Well, I haven't been on here in ages. Thuthfully, I don't like GameSpot anymore. Why? Because I've strayed away from PC Gaming, as well as gaming in general. Not completely...but what I mean by straying is that I play for an hour or less each week. My online life has been largely slain by my real life, which is going great, thanks for asking.

I thought it would be atleast somewhat courteous to let those of you who actually read this know that I am done here. I've had this account since 2003, and have posted 125 blogs to this date. Quite frankly, I don't know how that happened. Lots of free time in the past, I suppose. Seeing as how I'm a completely different person than I was 6 months ago, let alone 6 years ago, I don't see any reason to carry on. This account doesn't represent me as a gamer or a person any longer, and it's been atleast 6 months since I even accessed this site, let alone logged in.

This account will remain alive, but inactive. Probably, and hopefully, forever. Thank you to all of you who made my time here fun, and a special thanks to Templar for making me not feel so lonely back in the day while I was on here writing my blogs. Farewell, everyone, happy gaming. :)

-Hiitzme

Hey, everybody. Looking to the future of PC Gaming (not to mention the crazy lag I was getting in Fallout 3), I have upgraded my computer. I made the jump from a GeForce 6800 XT to a GeForce 9800GT, and added in 3GB of extra RAM to a total of 4GB. I am very pleased with this setup. I can now run Fallout 3 on UltraHigh @ 1680x1050 resolution, Crysis on high @1680x1050 resolution, and Bioshock on High (minus the DX10 stuff), just to name a few. I'm not sure about this, but I believe that DX10 only works on Vista? Either way, I'm glad to be rid of lag, at least for the time being.

Also, as a side note, I ordered Resident Evil 4 for a grand total of just under eight bucks. Well, see you all later. I'm going to go revel in Crysis' spectacular graphics.

-hiitzme

Hey everyone. I can't concentrate enough to play any one game for more than thirty minutes, so I decided to come on here. The reason for this is that I was browsing Ebay looking to see what Gothic 3 was worth, and I came across an excellent deal: Gothic 3, Painkiller, Hitman Bloodmoney, Prince of Persia Two Thrones, and Jade Empire for a grand total of 15 bucks. What a deal. I've wanted all of these games, save Jade Empire, for quite a while. I jumped right on that one, and now I'm just waiting for it to arrive.

Beside that, I've finish Gothic 2 as a level 45 mercenary swordsman, and now I'm trying to get through as a Militia Archer. It's certainly easier. I've also been playing Quake 2 to fill up the rest of my spare time. Two great games, those. It's a bit difficult to go from a stat based roleplaying game to a fast paced "shoot every thing that moves, and shoot it again for good measure" FPS game, though. :P

Well, that's about it for what I have to say. See you all later.

EDIT: There is something truly screwed up with Gamespot's blog system. Does the spell checker post your blog entry up, or does the Submit button, just post up two of them? My last two blogs have have a double post, one of which I've had to delete.

Hey, everyone. It's been quite some time since I've posted anything here. What have I done in this time? Lots of stuff. I reactivated my WoW account and have a 64 Undead Rogue on Uldum. I don't play him much anymore, because I've been playing Gothic 2, though.

Speaking of which, this is an amazing RPG, that at times can be frustratingly difficult. That's not to say it's not worth a play, though. Give it some time, and it really gets to be more fun. One interesting thing of note is that all of the enemies in this game don't do that annoying "blitz rush" thing that you see in a lot of games. Each enemy class (skeletons, humans, orcs, etc.) have a unique fighting style. For example, you must use a different tactic when fighting bandits, and orcs, or you'll get yourself killed a lot (I would know :P). I find it really fun to learn the different tactics of enemies, and take advantage of their weakness. It's not all that often that you see that in an RPG of this style.

It's also a fairly "open ended" game, in it's own way. You will die a lot if you don't stay in the areas where you belong, but there are sometimes several ways to finish a quest (help the guy, or kill the guy, each with it's own consequences). To find a lot of these seperate paths you can't really stick to the "good guy" path, though. Which sometimes will end up with giving up one quest for another.

This is a game that any RPG fan should play. And why not? I got the Gold Edition (Gothic 2, and the expansion: Night of The Raven) for 10 bucks on EBay a year or two ago. If you're not sure if you will like it, you can pick up the demo off GameSpot, or whatever your favorite download site is. It allows you to play the first 1/6 or so of Act I. Anyway, I'll see you all later, I'm off to play Gothic 2.

-hiitzme

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything here on my blog. I'm putting a quick post here to let everyone know I am still gaming.

