>> ^bamdrew:

hooooly shit @ 2:26!!!! waaaah!!!!!
the late-flips and late-shuvits... jeez this is fun to watch
promote


Frealz. Those late flips and combo grinds were the reasons I sifted this video. As well as that WTF at 2:28 and his recollection of Cardiel's insane attempts at backflipping. Man, what a crazy motherfucker.

I agree with dismissing magic, it was a very interesting system to screw with for quite a few levels, but once you know two magic schools the "hard" factor that was in the game initially (like forcing you, as a mage, to find high ground and develop some useful tactical spells) became a complete slaughter. Then if I summon 8 guys to defend me I might as well sit down until their timer wears out (summoning needed to be powerful, but with a much longer casting time, longer shelf life, and a "slot" system depending on what you summon).

Don't get me started on Earth magic being completely overpowered and buggy to hell and beyond.

The item system, while at first seems neat, but even by level ten you realize that every RPG I've ever played extended and amplified their item systems over time. In Two Worlds you can metallurgically upgrade it then add crystals/stones to it to enhance it. This would have allowed for an amazing system, but again they spent minimal time and effort doing it--so it sucks.

The A.I. is a mixed bag. They do well at first, but have HUGE clipping and line-of-sight issues (archers and mages are happy to stand behind a rock and shoot at you: hitting the rock. Then many enemies get stuck in planer or clipping joint areas that have small gaps and IT HAPPENS A LOT! Most engines have dealt with this issue in some form (as it's been ten plus years to learn how to stop them; programmers still screw it up; yes, I know the engine is complicated, but give me the same game on Crytek's engine and I'll be much happier)...

The trade skills are alright have a little promise with them at least starting in the right direction, but as you level up they become useless except for ones you can do on the fly (mostly, metallurgy and fusion).

The rest of what Yahtzee said is correct. The game is buggy. The multiplayer is a let down (where the hell is open roaming or campaign playthrough?) The spell system is terribly broken in some areas (I'm looking at you Fire and Earth) and weak in others: Necromancy or as I call it Necropansies--you're forced to learn another magic or you'll die, unless you really love summoning and waiting the required 5 minutes per fight for a MINOR fight... But, again, the spell card system with maybe Magickas combo system together would make spell-casting an AWESOME experience.

Anyway, I would only suggest this game if you desperately need an RPG to play. If you've yet to play Torchlight play that instead. Otherwise, get Bulletstorm as the comic value and writing (Duke Nukem type one-liners and more) make it worth buying alone.; I hope Duke can live up to this--if it has full Physics I think it will. BTW, the Unreal Engine sucks, bad... There are a lot of games I've liked on it and it looks pretty, but the physics and map abilities leaves A LOT to be desired, BUT it is also a good engine in the manner that it's easy to develop for and very flexible in what it can do (Deathspank is an excellent example; same with Dungeon Defenders on the iPad). At this point though it is by far more a console engine than a PC one.

/My two cents and review for Two Worlds II, with a small peppering of Unreal Engine talk that has nothing to do with the review...

//No grammar check just spell; Deal...

>> ^mentality:

>> ^Clumsy:
Agree and disagree - as a PC MMO player, ya, WoW - big game that's awesome and amazing and and ... but DC Universe plays and is obviously catering to a PS3 audience, so that is actually something to take into consideration when you do a review. What other games are there, how are they different, and junk.
Enjoy these reviews nonetheless, just wish it wasn't such a cheapshot all the time.

So catering to a PS3 audience means designing a shitty MMO? There's great qualities in console games that you can emulate, instead of just taking the PC MMO model and dumbing it down.


Out of curiosity, have you even played the game? The game play itself is significantly harder to master than WoW, requiring that you use combos, dodge incoming attacks and decide power roles. Additionally, having only six powers to choose from means you must use actual strategy in choosing which ones you will be using.

On top of that, they are going to a completely unique MMO game experience. It's plays much more like Arkham Asylum than WoW with fun dialogue, several actual story lines, and the ability to play the game for a short period of time and still manage to accomplish something (about friggin time MMOs), and you can go through the entire game solo without any issues.

Obviously it has some issues...the chat system is horrid and for the most part people rarely use it. Some of the powers are a little buggy, there are a couple of known sound issues, etc. Fairly minor stuff considering its recent release date.

Oh, and there's just something awesome about chasing Lex Luther to the Hall of Doom because he has kidnapped Superman (while they supposedly teamed up to take on Brainiac), confronting him, then challenging him in said Hall of Doom in order to save the Man of Steel.

Thank you very much!!

In reply to this comment by Krupo:
I *promote this *quality vid. Hmm, not sure if I've tried that combo before. Love the change in the text as they realized he DID step down. Funny delay.

Also *history in the making.

I *promote this *quality vid. Hmm, not sure if I've tried that combo before. Love the change in the text as they realized he DID step down. Funny delay.

Also *history in the making.

Wow, thanks KP, nice combo bonus there

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*dead *british *80s *promote *quality

Even though the audio is slightly out of sync with the video, it's still the highest quality replacement I could find. Did my best.

Glib and trite. Nice combo you're working on there.

>> ^Xaielao:

Lol quite funny. To bad the game sucks just as bad as the original did.


The game is definitely worth a playthrough if you like Star Wars in any fashion. It's basically, Star Wars *with the force powers over the top), a well written story and plot that fits into the mythos (except for the powers, but that's part of the fun).

It's more of an action-RPG for those wondering if they should play it. You level up (decide what powers/ attack combos/ and passive skills to put up), get to find hidden accessories for your lightsaber (let you deal more damage with force powers, more damage with your lightsaber, conserve "force stamina", etc...), and it has two endings going for it.

