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My nickname remains to be truth, guys. It'll always be. I'm just promoting the fact that abusing with physics, vehicles and death remains to be gold.

The Darkness. In retrospect, I bought the game a year ago. And I admit, I liked it. Maybe because I have something for these Italians that seem to care for people but end up being cold hearted killers.

And I have something for guys that don't visit the barber every once in six years. Like me.

The Darkness.

Yes... Darkness. When I first read about the game was when I got fed up with the endless "But dude! You. Eat. ****ing. Hearts!"... Then I felt this inner-cannibalistic feel telling me to buy the game. Cause afterall, you eat hearts. But when you're not eating organs, and having two dumbass snake-wannabe's that constantly argue about who's getting the next dead Mafioso for it's delighted EMO teeth; You'd be reading my review.

Snazzy intro, eh?

Story: Right, the story starts off about three dudes sitting in a convertable presumably going through the Holland Tunnel, from Jersey City. And judging about the way the jackass Mafioso drives, it's just screaming for both driver and co-driver; "I AM GOING TO DIE, OR ATLEAST WILL NOT SHOW MY OWN DUI-TICKET-FILLED ASS ANY LONGER IN THIS GAME!"...

Which is good, since the passenger, who's mind is presumably stuck at "Look, I'm hanging out of the car and I still live"... Dies. Yes, he gets an epic ownage. The best I've seen in years. He gets his face slammed in by not paying attention while hanging out of the car inside a 2-lane tunnel packed with morning traffic. The best of all is, he gets his face knocked in by looking into the right-rear door of a Box Van.

So, according to the other moron, the driver - You should kick that braindead(We're buddies) dumbass out of the ride. The guy who had saved your sleepy ass from that "deal went wrong" situation that happened just before the game began. So, what do we do thank this guy?

Simple! You kick his bee-hind from the damn car, and let him be run over by about eight vehicles that are on your ****ing tail!

And at the same time, that driver is still worrying about how Uncle Paulie is gonna go "Ape****" about everything. I felt like "But... Wait, listen! Our pal just got his faced slammed in by those damn van drivers from Brooklyn, and you're worrying about some old fat bastard who's voice casting is done by Dwight Shultz, Sir Howlin' Mad Murdock from the A-Team!?!?!?".

The introduction was kinda making me feel as if these Mafioso already had their hearts eaten by those snake things. But that problem takes care of it's own eventually, the driver manages to crash the car in the world's only place where you just can't make a spectacular barrelroll crash - A 2-lane tunnel.

Pwn'd.

He breaks a leg, whines about his damn pants, and dies. For some apparent reason.

The story goes further, and reaches that point where you run your Uncle Paulie left a little "I have gone Ape**** alright!" message, he planted a bomb and attempts to kill you. Fission Mails and you then follow a plot that screams "I'm gonna get that chubby son of a *****.". And want a major major spoiler? One that's so obvious, that it isn't a spoiler? Whaddaya' think!? You WIN! That's how all the Mafioso stories end. No story is gritty enough for the hairy near-EMO dude not to win. Well, you don't really win... And that's why it isn't a spoiler.

Wether you'll understand the ending is only possible if you are an avid As The World Turns or The Bold and the Beautifull watcher. Give me a PM if you made some sense out of it.

Anyway, at two points in the game. You "die" and end up in this Hell world. Which is actually somesort of World War I with Germans that look like horrible patched leather pants and the Americans look like the inside of a guy's underwear after a month of no washing. Yes, I am talking about their faces.

And with all post-1945 games; The Germans are portrayed as core-to-core bastards that you always want to kill. And if they die, you kill them twice. Wait, you actually have to. Since they can magically stand up after a beating that mangled their faces from leather-pants-with-patching to car crash with sixteen deaths-mangled.

The Germans in this game are so damn evil, you'll have to kill them multiple times.

From what this story tells me is; Never visit Germany. They don't die. Their faces look like leather pants with crappy patching. And they seem to kill everything that moves. Or atleast, that's what those idiots at Star Breeze are trying to say. Those guys with an intro-logo scene that involves a baby, a needle and a very very evil man.

Gameplay: Ahhh... And here it shall go wrong. Since you're playing as an EMO Mafioso with the hots for this rather EMO girl, with the nots for uncles and men in hired 2 dollar suits. You'll have to act like a EMO Mafioso, who's got an relationship, who both havn't got a damn car, with the hate for Jackie's uncle and men that dress in 2 dollar suits.

Meaning, you'll spend time eating dead 2-dollar suit wearing Mafioso hearts, taking the subway to every damn location, talk to retired mobsters who too old to not be senile and kill everything that moves. Sometimes, you'll have to pull off these scavenger hunts with the wormy-thing you consider a helpfull snake. Other times, you've got to talk around ala Mass Effect, trying to get killed within one hit.