Recently I've been playing The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and Kingdom of Loathing. I'm sure Morrowind needs no explanation as it was GoTY a few years back, but Kingdom of Loathing is an online browser based RPG made entirely of stick figures. It's a funny game that takes every chance it gets to make fun of practically everything. It's really worth looking at, I've been playing every day for about 4 months, though my account has been around for 7. My characters are DrWee, DoctorDisco, and DiscoWee for anyone who is interested.

Anyways, I'm tired, and should probably get off the computer now. Good luck.

-hiitzme

Happy New Years!

Merry Late Christmas, as well.

This Christmas was a great one for me. I got The Orange Box, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Crysis, Dungeon Siege, and a 20'' Widescreen Monitor. I never knew how great widescreens were! Anyways, I'm not on here for long, but I will rate each game, and give a little bit about it.

Orange Box - 9.5

The Orange Box is a great deal. 5 games for the price of one...wow. Anyways Ep1, and 2 are the best in my opinion. Portal is cool as well, I have played through it twice. Quite an interesting little game. We need more innovative games like this (I am aware it is based off Narbacular Drop). TF2 isn't as cool as I thought it would be, but supporting my team by healing is fun.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - 9

This game is amazing. I felt like I was there. Great atmosphere, and gameplay. Boy, is it buggy, but it is worth it (besides I think the patch fixes the worst problems). The beginning can be discouraging due to the difficulty (this is not Quake, you need to use stealth a bit), but it is overall worth however long I spent playing it. I plan to play this one again using the 1.4 patch, and ABC Inferno mod. One of the only complaints I have is that only about 30% of the ingame text matches it's voiced dialog, and as I like to read along with the voice acting, it was difficult to keep up with the voiced dialogue.

Crysis - 9.8

This game is amazing. Grenades blow houses to bits, vehicles can be blow up to cause major damage, weapons sometimes damage the environment, the story is cool, it is fully voiced, and the characters have plenty of personality. This was the first game I played this year. As I said earlier, the environment can be blow apart. In one instance, I was supposed to get to the top of a mountain, which was guarded by a town of koreans. They had a garage, and a few houses. Outside the garage was a truck. I entered the town by jumping out of my vehicle at high speed, and having it crash into the truck parked outside of the garage. Of course, they both exploded, but unlike most games, their explosions tore half of the garage off.

Dungeon Siege - 8

Cool game. It reminds me a lot of IceWind Dale. I've heard that the multiplayer is fun in this, so I should try that sometime. So far, I haven't played much of this, and can't really say much about it.

That's all from me for now. Good gaming, everyone.

-Hiitzme

It's been a while...But what can you expect? You're on MY blog. :P

Anyway, Christmas is coming and I figured I could put up my wishlist to fill up some space.

The Orange Box (PC) -This one looks great. I get to see what happens next in the well-known Half-Life series, I get to teleport around in Portal, and I can play TF2 online and get some achievements.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:Shadow of Chernobyl (PC) - This one looks great as well. This is above Crysis only because it is part RPG, and thus probably longer. I would love to explore Chernobyl in a free roam game.

Crysis (PC) -Do I even need to say anything about Crysis? Innovative 'suit' system, great graphics, great attention to detail, and what looks to be a great story.

Gears of War (PC) -Yeah. I know that many people complain about the bugs in this game, but I am going to be an optimist and assume it will run stable on my rig.

Dungeon Seige (PC) -This one looks to be a great RPG, and I have some people who tell me that the multiplayer is "FUN". If the demo is a good indicator of this game's quality, I am sure this will be a great experience.

That's about all. If I don't get Orange Box, Stalker, or Crysis, I will probably buy them anyways. :P

For the sake of keeping this blog short, I'll cut it off now. Merry Early Christmas (since if my memory serves, I have never been here on holidays.)

Again, it has been quite a while since my last update here on gamespot. I have played quite a few games lately, and in an elaborate series of events I have recently begun enjoying Adventure games.Every once in a while I still get an itch for a fast paced shootout, however, so I'm not completely an Adventure Gamer.

Anyway, I have finished 36 standalone Adventure games, began playing 49 (but haven't finished them), and have 7 currently unplayed. In addition I used a program to make my own. You can find it at http://members.cox.net/rshostage/sticksadventures.html

Some of my favorite games (of the 85 have played) are 5 Days A Stranger, 7 Days A Skeptic, Trilby's Notes, 6 Days A Sacrifice, and the 1213 series. These games are very immersive in my opinion. I played 7 Days A Skeptic from about 11 A.M.until 3:30 A.M., then rushed back the next day to find out what happens next.

