Update! Update!
It's amazing that I'm posting again after almost a month since my last post. A sign of regularity, of things to come perhaps? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
So what have I been up to?
I'm trying to finish a bunch of games I've recently installed on my spanking new hard disk. It started with Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, trying to see all the endings. I've seen the Space Marines' ending, as well as those of the Orks, the Tau, the Imperial Guard, and the Necrons. The Tau ending was courtesy of my brother's perseverance. So far, I've yet to make sizable progress with Chaos and the Eldar campaigns, and then the other games struck.
Next up was an oldie but goodie - Age of Mythology. I've played the game before, but was disappointed when the campaign module of my brother's copy was corrupted - it wouldn't even let us finish the Greek campaign. Oddly enough, the multiplayer and skirmish modes were intact. Thanks to my girlfriend, I'm now able to enjoy it in all its glory - the impetus to finishing it is the fact that my girlfriend also has a copy of the AoM: Titans expansion.
The DoW: Soulstorm expansion is ready to spring upon avid War Hammer 40,000 gamers/players, which bodes well for financially strapped fans like myself. I've downloaded the demo, which allows you to play the Dark Eldar vs the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter. It looks good - my only gripe is that small vehicle limit and caps don't make for exciting dogfights with the brand-new air units. From what I've seen, the game will be built on the Dark Crusade meta-engine, which is in turn a nod to old Westwood classics where you get to choose which enemy territory to attack. I'm excited to play with the Sisters of Battle, AKA Nuns With Guns. Yes, take that comment as you will.
Next up is Hellgate London, a contemporary dungeon crawl. You know it's good times when you're shooting demons up with your elemental rocket launchers, slicing them up close with power weapons, and they respond in kind. Hellgate offers dual-wielding of weapons even at the earliest levels of the game for some character classes, and with all the black armor going around, you can pretend you're playing a hellish version of The Matrix or Gunz: The Duel. No wall walk though, and melee combat is restricted to just two fighter classes, both of which can wield a pistol in their off hand. Come on people, is it so hard to kick or curb stomp a weakened enemy?
Then there's World in Conflict. It dubs itself as a real-time tactics game, or RTT. As far as I can tell, the only difference it has from RTS titles is that you don't build units in a RTT, you just click whatever troops you want deployed and they parachute or get airdropped to a designated point within 20 seconds. WiC also features the ability to recover the points you spent on destroyed units, which means eventually you'll be able to re-field that tank which died early on in your game to save your hide from being bum-rushed. I don't know if this is going to be a standard feature of RTTs, though.
The most recent addition is Company of Heroes. I call it Dawn of World War II. It's also a Relic release, and unsurprisingly features concepts familiar to DoW players: capturing strategic points, reinforcing squads that have lost a few good men, and most of the units come with special abilities. There are bits of realism though, and these are what make the game stand out from just playing DoW with the Imperial Guard: You can only reinforce infantry near an APC or HQ buildings/Barracks, captured points require that you have uncontested control over map sections leading from the point to other territory you control, and infantry making use of cover like walls and fortifiable buildings. Heck, even tank facing comes into play - you don't want your tank to take a hit to your rear or flanks, even by infantry.
Finally, an otaku update. My gashapon figure collection is growing again, after gifting some of them to people I know. I'm left with 3 SD super robots (The Big O, Godmars, and Shin Getter-1), Misato's apartment (which means Shinji, Asuka, and Pen-Pen) with a Rei add-on, and Kyon's harem of un-ordinary girls (Haruhi, Yuki, and Mikuru). Don't ask me when I'm going to buy another 1/144 or 1/100 mecha sprue kit - my Alteisen traumatized me with its loose joints. Besides, with all the games I have, as well as Shakugan no Shana Second and Rental Magica, do you think I'd have time?
Ja ne!
So what have I been up to?
I'm trying to finish a bunch of games I've recently installed on my spanking new hard disk. It started with Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, trying to see all the endings. I've seen the Space Marines' ending, as well as those of the Orks, the Tau, the Imperial Guard, and the Necrons. The Tau ending was courtesy of my brother's perseverance. So far, I've yet to make sizable progress with Chaos and the Eldar campaigns, and then the other games struck.
Next up was an oldie but goodie - Age of Mythology. I've played the game before, but was disappointed when the campaign module of my brother's copy was corrupted - it wouldn't even let us finish the Greek campaign. Oddly enough, the multiplayer and skirmish modes were intact. Thanks to my girlfriend, I'm now able to enjoy it in all its glory - the impetus to finishing it is the fact that my girlfriend also has a copy of the AoM: Titans expansion.
The DoW: Soulstorm expansion is ready to spring upon avid War Hammer 40,000 gamers/players, which bodes well for financially strapped fans like myself. I've downloaded the demo, which allows you to play the Dark Eldar vs the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter. It looks good - my only gripe is that small vehicle limit and caps don't make for exciting dogfights with the brand-new air units. From what I've seen, the game will be built on the Dark Crusade meta-engine, which is in turn a nod to old Westwood classics where you get to choose which enemy territory to attack. I'm excited to play with the Sisters of Battle, AKA Nuns With Guns. Yes, take that comment as you will.
Next up is Hellgate London, a contemporary dungeon crawl. You know it's good times when you're shooting demons up with your elemental rocket launchers, slicing them up close with power weapons, and they respond in kind. Hellgate offers dual-wielding of weapons even at the earliest levels of the game for some character classes, and with all the black armor going around, you can pretend you're playing a hellish version of The Matrix or Gunz: The Duel. No wall walk though, and melee combat is restricted to just two fighter classes, both of which can wield a pistol in their off hand. Come on people, is it so hard to kick or curb stomp a weakened enemy?
Then there's World in Conflict. It dubs itself as a real-time tactics game, or RTT. As far as I can tell, the only difference it has from RTS titles is that you don't build units in a RTT, you just click whatever troops you want deployed and they parachute or get airdropped to a designated point within 20 seconds. WiC also features the ability to recover the points you spent on destroyed units, which means eventually you'll be able to re-field that tank which died early on in your game to save your hide from being bum-rushed. I don't know if this is going to be a standard feature of RTTs, though.
The most recent addition is Company of Heroes. I call it Dawn of World War II. It's also a Relic release, and unsurprisingly features concepts familiar to DoW players: capturing strategic points, reinforcing squads that have lost a few good men, and most of the units come with special abilities. There are bits of realism though, and these are what make the game stand out from just playing DoW with the Imperial Guard: You can only reinforce infantry near an APC or HQ buildings/Barracks, captured points require that you have uncontested control over map sections leading from the point to other territory you control, and infantry making use of cover like walls and fortifiable buildings. Heck, even tank facing comes into play - you don't want your tank to take a hit to your rear or flanks, even by infantry.
Finally, an otaku update. My gashapon figure collection is growing again, after gifting some of them to people I know. I'm left with 3 SD super robots (The Big O, Godmars, and Shin Getter-1), Misato's apartment (which means Shinji, Asuka, and Pen-Pen) with a Rei add-on, and Kyon's harem of un-ordinary girls (Haruhi, Yuki, and Mikuru). Don't ask me when I'm going to buy another 1/144 or 1/100 mecha sprue kit - my Alteisen traumatized me with its loose joints. Besides, with all the games I have, as well as Shakugan no Shana Second and Rental Magica, do you think I'd have time?
Ja ne!
