Nightlife

This game was on the list of games I was waiting for and - especially that creators of the game are located in same city I live - I was watching development news carefully. However - somehow - when game was released few months ago I decided not to buy it and to wait for demo.

Now - I can share with you my impressions after testing the demo. The conclusion is - still I'm not buying. And that's not because game is bad. On the contrary - game looks well, music/sounds are very good, it's really well optmized and I even enjoyed short mission presented in the demo.

The thing is the game simply does not fit my taste. Revolvers, sawed-off shotguns, wild west... I liked that when I was kid when "Kiddie of the Camp. A Story of the Western Prairies" by Robert Leighton was my favorite book. But that was really ages ago... And since now I'm a little older I will say - no thank you.

I'll wait for Modern Warfare 2.

I remember playing various Batman games on my old C-64. These were good old times but since then a lot has changed. Just to say - game on C-64 was running in resolution of 160x200 with 16 colors... It's quite tough now to compare that with resolutions above HD

Anyway - we have Arkham Asylum - the new Batman game for PC (and for X360/PS3 but who cares since PC version is simply better and cheaper...). I was a little sceptical about the game as there were no good Batman games on PC before, but after spending few hours with the title I can say now that - wow - this game rocks!

It's an action game with some added elements from role playing games (experience, leveling) and a twist from detective/adventure genre. Joker is on the loose - basically - you just have to catch him. I'm not sure how plot of the game will evolve further but... it is just what I would expect from Batman title

During our way we need to get rid of dozens (or thousands ) of enemies - and most often we do that with bare hands. Fighting in the game basically rocks. If you thought it was good in Assasin's Creed - then here it's at least twice as good. And how everyone moves on the screen during the fight - is just a poetry... If they used mocap (Motion Capture) I wonder how many people ended up in hospital to record such natural and realistic movement

On the visual side - graphics, effects and animation are also really good. Still game runs like rocket not allowing frame rate to drop below 60 with max resolution and max details. On the audio side - music and fx are just there being a nice fitting addition to what you see. Overall - a masterpiece.

Here are some pictures from the game - as you can see - you will meet not only Joker.

There's Harley Quinn helping Joker at the very beginning - but - during the game you'll meet more friends from Batman's universum just to mention Poison Ivy, Victor Zsasz or Killer Croc...

I recommend the title.



And here - if you don't remember - please see how Batman looked on 8-bit computers:

Only stupid does not change their minds So I changed mine and believe me or not Fear 2 is not that bad game I have thought previously (after demo). I bought my copy on weekend promotion :-P and if you like good FPS games I do recommend doing the same

What is sad here - like I have written after putting my hands on demo - story is so weak I am not following it completely (even if I have already finished 2/3 of the game). Alma is not scary at all Comparing to e.g. Silent Hill 4 this one is like for kids Nonetheless game - if we treat it as pure, linear FPS game and will not pretend it is something more - F.E.A.R. 2 is really good shooter and gives a lot of fun

Oh, btw - in-game music rocks!

Some time ago I have mentioned that I'm testing something The stuff I was testing was gaming stuff from Razer: Lycosa Gaming Keyboard and blue Copperhead Gaming Mouse...

I was testing those toys for approx. 2 weeks and here are my findings:

Nexus of Dominion: The keyboard looks beautiful.

My wife was really envious when she saw it The blue backlight is nice and rubber finished non-slip keys feel really great under fingers. I saw on some forums people writing that backlight is bad and you cannot read letters from tighter angles... I have to say - so untrue. From every angle (when you still can use your keyboard ) everything is perfectly visible.

Razer claims keyboard is fast (well - untestable - for me it just reacts on key presses ), you can press a lot of keys at once (I have X360 pad so that's not a plus for me as I need it only for FPS games that usually don't require that) and - what is really important for me - it is very comfortable when you play for long hours... The only big minus for me - the keyboard is noisy Not that noisy as most of Logitech keyboards but not as silent as MS Natural Keyboard I was using previously...

Is it worth the money? No. But hey it looks so great and feels so great Anyway - if you play with it longer - you will change your mind... I did. So... Yes...

The Shape of Fear: When I unpacked the mouse I panicked

First I started to check how to disable the light Next - mouse seemed so uncomfortable in hand

Anyway, because all was already unpacked, I plugged mouse in... My worries if light will not be too disturbing were fortunately pointless. The light is dim and mild - simply - eyes friendly even if you play at night. BTW mouse is breathing So easy to get wife envious again

As for my other worries (comfort in hand) - it took me few days to really say it is comfortable. The reason was I was so used to so called 'ergonomic' mouses (not mice ) and here Razer gives us mouse classified as 'Ambidextrous' which means you don't put hand laying down on it but instead you keep it by fingers... It gives you much better control and boosts targeting skills. I REALLY noticed immediate improvement in all FPS games I tested with it.

Is it worth the money? Oh yes It's a 'Magic Mouse +2Dex, +2Frag'


Summary:

After a time I'm becoming more and more happy with the toys... And - definitely - after longer usage I feel the difference and better comfort. They also look cool on the desk so if you need new keys/mouse - get them - I do recommend.

Still... keyboard is loud

The second game I tested was 'Flock'. What made me curious first was the game's domain name - motherflocker.com Then it was few minutes to have it installed

The game is basically about herding innocent poor animals into the alien mothership. You are flying on the alien f-saucer (aka UFO) which has super gravity beam that allows you to play tricks on the environment (destruction, rings , building) and even to quickly remove wool from sheep

If you want to try it - go and see game's website above... Here are pics: