3/5

Good but with glaring flaws

The good:

• It’s a nice sand box game with a good but not overwhelming sidequests, collectibles, and upgradeable headquarter.
• Great rendition of rennaisance Italy, it’s not everyday you visit Venice, Firenze, Tuscany, with the beautiful churches.
• Overall superb presentation, from graphic, locale designs, and audio cues.
• Being assassin, with solid game play mechanics, is always fun.

The bad:

• While solid, game play mechanics feels very artificial and gamey. For example is the notoriety mechanic. When you do something bad or awesome, your notoriety meter increases. When it’s full, you are ‘Notorious’. That means guards will react faster to your actions. To reduce it, you have to tear wanted posters, bribe heralds, or kill corrupt official. It feels odd that one time you are chased by guards, and when you tear 4 posters (out of hundreds of the posters in the huge city), and you suddenly go ‘Incognito’. Another is the ‘blend in’ mechanic. There are lots of people in the city who moves in group. They move around without specific reason. You can blend by enter their midst and go with them, bypassing the guards. This is a little bit silly. First people seem to be okay being used by you, and they are just walking around for no particular reason. Second, I think it’s silly that guards don’t recognize one different person, especially with such odd clothing.
• Control is awkward, sometimes you feel that you’re full in control, sometimes you feel that the computer is in control (and screws you). The problem is in the control scheme I think. The game tries to streamline control by using a button for various functions, but they also add the number of buttons for certain actions. For example, the fastest run requires 3 buttons to be pressed. To make things worse, one of the button used for running is also used for latching, climbing, and jumping. So you enter an archway on your left, trying to make haste when turning left only to find yourself latched on the archway’s wall.
• The story sucks. Really. If it stands alone, it would be ‘okay’. It tries to be one of those pseudo-history thingy, but fails miserably. I can’t tell you much without spoiling the game. It’s the usual my-family-is-killed-kill-all-who-is-even-remotely-related-to-the-murder-wow-I-am-a-prophet.
• The main character is really not interesting. His personality and motives are unclear. Altair was boring game play wise, but he was interesting. And the accent… ugh…

World Works Games – http://www.worldworksgames.com/

WWG provides the best paper terrain in the industry. I can vouch for that. Its products boast the best textures I’ve ever seen made for terrain. Recently, they introduced the TerrainLinX system, which gives WWG sets incredible on-the-fly customization capability and compatibility between sets.

With several sets, you can build a medieval city of unlimited size (as large as your ink cartridge and cardstock supply), with various shapes of roads, buildings, canals, and even an underground sewer system to boot!

The only downside of WWG terrain is that the sets are considerably more complex than those made by its competitors.

Recently WWG also promoted the use of automated home cutting machine by providing the files required for those machines in its bundles. It is the first in the industry, and was quick to be followed by the other companies.

One Monk Miniatures – http://www.onemonk.com/

If WWG is the best in paper terrain, One Monk Miniatures is the best in paper miniatures. WWG also makes standees, but they are nowhere to OMM’s quality. Some of its sets are so great that I would love to make a whole army for a WHFB game from them.

They recently follows WWG footsteps in providing its customer files to be used with automated cutting machines, and boy these fine miniatures do need those machines!

Fat Dragon Games – http://www.fatdragongames.com/

Fat Dragon Games is the last entry. I consider FDG to be WWG’s main competitor. FDG also recently released a system capable of making expandable medieval city terrain system. But unlike WWG, FDG’s models are relatively simple to produce.

Superficial Damage/Defense Mechanics

There are three ‘defenses’ in ME2.

• Armor, easily destroyed by fires
• Shield, easily destroyed by electromagnetics.
• Barrier, easily destroyed by warp effects

Furthermore, targets are divided into organics and synthetics. But only after their defenses have been stripped off them.

One of the major flaw is head shot. Like shooters with common sense, if you shoot someone at the head, you deal extra damage. But in ME2, if you make a head shot while the target still have shield or barrier, it also does extra damage. AFAIK, shield and barrier protect the body as a whole, and it doesn’t matter where they are shot, since they have equal strength all over. Unlike the human body, to which the head is a weak point.

The other is carryover damage. For example a target with 100 barrier and 100 health is attacked with 100 damage warp. The barrier is vulnerable to warp, so the warp deals double damage which is 200. Now, the warp is supposed to deal normal damage to health. With 100 warp, 50 points are taken to destroy the barrier since it effectively deals 100 damage. And the remaining 50 reduces the target’s health to 50. But in ME2, it will kill the target, since only the first type of defense is considered, except when it has zero effect on the following defense (like e.m. against organics’ health).

