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Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven? -- 2009-12-23
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Probably the last article of the year, a review of Solium Infernum, an independent game by Cryptic Comet. Another year has passed. To my faithful readers, and the spambots they use to generate comments on the articles, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in 2010.
-- sector24 |
Where is Sid Meier's Ninjas!? -- 2009-12-22
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Today's article is a review of Sid Meier's Pirates! The 2004 one, not the 1987 one. So I'm only 5 years late to the party, not 22 years.
-- sector24 |
One Redeeming Feature -- 2009-12-05
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Here is the review of Dragon Age: Origins as promised. It is a hard game to review because all the good parts count as spoilers, and all the parts you can talk about are pretty mediocre.
-- sector24 |
First Article -- 2009-12-01
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I wrote a game review for Borderlands right before the servers went down and didn't get a chance to post it until now. I'm sure anyone who was interested in the game has probably played it to death and moved on but you never know. I am also planning on writing a Dragon Age: Origins review this week and posting it so look forward to that.
-- sector24 |
Dear Spambots, I Apologize -- 2009-12-01
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The website has been down for almost a month in what can only be described as a "catastrophic" hardware failure. It ranks up there in the annals of server mischief along with the day the air conditioning unit lit itself on fire. I apologize to anyone who frequents the site for the downtime. No one was more frustrated about it than I was.
However, the server appears to be stable now and the spambots have even left 3 comments already so things will hopefully get back to normal.
-- sector24 |
Dome Inspector, please take off your helmet -- 2009-10-05
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Today's article is a review of Halo 3: ODST. It's an awesome game no doubt, but perhaps a bit too expensive for what you get. Read the review and decide for yourself.
-- sector24 |
Twice as quirky -- 2009-08-17
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Today's article is a review of Disgaea 2. I liked it, although I didn't think it was as good as the original. I don't have any more games to review for the PS2 unless I decide to try FFX-2 again. But I'll wait until I'm really bored to try and get into that again.
-- sector24 |
Kitten -- 2009-08-07
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Today's article is a review of Knights in the Nightmare. Despite it not being the kind of game I'd typically choose for myself, I really like it.
I should probably change "today's article" to "this month's article" considering how often I get a chance to update the site. I've been very busy with an exciting project; a quest generator that creates dynamic content. It's basically the RPG version of Mad Libs, where you write a paragraph but replace all of the key words with variables, and the quest generator pulls out words in the database based on what variables you chose.
My job was first, to populate the database, and second to create all the quests and events using the quest generator. The database has about 12,000 records, and I've written about 75 quests. Both have been equally time consuming, and you have to be very careful about how you add words to the database so that the words are only eligible to be picked when you want them to.
But despite all the hard work, the quest generator is amazing in scope and works very well. We are hoping to debut the generator on a Facebook game next year.
-- sector24 |
I don't think colossi is in the Scrabble dictionary... -- 2009-07-07
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Today's article is a review of Shadow of the Colossus, a very cool game that is totally not my thing at all. In general I am not a fan of games that require you to get inside the designer's head and try to figure out exactly what he wants you to do. Plus I simply don't have time to figure that stuff out. If I was back in college though, Shadow of the Colossus would have been the sweetness I'm sure.
-- sector24 |
Can you put a price on nostalgia? -- 2009-07-06
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Today's article is a quick review of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. It's fun, but is it worth your money? Click the link, I can't do everything for you. ;)
-- sector24 |
Warthog Volleyball anyone? -- 2009-07-01
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Today's article is a review of Halo 3. I'm only 2 years late reviewing it, what's the big deal?
-- sector24 |
It's been so long -- 2009-06-24
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So much has happened since I last updated the main page of the site, but I simply haven't had time to write it all down. First of all, there has been a mild update to the website which some of you may have noticed. At the bottom of every page there is now a Paypal link and an Amazon advertisement. We encourage you to participate in the site in whatever way you feel comfortable. Perhaps you found an article that you found particularly interesting and helpful and would like to donate. That would be great.
But more likely than not you have better things to spend your money on and that's ok. Here's where the Amazon ad comes in. If you are planning on buying something on Amazon, type the name of the item in the search field and press Go. If you purchase the item after visiting our site, Od Studios gets 4% of the purchase price, while you pay the same price you were always going to pay. This is a nice way to contribute to the site while doing something that you were probably going to do anyway. As always, you can vote on the articles and leave comments which are totally free.
Secondly, we have been hiring people to finish some of the games that have languished recently. Expect to see more positions become available in the near future.
