Moving

Greetings denizens of the online universe. I am both sad and happy that I am here to inform you that I have not been posting on this blog lately because I have moved to Tumblr. I have started an ask blog and will attempt to answer any questions as quickly as is possible. The address for the fore-mentioned blog is http://ph0nt0m.tumblr.com/, have fun!

Black

Dark as night, without light,

End of all things bright,
Spreading fast,
Smothering light,
Bringing the eternal night.
Scenes of fear, scenes of chaos,
This color does bring us,
But irrational is our fear,
When the night is near.
Hid behind bright white lights,
Is the beauty of summer nights,
Cool breeze in the air,
Too afraid to be there,
We all run out of fright,
 from the blackness of the night.
Dark color grim, hides the grin,
Of the darkness of the night,
But why are we not in fright,
Of all things from the white?
Black doth behold all paintings tales of woe,
White and black the oldest foe.
Rivalry too old to see
Unlocking people’s destiny.
But for every light there is a shadow,
A black shape beyond your window,
Every child learns to fear,
When the dark comes here,
Black night on this earth,
Stay near the warm of the fiery hearth.
                                                                     -Phantom

(Note: I was feeling like rhyming and this came out. It is a poem that I based off the color black, hope you enjoyed!)

Dungeons and Dragons Online

Its been a long day, but I have been wanting to review DDO for a while now. DDO is an mmorpg (massively multiplayer online role playing game)  that is based off of the board game Dungeons and Dragons. While DDO does not have nearly as many rules or spells as the original board game, it does add some modern features. You start out in 3rd person view mode, but if you don't like 3rd person you can easily change it to first. The HUD is easy to learn and customizable, so you can move target orbs around to your hearts content. The gameplay is simple, W, S, A, and D move your character, you can turn on moue-look mode so that your character looks where your mouse is pointing, and you can even jump using spacebar. If you don't like the default controls then you can go into the options tab, and customize every single key binding under the sun, even the ones you'll never use. A omnipresent "Dungeon Master" helps you out by telling you certain details about a dungeon or giving you not-so-subtle hints. Which means that you'll know how to play before you exit the tutorial (Maybe a few other games can learn from DDO?). However, DDO does suffer a major problem, Premium members. It would appear as though many of the "Free to Play" games nowadays aren't really free to play. DDO is no exception, sure there are tons of dungeons you can still do, and yes you can get to the same level as Premium members with time. However, DDO has an annoying tendency to have dungeons everywhere which only Premium members can enter. There is a way to bypass this, the game has in-game currency that you can use to unlock dungeons, but it is extremely hard to get said currency and dungeons are extremely expensive. So I don't really bother  with it. While these premium shenanigans can be annoying, keep in mind that they do not stop you from progressing. The last subject I shall write about can be a boon to some and utter horrible-ness to others. DDO supports players helping other players. Sometimes you find a dungeon you just cant beat on your own, that's when I started to learn about groups. Grouping is hit and miss, sometimes it can be really fun and beneficial to everyone in the party, and other times it can be a bunch of people mucking about doing nothing. Weather or not you have a good experience with other players largely depends on what type of group you get. If you get a bad group Don't Be Discouraged! There are good groups out there, it just takes a while to find them. All in all, I would have to say that DDO is a very player-friendly game, even if you do have to get in a group every now and then.
                                               

P.S. No, I didn't cover each class. If you want to hear about all the random shenanigans each class does just ask. However, until then that sort of information is more suited for a guide.

DCS World

If there is one thing you should take away from reading this, it's that this is an excellent simulator. Some people may not like DCS World because of how unnecessarily complicated and hard to control it is. If this were a game I would agree whole-heartedly with said people and would immediately give DCS World a big F. However, this is not a game in the technical sense, this is a simulator, and every simulator I have ever used has been very complex and hard to use. Because of the fact that DCS World is more simulator than game it is more realistic than most games and is harder to control and has a lot more little details that need your attention. While it may be excellent at simulating you crashing, it has a few flaws that still need to be looked into. First of all, it takes forever to load, enough said. Second, while this game is "Free-to-play" on steam, yet all but one of the aircraft are Pay-to-play. Third, the tutorial in this game relies on your ability to go through very small loops at very high speeds, which, for a inexperienced player like me, was nigh impossible. Since I could not get through those hoops, I could not easily figure out how to do anything. I thought that the point of a tutorial was to help you, not hinder you. There are not many problems with this simulator, it was actually kinda fun almost knocking my pilot out with massive G-Force and doing constant barrel rolls while missing every single enemy. So, while this may not be a casual game, it feels very rewarding and is very fun to mess around with.

