11 Dumb Things in Assassin's Creed 2

In no particular order the dumb things in Assassin’s Creed 2:

1. Baby Wiggling

When you first play Ezio you are just a newborn baby and you are forced to make him wiggle. I just though this was a little silly, gross, and just because you have a mature rating doesn’t mean you have to show an actual birth.


2. It’s You Ezio!

I noticed that when Ezio’s name sounds like ‘it’s you’. I really don’t know if it was to make you feel like you were the character, but it’s a little stupid and just made me laugh.

3. Freaking Guards

The guards are either borderline moronic or plain ruthless. If I accidentally bump a person in front of them while I run they come out in full force to murder me. Holy Bob was that annoying. I guess they focused on making the game pretty, and it is, so the AI had to suffer.

4. Why is Leonardo here?

I’m sorry, but when a game places any famous historical character in game for the pure reason of using one of his inventions for one scene, it’s shameless lameness.


5. Tickle Me Pointless

I hate pointless treasure hunts in games. They add nothing to the story, are wastes of time, and are especially annoying when you have to complete them. Thankfully the feathers were an option.

6. I Have to Run to the Villa to Change

I noticed when you buy new armor it automatically assigns to you. However if you want to change any of your armor without buying it you have to go to your Villa to change. WTH? I can freakin carry everything else in hammer space, but not my armor? Oh NO! I have to run to the Villa to change. How stupid.

7. Un-friendly Button Mashing

For the most part it is simple, but I hated having to release buttons to attack versus dodge. It would have been so much easier if there were just one button mashing for each of the moves.

8. Dressin’ to Kill

Ok, I understand you have to have some distinction in your character, but Ezio is just advertising he is an assassin. His hood, cape, coloration, armor, would just
bring trouble around every turn. Also he would just drown in the water because he was so heavy.

9. Nobody Drank the Water

If this game is to be historically accurate, the water would have been filthy and Ezio would have refused to swim in it. Every time I had to swim, mostly by accident, I cringed imagining the poop and garbage floating about….ewwww.


10. Death by Wa-Wa

I thought it was actually hilarious to just push a guard/enemy into the water and wait for insta-death. I used it as much as I could because it just made fights easier and hilarious.

11. It’s a Me Mario!

One of the funniest lines in the whole game is when Ezio meets his uncle. When he said the fabled words “It’s a me Mario!” I instantly thought Nintendo is going to sue. Honestly they couldn’t find any other Italian names?

Of course it’s a matter of opinion, I loved the game, for the most part, It was pretty, thought provoking and made murder fun again.

League of Legends: Sweet

Quickie: Too Awesome, Download

League of Legends

Online real time strategy game (RTS) featuring Warcraft III graphics, creativity. as addicting as premium chocolate because having control of a demigod at your finger just feels right and awesome. The tutorial was easy to understand and play through, so when you play practice or competitive games you won’t feel lost.

There was also a great selection of charters to choose from, to meet your battle style. I was lucky to be apart of the opening weekend, so all the characters were open, now that the store opened I have to spend points, earned in game, to play my favorite characters.

My personal favorite was Annie. A little pink haired girl who skipped about and threw fire magic on you. She also has a little bear named Tibbers, who she can animate and lead him in a path of destruction.

Her catchphrases, all the charters have them, can be a little annoying, but she is a little difficult to play for a beginner.  So, here is a wonderful website to help you use your character efficiently: League Craft.  This site helps you play your character, choose the appropriate runes and just not suck.


I do not like how you have to have the final blow to earn gold from killing minions or other demigods, but it was compensated by having a constant flow of money over time.

There were also these mastery points which you can use to improve your characters general stats. They were like the talent trees on WOW.

I’m was just happy to see a game completely free, with excellent graphics, awesome gameplay, creative demigods, there was nothing to complain about. Support the game, download it now.

Mid-Evil Sim City: Evony

Quickie: No Need to Download it's Online FUN!

Evony was a fun and addictive Sim City type of game based in a mid-evil setting.

The controls were simple, clear and I especially like how it’s a strict internet based game, no downloading for hours only to discover the game sucks…yay.

You start with a seven-day grace period featuring basic tutorials. I suggest you go to http://evony.medievalgamer.com, for a beginners guide to success.

It’s also nice because you do not have to constantly maintain building, some of the projects take a long time, so you can leave the computer for a while.

