Posts Tagged ‘review’
Need for Speed: Undercover on the Wii
This game was just the step up from NFS: Carbon that the public was looking for. If you are sitting at your computer and asking, “Why is the public looking for something similar to Carbon?” then you obviously are not part of the public trend that is the Need For Speed series.
From high speed pursuit to high speed racing, NFS: Undercover is the high speed thrill ride it should be. The one advance from NFS: Prostreet is the return of Free Roam. If you are asking what free roam is, you probably should go play one of these games. Free Roam is one of the greatest racing game inventions since the taco car from Top Gear Overdrive for the N64.
The basic idea of Free Roam is you get into a really fast car. That car is unable to be destroyed. You are now unleashed on a city. Sounds fun, right? Prostreet lacked this very intuitive feature from Carbon which has been upgraded in Undercover. The main upgrade is the three cities connected by highway. Although the cities are small, the tri-city of Undercover gives a feel of a realistic city.
The graphics of Undercover aren’t bad, but aren’t the greatest either. The main problem isn’t how good the cars look, its the physics behind those cars. If your car hits something, that something goes flying, and you do nothing. However, there are certain things that, if you hit them, you stop instantly and they do nothing. I suppose there can be some serious drawbacks to playing the Wii version of the game as opposed to the 360 or PS3 versions.
Overall, I would rate Undercover quite highly, with a good ending and reasonable plot line to keep me entertained for the 10-some-odd hours it took me to complete the game.
Peggle Nights Released With DLC in the Future
For those of you who haven’t already heard of Peggle, it’s a highly addicting game that has similarities to Plinko in that you fire a ball from the top and see what it does on the way down. The goal is to hit all of the orange pegs before you run out of balls. Peggle Nights expounds on the game by adding in a new character, 60 new levels, new style shots like “Double Long Shot,” and 60 new challenges to keep you playing all night. The cost of the game is $19.95, and hopefully the original Peggle will receive a price drop soon.
The most exciting feature about the new game is undoubtedly the downloadable level packs that Popcap is planning on creating, and hopefully they will even release a level editor for players to create their own levels, but that has not been confirmed.
Google Chrome – The New Look of Future Browsing?
Could Google’s attempt at an internet browser be a huge success, or just a flop? Google released Google Chrome on September 2nd and they are making some pretty big claims about their new browser. I’ll start first with the mechanics behind the browser.
Chrome uses a different method behind it’s tab system. Instead of opening each tab under the same process, and lagging the computer as well as consuming memory, some of which cannot be reused until you restart, Chrome opens each tab in a new process. In this way, if one tab goes faulty, the whole browser doesn’t crash, just the tab. If you prefer to use tabs over windows, this is the browser for you. If you prefer to use windows over tabs, this is the browser for you. It’s unique drag and drop design allows you to separate tabs into windows, and windows back into tabs again. This is all done at a quick speed, and there is no lag time involved.
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Runescape – The HD Update
The popular Runescape game, created by Jagex in 2001, has been going quite strong until recently. On December 10, 2007, after years of botters, gold sellers, and hackers messing with the game, Jagex decided to impose a horrifying rule. The rule stated that you could only trade within the market prices set by the Grand Exchange. For example, you cannot trade a certain item of x value for another item of y value if the difference between those two items is greater than 5000 gold. They later repealed this and allowed you to trade up to 30000 difference based upon your quest points. This update made it so you could not give items away, or even worse, you could no longer use botting programs on wimpy characters and then transfer the money to your main character.
This update, along with the destruction of the wilderness, was a huge blow below the belt to all Runescape users. Jagex lost a lot of its players, nearly cutting its attendance every day in half. They needed something big to strike back, and they delivered! On July 1, 2008, a High Definition version of Runescape was released to members only in the beta stage. The graphics are noticeably different from the previous version. On July 14, 2008, it was released to free players as well as members. This has not returned Runescape to it’s full glory, but it is a step in the right direction. Runescape has never been on “par” so-to-say with games such as World of Warcraft, and has gotten much criticism for it’s so called childish gameplay, but with recent updates Runescape has turned into a more mature game.
