REVIEW: Hitman - Agent 47

I'm hired and given a target, a man with good public reputation but with shadowy ties with mobsters. He is wealthy and well protected from threats, by staying in his villa with security guards, with beefed up alarm & intrusion system. I wander outside the villa for 10/15 minutes, finding ways to exploit the security by shutting it down, or simply avoiding it altogether. When I'm inside the villa, I can either finish off the target by doing it point blank range, or finding possible options to make the assassination looks like an accident, no one would notice a killer's presence. I see the man is preparing to swim, I make wiring leak near the pool and leave the scene soon after. Mission success, no one notice me at all.

That's the joy of playing Hitman franchise's games. You are an assassin, codenamed Agent 47, who is brutal, cold and calculated at assassinate targets given. Agent 47 is able to infiltrate and assassinate targets before anyone notice what is happening, by exploiting the number of options given. The feeling of finishing a mission with the highest score possible with any detection is really satisfying. Same can't be said for its latest movie adaption, Hitman: Agent 47.

Hitman: Agent 47 is adaptation of the Hitman video game franchise and is directed by Aleksander Bach. It starred Rupert Friend as the title character, Hanna Ware and Zachary Quinto. The story tells Agent 47 teams up with a woman to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry. Together, they aim to take down the leader of Syndicate International, a terrorist group based in Singapore.This is the director best work yet (sarcasm, just look at IMDB, I'm not wrong). The plot tries to be smart and it fails big time, it doesn't have any good sense and it feels dumb. When the movie promotional video, features how the director and producers trying to exploit Singapore's architecture landscape before any other Hollywood production without a slight mention to the franchise backstory, it is a red flag.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed certain part of the action sequences, for example when Agent 47 and Katia trying to get out of Changi Airport undetected, it was a glimpse of Hitman. However, my God, it is a pointless, gung-ho, shoot'em up movie that has very little resemblance to the Agent 47 we know. Aleksander Bach must be given the game to try to understand the game, but he ended up getting detected by every security guards and police possible and went all shootout with the authorities, because that what the movie feels like. At one of the scene, Agent 47 teaches Katia van Dees (Hannah Ware) on how to take on a group of Syndicate forces (the antagonist's organisation), by going head on and kill everyone they see. FOR GOD'S SAKE! AGENT 47 IS A SILENT ASSASSIN! NOT A TERMINATOR!!!

I am also very disappointed with Zachary Quinto. I am a big fan of his work since Heroes and Star Trek and his portrayal of henchman John Smith is his weakest work yet. It might be down to script issues with his characters and the possibility of him not suitable being a henchman for a villain. Not to mention that a lot of his stunts felt forced and fake-ish. Not only his stunts feel fake, a lot of the actors' action sequences are obviously done by stuntmen. The random mashup of different cuts are trying to hide the stuntmen, but it is still visible at times.

Then, it comes to the special effects. Sigh..., where do I start?! This could be one of the worst visual effects of 2015. The scene where Agent 47 driving down the car park, got chased by a bunch of henchmen on motorcycle is as fake as WWE's fight. When the car hits the motorcyclist, you can obviously spot the image being superimposed together without feeling natural. John Smith's Mercedes hit the barriers is worse than the games on my PlayStation. These are just two scenes of many.

In the year where we have two brilliant action movie in Mad Max: Fury Road and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Hitman: Agent 47 is against the odds from the start. However, Hitman: Agent 47 not only failed on being decent enough movie, it fails to be faithful to the source material. When the first failed Hitman adaptation being better than the new ones, it is clearly an incredibly bad movie. This add up with horrible special effects, just made the movie from bad to worse. Things are not looking good for video game adaptations. I haven't watched Fantastic Four and Pixels yet, but so far, Hitman: Agent 47 is the worst movie of 2015.