War of the Roses

I'm... I'm really not sure what to think about this game. First thing to know about War of the Roses is the fact that it has technical issues right off the get-go. When I tried to play this game it had some problem with fullscreen and I had to restart it; when I re-opened it I could not see anything but a black screen and ended up having to reinstall the entire thing. Also, I have a half-decent computer, and the framerate is choppy on the lowest settings. Once we get past all the technical issues we get to gameplay; I'm not really sure what they were trying to do here, but it seems half done. You have to charge every swing, which wouldn't be such a bad thing, if it worked, and you weren't in the middle of combat. Also, blocking does not block, I learned this very fast. If you block the enemy can just hammer at you since it takes forever to put down your shield/weapon and then takes ANOTHER forever just to swing your sword. I like how you can execute enemies, and how if you are being executed it puts you into 1st person mode; in fact, I think that's the best part of the game. And that's about all there is to it, even if you kill someone it's not very rewarding, because some random enemy is going to come around some corner and kill you after you kill their buddy. On top of all this, the game never really explains anything to you, you have to figure it out be looking it up or by dying and dying again. I don't want to sound like a hater, and this game has a lot of potential, but they have not done anything good with it yet and I would not suggest this game.

What is Christmas,

If not a gathering of family and friends?

Armies of Gielinor

Armies of Gielinor is a FunOrb, turn-based strategy game that was based of off the Runescape world, and it also has a name which is extremely hard to pronounce or type. I am not really sure if this game has any lore or background, if it does I cannot find it. But I don't really think it needs lore, background, or a plot because it makes up for it in pure fun and the ability to play a online strategy game with friends. Also it feels like something that would be found in an arcade. I personally enjoy strategy games, so Armies of Gielinor was a welcome change to the usual shoot-em-up games that seem to dominate these modern times. The game itself is simple, short, and sweet; you need to capture buildings to get points to make armies and defeat your opponent. You start the game with 1 portal and some buildings close at hand, your opponent also gets a portal and some buildings. The objective is to use your troops to capture your opponents portal and buildings so that he cannot spawn anything to fight you. In order to do this you have to use your troops in a strategic manner: this manner can be stealth, trickery, brute force, or actual tactics. Everyone you can spawn has different powers that are explained and that when used in the proper manner can change the tide of battle. Overall, Armies of Gielinor is not a very big game, nor is it very advanced, but it is fun and I would recommend playing with friends for the full experience.

"Yes, I see your King Black Dragon... and yes, I'm going to kill it with three mages."

Warframe

Warframe is a free-to-play cooperative third person shooter who's playable characters can best be described as "Killer Space Ninjas with Guns". While this may feel like another shooter that doesn't have background, I can assure you that it is not. Instead, it is one of those shooters that has a lot of background that you don't really have to pay attention to in order to play. While this game is classified as a third person shooter it also focuses a lot on melee, although they have utterly ruined it in update 11 when they removed stagger from melee attacks. I will talk about their little shortcoming later.
      As I said, this is a hack and slash shooter, and it has the guns and knives (and swords and scythes and whips ect.) to prove it. They have a ton of ranged weaponry that can help in any situation, such as: shotguns, marksman rifles, assault rifles, lasers, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, and acid spewing... things. So, while you may be facing a copious amount of practical problems, you will adopt one saying, "I have a gun for that". Also, when you are not running on a wall towards enemies duel wielding SMGs, you have your melee weapons: which range from swords, duel swords, knives, whips, hatchets, really big swords, and your fist.
      But while you can have a ton of weapons, there is not a whole lot of aesthetic customization. You can change the color of your warframe and maybe the helmet, but you cannot have a space ninja running around with a trench coat, cowboy hat and a white mask. There are sixteen warframes to choose from, each warframe has its own special ability and stats. Some warframes can turn invisible, some can be invincible, and some can punch the very soul out of a enemy, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so choosing one depends on your fighting style. In Warframe you can level up your gear by using it on mission, leveling up gear unlocks power so that you can equip mods on said gear. Mods can be found in missions and there are several different mods that can increase weapon fire rate, weapon damage, and reload speed. Earlier I might have mentioned that they ruined the melee system in Warframe, and I believe they have. since update 11 your melee weapon no longer has stagger, which means that enemies can attack you AS you are hitting them with your melee weapon. This makes melee fights a game of "who has the best shields", and when you get to higher level enemies you will start to lose. However this is a recent update and they may yet fix it. But while I was complaining about the melee system I forgot to point out the biggest problem with Warframe, the grinding. While Warframe has a ton of cool weapons and playable characters, there's really no use for them. You keep playing the same levels over and over to get a new gun, and then you use that gun to play the same levels over and over again. There's no big objective, and there's no point in grinding away to get something new just so you can use it to do the same thing you were doing without it. So, Warframe is pretty fun, until you get 20 missions in and realize you are doing the same thing you were 20 missions ago.
                                           

