Dickweeds on the road

I have always hated dumb asses on the road, everybody does. This is why I don't live in the cities in fear of road rage every 5 seconds or so. I have compiled a list of people I hate on the road and not just bad or careless drivers.
1. People that are driving the Porsche, the Corvette, or whatever other highly dangerous cars on road. now wait I know what you are thinking, I hate people that drives like maniacs in these cars and show off the size of their egos right? wrong I hate the opposite, well sorta of. Over the weekend I happen to get behind a Porsche 911 turbo going 40 mph...in a 60 mph zone. This happens to me more often than you think, and usually those are old people that are so old they shouldn't even be driving. So what in the Sam Hell are they doing in a Porsche? To me cops should stop these people as much as the ones that are going 90 mph in a Porsche, they are equally dangerous if not more. I absolutely loathe them.2. Speaking of going fast. I hate people that goes 90 mph in their beat up Cobalt, Civic, or some other shitty ass car that is so old they should even be drivable. Now I understand their are still handful of people that think Fast and Furious is cool and the only reason they have those shitty cars is because the car was in the movie. Now the other part of this hatred comes from the ridiculous amount of body kits these people put on these old cars. It usually starts with the huge wing in the back and cannon size muffler that amplifies noise coming out the the car by 100 fold. They think they are so cool in their 300 dollar 1995 Civic with 1500 dollar worth of body kits. These people incite rage in me regularly when I see one going 90 mph in a 40 mph zone.
3. Rich toolbags. Over the weekend I saw another exotic car on the road, a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo driven by a young teen. Now you might think this angers me as the guy barely knows how to drive and probably don't even know anything about the car to truly appreciate it. No not really. He might not know anything about the car and have rich parents who will allow him to not work a single day for rest of his adult life but he could also be a young successful entrepreneur, which would only sadden me. But like I said it did not anger me. Today I saw another car on the road, a silver 2009 BMW 750i. Flagship car from BMW that displays both the very best in luxury automobile and extreme superiority in German engineering, until I saw the driver. A typical young punk wearing a wife beater who is all tattooed up and that flat rim Yankees cap which is barely floating on top of his head. In another word, a wanna be thug. I can feel my rage building up for this toolbag and then all of a sudden it just hit the roof. He had removed the stock mufflers and installed two cheap cannon mufflers which made this 100,000 dollar BMW sound like a cheap civic. Did I mention he was white all buffed up like a real winner? Yeah that what we get for living in a redneck town.

Game Review: Alpha Protocol

Whenever I see the name Obsidian Entertainment I cringe a little bit but at the same time I am somewhat interested in the game that they are working on. This is because that Obsidian is made of mostly people from the legendary and now defunct Black Isle Studio. Anyone that loves WRPG knows that Black Isle made some of the most influential RPGs on PC such as Planescape Torment and the Fallout series. But anyone who follows Obsidian because of that track record also knows that they have been nothing but disappointment under the Obsidian name, now don't get me wrong they still made a few good games like Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 but they are all generally considered by the public to be the lesser compare to the original done by Bioware.

So if you have done your homework then you will know ever since Black Isle reformed as Obsidian they can't seem to escape the shadow of Bioware. Every miscue and disappointment Obsidian has had some type of excuse for it, whether its because they were rushed by the publisher in the case of Star Wars or wanting to go a different direction only to incite anger from fans with Neverwinter Nights, it is finally time because now they should not have to use these excuses. Sega gave them plenty of time to finish Alpha Protocol and this game has nothing to do with Bioware. Therefore Alpha Protocol should be an intriguing game to say the least. But enough background stories already.
-Story

This should be the strong point of an Obsidian game since they follow so closely to Bioware. But like I said they are trying to get away from Bioware and make a name for themselves, well maybe they should have followed tradition at least on the story part. You play the role of an American spy named Michael Thorton who works for a secret agency called Alpha Protocol, you were sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist missle attack on a passenger plane. As would any story and bigger picture unfolds there and eventually leads you Rome, Taipei and Moscow. The story is very straight forward and...bland, almost like they have taken a page out of a James Bond script. It's your typical overused hollywood spy theme and makes you don't want to care for it, even in the end with a supposed big twist unfolding in front of my eyes I felt nothing. Whats worse is that all the characters feel the same way, they are boring and bland, you don't care for any of them.

