Gamers are likeley some of the best people you'll ever meet.

Gamers are a race in humanity in their own right and face it, they’re some of the best people you could form friendships with. Even the slugging Neanderthals that scorn anything that isnt call of duty are better than most other people. The fact is that games can play large part in shaping someone's mind. Games teach us how to cope with a diverse range of situations from warzones to economy to politics we’ve done it all. We've learned to cope with violence and use weaponry from terrestrial to alien and practiced skills from demolition to stealth. In short dont piss off a gamer we know how to hunt people down.

But all this has made us an undeniably sharp and opened minded race. After all we've seen stuff literary out of this world. We’ve seen the darker side of humanity and hell; we've been the darker side. Another bonus point is that you cant easily insult someone who plays games online. They face insults all day and believe me that some of the insults on Xbox live/PSN would shock even the worst swearing sailor.

Local and oversee surveys have provided some extraordinary results on how certain gamers excel in certain areas.

This survey focused on various genres players. While chest is undeniably an IQ booster rts games have hundreds more of deciding factors. These people can manage recources, unit groups and recon the enemy base and not even break a sweat. Action and shooter players proved themselves calm and decisive under pressure. The reacted fast under real world situations. The tests ranged from a simulated car crash to a hostage situation.

Now to all those who still herald the belief that games make people violent. A recent string of tests has shown in fact that young children who play games in fact show a decrease in violent behavior and frustration.

Now all this sounds great but the best of all is our community. You'll be hard pressed to find a online gamer who doesn’t belong to some community or who doesn’t have a group/squad for jamming Friday night coop or death match with. It really is extraordinary how friendship can bond within a gaming community or a squad. I'll take my own as an example to this. My gaming squad consists of me and four other people each possessing a very unique playstyle. A Friday night is generally filled with hilarious chaos thanks to the WTFness palystyle of Nanobreaker and Frank. Banding together with people as dedicated or just for casual times is made easy be social apps implemented in alot of games. Its heartwarming to experience friendships like these even though you've never met them in real life.

The Most Important game characters of the last decade Part 2 of 3.

Kratos

The mighty god of war himself thunders his way on to this list partly due to his enormous body count. Kratos has killed gods, men, demons, monsters and even the occasional pony. Yes he's angry but then again he's actually a misunderstood man. His anger is due in part to the killing of his family by Ares the previous god of war whom he replaced by way of decapitation. Kratos is a tortured soul haunted by the actions  of his past. He seeks only peace and redemption and of course Zeus's head in his trophy case.

Master chief

Ah Chief ... he wormed his way into our hearts and he's set to return on one more mission later this year. Chief is a subtle character in that he rarely speaks. Ir provides some leeway, it still depicts him as a real person but it provides a lot of room for gamers to actually become the character their playing. Silent protagonists are a double edged sword, they always seem like dead soulless roid monkeys who where just given a gun, and yet this provides leeway for us, the players to replace the characters emotions with our own. But the fact that Chief was both silent and voiced provided us with an interesting character who we learned about and poured our own emotions into.

Ezio 

Ezio Auditore Da Firenze is the current playable character in the Assassin's Creed saga. We've followed him through most of his life and fought all of his greatest fights. Ezio reshaped Italy and Istanbul by way of many assassinations remaining steadfast in his convictions along the way. He recruited many to his cause shaping men and women into mighty warriors who fought for liberty and justice. While the first game could be seen as mainly a revenge plot, it brought us a character whose life we would follow until the bitter end. But the man himself descirbes it the best.

"For three decades i fought for those who suffered the pain of injustice."

Why indie games lead this industry

I've written this article over four times here is the final version, because I'm tired and my PS3 just finished updating.
Go to the website Newground or any other indie game website for the day and you'll be amazed at the sheer diversity and creativeness that pops up there. Games so incredible in sound, art and level design you’re amazed they're created by a small group of people or maybe just one guy. The creativeness  of these indie developers are limitless and the only restraints these peoples truly have are funding and time.

If I were someone with a lot of money I would try and get my hands on as many off theses people as possible and start a game studio. Some of these games put mayor franchises to shame and can inspire insanity in players as well. Prime example (you knew I was going to mention this as soon as you saw this was an indie related article) Minecraft. Amazing little game which rose to legendary heights, it even has its own damn convention.

 There is reason for this sheer genius. These people aren’t restrained by deadlines or mayor shareholders restricting the risks they can take. This is the reason I think Bungie broke away from Microsoft. Now that they have no limits I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. 

The Most Important game characters of the last decade Part 1 of 3.

It’s no denying that the characters we control in games are sometimes more human than we'd care to admit. Over the last decade they've shaped history, repelled invasions and above all destroyed sleep. So here is part one of three that pays homage to some of the greatest heroes that we the players have lived as.

