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Showing posts with the label games

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft Edward Kenway disguises as Duncan Walpole and meets the Templars who are looking for the Sage. The Templars use the excuse of cleaning out of pirates in the Caribbean while they search. Research cubicle at Abstergo Entertainment The Story Edward Kenway woke up to discover that he was shipwrecked near an island and that another survivor, the assassin they faced earlier, was with him. He claims that he needs to get to Havana and tried to negotiate with Edward. The assassin runs off and Edward chases the guy, later discovered to be Duncan Walpole. Edward kills Walpole then decided to take the latter’s place and meet the Templars at Havana. Walpole was a rogue Assassin working for the Templars. Edward wasn’t aware however that the Assassins were also watching him. They knew about Walpole’s deceit but the Order was put in danger because of Edward’s involvement. He learns that the Templars were looking for ...

Minecraft

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Developer: Mojang Publishers: Mojang, Microsoft Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment Minecraft has five game modes to choose from. These are Survival, Creative, Adventure, Spectator and Hardcore. In Survival Mode, the player gathers blocks and builds to gain experience points as well as try to survive different physical dangers. He has a health bar, hunger bar, and armor level. You could die in Survival. In Creative Mode, the players cannot be attacked by creatures or be killed. Some unique items are available for crafting. Hardcore Mode is the same as Survival Mode but the difficulty level is harder. When the player dies he can be sent to the Spectator Mode, wherein you can’t interact with any object. In Adventure Mode, you cannot break or place blocks like in Creative and Survival Modes. You can interact with objects however. The best way to experience the game is to pick Survival Mode. Survival has difficulty levels. I picked this one so I can create as well ...

Darksiders

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War, one of the Four Horsemen Developer: Vigil Games Publisher: THQ Released on January 2010 Darksiders is inspired by the idea of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of John in which was stated that there were seven seals held by God. Opening the first four of these seals will bring out the harbingers of destruction, heralding the Last Judgment. These creatures ride horses of different colors and symbolize events leading to the Apocalypse. The four beings come out in the following order: Conquest (riding the white horse), War (red horse), Famine (black horse) and Death (pale horse). Collectively, they are called the Four Horsemen. The Watcher and War on Ruin The Story In Darksiders, the player takes on the role of War. The mythology behind the Four Horsemen is slightly different from the one in the Bible. Heaven and Hell have been in a constant war with neither one gaining enough advantage to secure victory. Because of this ...

Plants VS Zombies

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With so many games available today, it's hard to find one that has touched both gamers and non-gamers. Plants VS Zombies is fun, easy to understand and very addictive. It's a combination of strategy, puzzle and action kind of game. I've seen first-time gamers get addicted to this game. PVZ has four modes, namely: Adventure, Mini Games, Puzzle and Survival. You also get to grow and maintain gardens once you get to the later stages of the adventure mode. It might look like an easy game because of the cute plants and zombies but the later stages and the bonus games need a little more strategy on the part of the players. Once you're familiar with the plant abilities and the zombies' attacks and weaknesses, it will be easier to set up a defense. This is helpful for the inexperienced players because it introduces some of the basic features in today's games: the player's ability to adapt to different opponents, different difficulty levels, the boss fights and ...

Assassin's Creed

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Desmond Miles  suddenly found himself becoming the specimen for a search of the Pieces of Eden. Abstergo Corporation is using Desmond's genetic memories to reveal what had happened to his ancestor Altair ibn La-Ahad . Altair is a member of the Secret Order of Hashshashin. Looking at his genetic memories was made possible by the use of the machine called Animus. Desmond was taken back to the time of the Third Crusade and takes control of the actions and memories of Altair. Assassin's Creed is a game that will teach you how to master the art of killing. The first scenes show that Altair was trying to stop Robert de Sable from taking an artifact known as a Piece of Eden. But in doing so, he broke the rules and even put his comrade Malik in danger. Altair was stripped of rank by the leader Al Mualim. He now has to complete nine assassinations in order to get back everything he has lost.  In time he learns that there is a tension between the Assassins and the Knight Templars a...

