2011 | Need For Speed: The Run

Developer: EA Black Box, Firebrand Games (Wii/3DS)
Publisher: Electronic Arts, Sega (Japan)
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, 3DS, Mobile
Genre(s): Street Racing
Mode: Single-Player; Multi-Player
First Released: November 15, 2011
Played on: Microsoft Windows

2010 is done with Need For Speed Hot Pursuit and for 2011, we have EA’s street racing game Need For Speed The Run. In The Run, you play as a guy named Jack and you are a made-man, chased by some rich people for having so much debt, and there goes a racing competition that will take place from San Francisco until you reach the outskirts of New York city. Having heard of the competition, Jack decided to get in and settle all of his debts once and for all as his last resort, racing 1st. In the game, aside from driving, you will meet story sequences that will make you press something in your machine in accordance to what is shown on the screen. It is a Need For Speed Hot Pursuit game added with a story.

I finished the game just last week, and the number one thing I have noticed so far is that, the game is short, specially the Story mode. You race from San Francisco to New York from being the 200th placer and once you reach 1st, then you’re simply done. But anyway, before I tell you the real conclusion, let’s take a look at the graphics first. Below are some screenshots of the game while I’m playing Story mode, using none other than our favorite recording utility, Fraps.

Here is a screenshot of a Porsche 918 RSR in an ongoing Race:

If you have noticed, the car detail is quite impressive, a little better than how the cars in Hot Pursuit was presented. Lighting is quite nice too, making the terrain and the environment look much more captivating, also better than Hot Pursuit. If you have read my Hot Pursuit review, I told there that the game flawlessly works well, except the heavy loading times and the framedropping encounters during cinematic cuts. Well The Run loads faster but unfortunately, framedropping is still present and believe it or not, much more disappointing. There is also a large complaint by most hardcore gamers about the game.

The Run is heavily capped to render up to 30 frames-per-second only, so if you have Fraps installed and running, you’ll see “30″ on your screen most of the time, plus the framedropping issue, even if you have the fastest GPU out there. Well, if there is a fix, then that could do but it sounds impossible for a release. Here is a video of a race with Mila and her sister (opponents in the game):

Anyway, going back to the graphics, there are so many cinematic cuts in the game. One is the presentation of the stages, let’s say San Francisco, wherein the game shows how the stages will look like, just like the picture below:

It looks good at first as it is just an image, but sadly, the real thing is that, when you are actually playing and watching the cinematic cut, you’ll experience a lot of framedrops, resulting for you to get annoyed and skip the scene (if you could, but there’s no way!). In fact, the scene is made in low resolution, lower than your native resolution, and I believe, lower than 1280×720 (coz’ that’s the resolution I’m using while recording with Fraps).

Next, other scenes like the ones below,

looks much better, with almost no framedrops and the likes. Good thing coz’ that’s a real rendering of your GPU, not a video being played in the game or something like that. Actually there are a few scenes like this in the game, so cherish every moment you’ll see heavy effects like this, ok?

Back to the cinematics, I am so sorry I haven’t had any Jack-moment videos. But why? Well, simply because those scenes are really made up of crappy rendering, heavy framedrops and… well, annoying storyline, so leave it just like that if you don’t wanna see a disappointment. Sigh, they even used Frostbite 2.0 for rendering the physics of the scenes, but looks like EA Black Box forgot about the quality of the PC port (good for you console gamers).

Sounds. I turned off the music and played my own playlist in Windows Media Player coz’ I thought EA messed up with the EA Trax since the release of Need For Speed Carbon, loaded with crappy music. Sound effects are satisfying. However, if you were watching the cinematics, because of the framedrops, you’ll end up with the word “disappointing”.

Other than Multiplayer, you can still play the game in solo in Challenge Series, which is also present in most recent Need For Speed games. There, you’ll race to complete lots of objectives and earn rewards or earn experiences so you can level up your profile.

