Assassin's Creed: Revelations: A very late review...

For Christmas last year, one of my main presents was Assassin's Creed: Revelations (AC: R). I have always been a massive fan of the series since my obsession with the first Assassin's Creed all those years ago... Anyway, I didn't play it straight away; I had Skyrim to keep me more than occupied despite my tradition of having the first game played on my Xbox 360 after Christmas being an Assassin's Creed game. I eventually got round to playing the game and due to two months or so of playing Skyrim, I just felt underwhelmed by the whole experience... It wasn't as big or as diverse an open world as Skyrim and it felt more like a movie than a game. I played up until Ezio Auditore da Firenze gets to Constantinople for the first time and then gave up to play more Skyrim. So... What brings me back? Assassin's Creed 3. I needed to play all of them to get an idea of what's going on. So, a few days ago I tore myself away from FIFA 13, sat down and played AC: R for the first time in about ten months... What have I been missing?!

Set in Constantinople when Ezio is in his 50/60s, the master assassin's main quest is to find the five Masyaf keys scattered around the city in underground spaces that require an assassin's touch to complete. The challenges over the five keys are varied from 3D platforming puzzles to on-rails chases to just plain-old killing everyone in sight... Which is nice... As usual for an Assassin's Creed game, there's a tonne of stuff to do which will keep you occupied for a few days/weeks/months/years depending on if you get addicted to it, which is likely. There's Sofia quests to do which involves recovering books and you meet the sultans of the Ottoman empire, do their dirty work and get angry at them... Obviously... This is Ezio's last game and it is suitably tear-jerking at his last scene. I won't spoil it for you though; you'll have to play it for yourself :P

The Ezio part of the story takes up about 80-90% of the campaign and for the other parts of the story, you have to complete Ezio's storyline so as to re-live parts of Altair's life and you have to collect Animus data fragments from around Constantinople to play through Desmond's life. This is most likely Altair's last game too and as such, it ties up all the loose ends and answers all the questions that fans such as myself may have had like what happened after Assassin's Creed (1) and did Altair find anymore pieces of Eden. As with the Ezio storyline, the end of this one is equally as gut-wrenching due to the amount of my time played on AC. Desmond's is weird. His story takes place inside the Animus due to a lack of synchronisation from him and his ancestors due to AC: Brotherhood and the end of that story (you really have to play all four to get all the references). It's not as emotional but is equally as interesting as the other two are passionate.

There's also a continuation on from AC: Brotherhood's multiplayer which I've had a few hours on and it is still as fun as Brotherhood's with a larger variety of ways to kill people now but with the same core mechanics that makes the multiplayer as fun and as stressful as last time.

I put off playing this game because of Skyrim. I have had lots of chances in the past to play it again but passed on all of them. I'm glad I finally did play AC: R but I'm also glad that Ezio and Altair's stories have been finished for two reasons; 1. Ezio's had three games and was beginning to get stale. 2. There were so many unanswered questions from Altair's life and 3. AC3 is going to be completely different and I cannot wait to play it. Less than a fortnight left!

Oh, and if you're thinking about buying this game, make sure you buy all of them. It won't cost more than £45 for all 4 and most probably quite a lot less, to be honest. For this post's link under my user name, there's a Let's Play from RoosterTeeth as they play on mulitplayer... It's very funny.

SkyrimAddict

Let's Play Assassin's Creed: Revelations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-5CmCnmbVg

Cool YouTube Users: officialxboxmag

I bought my first Xbox 360 magazine when I was first interested in Guitar Hero: World Tour. I bought the magazine with the glossy cover and Guitar Hero on the front despite the fact that it wasn't "official". I was, indeed, susceptible to anything that looked good so at the time I bought games depending on their trailers or cover art or what a friend owned. Then, about a year and a half after my first purchase, a member of my family offered to buy my magazine for me. Not knowing which one I usually purchased, they bought the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) as it was the most expensive of the solely Xbox 360 magazines. Having read the magazine and used its disc, I was certain that I could only buy this magazine in the future months to come... And I still do.

