Hey guys! It's Dane again, and I think it's time for a little update, seeing as I promised to give one to you guys reviewing Bioshock 2 and Dragon Age. I also have a few recommendations, some awesome news, a little first impression of the and something funny that I didn't think about until yesterday. I think I'll start with the reviews because one of them is quite short, sweet, and to the point.

Dragon Age: I don't know if you guys will agree with me or not, but I'm going to give my honest opinion anyways. All in all, yes the game was fun and it did have an enormous amount of things to do, but all in all I wasn't very impressed.
Let me start off with the positives. The choice of all the different races and how they are seen throughout the entire game is awesome. One example is, when you play a poor dwarf, that they treat you like dirt, and then as a human, you learn that certain people are trying to get something from you, I'm sorry if this sounds pretty vague, but I'm trying not to spoil anything in the game. So that element of the game, totally worth it, and I would love seeing it get implemented in other RPGs like the Elder Scrolls series, or maybe Fall Out, if they make it so you can play as a mutant. The combat was definitely interesting with the way that it played out, I love watching like the different executions in slow motion, which are bloody and give an awesome effect and make that last moment of pure carnage seem awesome. That is also another element that I would love to see in other RPGs, I mean how awesome would it be to be playing Elder Scrolls and right before killing a creature, *BAM* third person kill cam as the monster's head goes clean of it's shoulders. I know that they had something like that in Fall Out 3, I think it was the auto targeting thing (haven't played it in a while) but that effect was cool to watch. I also loved all of the characters in this game, especially Alister, mostly because he stuck with the party through the entire game, and because his witty personality is something that I can relate to, so he was like a perfect match for me, but all of the other characters are awesome as well, they all seem to have a deeper side to them that you can explore through various dialogs and gift giving, something that I learned at a far stage of the game. I also liked the dialogs and voice acting which was good like they are in most games these days. As a finishing note, the story was definitely well written, and the choice of having multiple paths to go down is something that I love to see in a video game, the choices are always fun to take in my opinion and especially since they have repercussions later in the game.
Now for something a bit negative about the gameplay, the third person camera. Now before I begin, I know that they use the third person camera in Assassin's Creed, but I still feel that I should mention this. My biggest problem with Dragon Age was the third person camera, I don't know why, but it bugged me immensely, sure it's good for fighting in a party so you know where you mates are, but other than that, I can't see a good use for it. I would have preferred if the camera had been first person and then have the option between going third and first like in Elder Scrolls, because, like I said, it's good for keeping track of party members, but other than that, it just seems a bit useless to me and it gets annoying after a while. One of the things that bugged me quite a bit though was that you chose a setting for your character's voice at the beginning of the game, so how come the voice acting wasn't done through out the game with that voice? I know it might sound a bit naive , but I mean when they have that option I would have loved it if they had followed through with the voices. I think they actually did that in Dragon Age 2, from what I can tell in some of the videos that I've seen on Achievement Hunter, so kudos to the guys that make Dragon Age for adding that to the game, I don't know if that was a previous complaint, but still want to congratulate them on a job well done.

Alright on to the next game! Now Bioshock 2 is actually a game that I got because I heard people talking about how great the first one was, mostly the guys from They Came To Play, so I decided to get the second one to see what all the fuzz was about. Now I loved this game and because I never heard much about the second game, I was pleasantly surprised. I think I'll just go into this review and see what you guys get out of it.
The story itself is delightful and scary as hell, and the graphics really help drive it home too. The start of the game is very cool, showing Rapture, the name of the city, in its prime, and how people actually reacted to the Big Daddy, there might actually be some more back story to why they were created that I may have forgotten or just don't know. From what I can understand, they were created to guard the little girls and keep them from harm, though they actually seemed to do more harm than good from what I can infer. I liked playing through the entire campaign and it did keep me captivated, the story was good and the characters were likeable, I spared all of the people lives, might play again and spare everybody to get the achievement, I also tried harvesting some of the little girls which was fun and gave an awesome amount of Adam. I just gotta ask one thing, did anyone manage to fully upgrade all of their weapons, or is that impossible to do? But like I said, the story is fun to follow, and having the different options for harvesting the girls and killing off certain characters is always fun in my opinion. As far as the weapon options go there's a good mix of ranged weapons, using the different traps, and the plasmids are freaking cool to use, my personal favorites are the fire and ice, I like to either freeze them and smack them with the drill or burn them and blast their brains out. As far as melee goes, there is only the option of using your drill, to the extent of my knowledge, but being able to choose between drilling, smashing, and charging there are some good strategic elements. The ending of the story is fun and the different boss fights and mini boss fights, the Big Sisters and when you are harvesting, adds a challenge to the game while you play. I've also found it an added challenge to choose which weapons to use in different situation, like if I should choose the shotgun or maybe use the rail gun instead for certain areas of the game, depending on how close quarters I'll be getting to the enemy. This may also be because I've been getting a bit more nerdy lately as far as shooters go. But as far as the game goes, I would say try it, maybe rent it at Blockbuster first before buying it, or buy it on games on demand for you 360 users, sorry PSN users *wink*