Jackie Estacado just turned 21... Okay, that should allow him to run to the nearest bar, get wasted, get laid and puke for the following 72 hours. No, instead... You are called by this old guy, who's currently sweeping up dead cooks nearby. Now what remains is that you drag the dead chef into the SUV of the hairy neutral fat guy.

That's mission two for you.

The game doesn't give you any tips. I felt like a complete idiot, and the feeling I had when I was about to ask how to get past that goddamned chopper in the mid-section of mission-****ing-TWO... I felt as if I was asking a snail "Why are you so slow?"...

Eventually, I was told to kill the cops behind the vehicles, when the chopper flies past for the second time, run like hell into an extremely dark alley to my left, use the worm to unlock the gate through a tiny 4"x1.5" ventilation fan and run into a pool bar further on.

Well, I AM SORRY STARBREEZE FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO SPOT SUCH AN OVERLY OBVIOUS THING!

All in all, you'll spend half your time in six subway stations, alley's or Hell-shapen worlds with ugly dudes we should consider Germans. Oh, forgot to mention. By the time you reach the final missions, you've knocked this many lights out - You'll actually turn on your local lightbulbs with "****! Light! Oh wait... Right, this isn't the Darkness...".

AI: I am sorry... But all I really can say is, they are nothing more than shooting piñata's. All I have to do is, run upclose and blast them away. They make life so damn easy for me. Starbreeze seemed to fix that issue by giving them super-super-the-duper damage when hitting me. When will they learn that fixing the problem that way is only making you, the developers; Look like damn, lazy ass idiots who aren't willing to write decent AI scripts so they will not act like dumbasses with no survival instincts.

Oh, and the AI looooovvvveeessss to park their vehicles in the middle of the road. This is New York City, for crying out loud! I know, I would love to pull a 90 degree turn on the FDR Drive or even Amsterdam Avenue, but like on any street... It will cause the entire city to come to a standstill, even if you do it in Upper East Side.

Characters: Well, Jackie Estacado's your local fallout boy, EMO to the core and happens to be Italian aswell... Bit like mixing diesel oil with a Martini, but the fact that he doesn't shave or cut his hair makes just near-EMO anyway. Not completely.

Aside from that girl, every single character is either 50 or far above. No-one's young in this game. They are all of these retired Made Men, who should've been running local Diners and Pizzaria's... But they still like to get their wheelchairs, and kick some ass with their oxygen bottles. The old coots. N²O for the win, eh Gramps?

Sound: Should I get into this? Moody music. Creepy menu music. Great voice acting. Dwight Shultz's preformance is worth a golden brick. And guns do sound like guns for once. All I could've asked is for Starbreeze to mute those goddamn Germans. They don't have any ****ing mouths, who in the hell(Irony.) gave them the oppertunity to moan!?!?

Graphics: They're actually pretty good. You can practically make enemies look like bloody, hole filled dolls you just slam around with your Demon Arm. Lighting is pretty good. They would've been better off if they got rid of that kill-camera...

Whenever I die, there's this cutscene that makes me want to strangle myself with my controller cord. There has never been such awfull punishment for dying. In any game. You get creepy transformed images of key figures, with that strange voice babbling over it as I'm watching Discovery Channel.

"Your flesh and soul... Are MINE!" - Yeah? Well, eat the B-button you son of a *****!

Conclusion.

Havn't you read enough already? Go, and check that bargain bin.

G.S: 8-something. I can't be assed to check for you.
BDR: 8.4.

Right... First of all, is there a synonym for "Updates" that doesn't say "...He's got somethin' again."? I am working for the enemy. I now work for Electronic Arts Salt Lake City. And EALA, but Utah's glory is the priority company. What I exactly do is this; It's a stay-at-home-job that only pays when my project makes cash.

Deal is when my project makes money, I get 10% profit of a year's income. So, if it sells 500 times, I gain 10% of 500 times 64.99$.

It's something I figured EA would never do.

And, since there's no specific job for "Writer", "Storyline Design", "Character Design" and "Project Design" as a whole. It's exactly why I had to haggle with that guy from Salt Lake City. My purposals were:

- Work at home.
- No changes are made without me knowing.
- I get paid, no matter how little.
- Credited work.
- Not officially working for EALA nor any EA owned company, but under my own name instead. MAPmakers™.
- I get all time to create my projects ready for use.

