On a whim I picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. A game by the same guys (Raven Software) who did X-Men Legends 1 and 2. Like the X-Men games it’s an action RPG. Between this game and NWN2 my CoV play time has stopped completely.

This game is lot of fun. The second X-Men game lacked something. But Marvel: Ultimate Alliance just seems to hit it on the head in the fun department. No micromanagement of character stats. They even eliminated gear down to one piece of equipment per character and only bosses drop items. The focus here are powers and the fun you have using them.

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The files above are what you need to enable the “next gen” only console characters Colossus and Moon Knight. I take no credit in making these. These two characters will only show up if you start a new game. I think it’s bullshit when stuff like this is held back just because it’s for the next generation of consoles.

So I picked up Neverwinter Nights 2. Right off the bat here is Gamespot’s Review. They peg it pretty good. Here are some action screenshots:

While I could never ever finish the first Neverwinter Nights original campaign (and I’ve tried many times) this time out it’s a different story. So far the campaign has been very enjoyable. It will remind you at times of the Baldur’s Gate games. But most often it will seem very similar to Knights of the Old Republic II. Which may have something to do with the fact that both games were developed by Obsidian Entertainment.

The biggest problem is the AI (Artificial intelligence). Jesus the AI is bad. The AI is best explained by this post by Plastickiwi in the Something Awful Forums:

Party: Gavick the bard, Casavir the paladin, Shandra the fighter, Sand the elven wizard and Neeshka the tiefling rogue.

Gavick: OK, stand still, shitfuckers. We’re all hurt already because Herbie the Elf here decided to Fireball us in the back during that last encounter….
Sand: My tactics were sound! Fireball is my Best Spell ™!
Gavick: Cast Dispel Magic on yourself; I think you’re Feebleminded.
Sand: Nay, my mind is keen as a rapier!
Gavick: If you say so. Shandra, why are you fighting with no weapons?
Shandra: It seemed like the thing to do at the time.
Gavick: No, that’s the way they fight in the Bizarro Forgotten Realms, where the object is to fail your mission and die. Put your sword in your hand … no, the other way….
Shandra: Ooh, shiny!
Gavick: Whatever. Where’s Neeshka?
Shandra: I think she’s ahead of us.
Gavick: Oh, fuck. Follow Me! Follow Me!
Neeshka: Hey, I brought back all the guys in that room like you wanted. They look pretty pissed.
Gavick: So am I.
[Enemies pour into the hallway. Sand runs into the space next to Neeshka, blocking the fighters behind him.]
Sand: Now you will fall before my … ouch … my power of … ouch, ouch, stop hitting me!
Gavick: Defensive Casting, clowndick!
Neeska: Oooh, if you’d just let me … ouch … reload my … ouch … crossbow….
Gavick: Use your short sword! Pull back! Pull back!
Casavir: Now I shall save the day by increasing everyone’s saving throws with a well-timed spell!
Gavick: Didn’t pack any healing spells, by any chance?
Casavir: No. Why would I do that?
Gavick: Silly me. Incoming!
[The enemy caster throws an Entangle. The party is (further) trapped.]
Sand: My arcane might shall … ouch … ouch …. But I’m a wizard in the Forgotten Realms!
[Sand dies.]
Gavick: The only thing you Forgot was the rules, lickmeat.
Neeska: I could use a heal … I see a long tunnel with hellfire at the end….
Gavick: Go into it.
[Neeska dies.]
Casavir: I shall avenge my fallen comrades! I … um, can’t move.
Shandra: It’s a spell! We’re … entangled, somehow.
Gavick: [emotes “smacks his forehead”]
[Enemy caster rains fiery death upon the party.]
Casavir: Gods!
Shandra: Save us, Gavick!
Gavick: Already did. [hits Quickload]

Thus ends today’s exciting adventure of the Company of the Short Bus! Tomorrow, Shandra wrestles with the difficult concept of fractions, and Neeshka learns to tie her shoes like a big person!

Now they patch the AI up and we have ourselves a damn good RPG. Give me some stuff from Baldur’s Gate like formations and better control of the AI and we have a great RPG. Till then it’s a nice game that is much better than the first Neverwinter Nights in terms of the original campaign.

The Supreme Commander Beta is up on Fileplanet. Here are shots of the game:

Supreme Commander is a RTS made by the same guys who made my favorite RTS of all time Total Annihilation. Let say right now that Supreme Commander is Total Annihilation 2. Make no mistake about it. When this game comes out it will be a must have for anyone who loves RTS games.

Played some City of Villains last night with Gawain. Heres some updated pics of the Dead Presidents, who are now fully buffed:

For those really bored read the chat text in the screen shots to witness first hand the wit of Gawain. The last screen shot is a look at the bio of G’s character Rache Von Holstmann.

I made a little video of the City of Villains Mayhem Mission I did earlier today. Did I mention I’m playing CoV again? Anyway the whole mayhem thing was introduced with the Issue 7 patch.

Click To Play

You get fifteen minutes at the start of the mission to do you dastardly deed. You can destroy cars and other items in the city to add to your timer. Resisting arrest also adds to the mission timer. It was a damn lot of fun and I’m looking forward to trying it again.

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This video uses the xvid codec.

I finally got around to buying Prey. I really liked the demo and had been meaning to pick it up once it was in stores. I just never found the time. Here are some screen shots:

The whole portal thing maybe a huge gimmick, but combined with the other gimmick of wall walking. I think these two things make Prey unique enough. Plus it’s another game using the Doom 3 Engine that plays great on my system. Which is always nice. I’m easy that way.

I love playing mmorpg’s. The one thing I like better than playing mmo’s is reading about those really shitty ones that seem to come out of the woodwork from no where. My favorite train wreck used to be Shadowbane. But now I have to switch over to the mmorpg Thrones of Chaos. A game that has had many names: Realms of Krel, Realms of Torment, and Age of Mourning. Who if you remember (or read the wikipedia entry) was the focus of a Something Awful’s article and then legal threats made by the developer.

So it surprised me when I read an article over at mmreviews.com and followed the link to the games forums to see a forum post announcing an interview over at Shacknews. The article called Shacknews – Thrones of Chaos Q&A, which naturally made me wonder does the Shack do pr spin for those assholes now? That forum post was up late last night. Yet there is no link to this article on the Shacknews frontpage or a comments page like the other articles have. And they can’t ask anything about the “games” troubled past at the least? Just seems odd.

I’m sure it’s nothing. But it is odd that such an ass kissing write up like that is posted before the actual post date and then the fact it’s missing from the main page of Shacknews. It will be interesting to see if this article ever appears on Shacknews, I would love to see the comments section once it does. The way it’s going this game will have more drama than Dark and Light.

Update
Shacknews finally “published” their Throne of Chaos piece at 10:55 am. The comment thread for the article is here.