Alright now time for some games that I'm looking forward to, just going to place the banners because I'm way too lazy to write anything, and for some of the game it would be best to read about the anyways.

You can probably guess why I'm psyched for some of these games, mostly Skyrim because it's the 5th Elder Scrolls, if you haven't seen the trailer, go see it and then join the fan club. As for the other games Skyrim, MW3, and Battlefield all come out in november, Crusade comes out in October, and I'm just waiting to finish some of the other tons of games I have before I want to move on to Noire. Also I have exams right now, and I'm going to Israel for three weeks with Harvard University, I've signed up to be a volunteer archaeologist for three weeks while I'm down there. But when I get back from that, I might actually decide to spend a day and play all of the games that I need to complete, like Sniper Warrior and some of the stuff I "bought" from Ubi to addon to Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, but that's all in the works right now. I also got my Xbox live Gold back so I might want to play some Halo Reach online, got it a little while ago, and maybe play Fear 2 all the way through.

But that's all for now guys.

Peace out,

Dane

Hey guys! Long time no see! I know it's been quite a while since my last blog post and I just thought that I would give you guys an update as to what I've been doing since last time. I was also hoping to give some mini reviews this time around about the games I've bought and played, including the stuff I bought last year. I recently got Splinter Cell Conviction, Two Worlds (need to change a chip in my xbox so I can play it), Sniper Ghost Warrior, Bioshock 2, and Dragon Age Origins and Awakening. I'm also getting Assassin's Creed Brotherhood soon, the collector's edition none the less. I've also obtained the ultimate level of geekiness…*looks around suspiciously*, I 'm level 80 in WoW…so I guess the next step I should take should be…

Hoping I don't get any hate for this…

Alright so let's see what's happened since last time…Oh right I got a job! It took me the better part of January this year, pretty much walked around my entire town and a bit outside of my town too. It finally payed off after a while and I'm now a cashier at a local supermarket! Which brings me to another point…I'm sorry if I ever asked you how work could get in your way of free time…I spent most of my summer vacation at work, and my gaming time has been shortened considerably since I started working, that and school has brought it down to a very very low amount of free time. I've also had to take a hiatus from fencing because I can't find a good fencing school that's close to my town in Denmark, so I'll just have to wait till I get to university and fence for them, but the world championships in fencing are currently being shown so I at least have some contact with it. Speaking of university. I have decided that I would like to study medieval archaeology at university, and focus my interests on the crusades, and because of this I've decided that my paychecks will become a nest egg to pay for one semester at Holloway University where I can study crusades history, and I've already got the money…So I guess you could say I'm doing well for myself. Also, since I haven't been able to fence I took up guitar playing instead, you can see a video of the one and only Danevader down at the bottom. Finally you get to see my face, huh? Side note: I am not responsible for any broken computer screens that may occur while watching my video. Sorry if it there isn't much order in things, I've been working on this blog for a few days sooo it doesn't have much of an organized look to it.