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

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PlayStation 3 Exclusive Developer : Naughty Dog Uncharted: Drake's Fortune features the adventure of Nathan Drake as he uncovers the tracks in the clues left by Sir Francis Drake 400 years ago. He searches for the treasures of El Dorado but what he does not know is that he will find more than he was looking for. With the help of his friend Sully and the reporter Elena, they escape a group of pirates, treasure hunters and mutated humans. After acquiring the diary from Sir Francis' empty coffin and ditching Elena somewhere, they search through the remains in the Amazon river. Here they discovered a German U-boat and the group of treasure hunters led by Roman and his assistant Navarro who heard about Nathan's plans. Roman shoots Sully and Nathan was forced to escape. Later he met up again with Elena but their plane was shot down. Nate was captured by Eddie Raja but Elena was able to rescue him. They also found Sully alive and who had chosen to cooperate with Roman and Navar...

Resistance 2

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This PlayStation exclusive is the sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man. It follows up on the Chimera invasion in the United States and the desperate battle of the infected soldiers called the Sentinels against this threat. Lt. Nathan Hale is a member of this special task force. The infection they carry is kept at bay through special inhibitors that last for a certain time. The game begins with the extraction of Hale by the Special Research Projects Administration. They were shot down later and had unknowingly released the Chimera Daedalus who is to become the protagonist of the game. It was at this time that Hale was introduced to the Sentinels. Later their base came under the attack of the Chimera. Then they pursued a Chimera battleship and were able to save the Liberty Defense Perimeter from being breached. Hale at that time was long overdue for another shot of an inhibitor but he chose instead to rescue the scientist Fyodor Malikov, who later revealed to him Daedalus' identity. D...

Prince of Persia

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When I first saw the cover of this game, I thought that it is related to the original series of the same name. And that the Prince in the cover is the usual Prince but with a different costume. I was in for a surprise. The main guy with the red and blue scarf is a Prince in name only. He was wandering in the desert looking for his donkey when the princess Elika stumbled upon him literally. Little did he know that what he was about to find was a battle to save the City of Light from Corruption. For thousands of years, Ahriman the God of Darkness has been striving to conquer everything that he does not possess. The God of Light Ormazd retreated and refused to fight against Ahriman. But this only made the latter bolder in his ambitions. As the Corruption spread however, Ormazd and his Ahura, the Warriors of the Light, were forced to confront the growing darkness. They sealed Ahriman in the Tree of Life. The Ahura were in-charge of guarding the prison but as the years passed, their powers...

Grand Theft Auto 4: Liberty City

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Niko Bellic came to Liberty City to live the 'American Dream'. Instead he found himself entangled in Mafia wars and drug dealers. Despite all the criticisms and controversies connected to the franchise, GTA 4 has provided players a more complicated character and a memorable story. Before his cousin Roman convinced him to come to the city, Niko's was searching for answers from his past and trying to start life anew. Roman's gambling debts  and love affair plunged them into trouble. One death led to another and Niko found himself in the similar path he took in his past. He found friends along the way, but those friends consisted of arms dealers and steroid junkies. Niko was later betrayed by Dimitri Rascalov and when things got complicated in their group. Niko and Roman managed to escape and moved to another part of the city to start again. But this time Niko motivation was to get his revenge. Niko took jobs from a vigilante, drug dealers and befriended men connected t...

The Ghost of Sparta: A Review of the God of War Series

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Several adaptations of Greek Mythology in media have appeared over the years. Some were successful while the others have failed to represent the ancient Greeks. Among the most memorable I've encountered is this series. Not only was it able to illustrate the heroes, monsters and gods in myths, but also brought to the fore the often ignored question - what happens to the Greek pantheon after they defeated the Titans? It is unique because the hero in this game is not a hercules-achilles-jason clone. The protagonist is a minor figure in Greek mythology. Kratos (Cratos) is a servant of the gods and one of Zeus' children, which is close enough to the real version (Cratos is not a child of Zeus, but one of his servants along with Nike). And unlike most heroes, he does not carry weapons to save humanity. He seeks revenge to cleanse his past. The series began when he sought to kill Ares, the God of War.  He was finally able to kill Ares with the help of the other gods. The portrayal...

Fire in the Hole!

It's not just a game. Five years ago I could not sleep without playing even just one round of it. Five years ago, I walked through dark alleys and endured hunger just to get a taste of it. Five years ago, I could go head-to-head against the toughest gamers. It was the best thing the world has ever created. And it took me months to stop playing Counter-Strike. It's not just a game. Few people realize that virtual games are no different from books, music, movies and other forms of media and recreation. They all have the same function: an escape. We watch television, listen to music and read because we want to experience what it's like to be in another world as a different person or place. I'm a CS addict, but I also know that life will be so boring without it. There is an art in playing. All people have the ability to learn how to do it but not everyone can be good at it. Battle Realms and Generals require strategic and tactical skills. Counterstrike requires pr...