Not only is this the third game I’ve bought in three months, it’s the first I’ve pre-ordered.  (And considdering how much of a gamer I claim to be….that’s pretty sad!)

I’ve been playing it pretty much for a week-and-a-half, in between working my ass off, so I haven’t gotten that far.  But, good old Aleph is still alive and well in the wasteland, and I am still vastly entertained.  This first run, like most people’s, will be a good-ish character with some charm, smarts, and quick talking skills.  Let’s just hope super mutant behemoths speak english….

The one major thing I am glad for is that it is not Oblivion with guns.  More so, it is Fallout with the perks of Oblivion graphics.  While the combat is not turn-based like the old Fallouts, there is still enough reasons to use VATS during combat that it makes it very worthwile.  Heck, even the original Fallouts were not fully turn-based, just the combat was.

The leveling system and experience does not focus soely on killing things.  You get XP from lots of other things that can make combat a more expensive options.  Hey, stimpacks and bullets aren’t free, you know.  (Well, limited at least.)  Plus, the stats and skill system is alot simpler, and entirely Fallout driven.  There’s only 20 levels, maybe 25 skills, and a smalelr focus on leveling over surviving and getting the better shot off in the end.  Plus, skills only go up when you level, not by using them, so you won’t be jumping everywhere you walk anymore!  (No atheltics skill either!)

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One of the curious things I’ve found, given that I have a medium-low-end computer, is that the PC version is very crashy when using VATS or the Pip-Boy.  Surprsingly, this seems to be VERY common, and I’ve come across the weirdest solution: stop using fullscreen.  This actually works!  I get better performance and NO VATS/Pip-Boy/Chest crashes!  Bloody odd!  I hope they fix this soon!

The other weird thing is that there is no editor…yet.  There are some mods, but mostly peopel are still trying to add mod support for others.  Considdering it’s running the highly-moddable Oblivion engine, I find this very odd.  It even uses the same ESM/ESP data files, just of a different version, and has options for adding Data Files!  They better release an editor, or at least some good add-on packs.  Or some lovely expansions….Bethesda should hook up with Steven King and add Maryland to the world!  That’d be hilarious…and hopefully very freaky.

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I have a bunch more points and stuff, but for the sake of SPOILERS I’ve hidden them behind the break.  Pretty much game tips and silly things, but hey, it’s a game worth playing so I won’t spoil it.

Here’s a bunch of little tid-bits I’ve learned…most of the the hard way.

• Don’t forget to get the Bobblehead from Dad’s desk in the beginning!  I am a total moron and missed it!  (I *ahem*no-clipped*cough* got back into the Vault and got it.)
• Ammo weighs nothing, grab it all!  Even if you never use it!  It dissapears really really fast!
• Sweet talking people into getting what you want is a great way to do things!
• Lock pick, hack, speech skill, all good sources of XP.  Quests are the best, but everything you hack, pick or do gives you XP.  Thus, combat is not always the best way to level…and uses more bullets then hacking.  Just don’t get caught.
• The Karma system is great.  You don’t have to be a perfect angel to be a perfect angel.  Picking a few locks is easly balanced by kissing a few babies.
• The Oblivion grab is there.  So if you want to steal something that is guarded, grab it and walk away!  Great way to get the super-shotty at the Metro Station when doing Blood Ties.  (Same room as the Ghoul that wants Sugar Bombs)
• Opening Nuka-Cola bottles gives you one cap! (No, really?)
• Vendor Caps do NOT replenish by waiting 24 hours.  But, you can sell them just enough to get all their caps, then use them to repair things.  This rebuilds their caps, which you can then get again by selling them more stuff!  Almost like getting free repairs!

And yes, most of these are pretty obvious if you’ve played the game at all.

I’m sorry, I tried…

To honour him I suggest cranking The Great Gig in the Sky followed by a brief moment of silence…and alot of acid.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

One could argue, as I will, that this song could be considered his epitaph.

An amazing a beautifuly tragic song. Runs along the lines of Roger Water’s When the Tigers Broke Free and Four Minutes, from The Wall and Radio KAOS respectively. Damn, if those two were able to collaborate, I’d swear they could create the greatest cross-genre operatic musical tragedy in existence.

Behind the more is an attempted SeeqPod embeded link to the song. Lemme know if it works.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Close Up 1

Close Up 2

I cannot honestly see what good the Olympics are doing anymore.  The movement has gone from good will and unification, to greed and corprorate whoring.  And worst of all, they cater to the direct market of any country with deep enough pockets.  Having 1.3 billion democratically opressed people helps make China not only a perfect candidate, but one of the front runners for super-power supremecy in the next few decades.

China has one of the worst human rights records for a first-world nation, enforced censorship, and has bronek all it’s promises for unrestricted media access to the games and an improvement of rights by the start of the games.  Yet, being as they have the US on an enconomic dog leash, who’s gonna stop them?

When I first heard that China was getting the games, back when they announced their mascots, my immediate though was this was the worst choice since the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  But, hey, history can’t repeat itself, right?

With all of this, I will be glad when the fucking thing is done and China can go back to quietly opressing its people while the world looks elsewhere for a better distraction.  Like, maybe the 2010 Olympics?  No, wait, those are being held here, and have almost as much advertising as the damn Beijing games!

Why can’t it just go away?

I cannot beleive these assholes. They want to slap everyone in the face with their attention raising, oportunistic manipulation of McLean’s death and turn it into a farce just so they can get some attention. I know that PETA just did this, but the WBO morons have taken the cake.

But here’s the fun points.

First, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7). I guess these religious fuck nuts can’t read very well. While I know the bible does make some mention of God striking down homosexuals in the Book of Job, I’m pretty sure God wasn’t just “hating” the “fags”. Also, God punished the whole town, not just one or two random people. So as far as God punishing homosexual “enablers”, I’m pretty sure by their own Bible’s standards that all of Canada would be burned down by God if He was that inclined to punish us. (Enablers? Since when was Homosexuality a drug? That’s like saying child counselors are Autism enablers.)

Second, besides shameless and unflattering publicity, why are they botehring? Sure, bad publicity gets the best coverage, as well all know, but it’s not going to get anything for their cause. Our Bible belt is in Alberta, Manitoba is a little to the right asshats. Get a map, a real map that shows all of Canada. Ignorant hicks.

On the plus side, I am surprised, but pleasantly pleased that the Canadian government is actually trying to stop these religious fucknuts. Amazing considdering they won’t help Omar Khadr, and left Brenda Martin to rot in Mexico, I’m surprised they would let themselves stand up to Christian American whackjobs.

Too bad the WBC is just a small group of inbred hicks, but hey, good to know Stockwell Day has some balls after all…even if they are there just for show.

Despite the ass-tacular reviews from IGN readers, it actually is a pretty fun game. It’s aimed for simple, arcade pick-up-and-play games, not overcomplicated realistic soccer matches.  And why my opinion is highly baised, it’s still worth looking at for anyone who likes arcade style games and sports games.

I got a little behind with this announcement, but another, even better project of mine is slated for realease in a couple of months!  I’ll have more details closer to the release date.