All in all, the game is good, if you’re into a street racing game like me. Played the game first on my 2-year old custom Core i7 Rig equipped with a “still kicking former beast” ATI Radeon HD 4850, with very good performance (videos were taken using this machine), and then transferred all my savegames and finished story mode using my new 17.3-incher Core i5 and GT540m-equipped ASUS K73SV multimedia notebook (works flawless too!) the night when my girlfriend also finished the game called “Life Quest”. The contradicts are the 30fps limit, the heavy framedrops and very short Story mode, however, I still enjoyed playing the game for an estimated 3 days. It might sound like another disappointment to EA Black Box (after failing to attract audiences in 2009′s Need For Speed Undercover), but it’s a good attempt to try combining a racing game and an action game into one. Good game! Crappy features…

Again, here’s another video of the game, with Porsche 918 RSR and Shadows Fall playing in the background:

|> Shadows Fall – Redemption

2010 | Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Developer: Criterion Games, EA Digital Illusions CE, Exient Entertainment (Wii)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii
Genre(s): Street Racing
Mode: Single-Player; Multi-Player
First Released: November 16, 2010
Played on: Microsoft Windows

This is Electronic Arts’ street racing rendition of the Need For Speed series for the year 2010, just before the Christmas Eve. Also, this is the 4th game by Criterion Games (who were famous for making the Burnout series which I really liked). Need For Speed games developed after Most Wanted, from 2006 to 2008, including Carbon, ProStreet and Undercover, were all huge disappointments, atleast for me. After the fresh success of Shift back in 2009, EA decided to bring back the street racing and action together in a Need For Speed title, and because the Burnout series’ became famous for the “bumping and busting cars” element, EA put Criterion games to develop the new game instead of EA Blackbox. So what they did is bring a police story aside from the usual street racers chased by cops. This means that we play both as a cop and a street racer, and chase each faction to gain level and unlock new cars, missions, race locations and most importantly, race weapons.

It’s true. This Need For Speed game will let you drive the famous REVENTON car by Lamborgini. As you can see, the REVENTON looked exactly as what we can see it in real life (if you can really see it in real life). Great details and lighting effects. Aside from cars from Lamborghini, there are also real and concept cars by Porshe, Pagani, Dodge, Chevrolet (including the 2010 Camaro used for Bumblebee in the movie Transformers), and many more. But these are just cars. Let’s take a look at the graphics during a race.

Up there is a screenshot of the game during a Gauntlet race, wherein you are solely chased by cops. What I’ve noticed during gameplay is that, the game can render graphics as fast as how we enjoy a race. I cannot see any major bug in the game. AI is great because: your enemy racers are good enough to beat you at times, that makes you throw your controller or smash your keyboard down; your enemy cops can make you annoy most of the time. In short, enemy AI is well produced. I have no complaints on it. My GPU is ATI RADEON HD4850 with 512MB memory, and I can play the game at the very maximum settings at a screen resolution of 1360×768. I had no lag or framerate drop issues, and I believe I can still play this game in maximum settings with 1920×1080 screen resolution.

Next thing I noticed are a few bugs that, well, not really frustrating but just can make you laugh at times. There was a time when I was playing a Duel race and then my enemy racer crashed his car and stuck in an edge and after that, it does not move again. Weird but funny.

The game, as I’ve said before, made me play as both a Street Racer and a Cop, both with different profile management, both with some different exclusive cars as well as weapons to use. Weapons you can use during the game are: EMP – makes you fire the opponent in front of you; Spike Strip – if you’ve played Most Wanted, you know this already; Jammer – a Street Racer exclusive that can distract the race, turn off your opponents’ gps and weapons for a short period of time; Helicopter – exclusive to cops, can help you chase cars and deploy spike strips; and Turbo.

The console version (PS3, Xbox 360) have the ability to use custom music/playlist saved from the system’s hard drive, but the PC version lacks that feature. In anyway, that is not a problem for PC users as we can always turn off the in-game music and turn on our favorite media players, just make sure to reserve more RAM.

Also, the game includes Autolog system which basically is the menu of the game, features Online capabilities, specially if you have Facebook, it can send information in your wall feeds regarding your recent race, etc. Good idea? of course.

Because of these almost-flawless features of Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, I will, without a doubt, buy myself the PS3 version, just for trophies. Too bad there’s no 2-player split screen, oh well there’s online multiplayer anyway.

