[Great Moments in Gaming: Assassins Creed]

BLOG UPDATE:
Assassins Creed is many things; a stunning game engine that's a pleasure to look at, an adventure through historically accurate recreations of medieval cities, a complex yet easy to master free-running game, a 'stealth' adventure, an open-world game where you can go anywhere at any time, a digital slice of countryside which you can leisurely ride your horse through gazing at it's glorious vistas, a social stealth game where you can blend into crowds of NPCs, a brutally violent sword fighting simulator, a hand-to-hand combat simulator, a story driven by a huge overarching conspiracy theory that needs unravelling before time runs out, and an assassination game where you must use all your available unlocked skills and equipment to take out your target.



The game engine is indeed a glorious thing to behold; cities feel like actual places, brought to life by crowds of NPCs full of complex architecture which you can scale and use as vantage points to plan you next mission. Cities where you can see the dirt baked into the textures that give a sense of weighting and place. Cities where restricted areas at truly dangerous if a patrolling guard notices you being somewhere you shouldn't be and and decides to confront you (a guard who could be dangerous despite your vast arsenal of deadly weaponry). Cities where the post-processed-colour-filters give a completely different feel to each of them, from golden-green soft and warm hues give way to muted grey-blue oppressive tones.

But the thing that amazed me the most about this title (other than having a specific button which when pressed made your horse rear up on it's hind legs which was great, but had no in-game effect at all) is the fluid animation and the control you had over Altaïr.

The genuine WOW moment came when I miss timed a jump between buildings and fell through the air, only to land (painfully) on a small stone column between spiked metal fences. This column was around 7ft tall, but in a restricted area. A wandering guard decided to investigate the noise and called out to me questioning what I was doing and why I was on top of a wall I had no business being on. I targeted him with my controller and selected my hidden blade. A single button press had Altaïr launching from the column to carry out and Ariel Assassination move, where he uses the victims body to break his landing whilst thrusting his hidden blade into his neck meaning instant death. The WOW moment didn't come from me instigating this move, or watching it play out, it came from the fact that I had landed on a seeming duff, nondescript piece of level architecture that I probably shouldn't have been able to even get to, but the game, with it's fluidity of movement STILL allowed my to make this brutal jump and resulting kill. It's at this point I took a step back and admired what Ubisoft had managed to create...

[Game Update: #DeusEx #HumanRevolution - Gravelly Voiced Trench Coat Wearing Ex-Cop Admits to being a Kleptomaniac Mass Murder - Seeks Help]

GAMES PLAYED: #DeusEx #HumanRevolution #DXHR

BLOG UPDATE:
Due to putting in some late night sessions, I've managed to explore the world of tomorrow (thats actually a prequel to the original world of tomorrow...) that is #DXHR/#DeusEx #HumanRevolution. I've been very impressed at the fine balance it's struck between modern day video game conventions (i.e locking to cover on chest high walls, having regenerating health, one-button insta-kills that play out a snazzy cut scene) whilst still being able paying homage the old school and the original Deus Ex (nobody mentions Deus Ex: Invisible War, even the people who liked it, of which there are none). The Black/Gold art style gives the game a distinct look, and Adam Jensen (despite getting voice coaching at the "Gravelly Voice School for Men") manages to be a reasonably interesting lead (even if he; "...never asked for any of this")

Talking of striking a fine balance between "new" video-game conventions and the "old-school" upon first booting up the game, and getting past the tutorial level, where you're brutally attacked and left for dead, only to be saved, brought back from the brink of death and cybernetically augmented by David Sariff to exact some revenge, or as I currently suspect; to be used more as a Lab Rat to see just how much augmentation Adam Jensen can take without needing Nuropozine (Anti-Rejection Drug everyone who is augmented must take)

Upon playing, I was initially overwhelmed with the amount of options that I had presented to me;

Do you deploy lethal or non-lethal take-downs and tactics?

Do you play stealth, with the ability to turn invisible and move silently thanks to augmented legs to slipping past potential attackers?

Do you want to hack computers and read everyone's emails to gain information about vital passwords that may help you turn automated defences against your enemies or the patrolling guards?

Do you want to activate your bullet-proof skin and go in ruthlessly all gunning down all your foes?

