Infinite-ly Bioshock

Been away from the blog and I have plenty of updating and posts to do.  I have played a lot of really great games the past year and I've got some new hardware to show off.  I will stick to talking about the latest amazing game out there that I completed this week though.

Bioshock Infinite had posted some really great reviews so I thought I'd check the hype. Ranks up there with probably one of my top 5 best gaming experiences ever.  Like blasting through Gran Turismo for the first time on Playstation, being emerged in Uncharted 2 with the action scenes, or playing my first epic MMORPG like Star Wars, Bioshock Infinite pulled me into a new world captured my attention.

Since last year I followed this game and watched after release to see if I should get it on PS3 or PC.  The performance specs made it look amazing on PC, so when I upgraded my new graphics card on the PC, I got it with it.  I played it I almost all on Ultra settings and had 60 - 70 fps.  The graphic fidelity wasn't the only amazing thing; the 5.1 sound effects and music that wrapped around you as you walked through the floating city brought life to Columbia.

Beautiful World

There is so much to talk about this game and there are plenty of reviews that describe it in detail, but I will stick to things that stood out to me.  Character driven gameplay, heavy story that draws you into thinking about your actions rather than attacking numerous senseless bots, enhancing the modded FPS genre using the Bioshock mechanic with guns in one hand and Badasserie shooting out of your left, the constant tension / confusion through the game that drives you to discover the story rather than drudging through the next level, and how your growing emotion for Elizabeth compels you to protect her all factor in to a unique experience.  I could number details throughout the game that display these thing.  Like when Elizabeth is captured (one of the times...) and you are creeping Comstock's house to get to her, you end up constantly facing this Silent boy, but never direct battle.  Then when you finally unlock the door to her and you think you have finished the section as you turn around this mysterious horror show up behind you.  The views, the power, the story just overlap into a grand performance that is wicked awsome.

Disturbing Silent Boy

SPOILER Alert!!  Upon reaching the ending and realizing how deep and thought out each component of the game was you realize how complex Columbia is.  You live and play between multiple dimensions of realities of your choices.  You save and try to protect Elizabeth who is your child, Ana, that Comstock, you as Dewitt, who in the end has to drown you, Dewitt who is Comstock in another dimension, so that Comstock never exists, so Dewitt, you, can be with Ana, his real daughter forever.  Trying to figure it all out is a mess. I had to get help from other reviews to confirm what I thought I understood. It all makes sense and gives reason to each part through the game which warrants more play-throughs to comprehend.

Bottom line I give it a 10/10. It sets benchmarks all around for other games to strive to.  I cant think of any glitch or reason not give it all it deserves.  I recommend this to all.  I enjoyed this enough to even get off my lazy ass and rant about it on the blog! Ha I expect to get on more and to some reviews of hardware and software over the last year.  Thanks to any comments or thoughts for people who appreciated it.

My favorite image highlighting the game

Addicted to SWTOR

I have not posted this year and this could be slightly attributed to travel, but probably a lot to Star Wars the Old Republic.  Most of my free time (and sleep) has been spent on this game this year.  Now I play a lot of games, but not MMO's.  And I like Sci-Fi, especially Star Wars.  When this was released it was increasingly difficult to not play as I heard the game could be played somewhat as a single-player RPG.  And it has not dissapointed.

So Far the Storytelling that BioWare has matched their best work.  Each Action and Attack is as epic as the Universe itself.  Each Character Class has its own story and distinct specialties which has caused me to create multiple players.  I have played and beaten a couple other games this year as well which have been very good, which I will need to look into posting about, but so far I just keep coming back to this.  I have incidentally gotten other friends involved with playing this game as well and as I have warned them, they have become addicted.

A Jedi Knight with a Powerful LightSaber, a Bounty Hunter Blasting away foes with Missiles and cannons, or a Sith Lord Force Choking the weak.  I pretty sure the Force has tightened its grip around my will.

Coppa!

Got me some calf sleeves finally.  My great wife went and took the initiative (that I dont have) and found me some because of all my complaining about my calves cramping up running and playing soccer.

We were given large Tommie Copper Calf sleeves which are a lot thinner and lighter than I thought and a nice Tommie Cu (thats copper for all you non-Geeks out there) beanie.  The beanie was thin and light but out in sub 20 degree weather it did great. But back to the sleeves; they have provided plenty of compression while still remaining unnoticeable while running.

These are my first pair of calf sleeves but so far they are great, cant wait until soccer season to try them out. here are some pics

Thank you Tommie Copper for giving us the stuff, luv it.
If you want a chance to win some Tommie Copper compression gear (and who doesn't) then head on over to Jenn's Adventures and check out her review and enter to win some of your own!

Well next post will be about the Drake-tastic game Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception, stay posted San Diego...

We received all of these Tommie Copper items free of charge but the honest opinions expressed in this review are ours.

Worth the Wait

I finally upgraded, yes, to all the people asking me when I would move from my iPhone 3Gs.  I got the new iPhone 4s in.  Some of the new features I like that I thought I would like and there are somethings that surprised me. 

Number one, the signal strength.  Ok I have the same carrier as always, AT&T, whom Ive always enjoyed and gotten good service from.  But when I travel to New Mexico for work in the middle of the desert, I hardly get any signal from the surrounding areas.  I got my new phone out there last week and I was getting two and three bars for Edge and 3G service.  Huge difference for me, being able to stay more connected while out in the middle of nowhere.  I dont know if it is because of a CDMA and a GSM chip or the change in the antenna positions after "antenna-gate" or whatever but it is definitely better.



So battery life now has been improved.  I can now leave the brightness up at 75-80% and wifi on all the time and still use it plenty without running out of juice at the end of the day.  Games, internet, and talk without it committing suicide on me from being overworked.  Once again I don't know if it is a better battery or the A5 chip as they claim but the improvement is there. 



Camera performance is a huge jump from my old 3Gs being a 3MP but even from what I have seen of the 5MP iPhone 4, 8MP camera and optics are just stunning.  It takes pictures easily and clearly and with the iOS 5 quick pic shortcut it is never late for a good shot.  The 1080p video with image stabilization has been great for action shots too.  I am blown away from the differences from my old phone.  Here's a couple shots:

I have enjoyed all the other features as well the faster processor with faster graphics.  Siri has been a fun little toy to play with.  Apple's great screen and fast user interface are still some of the best if not the standard.  I am very impressed.