As with most businesses/brands, they have their own Facebook and Twitter pages along with a very extensive website which is run by some top people (as is most of the things they do :S). The most recent of their uses of popular "social" websites is their use of YouTube.

Despite not having a lot of time to do YouTube videos (they have to work for their actual jobs), there is a large variety of videos that make up their uploaded videos section.In the last month or two it has, admittedly, been a lot about Minecraft due to the immense popularity of it on XBLA. However, even one game can bring about a diverse selection of different videos from an introduction, to gameplay to OXM Land which is basically their world and they let 100 people onto it to build whatever they want... The results are quite staggering and impressive.

That's not to say that it's just Minecraft. Their most popular videos have come from Matt Lees (AKA OXMJamSponge or "the guy with the weird hair-do") and his ability to make any game sound quite exciting. An example of this is Dragon's Dogma. Not an extremely successful game, by any means of imagination, but Matt has made introductions to different types of systems found in the video game including the Pawn system, level system and the different classes, though he's only shown us a few in his videos. :'(.

The most recent video of interest is a Star Wars 1313 gameplay video, with Matt asking someone from the development team about LucasArts' CGI effects team (which recently worked on The Avengers) while showing off the latest of gameplay shown by the developers. It looks really good, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it be for the next generation of consoles. However, it's Matt being there that consoles any worries about it and I'm sure it will be great whichever generation it comes out in.

I've been subscribed for about seven months and I always look forward to seeing an OXM video pop up in the subscriber's box... Maybe you should too.

SkyrimAddict

Star Wars 1313 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbhcsrYnW1c
Dragon's Dogma - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c8krHCKHDI&feature=relmfu
Minecraft introduction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jt9dHr0Veo

Skyrim: new Hearthfire DLC

More DLC for the second best game of all time? Yes please! Skyrim Hearthfire looks a lot like Bethesda has looked at The Sims or Minecraft and gone "Yes. We need some of that in Skyrim. Make it done." This 400 MSP pack comes with the ability to buy a plot of land, get materials and then build your own home which you then maintain and add with furnishings and more and more rooms... Wow.

When I first saw rumours of this a few weeks back, I thought it was going to be a rip off and that I wouldn't need it. Then I saw the trailer... Yeah, it looks awesome with making your own rooms, being able to use fallen foes as trophies... And there's mounted mud-crabs obviously.

I hope the way it's laid out onto the controller makes it easy to make majestic houses and I do yearn for something in Skyrim to be glitch-free... Hopefully, this can deliver and rival The Sims in house making.

And if not? It's only 400 MSP.

SkyrimAddict

Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vb9NiZohcw

Looking Back...: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Having loved the Star Wars franchise since my discovery of it when I was about 6/7 years old, I have gone on to buy each of the six films with my favourite being Attack of the Clones. Because of my early obsession with the brand, I have always been interested in Star Wars-esque video-games that come out with several for the DS and Game Boy Advance being among a small collection. The Force Unleashed was a re-boot to the franchise... and one that was badly needed. Coming out in 2008, three years after the Revenge of the Sith film, the whole idea of Star Wars needed to be shaken up and changed and that's what Lucas Arts tried to do with this.

It follows the tidings of the secret apprentice of none other than Darth Vader (you play as Vader during the tutorial, if you're interested) and his struggle to find a place by Vader's side. The main idea is that "Starkiller" (as he is affectionately known by others) has to go around after the devastating Order 66 and mop up the last remaining Jedi that are still kicking around and causing a bit of trouble for Vader and the Emperor. Not to give too much away but there are few decisions you to make that ultimately swings which way the story goes and whether you will stay with the Dark Side of the Force but it's not completely your choice.