Bad Morality System

In an RPG, you are supposed to do whatever you like. In ME2, you have to be either good or bad, because anything in-between yields less result. This is actually a problem for most recent Bioware games, but ME2 is amended a little by having separate tracks for good and bad actions.

The problem with this is, players’ choice about actions is not about doing good or bad. It’s about points. Paragon and renegade points, to be exact. Events roll practically the same, only the dialogs and cutscenes change a little. Instead of having consequences, players are granted points for morality decisions.

Boring Gametime Increasing Activity

Mining resources to get upgrades. This is boring and ultimately artificial. More harm than fun is added to the game with this.

Story

As with most RPGs, the story makes up 50% of its value (I respectfully disagree to anyone who says that story is the most important thing in RPGs).

The story is short, just like the original. Shepard goes to several places in any order you want, and then go to the finale. In ME Shepard went to various place to gather ‘records’ of the Prothean in the form of Prothean beacons. In ME2 Shepard collects his crew of the galaxy’s best talents and misfits, before going to the final bad dudes’ bastion.

ME2 is considerably darker, with Shepard now supported by the Cerberus (although where his true allegiance lies can be controlled by player). Each crew grants 2 missions: the first is to recruit and the second is to gain the crew’s loyalty. All missions somewhat end with twist, possibly leaving the player to question the morality choices of the characters and their consequences, even with clear paragon/renegade choices. Considering that the mission is a black-op in nature, ME2 is less epic than ME.

Characters development, fortunately, is very strong in ME2. Each crew member has his/her own interesting story (although somewhat dark), and there are more companions now.

ME2 has a little surprise at the end, but I don’t feel like spoiling it.

Combat System

The other 50%. The combat system is fixed, and it’s much, much better and satisfying than ME’s. Cover works. It feels closer to Gears of War, although not as fine. Combat has become a tactical festive, with usually larger battlefield and sometimes ways to flank enemies.

Equipments are now highly streamlined, and ME2 is one of those few RPGs without loot-fest. There are several classes of weapons (pistols, SMGs, shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles and heavy weapons), but each only has 2 or 3 kinds. For example, most people would only find 3 kind of assault rifle, and the nice touch is, that all of them handles differently. True, the later found rifle is better than the earlier (IMO), but you can always stick with the earlier kind if you like it because of…

The upgrade system. Instead of having plenty of assault rifles with stat increments, weapons and equipments are now improved through squad-wide upgrades. For example, when Shepard researches and improves assault rifles’ damage by 10%, all squad members get the bonus. Some upgrades are Shepard exclusive, but these are few.

Skills are also streamlined. Now each team member only has 3 skills and the possibility to access a special skill if they’re loyal. Shepard himself has 6 skills and can learn 1 squad member’s loyalty related skill. This is a nice change by Bioware, since in such intense battle system, having too much skill can be bog down the battle. It’s better, IMO, to have fewer skill that see more use.

Other Bits of Gameplay

Gone now the need to bring along team member who can hack and bypass since Shepard can do them all by himself now. Also, healing is handled differently. Shepard can carry a number of medi-gel, and he alone can use them to heal wounded or downed party members. The effectiveness of medi-gel can be slowly improved, to the point where party members will retain full hp and shield when raised. ME2 also introduces quick time events, in which Shepard can cut dialog with action.

Conclusion

ME2 is an interesting game. It’s now more a balanced hybrid between shooter and RPG, and I think that’s not a bad thing. What’s interesting is, that Bioware’s take on RPG has changed; from stat-crunching to story-related decisions. The term role playing has long been half-heartedly translated into games with number-based battle systems, but in ME2 players are given the choice to affect the story. It’s more like an illusion of freedom, but currently ME2′s storyline immersion is the best. The story, while simple, is presented lavishly, with expressive characters, great lines (and voice actors), and cinematic events.

On the combat system, it’s actually very possible to play it like old school Bioware RPG, utilizing skills of biotic and tech to the fullest, making it less like a shooter. Shooter fans would be satisfied with ME2′s combat engine, but it’s still also manageable by less reflexive RPG fans.

