Resident Evil 5

Year: 2009
Recommended System Requirements:
Processor: Intel Core2Duo 2.4 Ghz Processor or better
AMD Phenom X4 or better
RAM: 1GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT series or higher
ATI Radeon HD 4850 or higher
VRAM 512MB or higher

Synopsis: Resident Evil hero Chris Redfield goes to Africa to investigate a Bio-terrorism threat.

Review: At last, Resident Evil 5 has arrived on the PC. Thankfully, it has native mouse support as compared Resident Evil 4 for the PC and does not feel like playing a rushed console port.The graphics has also been tweaked to match and/or surpass the console version. The game is played in 3rd person, just like its predecessor.

The game also introduces a number of new features. Apart from the updated visuals, you will be also introduced to an female companion who will assist you in accomplishing your mission. Unlike its predecessor where halfway in the game you have to "babysit" your rescued hostage, your AI buddy is quite capable of taking care of herself. She can also be quite helpful in rescuing you when you are nearing death. However, during some firefights it is best not to get in her way as she will shoot or give you her default melee attack if you are in her way.

A number of improvements have also been made. Most notably is the inventory system. No more looking for printer ribbons or treasure chests to store your loot and weapons like in the previous games in the series. All items can be bought/sold/upgraded before the start of every saved game/checkpoint.Once the game is completed, a number of new features are unlocked, further extending the replayability factor. Apart from unlocking an even harder mode in the single player campaign, you will also get to choose to play as the female character. There is also a mercenaries mode where you are given a time limit to eliminate as much zombies as possible. Way more intense than Left4Dead in my opinion.

In conclusion, fans of survival horror should not miss this highly anticipated game of the year.
Just do not expect a major overhaul to the gameplay like from Resident Evil 3 to 4 as it is just an update of Resident Evil 4 but with updated graphics and improved gameplay. Rating: 9/10

Pros: Gorgeous graphics, intense gameplay,
Cons: Cannot aim and shoot while moving. AI companion sometimes shoots at you during shootouts, unable to purchase ammunition, inventory management still needs improvement.

PC Game Review: Cold Fear

PC Game Review: Cold Fear
=========================
Cold Fear can be summarized as a Resident Evil clone. You play as Tom Hansen, a US Coast Guard who was sent to investigate a Russian Ship

that has been mysteriously attacked by some unknown force. Eventually you found out that an alien lifeform was discovered by the crew and

has transformed the ship's inhabitants into zombies which you must kill by shooting it in the head.

Since I have played Resident Evil 4 before this, it is a little disappointing to find that this game lacks in tension and variety. There are

only 2 levels in this game: The Russian ship and an oil rig. I expected more as the developer's previous game, Alone in the Dark 4 has more

environments than this.

There is also too much backtracking and the lack of a map just lengthens the otherwise short game. There are also times where I have to

repeat a few sections of the game as there is no indication whatsoever of where will be the next save point.

There were also problems changing the resolution to fit my widescreen. It will not run the next time I want to play the game.

However fans of Survival horror such as Resident Evil 4 would not mind playing this until Resident Evil 5 comes out.

Pros: You get a few genuine frights.
Atmospheric music / soundtrack

Cons: Game is saved only at specific locations
Typical survival horror storyline
Too much backtracking
Short

If you like this game, try: Nocturne, Resident Evil series, Alone in the Dark series, Ecstatica I and II.

My New Gaming PC

Sept 01 2008. Yes ! Finally I got my new gaming PC ! It has been a long wait. Initially the plan was to get one early in the year but decided to postpone it as I had to sit for my professional exam first. So as a reward to myself, I got the best PC that suits my budget ($3000++). Here are the specs.



Intel Pentium Core2Duo 3.0Ghz
ASUS P5K/EPU Motherboard
4GB RAM
320 GB HDD
512 MB Leadtek Winfast nVidia GeForce 9800 GT
LG DVD Burner
22" Samsung LCD Monitor

Other accessories that I have bought separately are:
Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse
Mousepad (No brand. But it stinks of rubber. Hopefully it will go away eventually)

Actually I did get it a week earlier, but there were problems with RAM compatability with the motherboard. So instead of using Kingston HyperX RAM, I have to substitute it with normal 4GB Kingston RAM and two 4GB Thumbdrives as my replacement.