In fencing news: I also found out that Denmark has 2 representatives at the World Champs! Russia is leading the representation with 41 fencers though…

Before I start my mini reviews I would like to hold a moment of silence, during my summer vacation, my xbox 360 sadly died, and before you all go "Xbox sucks! PS3 FTW!!!! >: D" I will add that I had mine for three years before it broke, and I brought it from America to Denmark. So that means that it survived two weeks at sea in a container contained a total of 5 tons of stuff. To make sure it ran so smoothly I did what it said in the manual, I kept my xbox on a flat surface with plenty of room behind it so it could breath, and that's it. So for the men, swallow thy pride, and read the manual. So since my old one died I decided to get a Xbox 360 Elite…but there is one slight problem, all my memory is on the little 60GB drive from my original xbox…so does anyone know of a way where I can get my memory from the 60GB to the 120GB that comes with my Elite? Thank you in advance for all your awesome help! And now, since a tomb stone is too expensive…

Mini Reviews

Battlefield Bad Company 2: For this one I would like to start with the singleplayer campaign. The campaign itself is very fun with the ****c large areas of things to do while running around the map. As far as the AI goes, I didn't notice anything to different from the first game so I guess that's an ok thing. As far as the story goes for the single player, I think it would have fit better if this game had been the first one and visa versa. As far as Sarge's retirement plans go it would have made more sense to have them trade place, but it's a little too late to do anything about it. Now the multiplayer in this game is perfect, in my opinion. The ability to knock down whole buildings is fun and useful for taking out command posts. Also the new SPECTAT items is a fun addition to the game. Also the ability to unlock new weapons and addons to each weapon is fun indeed. Also the "Kill Cam" if you can call it that is pretty awesome. It's also cool to see gravity being added to the equation with bullets falling as they have to travel further. For me, as a sniper in the game, it's an added challenge to make sure I can kill people quickly so I've had to learn the idea of my bullet falling over distances. So all in all I would like to recommend the game, but mostly for its multiplayer.

Left 4 Dead 2: Well…the game itself is fun as always. I mean what isn't awesome about tearing through thousands of zombies? Especially now that they've added melee weapons. It is satisfying to see ones axe getting bloodied after tearing through some zombies. The other fun thing in this is the addition of a moving witch and the day change. While it isn't exactly the way night and day changes like in other games it's still an awesome feature. Also the "mini quests", if you can call them that, are cool to do, even if the people you are doing them for are annoying as anything…The new special zombies are equally fun and irritating at the same time. The Jockey is always a pain in the ass, the Spitter on the other hand is only a minor annoyance, but still cool to fight as well. Also the charger is a cool addition instead of using the tank all the time. As an addition to the weapon, the laser sight and special ammo are really cool to use as well, and they give a more tactical value to the game. An example of this would be, I've found that using a sniper rifle with explosive rounds will down a with faster than anything else. I haven't tried them against some of the bigger zombies, but I'm sure that, against a tank, they would do well indeed. I also like some of the new weapons they've added to the game besides the melee weapons. If I recall correctly there is an AK-47, MP-5 (or something like it), a cooler looking sniper rifle, and a, if I spelled it correctly, SPAS 12 shotgun. The variety of melee weapons is also really cool, just irritating that the chainsaw runs on fuel, but I guess it would have to or everyone would just get one and chainsaw everybody else…But again I would recommend buying this game, as it is both fun in singleplayer and multiplayer. Also the all over gameplay and randomization makes all the levels fun to play in.

