QUAKE III: Arena Review

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

This day 10 years ago (December 2, 1999), Quake 3 was released. It remains one of my favorite games till day, and I thought if I were to review it, now would be the time. I am not sure how many of you played this game, its one of the best deathmatch games ever. Any PC gamers reading this, who have not played this, should immediately fix the mistake by buying a copy.

THANKSGIVING PURCHASE

I bought the THQ pack on Steam for Thanksgiving. Cost me $49.99. I think its a fantastic deal.

1. Company of Heroes
2. Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
3. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
4. Frontlines™: Fuel of War™
5. Full Spectrum Warrior
6. Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers
7. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
8. Red Faction
9. Red Faction Guerrilla
10. Red Faction II
11. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
12. Saints Row 2
13. Titan Quest
14. Titan Quest - Immortal Throne
15. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade
16. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Gold Edition
17. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War - Soulstorm
18. Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® II

18 games for $49.99! Also, my uncle generously agreed to reimburse the money. That just made my Thanksgiving.I thought the Orange Box was a great deal, but this is even better!

VACATION

If everything goes well, I shall be spending Christmas in New Year in Norway this year. I got my Schengen visa last week and I bought the tickets to Oslo. I will be leaving here on December 21st, 2009 and returning on January 10, 2010. I am really looking forward to this. Its going to be a trip of a lifetime for me.I will post more about it in the coming weeks.

EXAMS

I got done with one of the finals today, and I have two more on Monday (December 7, 2009). I cannot wait to get done. I want to start playing Company of Heroes.

EXCLUSIVE PC GAMER

With Nutcrackr buying a PS 3, I think I am one of the few exclusive PC gamers remaining. Its a dying breed, but its good to be part of a niche community.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing fine. Keep us posted on your Christmas plans.

Take care!

This is a thank-you blog to Ben, who just gifted me Mass Effect over Steam. Its available over the weekend for $9.99, and I was seriously contemplating buying this, when he asked me open my Steam, and there it was.

In Christmas 2007, it was Opposing Force, in Christmas 2008 it was Fallout 2 and original Half Life, and 2009 it is Mass Effect. You got a hat-trick buddy.

Thanks again for this, I really appreciate it.

11/13/09 - Level 34 - Paramecium

MIRROR'S EDGE REVIEW

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

Here is something I thought was interesting. The hit counter on my blog sends me an email with weekly statistics. Here are the statistics for April 12, 2008

                        Game Reviews                        
                      -- Site Summary ---                     
          Visits

            Total ........................... 42            
            Average per Day .................. 3            
            Average Visit Length .......... 4:20            
            This Week ....................... 19            

          Page Views

            Total .......................... 107            
            Average per Day .................. 6            
            Average per Visit .............. 2.1            
            This Week ....................... 39  

And here are the stats for October 31, 2009

                        Game Reviews                        
                    -- Site Summary ---                     
          Visits

            Total ....................... 13,829            
            Average per Day ................. 44            
            Average Visit Length .......... 0:32            
            This Week ...................... 305            

          Page Views

            Total ....................... 21,091            
            Average per Day ................. 55            
            Average per Visit .............. 1.3            
            This Week ...................... 385   

WINDOWS 7

A friend of mine from back home recently installed Windows 7 on his desktop which has very basic hardware, and tells me that its working extremely well. I posted some pictures HERE. Those of you interested could check it.This is a good news for people with older hardware.

GAMES

I recently played the demo of Torchlight. I loved the game, but it has a lot spiders in it, which I am not pleased about. The game is perfect for me in a lot of ways, it has just the kind of save system I need. The game reminds me so much of original Diablo. I think its definitely worth buying.

I am also playing Bioshock. I am starting to get into the game and it looks really promising.

The last game I finished was Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth. Its a RTS based on the movie and I enjoyed it a lot. It has all the key battles - Mines of Moria, Isengard, Minas Tirith, Helms Deep and Mordor; they are really epic. Highly recommened to all RTS fans.

LIFE

I have a feeleing this is going to be my last blog till the end of the semester. I have an exam tonight, a submission tomorrow, a meeting on Tuesday, a homework due on Wednesday and its going to worse. I will be on Xfire of course, playing Bioshock whenever I can.

That's about all for now. Hope you had a great Halloween. Take care everyone and see you around.

REVIEWS

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

I wrote two reviews - Wolfenstein and Deus Ex. Click on the picture to go to my blog.

Wolfenstein was a disappointment. I had high hopes for it. It wasn't bad, but it had some really stupid design decisions to put up with, and that killed the game for me.

Deus Ex, what can I say? One of the best games ever? Those of you who didn't play, do so.