In short, I am very satisfied with my gaming PC. The games I have completed in order are:
1. Call of Duty 4 ( the main reason of getting a new PC)
2. Medal of Honor Airborne
3. Gears of War
4. Bioshock
5. Cold Fear
6. Serious Sam 2 (in progress)


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GAME : Street Fighter III

Another game that has been successfully emulated is Street Fighter III.

There are 3 games in this series:

The New Generation, Giant Attack and Fight for the Future.
I'm sure many have heard and/or have played its prequel, Street Fighter
II and its various editions (Champion Edition, Super) as well as its
spin-offs (Alpha a.k.a Zero 1,2,3 and the aweful EX). 
But only the die hard fan would know that Street Fighter III exists.

Well, finally I managed to play all the street fighter III games and I
am sad to say that I am utterly disappointed at how the street fighter
series has progressed.

First of all, only Ryu and Ken return in the threequel. So naturally,
what's a die hard fan do when he/she plays Street Fighter III ?
However, after playing Street Fighter III for a while, I began to notice that
some of the new characters have moves similar to the old characters from Street Fighter II.
There's one that has Guile's (sonic kick) and another had Dhalsim's long limbs. 
I began to wonder why do Capcom even bother to introduce new
characters into the series when the special moves are similar ?  Music
was not memorable
Though I must admit that the animations are much smoother and some new
but familiar characters appear (such as the hulking bad guy Adone from
Capcom's Final Fight series)

Lets hope that the upcoming Street Fighter IV would reinvigorate the 2D
fighting genre.

To start playing, download the the CPS3 emulator from http://nebula.emulatronia.com/
extract into your desired folder and in this folder, create a new folder called roms to place your
Street Fighter III rom.

GAME : DIE HARD ARCADE

Hey people. how was your christmas celebrations ? hope it is all well and good.

I took almost a week off and its great that it has been quite an
eventful
break. for one thing, i discovered that the emulation scene has
progressed
quite well.

A couple of years ago, I desperately wanted this game
called die hard arcade to work so much so I friend my laptop because of it !
For those that do not know, it is a beat 'em up game created by sega
more than 10 years ago. It was released in the arcades as well as the sega
saturn. From the screenshot you might think that it is in 3D, but
actually
it is not. Die hard arcade is essentially a 2D game as the player and
the
computer controlled opponents can only attack each other from the left
to
the right side of the screen.

But the REAL reason why I love this game is the attention to detail.
Watch (and laugh) as your opponent grimices in pain by holding his crotch and
jumping backwards after you kick him in the groin. you can even slip
and fall if you step on certain objects.

There are many weapons that you can use throughout the game. There are
the usual hand and machine guns (no grenades though) And even everyday
items can be used as weapons such as brooms, hairspray, mace+lighter = mini flamethrower and even pepper(?).My
favourite happens to be the rocket launcher because when you shoot at
the opponent, he/she flies up into the air !

Seriously, if you want to play this game now you can do so by
downloading the latest MAMEUI32 emulator and the diehard.zip rom.
You would need a fairly powerful pc (at least 2Ghz) in
order to run it at playable speed. At the time of writing, the sound is abit off as
it has not been 100% emulated yet. but I am  confident that it would not take
too long to make Die Hard Arcade arcade perfect.
In short, this is a perfect beat'em up game to play with a friend and be prepared to laugh a lot.

UPDATE: I just found out that the sequel, Dynamite Cop has also been emulated. Look out for the review soon !

PC Game Review : Total Overdose (2005)

Over the weekend, while waiting for my copy of Resident Evil 4 to arrive, I installed this game called Total Overdose (2005) - a third person action title set in South America.