So, if you have quit Runescape because of recent updates, or are looking for a versatile MMO to play in your downtime, it’s definitely worth a checking out.
Here are some pictures from the HD update(click on the image to enlarge it):
iSketch Is Pictionary Online!
iSketch is simple: it’s basically MMOpictionary. After selecting a username, you log on. Unfortunately you cannot save usernames and see highscores as of yet. Every account is technically a guest. At first glance of the server list, they are all the same save the number. However, if you continue to browse, you can join certain rooms dedicated to books, animals, time periods, and various languages. iSketch’s variety of languages is English and French, but also has single rooms for Turkish, Dutch, Spanish, and many more! It also contains chat rooms user created that vary from cybering to casual chat.
The actual iSketch experience is good. The chat rooms are full at 10 users, and everybody takes a turn out of the 10 rounds to draw a word. The first person to guess it correctly wins 10 points ,the 2nd 9, and etc. Usually only about 3 or 4 of the people actually correctly guess the word, because the drawings are user made. No words are allowed in the picture obviously, but you can give hints with a handy hint button, or simply skip the word altogether if you are chosen as the artist. As a drawer, the more correct guesses of your word, the more points you receive. After 10 rounds, the winner will get his name rotating up in the sky with fireworks going off. No awards or ranks yet, just recognition within the channel.
Sometimes there are a lot of immature people that join the channels who spam it up and/or take their draw turn writing vulgar words, and since there is no registered user system, the effect of booting them does nothing. Overall though, iSketch is fun. It is a great way to waste your time on the internet, with no strings attached! A lot of games require multiple visits to maintain your score, or at least are very competitive (WoW, need I say more?). This simple game is very entertaining, at no cost, with no time determined commitment.
Adventure Quest Brings Flash Games to the Next Level
Adventure Quest is just one game from the game creation geniuses at Artix Entertainment. Other flash games the company has made, like Dragon Fable and MechQuest have roughly the same graphic styles and battle mechanics.
Digging into the fun of AQ is as easy as creating an account, starting the game in your web browser, and eventually upgrading your account to Guardian status for a one-time $15 fee. Once you’ve loaded up the game, you’ll get a request to look at an advertisement and then get stuff from a magical chest (generally 200 gold). From there, you can go on to level your character doing quests, killing 700+ monsters, etc. Some of the classes you can be are: Fighter, Wizard, Ninja, Vampire Slayer, Rogue, Knight, Mage, Paladin, or a Dragonslayer.
One reason to keep playing Adventure Quest during your lunch break is that the game is updated every week with new content, such as new quests, areas, items, and armor. Here are some in-game screenshots for your viewing pleasure:
So if you are looking for a fun game to play in your spare time, check out Adventure Quest, the online flash RPG with loads of lands to explore and monsters to kill.
nVidia 177.41 WHQL Drivers Released
nVidia has some new drivers, but note that if you already have the 175.16 WHQL Drivers, you are already up-to-date unless you just bought one of nVidia’s brand new 200 series cards.
Download : nVidia ForceWare 177.41 for Windows XP 32-bit (37.2 MB)
Download : nVidia ForceWare 177.41 for Windows XP 64-bit (48.1 MB)
Download : nVidia ForceWare 177.41 for Windows Vista 32-bit (35.5 MB)
Download : nVidia ForceWare 177.41 for Windows Vista 64-bit (49.5 MB)
The GeForce GTX 280 is the best graphics card to-date, and probably the best processor to-date too, with 240 processing cores! Most processors on the market today have 2 cores, with powerful processors utilizing 4. The amount of power availible in the 280 is almost unimaginable. The 280 is the world’s first graphics card that can run Crysis at a screen resolution of 1900×1280 with settings on high at 15 frames per second. The closest card to that can run it at only <1 frame per second. Overall, the GeForce GTX 280 is an insanely powerful graphics card that comes at the hefty price of $650.