GAMES FINISHED

I finished Crysis Warhead, STALKER and Mirror's Edge recently. I want to work on the reviews, but I don't have time for it right now, so it might take anytime between a week or a month before my Mirror's Edge review comes out. I speak as if everyone is eagerly waiting for it. Sometimes I'd like to believe so.

I started playing BioShock, will write about it soon. Also need to finish Tomb Raider Legend - I can't get myself to play that game. There are a couple of levels to go, and I can't click on the icon. I really want to finish it, uninstall it, and forget about Tomb Raider.

I wish I had the money to get the new Batman game. I have to wait until next year before I can.

LIFE

Two tests next week, and a work meeting that I am not completely prepared for at the moment, so I am going to use the rest of the weekend to get that out of the way, and hopefully study for the tests as well.

I just finished my cleaning tasks for the week, and I am going to get some lunch and start my work.

Hope you all have a fun weekend. Take care and see you around.

I recently purchased a copy of Mirror's Edge on Amazon for $7.22 with shipping. The copy just arrived and I am installing it right now. I got a really sweet deal and for that price, I think its definitely worth buying the game. Also the PC version has support for PhysX. I am thinking I'd enjoy this game.

I was trying to decide between Mirror's Edge and Unreal Tournament 3, because both were available on NewEgg for $9.99, when my friend JackBurton contacted me offered me his copy of Unreal Tournament 3 for free! I downloaded it over Steam and I've been enjoying it a lot. Thanks a lot my friend! Much appreciated.

REVIEW

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

I recently worte a review of Commandos 2. Head over to my blog to read it.

NOW PLAYING

I've been playing Crysis Warhead and Unreal Tournament 3. There is STALKER, BioShock, Tomb Raider Legend and Need Fpr Speed Carbon left in the unfinished pile. I don't think I am going to play Need For Speed Carbon anymore, but I intend to finish the rest of the games. For now though, Mirror's Edge needs to be given a trial run.

That's all for now. Take care everyone and see you around.

10/1/09

Level 33 Goombella.

I got back from Austin on Sunday (August 16, 2009). My ****s were starting on Monday, so I barely had any time on my hands since then.

This semester is going to be crazy. ****s and work are going to keep me busy. I may not be on Gamespot much.

Thanks everyone for reading. Much appreciated.

My trip to Austin was great. I also went to San Antonio. I posted some pictures HERE. Feel free to look at them.

I am planning a trip of a lifetime in December, so hopefully that will happen. Will write more about it.

I've been on a vacation in Austin for the last couple of days. I will be here for the next 10 days, so I won't be online as much.

Thought I would let you all know. Will post pictures when I get back. Take care!

As you all know, I got suspended recently. I knew at the time that I was going to be suspended for what I was going to say

But, here is the whole story:

I was given a warning for that. Fair enough. I didn't bother to say anything.

Biggerst_loser saw my facepalm message and responded saying that I beat him to it, because that was his reaction as well.

Now, he didn't actually say it, but he got modded for it. He appealed HERE.

And this one mod said:

To which I responded:

Haha! This is the dumbest thing I ever heard. Fine moderate all you want.

I suppose I am going to get moderated for this....ah great.

And I was right. I was suspended. I realized that I was able to access this account again last night. I didn't have enough time on my hands to post at that time because my laptop charger stopped working, again.

I know its not the smartest thing I did, talking to a mod like that, but I really believed that it was stupid, and I wasn't in a mood to stay quiet. So I just said it.

So there is GameSpot for you. Someone just got modded for thinking something. Should say a lot about the community.

ONE YEAR

On July 22nd, 2008, I landed in Houston, Texas. It has been one year in America so far, and I loved every minute of it. I am so very grateful to this country and the people I met. I don't know what the future is going to be like, but so far, I couldn't have hoped for anything better. God bless America.

Here are before and after pictures.

I need a haircut soon.

I went to this place in the evening called Sirlion Stockade, its a steakhouse, but I had the buffet, which was pretty good, for $9.99.

NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED REVIEW

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

I got some pretty good looking wallpapers on there, some of you might like it. I am also working on the review of Commandos 2, I know you are all very excited to read it. [/sarcasm]

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Its a surprisingly fun game. I can't believe I am liking it, maybe because my expectations were so low. It has some really neat movie tie ins. Its available for less than $10 on Amazon, so check it out.

Gameplay Video

I am also playing Caesar 4 and STALKER whenever I can.

That's about all for now. Take care everyone and see you around.

DEATHADDER

My uncle bought a Razer DeathAdder 3G Infrared Gaming Mouse for on Amazon. the mouse takes some getting used to. I used a regular mouse until now, and the curve bothered me initially. Using it for a few hours makes it feel more natural.