Although the whole game plays like a Grand Theft Auto clone, the developers were also clearly inspired by the "El Mariachi trilogy" of movies directed by Robert Rodriguez - El Mariachi (1992) , Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). Guitar case machine guns included. In addition, this game also adds a bullet time from Max Payne (2001) as well as the reverse time feature from the Prince of Persia series. So expect some outrageous action.

Another cool feature in this game which should be included in every free-roaming title is the ability to skip the process of traveling to the next mission. Although the downside of this would be the reduced gameplay time of an already short game. Like all free-roaming titles, the player is free to do whatever he or she wants even after the main story has been completed. However, the side-missions do get repetitive after a while.

In short, this a good game for fans of 80's action films and Grand Theft Auto.

StarCraft II Coming Soon

StarCraft II - The most highly anticipated real-time strategy game of all time is finally announced by Blizzard Entertainment - The only game company that has not produced a flop.

I've viewed some of the videos that were available on the Internet and they look absolutely amazing ! All three factions are here with some minor changes and some new units.

From what I can recall, the protoss seem to be as powerful as ever. They not only have shields but also gigantic units that look like they were inspired from War of the Worlds (1953, 2005) and Independence Day (1996). Terrain is no longer a barrier as the marines now are equipped with a jetpack. Lastly, the infamous Zerg rush still can be used here and to great effect.

Granted, the graphics cannot be compared with the likes of Supreme Commander (2007). But then again, Blizzard Entertainment has always been known for not pushing the boundaries of current PC hardware and that is the reason why most of its releases are popular. Judging from the graphics and level of detail, expect the system requirements to be slightly higher if not almost similar to WarCraft III (2003).

Browsing through the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) revealed something interesting:

Will there be a console version of StarCraft II?

StarCraft II is being developed for the PC. We have no current plans to bring the game to any console platform.

And you still wonder why I do not (and will not) own any gaming console(s) ?

Take That, XBox, Playstation and Wii !

Call of Cthulhu : Dark Corners of the Earth (2006)

Minimum system requirements: 800Mhz, 256MB RAM, 2GB HDD, 128MB Video Memory
Rating: **** (Out of 5)
Pros: Suspense, creepy atmosphere
Cons: Bugs, dumb AI, unskippable cutscenes, limited savegames
Plays like: Clive Barker's Undying, Doom III, Condemned: Criminal Origins, F.E.A.R, Penumbra Overture

Synopsis: Call of Cthulhu : Dark Corners of the Earth is a Horror First Person Shooter for the PC and XBox. Over 6 years in the making, The game is set in the 1920s and you play as a private detective named Jack Walters who is investigating a robbery in a small fishing village named Innsmouth. Eventually, you'll uncover a more sinister plot that involves witchcraft and ancient creatures.

Review: This is not a typical first person shooter where you shoot anything that moves. In fact, you do not even have a gun until halfway through the game. The first half of the game plays like a adventure game from a first person perspective. For example, by getting close to an object and pressing the use key, your character would describe the object. At times this would prove useful as he would give hints to what it does.

The game also employs lots of stealth. However, due to the dumb artificial intelligence of the inhabitants, whenever you are discovered, it is possible to lose them by running away from their pre-determined path.

In Dark Corners of the Earth, the game truly shines in tense situations such as running away from your attackers, slowing them down by bolting doors and blocking the door by pushing cupboards. Failing to do this in time would result in starting over from the last save. This can be a chore because of two reasons: 1.You cannot save anywhere, only at certain areas where there is a save point and 2.Cutscenes cannot be skipped. Also, the game also employs a unique feature whereby your vision is blurred and the controls can sometimes be manipulated whenever your character is affected by heights and seeing a dead body.

Overall, this game is worth playing for its creepy atmosphere and rich source material of which this game is based on. Similar to Doom III, it is highly recommended to play this game in the dark.
It was planned initially to have a trilogy of Call of Cthulhu games. Sadly, the developer went bankrupt due to the delays of Dark Corners of the Earth.

If you are stuck like me at the last level for not running fast enough when the caves collapse, use this patch. Here's the link.