Solid story, solid combat system, streamlined character management. This is an RPG in which you actually spend more time playing and having a good time instead of managing hundreds of item in the inventory and dozen of skills you have to update each time you go to a different battle.

5 of 5

Simpler Equipment Management

Some fans protested the linearity of stuff found in ME. There is a very limited number on equipment type, and none of the usual RPG garbage (stuff that can be picked up but usually useless). There was even no quest item at all. Now it’s even simpler. You don’t loot/buy weapons, armors, and equipments. Instead you buy or do research. Once you research a certain thing, it is applied to the whole squad. For example, if you research assault rifle damage, all assault rifles in the party improve. These upgrades vary from damage reduction, power damage increase, to weapon property (damage, penetration, accuracy, etc) improvement.

You will still get weapons and armor though, although they are quite rare. For example, so far I’ve gotten only 2 additional assault rifles. The nice thing is, these newer assault rifles are quite different from the one I had earlier. The 2nd one has smaller clip and more damage per bullet. The 3rd has bigger clip, more damage, but far less accurate. So I think the weapons found in the game means different handling, instead of linear stat increase.

Armor is handled a little differently. Now you can only customize Shepard armor. Other party members (and Shepard’s) armor can be improved via the upgrade system. But Shepard armor is unique. Shepard can equip armor for different body parts, each with unique property. You can equip a full helmet for extra hit points, or a targeter to gain increased damage on head shots.

The nice thing about the armor customization is, you’re no longer a walking clown. While different armor parts have different shape, the paint job is uniformed, and the color and patter of Shepard’s armor is customizable.

Simpler Character Development

Characters in ME2 have a very limited number of skills. Most of them have only 3 active skills, and one can only be used after the character’s loyalty quest has been done. Each skill only has 4 levels, which can be bought with different values. While level 1-3 is the usual linear increase, level 4 is a little special in which you can choose a skill to ‘evolve’. For example, for biotic powers the usual choice is to choose to add even more power, or make it to affect multiple targets.

This is a very simple, yet effective skill system. Player will leave out 1 skill our 2 skills usually, without ever being underpowered. It’s difficult to make a weak character with just a little common sense  (yes, I’m looking at you Dragon Age).

I think I’ve passed ME2′s half point, and so far I’m extremely satisfied. Let’s see what the end holds.

The story is pretty weak, similar to Terminator. You (Sam, the humanity greatest hero) are sent to ancient egypt to destroy the demons/aliens before they get too strong. The intro implies that you came from a pretty distant future. And you arrive in ancient Egypt with revolvers, a knife, and wearing a t-shirt. Neat.

So welcome Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.

A few hours into the game, and I feel some sort of generation rift. SSHD is nothing like any shooters that have recently been released. SSHD is a very simple shooter, with basic FPS control: mouselook and sidesteps. No cover system, or accuracy-drop-when-moving, or ‘realistic’ physics, or other ordinary stuff found in modern shooters. SSHD just gives you a fast-paced action, which forces you to keep moving, dodging incoming projectiles and charging monsters, and shoot them using various weapons that bely their real-world effectiveness. I mean… using a shotgun to down a 10m cybernetic robot? It is more akin to DOOM, a game I play in the 90s (gosh, that feels like ancient times!). But while DOOM featured claustrophobic corridors, SSHD best moments come from battles in open arenas, when throng of monsters come from all direction.

But that is where the fun lies. All the over the top weapons, throng of enemies (like… hundreds of them, and I’m not exaggerating!), the absurdities of the story, and the corny one liners that Sam says.

This is FPS at its purest form. Enemies come, choose your favorite tool of destruction, and shoot them while dodging attacks. Great fun.

Fortunately: yes.

So what can you expect in Left 4 Dead 2?