Marcus Fenix
Marcus was easy to write off as some steroid infused maniac from the start. But only upon finishing the entire trilogy did players actually see the real man. Sergeant Marcus Michael Fenix is no doubt a legendary war hero. He’s served in hundreds of battles and emerged bloody and triumphant almost every time. Marcus battled the locust horde for ten years until the battle of Ephyra were he abandoned his post to save his father. Unfortunately he failed and was sentenced to 40 years in jail. He served only 4, because of Dominic Santiago’s timely arrival in the start of Gears of War 1.After playing as Marcus for three games straight (only jumping to Cole as a cameo in the third installment) we gamers truly consider him a brother in arms.

Cole MacGarth
The electrifying star of infamous Cole started as a humble bike messenger but thanks to an object called the ray sphere, Cole gained the ability of electrokinesis. Through the events of Infamous and its sequel we the gamers had to make the hard choices in Cole’s life. He serves as a reminder of why we love superheroes. Cole made the choices than we would never be able to sacrificing loved ones in the process. Or then again you could have gone super villain and just slaughtered everyone on your path, also a valid option.

Nathan Drake
Star of the insanely popular Uncharted series Nathan “Nate” Drake is probably one of the most likeable videogame protagonists in recent memory. Nate claims to be the descendant of the legendary English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Drake was raised in the Saint Francis boys’ home due to his mother’s suicide and his father’s relinquishing of him to the state. As he grew up he was taught Latin by the nuns and it was there where he developed a fascination with Francis Drake. A treasure hunter, fortune seeker, deep sea salvage expert and a action pro Drake explores even the most dire situations with trademark cheeriness and sarcasm.



Commander Shepard

Born on April 11, 2154 Shepard is a graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program and was assigned as the executive officer on the SSV Normandy at the beginning of Mass Effect. Shepard is unique in the fact that there are millions of versions of him/her each unique. Right from the start players were tasked with the choice of choosing their past. Players proceeded to save the galaxy from the rouge agent Saren’s attempt to bring a fleet of sentient ships that wipe out all life every two thousand years. After that Bioware pulled a sucker punch on you by killing the character you so painstakingly crafted tight at the start of Mass Effect 2. From there the game became perhaps one of the most emotionally invested experiences gaming has to offer. You as Shepard bonded with the crew and even flirted a little. I myself forged bonds with them closer than I have with real life people. And if you, like me bonded enough with them to make sure every last one of them survived the end of the suicide mission, they’ll all return in the epic final coming in less than thirty days.

Today’s topic: Valve. We hate them yet we love them. It’s been a strange relationship with them for most of our gaming life.

When they release a game it’s always something that redefines the genre. Look at the runaway success of Portal. I can guarantee they never thought it would explode overnight like it did. They literarily created swarms of new fans overnight. And while Steam had a rocky start, its greatest haters are now some of its biggest ambassadors. But now the relationship is very rocky.

We, the fans are clamoring like rabid dogs at their heels for any smidge of information regarding Half Life 3. And zip has emerged. Because of this a band of fans called A Call for Communication are staging a worldwide play session of Half Life 2 on the 4^th of February. So if you care at all about it log onto steam and start shooting.

Its stuff like this that makes me feel all farm and fuzzy inside. I feel proud and honored to be part of a community that cares this much.  So who’s joining me?

Preview: Prototype 2

Platforms:PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Activision
Release Date:April 27

Back in 2009 Radical Entertainment released Prototype, which is probably still to this day the most one of the most insane experiences gaming can offer.  The storyline although flawed provided plenty of incentive for obliterating most of Manhattan. A sequel was inevitable and sure enough at the 2010 Spike VGAs we got the first glimpse of our second tour through virus ravaged Manhattan.

Murder Your Maker…

The tagline while ominous is the just of what Prototype 2 is about. The game puts you in the shoes of Sergeant James Heller who has just returned from his tour in Afghanistan to find Blackwatch (the Black Ops. Division in charge if containing the virus) burning the bodies of his wife and child. Heller blames Alex Mercer (protagonist / badass mutant player character from the first game) as the cause of this seeing as he released the virus in the first place. Having nowhere to go Heller joins up with Blackwatch in an attempt to stop the virus or die in the process. Heller starts taking on suicide missions but comes out alive again and again. On one mission though, he is mortally wounded. Heller lies there hoping for death, but Mercer intervenes infecting him with his special strain of the Blacklight virus.

Heller mortally pissed off and now host to a whole roster of destructive powers decides to use his abilities to destroy the virus and Mercer.  Due to his time spent in Blackwatch, Heller can tap into the Blacknet system to decide where and how to strike at the virus. He won’t be getting any help from the military though seeing as he is infected with the virus and considered a quarantine hazard.

Speaking of quarantine, the playable area has been split into three parts: Red Zone, Blue Zone and Yellow zone. Each zone boasts its own feeling and art style to accompany the feel.  Red zone appears to be the area from the first game, just a whole lot worse in the terms that the infection has taken over everywhere. Infected roam the streets tearing everything to pieces and you’ll be unlikely to find pedestrians roaming the streets.