Assassin's Creed 2: Well what can I say about this game? I'll just start with saying that I'm gonna try to keep this review spoiler free, but I can't promise anything so just note, you have been warned. Now just to get my opinion out there so you guys know, this game is probably one of the best games I have ever played, besides Oblivion. The story itself is meaty and filled with lots of cool stuff and historical references which makes it seem so much more real. The only downside is that it's a bit short, but it's still fun, and there is sooo much to do that you'll hardly notice. The general game mechanics haven't changed from the first game, so if you've played that you'll be pretty well set for this one. Your basic weapons still consist of the sword and the hidden blade, but with the addition of new weapons like the gun and a second blade also changes the way you'll be performing and planning executions, though I would say that I haven't used my gun for much other than for kicks. The graphics in this game are as wonderful as they were in the first game, and, if nothing else, they've gotten better. I still smile when I see the graphics. The game is also as immersive as ever, though there isn't as much difference in the languages as there was in the first one, but then again when the whole game is based in Italy I guess it isn't so surprising. The addition of new characters is also really awesome. SPOILER WARNING Davinci is one of the coolest characters in the game, and Rose is really really hot as well…I'm a sad little man aren't I? The missions in the game are also really fun, but I also really miss the missions from the first game, and before you yell at me I would like to add, and I know Smitticus has also raised this point, that those missions actually helped you give a map of the city, and gave you a bit of extra information if you read the notes that you got from completing the missions. So yes they might have been repetitive, but they also really added to the game, but that's just me. The fighting in the game is fun as always though that can actually get quite repetitive, and the enemies just seem to come in a single file line. And as Tim Buckley, cartoonist of the internet series Ctrl Alt Delete, put it:

But the combat, though it plays a somewhat big role in the game, isn't really noticeable…unless someone points the flaw out to you…oops. I would like to add as a final note that the ending of the game will shock you, I know I was very very frightened when I saw the last cut scene…but never to fear because Desmond is here! I would like to finish this review by saying that if you have been on the fence about this game, go buy it, it is really easy to learn how to play, even if you haven't played the first one.

Red Dead Redemption: This game is actually really cool, and it was also a good introduction to the Rockstar genre of games. The start of the game is like watching an old western movie, and the entire game actually follows that line. The size of the map and the amount of free roam available is astounding. I mean I can't even find words to describe the graphics in this game. So I included a video from Rooster Teeth, where Geoff and Jack left the game alone for a few minutes, and this is what happened.

The gun play is awesome and the dead eye is really cool to use. The horses are also fun to ride, no innuendo intended, and helping random strangers is also quite awesome. The story is also riveting and soo interesting, you can just immerse yourself in the game and go to a whole different world. Before you know it you'll have a nice scar on your face and be carrying around a bowie knife in public because it might be necessary. So I will leave you with this, buy the game or rent it at Best Buy and then buy it, because it is really really cool.

Modern Warfare 2: Now I don't play CoD games very often, but I have enjoyed the Modern Warfare series so far because they just seem to add a different perspective to the shooter genre. It's also cool with the whole the world is going to hell thing. A nice joke about the trailer of the game was that we now knew how the landscape of Fall Out 3 was shaped. The characters in the game are really well made. It is cool though to see Soap having gone up in rank and leading a squad. I also enjoy playing the whole two sides thing as CoD seems to do in their games. I really liked playing the campaign side on American soil, and even though I'm not American, I felt sad when I saw all the destruction. Like I said, I'm not American, but I did live there for 7 years, from the time I was 9 till I was 16, so yea it did touch me a little to see DC being shot to hell. The singleplayer campaign is really fun to play, but it is quite short. The best parts are some of the big fire fights that CoD do really really well. I really haven't played much mulitplayer because the maps are a little too small for me, compared to BC maps, but other than that I just really hate all the swearing. I played with some of the guys I know quite well, and they are usually quite reserved, but when I played a few matches with them…I mean Jesus Christ almighty! I have never heard so many swear words at a time!!! So I would say that it is a game to buy for the singleplayer value, but for multiplayer value…I guess if you don't mind all the swearing I guess it could be fun. But the multiplayer aside, I would definitely tell you to buy the game because it is awesome to play through and very gut wrenching at times.

Bioshock 2: Now I haven't gotten far in the game yet, I've adopted one child and helping my second one, killed Mr. Bubbles, but from I can tell, it's a fun game, and the plot in it seems to thicken with each character that you meet. Sinclair is a right old bastard ain't he? From what I can see so far, this game will take a while to sink in, but I also feel that, even though I haven't played the first game, I can actually follow it quite well, and I have an idea of what actually happened, but it just makes me wonder, what was the first game about anyways? I promise to expand this review, but I still want to complete this game…I can't wait for winter break…

