I liked Tomb Raider so much that I also installed the PC version after finishing it twice on Xbox 360. TressFX looks good on Lara, even if it breaks immersion a bit. I mean, it’s a little hard to believe she’s stranded on an island when her hair looks like she just stepped out of the salon. Who says you can’t deal with the supernatural and look good at the same time?

I bought and installed StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm a couple of days after it was released. I haven’t touched it since. I played Darksiders and Darksiders II using a newly-acquired PC-compatible Xbox 360 Wireless Controller. Other than getting the benefit of having a controller for the PC, it will allow me to play the XBLA titles I have on the Xbox with another player.

Around the last half of April I also bought 3DS games: Fire Emblem: Awakening and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I’m still playing the former, even going as far as purchasing a couple of DLC maps to make the overall experience smoother. I somewhat regretfully report that I do not have the patience to play it on Lunatic difficulty. I tried it and the multiple failures reminded me of some tower defense games wherein build orders are so strict that one misstep made me want to redo everything. I had no intention of experiencing that on Fire Emblem.

Welcome to the Brawler section of my Tomb Raider Skills Guide. Similar to the previous post I’ll be using a rating system to prioritize which skills are better than the others.

• A = Highly recommended skills. Get these first.
• B = Get these after A.
• C = Acquire these only after getting A and B.

Read more… »

Welcome to the Hunter section of my Tomb Raider Skills Guide. Similar to the previous post I’ll be using a rating system to prioritize which skills are better than the others.

• A = Highly recommended skills. Get these first.
• B = Get these after A.
• C = Acquire these only after getting A and B.

Welcome to my Tomb Raider Skills Guide. In the next couple of paragraphs I’ll be explaining, rating and recommending skills available in the game so that you can get a good grasp of which ones are good and which ones are not. I’ll be using the following rating system:

• A = Highly recommended skills. Get these first.
• B = Get these after A.
• C = Acquire these only after getting A and B.

My main character in Guild Wars 1 was an elementalist named Jayna Arkham. I was still into magic then. And while that game featured three classes that focused on offensive spellcasting, the elementalist was about pure damage. Naturally, I was looking for something similar in Guild Wars 2. What I got was a little different. Right now, it feels like it’s sort of an acquired taste.

The mage-class gameplay that I’m used to goes like this: hit the target from afar then kill it before it kills you. It’s typical glass cannon style. While Guild Wars 2 allows players to do that, it does so with one major drawback: speed. Specifically, the lack of it.

Elementalists in GW2 can only equip three main hand weapons: daggers, scepters and staves. Of the three, staves offer the best distance. Unfortunately, the rate of attack is so slow it makes being a mage feel pointless. What’s the use of a DPS class that can’t kill quickly?

I explored the other caster classes: the necromancer and the mesmer. While I enjoyed the former I didn’t feel like maintaining another pet-reliant character. I already have a ranger for that. I decided to give playing a mesmer a try.

Belated Happy New Year, everyone! I’ve been a little busy with the loot I got for myself from the holidays so the posting has been infrequent. I bought a Nintendo 3DS and an Xbox 360.

Pardon the dusty console.

Still getting used to the controls. I’m unable to play fighting games properly on the Xbox due to the controller. Unlike the one on the PS3, the D-pad on the 360’s controller does not follow a more conventional design, making it difficult for me to execute even a basic Hadouken motion.

Sleeping Dogs

What I like most about the game is its progression. You start out as a low level thug working on extortion rackets and then move up from there. Saying more would mean providing spoilers so I’m not going to elaborate, but the things Wei has to do in order to gain fame and notoriety in the Triads are interesting, to say the least. The writing and voice acting are excellent, contributing to a presentation that makes the characters convincing and the story worth pursuing. I’m on my second playthrough and I’m already looking forward to the sequel.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

This game is loud. It has persistent background noise that’s so immersive it’s a bit distracting. The gameplay is solid though. Unlike the previous installment you’re no longer confined to a weapon assigned to a character. This time the guns are free-for-all, giving the game a more traditional shooter feel at the cost of lore logic. Imagine anybody using Megatron’s gun, for example. It’s absurd, allowed and doesn’t really detract from the overall experience. Grimlock’s playable anyway, so all complaints are moot.