-Game Play

Game play is somewhat unique as it is played out in a third person shooter perspective. There are not many of those in the WRPG scene as the genre is usually dominated by high fantasy themed with swords and magic, I would almost go out of my way and say Obsidian is definitely taking a risk and trying something new to get away if it weren't for a little award winning series from Bioware called Mass Effect. But they are trying, and trying is the key word here. The game mechanics are a mess to put it nicely, you have got one of the worst AI in any modern games that I can remember. Enemies are not just dumb but they will do dumb things, they would be shooting at you and suddenly turn around and shoot at the complete opposite direction, or worse they would shoot and all of a sudden decide to climb a latter. Gun mechanics are awful as well, all the guns don't shoot properly and don't do the proper damage when you line up a perfect headshot, its like no one has ever designed a shooter before and this is the first one. And don't even get me started with the usual crap that comes with being an Obsidian game, the frame rate hiccups, the bad animation, and the unending amount of bugs. I mean I understand this is an Obsidian game and you get those bad with it but holy shit the game has only been delayed for a year for them to polish it? This incomplete mess shouldn't even be on the store shelve to begin with that's how bad it is. Now I don't want to be to harsh since the RPG element in the game is somewhat better than the rest of the game. At least you get way more skills in this game to feel like an actual RPG (I'm looking at you Mass Effect 2). Also I like the conversation system that kind of mirrors the Mass Effect wheel but at the same time it is completely different. Instead of choosing that actual context like Mass Effect you pick different tone of voice such as professional, casual or aggressive. Each tone has different effect on different characters at the different juncture of the game. They influence how much a character like you or dislike you but have no moral consequences like Mass Effect. Whatever you choose to say will still have a sizable impact in the game but there is no good or evil.
-Graphics

One word. Bad. We live in an age of HD graphics even on the consoles, and I am playing on my PC with 1080p with everything turned at max and it just looks like shit. character models looks bad, the design is bad, textures are bad and colors are bad, need I say more? I know this game uses Unreal Engine but does it use Unreal Engine 1? Because it looks nothing like Mass Effect 2 which uses Unreal Engine 3.

-Conclusion

In the end one would expect all the bad things I have listed to go along with an Obsidian game because they have built a reputation for those things in their previous games. But despite all the bad what draws people to their games is the story and the the characters, and none of those are even remotely interesting in this half assed attempt in a game. It's a shame that so much potential in a game and never can be realized, its got a famed RPG studio behind it, its got an interesting concept that has been proven to be successful when done right. I just don't know what happened to this game it's like Obsidian finally have what they wanted which is make their own game and not pick up left overs from Bioware and they just can't deliver, maybe its a case of you don't know you had it good until you don't have it anymore, maybe they can still go back to working with Bioware...

All in all Alpha Protocol is another game to add on the long list of disappointments for developer Obsidian, maybe its the biggest of them all. Unless you are a hardcore RPG lover like me or a hardcore Black Isle lover I would recommend stay away from this broken mess, instead go re-install Fallout 2 and reminiscent on what it would be if Black Isle was still around.

Half-life 2 Portal Mod Gameplay

The Ultimate Driving Machine. (or is it?)

BMW has long had the reputation as the Ultimate Driving Machine, no matter its on the highway of Germany, a pothole filled American city road or a closed high speed track in Japan it has retained this title. It is curious to me however that BMW had given itself such a title almost 70 years ago when it had won all those races, but does it still hold true today when the new bimmers are nothing like back then and there are a lot more fast and exciting cars on the road?

Bavarian Motor Works or commonly called bimmer, break my window and some other inappropriate names, it doesn't matter what its called as soon as you see the trade mark blue and white badge that represents their aircraft making days you know it suppose to be the most exciting everyday car to drive on the road.

It is surprising to me that another German auto maker Mercedes-Benz with all of its racing heritage is somehow viewed as tame, boring and too slow compare to BMW, well I am here to test that myth.