Below are links to the games. (If you plan on playing 5, 6, 7 Days, or Trilby's notes you should play them in this order: 5 Days A Stranger, 7 Days A Skeptic, Trilby's Notes, 6 Days A Sacrifice.)

http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/5days/ - 5 Days A Stranger. Exciting adventure game set somewhere in the 90's.
http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/7days/- 7 Days A Skeptic. Sequel to 5DaS, set in 2385.
http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/notes/-Trilby's Notes. Explains more about 5DaS and 7DaS. Uses Text-Parser.
http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/6days/ - 6 Days A Sacrifice.It's 2189. You play as a new character.

http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/1213/ -1213. Not exactly an adventure game. More of a sidescroller. 3 Parts.

I should probably leave some kind of warning about the games (even though you have to be 13 to sign up for Gamespot I believe). Most of these games are somewhat gory, and have some language.

Just like with all files, it would be advisable to scan them before installing them. (Though I believe they are virus-free)

These games were made using Adventure Game Studio (by my knowledge). The website is at http://www.bigbluecup.com/

I hope someone reads this, and plays these great games.

-Hiitzme

(P.S.: I'm going to set up a page for my adventure game sometime soon so it is easier to tell what it is before you are asked if you want to download it.)

EDIT: Oh yeah, and happy halloween.

EDIT: I got my webpage up. I changed the link from stickad.zip to sticksadventures.html

Hi, everyone. I posted my Bioshock review yesterday (The 17th), and it got me 40 hits on my blog, so I figured I would post a fixed version of my review here. For some reason my review is one large paragraph, because the HTML coding was removed when I submitted it, but since I know HTML works in here, I will post a copy here. Enjoy.

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Bioshock is a great game. There is a lot to say for it, so I will start off with the visuals.

The graphics in this game are very advanced. The water distorts vision, the ground shines, glass cracks, shadows create a deeper immersion. The list goes on and on. This game will be demanding on even the most upgraded rigs. The graphics deserve a 9/10.

Now onto the actual gameplay. One of the upsides in gameplay is that there a so many ways to kill your enemies, that it would take much effort to find, and execute each individual technique. The downside here is that because of the loads of ways to kill your enemies, you may never get a chance to try all of them.

Another high point in this game is that there are many "optional" areas of sorts. Your objective might tell you to go to point A, then return to point B, but because of the open environments, you can go make a 2 hour visit to point C. This game isn't open-ended by definition, but it gets fairly close. To fully appreciate the game, you must go in the opposite direction of your "objective arrow".

A very important upside in Bioshock is immersion, and this game sure delivers in immersion. Between the angry ramblings of the "splicers" (inhabitants of Rapture, whom have used way too many genetic modifiers, and have lost their minds), the announcements broadcasted across the facility, and the radio messages you periodically receive from numerous characters, I felt like I was actually in Rapture. It will be hard to break away when it's time to leave.

Another upside of the gameplay is numerous audio logs spread across the city of Rapture, which you can listen to, to be filled in on important things. There are well over 200 audio recordings, between the acquirable audio logs, and the archived radio messages. I give gameplay a 10/10.

Audio is a very important factor in a game of this style, however there is not much to say about the audio. It is well recorded, though sometimes difficult to understand among the many noises running simultaneously. There is a small audio bug, in which the tommy gun will not make noise while firing. I give audio a 9/10.

One final thing of which to discuss is replay value. The game is immersive, well plotted, and well though out, however the replay value is on the low side. After playing through the game once, you may want to replay again to finish piecing the elaborate story together, and there are multiple endings, though I find the game is one you play, then save for a time you are in the mood for a great game. I give replay value a 7/10.

I hope my review was helpful. I will now wrap this review up by listing value, and tilt. (Tilt is here to get the average up close enough to 10)

Value: 9/10

Tilt: 10/10

Final Rating 9.9 (I know that is higher than it should be but this is a great game)

Hello again everyone...I recently got Bioshock. I have to say, it is a VERY great game! It is very immersive, as well. From the public announcements broadcasted over the city, to the ramblings of "splicers" (people who have used to many genetic enhancing tools, and have lost their minds), I felt like I was actually in Rapture! The story is not shabby either. As many people who have played the demo might be wondering, "How can a story be told if there are limited face to face interactions with other characters?". The story is told through recorded dialogue (similar to PDAs in Doom 3) where the speaker recalls events, summerizes confrontations, or even rambles on about a problem they have. The story is also told though radio communications with many characters. Though you can't speak to the other people you do pick up important bits of information. There are at LEAST 120 audio recordings spread across the game, and a lot more radio communications.

Without giving too much away, this is an amazing game with a very story driven plot. After I write this, I am going to rate Bioshock a 9.9. Anyone who enjoys a good shooter/rpg, with massive levels and a great plot should give this game a try. (The demo is right here on Gamespot) All I ask is: Would you kindly play this game?

Edit: Why is it that Gamespot squishes my words together when I click "Submit"??