• 9Aug 06

  Stealth - The Game

  I liked Hitman: Blood Money. Played & finished it recently. While a game that casts a player as an assasin for hire, is subject to a whole lot of moral debate, never-the-less - killing has never been this much fun.
  
  Now, i'm no fan of gratuitous violence in games - but here's one game that makes killing such an impressive puzzle. Its like a mix of Sam Fisher, a dash of Lara style adventure, and a drop of Solid Snake espionage. Good thing all the people i had to assasinate were villains (who deserved death) but the inclusion of a notoriety meter ensured that i kept the death of civilians in crowd control, on a downlow. In fact, due to my disposition against wanton violence, trying to finish the mission without killing a single civilian was all the more exciting.
  
  Let me give u a scenario:
  In this Mission ur tasked with killing a paedophile Opera singer & his gay politician friend.
  
  As soon as you, as Agent 47, gets into the Opera house, first off, you'll need a Disguise if you want to go anywhere. But, if you want one of the deaths to be accidental, speak to the guard (at the window) of the wardrobe
  area to receive a gun first. Afterwards, wait in the bathroom (door to the
  right of the wardrobe place) until a worker in a green suit and hat enters.
  Sedate him, take his clothes (and his toolbox, just in case) and stuff him in
  the bin nearby. Stuff the gun you got from the Receptionist into the box just
  to safe.
  
  Then enter the door to the left of the wardrobe and follow it around until you
  get to a door you have to pick. Make sure no one is around and then pick it
  and proceed. Get to the 1st floor
  
  From here, you can do start setting up either "accident". Alvard's is simple,
  but it requires some timing, and Richard's has two ways you can do it.
  
  For Alvard's, wait until you are informed that the Execution scene has been
  performed. Then, hightail it into the "star" room next to that lone guard is guarding. Once there, hide in the closet and watch for the star to enter. Soon, he'll start messing around with the prop gun. He'll eventually set it down and leave to use the restroom temporarily. After he leaves, jump out of the closet, nab the prop gun, set down the real gun next to its original location and get out of there.
  
  For Richard's, there are two things you can do. You can either place a bomb on the lighting above Alvard, or you can place a bomb on the chandelier fixture.
  
  I recommend the lighting more, as it has a bigger error margin with more time to execute it. If you place a bomb on the chandelier, you'll have to watch the
  map carefully for the moment Richard trips (which is impossible on harder
  settings) and detonate it then. For the lighting, you just have to wait until
  Richard examines Alvard and then detonate the bomb to crush him.
  
  Even though you can set up these at different times, you must eventually set Alvard's up if you want to use Richard's. Both will die in "accidents". Exit the way u came... mission accomplished.
  
  This is what stealth action games should be. Agent 47 is what Bond should aspire to be. Stoic & precise. I had an excellent time with this title & was only sad to see the credits roll up (with an unusual interesting twist). A nice relaxing puzzle game everyone who likes their stealth forgiving.
  
  On a side note, i got Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence a while after playing this. While the new view was good & all, i didnt feel up to playing thru it a second time - given i'd finished the original a while back. Also I found i had a tendancy to play it like i had Hitman, which was very forgiving in as far as avoiding detection was concerned. And this, unfortunately had disastrous results. I'd recomment Subsistence for those who've never played 3. But if u have, its not really worth it playing thru a second time.
  
  
  • Posted Aug 9, 2006 2:03 am PT
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• 8Aug 06

  The Evil Resident

  After a fairly long hiatus - a time to reflect abt whats important & not, i'm finally back to blogging. My gaming life.
  
  Which title better to resume with than this, Resident Evil 4. Reading through my blog, i find that i tend to rave abt all the games i blog about, but then again, i only play the games i hear are great
  
  That said, Resident Evil 4 is utterly, mind-blowing, out of this world, amazing. I got this one a while back - just didnt get the time to write about it. This title really reminded me abt what was great about gaming, action titles, and above all, that the PS2 still has a lot of life left.
  