Score: 1.5/5

Review: Need For Speed (film)

Trailers ended, the lights started to dim, Touchstone Pictures & Dreamworks Studios logo going through they standard splash screen. Then, some chuckles in the cinema (myself included) when EA logo appeared, probably because it is unusual to see it in theatres, and it feels like we are booting up a video game.

Introducing, HOWARD STARK!

This is normal as the movie I'm talking about is Need For Speed, a loose movie adaptation of the video game of the same name. At first glance, it feels like a Fast & Furious wannabe, fast cars, good looking dudes and babes and racing set pieces, but that's where the similarity ends.

Wait, I'm not coming with you? WHAT??!!

The movie features a bare bone storyline and backstory of characters, which is disappointing because of the loose adaptation of this vast franchise. The writers could almost write anything, but instead they make it feel like it was written in a matter of hours while distracted by some other stuffs. Some unneeded plot twist here and there, it feels like a total mess.

This can be a very good fitting for Caption Contest

Aaron Paul (Tobey Marshall) and Michael Keaton (Monarch) could only done so much because of  the bad script, they are the characters worth exploring, and while not as good, Imogen Poots (Julia) also felt limited. Other characters, well, they felt flat all the way that we could even see the whole movie without noticing them.

Burn Baby! BURN!!!

But luckily, the action sequences shine when they mattered the most in the movie like this. Director Scott Waugh clearly knows how to handle the actions stuff well, as I love the action sequences in Act of Valor (he directed) as well. He chose the use of first person view of the racing sequence, which I really like it as it added the thrill into the movie. Final race sequence, the first race and swerving around Detroit are particularly exciting. Some of the action sequences felt better because there's no music interrupting the action, which is sometimes essential for racing sequences.

Look ma!

What I'm really so impressed about the movie is the low to no usage of CGI in the movie, so the end result is it felt realistic. This also meant that a lot of the stunt driving by the actors and stunt drivers are actually real, which is really impressive as most of the actors nowadays rely on green screen or body double.

Played too much Burnout perhaps?

As a car nut, watching the movie first time around, I noticed a few errors that really caught my eyes. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (which I think it is) was not particularly well replicated, the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento features a freaking power window and  the McLaren P1 doesn't raise its spoiler at high speed. With EA and its partners involved, I'm pretty sure they can at least have a look at some of these issues before they get the green light eh?

All and all, Need For Speed is a good, entertaining, adrenaline pumping popcorn movie. Its action sequences managed to overcome its dreadful story, but only just. More work is needed if they want a sequel.

Pros: Well-made action sequences, audio effects, realistic driving is a big welcome
Cons: Abysmal storyline, some sketchy dialogue, worrying looking replicas

Score: 3/5

Opinion: Why I'm Holding off Buying a PS4 (For Now)

PS4 is here in Malaysia, and many other countries, right now. It's definitely one of the gadgets I'm having in my wishlist. It packs a 8-core AMD Jaguar architecture CPU, Radeon GPU, 8GB of RAM, 500GB HDD, secondary processor to handle background and OS tasks. So, it's a ridiculously more beefy specs over the PS3, which definitely need to be, considering the PS3 is on its 7th year.

I'm certain that PS4 is my next console instead of the Xbox One, as my gaming habit and collections are built around the PlayStation, I'm not willing to start all over on the Xbox. But I'm not buying a PS4, at least within the first year, as I considered certain things I believe it's not worth it right now.

Malaysian PS4 is expensive

Economically speaking, this is the killer blow, Malaysian PS4 are ridiculously priced at launch. The US is retailed around $299 (RM1,200++) and Hong Kong is around the RM1,300++ range. However in Malaysia, PS4 is priced at a whopping RM1,799 for standalone and RM1,899 for the bundle! This makes the local PS4 not worth it, even with the beefy specs. I would hope that I can ask my relative who travel to other countries frequently to help me to look out for it, or wait for the local price drop.

