Pioneer Valley Gamer’s First Lan Party.
Will be held at four rivers school in greenfield ma, so if you’re in the area or just feel like traveling, drop by and win something.
It’s only $10 if you pay before the day, and only $15 at the door so theres no reason not to show up… unless your preoccupied… Yes unfortunetly I am unable to attend due to a previously scheduled event, but in spirt I’m backing this thing full force.
Peace, Zypher
As I post this, dear gamers, we stand poised in the middle of an onslaught of new releases in the video game world. While I would normally hail this as a good, great, even grand thing, I must fear the worst…
In a rush to get out their products for a christmas, nigh black-friday release, I’m sure some companies have fallen through on throughly testing their games. It pains me greatly to say this, but I will have to wait and deliberate before casting my judgement on games like:
Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto 4 (PC), Call Of Duty: World at War, Far Cry 2, The New Prince of Persia, and Mirrors Edge. Some of which I will give previews of later. That said however, there is one game that I CAN attest has been well manufactured and produced: Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Before I begin telling you why I love this latest incarnation of an old dog, let me start with why I hated the series last few attempts to snag me. First, the game play blew… I cannot put it simpler or more honestly… Not only did moving and navigating puzzles require some kind of exacting, cyborg, millimeter counting OCD to handle, but when you actually gave in and tried to use “strategy” to progress, you’d get fragged by the games jittery camera or shitty fighting system.
Well, needless to say, that is not the case in this Tomb Raider. The games focus is on heroine’s journey to, I believe, find her mother. Now I say “I believe” Because to be honest, I’m not entirely sure… Like I said before, I hated the last games, so I’m not up on my Tomb Raider lore… Still the game plays incredibly well, and is doing it’s best to fill in parts of the story as it progresses. As platforming/adventure games are not my forte, I’m playing on medium difficulty (Called, get this, “Tomb Raider” skill level) and am progressing quicker than I expected.
First the game is offered on steam, which is always a plus in my book, since this makes it easier to download and install, that +1 point right off the bat.
Secondly, and actually perhaps least importantly, Lara Croft is looking HOTT, better than she has Tomb Raider 2, +1 point.
Third, as I said before, the game doesnt suffer from horrible game-play mechanics, well it does but at least they seem mild when compared to previous versions, +2 points.
Most importantly however, this game is just friggin gorgeous. Utilizing the new directx 10 video cards…. It’s just incredible, here, look for yourself:
The visuals in this game are stunning... Yeah Thats Really Gameplay!
So with another +4 point for it’s graphics, overall Tomb Raider: Underworld scores an 8/10, not bad given that I’d grown to dread this series.
~Sincerely, Zypher