Below is a race footage I just recorded with Fraps earlier. It is a Gauntlet match and I have Slapshock’s Carino Brutal and In Flames’ Reflect the Storm playing in the background. Take a look:

Final Score: 9.5
Final Commet: “Action, Racing, Adrenaline Rush. All combined.”

|> Oasis – Some Might Say

XMB | Park Bom – You and I

Original Unmodified version

Exclusive for sir Itachi_360

Here we go again with my newest theme. This time, we have 2NE1′s main vocalist Park Bom for our very own PlayStation 3. As requested by sir Itachi_360 of TipidPC PlayStation 3 thread, I hope it is another mission accomplished. This is a double post. As you can see there are two screenshots above, and there are two download links below. The other would be a a modified version exclusively, but not limited, for sir Itachi_360 (it was requested by him and goes with his name on it.). Take a look and don’t forget to comment, hit like and spread the word. By the way, this theme consist of:

- 8 HD backgrounds
- 1 SD background
- Park Bom – You and I album cover Icons

Video Preview:

- No Video Preview for now.

Credits:

- HD Wallpapers are all taken from the music video of Park Bom’s song, You and I, minus the YG and GomTV logo, replaced by the MisterComputer logo.

How-to-install:

- Recommended only for Legit Non-Jailbroken PlayStation 3 systems.
- Copy and Paste the .p3t file to a USB flashdrive, inside the directory G:/PS3/THEME/ (where “G” is the drive letter of the USB flashdrive, depending to your system).
- Turn On your PlayStation 3 System, insert the Flashdrive through one of the System’s USB ports.
- Navigate XMB to Settings -> Theme Settings -> Change Theme -> Install
- When prompted where to find your theme, choose your USB flashdrive.
- Find the theme and choose “Install”.
- Once installation completed, find the installed theme in the themes list, also in Theme Settings.
- For Themes with multiple backgrounds, just apply the theme many times.

Important Notes:

- Please do not modify/extract anything from this theme.
- This theme is not for sale. It is free. Please do report anyone selling my theme.
- Please leave a comment before/after downloading. I appreciate comments very much.
- Do not take out the link.

Additional Notes:

- Check out some more PlayStation 3 XMB themes here.
- Email me: dead_executive05@yahoo.com
- Follow me: http://twitter.com/kenokenopiii
- PSN ID: kenokenopi

Download Instructions:

- Click and download from MediaFire (link below).
- If MediaFire asked for a password, input “mistercomputer” and continue downloading the file.
- After downloading, extract the .rar file using WinRaR. If asked for a password, input “mistercomputer.wordpress.com” and continue extracting.
- Passwords are also noted below.

Download Link:

Download: Mediafire (Original) | Mediafire (Itachi_360) | Password: mistercomputer | WinRaR Password: mistercomputer.wordpress.com

|> The Casualties – Depression-Unemployment Lines

XMB | Girls’ Generation – Intel Visual Dreams

My 3rd Girls’ Generation PS3 Theme (my 8th XMB theme all-in-all). I decided to create another SNSD theme with the Intel Visual Dreams concept. I made it just half a day. Here you go, free for download but don’t forget my rules and instructions below. Also, I am not sure when can I find another time to create and release another SNSD or other XMB theme, coz’ I will be a bit busy for a while looking for jobs, but as soon as I find free time I will definitely make another. Anyway, here’s what’s inside:

- 4 HD backgrounds
- 1 SD background
- Intel-SNSD icons

Video Preview:

- No Video Preview for now.

Credits:

- HD Wallpapers are all official photos. If not, then I would like to fully credit them to the owner.

How-to-install:

- Recommended only for Legit Non-Jailbroken PlayStation 3 systems.
- Copy and Paste the .p3t file to a USB flashdrive, inside the directory G:/PS3/THEME/ (where “G” is the drive letter of the USB flashdrive, depending to your system).
- Turn On your PlayStation 3 System, insert the Flashdrive through one of the System’s USB ports.
- Navigate XMB to Settings -> Theme Settings -> Change Theme -> Install
- When prompted where to find your theme, choose your USB flashdrive.
- Find the theme and choose “Install”.
- Once installation completed, find the installed theme in the themes list, also in Theme Settings.
- For Themes with multiple backgrounds, just apply the theme many times.