For this particular review I tested the famed BMW 3 series and will pit it against its closest competition on the road, the all new Infiniti G37, as well as testing it against a normal everyday car you would see on the road, the Honda Civic. I looked at all the 3 series model and deemed that the 335i was the best one to test. The reason behind that is on paper the 328 looked a little bit "weak" with its 230 hp 3.0 liter engine, I am sure in reality the car is very fun to drive since thats plenty of power for a compact size car but this is BMW that we are talking about, there are Hondas that have more power than that. Then on the other end of the extreme we have the M3 with its 414 hp V8. That is obviously an enthusiast car that is not meant for daily driving so its out of our range as well, therefore it leave me the 335 with its twin turbo 3.0 liter flat 6 cylinder that produces a cool 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque that peaks at 1400 rpm. Also it comes the closest to the G37 in terms of power.

It was unfortunate that the particular dealership we went to did not have any regular 335i but only the all wheel drive models, keeping that in mind I will go a little easier on the handling and acceleration.

-First Impression (Exterior)
There is no doubt that this is a beautiful car, I actually like the conservative look of the 3 series. Sure its got the aggressive front end but probably less so than Audi or even Mercedes, and the back end well you can almost mistaken it as a much cheaper car. Overall its unmistakably BMW although I personally prefer the boxy look it had back in the early 90s. see below picture of a 1995 bmw 5 series.

One other note, the all wheel drive model sits about half inch higher than the rear wheel 335i. The Infinti G37 is no exotic looker either, it retains most of the exterior features from the platform that it was build on which is the Nissan Altima. This is a big turn off so I am giving a slight edge to the BMW here.

(Interior)
Way too many buttons. Even with most of the functions tied to the infamous i-drive(more on that later) there are still way too many buttons on the center console. And whats with the fake plastic wood? You can get that in a Toyota Corolla but this is a 45,000 dollar bimmer, it was definitely a turn off. The seats were very comfortable like most BMW but I also have to say why does the leather feel so hard like it is a fake plastic leather? Same thing goes for the steering wheel. The tilt and telescope steering wheel combined with 8 way adjustable seats give you great driving position but I did not like having 2 sticks coming out of the left side of the steering wheel as one is for turn signal and one is for cruise control, I didn't get confused but I can see how some people will. The front was pretty spacious but not too spacious, it almost feels a tad smaller than a new generation Honda Civic. The back seats are terrible there is almost no room there even though the 3 series is about 3 inches longer than the new Civic.

Now back on the i-drive, I have heard of horror stories about it but never quite believed into people's hype. All I can say is my co-pilot JT snowball should have been taking a lot of pictures but he didn't and somehow I don't blame him, it took him 20 minutes just to figure out how to turn on the radio through i-drive, lets just put it at that. Later we found out that the radio can be controlled completely from the voice command center from the steering wheel and that still does not make the I-drive any better.

-The Driving Experience
Enough about the look and the feel of the car, this is where the 335 should shine. You plug in the key and hit the start engine button and it was so quiet you can hear a pin drop...I am not saying it should sound like a big V8 mustang but it was strangely quiet. As soon as I step on the gas paddle I get no response from the engine and I was a little puzzled at first so a little more gas the engine finally comes alive but it was still relatively quiet. Again I'm not comparing to a muscle car I am basing this on driving a Civic everyday. The throttle response is definitely disappointing, I understand that this is an all wheel drive car unlike the rear wheel one where you can do a proper burn out but like I said I hit the gas paddle and it felt like it had to go three blocks to find where the engine is. The Infiniti has a lot more peppy engine in this bay with a 3.6 liter V6, but you have to push the engine a lot harder to get to those numbers as the torque is maxed at 4500 rpm. Because of it the engine sounds a lot more thrashy on the Infiniti as well but no car drives as smooth as the 335i. The I6 is so smooth that you do not feel any type of turbo lag at all, you don't even feel any kind of indication that its shifting gears, its so buttery smooth that JT literally was yelling at me to stomp on the gas as hard as I can which I did but we still felt nothing...until I looked down on the speedometer. We went from 0-50 in matter of 4 sec and we didn't feel a thing, part of it is contributed to the all wheel drive system for being in too much control and another part comes back to just how smooth the engine is. I just cant get over how smooth it is since this car makes a type of power a V8 mustang would, so it shouldn't be so quiet and tame. On the road the Bimmer never fails either, we heard almost no road noises and felt no effects from the potholes at all...have I mentioned how smooth this beast of a car is? It really really feels like a civic rather than a sports car, until you look at how fast you are going that is. It's got that deceptive speed. I can understand now why BMW stayed with the I6 engine while almost everyone else has moved on the the cheaper V6. Its just so smooth compare to V6 I never thought I would say a V6 engine on a Honda can be called rough but you haven't felt anything until you drive a BMW with its I6 engine.