However it is annoying how you can only perform one building construction at a time, but they do have items to shorten the time it takes and if the construction time is under five minutes it doesn’t cost any items to speed up.



In the beginning it’s a little lame because you’re weak and can only focus on building more stuff or upgrading stuff. I also do not like how it costs items to chat on the world server.

Building an army was also a little tedious, because you control every detail and you have to be careful how you spend your resources or you will be stuck with useless workers.

You also have to join a guild to be any threat against other kingdoms because you are just a tiny speck on the Evony map, easy pickings for anyone.

So, login at least once a day, otherwise you will be severely plundered after the seven day grace period. Also, you receive a free amulet that gives you free stuff once a day, but it expires, so use it.

In short, if you like Sim City, you will like this game, especially because it’s free.

Maplestory: Monkey Trainers...Really?

Monkeys...really?


Quicke: This Cake is Really Just a 2D Image

I’ve heard about Maplestory from some friends and for the most part they liked it at first, but gave up around level 15 because the game just abandoned them like orphan vampires.



It looked super cute and it had nice nostalgic feel with the 2D environment, but it lacked a creative story. It felt very strange to ask monkeys for tutorial steps, no wonder the kingdom was falling apart, the warriors are taught by apes.

I also thought the controls were too much like button mash paradise and the hit detector was shotty. It brought no joy to my life, it just depressed my inner gamer despite the cuteness.

Most MMORPGs have a dynamic story drawing you in, making you interested, active, but Maple Story just slapped your character in with monkeys to guide you.

There was nothing to communicate the character’s motive in the game and I thought carrying around a chair for your character was retarded.

The enemies pop up so much, there was not time to sit and it just looked lame for an adventurer to carry a chair. Just imagine a adventurer on WOW carrying a chair…



enough said.

Maplestory was too simple to enjoy and it just left me a little empty inside.

Runes of Magic: Nothing New

Runes of Magic

This MMORPG was a copy paste of WOW without the creative designs or creatures you pay 15$ a month for.

What I found to be very annoying was when signing into their account management, I had to create a new account in order to apply for the “free” game. I had to find this on the forum: Runes of Magic Forum for the Login Issue

And do not forget to change your region before you “start game” on the loading screen, because if you forget it will not recognize your ID and password until you change it to the appropriate country.

It was a beautiful game to play, but it failed to be any different from the other MMORPGS I’ve played. Mostly it lacked any unique character races; elves and humans were it, that was it, and pointy ears do not improve hearing people.

My favorite part of the creation was the boob adjuster, only for females, sorry.

Like any other “free” game, there was the option of buying “diamonds” to buy unique items online, but this doesn’t effect the gameplay too much because badass gear still has leather straps holding it together.




Was this false advertising? As with all movies promoting a game. Of course they show awesome battle sequences that never happen in game and even when they do have one featuring in game footage, everyone looked the same and bland.

I’m also confused about what exactly this game was. Why are the elves in exile? Who are we going to fight? Why? Nothing was explained.

Anyway, when you did begin there was an offer for a tutorial, take it, it gives a mount. However, the next fifty million quests are the tutorial, yay repetition….what am I four?

I still do not fully understand why people want to play a human character. It’s boring, you’re a human now, why do you want to play one on a fantasy RPG? I insist on playing a freaky character, because at least I’m something different than a clone of myself who can leap buildings.

To be honest, if you like WOW in a simple format, this is a good game. But it lacks the originality of WOW and fails to present anything unique for the gamer explorer.


Just tell me this doesn't look like a dragonhawk >>

Dungeons and Dragons Online; shoulda, coulda, woulda, wasn't

Quickie: This cake was a lie!

Dungeons and Dragons Online


I have attempted to play the tabletop version of Dungeons and Dragons (DD) with my friends, but the games always seemed to fall through. But I did find Dungeon and Dragons Online (DDO) and it was “free”.

Liars. It was only free until level four. Not only that you have to pay to register and guild and to access some dungeons, what the hell.

It was not a bad game visually, it was actually like Guild Wars in style because it was mostly colored in bland colors like brown. At least World of Warcraft (WOW) had some color, it just felt too real to be fun, no escapism could be found in the repetitive sewer dungeons or towns, which was all you could do, unless you paid.

In other RPGs with my friends, like Exalted, the dungeon master (DM) was a least creative and gave us unimaginable challenges that gave us a mental workout, but with DDO it was the same dungeons with three different monsters.

