Gamer Outraged

Started watching Royal Pains just recently. Not that bad of a show really, the first episode was a pleasure to watch to my big surprise (I didn't expect much beforehand). But, as usual, I have a tiny-winy complaint about one of the actors. Meredith Hagner portraying Liby , this emotional sixteen years old girlfriend of an ultra-rich but deprived of parents' attention charismatic boy. The moment I heard Liby was sixteen, I went "what the..." The girl's skin doesn't seem too fresh and she is heavily wrinkled (we get to see all that thanks to extreme close-ups). In my head she didn't look younger than twenty-five. I have never heard of that actress before, so I had to turn to iMDB for reference. Meredith Hagner currently has only two credited works, and she is twenty-two years old. OK, I was wrong (although I still think she looks bad even for her actual age), but still, she is not even close to sixteen. I kinda got used to actors in their thirties playin...

There are five games in the Fantasy Wars series and I have already covered the first one - Fantasy Wars. This time I am going to review the Fantasy Wars successor, Elven Legacy. Elven Legacy - There Will Be Blood Fantasy Wars established itself as a very intelligent wargame with a memorable story and lovable heroes. Elven Legacy continues the tradition, but brings exiting innovations and is quite different from the original. One thing found its way to the sequel unaltered - the game mechanics which made the game so amiable in the first place. As can be derived from the title, the game story pivots around the Elf folk. The noble Elves were introduced back in Fantasy Wars as one of the playable races of the Alliance Campaign. Instead of having a full-blown army of mighty Elves, we were served only a few Elven units and had to rely on a Dwarven-Elven-Human vinaigrette overall. This time around it's going to be Elves exclusively, new types of units come into play. Elven army can't ...

I was planning to devote myself to playing AGS games for at least a month, but got sidetracked. While browsing for games to buy, I stumbled upon the Gold Edition of Fantasy Wars . I was aware that the title was well-received by both, the press and players, but never had a chance to play it. I was greatly enthused over the find and thought it would be the perfect specimen for my vast video game collection. Unfortunately, I decided to install and run the game, just to check if it was as exciting as everyone else thought it to be. The game sucked me right in and didn't let go for three long evenings. After completing it (only the original Fantasy Wars ), I felt horribly tired. Not only I barely got to sleep, but also struggled to have a single normal meal during the hours I spent playing. So captivated I was. Quick Reference Fantasy Wars was developed by Ino-Co , a Russian video game development company, a subsidiary of one of the biggest (if not the biggest) Russian video game publi...

It looks like Blue Omega did. Just checked a couple of trailers for their upcoming video game called Damnation . There are a bunch of videos dedicated to the game, all of them have one thing in common - they show a dull game with an unmemorable lead character and zero new ideas. And yeah, most of the videos feature lifeless zombie-like people who, one way or another, were involved in the production. Just to have a point of reference, check this trailer out: Damnation, Verticality Trailer . If a game features a commentary from the production team, I am used to very bright, interesting presentations. For example, all of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning videos (with commentaries) were fun and exciting to watch. Tim Schafer is pure pleasure to listen to talking about his upcoming game, Brütal Legend . Well, there are plenty of examples. The video I linked shows two emotionless guys, they don't look too excited about their game, nor do they say anything interesting about their game...

Ben Jordan Case 5: Land of the Rising Dead was the first game in the Ben Jordan series I played, it also was the first one I wrote about. Just to be true to the chronological order of the series, I played it again after finishing Ben Jordan Case 4: Horror at Number 50 and am going to re-write the original post a bit, moving it to a later date. First off, lets take a look at the changes in the Ben Jordan's latest case compared to the previous games in the series. Ben Jordan's portrait has been updated, now it looks more realistic (Deluxe Edition of Ben Jordan Case 1: In Search of the Skunk-Ape featured the updated version as well). To tell the truth, I don't see it as an improvement and think that the original cartoony look of Ben's portrait was more adorable. Simon Booth and Alice Wilkins, friends Ben made in his previous case, re-appear as the lead characters in this adventure. Simon, as well as Ben, received a new portrait. Once again, I find the original portrait ...

It's time to write about another Ben Jordan adventure, Ben Jordan Case 4: Horror at Number 50 . This case leads Ben to a haunted house where he, together with his brothers-in-arms - people in the paranormal investigation business, - gets a chance to come face to face with an evil spirit. In the end, the evil is perished and Ben finds good friends. The plot of Horror at Number 50 is relatively good, even if not that original. Still, I wouldn't say that this is the best of Ben Jordan cases. The problem with the game is that it features an extremely dull gameplay. Most of the time Ben will have to venture into the same rooms and talk to the same people over and over again. I have nothing against extensive conversation, heck, The Moment of Silence is one of my favorite games only because it boasts with long conversations. Sadly, Ben's fourth case consists of almost nothing but conversations, and they are not good enough to keep things fresh and interesting. Other than talkin...

I continue expressing my opinion on Ben Jordan adventure game series. Just to sum up a bit. Case 1: In Search of the Skunk-Ape (both, original and the Deluxe Edition) was a complete atrocity. Case 2: The Lost Galleon of the Salton Sea was pretty good, but a bit boring. This time I am going to write about Ben Jordan Case 3: The Sorceress of Smailholm . Well, without further introduction, I would like to say that this game is the best of all the Ben Jordan games I've played so far. It tells a story about a Witch Cult and a story of love. It's definitely not The Lost Crown: A Ghost-Hunting Adventure , but is extremely good and deeply satisfying! The Sorceress of Smailholm has it all: good graphics, logical puzzles and a swift storyline. There is almost nothing to dislike about this title, but still there are at least two things I found disappointing (if only a bit). First of all, the game is extremely easy. As it came out in the end, there are two different endings, lets call ...