Finally, because my Xbox 360 was in the repair shop, I broke out the PS2 and played Eternal Poison to its mighty conclusion. I also wrote a walkthrough for the game which is almost complete. If you happen to be playing the game, please go to the bottom of the walkthrough and look through the items that are needed to complete the guide. I would appreciate any help you could give me.
That's it for now. Since my Xbox 360 is back and working again I will probably be returning to those games, but managing artists and programmers is time consuming so I may not have many reviews out right away.
-- sector24 |
It sees me with its waking eye -- 2009-04-16
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One last review before a hopefully short break: Left 4 Dead. Why the short break? Because my Xbox contracted the electronic version of super-rabies, the red ring of death. After doing some online sleuthing and talking with support, I have the code 0102 error meaning my Xbox is toast and I need to send it in for repairs. I still haven't plowed through all the games I got for Christmas, but I guess that will have to wait.
-- sector24 |
I always suspected Hell was run by children -- 2009-04-16
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Today's article is a review of Disgaea. For someone who claims to like SRPGs it sure took me a long time to play this one.
-- sector24 |
Don't Fables usually have animals in them? -- 2009-04-14
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Today's article is a review of Fable: The Lost Chapters. The moral Peter Molyneaux is trying to teach is that not all that glimmers is gold.
-- sector24 |
My new favorite French province -- 2009-04-02
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Today's article is a short review of Carcassonne. It's short because I can't be bothered to write about when I could be busy playing it. I suggest you do the same.
-- sector24 |
Such a long title... -- 2009-03-10
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Today's article is a review of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. I must be missing something because the game got exceptional scores from lots of websites, but I just didn't find the game that engrossing. But I'm a gaming snob, and therefore nothing can measure up to my impossible standards, so why even try.
-- sector24 |
Blazing Angels 2 -- 2009-02-24
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Today's article is a review of Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII. Here's an excerpt:
"The best part about Blazing Angels 2 is the credits, because then you know you never have to play it again."
And that's all I have to say about that. I am, however, looking forward to starting a new game this week. So there's an upside to everything.
-- sector24 |
This game has neither chrome, nor hounds... -- 2009-02-18
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I just finished the single player campaign in Chromehounds the other day and played some multiplayer. It is a game with a lot of potential...I think an extremely small percentage of the gaming community is delighted by it. But for the rest of us, perhaps we should keep looking.
One game I'm looking forward to is Puzzle Quest Galactrix which is supposed to come out on February 24th if it doesn't get delayed again. If you have a PC, there's a demo that you can download if you search on the web. It's tragically short (like 30 minutes of gameplay) but gives you an idea of what to expect. There are a lot of enhancements to the gameplay including hexagonal puzzle pieces so you can make matches in different directions, and variable gravity that you control. If you select a piece and move it down then the pieces fall down from the top of the screen. But if you move the piece below it up (which is the same move by the way) the gravity is reversed and the pieces fall up. I think it'll be an entertaining game, and I'll be sure to post a review when I get my hands on it.
-- sector24 |
It took me longer to write the review than finish the game -- 2009-02-12
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Assassin's Creed is my latest target, a great concept with mediocre execution resulting in repetitive gameplay. I think my threshold for mind numbing button mashing is fairly high because I finished it, but I can only imagine the disappointment on the faces of young children everywhere after buying this game.
-- sector24 |
Great Vault Dweller? Or the Greatest Vault Dweller? -- 2009-02-10
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Today's article is a review of Fallout 3. If you like Oblivion, buy it. If you like Fallout, buy it. If you like Mass Effect, buy it. If you like irradiated animals and super mutants, well I'm sorry, they're all evil bigots and they need to die.
-- sector24 |
The Locust, Lambent, and You -- 2009-01-30
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Today's article is a review for Gears of War 2. I have something of a dissenting opinion concerning the game. If you go to metacritic there are an embarassingly high number of "100" scores for a game that is clearly not the distilled essence of perfection. I may be too hard on the game, but I don't want all the acclaim to go to its head. The last thing we need is a video game acting like an arrogant jerk that is too good for us. Feel free to leave a comment if you agree/disagree.
-- sector24 |
Happy New Year -- 2009-01-07
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A new year for me means I got to play new video games over the Christmas break. I have four game reviews for you to read, and many more on the way:
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Mass Effect
Apparently I didn't take my own advice because not many people liked the gifts I got them this year. Luckily my friends and family were nice enough to get me lots of video games to play so I should have a steady stream of reviews coming up. If you'd rather I write about something else though feel free to leave a comment on the site and I'd be happy to consider it.
-- sector24 |
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