Followup of an IT student

A few days ago Activision finally released the Stimulus Downloadable Content for Modern Warfare 2. Much to my delight, one of my favorite Call of Duty 4 maps, Crash, was part of the map pack. The only downside to this package is that it has a separate playlist, meaning it’s got a map rotation of just the 5 ‘new’ maps. That being said, Crash barely comes up as a playable map anyway, it’s mostly Overgrown or Salvage, much to my dislike. I definitely enjoy this game and these new maps are a great add-on, be it that the new maps are quite confusing and big, whereas the returning classics are played either far too often (in Overgrown’s case) or far too few.

Probably one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played is Assassin’s Creed II, the sequel to the well-known game Assassin’s Creed published by Ubisoft. The story of the sequel picks up where it’s predecessor left off, following Desmond in his pursuit of finding out about his ancestors whom were all part of the order of assassins, a group of killers designated to protect the world by slaying all who wish to take control of it. It’s a purely fictive game and storyline but it is in fact based on actual historical events and facts, albeit they’re slightly altered, but nonetheless it takes a lot of imagination and inspiration to develop such a game and to keep the player compelled to it.

Based in renaissance Italy, the game shows a young Etzio Auditore, the lead figure of the game, as the new ancestor of Desmond. Being a womanizer and a thug, you have little more than your fists as weapons to survive in this harsh period of time in Italy. Soon enough though, Etzio will find out the true legacy of his father, whom was formerly known as just a banker, and will be required to pick it up and pass it on. Being an assassin, his father has a wonderful piece of gear that closely resembles to Altaïr’s. After his family has been betrayed by a local official, it’s up to Etzio to avenge the death of his father and two brothers and to secure his mother and sister’s life. The game will continue to focus on this, as well as finding out the whole conspiracy behind his family’s betrayal and a lot more.

For all I have left to say, this game is a wonderful piece of storyline and hack ‘n slash entertainment, all combined with beautiful graphics and fast-paced action. A must-have!

When gamers, and more specifically FPS players, hear the word RPG and FPS in one game, they usually tend to startle. Borderlands is an example that could totally wipe away this thought as it is a perfect balance between the RPG and FPS aspects. Combine the FPS action with a customizable and level-able character and you get Borderlands. This adds in the fun of both genres and combines them to form a very nice gaming experience. I’ve been playing this game for a few days now and haven’t gotten bored of the missions/quests so far. They all vary and have different forms and ways to approach and complete the objective. I definitely recommend this game to any RPG/FPS enthusiast!

Everybody should know Modern Warfare 2 by now, the sequel to Call of Duty 4. Since Call of Duty 4 was a highly anticipated game, this one is not different at all. Ever since Infinity Ward announced its development the game has been strongly anticipated. Even right before the release of the game, people couldn’t wait to go out and buy it, most had even pre-ordered it already by that time. As soon as it was released though, people started noticing the many flaws this game has. For starters, Infinity Ward decided to drop dedicated server and mod support right before the release, leaving the professional gaming scene pretty much renderless and without much hope. This might have been the biggest decision they’ve ever made, but also the most noticeable one in a negative way.

Furthermore, the game itself has a very poor matchmaking service (if there even is one present at all). If people were really being matched based on their rank and stats, level ones wouldn’t be facing level seventies, prestige two. Other than that the game has a very weird hit registration at times when the delay gets high. I can’t remember the many times I see someone spray next to me on kill cam, whereas I died instantly. Though there’s a lot more to be mentioned, the most noticeable fact is most likely the picking of a host since the game is now peer-to-peer based. According to Infinity Ward, there is a selective system that automatically picks out the best host based on his/her connection and some other factors. Why the hell do people with modem connections end up hosting then? I usually play in a party with 4 other people with perfect connections and an open NAT type (I closed mine, since I was tired of being the host which drains my bandwidth ultimately).

To end my small (it’s small knowing what I’m capable of) rant, the host of the game’s server is always bound to be hogged its bandwidth. Since I live in a country that has bandwidth limitations, I run out fairly quick when I host every time. Hence why I locked my NAT type to strict and selective port forwarding. I recommend everyone to do so IF you’d like to preserve your bandwidth.

Ok maybe I’m slightly addicted to World of Warcraft, still I can keep myself from playing it whenever I like. I can stop whenever I like to and this is a clear sign of not being addicted just yet. As for this blog, I still believe I will be able to maintain a proper schedule of posting every once in a while. Summer is pretty much halfway through and college will kick in again in little over a month so most of the people are starting to come back from holidays, others won’t be heading off till September.

Bought myself a new flatscreen TV, about two weeks ago now, and the damn thing was broken when it got delivered, can you believe the nerve they’ve got? Called Samsung support as well as the store support line. The latter directed me back to the first and the first put me through to a repair service near me. Called them for more info and an appointment for a repair-at-home. They were so kind to tell me they had to order more parts in order to be able to come, so I had to wait a little longer yet again. It’s been almost three weeks now since I bought it and I haven’t enjoyed it at all, even though it’s been here for as long as I have purchased it!

My sister and my mum left for the Philippines a few days ago, my dad and I decided to stick home and watch after the house, trying to survive (kidding). I’m heading into three weeks of silence and no women in my life, I don’t quite know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I guess I’ll miss them in the end. Though, they left me sleeping the night they left, apparantly my mum didn’t want my sis to wake me up. I couldn’t say goodbye this way, which feels a bit bad, but it’s their choice, I would’ve woken up if they asked me to. In fact, I was ready to go as I spent the night awake close till the hour they were about to wake up.

As I said earlier, heading into three weeks of no women in my life, this means no girlfriend either. Lisa and I decided to be just friends, rather than picking up where we stopped. I respect her choice, and I do believe it’s for the best of both of us, nonetheless I really, really loved her so much. Still, I rather have a good bond and friendship with her instead of having a second relationship that might end earlier than the first one and with the added fights and issues. Ah well, life’s been good, life’s been bad, in the end we manage, don’t we?