Preview: Starcraft 2

Nearly an entire decade has passed since the release of the original Starcraft, and after much pleading from fans; the official sequel is on its way. With stunning graphics, new and redesigned units, an overhauled online multiplayer, and a big, fat story line; this one looks like it’s packing quite a punch.

If you, hadn’t noticed, Starcraft is huge. With constant tournaments in Korea and fans begging for a sequel, Blizzard had to do it. And it looks even better than imagined. The overhauled graphics are truly stunning. The in game graphics themselves are quite possibly the best in any strategy game. As well, many new units are being developed. Although full info is yet to come, it is known that some new units include an ultra-powerful ship for the Protoss. The redesigned units include some units with shielding and others with transportation abilities. Although the info is light and there is no official release date, the game looks very promising. Here are some screen shots to wet your appetite.







Preview: Vedran

Review: Guild Wars (PC)

Graphics- 9.5/10
Sound- 10/10
Gameplay- 10/10
Replay Value- 10/10
Overall- 9.5/10

Many people would have you believe that the only good thing about Guild Wars is that it's an MMO without a monthly fee. This is far from the truth. The fact that you get a huge online world without a monthly fee is just icing on the cake. Guild Wars offers tons of adventure, pvp, and story packed into a huge, wonderful, and beautiful world. This one is a must.

Many people would tear me apart if I said this game was better than WOW, about 8.5 million people would tear me apart, actually. But I really don't care, I'm here to give facts, not opinions. The first thing to note about Guild Wars is that it's online RPG without a monthly fee. But this is far from the only good thing about Guild Wars, in fact, this is just icing on the cake. The moment you get to the log on screen, an amazing score takes you away into a world of wondrous fantasy and adventure. Along with the beautiful music, the sound effects of this game are very clear and sharp. The sound really makes the game much more immersing. Along with the superb sound are some fine graphics. I will tell you now that the graphics are certainly NOT the best out there. Even so, the graphics are better than many other MMOs. But the reason the visuals are so wonderful is due to the game's stunning design. The environment, which is one of the most important parts of a RPGs, keeps you in the game's world with lands of rolling hills, snowy mountain peaks, amazing cities, dense forests, and the list just keeps going. The artists really took their time to design a world of true fantasy. Your surroundings are always filled with color and lots of detail. You can easily be taken by the environments.

But now it's time to focus on the most important part of a game- how it actually plays. Guild Wars easily delivers in terms of visuals and sound, but does its gameplay actually hold up to today's RPGs? Short answer- yes, it does, easily. Many would scorn this game as it has a level cap of level 20. But that's not the game's main RPG point. As with many RPGs, you have skills to use according to your character class. In fact, you have well over 100 of the most detailed skills in any RPG. These is where the game really shines. You can learn as many skills as you want, but you can only equip 8 skills for use. Also, every skill has very detailed effects. For example- you get +10 attack with a melee weapon, but if target blocks, you deal 10 damage only, but target is knocked down. In fact, this is actually one of the simpler skills available. These features make the gameplay heavy on quick strategy and smart skill combinations. As you level up, the effects of your skills get better and more skills become available, but you have to make smart choices when choosing which skills to use and how to do so. As I said, the skills available depend on your class, which can be- Warrior, Ranger, Mesmer, Elementalist, Necromancer, and Monk. From these professions, you can choose a primary and a secondary class. Along with all the skills you use throughout the game, you also come across various weaponry and armor that can be customized for various effects.

A very interesting part of Guild Wars is that it eliminates most of the grind that plagues so many MMORPGs by making gameplay very quest heavy. The easiest way to get armor, weapons, skills and experience is by completing the hundreds of quests available. Another interesting feature is the choice of making a RPG character or a PVP character. By choosing a PVP character, you get a level 20 character right away and can fight in arena style PVP matches. The problem is, you can't adventure into the actual world of Guild Wars and you can only use a small selection of armor and weapons. Although, if you choose the RPG character, you start from level one, and grow to level 20 with all the explorable areas open to you and access to all the weapons and armor available. Once an RPG character reaches level 20, they too can fight in arena PVP just like PVP characters. As well, lower level RPG characters have access to some PVP arenas, but the choices aren't as big as those in the level 20/ PVP only arenas.

Guild Wars is a game with a lot to offer- online play, PVP, a huge world filled with stunning creatures and environments, and tons of quests. Along with this, you get an amazing musical score with some of the best fantasy designs in a game. As well, you can travel endlessly through the world, so that, along with the PVP, keeps you playing for months on end. Guild Wars is easily one of the best games out there.

Pros: Lots of quests in a huge and stunning world. Wonderful designs. Great gameplay with lots of action and strategy. Great soundtrack.
Cons: Not the best graphics out there.