...and this doesn't even take into account the multiple routes through the levels, or even through individual rooms that could get you around or into trouble. It's fair to say that when I was finally dumped into a "real" mission in the main game world, I was initially paralysed by choice. After putting in some time and picking some AUGS however, my brain finally managed to retrieve some old data and recall some learned muscle memory from the original #DeusEx, and I soon settled in to some sort of playing style (though not quite like I did with JC Denton due to there only being Cybernetic Arm Blades and a low number of Gas Grenades available).

I'm around one third of the way through the game. Having finished my first visit to Detriot, I'm currently running around the dual levelled Hengshea Island. By this point I've managed to settle into a "role" for my Adam Jensen, who is primarily a Stealth Infiltrator who can hack, and carries with him a Stun Gun, and a Silenced Pistol and Assault Rifle with laser-sights that are used when the Non-Lethal option is no longer a valid option (besides, the laser-sights look cool!) By now I'm at least comfortable enough to feel that I'm part of the game-world and what I'm doing has some wieght and consequence to it. But it's at this point last night, where I suddenly became uncomfortable with my Adam Jensen. When I suddenly realised, that despite my initial protests of illegal behaviour (like when I warned my boss David Sariff that breaking into a Police Station to steal evidence might be a "bit iffy"), that in the past 10-20hours or so, I'd managed to become a Mass Murdering, Kleptomaniac!

At first I had relied on pure stealth, but now that I had the tools, modified weapons and had my newly unlocked augmentations at my disposal, I'd been using stealth only to get onto position and get the upper hand on my enemies before taking them out. Worse, whilst in the City Hub Worlds, I'd taken to breaking into every appartment I could find, and had been stealing anything that wasn't nailed down-not exactly stella behaviour for an Ex-Cop!

I think that having this epiphany shows how good the game is, however I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about it. Maybe my Adam Jensen is about to change his ways, and realise that despite nearly dying, being hacked to pieces and augmented with military grade kit that its really no excuse to run around stealing anything that isn't nailed down - even if he does need those delicious cyberboost bars to power his augmentations....

[Come in @Kimbled; Your Time is Up!]

RECENT EVENTS: Thinking about all the work @Kimbled does....

BLOG UPDATE:
I haven't exactly been prolific at posting of late (well, or ever really) but I thought I'd dedicate this Blog Update to my Partner in Crime; @Kimbled.

Becoming a mother has changed her on a level I doubt I'll ever fully understand - don't get me wrong she's still the same person she was before (well more or less) just as I am, but having a Baby does have a wonderful way of "focusing" you. She handled being pregnant with Henry with ease (other than being hospitalised with cronic Morning Sickness in the first 3months, and with Swine Flu in the last 3months) but despite all that, everything she did, or prepared, or planned for, she managed to make it look easy.

I still joke that I'm surprised that she's so crazy about Henry, as before his arrival she was somebody that would actually leave a room if there was a baby in it. These jokes are met with the usual look that says; "Dear....you're doing that thing where you're talking and thinking you're clever, again!" but I'm reliably informed that its how; "I know my place" in the scheme of things.

I'm posting this update to say how amazed I am at all the effort she puts into looking after #Henry - before he arrived she must have read every pregnancey book that has been published, ever! I figured I didn't need to as I (assumed) that I was quite good with babies (and to be honest, the actual physical act of reading them terrified me!)

And since his arrival around 8months ago she has done nothing but work tirelessly to look after him, make sure he's happy, keep him fed, warm and happy, and to make sure I'm educated enough not to be carrying him upside down or something (I think that there maybe some trust issues there....)

We had a scare with #Henry and his misocarida I don't think this has affected the way we look after #Henry, as we were basically given the all clear, but when I watch @Kimbled looking after my son I can't help but be amazed by her and him.

I consider myself to be a "good father" - whatever that means. I can make #Henry laugh and entertain him for the most part, and I only carry him upside down occasionally (when he wants to be carried that way) but I do worry about how much I do, or put in - it's hard not to what you see the amount of work @Kimbled puts in.....The problem being, while I can consider myself a "good father" I don't put in the immense amount of hours that @Kimbled does. Working Full-Time means that I put in a couple of hours in the Morning with #Henry - usually playing, watching #PeppaPig or trying to make sure that he doesn't try to steal my Tea & Toast if I'm eating breakfast in front of him. But then, after those couple of hours are up, I get to leave, and go out into the big, wide world and go to work, trusting that my Mini-Me will be looked after and provided for in my absence. This I can do without worry - which says a lot as to how much @Kimbled puts in.

