• 7Oct 08

  A Newfound Addiction

  All I'm going to say is this: Forge

  Yes, my new addiction has come out of the Halo 3 map editor, I'm surprised how much I enjoy editing maps in the game, I've once again found more reason to back up why I like Halo 3 so much more than Halo 2 (if this little addiction keeps up I might start saying I like Halo 3 more than Halo 1, I'm having that much fun). I just send all my friends on Xbox Live a map I made a week ago for Snowbound called "Meltdown", my friend made a frantic, cluttered map varient for Cold Storage titled "Lockdown", I recently made a map varient on Last Resort called "PlatformArsenal" (couldn't put a space in-between the two words) and just last night spent about 2 hours making what would likely be considered one of the worst map varients if made popular enough: a Standoff map called "Blitzkrieg". The only one I've sent out is "Meltdown" but if I have your gamertag on my friends list then I'll send you any of the ones you want (if anyone reads and comments this I'm willing to be you'll want Blitzkrieg just to see how messed up it is). But the PlatformArsenal map I'll likely make a couple changes to since I noticed many things I didn't put in after I played a quick deathmatch in it.

  I'm actually shooting to make new maps every 2 weeks or every month. Who knows, if they're actually good enough they might get me somewhere (it's a long shot, but I can dream).

  • Posted Oct 7, 2008 6:19 am GMT
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• 6Oct 08

  Completed: Judas Priest Discography & MGS4

  Until recently it had been a while since I had listened to pre-Nostradamus Judas Priest material, but I decided to finally give my favorite band the last first-time listens as I listened to a few albums for the first time and a couple for a repeated listening. After hearing every Priest album they are still far and away my favorite band, though that's not to say I loved every single album. I'll try to do a Judas Priest discography review blog down the line, though I'll likely need to divide it up into more than one blog.

  As for my other completion, I finally got around to finishing MGS4, which didn't take too long since I was only the last act. While I won't give my final verdict I will say that the game won't be getting that close to a perfect score, more or less for a couple design choices but this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the game. If I can afford the time I'll write a full-fledge review. Otherwise I'll just break the game down into what I liked, didn't like, get out a few of my pondering thoughts and my final verdict.

  And a couple sidenotes, is there anyone else here who feels there's a lack of quality games and movies coming out for the rest of the year? I mean, as far as movies go, the only ones I'm really looking forward to are Body of Lies, Quantom of Solace, The Soloist and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Likewise, as far as games are concerned the only ones I know for a fact I'll be buying are Need for Speed Undercover and Gears of War 2. The only other games that I'd consider trying out down the line are Saints Row 2 (that game's an almost buy for me right now), Call of Duty 5 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles. NO I am NOT looking forward to Guitar Hero: World Tour because the soundtrack doesn't impress me (the only songs on it that I care for are "Hotel California" and "Crazy Train" and since it's by the same guys that did Guitar Hero 3, a game that got on my nerves more than entertaining me I have little impulse to even try it) and NO I am NOT looking forward to Left 4 Dead. Please stop bringing that game up, every gamer I run into always gives the "ZOMFG UR NUT GETIN L4D UR SUCH A N3WB U MUST BE HUNG!!!" for saying that I'm not looking forward to it. I'd rather save further judgment for when the demo is released, it just doesn't look like something that would excite me, and the more everyone brings it up and how much they think it'll be the Game of the Year (the guy at my Gamestop always resorts to it getting the number 1 game at E3 in Game Informer, but since they put GH:WT over RB2 that to me is like saying GTA4 is truly a perfect game...which it is far from) the more I look forward to it less and less and don't even want to give it a chance.

  Okay, I'm done.