Important Notes:

- Please do not modify/extract anything from this theme.
- This theme is not for sale. It is free. Please do report anyone selling my theme.
- Please leave a comment before/after downloading. I appreciate comments very much.
- Do not take out the link.

Additional Notes:

- Check out some more PlayStation 3 XMB themes here.
- Email me: dead_executive05@yahoo.com
- Follow me: http://twitter.com/kenokenopiii
- PSN ID: kenokenopi

Download Instructions:

- Click and download the file from MediaFire (link below).
- If MediaFire asked for a password, input “mistercomputer” and continue downloading the file.
- After downloading, extract the .rar file using WinRaR. If asked for a password, input “mistercomputer.wordpress.com” and continue extracting.
- Passwords are also noted below.

Download Link:

Download: Mediafire | Password: mistercomputer | WinRaR Password: mistercomputer.wordpress.com

|> Shadows Fall – My Demise

XMB | T-ARA – YaYaYa

Because I feel bad about HwaYoung’s absence in my last T-ARA theme I made (to think that HwaYoung is in the icons), I decided to make another one with the YaYaYa concept. I made the HD wallpapers again. It’s too bad that T-ARA doesn’t have a lot of HD resources in terms of photos. Can’t really find any HD wallies even in Google search. Good thing I have a lot of ideas in my mind so I created a total of 4 1080P wallpapers. Sorry for being a Jiyeon bias, though. Anyway, the theme includes:

- 4 HD backgrounds
- 1 SD background
- YaYaYa icons

Video Preview:

- No Video Preview for now.

Credits:

- HD Wallpapers are all created/edited by me. Images are official jacket and promotion photos.

How-to-install:

- Recommended only for Legit Non-Jailbroken PlayStation 3 systems.
- Copy and Paste the .p3t file to a USB flashdrive, inside the directory G:/PS3/THEME/ (where “G” is the drive letter of the USB flashdrive, depending to your system).
- Turn On your PlayStation 3 System, insert the Flashdrive through one of the System’s USB ports.
- Navigate XMB to Settings -> Theme Settings -> Change Theme -> Install
- When prompted where to find your theme, choose your USB flashdrive.
- Find the theme and choose “Install”.
- Once installation completed, find the installed theme in the themes list, also in Theme Settings.
- For Themes with multiple backgrounds, just apply the theme many times.

Important Notes:

- Please do not modify/extract anything from this theme.
- This theme is not for sale. It is free. Please do report anyone selling my theme.
- Please leave a comment before/after downloading. I appreciate comments very much.
- Do not take out the link.

Additional Notes:

- Check out some more PlayStation 3 XMB themes here.
- Email me: dead_executive05@yahoo.com
- Follow me: http://twitter.com/kenokenopiii
- PSN ID: kenokenopi

Download Instructions:

- Click and download the file from MediaFire (link below).
- If MediaFire asked for a password, input “mistercomputer” and continue downloading the file.
- After downloading, extract the .rar file using WinRaR. If asked for a password, input “mistercomputer.wordpress.com” and continue extracting.
- Passwords are also noted below.

Download Link:

Download: Mediafire | Password: mistercomputer | WinRaR Password: mistercomputer.wordpress.com

|> 포미닛 (4Minute) – Heart To Heart

XMB | T-ARA – Cartoonized

As requested by a blog-reader, here’s my very first T-ARA theme for the PlayStation 3 gaming console system. I’m so sorry, I cannot find any Full HD 1080P wallpapers of T-ARA in the internet, even TiaraDiadem doesn’t have a good official one, so my choice is to create my very own just for this theme. I will be working on a YaYaYa theme soon, coz’ I feel bad for HwaYoung. Anyway, this theme consists of:

- 4 HD backgrounds
- 1 SD background
- Cartoonized icons

Video Preview:

- No Video Preview for now.