Not only that, but if you wanted the good equipment you had to go through the dungeon again on a different difficulty. What a horrible way to extend playtime, it’s like a bad NES game tactic.

Also, the character choices are minimal:
human
pointed ear human
husky small human
small human

and the other two choices, dark skinned pointed ear human and molted giant human, the Warforged, weren’t available unless you paid. I will never complain about WOWs verity again after seeing how little imagination went into creating races for DDO.

The way you controlled the character was also very difficult. From what I understand the mouse was used for character movement/targeting and the keyboard dealt out spells, special attacks and abilities. This was at least how I play it, but DDO decided to make the left mouse key attack, requiring you to move with the keyboard.

It was jumpy, hard to control and why the hell did they change a good system? I wonder if they even test their ideas sometimes.

I also do not understand why they include what dice was needed for the attack, even if you didn’t actually use dice rolling in the game.

It was also unbalanced in solo playing, but DD was based on group campaigning, so unless you like groups, I would stick with something else, like Navy Field or WOW, which has excellent balance in solo characters.

Monotonous dungeons, enemies, character designs killed this game for me. I expected time and creativity to be poured into it, but found average graphics covering up horrible gameplay.

DDO was a killjoy to the creative tabletop franchise dooming nerds to their homes and fanfiction. Don’t play it, pretend it never happened.

Gunbound...a chibi solution to tanks

Quickie: Download


Gunbound is fun and sadistic, especially because they have super cute chibi players, adorably deadly tanks, accessories and annoyingly sweet music as you bombard your enemies with rockets!

When I fist started playing Gunbound it was much easier to acquire a unique avatar with the gold you acquire through mercilessly killing other obscenely cute players on playful maps with cheery music in the background.

Now, it takes a hefty amount of gold to build your avatar, unless you want to pay cash. In fact, it is very annoying to build a proficient character with only gold.

Obviously they are attempting to make people spend money, but a noob is still a noob no matter how good the gear he has.

There are some avatar accessories only available through cash or gold, but for the most part you can find an equivalent if you pay either way.

What really makes me angry is the fact Gunbound charges depending on how much time you want to keep the avatar item. Personally I believe if you pay cash, you should be able to keep if forever, end of story.

Furthermore, they make you pay to post your picture on the profile? WTF?

Moving on to the actual gameplay…Gunbound is like tanks, but with a little gay flare to entice more females into the franchise. Or maybe boys just like visually molesting chibi avatar females, I don’t know.

Tank choice is fun, because it’s just not a soulless tank. Most feature cute eyes or can even be an animal ready to maim with it’s custom rockets, coming from hammer space.



Personally I like the Bigfoot, it doesn’t hit worth anything, but often leaves enemies buried and eventually the hole leads them off the map into death.

There are also many maps to choose from and it’s very easy to make your own room, just remember to choose a tank suited to the map and your abilities. There are also different kids of battles:
Solo-every avatar for themselves
Score-you blast the opposing team with limited lives
Tag-you choose two mobiles to fight with
Jewel-you hit targets, earning points to victory
Powerball-same as score, but the teleport is only available, and powerballs drop giving advantages to players who collect them or land on them

I suggest you start on Jewel until you become used to the aiming dynamic of the game, which is simple, but takes some practice. All you have to consider is angle and wind, but each tanks weapons can act differently to each condition.

There are also certain bonuses you can earn by how many hit points you accumulate on a player, if you shoot backwards, high angle, it’s endless and fun to explore different styles of fighting.


Gunbound Trick Shots Tutorial - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

I like how the game isn’t just point and shoot and how you can develop your skills through actual practice. It’s takes time and energy, but it’s so cute and fun to play.

So, download and give it a try, it’s free, fun, cute and addicting!

My Little Pony Frigate: Navyfield.com

Quickie: Download



Navy Field is a game where you play pre-WWII battle ships in a WWII like setting. What I like most about the game is, it’s free and the gameplay is relatively the same.

There is a optional membership fee of 10$, but it only offers 40% more XP, credits, and when you are in battle for give minutes or more you gain 1,000 more XP. So, unless you want to level up faster, paying for a membership isn’t really worth it.

As a beginner, you start out as a Frigate, a small ship. I named mine ‘My Little Pony’ just to satisfy my quirky girlyness. You have to recruit a captain, some gunners and other characters to help your ship. I was thankful I had some friends to help me out because it was a little confusing and some of the buttons you need to press are too small.