• 5 new campaigns. The original shipped with 4 campaigns, but L4D2 ships with 5.
• More varied events. There were 2 events in L4D2: Mini-finales, in which you do something that attracts a lot of zombies, and the finales, when you are waiting for the help to arrive. L4D2 introduces variations to these events that make the game more interesting. For example, there are some instances in which you need to turn off the alarm to stop the onslaught. L4D2 also  includes 2 different finales. I won’t spoil them for you though.
• Better campaign  continuity. In L4D it feels as if we’re playing different stories. Valve had stated that originally L4D was going to feature more cut scenes to tell the story as a whole, but instead cut it short because they thought it will be boring to watch the same cut scenes over and over. Well, they think a little different now. The intro cut scenes of the 2nd and following campaigns explain how things are going after the last campaign without being too long and winding.
• More weapons. L4D features 3 classes of weapons. 2 of them have weak and strong variant, to a grand total of 5 types of weapons (well, 6 if you count the pistol). L4D2 at features a similar system of weapon classes (automatics, shotguns, and snipers), but with more types of weapons. Each feels a little different from the other, but they are different enough. There are 2 kinds of pistol now: the first is similar to what is in the original, and the 2nd is the magnum pistol, which is stronger but with smaller magazine sizes. For the automatic weapons and shotguns I counted at least 2 weaker variants and 3 stronger variants for each. I haven’t touched the sniper rifles, but I saw at least 2 types of sniper rifles.
• Weapon upgrades. I noticed there are at least 3 types of weapon upgrades. The first is the laser sight, which makes a weapon to be more accurate. The only downside is that if you switch weapon, you’ll lose this upgrade. Since ammo pile is more scarce in L4D2, you often have to choose between discarding your upgraded weapon or axe your way through (more on this later). The two other upgrades are ammo upgrades. Players can carry ammo boxes instead of health kits. At any time a player can use it to place the box on the ground, and other players can get special ammunition. The choice is between incendiary and explosive ammunition. No need to mention that this also poses a choice for players to either carry a health kit or a special ammo box.
• Melee weapons. Now these things rock! Instead of carrying peashooters (pistols) you can now have melee weapons. There are many kinds of melee weapons, from frying pan to baseball bats to katana (samurai swords), and they behave mostly the same. With the exception of the chainsaw, which is the most powerful melee weapon but is limited by fuel. Melee weapons are powerful, capable of killing multiple zombies in a player’s front arc in a single strike. This makes them very useful except for a few instances (like Tanks or Smokers).
• New special zombies. There is quite a bit of new special zombies. We have Spitters, which spits lingering acid-like substance. The longer players stay on the acid zone, the more damage they take. Then there this Charger, which at first glance looks like a mini-Tank. It charge, knocks everyone aside, and sometimes pick an unfortunate player and pound him/her until the other players help. The Jockey, just like its namesake, ride on top a player and forces him/her to move to random directions. The Clowns attract more zombies. All of the original’s special zombies are here. The Witch even gets a bonus. She now sometimes move around. She is much less perceptive when moving around, fortunately.
• New items. The defibrillator is an item that resurrect dead players. I don’t know what’s so special about it, but it occupies the same slot as the health kit, so I haven’t had chance to try it. Then there is also the stim-pack, which increases your movement and action speed, which occupies the same slot as the health kit. Players also get a new type of bomb, the Boomer’s puke, which can be thrown to a zombie to attract other zombies to it.
• More gore. Valve really went over the top with body damage. You can shoot parts off. Damaged body parts show innards in gory detail without being too excessive.

Well, I think that there are a lot of new features, which make L4D2 a fresh game. Just because it’s released only months after the original does not make it a half-baked game.

Gantz is a very strange manga. It’s kind of a cult manga that not everyone can enjoy it. I doubt that anyone will enjoy it, but some people will be addicted to it. Just like me.

In Gantz, dead people are resurrected in a room by a mysterious black ball called Gantz. They wear black skin tight power suits and powerful weapons to hunt aliens, as ordered by Gantz. By the end at each hunt mission, these Hunters are awarded by points depending on how well they do on the mission. Once a hunter reaches 100 points, he/she can choose to be free, get a powerful weapon, or resurrect a person from his/her memory.

Gantz is dripping with violence, sex, and adult themes. Frankly I don’t think I’ve ever read a manga more gory than Gantz. A lot of people day, and mostly in a very gory manner, that drawn in a detailed manner. People get slashed, crushed and dismembered in ways unimaginable. Monsters behave impossibly that more often than not I cringe while reading Gantz. Characters come and go (read: die) so fast, that after a while you will no longer expect for anyone to live more than a few volumes (or more than a few chapters in most cases).

And that is the most interesting thing about Gantz. The writer never hesitates to kill anyone that it always put the readers on the edge of their seat. The atmosphere is so dark, so heavy that it burdens, but that is also the attraction.

Be aware that Gantz are not for those with weak stomachs. It’s not just about the extreme violence, but how the author often gives hope, only to utterly crush it. But if you are willing to read something different (and dismiss the absurd feeling you get at the beginning chapters), I guarantee that you will get an experience unobtainable anywhere else.