The design is very sleek and it feels just right in the palm. Its very smooth on my Kensington mouse surface. I did not use the drivers provided on the CD because I don't play online and all those settings are not needed for me. I use the Windows default settings and it works fine for me.

I recommend this mouse to anyone who can afford it. I wouldn't have bought it until Thanksgiving, but I got lucky.

GAMESPOT RETRO DVDs

I sent an email to GameSpot community after reading Jody's blog, and surprisingly, I received 4 DVDs in mail today. Thanks Jody (If you are reading this.)

TOMB RAIDER 9?

There was some talk about a new Tomb Raider game. Not sure what to think. I must somehow finish Tomb Raider Legend, and promptly forget about the series till the new game comes out.

NOW PLAYING

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

Still playing this game. I don't know what to make out of it. It has a few annoying bugs, and I am playing with latest patches. I can only imagine how it might have been at launch. I would still recommend this game. It's an experience unlike any other.

CAESAR 4

I started this recently to take a break from action games. I like it a lot, but it has a few camera issues. Apart from that, the game is great.

That's all for now. Take care everyone.

To all Americans, Happy 4th of July. I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend.

I am not sure I am going to do much today. I probably might go to Tulsa, which would be great.

Its a 12:24PM and I am still in bed, that should tell you how my weekend was, its quite slow and relaxing, just what I needed after the kind of weekdays I go through.

Take care everyone and see you around!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

I recently finished Gears of War. I wrote a review, so read it.

RUNNING

I am quite pleased with myself, because I've been going running everyday for the last 5 days from 8PM to 9PM. My body hurts like hell after coming back, but I think its worth it. Its the reason I am not playing a lot of games, or spending a lot of time at the PC for that matter.

Not much else is happening in life. Hope you are all doing good.

7/1/09 - UPDATE: LEVEL 32 - Snake Eater

Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Los Angeles Times. The entertainment Web site TMZ.com is also reporting his death.

Jackson was rushed to UCLA Medical Center, reports KCBS in Los Angeles.

Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived.

Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home around 12:26 p.m. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told The Los Angeles Times.

The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson's rented home, was roped off Thursday with police tape.

News trucks were gathered, helicopters flew overhead, and orange cones were laid out to redirect traffic.

"We have no statements as far as transporting Michael Jackson,'' Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales said.

Jackson had planned to hit the stage at the O2 Arena in London for 50 concerts this summer. Tickets for the series, which kicks off on July 8, sold out in a matter of hours on March 13. By the time the shows end in February 2010, more than 1 million people will have seen Jackson perform.

Jackson, 50, has been in the public eye for more than 40 years.

LINK

I was shocked to read this as I opened my email.

Pretty sad, what?

REVIEWS

CLICK ON THE IMAGE

I've written reviews of Red Faction II and Call of Duty: United Offensive. Click on the picture to read them.

NOW PLAYING

I have also been playing Gears of War lately. I usually play this after coming back from work. I am almost at the very end of the game, and I've enjoyed it a lot. Its a shame that there is no Gears of War 2 for PC. Hopefully, someday it will happen.Click on the link below to watch a video I put together.

Gears of War Gameplay Video

Using the torque bow makes me feel like I am playing a Rambo video game.

I don't know what happened, but I am so bored with Tomb Raider games, I can't get myself to finish Tomb Raider Legend. I have not played a Tomb Raider game in 5 years, so I thought I would enjoy this, but for some reason, I find it incredibly lame. Lara Croft especially. If ever there was an insufferable female character, it would have to be Lara Croft. Oh my god, the stupid one liners! Marcus Fenix seems like a more belivable character. Bring back No One Lives Forever please!

JUST FINISHED

I finished Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction a few days ago. It was a great game, but it was tough! It took a long time for me to beat the final boss. I can see why they say that RPGs are not good for your social life. Having played this, I am not sure I want to play Diablo 3 anymore! My review will be coming up soon.

REVIEW

Click on the image.

Your thoughts are welcome.

WIDESCREEN MONITORS

This is a lot of technical talk, I suggest you read it, it might help you.

I was planning to buy a small LCD monitor to play some of the older games, such as Diablo 2, Commandos 3, Robin Hood Legend of Sherwood etc. My current monitor (Acer 24" widescreen with a resolution of 1920x1200) is too big, and the image is stretched when playing in full screen, and I did not like playing in windowed mode.

So I almost bought a Dell 15" monitor on eBay, until I discovered that I could scale down the resolution on my monitor through my Nvidia control panel. That is, if I were to reduce the resolution of my monitor to 800x600, the image will not be stretched to fit the area of the screen, instead it will be positioned in the center with black bars all around. This was perfect for me. Check the thumbnail for more details.

