mw2ps3

Well it’s out, a lot of people have completed the solo campaign by now, what do they think ? what do you think ? or more importantly, what do I think !

Well where to start. My review will only be on the solo campaign, I haven’t played any other modes as of yet. I finished the game in 7hrs and 2 mins on ‘Hardened’ difficulty. I’m pretty sure that isn’t a great time at all, you could probably easy knock 1 – 2 hours off of that, well perhaps not easily, but if you were Chuck Norris. Ill Break my review down into sections so it’s easier for you to read Full review on the other side

Graphics/Animation – 10/10

Well it’s immediately apparent on the first level that the graphics are amazing ! ALL of the weapon models are immaculately rendered, and you get to test out a few of them during the tutorial element of the first level. Each of the different uniforms in the game, and there are a few, are really something. I found myself stopping and zooming it on shirts, helmets and all sorts of things. The texture and lighting on the clothes has come a long way since games of old. All of the environments are beautifully done, and all equally at that. I couldn’t pick a point in a map, after a lot of searching that looked less developed than any other. Well that’s a lie, if you shoot a missile from the UAV and direct it off the map, then you will find low res areas, oh well. No big deal. Smoke, explosions, water and other effects are all fantastic too, leading to an overall very believable environment.

Gameplay – 7/10

I quite enjoyed playing this game. There are lots of elements combined to bring the end result. Combat is obviously the bread and butter of the game and thus there is a huge focus on it. There is no true cover system but you will find yourself crouching behind things a lot of the time. Though in it’s absence there is an auto aiming feature (which can be disabled if you choose), It’s quite intuitive and still requires you to aim somewhere close to your target. Then when you hit L1 you look down the barrel and your aim snaps to your target. Aside from combat there are a few levels with vehicle interaction. I’ve gotta say I loved riding a jet ski haha. Weapon swapping, reloading and use of other items is very simple. Grenades are the usual L2/R2 affair. I did find sometimes it felt like enemies were just spammed at you, like an endless barrage ! But for all I know that could be due to the difficulty, I did also notice some areas were just set up like that. To stop them you had to move forward, this does however lead to a good rate of progression.

Story – 5/10

To me the story was the let down. I haven’t played the first installment of MW, perhaps that would of helped me relate to the characters. But as it was I found myself wondering who was who, over and over again. The names just didn’t stick, No sense of personality came across. I feel this is completely to do with the way the story was told. In between levels there was a ‘cutscene-esque’  short, with a fancy background and some techy looking pictures and writing popping up it didn’t really hold my attention much. The narration didn’t seem to tell much either. And the levels jumps between different characters at different places without warning, which left me very confused. I dunno, maybe I’m just the idiot ? The best part about the story was the voice acting, It was well executed and didn’t seem forced to me.

Overall – 7/10

I guess I’m going against the grain here, and I have only played the solo mode so far so don’t forget my review is only for that portion of the game. But I just couldn’t help blazing through the game with no relationship to the people in it at all. I think it feels more like a war sim with a bunch of random levels than a compelling story told through the medium of game. This is why I think I will enjoy the multiplayer and co-op a lot more. Being able to interact with people socially will be the backbone to the great gameplay for me. Aside from the lack of story I did enjoy this game, it wasn’t too long so I didn’t get bored at any point, although some of the more difficult sections were getting quiet tedious after the 10th or 20th attempt, notably the top-level of the oil rig.

So there’s what I think, let me know what you think !

If you want to be more secure just change your root SSH password. Heres how !

[from Cnet]

click link for videos

[from TechEBlog]

So you got your free halloween pumpkin costume but weren’t satisfied ? well relax my friends. There are more little big planet costumes available for a limited time for free. This time around we have spacesuit and a birthday cake costume to celebrate LBPs 1 year anniversary.

Go on, off you go, there’s nothing like free DLC !

[from PlayStation]

Well this is a beautiful handset, the Sony Xperia X10 has been officially announced and is expected in the first half of 2010.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the iPhone then this is a great contender. It’s Sony’s first handset running on the Google Android OS and they have done an outstanding job of skinning and customizing it. With exclusive applications like Mediascape and Timescape Sony has really put a lot into making sure the user experience is unlike any other Android device.

Aside from the stunning UI the handset has some other impressive credentials. a 1GHz CPU to make sure the great OS runs smoothly and without lag. A 4″ touch scratch resistant screen. An 8.1MP camera with 16x digital zoom, geo tagging, auto and touch focus, Image stabilizer, flash, face and smile recognition and of course video recording.

This sounds like it could be a great new phone, and I’m very excited, although there has been no announcement so far in regards to pricing I’m sure it will be available on some well priced plans.

[from TechEBlog]

video on the other side

I’ve long been envious of the UK for already having PlayTV on the PS3 system. A PVR device for your Playstation, It has dual HD-tuners, is compatible with the freeview 7 day EPG and can stream wirelessly to your PSP!