Hardware Issues could be around

As a frequent gadgets follower, I know that a lot of tech gadgets suffer from hardware issues earlier in their life cycle, game consoles are no different. PS2 suffered from disc reading errors, Xbox 360 suffers from the infamous Red Ring of Death until the Xbox 360 S revision and PS3 also has a poor and half-baked software and OS earlier in the life cycle. There are some reports of PS4 not starting up properly and loose HDMI port while Xbox One suffers from discs reading issues as well. So advice is, if you're not eager to put your money on PS4 early, it's better you wait.

Launch Games are not that great

Killzone Shadow Fall, NBA 2K14, Battlefield 4 and Resogun looks and plays like a next-gen game, but the rest, CoD, Need For Speed Rivals, InJustice, Assassin's Creed Black Flag feel more like a port from PS3. And with games like inFamous Second Son, Watch_Dogs, DriveClub and many other good games are not coming to PS4 until sometime in 2014, holding off buying a PS4 until more great games comes along is a no-brainer.

Why I'm Convincing My Sister to Play Mass Effect

I wanna say, my sister is a big sci-fi fan, she reads a lot of novels, watches a lot of movies that is categorised as sci-fiction, she is the reason me and my other sister is a big Star Wars fans as well. That's why I have been trying to convince her to get a shot playing Mass Effect, but haven't succeed yet.

Convince her to play the games is a no-brainer, Mass Effect series is a fitting game to her taste. Plus, she is a gamer as well, even though she has since retreated to playing more casual games nowadays, she used to play Red Alert and SimCity, just to name a few. She might need time to get familiar with Mass Effect, but I guarantee, she will like the series, a lot!

Why? To me, Mass Effect is one of, if not, the best sci-fi game to come across gaming in recent years. I love the fact that the trilogy is completely related to each other, even the decisions, for example, the character you decided to kill off in Mass Effect 1, will not be returning in 2 and 3. Sometimes, there are different variations of certain missions at play if the character is not involved, which is truly unique.

In Mass Effect series, you play a character named Commander Shepard, the galaxy's first human Spectre, which he/she is the humanity's symbol in the galaxy and legend. There's no real Shepard defined, he/she is defined by the players depending on the choices they make. Players can choose to be a hero, who try to play out the game in a much positive, excellence figure, or complete the missions at any costs, regardless of casualties, or a mix of both.

Female version of Commander Shepard

But the main highlight of the series is definitely the storyline and the emotions. Throughout the entire trilogy, I've grown fond with most of the characters, laughing and crying along with any ups and downs through the story. I remember one time in Mass Effect 3, one of the characters (a squadmate in Mass Effect 2), decide to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the galaxy. I can't stop him, even there's a button to try to convince him again, he will continue regardless, due to I've done something in Mass Effect 2. Watching him facing his inevitable death is painful. This shows how alive and interesting these characters that existed in the universe.

I admit, along with millions of other gamers around the world, criticising the nature of the ending of Mass Effect 3. Even though the extended edition has rectified most of the problem, it still has the feeling that the ending is rushed, with the decisions of the final phase doesn't matter at all. It's beautiful, of course, but there's a sense of lacking with all boom! end! of the ending, it fits well as a cinema going experience, but not as a game you spent countless hours on. But, that doesn't deter from saying that the trilogy isn't amazing.

This is the main point of Mass Effect series

Not to mention the final expansion pack of Mass Effect 3, the Citadel, which features all of the beloved squadmates from the first to the third. With witty punchline from all the characters and unbelievable funny jokes. It fits well as a final send off and tribute to Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy (name Shepard's ship).

Mass Effect is one of my favourite stuffs in recent years. Great storylines, characters, music and great voice acting are the main reason why it is a success. My sister is a sci-fi fan, she will love this. With all the paths that will be crafted by herself, she will have her own Shepard.

PlayStation 4: My Perspective

It's been around 2 weeks since the announcement of PS4, the latest entry into the PlayStation series and the successor to the current PS3. Generally, the reception ranged from great to mixed, but I'm not here not talking about what other people think, I'm here to say what I think about PS4.