Then when I get home in the evening (I always like to consider this as some sort of grand return of the main provider in a gloriously 1950's cliche like something from Bewitched or something) I usually turn up to dinner made for me, a reasonable happy son that is happy to see his Dad, who will only need playing with for a few hours until he hits the hay for the evening. Hell, lately I've even managed to fit in some Xbox sessions - I don't think that this would be possible without all that @Kimbled does.

I don't think I need to continue adding this blog update, as this picture basically sums up everything she does beautifully;

[The Walking Dead]

RECENT EVENTS: #Tiredness and #BeingADad, #Henry #Teething
MOVIES/TV WATCHED: #TheWalkingDead

BLOG UPDATE:
Zombies! The Dead rising! I'm not entirely sure where the fascination with Zombies in popular culture comes from but they're everywhere at the moment. Books, comics, movies, videogames - some reason they've had a resurgence of late.

I quite enjoy fighting my way through the Undead Apocalypse. Dealing with it is probably the closet most of my generation will get to having a "defining moment" where "prove ourselves and become men" (well unless you're in the Army and get sent to Afghanistan obviously...) However, since @Kimbled got pregnant, and then after the arrival of #Henry, I've found very little time keep the Undead Horde in check and make sure that their population is thinned. They have even been banned from the flat (surely that's the first thing you do, secure your abode effectively "banning" the Zombies from entering?) by @Kimbled along with some mutterings that she doesn't want our son being raised to the sound of gun-fire and Undead moans...

To be honest, I dothink this is a fair point (I don't want him growing up to be mal-adjusted or something) but where does this leave me for my entertainment fix? Basically Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising: Case West DLC are all been effectively off limits - which is a shame. Although I don't think I can complain because I'm being kept far too busy to sample any of these games because I'm having too much fun looking after #Henry

Funnily enough, as expecting Parents, both Mum and Dad end up being subjected to Parenting-Preparation-Dreams. Being male, most of mine took the form of having to protect @Kimbled and my unborn heir in various scenarios; the most vivid of which occurred around 3-6months into the pregnancy and involved me trying to secure our flat from the Undead Horde (surely as some sign of my male protectiveness over @Kimbled and my unborn son). As everyone that has read World War Z knows, being prepared is of vital importance. That, and if in doubt; "DESTROY THE STAIRS!" and retreat to the 1st floor (Zombies don't climb well, you see?)

I remember my dream going mostly badly. Although we live on the 1st floor of a 3-storey block of flats, the main shared access area is comprised of a concrete set of stairs (no chance of me destroying them any time soon....) it's also made worse by the amount of windows/glass surrounding the stairwell meaning it's not secure in the least. My dream involved me frantically trying to barricade the stairs with various bits of furniture, while others in the blocks of flats didn't help me at all (hadn't they seen the news flash informing everyone that the Dead had risen!?) I awoke from this dream, scared and sweaty. It certainly didn't end with my family unit getting eaten, but our flat was certainly surrounded quite quickly due to our neighbours not helping me protect my family unit, and not believing the Dead had actually risen, making noise and generally breaking the other "Zombie Survival Rules" (I remember being very angry and our neighbours for not lifting a finger to protect @Kimbled and our inborn son)

So, the Undead are banned from the flat for the time being (always a good policy), and I wont be able to get my fix any time soon...Although luckily The Walking Dead has just started up on TV, and I've managed to upload some onto the iPad so that I can watch them sneakily without having to subject @Kimbled to them...so I might get my fix after all!

BLOG UPDATE [addendum]:
Since having watched The Walking Dead I thought I should point out that it involves the main character Rick protecting his family at all costs (in strangely similar way to my Parenting-Preparation-Dream). Well, that and that @Kimbled still doesn't like Zombies.