  As usual, after doing a lot of reading, seeing a couple of reviews, i decided to pick this up. Now, i've never really had a gr8 history with Horror titles. The first one i played was a Silent Hill demo on PSOne. This was the first time a game so creeped me out i actually dropped the pad & (calmly) exited the room. Horror titles offer immersion like no movie can.
  
  So when everyone started talking abt how great an action title RE4 was. I gave it a wary shot. I got Peter Jackson's King Kong game the same time, so that night I started with KK, which was a rather okay game. I played it more to see how the movie progressed than how interesting the game was. However, i found the game was rather engaging due to its emphasis on survival insticts. Something abt being armed with very-limited ammo, & spears mostly, in First Person View brings out the savage in a guy.
  
  Anyways after playing it a while, & getting freaked with the centipedes (wait till they're all up in ur face, u'll see), I really wasnt in the mood for ugly zombie-fighting but i popped in my shiny RE4 dvd anyway. The intro was nice, but the controls took a while to get used to. Also, the sound was rather deep & foreboding, i couldnt play much of it. I was glad when i had to turn it off. Too spooky.
  
  Then a few days later, i had the guts to turn it back on. on a 21-inch screen this time. I was playing it, & my kid brother was watching (and providing a bit of moral support). Needless to say, it was creepy fun. This is as intense an experience as u can get. Many times i was tempted to set it to Easy mode, (but thats for sissies, grannies, & gurlz)
  
  If there was an action title that redefined exhilirating action in this generation, this is it. RE4 is nothing at all like the previous entries. It doesnt feature zombies (just some crazy Ganado's), its controls arent clunky. They're quite intuitive once u get used to them & the speed is deliberately paced to allow u to feel the fear. The graphics really set this title apart from the junk & the art style & locations you go thru, really make this an adventure worth playing if u own a PS2. The crazy thing is, i didnt die as many times as i expected, & it wasnt frustratingly difficult. However much ammo i spent i always seemed to have enough for the next boss. Even when the odds were against me, there was always a way. In short, when i finished this game, i really felt i had accomplished something gr8 in gaming - and that it proved that I really was good at gaming.
  
  Sadly, I fear that the time of such games is almost over. I fear we may not have something as excellent as RE4 to look forward to in the early part of the next gen wars... I salute you Capcom....
  • Posted Aug 8, 2006 6:47 am PT
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• 15Nov 05

  Talim & Ling Xiaoyu

  Since my previous blog entry was too long, i wanted this to be a separate entry.
  
  Tekken 3 sold Ling to me. I absolutely kicked butt with this chic and lost zero battles. She was my favorite character cuz she was fast, had lots of style and grace in movement. She wasnt a heavy hitter, but a frustrating opponent! with flips, taps, hits, spins, Art of the Phoenix, Rain Dance... she was quite a sight, in motion.
  
  She was slowed down in Tekken Tag Tournament. (thats why i didnt buy it) And in Tekken 4 & 5, there were characters who were as fast, or even faster. So, no advantage. And thus my love for this lovable little girl died, and i sadly moved on to Asuka Kazama in Tekken 5.
  
  My experience with Talim was a rather similar one. Talim, the wind priestess, from Soul Calibur II came onto the scene. I liked her the very first time i fought with her. She was everything Ling Xiaoyu was, for Tekken 3, only now, she had weapons. She had size and speed advantage over a whole lot of fighters. and with the Soul Calibur version of her elbow blades, she was a whirlwind of destruction.
  
  Unfortunately, this too, was not to last. Soul Calibur III brought my biggest disappointment. Talim had grown older & taller. In SC III there was little or no size advantage factor. It wasnt possible anymore to slip past opponent's defenses to deliver those oh-so-effective quick successive wind strikes. They'd also changed a couple of her moves. If only they hadnt touched Talim...
  
  The thing these 2 favorite characters have in common is the size & innocence that throws ur opponent off-track. You cant imagine beating up these 2 cute kids and VERY few people can use them effectively. Their hits are very weak, but if u combine a lot of movement and successive strikes, they are very effective frustrating characters to fight. I wouldnt want to fight me...
  • Posted Nov 15, 2005 4:15 am PT
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