We closed a deal under some of EALA's rules:

- I shown him my first three projects. All three had great potential if tweaked here and there. (Bagged this one)
- Only 10% of each year's income gets stored on my account. I won't get paid for writing.
- I will not be credited as "Project Leader".
- I will have to show my projects, in person. To proove that I created them, and that I know how they function and how they should be created.

And guess what, tada.

And guess what. Damn them capitalistic monopoly playing sons of b****es to hell! I just wanted to say that quickly, cause now I stand at their side. Well, actually I still stand neutral.

The reason why I actually will allow EA to create my games is a simple, easy one, an reason you'd fully understand if you'd look at it from my side: Indie-developing is a dying breed. And EA was the first one out of many tries to react so damn open. And so easy to cooperate with, and even easier to close certain from what it first looked; impossible deals.

... Maybe that's because I started off phoning EA Salt Lake City. End ended up with a guy of EALA. There was no "top man" who I managed to get on the phone. So I do have my worries myself; Ending up giving a fella' my work, just to give him all oppertunity to say it's his.

But, I'll just sue them then. I'm gonna give them copies at all times. I'm just glad that when I'm done, I won't have to wait around for someone to accept them no longer.

Oh, and one final thing. I'm gonna develop Drive or Die myself. One man job. Not EA, not even Rockstar Games can get my precious. I just realised that giving them my life work would only allow them to demolish it.

Yeah... I'm in the business baby! I got a bit sidetracked and may not have found the best company... Hell, If I'd be honest, I can say I screwed the pooch by giving EA my projects. But seriously, indie-developing is dead. As dead as your local graveyard. Only dead trees, dead dudes and rocks to remember how good they were being not dead.

For all I know, I could be the only man working this way. I work alone, and sell whenever I want to. And I am still considered indie, since my work is credited as MAPmakers, not EA.

And some more updates for those who want them:
Retrospect "No love for hype" reviews coming soon;
- The Darkness.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
- DEAD RISING.

Comments about me working for the biggest bunch of asscracks in the history of video gaming; Please. I love your opinion. And please, since I can't really go all that nasty on EA no more. You do it for me. Thanks in advance, buddy.

Technically speaking. I now work for Electronic Arts. Well, a bit. In a way. Not on paper.

I applied for a job as Game Designer at EA Los Angeles, almost a year ago. And I happened to read my e-mail, and they denied me. I figured that they would deny me since the day I signed up... I'm not a leader, and that's exactly what they want from me. Even tough, it only took 'em 362 days to reply... The lazy sons of *****es. I called them a few days ago.

And my intial goal was trying to set up a deal. I asked if I could speak to the man or woman who had the position as Senior Game Designer. And I asked that fella' some questions. I said I created storylines, maps, level layouts, characters, scripts... The whole concept bunch for games. I asked wether it was possible to work for a game company over the internet, since I'm from New York. Which was a "Perhaps". And I asked wether EA accept freelance indie-projects like mine. He replied with "All game publishers, including us do so. They just have to meet certain requirements to be accepted."

Now, what I tried to do was sneak into EA... I offered the guy the following: What if I send you my game concepts, through e-mail. And if you happen to find them quality goods, return the phonecall and confirm. If you don't, reply with an e-mail on where I should focus some more and perhaps you'd see them again.

And if you do happen to find them lovely and see some great potential. Consider them EA property. No price or money related. Just two things I just have to ask in return: My name is credited and the MAPmakers Logo is placed.

I send him the concept for Drive or Die and KREMLIN about two days ago. A few hours ago I recieved the reply e-mail. In his words, they had great potential. He specifically said that I would ask too much from developers if I'd present them Drive or Die. The game could easily be a four-to-six year project.

KREMLIN was "a well thought out plot" according to him. "Altough, there are points where it's too well thought out for some to understand". All in all, for something I made within 2 years. Great feedback.

I also asked him wether there was a position at EA that wouldn't require me to be a leader of a whole platoon of developers. He said that the way I am doing it now is the only way of putting projects out without having to become a leader type. And I should contact EA Salt Lake City if someone wants to make some work out of KREMLIN. As that one has great potential.

... Now, I technically work for EA now. As slipping in projects is easier at this company than any other. I already applied for jobs at several EA studios all over the United States as Game Designer. Now it's a matter of putting them through at the right person.

The actual question remains: How did I get this personal with an Senior Game Designer? The only way you can actually get a job within this business. A hecklot of asskissing.

... And I have to be nice for EA just for a while. More of a test to see how long I can hold out without yelling "DAMN EA TO HELL!". Oh, and freelance work just became even less paid than free already was. Now, I am actually gonna loose money on Drive or Die and KREMLIN.