When I did play my first game I discovered I could only hide or distract higher level ships with some maneuvering skills, but you should only do this until you team reaches 100,000 attack points in order to gain XP.

The game itself is extremely customizable because of the vast choice in ships and tech tree selection. Your tech tree determines what your ships specialty will be. If you do make a mistake, do not worry you can always make another ship and experiment with what you really want.



At level 12 you have to choose a nation: Germany, Japanese, American or UK. You cannot mix nations, except for the Germans and Japanese, and each nation has its own benefits:
Germany-good anti-air guns, but bad armor
Japanese-best verity of carriers and best dive-bombers
American-average stats
UK-heavy armor but low range

The main goal of the game is to win battles and level up your sailors. Leveling up happens automatically, but you have to make sure you have enough recruits, especially when they can become experts in their field.

Training recruits to be experts can be risky because they can fail in the training and you loose the recruits.

This is not a game for the casual gamer, it takes planning and some dedication if you are going to enjoy the game. It especially helps to have friends and asking more experienced players to help you if you have questions, otherwise the game will suck and you suck.

I also have an issue with the aiming system. I’m sorry, but I think there should be an auto target system. Yes it would destroy some of the frustrating mechanics of the game, but I’m sure they developed radar before WWII, 1936 to be exact.



Furthermore, there are no women avatars, so I chose my own Hello Kitty Darth Vader just to be interesting.

However, enjoyed the simple game of blasting planes and running away by hammering the “f” key, it satisfied my bloodlust. I also like the realistic sounds, how simple it is to control your ship and how it’s as customizable as a Barbie with better guns.

So press “f” for victory and download Navy Field, look me up I’m raindragon16.

PoxNora.com: Magic The Gathering Meets Warhammer

Quickie:Download



PoxNora.com is another one of those sites offering “free” online games. I usually do not sign up for a “free” online game, because eventually it will cost you more than your time and energy, but actual money to buy in game products.

It’s a game where a player clicks on “runes” to open up characters and abilities and place them on the field. The base concept is to defeat the enemies and take their posts, which supply “Nora”, the energy used for spells and such.

The game is simple because there can be a strategy or no planning at all, seems to work, especially if the player is using a pre-made cast of runes.

The player can build their rune cast from scratch, but I would suggest just playing with their pre-made ones, unless spending 20$ on a rune is cool.

I have nothing against PoxNora, or any other site, from making money by offering players really useful game products for cash, especially when “free” play is just as enjoyable as paying for play.

However, I do not like games labeled “free”, but in reality you can only enjoy the game to it’s full potential by buying one of their online gadgets or points from a gift card.

My general rule for applying for “free” games is if they ask for a credit card number don’t apply. The main reason is the “free” game may charge after the trial.

Moving on, PoxNora is a medieval-fantasy world with a mix of Magic the Gathering and miniature wargames, like Warhammer.

The gameplay is very simple and easy to follow. The player has an army, a base who faces an enemy, which the player must defeat.

It takes a little strategy, but it’s not so intense where there is a need for an extreme battle plan. I like it, it’s free, simple, and fun.

Remember NiGHTS?

Quickie: Don’t Buy

Remember Nights, on the Sega Saturn? I used to spend hours at Sears playing the game and having no idea what I was doing, but it was fun to have the almost unlimited freedom to roam a beautifully mystical world with a character that looked like a jester in a purple leotard. Well it’s back on the Wii…

BORING!

I just wanted to fly, I loved flying in the game, but you have to play as a pre-teen running around collecting her Ideya…sounds like idiot to me…

But even when you have the chance to fly you have to Dualize with NiGHTS…it sounds like a sex term and instantly looses its innocent charm.

When you do have to play as the human they walk around like ducks and are horrible to look at. Your only weapons are the Blue Chips and it’s all timed so you can’t focus on the games beauty at all…and there isn’t very much, because the landscapes look like they took a Picasso painting and put it through a shredder.

I found myself pressing (+) at every cut scene, unfortunately you can’t skip. I don’t need all of the whiny drama or storyline to make the game better, it actually made it worse because the characters were as thin as paper.

Personally I can do without the story altogether and fly, by jamming the nunchuck stick to the right…yes…they even ruined the enjoyment of flight by making it as restrictive as a nunnery.

What is the point of having flight in a game if there is no freedom in it? It’s like giving a child a bike with flat tires; too much effort to ride, so they just leave it to rot in the sun and rain. It’s the same with NiGHTS, no freedom equals no enjoyable play.