Credits:

- HD Wallpapers are all created/edited by me. Catoonized T-ARA images fully credited to the creator.

How-to-install:

- Recommended only for Legit Non-Jailbroken PlayStation 3 systems.
- Copy and Paste the .p3t file to a USB flashdrive, inside the directory G:/PS3/THEME/ (where “G” is the drive letter of the USB flashdrive, depending to your system).
- Turn On your PlayStation 3 System, insert the Flashdrive through one of the System’s USB ports.
- Navigate XMB to Settings -> Theme Settings -> Change Theme -> Install
- When prompted where to find your theme, choose your USB flashdrive.
- Find the theme and choose “Install”.
- Once installation completed, find the installed theme in the themes list, also in Theme Settings.
- For Themes with multiple backgrounds, just apply the theme many times.

Important Notes:

- Please do not modify/extract anything from this theme.
- This theme is not for sale. It is free. Please do report anyone selling my theme.
- Please leave a comment before/after downloading. I appreciate comments very much.
- Do not take out the link.

Additional Notes:

- Check out some more PlayStation 3 XMB themes here.
- Email me: dead_executive05@yahoo.com
- Follow me: http://twitter.com/kenokenopiii
- PSN ID: kenokenopi

Download Instructions:

- Click and download the file from MediaFire (link below).
- If MediaFire asked for a password, input “mistercomputer” and continue downloading the file.
- After downloading, extract the .rar file using WinRaR. If asked for a password, input “mistercomputer.wordpress.com” and continue extracting.
- Passwords are also noted below.

Download Link:

Download: Mediafire | Password: mistercomputer | WinRaR Password: mistercomputer.wordpress.com

|> In Flames – Dead End

2010 | James Bond 007: Blood Stone

Developer(s): Bizarre Creations (PS3, Xbox 360); n-Space (Nintendo DS); High Moon Studios (Microsoft Windows)
Publisher(s): Activision, Square Enix (Japan)
Platform(s): PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
First Released: November 2, 2010 (NA)
Genre(s): Action-adventure, Third-person shooter
Mode(s): Single-player, multiplayer
Played On: Microsoft Windows

Here we go for another game that should already be reviewed a few months ago. I was busy so I’m sorry. Anyway, this is the latest game for the James Bond saga, and it’s out for a long time now. It’s great to see that people are still making the series alive, through games and box-office films. My dad and I were fans of the series. Finally, here’s the most recent offering of the series to attract both fans and the younger generation.

Basically, James Bond games are purely action-packed games with intense storyline, all revolving in the game’s protagonist, James Bond. The main features include the car-chasing gameplay in some great scenes of the game, plus the appearance of Pop singer, Joss Stone.

If we talk about gameplay, Blood Stone uses a third-person shooting mechanism together with hand-to-hand combat which is a bit similar to earlier video game titles like Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Grand Theft Auto, etc. Although Blood Stone is not an open-world and is a linear game, you can still feel the influence of sandbox-style games such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’ Creed, throughout the game. Oh, and I told you it’s a linear game so please do not go anywhere in some points of the game, coz’ that’ll not work.

In anyway, I still love the car-chasing gameplay. It’s like they brought some Need For Speed elements. The good thing is that they’ve done well. I had fun playing them. They’re not too hard, and not even too easy. Although the car-chase was just for a few times, atleast it gave me much excitement and a shifting from the shooting genre of the game.

There are a number of weapons that can be used in the game, well just the same number as what Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune have. But the thing is, aside from these weaponry, you have vast amount of explosives during the game. Lots of explosive barrels are there, through out every scene, which is what makes it unrealistice-but-fun.

Graphics, you say? Well, as for me, I would like to praise it. I never thought that this James Bond game is almost as beautiful as Mafia II or the likes, atleast for the PC. It’s not the best out there, in fact, it’s ugly if you think about Physics and AI. There are some points in the game wherein your enemies are starting to move in a weird position. Now here’s what I’m talking about. Below is a screenshot of the AI and Physics problem. See the gun in there? It’s actually an enemy who got stuck by… I don’t know.