PS. Gantz does make me feel as if it’s a ‘slasher’ manga, as much as ‘Saw’ is a ‘slasher’ movie. However, the story is much longer that I get more attached to Gantz’ characters. And it is very very weird. You can never know what happens next.

Berikut adalah 3 armor set awal yang sebaiknya dimiliki semua pemain Runes of Magic.

Logar Set

• Chest/Badan: Suara-suara Di Malam Hari/Things That Go Bump (Agnes)
• Legs/Kaki: Petunjuk Terakhir/Final Clue (Membunuh Anglie di rangkaian Barren Caves)
• Boots/Sepatu: Tombak Logar/Logar’s Spear (rangkaian Dead Tree)

Silverspring Set

• Chest/Badan: Membunuh Kipos, pemimpin Kobold (rangkaian Kobold, mulai dari Wills di Howling Mine)
• Golves/Sarung Tangan: Membunuh Yuri (setelah Yuri mati, klik kanan bukunya dan terima quest)
• Legs/Kaki: Membunuh Morrison (rangkaian Maidge’s Farm, awali dari Wilsin)
• Boots/Sepatu: rangkaian Dorian Farm (awali dari Omyr)

Top-secret Set

• Chest/Badan: Membunuh Count Hibara
• Shoulders/Bahu: NPC setelah Zombie Duke (kembalikan pada Hugo di pulau di tengah danau)
• Gloves/Sarung Tangan: Peti di perkemahan Zurhidon (rangkaian Zurhidon)
• Legs/Kaki: Dokumen Dalam Kegelapan (rangkaian Forsaken Abbey)
• Boots/Sepatu: Rangkaian Dreamland

Beberapa quest membutuhkan party yang tidak kecil. Lainnya membutuhkan level yang cukup tinggi. Seringkali saya hanya bisa meringis saat 5 atau 6 orang dengan level 15+ menantang Pumpkin Prince.

Dasar berparty adalah adanya seorang tank (TB/tahan badan), healer, dan DPS (hitter).

Berikut beberapa quest populer pada level-level awal (sampai Silverspring) yang membutuhkan party.

Logar

Quest untuk mendapatkan Logar set dapat dikerjakan oleh 3 atau 4 orang yang berlevel 12+. Quest-quest ini adalah:

• Suara-suara Di Malam Hari (Things That Go Bump)
• Petunjuk Terakhir (Final Clue)

Sedikit lebih sulit adalah quest membunuh Pirlanok Servant, Tifka, dan Ravenous Kalod, yang membutuhkan level yang lebih tinggi dan sedikit taktik.

Yang paling sulit adalah quest Material Aneh (Substance Material) yang mengharuskan pemain memasuki instance di Barren Caves (portal biru di antara peti), melewati lorong yang penuh dengan musuh-musuh dan seorang bos yang kuat. Disarankan untuk melakukan ini pada level 15+.

Silverspring

Quest paling awal berkelompok di Silverspring adalah quest-quest untuk mendapatkan Silverspring Set, yaitu:

• Membunuh Kipos
• Membunuh Morrison
• Membunuh Yuri

Dari ketiga di atas, membunuh Kipos adalah yang tersulit. Disarankan party 3-4 orang berlevel 14+ untuk melakukan quest-quest ini. Untuk Kipos, party bisa ditambah atau dilakukan setelah level sedikit lebih tinggi.

Sedikit lebih sulit adalah quest Bernok (Bernok Yang Licik/Crafty Bernok). Yang paling penting di sini adalah tanker yang mampu (18+) dan healer yang tangkas. Juga penting lebih dari 1 hitter untuk melindungi healer dari serigala-serigala lain yang berkeliaran di sekitar party. Disarankan party minimal 16+ dan kalau bisa 18+.

Ada dua quest di Silverspring yang membutuhkan raid. Raid adalah kelompok serbu lebih dari satu party. Dua quest ini adalah membunuh Count Hibara (bentuk 1 & 2) dan membunuh Pumpkin Prince. Sangat disarankan adanya tanker berlevel 24+, dan party berjumlah 12 atau lebih pemain dengan rata-rata level 20.

Terakhir adalah rangkaian quest Dokumen Dalam Kegelapan/Document in Darkness, yang berkaitan dengan quest Ancalon dan Ancarlos. Karena hanya bisa 1 party, disarankan tim yang solid dengan anggota 25+.