Okay, I haven’t been writing blog posts like I used to. I’m not sure what’s up with that. I haven’t been doing a lot of the things that I used to do. However I do have a few updates and ideas I wanted to write down if for nothing else, than just for the sake of writing them down. For me, writing can be a kind of therapeutic process which is partially why I started this blog in the first place. I can become very focused on whatever it is I am writing for me it can be an escape much like reading a book can be. The scenery around me, the background noise, the chatter of the TV or others around me all seem to fade away. This allows me to focus only on the page or screen in front of me and has become for me a source of meditation.
So without further ado… Here we go. Let’s start with some game reviews.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – I know there is a lot of hype and controversy over this game and the complete lack of attention given to the PC Gamers market out there. However all in all I have to say that this is a very fun and can be fairly addictive game. I know people hate the lack of dedicated servers and crappy match making system and total lack of customization options which does suck. Despite the flaws I have to say the single player story mode was as fun as ever. I often compare game story play through experiences with reading a good book. This game certainly does not lack the captivating story play that will keep you playing past bedtime for days until you finally beat it. I know some people can play though it much faster than that but as I have a job and a family, my gaming hours availability is often limited to a couple hours a night or whatever I can squeeze in before bed once the kid is a sleep.
Point being, despite it’s flaws, it’s almost worth the retail price just for the single player experiences. Also I imagine this game will be played around LANs everywhere almost making it a must have though I’m sure some underground versions are already out there for that crowd. The multiplayer experience despite it’s fall backs is still fun and full of intense moments. Despite the map size and options limitations, there’s still a good feeling from scoring the game winning kill and getting your instant replay shown to all the other players.
Left for Dead 2 - What can I say? If you liked the first one, you should love this one. This one plays the exact same way as the first one but offers new dialogue, weapons, and new types of Zombies. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I have this affinity for all things Zombie… Movies, Books, Games… you name it, I’ll watch, read, or play it. This game certainly does live up to it’s predecessor’s standards of Zombie killing. While the plot and story remain purposely very thin, leaving much of the situation up to one’s own imagination, the game offers hours of entertainment in crawling through a bunch of huge new maps, including a theme park with a tunnel of love. Also, and while I haven’t played them all, there are a few new game modes to continually sharpen your skills with and keep things fresh. I’ve always been a fan of survivor mode as long as you are with someone who knows what they are doing. definitely a fun game.
Borderlands – I don’t know why but for some reason I seem to love this game. To be completely honest, this game was actually kind of boring and repetitive. There are very few social interactions with NPC’s in the game and you spend a lot of it wandering around a desert wasteland by yourself constantly being challenged by all forms of the same types of wild life and bandits. However, with all that negative being said, I simply could not stop playing this game. There was a wonderfully addictive element to the RPG portions of the game. I spent hours going through my inventory making sure that I had the best possible weapons load out for my class and spent hours camping for loot to improve those weapon choices. I absolutely loved the character leveling and special talent tree that you are able to progress through in the game. Also, now that I’ve beat it once, I can go back through with my same character with my precious DPS intensive load out and blast through the next level of challenging monsters and baddies. So while I hate to love this game for whatever reason I hate to hate it as well. I have only just started my second play through but I do intend to go through it’s entirety.
I’ve also had some recent hardware improvements I wanted to make mention of. For Christmas my mom got me a Logitech G110 Gaming Keyboard to replace my failed G15 Gen 1. I had asked her for a G12 which was identical to the G15 only without the LCD screen which I never really used anyway. She wrote me back and said that they didn’t sell the G12 anymore so she got me the next step up. She did very well indeed. I absolutely love this keyboard. The button mechanics and spacing are even better than on my beloved G15. While a soft clicking keyboard which I typically don’t care for, the keys still produce a very satisfying click when depressed that is almost crucial to my ability to type and game. Obviously I can get by on lesser quality but this keyboard offers me the maximum in comfort and feel.
Another interesting function of this keyboard is that it has a USB Audio Device embedded in it. It is only active when you plug headphones or speakers into it but it has proven very handy for use with my Skype. It allows me to keep my Skype phone calls on their own audio device so that the audio on the rest of my computer is not disrupted. Primarily this means I can leave my headset plugged in all the time for convenience without losing the ability to use my surround sound speakers. So while most people probably won’t have a use for the extra sound card, it has been a nice thing for me to have.
The other thing I asked for was a Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse. My G5 took a dump on me right before my keyboard did. I have to say, this G9 is like the Dodge Viper of mice. It’s not a mouse you’re average person will appreciate, but for that someone who wants a bit of extra this is a nice mouse. Unfortunately when I asked for it I wasn’t paying attention to the market and I asked my mom for a G9 instead of the newer and faster tracking G9.x. All the same, I have a hard time keeping up with my own cursor with a 3200DPI mouse which is still a huge improvement over my previous 2000DPI mouse. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with the 5700DPI.
Finally, from my brother I received a set of Logitech x530 5.1 Surround Speakers. While they don’t offer much advantage over my old Creative Inspire 5.1 speakers, the sure do sound a lot crisper. Even though they are still connected to analog stereo outputs they appear to be totally capable to putting out crisp Hi-Defination sound. The one feature that is actually a bit different about them is that the center speaker is twice as powerfull as the rest of the satellite speakers which produces a much fuller sound throughout. It also seems to make positioning that much more effective. Even though these are sort of the bottom dollar surround sound speakers, I can still ful appreciate their more modern design and technology. My computer has never sounded better.