I love my PS3, I really love playing it. But despite how much I love playing it, I accept that it's time for a new one, due to the rapid advancement of technology these days. I was also amazed how much the staying power the PS3 has over the last few years, considering the computer tech has eclipsed the PS3. The most example of that is when you placed the PC version of Crysis and Battlefield 3 with the PS3 versions side by side. Hence, PS4 is needed.

From the announcement, I was pleased about the details they revealed so far. The PS4 engineering architecture is very very close to PC. This change in architecture is probably due to complaints by game developers that PS3 is difficult to develop games, as evident in certain PS3 games, which struggled to catch up with other game consoles and gaming PC. It features an 8-core AMD Jaguar processor unit, APU developed by AMD and Sony, an unspecified GPU unit and 8GB GDDR5 memory. It was impressive, even by today's standard, this will make sure games will be easier to work on and most of all, better longevity than other generations' of consoles.

Then, there's the controller, I have mixed reaction towards it. At first, it is exciting to see that they redesigned the R2-L2 buttons from the PS3, which is a bit clunky to use. But then, they slightly redesigned the DualShock form factor, which is very comfortable for me to use because of my smaller hands. So, I need to test it before I can judge the new controller.

Sony also announced the latest PlayStation Eye camera, which will have better resolution and better integration with the PlayStation Move. I'm won't go much into details about this, because I already have doubt with the current PlayStation Move, I need more details about it to convince me.

The highlight of the announcement was probably the social features, which might be catered towards social gamers and to the more connected and more social network-centric society today. This is obvious when they showed the "SHARE" button on the DualShock 4 controller, which allows gamers to share their screenshots, gameplay videos and other gaming content through social networks like Facebook or Twitter. I believe I might use some of the time considering I have been sharing my PC screenshots quite a bit.

Lastly, it's the game. Sony announced a number of games from the conference, such as Killzone: Shadow Fall, DriveClub, inFamous: Second Son, and Knack. Games from other developers like Bungie's Destiny, Ubisoft's Watch Dogs, Blizzard's Diablo III and others. But the only game we've seen with longer gameplay sequences and show the early potential of PS4 is Killzone: Shadow Fall by Guerrilla Games. The game ran on true 1080p full HD with bigger sense of scale and details than it's PS3 counter-parts. It is not a really significant leap, but considering the game is up and running just a few months in, it's quite impressive.

I can't wait for the PS4 to come, even though we haven't seen the design of the console itself and the pricing of the console. But considering PS3 still has a lot of games still left to play, I don't need to worry much and probably wait a year before I buy one.

Lastly, a PlayStation montage!

Top 5: PlayStation 3 Videogame (No, GT 5 is not No. 1)

I got PS3 over a year back, got a couple of games to play with, including games from my cousin. PS3 is a great system, it got gaming, Blu-ray, internet and much more to play with. Worth every penny.

But PS3 is still primarily for games, so here is my list for the best 5 games I played on my PS3:

5) Killzone 2

Many First Person Shooter don't play well using consoles, but this flagship game design by Sony played well on PS3. And oh boy, it was gorgeous!!! It has exciting combat, intelligent AI and and stunning visuals. But the story and the heaviness of the controls slows it down from more than No. 5.







 

4) Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
It is not a full game, but this expansion pack feels like it is. The game can be played more than 12 hours, without counting the side missions. It is a GTA formula: fun, violence and inappropriate for children (I played since 10). This is a game to own when you have a PS3.

3) Assassin's Creed 2

One of the best game in recent years. Assassin's Creed 2 fills you in an Assassin's shoes from the Italian Renaissance era, it based on historical figure and Da Vinci's era. Walk around the beautifully rendered Italy wearing hoodie is very cool, even da jie said the settings is very interesting. What is pulling back from the game is the inconsistency of the graphics frame issues.