Ok I am officially done with the word smooth for the rest of the review. Now the G37 is not too shabby either with similar numbers from 0-60 compare to the 335i but it definitely has a very different driving dynamics as the engine is naturally aspirated so you need to operated it at a lot higher rpm to get the max power compare to the twin turbo charged 335i.

BMW is not only known for its famous engines and drive qualities but also its handling that no American sports cars can compete with. My first reaction is the steering wheel felt extremely heavy to me, so heavy that I have no doubt that I can not drive this car with one hand. Again I'm sure part of that is contributed to this car being all wheel drive but it is significantly heavier than the Infiniti. But a light touch on the steering wheel will move the car, now my civic is very responsive like most Japanese cars but the 335i felt like an extension of your arms.

-Lasting Impression (Value)
Over the years BMW has became more and more expensive in order to match up with the same luxury segment and imagine that Mercedes is projecting. The 335i we drove is very well equipped but the price tag is pushing to around 46-47k. I don't know about you but thats a lot of money for a car that is no bigger than a civic, that doesn't look as exotic as a Porsche and a engine that is very good but certainly not as powerful as a Shelby Mustang which cost around the same amount. On the other hand a fully equipped Infiniti G37 cost about 10k less even though it might not be as good of a driving machine than 335i or won't give you the status and looks from people as a BMW would, 10k is still 10k. Therefore the 335i is a very grossly overpriced car for people that want to enlarge their ego on the road or maybe some other things as well. Don't get me wrong the 335i is a beautiful yet conservative car that oozes German luxury, and it is a very good driving machine, but its definitely not the Ultimate Driving Machine.

Top 50 PC games of all time. 10-1

It is finally here, the top 10 PC games of all time. Each of one of these games are so well crafted in every aspect that it stood the test of time and is almost enjoyed by all gamers all there. There are many of my personal favorites that did not make this list and that just shows the amount of good games that still come out on PC, this not only shows that PC gaming is superior to consoles but it is still live and well.


10. Diablo 2 (2000)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

on the surface its a shallow hack and slash RPG with no story, no direction, no script for anything. Yet 10 years later Diablo 2 remains one of the most popular online RPG ever. With lack of story, in depth RPG element and characters Blizzard has made it up with incredible amount of attention to detail, customization and mind blowing complexity and variety when it comes to items in the game. The game play is simple yet hard to master and most important it set an addicting style that is to become the Blizzard trademark for years to come. The amount of content in the game and the addicting game play far surpasses 90% of all modern games.


9. X-COM: UFO Defense (1994)
-developer: Mythos Games

This is probably the father of all modern RTS games. Compare to today the game play is a bit simple but the execution was exceptional for a game that was build in 1994 with limited tech. Subsequently it became widely popular among strategy and wargame fan for reasons such as the excellent squad-based tactical interface, the combination of tactical and strategic elements and the ability to use and create new types of weapon and equipment as the game progress. In another word the game was pretty much way ahead of its time.


8. Fallout 2 (1998)
-developer: Black Isle Studios

One word: atmosphere. The Fallout series' desperate, dusty, washed-out world owes as much to classic Western films as nuclear holocaust science. Broken, wasted towns filled with broken, wasted people litter the radioactive landscape. You wield rusting rifles and meat-cleavers rather than shiny high-tech stuff. Bottle-caps are the currency. With a solid RPG system on top, Fallout 2's legendary status is secure.
It also secured Black Isle Studio somewhat short lived best RPG makers of all time status.


7. Planescape: Torment (1999)
-developer: Black Isle Studios/Bioware

As games get harder and harder to make, we're losing something: wealth of ideas. Since Planescape only used graphics to set the scene, and conveyed most of what went on through text, it had a richness that can't be matched when everything has to be represented graphically. A staggering 800,000-word script wove the epic story of your undying protagonist, his many misdeeds, and a past that will haunt you forever.
The game is not without faults however as the gameplay is not nearly as epic as the story, but that is the trait usually associated with games that has Bioware involved. But it did set many bars for modern RPGs and story driven games in general.