Review: Vedran

Review: Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (PC)

Graphics- 9/10
Sound- 10/10
Gameplay- 10/10
Replay Value- 10/10
Overall- 10/10

Baldur's Gate 2 is quite a RPG. It has all the ingredients needed for a great role playing game- lots of depth, lots of action, lots of exploration, and A LOT of character choices.

I remember picking up Baldur's Gate 2, I was very interested in it as it is one of THE best RPGs out there. First off, don't worry if you haven't played the first Baldur's Gate as most of it is explained to you in the first part of the game. This is one of the most notable features of Baldur's Gate 2- the conversations. Sometimes characters will walk up to you and talk to you, and the rest of the time it's up to you to talk to people. Once the conversation starts, you'll choose what you want to say to the character. These choices will branch out the conversation into many different directions, some good, some very bad. This in turn effects the entire game, which is a very nice feature that really sucks you right into the game. As well, the choices can have a personal effect on you depending on your class. Here's an example: you choose to be a paladin (think very good knight who deals out justice "efficiently"). Along the way you're looking for answers from someone, but they're not giving them to you. You lose your cool and you choose to hurl insults and threats at the character. This isn't very paladin like, you can't forget that you're a warrior of honor, so there are penalties for this. This system works very well to keep the player in character and in the game's fantastic world. Of course, events like these depend on your class, of which there are many.

When you first start the game, you go through a rather deep character creation process. First off, you choose your gender and portrait (a picture that represents your character in the menus). These choices don't really effect the game, so choose what looks good. After that, you choose your race. The races are quite interesting: humans, dwarfs, elves, half- elves, half orcs, gnomes and halflings. The variation is nice and effects your character's appearance in the game. More importantly though, each race has certain classes it can be and various talents that can either aid you or hold you back in certain areas. All the races have pros and cons, so choose carefully. Next up are the classes, each one will heavily effect the way you play the game. There are plenty on options including paladins, warriors, bards, wizards, rangers and more. Even then, there are a couple specially customized versions of every class, or you can customize the class you choose yourself. This includes attributes such as strength and dexterity. For attributes you receive a certain number of points which you choose how to disperse. Afterwards, you choose which weaponry you're skilled in, for which you get points as well to spend as you see fit. After that, you choose the physical appearance of you character such as hair and skin color. But this is as deep as the customization for your appearance goes. Even still, you've just gone through a lot of choices, these is all before you actually get into the game! And all these choices will really effect how you play the game.

Once you actually start the playing, you'll meet some old friends and, if you choose, you can work together to escape a sort of prison you're stuck in. You should definitely keep the friends you make, you'll need them. Once you unite with others, you have full control over them along with your character. The game is in an isometric view with prerendered graphics and 2D character models. Although the game looks aged for it's time, the colors and details of the world and characters are wonderful, pulling you into this huge fantasy adventure. Your control over the main characters is some what like in a strategy game. You have a cursor with which you select what you want to do: you can click on a character to select them or you can click and drag to select multiple characters, you click on enemies to attack them, you click where you want your characters to go, you click on various items to use or activate them, and you click on the various icons on the side bars to do various actions. The icons available to you do various actions: on the bottom right the formations, which you use to control in which order your characters stand in; on the right are the portraits of all the characters in your party which can be used for quicker character selection; on the bottom left and bottom center are the many actions your characters can do, such as spells and skills, and boxes used for quick item access (such as health potions); and on the right side are icons used for things such as journals and inventory. All these icons are used throughout the game in various ways to help you along your huge journey. When you encounter enemies you click on them to have your selected characters attack. As well, you will make use of the items, skills, and spells your characters have in battle. Because there are so many actions your characters can do in the midst of battle, fighting can get very complicated- from selecting which characters you want to use at a certain point in the fighting to select the enemies you want to attack and which actions you want to do. For this reason you have the choice of making use of the pause and play system. This system basically a turn based feature. You can either choose when the game pauses (such as when an enemy is sighted) so you can select what each character does. As well, you can use the space button to pause the game at any time, allowing a more free formed style of turn based action. And, of course, you can play the game in real time. These options can be selected at any time, seamlessly. But believe me- the game can get very deep and complex during fights. Although, these is the beauty of the game- having plenty of choices even in fights, and lots, and LOTS of depth. This makes for a very classic RPG feeling.

As you journey and fight your character will gain experience points which you use to level up and get stronger. Leveling up gives you plenty of options in which areas you want to get stronger, increasing the amount of character depth and choices available. As well, you'll find and buy many weapons, armor, and items which strengthen your character and, in terms of weapons and armor, change the appearance of your character. This game is very deep. There are plenty of options from your conversations to your battles with epic fantasy creatures. The game big, there's plenty to do and tons of things to see. As you journey on, a wonderful soundtrack surrounds you with an epic fantasy world. As well, the movies have some of the best voice acting ever. All of this is packaged in a deep, complicated, involving, and VERY enjoyable and memorable game. This is a classic RPG to the core- all I can say is that this game is HUGE and unbelievably involving.