The game play is practical and an arsenal of Force powers are at your disposal as the game progresses with force pushes, grips on objects, lightning and chokes all making appearances in the game. There's a number of enemies too from the classic Storm troopers (Starkiller is meant to be secret so no-one's allowed to see him, even if they are on his side :S), Wookies and, of course, Jedi. There are also a few rudimentary puzzles that need "cracking" as it were, but they're not strenuous and happily fit the BBFC's 12 age rating due to their simplicity.

All in all, I've always had a blast playing this game even if there are a few things that can be boring such as the loading times, similar enemy types and it can get a bit too easy if you master basic combos. However, these factors shouldn't stop you from playing such a great new direction in the Star Wars franchise. If you haven't played it, pick up a copy... it's dirt cheap these days. If you have, then pick up Force Unleashed 2 which is basically more of the same... Which can only be good, right?

SkyrimAddict

The Sorcerer's Apprentice for DS

On holiday I had my birthday. On my birthday people gave me presents. I got one video game and it was from my sister. She knew that the only console I could bring was my DS and so she had bought me The Sorcerer's Apprentice for DS. As with most DS games (outside of Mario, Pokémon etc.) it was mainly complied of mini games. The main idea of the game is to go around, using spells and killing inanimate objects brought back to life by an evil sorcerer who's trying to bring back the sorcerer that killed Merlin. Sounds awesome in theory... but as with most DS games, it's ambition is stopped by the DS's power (or lack of it) and there aren't even any cut scenes... just pictures. The use of the touch screen was for choosing different spells and yes, there was some fun to be had by firing off projectiles at "evil" plastic bags but (for me) the DS is just for Mario and Pokémon and this game just implements my position even further. 

Oh, by the way, I'm back! Yeah, I've been on Deus Ex: Human Revolution most of the time since I got back and I'm actually starting to feel like a badass on it, which is good. I'm 26 hours in and I have no idea how much of the story I've completed... Oh well!

SkyrimAddict

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Having played Pokémon to the point at which I'm happy that I have a head start during my holiday, I've started to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution again. I say again as I got it for Christmas, played it for an hour, thought it wasn't for me and left it to gather dust with dozens of other games. I got it out a couple of days ago and started again with an intention of getting as far as possible before the holiday; and I bloody love it!

If I was to use some sort of comparison, think Skyrim meets Blade Runner with the a bit of Splinter Cell: Conviction thrown in for good measure... and it works too. It's story is based on "augmentations" that you, the main character, uses to "level up" and get stronger. Using augmentations is the controversial issue of the day with 1950s' USA style segregation of "AUGS ENTER FROM THE BACK" and just a general air of racism towards people who have altered their bodies. The plot is that you're a security guard following orders from the CEO of the company that makes the augmentations and you're trying to get information (and eventually justice) about an attack on the company 6 months ago.

The great thing about Deus Ex is that there is no set path; you can choose your way through the game. Your attack style and augmentations are all up to you to decide from stealthy and unseen (taking enemies out with melee while cloaked) to gun-toting and headstrong (rushing in and killing everyone before they know what hit them)... I'm the latter.

It's certainly very enjoyable and I long to play as much as possible. Also, it's dirt-cheap these days and I would heartily recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the freedom of Skyrim or the sci-fi/punk feel of Blade Runner.

As with most of Deus Ex: Human Revolution; it's up to you.

SkyrimAddict

BF2

About 6 months ago I bought BF2 after thoroughly enjoying BF: Bad Company but I didn't really play it that much; just completing the campaign and getting to about level 5 in multi-player. After a bit of stressful week, I decided that a release would be good in the form of BF2. The reason for this is that it fuels adrenaline rushes that I hardly experience and it feels so good to "kill" an @$$&**£ that has been sniping me for the last 15 minutes. The result is that I'm quite addicted to it with several hours everyday being dedicated to being awesome at the Engineer class or trying to level up the other classes. Either way, I usually have a lot of fun playing and may even get BF3 at some point in the future... I am really behind the times. xD

SkyrimAddict

Wow...