Mad-Croc Energy Gum is an Energy Drink, Only Not
So I recently ate some “Mad-Croc” Energy Gum. Well, ate is a strong word. It was more along the lines of, chew for five minutes then spit out because of pure disgust. Mad-Croc is one of the few products I’ve found whose taste goes from fairly good to absolutely unbearable a matter of minutes. I had some spearmint gum first, which was definitely the best of the flavors. It actually tasted fairly good for the first minute or two, then all pretenses of flavor dissipated into nothing more than a sticky pile of sickening goop in my mouth. I mean, if a baby chewed this stuff, I swear you would see his face melt, Raiders of the Lost Ark style.
Moving away from the flavor factor, in terms of working, it’s not bad. The only problem is you have to chew for at least 10 – 15 minutes to get the full effect of the gum, and it is unbearable after the first three. So it’s a challenge to get the proper effect from the gum, but if you’re willing to put up with it, it is a decent energy provider. Two pieces, according to the packaging anyways, is equal to one 8 oz. energy drink. That isn’t bad, I suppose. Not spectacular, but not bad.
So, in closing, I think I would make a great student council representative because of my strong work ethic and willingness to help others. And Mad-Croc Energy Gum sucks.
Hell of Sand – A Good Time-Wasting Flash Game
Hell of Sand is a flash game located at Andy’s Life. Though Andy’s Life should not be your one stop for flash games, I would highly recommend that you check out Hell of Sand. Actually, the game has almost no point other than to have fun and waste time. You set the rules, you set the conditions, and you have more fun. You can create pictures, and do things such as creating large explosions and seeing which kinds of substances explode, or melt, or do other things in relations to the plant, the fire, and the water. Everything is shaped to be like sand, but most substances follow realistic patterns, such as gunpowder exploding and plants flourishing under water.
If you are one of those people who have to have some kind of goal to meet, then this is not the game for you, but if all you want to do is make something that you can enjoy for a while and then delete, or you just need to blow 10 minutes and don’t want to get too deeply involved in a good flash game, play Hell of Sand. If you need to meet some kind of requirements, then go play something else like The Last Stand 2, otherwise Hell of Sand is your game.
Coke, The Not Energy Drink That’s Still Awesome
In the aftermath of a purchase of Rock Band, I find myself with an acute lack of money. Because of this, I am reviewing whatever I happen to have in my fridge today, which happens to be Coca-Cola. Now, you may be saying to yourself, in your whiny high-pitched 12 year old voice, “But Japanerd! Coke isn’t an energy drink, it’s just a soda!” Well I present to you, my friends, evidence to discount you claims that it’s not an energy drink. While it may not give you a massive buzz like Mountain Dew, it still has a large amount of sugar and caffeine. Do you know what sugar and caffeine does? It gives you energy. Shocking, eh?
Anyways, onwards and upwards to the review. Coke is a wonderful beverage. I mean, it’s the granddaddy of soft drinks, and it still has that great Coke taste. Screw Pepsi, given the option I’d choose a Coke over Pepsi any day. Anyways, I digress. Coke tastes great, and anyone who says otherwise deserves to be strung up naked in town square and by his own entrails, and flogged by his own festering, lying lungs until he is deemed purified, at which point he will be dragged around town behind a horse while passers-by will attempt to shoot him as many times as they can without killing him. Then he’ll die. Yeah, thats how it’ll go down.
Energy-wise, it’s effective, but needs to be consumed in large amounts if you’re looking for a significant boost. During the school year, I’ll generally drink a can of Coke in the mornings as a little pick-me-up, but it’s not something that will keep you up for long periods of time. If it’s any consolation, you can get two 44 ounce Cokes at your local convience store for about the same price a 16 ounce energy drink. All in all, I’d say that Coke, though not technically an energy drink, is definitely a winner in my book.