Planetside 2

Well, I am thoroughly impressed by this game. Planetside 2 is a free to play, massively multiplayer, online, first person shooter that takes place on continents. That's right, you have entire continents to fight over. However, because Planetside 2 is focused on scale and combat, it has little to no background and story. I have yet to figure out why we are fighting over this planet and why we can't just get along. Peace treaties aside, I will have to admit that this game is an amazing combat simulator, and I am unsure if it has a equal when it comes to all out war. The tutorial is a bit lack-luster and only shows you the basics, but it does give you enough time to adjust your settings and learn how to shoot. But then the game ruins the gradual learning curve by making you press a little button called "instant action". That button throws you into the middle of the largest and most intense fighting it can find and there is a large chance that you will be killed as soon as you land. Every class in this game is extremely useful in its own way: The medic can heal and revive, the engineer can repair and build turrets, the light assault has a jetpack, the heavy assault has a rocket launcher, the infiltrator can snipe and turn invisible, and the max can be a juggernaut. However, while all of these classes are effective, they can be made more effective if they all work as a team. So, while Planetside 2 is a shooter game, is relies heavily on teamwork. So if you want to win, you will have to fight together. When traveling from location to location you will be able to enjoy the wonderful scenery, which makes the game more in-depth and also provides all sorts of natural cover. The game creators really outdid themselves on the world you fight in: the time changes from day to night,  there are natural obstacles such as hills so you have to plan your invasion so that no tanks will get stuck trying to climb a mountain, and its just a beautiful sight seeing your army climb to the top of a hill and rain fire down on fleeing enemies. Overall, if you want one of the best combat simulators online gaming has to offer, join the battle for the Planetside. Oh, and then join the Vanu Sovereignty, we have lasers... and cookies.

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Assassin's Creed Revelations is yet another open world, stealth, historical fiction, action-adventure game, about assassins... and some random guy named Desmond. This game actually comes after Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, but I was not fortunate enough to see it in the store or even hear about it until I looked it up. So this review will be based more on things I encounter through the game than plot twist and character development. The game starts out with Desmond the bartender stuck in the Animus on a strange island inside the Animus which is aptly named Animus Island. Also, for some reason the Animus thinks he is a corrupted file. A mysterious stranger who reveals himself to be subject 16 pops up and helps Desmond get back into the memories of Ezio because for some reason that will help him get out of the animus. You then get to go into the shoes of Ezio, who is now much older than he was in Assassin's Creed 2, and who is now on some random quest to get into Altiar's library. As soon as he gets to the library he is immediately ambushed (Who saw that coming) and defeated by a army of about 200 men. But then he escapes, and the actual game begins.
      The game has a few more perks in it than Assassin's Creed 2. For example, they made the story a bit more complex, and they didn't make the character a invincible killing machine, he actually gets hurt, and you have to play as him while he is limping around. Which is very interesting considering that when you are hurt you cant climb as good, you don't go as fast, and in general, you have to have a much more cautions approach when trying to lure guards close to a haystack.
      There are a ton of events that happen in-game that only happen once, which I am a bit disappointed about. Such as the rooftop defense (which I may or may not be disappointed about not having to do again), and the epic ship battle with the flamethrower. Also, they added bomb crafting. While some people may say that bombs are not needed and that its a bit overkill, I say I like it. It adds a whole new dimension to your attacks and allows you to go about the problem in 100 new and different ways, also it makes it feel as though you are progressing through time and not just being stuck with the same melee weapons over and over again.
      They polished up the climbing so you don't get stuck on invisible ledges or dance at the edge of a five foot drop, and there are a ton of new combat animations for your character so that fighting doesn't feel repetitive. Also, you change locations a lot and I never got tired of being in a single place for a extended period of time, and you got to go into a city that was inside a cave, which was a welcome change from constant rooftops and blue skies. They added a few quick time events, I remember one in particular that made the game more interesting. Sometimes the Templars would send a Assassin to assassinate you, when the assassin got close some high-strung music would start playing and if he gets in attack range you would have to fight him off in the form of a quick time event or he will stab you in the back. This  event will not kill you but it will severely harm you, so I do not recommend letting him stab you.
      Early on in the game you get a weapon called a hook-blade. This is a very ingenious tool/weapon that I have found to be very handy, considering you can do about twenty more assassination moves and can climb faster and higher than you could before. With the introduction of this weapon comes the introduction of a new gameplay mechanic, zip-lines. These handy little contraptions, which are conveniently scattered all over the city, allow you to travel much faster than you did before, and you can assassinate guards by simply jumping off the zip-line and landing on them, which makes for easy running assassinations.
      Along with all the cool new gear you get, you also get a whole army of assassins, who you can call upon to eliminate targets and distract guards, which makes your job that much easier. I cant find many faults with Assassin's Creed Revelations, maybe a bit of a spotty story line, but that may be because I haven't played Brotherhood. The carriage you have to drive at the beginning is lazy and hard to control, but then again I may just be bad at driving them. It is getting a bit easy, but that may be good for some people. The... err... yeah I got nothing. Overall its a good game, and I haven't even talked about multiplayer.
     Yes, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has multiplayer. Its pretty fun, and extremely hard, considering you are facing a bunch of other highly trained assassins and not just some dumb guards. The main objective is to find and kill your target before he spots you, however, someone has been assigned to kill you as well so you have to avoid them while tracking your target. The only complaint I could have about multiplayer is that it takes forever to get all the good gear, but I guess that it's supposed to be like that. Once again, I have found another excellent Assassin's Creed game, the next one has some pretty big shoes to fill.