Yep, it's been quite a while. No excuses for it either... I just didn't feel like writing as it turns out. Lots has happened in that that time too; I've mined diamonds in Minecraft, been shredding guitar on Guitar Hero III etc. but the most exciting thing has been the introduction of Skyrim's new expansion pack/DLC... Dawnguard. Set in the normal world but with a whole host of new things to do/fight/collect/use, it really has added several 10s of hours to the game. At the moment my character has levelled up on the Vampire Perk tree and has several of the perks available that allow it to use daemonic powers that can suck the very soul out of enemies... NICE. It's just added something new and fresh and it was well worth the 1600 MSP.

If you have Skyrim, have played it to the brink of exhaustion and thought that it was time to put it away for a few weeks/months/years... well, you'd be wrong. :P

SkyrimAddict

Ignoring Past Excuses

As the title suggests, I have ignored the rule of not buying and playing Minecraft and I now play it often... and it's great! Really, really good and I can't believe how good it is... The way that the map you play on is randomly generated (mine's called "Brave New World"), the fact that you can do anything you want with no constraints and that your friends can come into your world and help you build that amazing skyscraper you had plans to build or you could go into their world and blow their house up by inviting some creepers to stay ;)

So far, I have built a mine-shack that is next to a mine I have dug with the finding of iron, coal, gold and redstone being one of the best experiences in gaming. Near to this is my main house in the middle of a body of water with a bridge of sand joining from all directions at the front of the house... and I'm proud of it! That's why Minecraft is so great; it takes the idea of crafting and if you put the effort in, you can create some truly amazing pieces of art/architecture.

I must go, "Brave New World" calls me.

SkyrimAddict

Sorry

I haven't been doing this blog for about a week now thanks to exams :( and just generally chilling when I'm not. The main news is that Minecraft comes out on Xbox Live this week and it looks awesome!! I've never played Minecraft on the PC but my friends have and they're all addicted so I can't wait. Plus, there's a lot of Internet culture surrounding the game with Newgrounds, YouTube and Reddit full of Minecraft videos, articles and references... many of which I don't understand but I hope to soon!

SkyrimAddict

Crossbows for Skyrim!!!

The Skyrim DLC rumours come thick and fast every day with new ones sounding more awesome and outrageous than their forefathers. The new word on the Internet with considerably reliable evidence comes the rumours that there will be crossbows, Snow Elves and new vampire animations! *girlish scream*

The evidence is a folder found in the PC update which contains these kind of ideas. The Snow Elves are essentially the Falmer who were thought to be extinct but have little back story... so Bethesda could do so much with it!

My favourite idea is crossbows as my character at the moment is an assassin/thief/archer and that would add a whole new dimension to an already packed-full inventory I possess.

I am looking really forward to this...

SkyrimAddict

Minecraft for 360

The news that Minecraft was branching out to different gaming consoles was of no surprise to me as it was the most popular game on the computer over the last few years and the owners were looking for new revenue streams. Minecraft will get it's release as an Xbox Live Arcade game where people can do as they do on the computer; namely mining, crafting and fighting with creepers. You can basically do what the computer guys are doing minus the regular packs and updates that the computer game gets.

When I first saw Minecraft I thought it would be a fad and one that would be over quickly due to its block-y graphics and its weird game play. But then it turned out to be a long-running, extensive gaming experience that most people I know have played or are playing.

The release is welcome and I for one will be buying it... little pickaxes and beds here I come!

SkyrimAddict

Euro 2012

With Euro 2012 just around the corner at the beginning of June, EA have published another tournament game that convinces most football fans with the title: "UEFA Euro 2012".

 I, being a massive football fan, have always loved watching the world cup and the euros with anticipation and worry for England's football team as they never do as well as they should. The chance of playing as England and winning such a prestigious event with other countries such as Spain and the Netherlands playing would be amazing and a lot of fun, I would imagine.

