The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Ice too Thick to Break

Before I say anything, I have to make one thing clear: I love loving Skyrim and I hate hating Skyrim. That being said: personally, Skyrim is one of the biggest dissapointments of this year.

First of all, I need to point out that the game is running on the same antiquated buggy engine on which The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind ran on. For 2002, Morrowind's release year, the engine was nothing short of revolutionary (remember this word, I'll be coming back to this one). In 2002 there was nothing that could simulate a vast and alive world like the Gamebryo engine. It was not flawless: it had graphical and animation glitches, bugged quests, constant crashing, but what it tried to achieve was so bold and new, that all these negative aspects meant nothing when you had possibility to have a grand, open world, real time adventure.
This was 10 years ago.

Morrowind: Nice, clean interface, all information is presented to you in one window.

Fast forward to the year 2006. It is March the 20th, and The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion is on shelves at your local store. The hype was, understandably, huge. One could only imagine what Bethesda would bring to the table this time. Unfortunately, dissapointment followed. Not only were the game systems tweaked for a better console experience, but the Gamebryo engine was used again, game breaking glitches and all.
I have nothing against consoles. I rather enjoyed Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon back in the '90s. Bring The Elder Scrolls series to the console! GREAT! But please, don't disregard the pc version! The pc version of Oblivion was a quick port of the console version, and while the graphics were a step forward for the generation, the interface and menus were painful to navigate to the point that it was a hassle to compare two items. From the in game story point of view, Oblivion had a poor main quest, but it's side missions were a real treat. Unfortunately, it was rather easy to miss these secondary quests, so when you did find one and finished it, you couldn't help but realise how easy it was for you to miss it entirely.

Oblivion: Ok, guys where's that potion-Oh it's in another tab. So how much does this add to my stamina? Wait is that my spells tab or my status tab?

Now it's 2011 and it's  11.11.11 no less. Skyrim bursts into shops, people clutter to get their hands on the next big thing. The pc version is in my hands, I install the game and run it. It is one thing to say the game is bad; it is another to not even be able to experience the game because of the interface. I can't belive I am writing this in 2011, but I cannot use the mouse effectively to navigate the menus in this roleplaying pc game, a type of game that REVOLVES around menus and stats. I have to use the keyboard, or, preferably, an XBOX 360 controller (an option which can be ticked in the main menu). Let me make one thing clear: as a game developer, you cannot expect me to go to the store, lay 60 euros on the counter, get home, and experience an untested, unoptimised piece of software with your promise that, EVENTUALLY, you are going to fix these issues. I can hear some of you say: 'But you can use a controller, it's great with a controller!', and all I have to say to that is: I DID NOT BUY THE CONSOLE VERSION OF THIS ROLEPLAYING GAME. I bought the pc version BECAUSE I want to use the mouse.Also, the ingame cursor axis speed cannot be adjusted, as they are set to default controller settings, meaning, the Y axis moves slower than the X axis. This aspect is very frustrating for mouse control and it makes no sense in a pc environment.
I have to end my rant here, as I do not want to turn this into a hater blog. Look: I WANT to get into Skyrim. I LOVE these kinds of games! I want to experience the rich story and world. I can't go past the tutorial area because I end up covered in sweat because I can't select my damned sword from the inventory list. The inventory screen is more like a list than anything else, and why the reviewers call it REVOLUTIONARY is beyond me. It's one thing to cater to the console experience, but turning the grid inventory system into a full on list of names through wich I have to browse like I'm browsing a phonebook, is nothing if not a degeneration back to the text based game years.

Skyrim: OH SHI-

I'm sad it has come to me having to be a  computer wizz in order to play a rpg on my pc. I know I am able to enter the .ini file and search google for parameter modifications, but the fact is, I don't want to do that! I will play Skyrim eventually. I will have fun with it, and I'll love certain aspects of it. But for now, I'm going back to my heavily modded Oblivion playtrough. If nothing, at least we have the gaming enthusiasts who are forced to clean after the developers in order to have a truly outstanding game.

Lord of the Rings War in the North - A Personal Take On Today's Loot Driven Games

Hello everybody. I like games. I like them A LOT. My favourite part of a game is playing it. I like playing games, be they boardgames, word games, video games. I like all games and today, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. Its name is Lord of the Rings War in the North and you know what my favourite thing about my friend is? It knows what it wants to be, and it achieves it.

Now, I know what the general consensus of the reviewing community is, but I can't help but wonder if they even know what this game is about.
Here is a detailed graphical representation of, what I think the list of bulletpoints the reviewers followed duuring the review looked like:
Ok, ok, let's keep it simple: what kind of game is this? Lord of the Rings War in the North is a LOOT-DRIVEN-action-rpg. What jumps to mind when one says loot driven? That's right: killing lots and lots of dudes (i.e. hordes), in pursuit of better and better gear for your own dude (i.e. your character). So, we have a dude killing a lot of other dudes. The issue reviewers (and some players to some extent) seem to have with the game is its 'simplistic and repetitive combat system'.Yes, the game has you killing orcs by doing the same actions over and over again, but this caracteristic is specific to loot driven games. You can't have hours upon hours of loot hunting, without throwing in some repetition due to the sheer number of enemies you have to slay.

If this game's combat doesn't look satisfying, I don't know what combat does.
I mean, it's a dwarf, choping an orc's head off while doing a pirouette!

I understand that the issue is the lack of innovation brought to the genre, but from my point of view, this is no reason to subtract points from the game's overall score. Loot driven fans are a specific group of people who KNOW what they are getting themselves into. They KNOW there will be a basic skill combo that they will use again and again which will get more complex as they level up. Combat is not the main thing they come for. It's important, of course, but as long as the hacks and the slashes (see what I did there?) are satisfying, there is no reason to consider the combat a downside. This being said the feel of the combat in War of the North is superb: It's satisfying, the swings hit hard, and with the M rating it is downright brutal. Skill trees are present, and loot is abundant.

Ah yes, the loot. People, do you know what loot lovers love in a loot driven game? I'll give you a hint: LOOT! It's a special moment when you put your dwarven hands on a blade called 'Sting' with a +35 to dexterity which shines with a blue hue whenever orcs are near.

Look at my glorious +30 Strength Helmet. LOOK UPON IT AND DESPAIR!

I like games. I love it when I come to a game expecting (in this case) a good loot driven game and the game meets expectations. It's always great when the game exceeds expectations, but just meeting them does not deserve a lower review score.

Guild Wars 2 - Coming Closer

Having the decency to have the 1st post that is actually meant to test this new blog related to games, here is a quick view on the changes made by those at ArenaNet to their MMORPG, Guild Wars 2.

More information about this can be found on their official blog: HERE.

Character Screen

"Something new that we’re excited to show at G-Star is what we are internally calling our “Big Beefy” UI."

The new demo will have a unique Boss Fight available so the players can experience these massive dragons in action (Be afraid. Especially if you are an Asura).

Coverage of the Event might be hard to find, but we've got something that will catch your eye (which you can customize btw).

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