Yellow zone is the heart of the military presence and the new Gentek HQ., The area is filled with refuges and soldiers. People here are oppressed and aren’t taking kindly to the Blackwatch martial law

Blue zone is almost untouched by infection and houses the remainder of the population military presence while still there is relatively low.

Radical describes the game as having two overarching plots. With plot A being Heller VS Mercer and plat B being Heller trying to destroy the virus.

Heller is a lot different from Mercer in the way he deals with situations. For a start he actually understands the concept of stealth. Heller has access to an ability called: Sonar Vision, which highlights usable objects and persons of interest.

One of Heller’s new core abilities is the Bio Bomb. By grabbing a human/ infected and infecting them with the Blacklight virus, Heller turns the person into a ticking time bomb which explodes sending tendrils everywhere. Don’t worry if you pick up an innocent you can put them down again, a nice touch considering how many people is sent flying over the horizon.

Radical has also put a bit more diversity in the line of how you customize Heller. Different points can be invested into their respective trees, resulting in your experience being vastly different from other peoples.

But with all this power comes a larger array of enemies to devastate some of them dwarfing those from the original.

Heller will also have larger array of weapons, including the ability to rip of the gun from a tank and then preceding to blow everything in front of you to small and red bits.

At its core the game remains what it was in the beginning, everything has been given a spit polish but the core insanity remains.

Preview: The Darkness 2

Platforms:PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Developer:Digital Extremes
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: 10 February 

The Darkness 2 casts you once again in the shoes of Jackie Estacado, who now thanks to the happenings is Darkness one is head of the Franchetti crime family.

The game takes place two years after the original and Jackie is living large. Unfortunately he’s never been able to shake the memories of his dead girlfriend Jenny Powell who met an untimely end in The Darkness1. Jackie has suppressed his supernatural powers with the help of occultist Johnny Powell, but apparently The Darkness now wants a way out.

Right off the bat, the first thing that you notice is the vastly different art style. Whereas The Darkness 1 was dark, dank and just plain creepy, The Darkness 2 wields cell shaded graphics giving it a real comic book feel. Which a game like this should definitely possess, given the fact it’s based on the comic book with the same name, but don’t be fooled by the graphics this is one violent game and definitely not one to show off to grandma.

This is the reason I'm afraid to walk down as street at night.

The game opens with Jackie casually sitting in a restaurant with a pair of pretty twins. His joy is short lived however as a shot rings out and one of them falls dead to the floor. A few seconds later her sibling meets a similar fate by way of a large van crashing through the wall. What started out as lunch with two beautiful women soon escalates into a full scale gang war. This opens a window for The Darkness to reemerge stronger than ever. Jackie proceeds to fight his way out of the restaurant and through narrow streets to a carnival where he encounters Victor Valente, leader of The Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood was formed ages ago to keep the word safe from The Darkness, but soon became corrupt; their mission now lies with capturing The Darkness for their own nefarious purposes.

The gameplay has seen a lot of improvements with the iconic serpent heads seeing a lot of new ways to maim. Among these are the abilities to quad wield guns and pick up objects from the environment (such as lampposts and dustbins) to throw at your enemies.
With each kill Jackie accumulates a heart which adds “Dark Essence” a substance that clings to people that have come into contact with The Darkness. Dark Essence can in turn be traded for new and improved abilities. Among them is an ability that channels The Darkness into Jackie’s guns providing them with unlimited amounts of ammo and makes them deal supernatural damage for a while. Also present is the ability to see and attack through walls which opens a whole world of possible nasty surprises.

But with all the new power also comes an increased sensitivity to light. If the player steps into the light Jackie’s vision blurs and a high pitched ringing fills your ears. Don’t threat as symptoms can be avoided by destroying the sources of light with either your guns or serpent heads. Unlike the previous game the Darkness is present in public areas and will only vanish when in light or for story purposes.

HE'S BACK!

But The Darkness wouldn’t be The Darkness without the fan favorite The Darkling. He returns with a whole new arsenal of deadly tricks. He also serves as a guide for Jackie this time around by pointing out waypoints or important weapons/items before boss battles., in between his mischievous shenanigans Jackie will be able to send him onto hard to reach areas and look through his eyes.

Also present is a four player coop mode called Vendettas where you and three buddies team up each with a unique version of the Darkness to complete a story running parallel to the main game. Your selection includes:  A mentally unstable assassin, a highly trained Mossad agent, A drunken Scotsman and a Voodoo wielding doctor. (All Pictured below)

A strange alliance wouldn't you say?

The game is slick and handles well with the weapons mapped to the triggers and the serpent heads to the bumpers, you can dish out a lot of mayhem easily and fast.
The game improves everything of the original and adds a lot of new innovation, critics have praised the demos and its clear: If you liked the original you'll love this.