  • Posted Oct 6, 2008 10:38 am GMT
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• 29Sep 08

  In One of Those "Need More Bands" Dilemas

  As I type this I'm listening to "A Charge To Keep" by Iced Earth off the CD Framing Armageddon, which I intend to listen to all the way through (previous listens I only got up to the end of "Ten Thousand Strong") and I've realized that in-spite of the roughly 20 bands I have in a Word document titled "Bands To Remember To Download", I'm still lacking bands that I really want to get into, especially since I don't want to spend money on a band/CD I won't like. Of the bands in that little document only a couple of them I'd likely actually go for, the others every time I listen to them I wind up not liking them that much, if at all (the only two I think I'd get into are Disarmonia Mundi and Cloudscape). So if there's a single soul out there who can give me some bands to get into that you feel I'd truly have a chance at liking please do fill me in (I'm a very tough person to satisfy musically but I still try to be open). And no, Last.fm sadly isn't cutting it. I guess I should break down my current desiring with a few details:

  Current Favorite Bands (in order):

  1. Judas Priest

  2. Scar Symmetry (I'm very aware that their singer just left, I'm very, VERY upset about that, he literally MADE me like them, the only exception is their second album Pitch Black Progress, but Holographic Universe is amazing)

  3. Dimmu Borgir (but I've listened to them so much over the past year that whenever they come up on shuffle I skip their songs, I guess their music is on a hiatus for my preferences)

  4. Slayer

  5. In Flames (same as Dimmu, but I still listen to "The New World" whenever it comes up on shuffle)

  6. Shadows Fall (I really need to remember to buy The War Within)

  7. Metallica (yeah, went that high up, the only reason I really like them is for the first four tracks on ...And Justice For All and the entire Ride the Lightning album)

  8. Killswitch Engage

  9. Hatebreed

  10. Sixx A.M.

  But as of now my music taste is longing for something a little different, something close to power metal for some reason, like "The Gunslinger" by Demons & Wizards and "Ten Thousand Strong" by Iced Earth are two songs that I'm listening to a lot (along with "Ghost Proto Type II" by Scar Symmetry, albeit to a lesser extent). I don't know, maybe it's time to finally buy a Heaven and Hell album? Perhaps Demons & Wizards' first album? The Glorious Burden by Iced Earth might be a consideration since I'm really liking Framing Armageddon. So maybe something that's like a mix between power metal, Scar Symmetry (specifically Holographic Universe) and maybe a little bit of thrash metal, but only a very little.

  Actually, if anyone can even give me ONE band that fits my current desiring and I wind up liking, then I will forever be in your debt. And I guess I'd better give you a list of bands to not recommend to me in case you're planning to tell me of them:

  Eternal Tears of Sorrow ("Sweet Lilith of My Dreams" will keep me coming back to them for a bit)

  Blinded Colony ("Revelation, Now!" and "21st Century Holocaust" are doing me well)

  Blood Stain Child

  Disillusion

  Akimbo

  Modern Life Is War

  Wintersun

  Satariel

  Mercenary

  God Forbid

  Heaven Shall Burn

  Still Remains

  Norther

  Jag Panzer

  Nevermore

  Sanctity

  Amon Amarth

  Bloodsimple

  Insomnium

  Imperanon

  Mnemic

  Disarmonia Mundi

  Nightrage

  Naildown

  myGrain

  The Duskfall

  Cloudscape

  Anterior (This Age of Silence is good, but needs better song structure for some of them)

  Chimaira

  Sea of Treachery (At Dagger's Drawn was great the first two times I heard it, but I've been listening to them sparingly)

  Sonic Syndicate (have their CD Eden Fire, "Jailbreak" and "Soulstone Splinter" are great)

  The Red Death (have the CD Godmakers, decent but not a band I'll likely listen to in a while, too basic)

  Emperor (only listened to the first and second to last track on their album Anthems To the Welkin at Dusk)

  Demon Hunter (on and off with them)

  Darkest Hour

  Forever In Terror

  Kalmah ("Heroes To Us" is amazing)

  Spineshank

  I know with all these bands listed I'm asking a lot, but I'm desperate!

  • Posted Sep 29, 2008 3:58 pm GMT
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