I was absolutely hooked on Season 1 of #TheWalkingDead, so much so that I've started reading the original comics via #Comixology App on the iPad. As with all Zombie story/mythology the story ends up showing us that after the initial shock of the Dead Rising, and what the survivors have go through to survive the initial onslaught, thw worst most savage thing left on the planet are the Humans. All Zombie stories end up showing us that what one Man can do to another Man is far, far worse than whatever the Zombie Apocalypse has caused.... Still, there's a Season 2 in the works and I can't wait though I'll have to work on a way to sneak that past @Kimbled

[Fathers Day]

RECENT EVENTS: #FathersDay
GAMES PLAYED: #LANoire
MUSIC PLAYED: #BonIvor - [Album] Bon Ivor
MOVIES/TV WATCHED: #XMen First Class

BLOG UPDATE:
Thanks to the inspired thinking from @Kimbled / mamaknitscakes (depending on how you follow my most significant other) my first ever #FathersDay present was something truly special that will be kept and cherished for ever.

It was a very strange day for various reasons if I'm honest, one of of those many reasons was sharing it with my own Father on "equal terms" for the first time.

Since #Henry was born I've been Tweeting about his and mine milestones as we both struggle to figure out what we should be doing now we're in each others lives, I think the Tweets below more adequately sum up some of what we've been through to get to my first #FathersDay than anything I could write here...;
















- Posted from my iPhone

[Game Update: #LANoire - Did I just send somebody innocent to Jail?]

GAMES PLAYED: #LANoire

BLOG UPDATE:
Thanks to #Henry and @Kimbled working together in perfect harmony we've been managing to get baby sleeping from 9pm at night, this means that I've managed to get some quality Xbox time for the first time in a while, which meant attacking #LANoire.

I've just been promoted to the #Homicide Desk, with one successful case under my belt and solved the next case I played the Case of The Golden Butterfly. This case presented me with the first agonising choice of who to convict for the crime...and the first time that I genuinely felt that I may have chosen the wrong suspect...it played out well enough that I still feel kinda bad about the outcome of it now.

#LANoire is a mixed bag of stunning technology used for faces and the recreation of 1940's LA, but also contains some glaring design, story, characterisation, and plotting faults combined with some instances of far far too strict linearity that do their best to undermine the piece of work and product as a whole. But sometimes, just sometimes everything falls neatly into place and works together to produce something incredible and memorable.

The Case of The Golden Butterfly is one of these instances. It revolves around a murdered woman (the similarities in the M.O calling into question your first conviction) and it also gave me a truly agonising decision - a choice of who to finger for the crime.

The Husband; Henry Moller, or a secondary suspect; Eli Rooney, a known pedophile who probably didn't murder the woman, but, as your partner states "should be locked up for something", even if it means pinning a murder he didn't commit...

The evidence is compelling and pointed towards both suspects - footprints and shoe sizes at the crime scene, blood found on items that both the suspects may own, stolen jewellery from the wife found on one of the suspects, and work clothes that bore the initials H.M (which could stand for Henry Moller, or Hennessy Marina where Eli Rooney is supposed to work).

To cut a long story short I fudged parts of both interrogations meaning the both suspects clammed up on me, and facing evidence that didn't specifically point to one suspect or the other I pinned the crime on the Husband (who had acted more guilty up to this point) meaning that in the process I let a pretty shady character back on the streets. The Captain of Homicide berated me for this choice, but at the time I felt I couldn't pin a murder on somebody that my gut told me didn't do it (no matter how despicable there were). And this is the case that keeps coming back to haunt me....

[1st Post]

RECENT EVENTS: Eagerly awaiting my 1st #FathersDay, playing with #Henry and making #Henry laugh,  finding old friends on Facebook, attempting to fend off #Grandparents (and failing), neglecting my #Twitter account...
GAMES PLAYED: #Portal2, #LANoire
MUSIC PLAYED: #ArcticMonkeys - [Album] Suck it and See , #JohnLeeHooker - [Track] Money #OST - [Album] Rockstar presents Red Dead Redemption, #OST - [Album] L.A. Noire
MOVIES/TV WATCHED: Peppa Pig (on infinite repeat)

BLOG UPDATE:
I thought I'd try my hand a blogging, as a life-long gamer, music fan and collector, and recent Father to the absolutley charming and handsome #Henry, I thought I could use this site to document whats happening with my life, and hopefully provide some sort of insight as to why I'm so tired and confused constantly!