It was repetitive and felt like a never ending torture flying through loops and chasing down keys for a pointless mission from the horrible storyline. The freedom was lost from the Sega Saturn I’d experienced and turned into a suppression via Nintendo.

One boss, Bomamba, was such a pain in the butt I just gave up on the game. You had to roll all the kitty heads…that’s right heads…into little holes in a certain amount of time…and there were many stages of ulcer causing pain.



I must have tried for two hours to complete this boss, but those kitty balls just wouldn’t fall in, especially if there was a hill to roll over.

The developers were trying too hard to add sense to the NiGHTS universe. Honestly I would have been satisfied with a little prologue and a simple storyline of saving children’s dreams or something but instead the player was given flat character children, boring levels, complicated bosses and limited flying, which killed the game ultimately.

Don’t try, don’t buy, it will just make you cry.

The Wii is Losing Hardcore Gamers

When my father bought the Wii for the family, I was ecstatic to try out the motion sensor gameplay.

He bought all the right games: “Mario Galaxy”, “Twilight Princess”, “Mario Party”, it was great, wonderful, until I started playing.

I played “Twilight Princess” on the Gamecube and enjoyed the plot twisting, interactive and tear wrenching gameplay which was all completely lost because of the flippin Wii mote.


Swinging your arm to wield a sword is a novel idea, but once my arm became tired, the immersion was lost. I knew I wasn’t a reincarnated warrior saving Hyrule, but I didn’t need to be reminded with a cramp.

I blame parents who blame video games for causing obesity in children. It’s your child, take the game away, throw out the junk food, but OH NO, that’s asking you, an adult, to change your habits for the betterment of your child.

I fell sorry for Nintendo, because they have almost defeated the purpose of playing a game by attempting to make it healthy.

The Wii does well when focusing on ideas like “Wii Sports”, because it’s short, simple, and doesn’t need hours of play to complete. Furthermore, most of these types of games provide little to no emersion for the player so there is nothing lost when you feel the real pain in your arm from bowling.

Let’s be specific, the Wii is losing their serious fanbase and gaining the casual gamer; a player lost to Xbox and the Playstation. So, despite attempts to make classics new on the Wii, I believe it has seriously backfired because of the lost emersion of the player in the game.

However, Nintendo is far from dead to a serious gamer, mainly because of the option to download old classics and play with an actual controller. This is only a slight saving point for the Wii, because if a game is not enjoyable with the featured controller why bother playing the game? Also, when you have to play old games to enjoy a new system, it defeats the purpose of buying it.



I think they found their error and are attempting to fix it slightly by letting gamers play with a normal controller, but if they continue to turn out tired classics, they will still loose their oldies and just have casual gamers left.

Nintendo needs to try something new with their old classics because goombas are only so impressive and finding temple weapons, like in “Twilight Princess” is a tired collecting strategy dying hard and fast. If they don’t, I guess us fans will have to convert to the X-Box.

Video Games Just for Girls: You got it!

I have to say I totally agree with what this fellow girl gamer is saying. Are females so predictable to the gaining industry to where "OMG PSP LILAC!"


Video Games Just for Girls

...groan...
I can't stand the general stereotypes for women in the gaming world, they are either UGLY, you ain't got no alibi, or a lingerie warrior. That's right, I'm talkin' about all those scantly clad sex-goddesses waiting to wail on your gaming ass.




...yah, like her...

I will admit I rather see a scantily clad female compared to a loin-cloth-wearing...ok, so I think guys are hot, so what? We all know who games are marketed too, teenage boys. Hence the lingerie warrior.

However, I hate how game companies that a simple pink-fru-fru controller is going to engage more girls, while girls in video games are displayed a sex objects, just bitchy, or the brainless princess.

I would love to have a group of researchers actually sit down with girls, who play video games, and ask what they want out of a game. That's all...never happen, but I can dream.

The Finish Line

Finishing a video game should be a honor for both player and game because it is an accomplishment shared by both programmer and player when a game is worth the gameplay.

I will admit I do not finish the majority of games because I come to the moment where the game looses its sense of immersion and the game and becomes grinding.


In “Fable” there was a little bit of this, but the fact I could kill everyone in the
entire town and own it kept me very entertained, along with the witty sense of humor and sick plot. But in games like “Chrono Trigger” and most of the “Final Fantasy” games I come to a point where I have to level up to progress further.