2) Gran Turismo 5

Must be a surprise because this game didn't get No. 1 position you guys expected, since I love this game so much. It was one of the best game, but not good enough to get the No. 1. Let's focus why this game is in the list shall we? It is all about car loving, and car enthusiasts like me love it, it has over 1,000 cars, and 200+ models have been rendered beautifully and look more beautiful than in real life (no, seriously). The physics is brilliant, but not as detailed as other games. The graphics are almost photorealistic and sometimes look better than real life. The downside? The game graphics is a bit uneven when look closely, the other cars are not as pretty as others, and the loading and user interface is clunky.

1) Uncharted 2

Yep, this game triumph over Gran Turismo for the No. 1 spot, and it is better, I mean serious. Uncharted 2 is a adventure game, exploring Marco Polo's journals and the quest to find Shangri-La. The story might have been influenced by Indiana Jones, but it is better than Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas' fourth installment of Indiana Jones. The game have very good sequences and brilliant set piece, make it feel like you're watching playing a Hollywood movie.The graphics is like OMG, so lifelike and believable, from tropical forest in Borneo to the icy mountain in Tibet, the game never ceased to amaze. This is a must have for PS3 owners and gamers. With the sequel on the way, this game is a highly recommended.

Review: Red Dead Redemption

Wild West is dead, that's what modern life right now, Wild West is history, not until 2010...

Why I said this? Because Rockstar Games (publisher of Grand Theft Auto) bring one of the biggest game in 2010, Red Dead Redemption, and it is set in the Old West world and oh boy, it is magnificent. I tried out several Wild West games in the past, but no games get me that immersed into the world like Red Dead Redemption do.

Set in the 1910s, just before the World War I, the Wild West is dying, the game protagonist, John Marston sets out to find his former gang members in order to redeem himself and set his wife and son free from the federal agent. The story is one of the best I've seen in a video game and even better than some of the movies I've seen in recent years, it is immersed, believable and brilliantly written.

Besides the story been brilliant, the atmosphere and presentation is very well done as well. The graphics of the game, although not as advanced as other games, is very beautiful. The world feels like Wild West, with outlaws gunning around, people taking care of their ranch, Mexican going through revolution and many things to do and explore. While exploring the big land, it is helped by the brilliant soundtrack of the game to make the setting even better.

The most important aspects of gaming is controls, Red Dead Redemption got it right. The horse riding got stamina level, like most animals do. The combat and cover system is brilliant and the new "Dead-Eye" system is perfectly executed.

With 20+ hours to do and explore in the world of Red Dead Redemption, with the brilliance of story telling, voice acting, soundtrack, atmosphere almost spot on. Red Dead Redemption is the game of 2010.

Review: 5/5

First Batch of My Gran Turismo 5 Photos

One of the cool things you can do in Gran Turismo 5 is the photo mode, where you can take photos of your races and take your car to beautiful scenery for some photoshoot session...

Here are my first creations:

What do you think? I think not bad for first try...

5 Years of Waiting, Finally...

Been waiting this game since, erm... Let me recall again, hmmm.... Hmm... Oh yeah, the year PS3 was announced in E3 2005... I expected the game to be launched alongside PS3 in 2006 but it didn't make it. Several years after 2 major exams, purchased PS3 in 2009 and into 2010, the game is finally here in my hand, yipeee!!!

I actually planned to buy the standard version of the game, but only discovered first batch of games in every part in Asia are only available in Limited Collector's Edition. What the heck, I decided to buy it as a treat after all these years...

The Collector's Edition come packed inside a box (like a DVD box set), inside it contained the game blu-ray disc (duh), a 3D card contain code to unlock 5 more cars in addition to the 1,000+ inside the game and a special book called the Apex, which is a guide to everything you wanna know about cars...

The Apex book is something special, everything you inside is about cars, like chassis, engine, drive-train, suspension and all those technical stuff... Wonderful...

When I popped the discs into my PS3, I know i will have to install a huge 8 GB of data into my PS3... Although it is optional, but I still install it anyway because I know it is going to save me a lot of time next time I fire up the game... The installation took 40 minutes, I read through the Apex book while I wait...

