Portal

THE CAKE IS A LIE!!

This is the famous proclamation that is instantly associated with Valve's 2007 First-Person puzzle game Portal.
From a couple days ago until May 24th, Portal is free from Steam, to build extra hype for Portal 2, which has been announced.

Portal takes place in the Enrichment Center for Aperture Laboratories, also known as Aperture Science, which is the research corporation responsible for the creation of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, also referred to as the Portal Gun.
The two characters are Chell, the silent, player-controlled protagonist, and GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), a computer with artificial intelligence that monitors and directs the player. The only background information presented about Chell is given by GLaDOS; the credibility of these facts, such as Chell being adopted, an orphan, and having no friends, is questionable at BEST, as GLaDOS is a liar by her own admission.
As the game progresses, the player faces rooms of different difficulties, with a different combination of challenges in each room. The player controls one or both ends of the portal to get through them. The player is motivated by GLaDOS with the promises of cake upon completion of the 'tests'.
Partway through the game, GLaDOS takes a nasty turn, with challenges that have death risks. Also, at the end of the 19th challenge, GLaDOS directs the platform you're on into a fire, assuring you that the portal gun will not be harmed. Out of determination, you spot a way out. From there GLaDOS continuously speaks to you and taunts you, eventually turning to insulting you as you work your way to the main room where GLaDOS is located, and destroy it. The constant promises of cake cease and GLaDOS begins telling you that you missed the party and don't get any cake. The promises of cakes were obviously lies, leading to the proclamation, "The cake is a lie!" (Along with frequent scrawlings on the walls in blood saying so.)

I give Portal a 9.5/10, my only problem being that it's short - I finished it in under 4 hours. I love the genius uses of physics in combination with the portals. Portal is intriguing, and rather challenging. I liked it a lot. There are some twisted minds at Valve, and I hope they keep it up.


A representation of how the magnitude of linear momentum is conserved through portals. By jumping into the blue portal, the character is launched out of the orange portal and onto the platform on the right.


An advanced portal technique. The character builds up speed using two blue portals, to reach an otherwise unreachable area. The second blue portal is carefully created mid-air, after exiting the orange portal for the first time.

Grynder

Razer Naga MMO Gaming Mouse - 9.4/10

Design - 9.4/10
I really like the Razer line of mice. They're comfortable, and they look pretty awesome. The Razer Naga MMO mouse is probably the best looking one though, because the hotkey buttons on the left side add a bit more complexity to the look. It's incredibly comfortable, more so than I expected. The Naga is designed to be comfortable for long gaming sessions, which does your hand well on a particularly long quest with your guildies.

Function - 10/10
The Razer Naga is one of the only two gaming mice I've used, but I have to say it performs incredibly well. The 12 buttons on the left side (which access the number buttons above the letters on your keyboard, which you bind your spell/skill hotkeys to) respond so quickly, it blew me away when I used them. In addition, they're easy to tell where each button is and access them, without having to look at the mouse at all.

Price - 6/10
The price for the Naga is a bit hefty, at a good $100. (The Razer store charges only $80, but shipping charges will bring it up to about the same.) But I'd say it's worth the cost for such an excellent mouse.

Overall - 9.4/10
This mouse is perfect for an MMO gamer. No more reaching across the keyboard with your left hand to reach your spells/skills, that hand can be completely reserved for movement and opening interface windows.
The only problems I have with it is that it doesn't serve you immensely well for other game genres.

Grynder

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare *SCREENSHOT*

So I was playing Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare online tonight. One match (in which I scored 36 kills, 6 assists, 17 deaths) made me happier than usual. The reason? Check out the photo below.

Note the words at the bottom: "You killed JUSTIN BIEBER." This made me grin every time it happened. >:)
.....It was a sweet headshot too. Oh, and yes, I do play as "John Casey." I changed to that name because it's fun. At least for a while. GO CHUCK! :D (Best tv show ever. Monday nights, on NBC. Hopefully they'll get a 4th season!)