There wasn't even enough room for "The No Love for Hype Rule:" part. I just have to start off with this part: Rainbow Six Vegas 2's framerate is the worst I've seen in years. Years, goddammit! Years! Not to mention, the AI's been improved. Well, that's what they said.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

It's a good thing I liked the first one, since this game is practically an expension pack that they make you charge 30 bucks extra for. Tom Clancy's never been good at writing sequels. Look at GRAW 2... 'Nuff said.

Why? Cause people are still enough of a dumbass to buy a sequel when nearly all reviewers yell "DON'T, YOU HYPOCRITIC WANT IT ALL!". I am one hell of a jackass. But then again, that hasn't been a secret since I was nine.

I bought it for a specific reason. I happen to like Rainbow Six Vegas. ...And I got a Halo 3 Strategy Guide along with it for only five bucks if I bought Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Nice deal for 67.50$... The book usually costs 20 bucks. Nevertheless, I am quite pissed off at Ubisoft for following the "Milk it! Milk it! Goddamnit, would you yank them money makers!?"-road, which is actually EA's Highway to Hell.

I can say, it's one shallow excuse of an expansion pack with a big fat "2" slammed ontop of it.

Want another one of my typical comparisations? Well, you've got Rainbow Six Vegas and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Like you have Paris Hilton, and Paris Hilton Sextapes. She was already slutty-yummy, she just had to make the same a little bit better. Only then, she had to become a whore-idol that got locked up in jail and pulled off the most evil act of "I want daddayh!". And then, no-one seemed to give a damn for Attention Whore Hilton.

...Which is where Rainbow Six Vegas 2 richochets off it's own damn good, slaps it's own ass back into 2003. The year of 20-30FPS standards.

Story: Sorry, if I'm correct. It's part prequel and part sequel to Rainbow Six Vegas. I got that loud and clear. Now, can someone PLEASE explain to me... Where. In. The. Goodmother. Hell. Do. These. ****ing. Stories. Collide. With. Some. Damned. Sense. Questionmark.

I'm nearing the fifth act, and I still don't have a clue of what the hell I am doing. I just keep shooting dudes, and run after some other dude, who has some other dude with another dude.

Christ, did they copy the story of an 1995 episode of As The World Turns? Cause it's just a pain in the ass to follow, and it makes as much sense as that crazy ladies' hairdoo.

Gameplay: If you've played Rainbow Six Vegas... You'd be in for a suprise. It's EXACTLY the same. But, I'm actually glad that they didn't have the urge to fix something that wasn't broken. But damn, there's NOTHING and I mean just frickin' NOTHING different from the original Vegas.

You run after some Mexican terrorist, with Mexicans blocking your way. Who only have the accuracy of a seizuring squirrel and the habbit to yell crap at me and eachother like drunken rednecks at a keg-party. You just have to shoot 'em. Done deal.

I'm suprised that with all this ... sense of hostile love to Mexico, there's no "Blow up your favorite Taco Bell!" mission.

It's all run-from-cover-to-cover with the occasional death and blind firing. If this is realistic tactical gunmanship. Then I'm Albert Einstein with Tourettes.

Oh, and there's bullet penetration. It's just so crappy that the stuff you'd think you can shoot through's made out of six-inches of sheetmetal, like the average 2-millimeter thick wooden crate, while the occasional Dodge Charger is letting me shove bullets through the engine block, through the interior, through the trunk and into the ass of the poor guy who I happened to fire that 5.56MM bullet at.

The good thing of it all is... PEC in single player, and the reward system is clever.

AI: New and improved seems to be as much of an lie as Wal*Mart is supposed to give me quality service. All the terrorists do now is shoot at me with the accuracy of a sniper, while the jackass is running, spraying bullets with an 50-bullet-magazine SMG. The AI's even got the same dialogue from the previous game.

What they improved on is their sense of killing me within two hits. They still run around, into my bullets, into the grenades of their pals and still have the urge to sit 2FT away from me, to my left and not knowing that there's an SPAS12 pressed into their face with 8-cartridges still in the rifle.

What they do is look at me like "Dude... You... You ain't an terrorist... Are ya'?". And I manage to put a 12 Guage Cartridge into their face, while the barrel was half an inch away from their head in the first place. And when you look at the amazing swipe of blood you managed to spray all over the carpet...

There's no brain bits. WELL I'LL BE DAMNED!

Oh, and your AI buddies love to run into enemy fire, and highjack EVERY kill you are about to make. Them pr*cks.

Sound: Can you believe it when I say that the voice acting of terrorists, Rainbow Staff and even the civillians still all have the same voice actors? And that terrrorists still make the same cheesy-and-EXTREMELY-old-and-ment-to-be-funny punchlines they all yell before dying.