Splinter Cell Conviction: I actually finished this about 5 hours ago actually. The game itself is cool to play, lots of neat little gadgets, and the learning curve is pretty easy, so you won't get bogged down in which buttons to push. The campaign itself is pretty short, but again the amount of content in each level and free play to set the routes of execution is awesome. This is actually my first Splinter Cell game, but the creators did do an awesome job of making sure that the info from all the previous games was neatly packed into the game so no one would get lost. There is one huge downside to the game though, and it's such a shame too! It's the interrogations. I mean they could have done sooo much with them, but the only real fun one is actually the first one, after that they seem a bit watered down, and the lack of environment use in the other interrogations is disappointing, but we can't have everything. If I had to pitch an idea to Ubisoft I would say that they should definitely use the interrogation stuff, after they've improved it, in future Assassin's Creed games. I mean you have to admit that you would love to beat information out of your targets before you double blade them in the throat, right? And again I would recommend buying the game.

Dragon Age: This is also another game I haven't completed yet, but I will say that what I've played so far is fun and I still have a long ways to go, currently in Demerin running around questing and gathering a good group. I'm just gonna play as a nice guy and save the earth, despite of what you might think…so I'll get back to you on that review when I complete the game.

Sniper Ghost Warrior: Again not done with it, but what I've played so far is fun. Quite a hard game actually, even on easy, but that's just the awesome challenge of the game, so I will also get back to you on that.

My cover of East Jesus Nowhere by Green Day

So I will leave you with some words to ponder:

What do you want? To see a valley filled with my enemies' heads mounted on spears. A silent valley, except for the wind whistling through their ears.

I can imagine a world that never had war and loved and cared...And I can imagine us attacking it because they would never expect it.

Hope you guys have a great day, and sorry for the radio silence.

Best Regards to Everyone!

Danevader

PS: If you've read this far, here you go

Hello one and all, long time no blogging huh? Well I would like to add that I am writing a new blog, and I will be posting it here, it's taking a little bit to write though, so it might not be up before tomorrow, but I promise it will be up, and it comes with a little special surprise too. Also, because I'm posting it to another site, I won't mind if you just comment on my gamespot page. Hopefully it will be up soon, wish me luck!

EDIT: Alright blog is posted, there's also a reward at the end, though I doubt it counts, but it is now up and ready to read! I might decide to do some vlogs too, so who knows you might get to see my face a bit more...I can hear the screams already... ;)

Hello one and all! Just another little blog post. As for the my previous blog post about the PS3. I think that I will buy it, but I will not buy it now seeing as I have very little funds and due to the fact I don't know much about them yet. What I would like to know from any PS3 owners is: does a used PS3 run almost as well as a new one? I added the word almost because usually buying something used means that it possibly has taken a minor beating and might not run as well as one from factory condition.

Right now to the point that my title indicates. As a few of you might know, I have added Assassin's Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 to my games collection. Now those of you who can see my Gamercard might be surprised to see that I am not playing these two astounding games. That may make a lot of you ponder as to if this gamer has any brains left in his skull? The answer to that is yes because I ordered them over in America so I was sure to get the limited stuff for L4D2 and AC2. Now all I have to do is wait for my dad to bring them home. So within 12 days or so I shall be playing these two new games, but until then I intend to play as much Fall Out 3 as I can.

This brings me to a piece of old and very sad news. I have managed to finish Oblivion. I have ever single achievment in the game except for the one where I have to become Duke of Mentia. I must say that after 200+hours of gameplay and having completed the game that I am satisfied. I can't remember feeling that great and yet that disappointed at completing a game. Now it should be said that I did this without having any of the DLC beyond Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. I'm sure that if I had all of the DLC downloaded that I could easily have racked up a few more gaming hours. I almost feel like writing a full out report of Oblivion and just saying what a wonderful game it is. I would also like to know this from my fellow Oblivion players. Have you, like me, completed the whole game without DLC, and if you have that's alright as well, and if you have, how long did you play? Also did you use a guide? I must add that I did this for some sections of the game and that is the only reason I ever got so far. The guide was an immense help with looking at all of the short cuts potions and how to make a perfect character But for now I must say good night as it is 2 minutes past midnight. Til my next blog post ladies and gentlemen!