According to Amazon, the game this year does not have a plastic box surrounding it, but rather a DLC Microsoft points card attached instead. For £15 to £18 you can add another mode to FIFA 12 and play as whatever team takes your fancy; I'll probably take Macedonia...

I look forward to playing the game alongside the tournament and hopefully England can win... in real life or the video game! I don't mind either way!

SkyrimAddict

Halo 4

So, moving away from Skyrim and RPGs in general I would like to write about Halo 4 and how it's shaping up to be "Game of the Year" already. The trailer was released several months ago and showed the audience Master Chief floating through a spaceship on a jet pack with Cortana giving orders. The trailer looked good with subtle hints about what was to happen in the future.

Halo 4 will be the start of a new trilogy for Master Chief with worlds such as the exotic jungle planet of Requiem to play on and co-op missions that allow you to get to know your Chief better. The multiplayer also looks good with the whole Red vs Blue situation finally being unveiled as a proper story rather than just what-it-is.

The design for the Chief and his enemies has been radically overhauled with the only things remaining including the general shape of the characters and the helmet that Master Chief wears.

I loved Halo: Reach and at first I was hesitant at what 343 Industries could bring to the table in terms of Halo but so far it all looks good. I can't wait to play it later this year.

SkyrimAddict

RPGs

Skyrim was undoubtedly my favourite game of last year and one of my favourite of all time, too. After putting in over 350 hours on Skyrim, I have decided that I need a new RPG for this year. And so far they have been coming thick and fast. So far there has been The Witcher 2 and Kingdoms of Amular which look alright but the one I have been anticipating as this year's RPG is Dragon's Dogma.

Set in a world quite a bit smaller than Skyrim but with a whole lot of charm, it oozes reasons to buy it. The Pawn system looks great (basically Skyrim followers but with a lot more customisation) and the combat looks cool with new ideas that look fun to play.

Come May 25th, it will be the game I'll be playing and I'll put a review on here, too. I look forward to it.

SkyrimAddict

Kinect for Skyrim?!

Kinect as an add-on to the Xbox 360 is controversial and there's no way around it. I have Kinect to the point where I play fitness games after Christmas and when guests come to stay... but why should it stop there. Many developers have seen this new technology as a stepping stone for extra profit with poorly made games that shouldn't really be called video games as is their annoyance.

So when I heard that Skyrim was to incorporate Kinect in a new update, I was sceptical to say the least. I thought Bethesda had given in to the mass market and were strangers to core players. Then I realised how awesome it could be. The new update won't only allow you to FUS RO DAH your enemies using your own voice but it allows you to equip items without moving your thumbs and even lets you sort your items by worth or damage.

I look forward to the update and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

SkyrimAddict

Skyrim Demographics

According to Bethesda, it is rare for people to spend less than 80 hours playing Skyrim. I've been playing Skyrim since the day after it came out and I have 350+ hours playing such a great game. It's not really suprising that this is the case as it takes 80 hours just to complete the main story and a few side quests... Then there's wanting to finish everything, making different types of characters and getting all the achievements/trophies.

There's also Skyrim DLC on the horizon to try and further that game time even further. Personally, I would like to see different types of dungeons (rather than just the generic daedric dungeon that's great the first 100 times but gets annoying after that) and more weapons too; different types of arrows would be good and there's even talk to spears! Make it happen, Bethesda.

SkyrimAddict

Introductions

Hi. First post and what a one it is. Introductions are generic for blogs so here's mine: I'm 16, living in England and I love to play video games... so much so that a blog is appropriate. Xbox games are the main staple of my gaming diet (so to speak) but I do like to play a free online game now and again and the DS and PSP are good for travelling.

What I'll be writing about will be my thoughts on the latest news in gaming, the games I look forward to get and ideas I have come up with. Feel free to comment if that is your wish.

Enjoy,

SkyrimAddict