Hell, even the sound's the same. Better yet, ALL gunsounds are still the same. Even better, even bullets hitting objects still sound the same.

There's just ONE new Menu Tune. Now that's Ubisoft to you!

Graphics: They're good enough to deal with. Most of the brushes have been jacked straight from Rainbow Six Vegas. Some character models look horrible and the faces of humans look like as if someone tried to deepfry them.

The framerate is the biggest issue. It's gonna sink so deep on you that even the sound can't catch up. Throughout of my six hours of gameplay, my framerate was far under the 30FPS cause I noticed it going slower and slower by the second. There's doesn't have to be any chaos, the framerate's gonna sink like the damn Titanic.

Conclusion.

I'd say... It's a fair purchase if you're into Rainbow Six Vegas like I am. But for the love of God, you ignorant hopefull-hippie. Don't even think about spending 65 bucks on such a shallow sequel as Rainbow Six Vegas 2. And I swear, don't even think of buying it even if you can't care for the cash - Wait until they deal with that framerate. It seems like a glitch to me, as there's no chaos to be found and I am going on Slideshow speed.

And if you don't give a flying **** for both the money and the framerate that sinks like a dead Mafioso in the Hudson River... Give it a buy. Just be sure to add my gamertag so we can share the pain of the ****tty framerate like R6V2 delivers.

G.S: 8.5
BDR: 7.9.

I got the call a few hours ago that I can pick up my copy of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 tomorrow morning as soon as stores open. That means a new oppertunity for them No Love for Hype Rule reviews. And with that, I'm buying that Forza Motorsport 2 March DLC pack while I am at it.

So, tomorrow I'm gonna break down the Rainbow, and trash six million worth in cars just for giggles. Harsh truth, and humor. Best buddies forever.

But todays... topic.

It seems that the government is starting to realise that they're only about 50 years too late to sue the hell out of Hollywood. So they pick on video games instead, cause they give a sense of idealism... I can give you an easy, and quite idealistic list of tools that COULD make you a ruthless killer, or atleast enemy of an state:

Fork - ... You poke it into your dinner... Why not a human eye?
IKEA Kitchen Knifes - 5 bucks, and you've got an arsenal that will make those Rippers look pale.
Baseball Bat - Smack balls at 95MPH. Nail two of 'em if you've got an angry neighbor.
Action Movies - Those anti-heroes can be cool...
Horror Movies - Hostel's actually a HomeDepot Murder Kit.
COPS Box Set - Admit it, going 140MPH over a sixlane interstate with half of the New York State Troopers on your tail. Awesomeness.
Straws - At nearly all fastfood chains you get a straw that you've got to poke through the lid of your drink. Idea of how a pointy object goes through thin material like tissue.
Pencil - If you're college kid with selfesteem problems. Your trusty writer suddenly got your heavy weapon for massive poke-age!
Zizzors - Don't cut the guy some slack. Stab him some slack.
Hangman the Game - Russian Roulette's for babies. Hang eachother at the error of a vowel.
Beer Bottles - Drink a few, and crack some skulls with Budweiser's magic that doesn't shatter.
Airtight Plastic Bags - If you slam it over someone's head and seal it. It's airtight... Y'know.

... Need to continue?

I just know you are gonna counterquestion it with the following:
"But all those things have a primary use, that it COULD be used as a weapon is something you can't stop!"

Hate to say it, but the primary goal of video games is entrtainment and surrealism. Do stuff you can't or aren't allowed to in real life. That people could use the ideas against other humans is SOMETHING YOU CANT STOP! Blaming someone for something you can't stop is like blaming a bird for flying South every year.

Instead of sueing the living hell out of every single damn video game publisher/developer out there, try to sue these instead:
HomeDepot, Warner Bro's, WalMart, IKEA, K-Mart, HobbyArt, Bruynzeel, the creators of the Hangman game, McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Danny's, Wendy's, Universal Studio's, Touchstone, Tom Clancy, Tupperware, etc...

'Cause anything can set you up for doing something horrible.

Aside from living the easy life... Play games all day, be a delivery guy at evening and do storage during the night. I write a helluva' lot. And with a history of around 50 blogs just about Drive or Die... I think I'm ready enough to present NY '84 and KREMLIN.

See, if you don't know me... Or just don't give a damn for my blogs... Or recently found out that I actually write blogs...

I write stories for games. I design maps/level layouts for games. I design the characters for games. And to top that off, I write the script while I am at it. And then, when the time is right... I try to sell the concept off to an developer or publisher for money, or pursuade them into making it with me.