Grynder

Dragon Age: Origins

So I FINALLY played Dragon Age: Origins last night. Did about 3 hours of the approximate 60 it takes to finish the game without the expansion. I have to say this is the most epic RPG EVER. I was purely astounded. The story is so detailed, the graphics are AMAZING, gameplay doesn't disappoint, and the Ogre Alpha I defeated alone (after forgetting to keep my party members' health up) was WICKED!! (Also with the Razer Naga MMOG mouse, it's even more astounding. Such responsive buttons, so comfortable.. I'm going to have to write a post about it too.)
I'm not sure exactly I have to say considering I only got 3 hours of it done, so I'll write another one further in.
Final note: This game is AMAZING. I'm awestruck.

Grynder

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Probably one of the most anticipated games of last year, and for good reason. Modern Warfare 2 is an incredible game. I picked it up on launch night after waiting in line in the cold for 2 hours (12 AM to 2 AM). The graphics are wicked, the gameplay is crazy, and the storyline picks up where Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare left off.
In addition, they added a Special Ops mode that gives you objectives on three difficulty levels in the maps from the campaign, which can be tackled alone or 2-player online. This was a smart move because not only does it give us a challenge (because yes, the Ops are difficult!), but it increases the playability and Replayability (Because there's only so much you can do in campaign mode, but you never have to play the Ops the same way!). It's provided me with so many hours of gameplay already, and it's not boring yet!
The multiplayer is decent, with more features than the previous Call of Duty games, though I found that they made such drastic changes to the multiplayer that it takes quite a long time to get used to. I dislike IWNet (As does everyone else, it seems), and I think it was a stupid idea to take out dedicated servers. I'm quite happy that Activision sacked Infinity Ward for it.
I also like how you can put a shotgun, machine pistol, etc. as your secondary weapon in a custom class in Modern Warfare 2, but that still doesn't make up for IWNet.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 earns a good 9.7 for single player, and a not-so-nice 7.8 for multiplayer in my books.

Grynder

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Okay, so it's an older game, I know. However, I just got it (11 days ago), and thought I'd write a bit about it. This has to be one of the best FPS (First-Person Shooter) games I've played. The graphics are really nice, and the gameplay is nearly flawless (though I'd like a little more freedom in where I can go!). I'd recommend this to anyone who plays FPS games, easily.
In terms of single-player campaign, it's not quite as good as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (which I got on launch night), but that's to be expected. However, you eventually finish the campaign and you're thinking, "Now what?" That's when I switch to multiplayer.
Multiplayer. This is where it all goes down. Your skills, your strategies - everything is put to the test. One of the biggest reasons for that is how Call of Duty works in the first place. They don't use the Hitpoints system like older games such as Battlefield 1942. (It appears that the way they run it is becoming more of a standard - Battlefield Bad Company 2 (not sure about Battlefield Bad Company) also uses it. The more injured you get, the more red your vision gets. At a certain point, you're dead.
Anyway, this makes it a very difficult online experience, but it's really rewarding to see the diagonal "you're hitting him" marks with your crosshairs, and the little "+10" show up when you begin to get used to it, and can start rocking it. As a warning, something to be expected from any multiplayer shooter is that people tend to play for themselves. In other words they'll get in the way, and generally put less importance on the lives of their teammates, backing you up less (especially in Team Deathmatch mode).
The maps from the campaign (along with a few extras) are used in the multiplayer. They're well constructed, as well as fair (as in there's always a way someone could see you if they're in the right place - no matter where you are).
Overall, I'd give Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare a good 9.5/10. Excellent game.

Grynder

Welcome

Welcome to my Gaming Blog. Here I'll post my thoughts on the games and gaming products I use or try, as well as systems (what is great, what isn't so great). I only post about PC gaming, because I don't have any experience with an Xbox or Playstation, though I may throw in something about other systems on occasion. I can't guarantee I'll post too regularly until I have a bit of a following. So here we go.

Grynder