Well, that’s it. Eyecandy is there so just ignore the Physics and enjoy the beauty around.

Now when we talk about the story, one thing comes in mind. It’s a James Bond game. So I’m sure you now have an idea. We have James Bond and that grandma doing some mission in Athens after a celebration party. There, she meets the girl, Joss Stone. Started to know each other and eventually joined forces to do the rest of the missions while traveling around the world. That’s all. I don’t want to make spoilers tonight… and thank me for that.

By the way, I remember, here are some videos I took the time I played the game in my PC back some months ago:

As a conclusion, this game rocks. For about… 10-15 hours, you’ll feel excitement as the action-packed hero of the game, James Bond, take over your gaming life. 8.5

|> Good Charlotte – In This World (Murder)

PlayStation® Home [March 28, 2011]

Last 28th of March, I decided to visit my avatar in PlayStation® Home, to check for new updates such as game spaces, new rewards and some other changes in PlayStation® Home (Asian/Hong Kong server). I used my primary asian account (ID: kenokenopi) and then proceeded to Harbour Studio (my own space).

So far, there are quite new rewards I owned. First, I’ve got a special KillZone 3 T-shirt and equipped it right away to my avatar. Also, there’s that fancy bottoms. Not sure what game it appeared, maybe TEKKEN? And some more goodies from LittleBigPlanet. Oh, and they’re completely a free reward.

I also decided to visit and create my avatar for PlayStation® Home (US server) using my US account (ID: kenokenopi_US). Unfortunately, it was offline at that moment. Maybe the US server is updating or something.

|> Metallica – The Four Horsemen

XMB | Forbidden Love

[P3T] Forbidden Love (PlayStation 3 XMB Theme)

I’m Ken Dayapan from PH.This is my 5th PS3 XMB Theme. This is Forbidden Love aka Nine Tailed Fox aka Gumiho Wehjun from KBS, starring Kim Tae Hee, Jo Hyun Jae, JunJin, Eom Tae Wong, Han Ye Seul

Main Features:

- 10 HD backgrounds
- 1 SD background
- Poster-like icons
- Sub-icons extracted from Dark PS3 Theme and fully credited to KarbonBlood of DeviantArt

Video Preview:

Credits:

- Most Wallpapers and images are official ones, removed the logos and Re-HD by me.
- Sub-icons, as you can see, are extracted from Dark PS3 Theme, originally by KarbonBlood of DeviantArt.

How-to-install:

- Recommended only for Legit Non-Jailbroken PlayStation 3 systems.
- Copy and Paste the .p3t file to a USB flashdrive, inside the directory G:/PS3/THEME/ (where “G” is the drive letter of the USB flashdrive, depending to your system).
- Turn On your PlayStation 3 System, insert the Flashdrive through one of the System’s USB ports.
- Navigate XMB to Settings -> Theme Settings -> Change Theme -> Install
- When prompted where to find your theme, choose your USB flashdrive.
- Find the theme and choose “Install”.
- Once installation completed, find the installed theme in the themes list, also in Theme Settings.
- For Themes with multiple backgrounds, just apply the theme many times.

Important Notes:

- Please do not modify/extract anything from this theme.
- This theme is not for sale. It is free. Please do report anyone selling my theme.
- Please leave a comment before/after downloading. I appreciate comments very much.
- Do not take out the link.

Additional Notes:

- Check out some more PlayStation 3 XMB themes here.
- Email me: dead_executive05@yahoo.com
- Follow me: http://twitter.com/kenokenopiii
- PSN ID: kenokenopi

Download Instructions:

- Click and download the file from MediaFire (link below).
- If MediaFire asked for a password, input “mistercomputer” and continue downloading the file.
- After downloading, extract the .rar file using WinRaR. If asked for a password, input “mistercomputer.wordpress.com” and continue extracting.
- Passwords are also noted below.

Download Link:

Download: Mediafire | Password: mistercomputer | WinRaR Password: mistercomputer.wordpress.com

|> 소녀시대 (Girls’ Generation) – 별별별 (☆★☆)

2010 | Call of Duty Black Ops

Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Genre(s): First-person Shooting
Mode: Single-Player; Multi-Player
First Released: November 9, 2010
Played on: Microsoft Windows

I have been playing this game for quite a while now, finished the single-player campaign mode, tried the Zombies mode, drink a cup of milk and sleep like a baby. Finally, I have decided to make a review about this game, including my thoughts about it.