Let's enjoy the North American Launch Trailer of the game, featuring My Chemical Romance's Planetary (GO!), which is also the intro song and the official theme song... Make sure you watch it in HD...

Ordered...

Yes, I did... Picking it up in the next few days... CAN"T WAIT!!!

A Very Good Drug to Forget Gran Turismo 5 Delay

Well, I'm not in a good mood whenever I hear Gran Turismo 5, because ever since the delay, I've been cursing and blaming Sony for whatever reason I can find. I just can't accept it. Waiting for 6 years, already bought my own PS3 to wait for the game, have to wait again...

Now, I just found one perfect drug to forget about it, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. I've been a Need For Speed fan for quite awhile, but for the past few years EA been experimenting with the franchise, which I hate... Now at least EA know that the series is better suited to the roots, so they created Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

NFS: Hot Pursuit is like the original Need For Speed, very fast cars and very crazy cop chases. I played before on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and I love it. See the trailers for it:

Delay?!?!

Yep, I'm back again... Another broken promise that I will be active on this blog again. Sorry for that, but you need to blame my time and Facebook for that, because Facebook status update is so easy to show that what am I doing right now...

Okay back to the topic, the delay... You know that my most anticipated game in recent years? Gran Turismo 5? Remember that? I have so many post about the game and I can really put it under a new category on my blog, because I just can't wait for that...

 You know what? Few days ago Sony in Japan announced that the game will be delayed for the time being.... What the F*** was that?!?! 2 weeks away from the launch and you said you're not ready?!?!

Apparently, many more fans that are crazier than me began to call Sony or make up speculation about what had happened. According to Sony, they are unable to meet the demand of consumers (not enough copies ready) and the game missed the Blu-ray production window. But other speculation is Sony is preparing to update PS3 to newer software along with the launch to curb hackers for the system and even some say they want to avoid the busy and packed November...

No matter what, I still want that game badly...!!!

Another Gran Turismo Trailers

I haven't blog for almost a month.... Yes, yes, I'm sorry... I just busy for no reason and Facebook is really killing my blogging vibe, because I just status update my profile and done!

By the way, back to the topic... Anyone knows that I love cars and I love games, so Gran Turismo 5 is a sure buy title for me... It feature ultra realistic graphics, realistic physics, car customisation and contain well over 1000 cars to collect. It's called car pornography, and I really mean that...

Is it real? Gosh...

Here are the new trailers:

Look at what features they announced at Tokyo Game Show that ended last month (although I know many of you guys are not interested, but I'm gonna post it anyway):

• Laguna Seca has been completely rebuilt and will return for GT5. Trial Mountain has also been confirmed.
• “Gran Turismo Anywhere” will allow you to manage B-Spec races, right from your computer. You’ll be able to hold B-Spec races with your friends from anywhere in what are called “Remote Races”.
• GT5 will feature a series of special events such as the Karting Experience, the AMG driving school, The Stig Challenge, Jeff Gordon NASCAR School, Sebastien Loeb Rally Challenge, and Gran Turismo Rally.
• Point-to-point rally stages will be automatically and randomly generated – you’ll have to depend on your co-driver to give you the best instructions about the road ahead.
• Rally mode can be played either on or offline.
• Weather changes include temperature differences, air pressure changes, and humidity, affecting the surface conditions of the track dynamically.
• Weather conditions are randomized. Forecasts for your race will be available but may not be entirely accurate, just like the real world.
• Polyphony Digital has helped Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey design the X1 Concept – an “ultimate” racing car, free of any technical regulations.
• Polyphony Digital has worked to improve engine sounds.
• Yamauchi admits that, in certain situations – such as standing race starts in the rain with 15 other cars on the screen kicking up spray in front of you – the game may not be able to hold 60FPS. Otherwise, it will strive to hold 60FPS as often as possible.
• The Volkswagen Kubelwagen, which has a drive system like the first beetle, and the amphibious Volkswagen Schwimmwagen will be in the game.
• Many things didn’t make the cut in Gran Turismo 5, and work on Gran Turismo 6 has already begun.