I've blogged about Drive or Die quite alot now. And it's the one that requests the most work out of three so far. Not to mention, that Drive or Die is actually topping both NY '84 and KREMLIN in manhours. So, I've finished Drive or Die a while ago, and at the same time I worked on both NY '84 and KREMLIN to keep variety in my work.

I think it's about time I show both NY '84 and KREMLIN the daylight, and quickly discribe Drive or Die for those who don't know what the hell it is.

Drive or Die.

Drive or Die is a 3rd person free-roam action game that is set on an man-made island called the Geraldo state, 30 by 30 square miles large. Five guys, Chris Lamont, Mitchell Wilson, Frank O'Doyle, Rodger Anderson and Dylan Mahoney. They all live their own, seperate lives on Geraldo as sudden terrorism strikes every single law enforcement officer, DA, Court Judge... You name it. Starting with the sudden assassination of the state governor, Maxwell Rhodes.

By the time the entire state is sweeped clean from law personell, one man walks forward. John Vanderbilt, who then takes position as State Governor.

Lamont's brother was killed. Wilson's wife was murdered. Mahoney's father was slaughtered. Anderson's race buddy was murdered. And O'Doyle was the target of these attacks aswell. O'Doyle learned of the four guys by reading news papers, and offered them a chance where they could vengance the death of their loved ones.

By the time they know who and why it all happened. A third world war is about to begin.

And yes... It's a squad based game. You just can't issue command or such, that's why scripting AI is going to be a pain in the ass.

NY '84.

Yes, one helluva' name huh? Very original, right? Nah, I didn't think so. It's simple. And I like it. And yes, it does mean New York 1984. That's how simple it is. The game itself, like the name applies to - Is set in New York City, 1984. You'll play as Jeff Rivers, a 28 year old American-Italian who's born and raised in The Bronx, New York City.

The Rivers Family is a notorious mob crime organization, and operates in The Bronx with cocaine export, prostitution, chop shopping stolen vehicles and leeching money from corrupt NYPD officers.

It all starts in May, 1984. When Ricardo Rivers, the oldest "Made Man" in the Rivers' Family gets murdered by a rival mob. Finger pointing starts, and a blame game begins. Jeff is the "Next of kin", and has to go along with all the tasks the Don gives him. Things reach a boiling point when the Don of the Rivers Family, Francisco Rivers gets killed in a gunfight.

Then a war starts with everyone yanking eachothers hair out. The Rivers family decides to use the city scaled mob war to their advantage and hit six birds with one rock. While everyone kills eachother, the Rivers Family goes for city wide domination.

An fight with six rival mob gangs begins, and a showdown with the NYPD who start to interfear.

The game itself is going to be a level-to-level FPS. With over 35 main missions on 35 areas spread out all over New York City. With shooting parts, driving parts etc... Anything that could work in an FPS. Is implied.

KREMLIN.

This is the last one I worked on. Supposed to be an FPS set in the ultimate doom stage of war. The so called "Powergrid" scenario. Like many games do, it's when Russia decides to expand the Iron Curtain worldwide. The story starts in a different way than the USSR actually went down.

The story starts in 1992. The Iron Cuirtain still stands. And the United States never started the war in Iraq.

Instead, the US Army is currently in Israel, where an Tactical Nuke that can reach the United States from that launch centre. A big war starts at that part of the world, the United States requests help from Canada, Australia and France to secure the Israeli nukes. As two major continents send in all their units to the middle east to secure the world's peace;

The USSR invades Vancouver Island, Brittish Columbia. Muncton, New Brunswick. San Diego, California. Newport, Oregon. Long Island, New York. Bridgeport, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts. And sets off a full blown attack to all these cities, taking all resources and killing everything that moves.

This is where the first character will be introduced. Eric Reed. He's in the New York National Guard. And it's an FPS, the first mission involves securing and digging in at the Henry Hudson Bridge a bit south of the Bronx. And head down the roads until you can secure the Battery Tunnel on the southern tip of Manhattan.

Most American missions involve around securing major cities with minimum resources.

Then, a while after the USSR invades Australia. Which where you'll take Luitenant Ross Silverlake as your character. Most missions involve around making sure that the USSR doesn't profit from Australia, as in the script is written - "Australia is lost, we're better off helping the Yankees.".

You'll change characters off and on, until you've been through four of them. Reed of the New York National Guard, Silverlake of the Australian National Army, Campbell of the Brittish S.A.S and Walker from the United States Marine Corps.

First missions involve around securing and retreating. Further into the game you'll get a dim light, with the final chapter called "This Is How The World Ends". It's supposed to be a gritty, dark and hopeless story. Call it a mature game if you wish, I'd just say; This is how Soviet Russia could've nailed the world right down the drain. Cause they had the powers to do so, and the men agressive enough to not care for Western civilization.