6. Warcraft 3 (2002)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

It goes without saying that a Blizzard game will be perfectly balanced, and give you elegantly crafted units that each serve a single tactical purpose. Where Warcraft 3 surprised was the excellent narrative - every mission was there to draw you through an intricate story, and the key characters joined in with the battles. At the middle of it all was Prince Arthas and his massacre of an infected village and subsequent exile. Strategy has rarely been so perfectly produced. And since it a Blizzard game you know its addictive, and Warcraft 3 is no different. It is still one of more played RTS online today with many different user created mods. In fact one of the most popular DOTA game is created from Warcraft 3.


5. Team Fortress 2 (2007)
-developer: Valve


Lets see Counter Strike was one of the most success mod turn into a stand alone game from Half Life, so what can Valve possibly do to top that? Incoming Team Fortress 2 and sequel to another mod and now its a stand alone game. It’s remarkable enough that TF2 can have nine classes and still make them all so different to play. That they all tessellate so satisfyingly, that their tools are expanding over time, and that each new map gives them all a new part to play, is a genuinely incredible accomplishment.


4. Baldur's Gate 2 (2000)
-developer: Bioware

Hundreds and hundreds hours into the game, and a decade later people are still discovering new things in Baldur's Gate 2 that they have never seen before. That is the amount of jaw dropping content Bioware decided to put into this RPG where its called the game of all games. It has the most complex game play and RPG element of all Bioware games and it has a world and a story that put all other Bioware games to shame, in fact it probably puts all other single player games out there to shame. Talking about getting your moneys worth you could easily get 10 times as much back from this game. It marked the high point for developer Bioware and RPG genre in general and since that day no one can duplicate the magic that is Baldur's Gate 2 not even Bioware themselves, it was truly a one of its own kind.


3. Half Life 2 (2004)
-developer: Valve

Valve’s masterful sequel was a turning point for the linear first-person shooter. It was the game that did everything so right that it diminished the accomplishments of every other contribution to the genre, and it seems to challenge anything that followed to do things differently or perish. Character, setting, physics, combat, puzzles: it’s nothing less than an object lesson in great design. And like the predecessor Half Life 2 has sprouted many popular mods, its like if you make a mod from Half Life 2 the sheer association alone would propel your game into one of the best PC game ever made, talk about the unique power Valve holds over PC gaming.


2. Starcraft (1998)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

When you think of a country's national sport what pops into your head? Football or even Baseball for us Americans, Table tennis for China, European Football for...Europeans, and hockey for Canadians. Well you get the idea but would you believe me if I said this sport in South Korea is in fact a 13 year old game made by Blizzard Entertainment? Pro sport style teams, pro sport style media coverage, pro style style tournament, and pro sport style stadium filled by hundreds and thousands fans watching. And yes that game is the internationally famous real time strategy game Starcraft. You don't even need to know that if the game is good or not, those alone make Starcraft worthy as the number 2 on this list. 13 years in the making Starcraft 2 is also the most anticipated sequel we have seen in recent times, and not just by South Koreans too.


1. Mine Sweeper (???)
-developer: ???

Oh you know you are the guilty one, playing mine sweeper at work when no one is watching. The truth is if you know how to turn on a computer then you have probably played mine sweeper before. Its not much of a modern game and an amateur game programmer can probably make it work but the number of people in the world that have played this game on their pc one time or another have made this game the number one game on this list.

Well all jokes aside the real number one on the list is:


1. World of Warcraft (2004)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

It consumes 12 million souls a year, it makes Blizzard the richest video game developer without making a new game for 6 years, it has been said(and tested) to be more addictive than crack, and it has caused plenty of media drama in regards to health related issues. Whether you like the game or not, have played it or have enough restrain to stay away from it you can not deny the effect that World of Warcraft has on the modern pop culture. No game besides WoW has caused such a big stir in the media with reasons other than violence in video games, no game has had so many media platform wanting to talk about it, the news, talk shows and even south park. All the bullshit aside WoW is an incredibly remarkable game on the technical level. No game has ever had such a large world for you to play in, no game has ever has such large and detailed lore behind the game that actually makes it believable, no game has ever had so many details to the smallest degree that its almost like a real...world. WoW is an unique experience like no other and I am not just talking about the addicting part, it is truly a master piece, a world so well crafted, an online community so large that you really feel like you are a small piece struggling in this enormous realistic fantasy world.