The last FPS game we talked about was EA’s 2010 reincarnation of Medal of Honor. So far, it’s a great game. Unlike some folks who says that it’s just a crappy fps game, as for me, it’s the opposite. Because of that, I’m gonna make a contrast between MoH and the new Call of Duty game, Black Ops.

Everyone knows how famous Call of Duty is, as a FPS game. As famous as Medal of Honor? no. As famous as Resistance? no. As famous as KillZone? maybe. As famous as Battlefield? maybe. So now you learned that Call of Duty is a top-tier FPS game series. And because of that, fps gamers put on a lot of high expectations in the latest game. After that epic-ness both Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2 offered for the last 2 years, I’m sure this is another all-kill release.

What I value the most in playing fps games are its content. Graphics? not really. My system is already a 2-year old high-end X58 nehalem equipped with Intel Core i7 CPU, 6gigs of RAM and an HD 4850. As you can see, my GPU has been quite an old card now, and because of that, I do not expect superior performance even if I’m just using DirectX 9. However, as I play the game, what I’m not expecting is what I’m seeing right now. Awesome graphics. Configuration? All in highest settings, except my resolution. My monitor can only handle resolution up to 1366×768. Full HD or just HD, just so leave it to that. Objects and textures are just made fine. Treyarch did well.

How about Gameplay? maybe. I do care atleast a little in terms of gameplay. As you can see, FPS games in PC mostly do have the same controls, and other gameplay options. Black Ops remained to what we call “standard”, but what’s more interesting is the addition of gamepads. Whether it’s just a cheap CD-R King gamepad, a high-end Logitech gamepad, or your console’s DualShock 3 / XBOX 360 controller, it’ll work fine. Good idea? for some reason, it is.

Now how about story? of course. The quality of the game remains inside its story, and without it, it’ll just be pure heartless game. Black Ops is another Call of Duty game based on our history. Believe it or not, Kennedy is in here. You play Mason, an aggressive fictional soldier who has been captured and experimented by the Soviet Union. Set in the Cold War era in Vietnam, the game follows the torture made to Mason and the biochemical weapon, Nova 6. Not that I’m slow or what, but I find the story un-interesting. Maybe because it is set in an era I’m not interested to, unlike games in modern setting. Also, I do not find any satisfaction in the game’s story because there are lesser twists on. For example, in the beginning, you will already have the idea that Mason have a mind-problem, and because of that, the word “excitement” and “thrill” is not a good thing to describe it. Lastly, unlike games I have played before, this game lacks the dramatic aspects. People play games because they want to witness the scenes on it and express a variety of expression and emotion. As it lacks drama, I can describe this game as just “pure aggressive shooting game”. I’m so sorry for criticizing the game, I’m just saying what I thought about it. In anyway, I would like to praise the game for those cool rides. As you play the game, Mason and other major characters of the game can’t just walk and shoot enemies. We have Choppers, Airfighters, Jeeps, all present and playable in the game. Cool, isn’t it?

Once you finish the story, you unlock this game called Zombies. If you’re a CoD fan, I’m sure you have seen this before, in World at War. Not much interesting, though. Basically, this mini-game let’s you kill Zombies, protect yourself, earn points and submit it online to the scoreboard and compare with other players. And you can play Kennedy here!

Before I forget, here are some more YouTube gameplay videos of the game withe same settings mentioned above. Sorry for having occasional lags. Explanation: I’m using Fraps to capture it and by the time I start recording, I was actually downloading some “we don’t need to mention” stuff plus, I only have 1 harddisk installed so it came out like this. Poor stressed harddisk.

Final Score: 8.5/10. I love every single part of the game, except the story of this crazy Mason. Still, Treyarch did an awesome job. Now time to wait for Modern Warfare 3!

|> Children of Bodom – If You Want Peace… Prepare For War