The game will basicly give a run through how every country will fail. And locations are set in the United States, the United Kingdom, Western Germany, Italy, France, Spain, North Korea, Russia, the Netherlands and Australia.

Currently, I'm working on Kremlin most. Since that story requires alot of thinking to make sense, and letting four mini-stories run at the same time does it even more. Drive or Die's concept phase is done. And NY '87 is halfway through.

I completed the game yesterday... Few ups and downs here and there. Overall, a great game. But, if you'd know me just a little. You'd know why I wrote "No Love for Hype Rule" with the World in Conflict Review. For my personal enjoyment of doing my thing, and adding more... you can call it "censored flavor" to the dull thing we call "Reviewing".

While... It's all opinion, and not with the conclusion wether you should get the game or not. It's putting the bad and negatives stand forwards, and wave the goodies bye bye. Oh yeah, keep in mind... No. Positivity.

Okay, there's positivity... But the general meaning of this blog, and most reviews I will do and did... It's to tell all the negatives, and just skip on all the positives we all seem to know about anyway.

World in Conflict.

I'm not the biggest RTS fan in the world. Liked Command and Conquer every now and then. But I do have a passion for war. Especially, Russians. Like the United States, they have the power and will to create their own nation, and defeat anyone with a different perspective on it.

The so called "Western versus Eastern" conflict. I can type this review in Russian, if you'd like... Вы не любите оно? Не что сука. Anyway, to cut to the chase... The game's good. I'd say if you're in for massive destruction, the downfall of the United States and getting half an orgasm if you'd manage to put Seattle up in flames... It's a must buy.

But, you're here for the flawless bashing, right? Well, let's get on with it.

Story: Right, since I've seen quite a few of Mr. Tom Clancy's films. I noticed something, the storyline follows the same linear path as Tom Clancy's "The Sum of all Fears" did. It was a one way path, you can sum up in steps:

1: An US city gets pwn'd.
2: People die.
3: RUSSIA DID IT! RUSSIA DID IT!
4: ...It was the USSR.
5: They still killed our Burger King, in Seattle!
6: Retreat.
7: Nuke ourselfs.
8: Retreat some more.
9: Go back.
10: Re-visit all locations like Devil May Cry 4.
11: Bomb the hell out of Ruskies.

The storyline has some back story to it. The USSR, who are the bad guys... Are invading Western Europe for more country to snatch. Whatever reason they need to take France, Spain, Swiss, Austria, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland... It's obvious that the Russians are displayed as typical powergreedy dumbasses with the love for territorial gains.

And there's still no reason why those stubborn idiots managed to start a third world war. In 1989. When everyone had the hair the length of your average Comfort Inn rug. Like I have right now.

All in all, the US sees an oppertunity to shoot and kill. And when there's the oppertunity to blow the hell out of someone. The US Army is there like a bunch of horny puppies riding the M18 missiles.

The storyline's quite good, has nice sequences from mission to mission. But what really started to piss me off after some time was this(technically not a spoiler, so shush!):

"RETREAT!" (mission 01)
"RETREAT!" (mission 02)
"RETREAT!" (mission 03)
"REEETREEAAATTTTT!" (mission 04)
"RETREAT MORONS! THERE'S A NUKE INCOMIN'!" (mission 05)

That keeps... on... going... Until, that is. You get a bit of prologue during the story too. Europe. You'll fight as the NATO. Which don't yell commands such as "retreat", but talk to me as if they are offering me a baugette and then slap me in the face with it.

Gameplay: It's unlike any other RTS. I find it strange that Sierra Entertainment and Massive allowed theirselfs to screw with the RTS fomula. It's got rid of the economy system. No base building. Just simple "Get some units and go boom!". But, how they managed to make it even better without it all - I don't know, I'm just happy that it's working out.

There's not much difference in gameplay tough. You'll either hold a point, capture and hold a point or hold a point and go for the next point. You can call in several different types of strikes, from simple Light Artilery, to Nukes. With the same points you're able of dropping some extra vehicles if you're out of Reinfocement Points.

Online... There's four sides you can choose:
- Vehicles: Basicly... Drive, boom and respawn.
- Air: Fly... Boom-boom-boom and get owned in two shots.
- Infantry: Run and get gassed like God himself let loose a big one. (Yay for Toxic Gas Strikes!)
- Support: Sit your lazy ass back and deliver booms at a distance.

All in all, it lacks a helluvalot of variety. The game does a good job at keeping it entertaining, tough.

Characters: The US Army has one dude called "Mike Bannon". If I ever had the oppertunity to slap that S.O.B, I would've. He's the biggest coward I've ever seen in a game. But that's for a reason. During the European prologue you can see why he's a chicken**** and why he and Corporal Sawyer have issues.