My opinion is a game should flow in a way where the character should be able to progress with little to no grinding, like “Prince of Persia: Warrior Within” a game I loved for it’s storytelling, amazing visuals and the slow-mo sequences when heads would fly.

I also hate games which have a good premise and decide to interject another game. For example “Thief: Deadly Shadows” had a nice concept of rob everybody and fence their stuff, with a little bit of a mission until you were blasted to the past.

I lost interest immediately, not only because it was creepy, but why did they have to add a time paradox to a thief game? It was downright moronic.

So, I don’t like playing games that grind you to level up and games that try to sneak in different games. These types are at the top of my crappy, other than ones that generally just suck, like “The Sims”.

Sims Castaway: Please stay away!

Quickie: Don't Buy




I’ve been playing one version of the Sims or another since it was conceived by the sadistic minds at EA Games. Unfortunately my dying laptop could barley handle basic Word functions, so I had to stay away and sighed at the loss.

Finally the Sims started to release on X-Box, PlayStation and Gamecube, and the Wii and I gladly regained my god powers making my sims burn in their own kitchens and die in small dark rooms.

But time after time I have been disappointed with the console versions of the game. For example, when the Sims 2 appeared for the X-Box I found out that you could not have children within the game. You were stuck as a sterile sim only out to complete goals and climb the Simcorp ladder.

The Sims: Castaway seemed like a fun buy and if I didn’t like it I could return it in 7 days. Thank goodness for the liberal return policy.

You create a character at the beginning of the game, very similar to the original standbys: clothing, skin tone and occupation. Also, you can create other crewmembers to help you with chores and tasks.

At first you are alone on an island and it’s okay at fist, but if you decided to be completely alone, it turns into the forever Castaway movie.

EA attempted to make Sims more like a RPG. But walking to different zones to collect certain materials rather then just moving about the world omnisciently and assigning tasks becomes very tedious.

One of the largest design flaws I found was when you build a shelter and make a mistake, you cannot simply delete it. You have to go into “GRAB” mode, trash it a and if you do dismantle it, you still loose all your precious supplies. It’s annoying and time consuming.

If you did decide to create additional characters the next step in the game is to find them. When you do, hope you didn’t make a lazy sim, because they are entirely useless, especially when the concept of a multi-sim game is to eventually make a thriving tribe. GOOD LUCK!

Everything is more difficult with this RPG style. Talking to sims is impossible because you have to constantly move around and catch up with the other sim. You also have no control over the other sims unless they are in your tribe. And how do you build a tribe? By talking. UGH!

Everything about this game is difficult to achieve because of the basic game flaws EA overlooked. These could have been altered and the game could have been very enjoyable, but in short the game sucks.

I’m still waiting EA, when are the Sims going to have a decent game to play on a console? Playstation, X-Box and the Wii are all online now, so why not develop a Sims 2 and also have expansions available to download online? This would allow players to have the feel of Sims 2 they want and they can expand their world with a click.

I spent too much time playing this game looking for a promising development, but the graphics were average, the third-person play made everything harder, deleting became a bureaucratic process, relationships were hard to develop and the goals were very tedious.

Same ol Zelda Just Prettier

Quickie: Buy



When I purchased my Nintendo 64 at the age of twelve, I had no idea I would enter into a love affair with the Legend of Zelda series. But after twelve years of battling evil in the land of Hyrule I can only scream, LOVE YAH LINK!

Gamers have been longing for a Legend of Zelda title as impressive as the Ocarina of Time. To be honest Windwaker was fun and had a wonderful plot, but it was not what people expected to find on the Gamecube.

Finally advertisements for Twilight Princess appeared and I believed the second Ocarina of Time had come.

After waiting six long months I brought the Gamecube version of the game home and played until my eyes were red from exhaustion.

Honestly I can’t say I love the game. I played it through once and never returned for a rerun.

This is because I believe the game was too short and almost too easy. Perhaps it was to adapt to the Wii system controls or because I knew what to expect from a Legend of Zelda game, but it still held to the lasting themes in the series.

When we did eventually obtain a Wii my father did buy a copy of Twilight Princess.

My father would sometimes play Twilight Princess until midnight. Frustrated and tired he would often ask me or one of his grandchildren for help.

But it seems that he just becomes upset when we explain how to conquer an enemy or solve a puzzle, so usually I leave him to figure it out.