NOTE: You need to be using DVI connecters from your monitor to your video card. You cannot have a VGA to DVI converter in place, if you do, Nvidia will not recognize your monitor as LCD instead, it will be treated as a CRT, in which case, scaling cannot be turned off.

I hope I saved $45 for somebody.

XFIRE

I love this program, and I strongly recommend everyone use it. I know that's not going to happen, but I am just doing my share of spreading the word. It helps me take screenshots, which is great for my reviews, and help me stay in touch with my gamer friends. So give it a shot if you will. Head over to Xfire, get yourself an account and add chandu83 to your list.

Speaking of Xfire, here is a look at a crazy profile. Over 3,000 hours of NOLF 2! Its a good game, but...

GAME RECOMMENDATION

Which one?

One is a PC game exclusive, which I feel compelled to buy and the other is a GTA game that might not frustrate me as much as the previous ones did. I can't seem to decide. I might end up owning both, but for now, I have money for only one.

REVIEWS

Check myy latest reviews

Crysis GameSpot

Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive GameSpot

Your comments are welcome.

E3 2009

This year was very disappointing for me, almost no coverage for PC games. Every game that is demonstrated is shown on a console, even if the game is being released on PC. Very frustrating.

On the other hand, the games that I am looking forward to most are:

Assassin's Creed 2

Crysis 2

Modern Warfare 2

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Alan Wake

Deus Ex 3

Max Payne 3

Wolfenstein

Diablo 3

I don't know much about BioShock. I have not played the first game yet, but I am going to very shortly.

WINDOWS LIVE WRITER

I've been using this to post my reviews on Blogger. This comes as an extra for Windows Vista. I don't know if it works on XP. I highly recommend this for anyone who posts on Blogger, Wordpress etc. Its very easy to link your account, and the WYSIWYG editor is much better.Including pictures, videos from YouTube is far easier.

After my finals, I went on a short trip to Las Vegas with to meet with my friends. I had a fantastic time, and it was a much needed vacation. I decided that I am not going to stay in Stillwater for any vacation from now on. Life can be very boring here during break because I don't have any friends.

I have not been gaming much lately, but I suppose I will get back to it soon.

I posted a lot of pictures on my Flickr account, so if someone wants to look at them, PM me. Here are a few that I can share.

I recommend going to Las Vegas at least once. Its amazing, and I had a great time.

Also, I am sorry I missed some of your blogs, I have been busy and didn't have regular internet access. I should be more frequent from now on.

UPDATE: Level 31 - Ippon!

New Purchases

I purchased quite a few items over the last two weeks.

First, I purchased, a charger for my laptop because the last one broke, and I desperately needed another - all my work is stored on this computer, and thankfully, I managed to back up all my homework before the battery ran out. This cost me $20.98 with shipping.

Next, I purchased Koss VC20 Volume Control for my Philips headphones - cost me $7.74 with shipping.

And the one that I am looking forward to the most are these:

Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. I am looking forward to playing Doom 3 with these things on. That should be a lot of fun.

Exams

The time has come to study for the finals. Make or break situation this. Also, I need to look for jobs in the summer. Hope that works out. I wouldn't have much use for my headphones for now, becuase I won't be gaming a lot, but I can look at them and feel good knowing that I will be playing games the way they are meant to played.

I shall be busy till May 8. I may miss some of your blogs in the meanwhile, but don't mistake that for indifference.

Take care everyone!

Hello all,

Spring break is coming to an end, which means, ****s and work. It is going to be hectic till the end of the semester.

REVIEW

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

If you wish (un)recommend my review, you can do so HERE.

I am playing Doom 3 and Need For Speed Most Wanted at the moment. I intend to finish those soon. I had a lot of trouble playing Doom 3 (fear of spiders), but I think I am getting over it slowly. I've been playing the game for the last 4 years (I said slowly getting over it.)

INTERNET EXPLORER 8

I know a lot of people use browsers like Firefox, Opera and Chrome, but I have always been a fan of Internet Explorer. In fact, I am a fan of Microsoft - I know that's a rare species - I like Vista too (!)

I used the beta of Internet Explorer 8 last year on my laptop. When I heard a couple of days ago that the final version is out, I had to try it. I must say that I am very pleased with the way it is working. I miss some of my plugins from Firefox, but I am going to try and migrate back to Internet Explorer. I have been using Firefox ever since v3 was released. Its not that I didn't like it, but I like IE interface better. So much that I make my firefox look like IE.

Point of all this? Try IE 8 if you are interesed.

BIRTHDAY

Yesterday was my first birthday in this country, and away from family. Very special and sort of a sad moment. My roommates bought a cake for me. Did not expect that.

CONCLUSION

I hope you all have a great weekend. See you around

UPDATE:

03/23/09 LEVEL 30 - Wicked Sick!