The ability to pause, record and save live tv to hard drive is a great thing for those emergency toilet and snack breaks during your favourite show. Although it is recommended if you plan on saving shows to your hard drive you upgrade to at least a 500gb unit. Its going to cost $169 and should be at all good gaming retailers on Nov 26.

Coming with this is an Australian exclusive, access to ABC iView from your playstation. This is a service which allows you to download/stream any show that has already aired.

[from gamespot]

If your the kind of geek that’s  proud of it then this is a great t-shirt for you. It’s a new addition over on Threadless and has lots of small detail hidden in the bigger word.

From xbox 360s to aliens and microscopes there’s lots of cool geeky things going on in the design. For $18 USD printed on American Apparel cotton you know its good quality and value too. I’ve ordered mine already !

[from Uncrate]

Wow, that’s all I thought when i first seen this bladeless fan from Dyson. Now this is a sexy looking fan, i never imagined myself saying that. But what dyson has come up with is the coolest fan in the world. If it wasn’t $400 AUD I would go right ahead and order one.

I think this would be a great accessory for any nerd office/gaming /media space, especially in our hot aussie summers ! Read on to see how the technology works.

[from TechEBlog]
video on the other side

Lots of fans were left wondering why when ABC2′s Good Game host Junglist was kicked off in favour of a new host. Hex, a female gamer has received a lot of negative attention because of this, although i don’t really think that’s fair.

It came up suddenly with no warning and neither Junglist of any of the other members of the show would comment on the reasons behind they’re decision. Until now ! over on the good game forum when an official statement (still with no details) was made by the good game team Junglist was apparently offended enough to break his vow of silence.

read all the drama on the other side

The GG team said

Dear GG’ers

You can’t help but have noticed we’ve been quiet regarding Junglist’s departure from the show which has really sucked because we’re used to having such an honest and open relationship with you.

For all sorts of reasons we are unable to tell you things that have happened over many months inside Team Good Game which have impacted on the production. That’s just real life folks. We know it leaves many questions unanswered but we have reached that point where we really can’t say any more than that.

But we can tell you this much…

The decision to take Junglist off air was not forced upon us by ABC Management and it’s one that is fully supported by all the GG team. We are gutted that it has come to this but in our opinion it absolutely had to happen.

It’s strange for us to read that so many of you think this is because we have suffered a raging case of political correctness gone mad or a wish to dumb the show down. That’s absolutely not right. We, as ever, will continue our quest to bring you the show for gamers by gamers but this has to be our last word on this – we have shows to make!

Finally, we genuinely wish Junglist all the best, and we hope he finds a medium for his awesome analysis and presenting skills that works for him.

Team Good Game Out
(Syd, Bajo, Moe, Tuk, Gog, Mafia, Jeremy Pencil, Palindrome)

to which Junglist replied

I can tell you that this is a lie. There was no vote taken, no consensus reached. In fact, the GG team was completely unaware of the change until the same day I found out. The same confidentiality clause that prevented me from saying anything publicly, prevented management from telling them anything.

I have spoken to members of the GG team who clearly DON’T support this, but can’t say anything publicly. Of course they’ll tow the party line. They have to.

Up until now the situation has just been poorly handled. But to now LIE to your own audience, in an effort to save face for replacing an experienced reviewer/presenter with an inexperienced one, is quite simply the lowest thing I’ve ever seen ABC management do.

I feel now as if I’m being professionally attacked, so here’s a truth bomb. In the meeting where I was told I would be replaced, the reason given was they wanted a girl on the show. “Mass appeal” was a direct quote from that meeting. After a half-hour of explaining how they’ll lose their hardcore following, they responded that yes, they knew this, but expected to make up the numbers with a new following. “A show can grow beyond its hardcore base”, is another direct quote.

The decision was forced by ABC management, for a mass appeal direction, and will naturally be dumbed down for the loss of experience.

thinking that the truth may finally be uncovered would be a bit premature though !, after that post Bajo had something to say

We have felt professionally attacked by some of the posts by Jung, with the inability to reply due to confidentiality. So we cannot drop our own ‘truth bomb’. While Junglist may have his own version of events, so do we, and all we ever wanted to do was work with him but it’s not to be, and we are exhuasted by the whole thing, and just want to move on.

I’m really stressed, upset and sad about the whole situation, and I’m not going to be posting on it furthur, as I feel I have said my piece. I stand by Syd, and the team, and the show will go on

At this point who knows what to believe, but if you want to support Junglist you can do so on facebook and this save Junglist website

Network seven launches they’re new channel tomorrow. It looks to be in direct competition to the Nine Networks ‘GO!’. With all the hip shows us young people want to watch (so they seem to think) these really are both youth channels.

Bringing a few new shows and some favourites of mine including Heroes, Lost, 24 and more it should be worth keeping an eye on. It’s the latest digital channel to be available through freeview and thus requires a digital set top box. Unfortunately it is only a standard definition channel, oh well i guess there’s always sevenHD.

For more info check out the official website.