A Video Game Trailer that can really Match Movie Trailers

Man, I just love video games trailers these days, they are so finely made they feel like they are movie trailers. This $100 million sequel to Starcraft did just that, pure epicness!!!

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Trailer

Gaming is very very big business right now (except Malaysia la, where everyone is still just torrent and buy pirated DVD), and the trailer they made for games can rival Hollywood blockbusters these days and many games these days can use millions to make. For example, Grand Theft Auto IV cost US$100 million to produce...

One of the trailer I'm gonna show you today is Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, who just entered the list of games I wanna play this year. The trailer looked just stunning, the scale look just like a Hollywood movie...

Enjoy:

 

Five Games I'm Looking Forward to for the Rest of the Year

E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) has ended, showcases about video games is done and many interesting games are shown there... But five games really caught my eyes, here is the list:

1.) Gran Turismo 5

Reality or Virtual Reality? You Judge

The game is finally here. Not exactly here, but what I meant is the release date here... As I watched the briefing about the PS3 and the games, Sony exec showed the trailer for the game and a release date at the end of it. It got cheers from the crowd because people have been waiting for the game since 2005 and no date has been given every time they show a snippet... If the date is true (2nd November 2010), you might find me collecting cars and licenses with over 1000 of them... ;p

2.) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

I love Assassin's Creed, I just love the gameplay and the story. The story is about a man, who has the DNA of the Assassins Order, traveled back in time through his DNA and experience what his ancestors experience. During the game, he discovered there was a war that he never knew even existed, the war between the Templars and Assassins, which also involved many famous people throughout the history, including Genghis Khan, Henry Ford, Nicolai Tesla and many others... I can't wait who will I meet up next, alternate history game couldn't be more interesting than this.

3.) PlayStation Move

It is not a game, I know I know... Based on the Wii success on their Wiimote (Wii sounds like peeing), Sony decided to fight back with a improved concept based on it, that is the Wiimote. What is different from the Wii is that the Move has a camera (PlayStation Eye) and LED balls on top of the Move. Sony said that will offer more precision than the Wii. Based on the video people recorded with them demo-ing during E3, it did look more closer to 1:1 than the Wii. Da Jie is very interested with the PlayStation Move as she might not need to buy a Nintendo Wii and buy the Move instead.

4.) Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Ram it or U-Turn. You decide this November

A game series I finally interested again after years of failure with experimentations with the game mechanics. This entry of the series is developed by Criterion Games, which is famed for it's Burnout series (another racing game). This version is back to the style people loved years back, involving exotic cars, beautiful locales and adrenaline pumping cop chase scene, just like Hollywood. With Criterion at helm, this could be a blast.

5.) Crysis 2

The physics engine for the game is crazy

Another processor hungry game, the first game is so hungry to process graphics it could literally make a PS3 and Xbox 360 melt, only a highly customizable PC with the highest-end specification could make the cut, the rest is bye bye. This time the developers created a new engine that could satisfy Xbox 360, PS3 and lower end PCs playing on beautiful graphics. With the open world gameplay set in the Big Apple, this could be interesting...

First Crysis 2 Trailer is Up

Every gamer knows Crysis, a game that set the graphics benchmark for video games history, just like Avatar did to the movie industry. Original Crysis is a power hungry software, and will laugh at almost every computer hardware thrown at it, developer Crytek said that the sequel will less demanding the the old ones...

In case, you don't know about Crysis. The first game tells a story about a group of special forces were sent to a remote tropical island to save scientists from North Korean hand. During the mission, the alien forces hidden under the island woke up and attack the humanity...

The sequel will now set in war torn New York, where alien has taken over the city. Trust me, the graphics will be even better and more epic...!!!