Pros: A lot of choices in all that you do, and there is a lot to do. The world is big and full of classic fantasy and memorable creatures and environments. The conversations and battles are very deep. The game is overall a classic and wonderful RPG with great designs throughout.
Cons: The graphics could be better.

Review: Vedran

Review: World of Warcraft (PC)

Graphics- 9/10
Sound- 9/10
Gameplay-10/10
Replay-Infinity/10
Overall- 9.5/10

Wow, this game is huge.The environments and colors that surround you are stunning. As well, there's an endless amount of things to do, and at the same time, the gameplay isn't complicated. It's so simple to play this game that it gets AMAZINGLY addictive.

World of Warcraft can be ranked as one of the most noticed games of our time. A game with a nearly endless, persistent world filled with some of the most fantastic creatures ever is a game that is easy to get hooked to. A bit too easy to get hooked to. First off, the gameplay itself gigantic. From raids to quests and professions to leveling. All of this is packed in a very simple, user-friendly game system. Right click to attack, left click to target, move camera with mouse, move with W A S D (remember that future computer-gaming kiddies: it's was); these are the basic controls you need to know. Along with that, the interface shows you everything you need to know. As well, every class has tons of skills and/or spells that can be placed in boxes on the bottom of the screen for quick use (as with most RPGs). As well, the entire interface is customizable. So you can have everything in reach, where you want it, as you play. But what do you do when you play World of Warcraft? You role play. You hunt, loot, adventure, search, duel, make friends, fight in warlike raids, fly, ride gryphons, ride wyverns, ride horses, ride nightsabers, ride ships, get pets, find treasures. You will get stronger, richer, and armed to the teeth in plate mail and a sword that's the size of a dinner table. You start as a weakling with a torn shirt and a pointy metal stick called a "sword". A few hundred, if not, thousands of hours later, you're covered in shinning armor armed with weapons that literally glow with power atop a powerful and swift mount that carries you through your many adventures (if you want to pay a hefty [in game] price for said mount, that is).

When you start, you choose; who do you want to be: a human or a night elf, a gnome or a dwarf, an undead or a tauren, a troll or an orc? Okay, now what do you want to be: a warrior, a paladin, a hunter, a mage, a rogue, a druid, a shaman, a warlock, or a priest? What do you want to look like, what's your name? Now THAT'S a lot of questions. A lot of good questions. From the beginning you choose how you play this game- do you strike from the shadows, do you rain lethal arrows upon your enemies, or do you walk up to those enemies and smash 'em in the face with a two ton hammer. It's all up to you. There is, from what I know, way more than 2,000 quests in the game. This doesn't count all the leveling, treasure hunting, and PVPing (at least in battle grounds) you do along the way. And, of course, there's a huge world to explore. A world that's filled with dark, haunted forests; great deserts; jungles filled with terrific creatures; snowy mountain ranges and valleys; the list keeps going and going. As well, in this world are battle grounds. These are places where you, along with other players, duke it out with players on the opposite side (the horde if you're on the alliance side, and the alliance if you're on the horde side). These areas can only be entered if you're in the level range and if you choose to enter. Depending on which server you choose, this may be the only real PVP experience. While you PVP by your choice in normal and roleplay servers (realms), the PVP action is quite open on the PVP servers. There's obviously a lot to do in World of Warcraft, and, even better, you choose how to do all these things. And the environment that surrounds you as you do these things is stunning. Although the graphics aren't completely realistic, the design and colors used really fit the graphics. You can easily get sucked in to the world because of this. The environments are very "mythic-like" with a real fantasy feeling. The actual settings range from forests and jungles to valleys, deserts, and mountains and beyond. The character designs of all the races are very memorable, fantastic, and, as the kids say, "cool". As well, the designs of the weapons and armor are stunning and actually look powerful. Along with the many types of weapons and pieces of armor, you put to use many spells and skills that are unbelievably useful.

As you go on your journeys, a powerful music score keeps everything moving and deepens the feeling of a stunning fantasy setting of epic proportion. Everything in this game looks, although somewhat unrealistic, fantastic. The gameplay overflows with adventures, choices, and things to do. Backing all this is an involving, yet simple and overly addictive gameplay system. And although there is a 15 dollar a month fee, you get what you pay for- a huge, fantastic, persistent world with a nearly endless amount of fantasy adventures.

Pros: A lot to do, great music and visuals. Stunning designs and beautiful environments. Very fun and easy to use game system.
Cons: A monthly fee, can take up a lot of time.

Review: Vedran