The story is better than the prequels... Even though it's straightforward and simplistic at times, it will make you play enough to get to the next story outro/intro. It sold a LOT of copies and was highly reviewed. But, I would listen to the gamers on this one as it's a platinum seller just on the XBox-360.

P.S.- I'm talking purely about the first "Unleashed". But, considering what I saw in the demo for the second, I'd guess that I'll be expecting the same quality/stuff plus the story is continued... The combat seemed far more "cleaner" in the "TFU:2" demo as well.

-- People have different tastes and expectations. Just turn the difficulty all the way up (it'll force you to learn good tactics and combo usage). I'd take "The Force Unleashed" anytime compared to: Halo:Anything, Gears of War: 2, Final Fantasy VIII-XIV, any EA Sports game, MoH 2-x^n, etc...

-- I'm not trying to be dismissive @Xaielao, but I thought I should do the very least of posting my completely different viewpoint. I also, got the game for ten dollars. So that helps.

Rockband is a good starting choice (so is Lego: Anything), but Rockband has the added bonus of it being a true party game. If she likes to sing/play bass-lead/drums or keyboard go Rockband 3.

Plus it teaches you the basics of drumming and (in a few months) will support a full 6-string electric guitar (250$ though ), but it'll teach you how to play that too. That's pretty fu&*in rare in any game--giving you a skill.

If you know more about music it'll support some (I haven't looked into this area yet) full midi-keyboards--which once again it has a full training mode. It supports midi-drums as well, just make sure you get a midi-adapter (Madcatz makes some).

Expensive, but a unique experience. If you want to learn guitar don't bother with this till March or so. Plus Lego: Star Wars is cheap, after that I'd go Lego: Harry Potter (it has a lot of charm going for it).

Oh and: Why, yes, I do play videogames. <geek>

--
edit
--

One more thought. I'm not sure what games you can all get on their online service, but if it's about the same as XBLive Arcade I'd go for these games as they seem to be sure winners. Plus a few you'll like.

Puzzle Quest (1&2)- Really Addictive and rpg'ish so it'll keep your attention. Standard puzzle game, but with all the things you expect to find in an RPG. Very fun. Also on the DS/iPhone(at least PQ:2 is)/and I believe the PSP. The first is slightly better than the second IMHO.

Bejewelled- Specifically the second one.

Hexic (1&2)- This is a good strategy/puzzle game. It's not necessarily a fast paced puzzler and it's actually the type of puzzler that rewards you to think your moves ahead a bit. The second one has more combos, but loses some of the strategy elements, because it's faster. They are still both good games.

Hexic I've only seen on XBLive Arcade so I'm unsure if it'll be on Sony's setup.

I don't have a PS3 yet, but if you can download trials and let her try them out that will be your best option (unless it's a straight-up gift). Of course (as I said I haven't tried the online service yet) if the "trials" are like the Wii's idea of a "trial" as in, "Oh, here, go ahead and try this game for 15 seconds; it would be 30 seconds, but you NEED to watch this movie first; no you can't skip it, it's too awesome to do that!"... Then your screwed that route.

Someone with more trialing experience on the Playstation Network want to add on?
Anyway, there are a lot of cheap game choices as well. You'll be bound to find a type she enjoys a lot. Goodluck.

nope. i saw it on reddit and thought i share (i also see a lot of videosift stuff on neatorama and thought i'd join). i like cooking shows and i like when people make fun of things, so this was a good combo

Nice post. *Wheels & *dance, what a combo.

ULTIMATE *BAN COMBO

OVERBAN!

“Dogs are the best detectors,” Oates said at an Oct. 20 news conference at JIEDDO headquarters in Arlington, Va.When dogs are teamed with small dismounted teams of U.S. and Afghan troops, they are capable of detecting 80 percent of IEDs, he said. “That combo presents the best detection system we currently have.”

Since it was created in 2006, JIEDDO has eagerly sought out every possible technological tool it could find in government, industry and academia to locate and remotely detonate IEDs, which have caused the majority of U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. So far it has spent nearly $17 billion on new technologies and training programs.

...

Training and educating soldiers is critical in the fight against IEDs, Oates said. It is also the “most underappreciated” piece of JIEDDO’s portfolio. U.S. troops from the get-go face a huge disadvantage in this war because they lack knowledge of local language and culture, Oates said. They also “carry enormous ignorance” about what motivates locals to collaborate with the Taliban or al-Qaida and help them build and bury IEDs. “This is a complicated challenge for us,” Oates said.

BAGHDAD — Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless.

The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.

Still, the Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Nearly every police checkpoint, and many Iraqi military checkpoints, have one of the devices, which are now normally used in place of physical inspections of vehicles.

Lol. The flying-spin-kick to exit-stage-right combo is all powerful.

I've never regretted not relying on network television sitcoms for my comedic needs. Books and movies do the job well. For one thing, network sitcoms all tend to be jealously formulaic. Individual episodes also tend to be silo'd to prevent any sort of character-arc from developing because, well, we can't have that in a comedy, can we? The last good network sitcom I've ever seen was Arrested Development, which at least made an earnest attempt to buck these boring conventions. And look at the show now...oh wait, it was cancelled.

However, in the years spent here, I've learned that Sarzy and I have very comparable tastes in movies, which counts for quite a lot, so his endorsement has prompted me to check this show out.

Cheers!

(Not Cheers the TV show, I meant Cheers in the goodbye/thanks/good job combo.)