Space Siege Demo

The demo of Space Siege is finally out, and it can be downloaded over at nZone. I've already played it and got sold right after the opening cinematic. Like most game demos, it covers the tutorial part of the game. But it showcased a lot of the game's mechanics. The gameplay is basically hack n' slash (or shoot n' puncture) and it's action-packed much like Dungeon Siege, its distant cousin. The atmosphere, however, reminds me of Restricted Area, an action-RPG in a cyberpunk setting.

The feature that I really liked in the demo, and what I think makes Space Siege unique from other action-RPGs, is the absence of standard loot and experience points. All the enemies you kill in the game drops parts instead, which is like a currency that goes right into an amount tab. Parts allows you to upgrade your skill, abilities, implants and your weapons. So there's no more inventory management in here, and having that dilemma of which weapons to take or drop.

Story-wise, unfortunately, might not be that deep (but I hope I'm wrong). I just don't see any potential of a great plot since the aliens appears to be mindless warmongers. It'd mostly run and gun from point a to point b, and accomplish objectives. However, I do hope that the history of the Human-Kerak war would surface a lot in the PDA logs because it seems to be interesting.

Overall, I think Space Siege would be a fun game. There's just a lot of cool features in here that you won't see too often in a fantasy-dominated genre. Even though the plot might appear to be weak, I will definitely buy the game for its action packed gameplay.

Let the games begin!

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people are already getting stoked about this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing. Although some folks, like me for example, are much more concerned about the upcoming games rush, a time when publishers overstock game store shelves with their hyped products during the holiday season. The games rush usually starts around mid-August and reaches full momentum by late-November. But since I always need to budget my expenses early on, I've already finished picking a PC game for each month.

August

Space Siege
Space Siege is an action-RPG from Gas Powered Games (Dungeon Siege). I find the game to be similar with System Shock than Dungeon Siege. The setting will be on a ship infiltrated by aliens, and the story will be told via PDA logs located throughout the ship. You'll also be able to upgrade your body with implants to improve your combat abilities. But unlike in System Shock, there's a moral conflict in the game. The more you have upgrades, the less human you become.

September

Spore
After 4 years[?] in development, Will Wright (SimCity, The Sims) will finally unleash Spore to the world. Spore showcases a mix of features from various genre like god games, strategy and life simulation. The game allows you to play the different phases in the evolution. You start out with a single microbe from the tide pool phase, then evolving it to a land creature in the creature phase, and finally advancing them into interplanetary conquerors during the space phase.

October

Fallout 3
I started to loath Bethesda after Morrowind. Even more so when they butchered the design of Fallout 3, eschewing the much loved turn-based combat, by turning it into a graphic-fest shooter game. Nonetheless, I'm still picking up Fallout 3 because of my love for all things post-apocalyptic, and I'm still hopeful that this game will deliver an irradiated RPG experience, much like its predecessors did, even though it has undergone extreme mutation under Bethsoft's hands.

November

Empire: Total War
The Total War series of strategy games has already taken us into different historical eras. We've fought battles in Feudal Japan, in the Roman Republic, and in Medieval Europe. The new series, Empire, will take us back to 17th - 19th centuries and give us the chance to fight pirates in the Caribbean or participate in the American Rebellion. There are great changes and additions in this series (can you say naval battles?), and it's just too many to mention them all.

Now, there you have it. All my picks for the PC each month are done. All I need to do is get a better system to handle these games. Cause, quite frankly, I don't think I'd be able to run them (especially Fallout 3).

Comics Review: Uncanny X-Men #500

Uncanny X-Men #500
7.5 of 10
Writers: Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker
Pencilers: Greg Land & Terry Dodson





When I got back into comic collecting a few months ago, I was about to gear up on collected trades of Uncanny X-Men in order to catch up with their story. But a "comic store guy" advised me that, as long as I've read House of M (which I did) and the Messiah Complex (which I didn't but have an idea of what happened), I should just wait for the 500th issue because it's a perfect jumping point for new readers like me.

I took his advice, of course, and he was right. The X-Men being relocated in San Francisco with a new base starts with a clean slate, and the whole team are in good spirits because of it. But all their activities in the city have also drawn many who bear ill will against the mutants. A shock artist with Sentinels, The Hellfire Cult -who seems to be a radical anti-mutant group- and Magneto himself, who –with the help of the High Evolutionary- vowed to save mutant kind.

I think the 500^th issue is like a beacon that will usher this title into a new direction. But the issue is just that, a beacon, a staging point, nothing more. There’s no deep plot here (which is perfect for new readers). It only shows us the new status quo of the X-Men, a guided tour inside their base, and bits of things to expect in the future.

As for the artwork, both Greg Land and Terry Dodson did well. But since they have to share this issue, and they both have different styles, the artwork differs from page to page. While it didn’t really bother me that much, I still wish that they could’ve gone with just one artist (preferably Terry Dodson).

Overall, I would say that the issue isn’t bad, but not quite satisfying either. I’m hoping it’s because Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction hasn’t settled in yet. Most readers will probably feel that the current issue is like one long introduction, like an issue #0, to a new series, which can be a bore. But for new readers, this issue is “the” jumping point. I highly recommend it to new readers. But as for vets, skip it.

Featured Band: One Day As A Lion

After Rage Against The Machine disbanded back in 2000. I've heard many rumors about Zach De La Rocha, that he was either going solo or was kicked out for having writer's block. Soon after, as his former band mates were getting busy with Audioslave, news of him collaborating with big wigs such as Dan The Automator and Trent Reznor began darting around the web. But, I've never seen any of those collaborations on stage and on air.

Zach De La Rocha and Jon Theodore, One Day As A Lion.

But now, finally, after 8 years in hiatus, Zach is finally back with his two-man band, One Day As A Lion. I've only heard one song, Wild International (which you listen to on their MySpace page). The song sounds pretty close to what he did back with Rage Against The Machine, which isn't bad at all. So I think their EP is worth checking out.