Review of “War of the Roses” Online at AS!

Most of you that follow my blog are likely aware that my relationship with Paradox Interactive has been hit-and-miss at best.  Every now and then they will put out a halfway decent title, but a lot of their games – particularly their historical grand-strategy titles – are very lack-luster in their attention to details and their overall game engines.  Their latest title, “War of the Roses,” aimed to go in a different direction and take the historical atmosphere and apply it to a multiplayer combat game.

Did it work?

Eh……..Maybe, but it’s not all that great.

You can read my complete review (and see the score) over at Anjel Syndicate and get the full story.

Hauppauge HD PVR 2

Today I got a package in the mail from UPS that contained a brand-new Hauppauge HD PVR 2 recording box designed for use with the PlayStation 3 and the XBox 360, sent to me by the creators in the hopes that I would do a tech review of the product here on my blog and also for Anjel Syndicate.  I opened it up to take a look at it, and it seems like a neat little product.

My question, however, is why such a device is actually necessary.  See, from what I have read about it, you plug your console into the PVR unit and then output from the PVR to both your TV and your PC or laptop (where you actually capture the video).  It would be one thing if the device itself was capable of recording and storing the video on its own internal hard-drive and you could simply transfer this later to a PC for post-production, but it seems like all it does is act as some sort of intermediary between the console and your PC.

Why is that necessary?  Couldn’t you simply plug your console in as an input to your PC or laptop and then use the recording software of your choice to record the gameplay?

Ah well…Anyway, I do plan to set this up sometime soon and then give it a go and see what I think.  Only time will tell!

Meanwhile, I’ve gotten a couple more games in for review.  One is “Clan of Champions” (PC) and the other is “The War of the Roses” (PC), and while I don’t hold out much hope for the second of those games (my opinion of Paradox Interactive is fairly low right now), I’ll still be interested to see how both of them turn out.  Expect reviews in the future!

“Defenders of Ardania” Review Live on AS!

Back in October of last year I did a preview piece for a tower defense game made by Paradox Interactive for Anjel Syndicate.  Even back then, my opinion wasn’t extremely favorable.

How did it turn out in the end?  Take a look at this review and see for yourself.

Also, keep in mind that our review scoring system at Anjel Syndicate is in the process of changing.  A 3.0 out of 10.0 isn’t quite the “F-” it would be on our old scale.  Rather, a 5.0 would mean that 50 out of 100 players would likely enjoy the game, making it closer to a “C.”

“Warlock: Master of the Arcane” Preview Live on AS!

Yet another of Paradox Interactive‘s strategy titles is on the chopping block, this time a turn-based strategy game by the name of “Warlock: Master of the Arcane.”  The game is due to be released sometime this spring, and to be quite honest, as with most of the company’s other games, this one could use a lot of work.  Still, it isn’t quite as bad as “Magna Mundi” was, and I can see that this game might have some hope in its future.

To read my in-depth assessment of this game, head on over to Anjel Syndicate and take a look!

Busy Busy!

I want to apologize for my lack of posts here lately.  I realized today that my last post here was back on January 6!  I assure you that it was not my intention to go that long without having anything to post!

I’ve actually been keeping fairly busy lately.  I have another game by Paradox Interactive called “Warlock: Master of the Arcane” (due out Q2 2012) that I need to do a preview article of for Anjel Syndicate.  On top of that, I have two upcoming articles for WhatMMORPG – one will be a discussion of party-based play in “Star Wars: The Old Republic” while another will be a follow up to “Final Fantasy XIV” going pay-to-play back on January 6.  These little projects will no doubt keep me busy!

A lot of my gaming time has been invested into “Star Wars: The Old Republic.”  As you all who are reading this know, I gave the game a good score and I do stick by it.  It has been quite a joy to play, though I admit that the overall style of the game is not something that all seasoned MMORPG players will be used to.  Indeed, it was a welcome change to me and I do enjoy the cinematic style of the game, but others might not.  Still, I am parked on the Vrook Lamar server at present and have three characters: Jol’nayru (a Sith Inquisitor/Sorceress), Teerlanai (a Jedi Consular/Shadow), and Adesta (an Imperial Agent).

For those wondering about the podcast, we actually recorded that back on January 12.  Warren is busy cleaning it up, and once we are ready to post it online you will be provided with links to it.

There are lots of things to look forward to!

Preview of “Magna Mundi” Live on AS!

I was given a beta copy of an upcoming title from Paradox Interactive to play through and write up a preview article on (apparently, the NDA for the game doesn’t apply to me), and so I have done just that.  Unfortunately, the game, “Magna Mundi” (due out in Q2 2012), is not all that good.  It seems extremely dated like most of their other RTS titles and very, very incomplete.  Also, the academic in me is very disappointed with their treatment of a very critical period in world development.

Whether you are into these types of games or not, you will more than likely find my preview an entertaining read.  It’s a good example of a game that is being rushed out and is terrible in its present form.

So, if you have the time, head on over to Anjel Syndicate and give it a read!

“Defenders of Ardania” Preview is Live on AS!

Now that “Defenders of Ardania” is no longer under an embargo, I have published my preview of the game.  It’s certainly not a bad one, but it isn’t as unique as Paradox wants players to believe.

To read the whole preview, check it out over on Anjel Syndicate!

Weekly Round-up for AS and WhatMMORPG?

For this week’s Doujinshi Day piece over at Anjel Syndicate, I went for something a bit different.  Since I’ve been getting back into Minecraft a bit more lately, I decided to start a series of articles called “Minecraft Adventures.”  I’m not sure to what end it will go, or if others will contribute their own Minecraft stories (I hope they do!), but for now I’ll update it periodically with information on my Hyrule project.

For our Retrograde series that we have each Sunday, this week we continued our monthly theme of covering some of the older Castlevania titles.  Warren handled “Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest” and “Haunted Castle” (the oddly-named arcade game), and I had the privilege of covering “Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse” (my favorite Castlevania entry on the NES).  It’s a great game that still stands the test of time, despite having never received a facelift over the years.

Meanwhile over at WhatMMORPG this week, my article regarding some of the better skills in an MMORPG was published.  It’s certainly not an exhaustive list by any means, but still covers some of the better and/or more interesting skills out there.

In other news, I have been selected to participate in the closed-alpha for “Heroes of Warspire” (an MMORTS within the same universe as Saga) and I have yet another beta version of a Paradox Interactive title called “Defenders of Ardania” (due in mid-December) to play and preview.  Fun stuff, and I will certainly keep you all updated about them!

My “Sengoku” and “Supreme Ruler” Reviews Featured at Paradox and Battlegoat!

I recently went to check out the website for “Sengoku” and noticed that the review I wrote for Anjel Syndicate about the game is now featured on their Reviews page.  Of course, they did take a quotation a bit out of context to make it more favorable for them, but such is the work of PR folks!

I should also note that my review of “Supreme Ruler: Cold War” that I wrote a while back is also featured on Battlegoat Studios‘ website!

I am glad to see that they are reading our content and that they also have taken the suggestions of the beta versions I gave them to heart to make their games much more playable.

Review of “Sengoku” Now Live on AS!

Back in early-August I took the time to do a “preview” for Paradox Interactive‘s then-upcoming real-time strategy called “Sengoku.”  The game saw its official release on September 13, so I was graciously given a review copy of the game in order to give it a second look.

I am glad that Paradox heeded some of my suggestions by cleaning up the graphics and, more importantly, adding in a helpful manual (which comes in at a staggering 88 pages!).

I think the review turned out nicely, and so if it interests you, head on over to Anjel Syndicate and give it a read over!