Sunday, May 31, 2009

I was going to a nice little rant about a difficult stage in Dawn of War II. Actually, I did, but then I deleted it.  It sounded way too whiney.  But now, I'm left with not very much to talk about.  I mean, DoW2 is a game I'd much rather give a proper treatment to in a a full post, instead of ranting about my inadequacies as a gamer.  I enjoy the Warhammer 40k universe too much for that.

And anyways,  the game is bringing back all those happy memories of conflict and bloodshed, the scourging of heretics and the purging of xenos (I hope I got those right) that the first game (and its expansions) captured about the universe. Nice to see that the story brings back Captain Gabriel Angelus, even if it is as a supporting character.  He's still a badass Force Commander.

Okay, maybe it isn't supposed to be happy.  WH40k is dark sci-fi on a level no other major writer has even touched, because no one else has the balls to make a universe so sadistic and pessimistic at the same time.  But then, when you have a universe when good guys have to be pretty damn evil and oppressive in order for the human race to survive against sci-fi versions of various creatures from modern literature and movies, something's got to break...

This stuff isn't happy.  But then, I guess the point is that when true heros do come along, their deeds are made all the more impressive and heroic because (as anyone who is familiar with the WH40k universe understands) of the sheer odds stacked against them.  Really, what does it mean to be a hero when one day you could be fighting against Lovecraft inspired space horrors to save a populated world, only to have to destroy that world the next because its a better alternative to allowing the space horrors to corrupt those people?  Neither option is truly palatable to the average person, but so are alot choices.

So in a position of being forced to choose between two bad options, you inevitably have to take the lesser of two evils.  In the real world, these questions usually boil down to things such as guys having to answer the question "Does this make me look fat?" and presidential elections.  In WH40k (not so much in WH Fantasy, which I should have mentioned as a counterpoint earlier) these questions many times involve whether to fight the enemy, or head the problem off by exterminating the very population the enemy is trying to either corrupt or destroy.  There's more to it than that, but that is the kind of question that faces many of the major characters at some point or another.

But then, Darth Vader said "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force."  Well, the power of the force, even the Dark side, is insignificant next to the power the enemies of mankind in the WH40k universe.

And I just got off on a major tangent that jumped around instead of focusing on a central point. But at the same time, this is a subject that could be easily extrapolated on much more than I've said here. Anyways, before I forget, I'll just recommend that anyone interested in WH40k lore should check out just about any of Dan Abnett's books. There are other authors, but he's one of the biggies, known for his running Gaunt's Ghosts series, as well the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series, "...for in the grim dark future, there is only war."

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Okay, so I got a new PC recently.  Nothing special, seeing as it was just some extra money I'd gotten.  One of the prebuilds from Best Buy to be exact.  Nowhere near the best they had, but still much better than what I was running before. Well, the following purchase of a video card gave me the opportunity to get a couple of the small number of PC games that I wanted, but was unable to play because of having a computer capable of running them.  Namely Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II (big fan of the first one and its expansions) and Demigod, which I literally just installed not more than an hour before typing this (only had the chance to patch and play 1 game, which I lost... Yarg.).

I also have my copy of Sins of a Solar Empire, which I had before, but never had the opportunity to fully explore (its incredibly complex).  I'll eventually try playing online, but not until I'm sure I've sufficiently learned the ropes (IE, I'm too chicken to play against people that primarily play online).

Please note that my experience with RTS games is very limited.  Played WC, WC2, SC, SW:GB, and DoW1, and of those DoW1 was the only one that had ever captured my interest for any significant length of time.  In fact, as much of a sci-fi fan as I am, SC would probably be my least favorite of that, admittedly, short list.

Now Sins of a Solar Empire has been out for awhile, so I don't think I can say much that hasn't been said in full reviews elsewhere.  I'll just say that this is while the primary method of winning is to build a fleet of ships to level your opponents planets, getting to that point of attacking and winning can take awhile and can come about in several different ways.  You can build up your warchest through diplomatic means by controlling large numbers of colonies, or you can build up to your ship limit early and attempt a bumrush (or fight off the enemies' bumrush).  Either way, even against easier AI, the game will go for awhile.  This is a very methodical game, with a large number of variables to deal with, from upgrades, build-limits, to pirate raiders that all players pay to go against the other side.

In order to win, you will generally be dealing with leading a large number of single ships, including large capital ships that level-up as they fight (and survive), each with different capabilities, against enemies with their own ships that are analogous to them (in terms of base stats). It can get pretty hectic when large numbers of these ships start going at it.  While each of the three races have (as I said) ships that are roughly analogous to eachothers (and researched upgrades to go along with them), the devil is in the handful of special abilites that are unlocked by research (for the tier 1 and 2 ships) and leveling (for the tier 3; IE capital ships). Unfortunately, I haven't played enough to get into games where most of these abilities come into play, or even need to be researched for that matter.

I'll gave the game high marks, no doubt.  Its well crafted, well thought out.  But its definitely not a game you can just jump into, ESPECIALLY if you haven't played RTS games before, and it lacks easy pickup and play capability.  So far I'd have to give pickup and play ability to (of that list) to DoW1. BUT, I am biased, so bleh.

I'd attended to talk about DoW2 or Demigod originally, but I guess those will have to wait until later.  If you want to know more about Sins of a Solar Empire though, I strongly suggest Googling it and reading articles and reviews by people a little more knowledgable and concise than myself. :P

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tragedy strikes!  I started a blog.  Holysh-t on a brick!

Anyways, I'll keep this first post simple.  I am nadesico33, though I also go by RamsusSundel in places.  This blog will be primarily a place to post stuff that's too long for twitter, or just my at length rants about various things.  Most of things will, I hope, will be about videogames, anime, occasionally music, and occasionally parts of some of my various fictions that I hope to one day finish.  I will do my best to avoid talking about my personal life unless it's something major.

So, in keeping with trying to keep this first post simple, I'm just going to list off songs that I wish were in Rock Band 2 and/or Guitar Hero: World Tour, in no particular order. (formatted: song name / artist)

Bug Eyes / Dredg
Lights and Sounds / Yellowcard
M4 pt. II / The Faunts
Plowed / Sponge
Bat Country / Avenged Sevenfold
Renegades of Funk / Rage Against the Machine
Last Dinosaur / The Pillows
Cosmic Castaway / Electrasy
Move Along / All-American Rejects
D-technolife (album version) / Uverworld
Misfits and Mistakes / Superchunk
Jump Right In / The Urge

And pretty much just a whole bunch of Offspring, Green Day, and Smashing Pumpkins music. Kinda wish I could remember half of the 311 songs I'd want to see. @_@    I could probably list a whole lot more if not for a bit of mental spazzing.  Oh well. :P