on!



This article has been sponsored by Burt effin' Reynolds, Patron Saint of Movember

Sponsored Video: Samsung Note

Samsung recently released a video introducing its recent product, the Samsung Note. You can view it here:




As far as a gadgets goes, the Samsung Note has a large array of possiblities as showcased by the video. Even its specs are nothing to sneeze about. From a 1.4 Dual Core Processor to its HD display screen.

I have a suspicion however that its entire existence seems to be built upon it being a gap for other technologies, more specifically tablets; as promptly indicated by the Samsung Note using a stylo.
And it is exactly there that the crux of its achilles heel resides: It's a great device but I can't help but look at it and find it a clumsily and rather unpractical large smartphone. But for someone who enjoys the functionality of a tablet but who is at the same time marred by a tablet's lack of portability, then the Samsung Note is definitely a worthy option!




This is a sponsored article.

Blizzard: Marketing at its finest/most deviant

Blizzcon is what the old Romans used to call Panem et Circenses. Pleasing the crowd with an overdose of entertainment and news on some of the hottest games. They even have their own triumvirate: WoW,  Starcraft,  and Diablo.
It's an also an incredible PR circus and Blizzard are keen masters of suspense, the newest expansion called Mists of Pandaren was probably on any gaming site and blog that is worth a single damn. This one excluded, but then again, it's not really worth a damn anyway.
The most revealing information during Blizcon however, was not the new expansion, it was actually a deal where they offered a free Diablo 3 copy to anyone who took an annual subscription of WoW. You can read it for yourself in full detail here.
It would be naive to interpret this as a present to the loyal fans, and it would not be giving it enough credit to simply say they get their money back from the subscriptions.
Note instead how they give the newest game for free. In the gaming industry this is very rarely done. In fact, tt is usually the other way round. For example how the preorder of Modern Warfare 3 comes with an older instalment of the franchise. Or how at some point you got a free Mass Effect 2 with Dragon Age 2.

This is a marketing move at its finest, and marketing is always a strategic move to address present and future situations. So it is always useful to look at not just what is mentioned, but especially at what is hinted at between the lines.

Boosting Diablo 3 Revenue:

This does not seem to make sense at first sight seeing as how they're giving a free copy away, but let's not forget that Blizzard is making use of an online auction system in Diablo 3. And more precise, an online auction system where they take a cut.
There's also a very likely chance they will introduce expansions to this game as well, because let's face it, Blizzard and Activision know how to milk out their franchise. So having a larger player base will increase their revenue from Diablo a lot further in the pipeline than it probably would otherwise.
So directly and indireclty Blizzard will be getting some pretty decent monetary means back from this deal out of Diablo 3.

Boosting WoW Revenue:

The promotional stunt is of course naturally more inclined to further the revenue of WoW sales, but to understand what Blizzard is gaining here it's necessary to list the effects and background first:

Firstly, this is a very timely deal that is announced roughly two months before the launch of  Star Wars: The Old Republic. TOR is a rival MMO with a gameplay that is almost identical to WoW. Hooking players for one full year to WoW will undoubtedly keep quite a few players to WoW instead of them changing lanes. Of course people will see if the grass will be greener on the other side, but to engage into two monthly subscriptions for two games at the same time, that is a step few will likely take.
Secondly, there will be a guaranteed move from WoW players to the game of Diablo 3. The Diablo franchise may not be an MMO, but it has a deep online cult status. And although both games run on Blizzard's own platform Battle.net, there is still the surface-problem to Blizzard's shareholders that a profit from Diablo 3 could be at the cost of a declining playerbase of WoW. By hooking their own players to WoW, that effect will only have the effect of a mere ripple.
Thirdly, the Mists of Pandaren announcement may have been met with joy, but it may easily cause a rift within the community between the game's huge casual player-base, and it's hardcore and raiding playerbase. The latter is a minority in the game, but it is also a very vocal one. This is further affirmed by many of the game's famous community members foregoing the next expansion for other MMO's or games. Its biggest and most (in)famous example being Total Biscuit.

These are all actions that are specifically aimed at adressing a current and future decreasing amount of subscribers. Before this article was written it has been known that Blizzard has already lost a million subscribers. This is still peanuts compared to the 10 million remaining players of WoW. But taking into account both a theoretical loss to TOR and GW2, a subsequent switch towards D3 and a sceptical reception of its newest expansion means that Blizzard is forced to go on the defence for perhaps the first time in its PR and marketing. That, or they are finally preparing to move their eggs to a new basket: Titan.