One day he said, “I lost my sword, and now I’m a wolf. Is that supposed to happen?”

My sister and I giggled, “YES! There is a wolf on the cover dad, come on!”

I love how they designed the wolf. They bring it to life by using very small details like when the wolf finds an item, he sniffs at it. I also like how the attack system of the

The landscapes between shadow and light realms are dramatic and add intensity to the game play. One instance of this is when you are on Hyrule castle as a wolf and you fight these one-red-eyed-black-birds that trumpet eerie sounds when they attack.

I’ve fallen down so many times from the castle heights, the noise still haunts me from beyond the game to the point where I feel like I’ve entered Hyrule’s version of The Birds.

All the traditional themes from past games were present in Twilight Princess: the puzzles, the elementally inspired dungeons, many lovely ladies Link can’t have and new twists. Personally I love the transformation from and the new history reveled with the introduction of Midna from the Twilight Realm. It’s a unique twist, especially because my first thought was Hyrule was being attacked by aliens. I had no idea the creators would open and close a new world so quickly however.

When Midna becomes her true self and breaks the portal to the Twilight Realm, I cried. Yet again Link looses one of his loves. Is this a tragic effect of fate and reincarnation? Is Link stuck in a soap opera where he never can find happiness in any woman he meets? They either become Sages, or are too old, too young or are truly his sister.

Personally I wouldn’t mind seeing a game where Link breaks against fate and could even choose to become a villain. I understand it sounds a little too like Fable, but if there was an added future motif, it would give the game series new legs to run on.

Honestly the collecting items-dungeon slumming-saving the princess RPGs are outdated and need a revamp. Fable was just the beginning and I’m sure other RPG genres are fighting to keep up. This was the game we were waiting for since Windwaker. Windwaker is a cute game, and I developed a love for it, but I wanted the realistic showdown released as a demo video for the Gamecube.

Every game I’ve played in the Zelda line has been great. I have no qualms and hope to see the hits keep on coming and expanding to new horizons on the Wii system. But I will be extremely disappointed if Nintendo fails to come out with another Zelda game for the Wii, because honestly Twilight Princess was for both the Gamecube and Wii. They need to make a unique game just for the Wii, show off a little and add a little more modern element in order for this series to honestly survive to their next console.

Sim Animals Massacre

Quickie:
Don't Buy

There are so many games I would like to review, but I’m going to begin with my most recent purchase, Sims Animals.

The Sims games have always been entertaining, but after controlling every bowl movement for a week, I realize there is a real life to live. What is even sadder is I keep coming back to the many Sims spin-offs, like Castaway, forgetting my former disappointment.

Sims Animals features you in a forest under distress and you have to make friends with animals and save the forest from, humans I guess. From how you move around you are more like a god, like in Black and White, and I have to say it wasn’t very easy to move around.

The controls are overly complicated and sensitive, one of the Wiis downsides, and for some reason god, you, needs a backpack where you can hold small animals. That’s right you can carry a animal with you as well as nuts, seeds and other crap.

It’s almost like “Harvest Moon” another game where you care for animals and plant seeds, run a farm, but it’s much more fun for about the same amount of time for any Sims game.

There is also a multilayer feature, not really, especially when one player continuously moves around and disturbs what you are doing, often making situations worse. Even if you zoom out to allow more play room, you still can’t see anything.

Also it has a strong environmental message, humans are bad and only a godlike figure, with a backpack, "Dora the Explorer"?, can save them. However it encourages children to interact with nature...through a video game...honestly just take the kids on a hike, it will cost about the same with gas prices.

In the short run it’s fun for kids, but even my niece completed it in less than a week and was board with it. So really it’s not a repeatable buy, especially for fifty bucks.

I really do believe that the Sims franchise is tapped out because there are only so many ways you can manipulate reality with accessories simulating life. And I will say Sims 2 simulates the most mundane life ever very well, but it’s only fun for about a week and it leaves you depressed because you just drained fifty dollars of your gas money and twenty hours of World of Warcraft playtime where you are at least playing with actual people.

Introdution

I'm female, I play video games. Right now I currently have a Wii, but I had a N64, PS2, X-Box and Gamecube. I've been playing video games since I was a child and one of the first was 'Beneath the Root' a very old game full of pixels and a complex story line.

I hope you enjoy my game reviews and I'm sorry if some of them may be a few years late, but I'm a poor student working on a BA degree.