Those issues are "If you screw up this time, Bannon...", repeated ten times during every mission.

But, Bannon makes up for the fact that he's a coward, annoying and a jackass during the mission in Cascade Falls. Then you'll actually feel bad for being such an ass to him.

The French, oohhhh.... Christ. Their accents wants you to take off their baretts and slap them with 'em. They are so fake and cheesy that you'll grind your teeth.

There's these two dudes I want to talk about for a while. They have no names, they only appear in cutscenes are they are something that makes you wonder how actual soldiers are doing out in the field. You see 'em everytime during a cutscene.

The first time they are seen they are sitting and taking cover behind a barrier, indentifying theirselfs as Washington National Guard to Bannon. The second time, one is showing off a Portable CD Player to the other, and complaining that it hasn't got batteries.

The entire time you see 'em, it's about that CD Player he's taking along for his daughter. And the quest to find batteries for the thing. And the last cutscene you'll see in the game, which will also have them two. It's one of the best.

Sound: Overall superb. The sound of two tactical nukes dropping in and slaying enemies and friendlies is like Frank Sinatra singing in private just for you. The characters have great dialogue.

Oh, and there's a few great eightees songs in the game.

Graphics: They really knew how to bring in details. All vehicles look incredibly detailed, even upclose. Choppers actually have two men sitting in their seats. All explosions leave permanent craters. After you dropped a nuke, radiation effects will cause the camera to get a little bit of static interference on it. All objects on a map can be destroyed. Etc. Etc.

The only downer is that nukes, Daisy Cutter Bombs and Carpet Bombings don't leave big craters. Even a nuke won't make much of a hole. But, the effects are awesome nevertheless.

And, there's actual 3D cutscenes that play in the game world. Something I never expected in a RTS game.

Conclusion: I have to admit it... The game's worthy of it's 9.5. Not even enough bad stuff to make this blog worth reading, huh? All in all, I'd give it a 9.5 aswell.

Actually, I adore the game for the wrong reason. Everytime I play the New York map, I take down the goddamn Statue of Liberty. And I get Tactical Aid Points for it!! And when on Seattle, I get points for slaughtering the plate on a disk. Y'know, the Space Needle.

How patriotic can I be, huh?

Oh and on a side note... This is one of the most epic in game scenes I've seen in my life. It's the intro cutscene to the "Liberty Lost" mission, Also the second trailer. Nevertheless, that trailer was awesome. And made a good use out of prerendered material by putting into the game itself:

[video=6177526]

Usually I wouldn't even blog about it. But hell, there's no games to crack down on and all news media is currently flowing slower than a snail going uphill...

I don't use MSN all that often, but my girlfriend(such a cheesy way to discribe it, but "Mah lady" sounds too gangsta) insisted me to. Usually, I'd just hold the number 2 tone for three seconds and I'd call her... But since I was in that car accidant, my cellphone, which always lies on the dash... It got propelled through the window. So, not motivated enough to get a new phone, she said install MSN... Free, blablabla.

Anyway, she's in Canada. Where she's on somesort of college for vegetation studies. As careless as I am, I don't even know what she does specifically. Something with trees. But before I tell you every single damn thing that can be told about her, the topic:

It was a while since we last spoke, and she was pretty jumpy... And mixing that with my sense of humor... Well, I'm considering myself lucky since she's into my, err, sense of humor. For instance, I'd suggest you never to say this: (I just copy those docs MSN seems to make)

Laura (7:32:06 PM): I can read your mind NJ.
NJ (7:32:37 PM): ...Undress then.
Laura (7:32:59 PM): What??
NJ (7:33:30 PM): I can read my mind too, Laura.
Laura (7:34:02 PM): You can!?!?
NJ (7:34:48 PM): Yes... And I read a big sign spelling out "Honk Honk".
Laura (7:35:15 PM): Sounds formiliar.
NJ (7:35:50 PM): No kiddin', we've done it quite a few times together...
Laura (7:36:11 PM): NJ!!!!!!!!!!
NJ (7:37:02 PM): For someone who can read my mind, you sound pretty damn suprised.

Like she said it, I am the perfect example of a freeloading porn-obsessed premature guy. And she loves him. For an reason which I have yet to find out.

And like I said before, you should try it... But if you get dishes trown at you like an phailure of an Bold and the Beautifull episode... Don't come crying to me.

Remember when I made this blog, proving that DLC can be chunks of landmass? And still fall within capable download borders(100-400MB)?

Turns out I'm right, baby! Smartass 1 - 0 Ignorant.