My Top 5 Video Game Theme Songs

Music has been existed since the dawn of mankind and still existed until today. Nowadays, music is not only found in albums, slide shows, movies, they also been put into video games. With video game budgets soaring high, developer waste no time making better music and theme song for their video games to increase their production value. Here are some of my favourite video game theme songs (if your game is not in the list, is either I don't like it or I haven't played them):


No. 5 Killzone 2
I remember the first time I popped in the disc of this ambitious Sony exclusive, I was greeted by its wonderful main menu soundtrack specially composed for the game itself. It even attracted my sister's attention, who is always busy in the living room play Bejeweled 2, saying to me that she found the music very interesting, she even wonder whether the music is composed by some big name Hollywood composer. With the development cost of the game is $60 million, it remained as one of the finest and most expensive game ever made, not to mention the music itself.

No. 4 GTA IV

Love it or hate it, GTA IV has become a phenomenon (critically, comercially or controversially) worldwide with a total unit of 15 million copies sold and a record of 1.8 million copies sold in United States on its first week of releases. The game also received accolades from all over the world, including Crasher's Life very own Game of the Decade. The game has it's theme called Soviet Connection, to relate to the East European protagonist, Niko Bellic. The theme song it's even in my iPod!!!

No. 3 Crash Team Racing

I considered as one of the best game ever made (it is also being my sisters' favourite game too). Even though the game is simple and made under low budget, the game has very good soundtrack and very perfectly designed game play system that got me hooked for many many months. You ask my sister if you don't believe it... Haha... I can't find the original soundtrack, but I got the song from the intro for you...

No. 2 Command & Conquer Red Alert (series)

In the gaming community, many people agreed with me that this is one of the most memorable game theme song in the gaming history. I have to thank my sister (who was at the university at that time) came back bringing back a copy of Red Alert she bought. After looked at my sister playing the game, I asked whether I can play it and I am hooked to the series ever since. The game theme song, Hell March has been through many revisions for the subsequent sequels, but it's still remains as one of the gaming finest theme song. The song is first played in the first Red Alert where Soviets invades European countries as the real WW II never happened, when the song is played, it was EPIC!!! The video is Hell March 2 from Red Alert 2, the best of all Hell Marches.

No. 1 Battlefield (Series)

Who can deny the epic theme of this series, particularly the first, Battlefield 1942. I think no one actually can. This game was actually being introduced by my cousins and we all love the intro of the game and it's wonderful theme song. It doesn't felt like a game song, it felt like something came out of Steven Spielberg's epic war movies. The theme song are even performed by many renowned philharmonic orchestras out there. Even there are many war games out there, Battlefield theme song and it's game alike are still the favourites of the gaming community. With the latest installment, Bad Company 2 being one of the biggest seller yet (2.3 million copies in first month), the game is still in everyone's gaming library...

So, that's all for my Top 5 gaming theme songs... Enjoy

Prototype Review

I finished the game last week and I have a lot of fun in the game's fallen New York City. The game offers tons of fun for you to enjoy in the city.

You play as Alex Mercer, a mutated human who can shapeshift and "consume" human. In the game, New York has been attack by a virus that turn everyone into zombie-like and Alex Mercer has no memory of himself. With his power and connection to the virus, he must find out the truth.

Playing the game is absolute fun for me. For starters, Alex has a lot of power than shapeshift and consuming, it also have claws like Wolverine, whip, giant blade, musclemass for you to transform into. In the game, using this power is fun, slashing the infected and Hunters, killing military personnel. Like any games set in New York, fighting is fun!

One of the major flaw of the game is combat sometimes feels too easy, especially military personnel and Hunters. Boss fight is a bit too hard consider the combat with other enemy is easy, making the game somewhat unbalanced.

Verdict: 4/5

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 2nd trailer

Well, this year most hyped first-person shooter game of the year is nearly here, and the 2nd trailer is released... Nice narrating.