Well as most people in the gaming community know there is a new game coming out in 2010, I believe, called Heavy Rain which is only available for the PS3. Now this is not a fanboy rant on Sony, this is an actual idea of me thinking that I just might get a PS3 to play this game, but I still don't know because there is no doubt in my mind that this game will rock. I'm more thinking of my wallet size which could shrink rapidly with the purchase of said PS3 or PS3 Slim...But, and there's that big word, I need more reason than one video game to buy such a piece of equipment. I mean sure it has the Blue Ray stuff and all that, but I mean if that's it I'm not going to buy it. Besides if I can be patient and save loads of cash I can wait till Onfile comes out which for me is such an exciting prospect, or I could buy an amp for my electric guitar... So honestly I don't know what to buy...anyone who agrees or disagrees with me?

As you read in the title my forum is up and running and we now how some more stuff on. I own the forum along with one of my friends so both of us can help you out. Please join our board if you feel like having something new to do in your free time.

I have just made a new forum if anyone wishes to join and become active I also just wanted to see what it would be like. The name of the forum is Knights Hospitaller and it isn't complete yet I still need to add some topics and stuff like that. I will need administrators and I'm mainly speaking to those people who are active on Gamespot, that I know, to help me here (you know who you are) and of course the people that I don't know that would still like to join. Please come and help and see if this works, I beg you.

Well it's official the Historical Gaming Union (HGU) has officially died like most Historical Unions. We are starting to believe that this is a curse for all Historical Unions but I felt it right that the since HGU was the first union I joined at Gamespot and also the first I became an officer in so I believe right that we remember the effort of L7UWP and Dotdarkcloud for trying to keep the union alive.

May the God rest your soul my dear HGU.

Ladies and Gentlemen I have a new video on my Gamespot account though this time it isn't about Total War (insert groan). This time my video is about Epee Championship (Fencing) I hope you all like it and also this video is under the They Came To Play Union videos if you are a member there and if you aren't come and join won't ya.

Hello everyone I'm back on GameStop and I hope you will see me more often on the They Came To Play and Historical Gamign Union forums as an active officer. The reason for my absence will only be known between me, Smitticus and Lycan_Tiger but I hope you won't mind my long absence and I do beleive that an absence this long requires a long blog.

Ok for all of my Total War fans I have posted the Americas Campaign under my videos and I do hope that you will enjoy it and learn a bit more about the last chapter of the Total War Kingdoms campaigns. Also for those that I promised that I would post my review I'm sorry for the procrastination buy to make it up to you I will post it right HEREso that you can see my review I might actually rewrite it since I don't think I scrutiniced the game completely and hope to do it soon after I complete all the campaigns in Total War Kingdoms. The last thing about Total War Kingdoms if you are one of the 17,892 viewers that viewed my Crusader Campaign video I applaud you and thank you because it has become my most viewed video to date.

Now for something that we can all appreciate I finally got my Xbox 360! Last Saturday my Dad and I went to BestBuy to buy a 360 Elite but one of the workers there told us that the Elite was really bad! This suprised my Dad and I but here is why:

It turns out that because of the bigger hard-drive in the Elite it makes more noice and italso doesn't leave any space for what he called a dual cooling system which the Pro had. So pretty much he just told us flat out not to buy the Elite so thank god for that or I would have a little noice machine in my living room :lol: but if he was wrong please do comment on it.

So I have been playing a lot of Rainbow Six Vegas lately and I'm hoping to get Elder's Scrolls IV Shivering Isles or Knights of the Nine so I have somethingelse beside a shooter to play on my 360. I also hope to get Assassin's Creed when that finally comes out.

The next subject on my mind is the one that most kids hate which is school. This year school is actually fun since most of my techers are young along with the fact that I have German this year :D :D :D sorry about the smilies but I really like German plus my teacher is really cool and he gives Gummi Bears which are these small chewable candy in the shape of bears (duh) which taste really good.

Ok so this is all for this Update when I do get to the 4th update thread you will probably know ;)

Support the faithful and serve the poor (Hospitaller Motto),

Danever