Zombie, run! 5k Review

Early 2007, I think. Yeah, early 2007; the last time I did any real cardio and the last time I was in P.E class. To say I was fit then would be stretching the truth as far as possible. Sure, I dabbled with the gym in my first year of University and yeah, there have been occasions where I had to run, but try as I might I have not managed to make myself “fit” despite multiple attempts.

I’m pleased to announce to my unfit body and BigMac filled arteries that I have found my saving grace; a fitness plan, a compelling story and a game rolled into one: Zombie, Run! 5k.

Background

Zombie, run! was originally released after a successful kickstarter campaign as an app offering a story between your lady gaga songs, with the ability to build up a base using supplies you collected on your run avoiding zombies. Whilst it is claimed you can utilize this app without any running experience, the developers Six to Start released Zombie, run! 5k as a “couch to 5k” trainer for those in need of a little guidance.

The Facts

The app requires a few additional items to make it useful. Don’t sweat (yet), you just need some music stored on your phone (Android users can’t use Google Play Music or Spotify, likewise Apple can’t use Spotify either) and some headphones. The phone can make use of either the accelometer or GPS in order to determine your speed, so treadmill junkies are accommodated, but as an added bonus for GPS users, your runs are tracked and mapped according to the route you took.

As you imagine, this app is designed to build you to the point of been able to run 5k, so to progress you must complete workouts in a linear fashion.  After selecting the run, you are prompting to choose your music playlist to listen to and what method of tracking you want to use. After this simple step, you’re ready to go. Characters from the game-world introduce themselves and prompt you as to when to do your drills and when not to. The exercises were created by professionals, so you’re not following some randoms rubbish workout, and delivered to you with the idea of being completed 3 times a week. As the run takes place, your music is faded out for the delivery of instructions and story; you are also notified as to when the run is completed. However, if you feel like you have extra to give, you can carry on the run and it will be tracked.

After completing a run, it is logged on your phone as completed and the next run is made available. You are given the option of registering on the Zombie, run! website to use their run tracker. Here, you can view your route, day of completion, calories and other interesting information such as average pace and when/where you completed a section of the story. You can enable sharing of these runs, so your friends can give you a kick in the arse if you don’t do a run or share their congratulations with you when you do a good run.

The Opinion

As I mentioned in the blurb at the beginning, I was an unfit and unmotivated individual who couldn’t get fit. Zombie, Run! 5k interested me greatly as it combined a few elements that, in my brain anyway, seems like a fantastic idea; a story, a game and a way of getting fit. I’m so pleased to say that, as of writing, I have just completed my 1^st workout in Week 3 of the programme. Before undertaking the run, I commented to my significant other that the run looked half impossible and I’d struggle. 5.8Kms in 46 minutes later and I was tired but feeling fantastic; not once did I feel like giving up and I was majorly surprised at my new found stamina…at week 3!

To back up slightly, my first run extremely difficult. It was actually not part of the workout regimen, rather the introductory story-driven episode from the main app, ported over to give the user a bit of understanding of the game-world. I tried to run as much as I could during this, but the story was delivered after the music and my choices of 8 minute songs were…to say the least…foolish. The next day was hell; aches and pains in muscles I didn’t know existed as well as the inability to stand. But once the regime kicked in, the problems from my first run didn’t occur again. The delivery of instructions within music is fantastic, as one can just run and not worry about the length of song.

The story makes you smile or, when they suggest a zombie is behind you, does actually give you a bit of motivation to crack on a bit. The characters are interesting and you can sense there is a real story behind the people you meet that I can’t wait to flesh out once I’m finished with the regiment. A slight complaint would be that sometimes the voices are a bit quiet, but that could (and probably is) down to the quality of my headphones).

In terms of functionality, the app has worked brilliantly. Using GPS, it has successfully tracked all but one of my runs, with that run mapped wrongly. Co-incidentally, that occurred when I actually paused my run, so I suppose that was the culprit. The app has never crashed on me, and all my progress has been successfully saved. I have had trouble uploading my runs to the website, but it is fixed by just logging out and re-logging in. The app is very simple to use as well, which is always a plus! There is no base building in this app which is a big downer for me, as I’m a sucker for this sort of stuff, but as it is training you to actually do missions for the base, I can see why this was done. Heck, more motivation to use the main app!

Referring back to uploading of the runs to the website, it is a great feature that has had me looking at my runs and picking out points where I can pick up the pace. It also lets you see your average pace which is very nifty. I have made use of sharing my runs with selected people and it’s a very nice feature and another motivator.

The Final Verdict

A common word I've used is “motivator”. And if this lazy writer is using that word, then it must be a damn good motivator. I’m not ready to run marathons, or even 5km, but with this app I have the best chance to. The biggest piece of praise I can give is that I wish I had found this app earlier in life; I really feel that it is going to improve my health, fitness and make it enjoyable. I’m only on week 3, but even getting to that stage is a fantastic testament to this app and I really hope that anyone who needs to get fit will give this a chance.

As a side note, I am considering blogging about my running experience, so for those on the bench about buying this app, I might convince you yet!

Zombie, Run! 5K is available on Android 4.0 & iOS. 

BF3 Ultimate Squad - Part 2

This is the second in a series of five blog posts specifying, what I believe to be, the best combination of classes for a four man squad. Whilst the Battlefield is most certainly a fluid, living system requiring at certain points direct modification of behaviour to counter a specific threat, it is my belief that the following squad can counter most – if not all – threats. Click here to view myfirst blog.

My second pick for the ultimate squad is the Engineer class.

Title: Anti-Tank Engineer

Weapon: Carbine

Side Arm: Silenced

Gadget 1: RPG/SMAW

Gadget 2: Mines

Squad Perk: Explosives

Reason: I believe, apart from Metro, every map in BF3 has some form of Armoured Vehicle. It should come as no surprise then that for a squad to be successful and self-sufficient that an Engineer is needed with Anti-Tank capabilities. RPG/SMAW, when utilised effectively, are superior to the Javelin and the Carbine is almost, if not equally effective as an assault rifle. All together it makes the most single handedly destructive soldier and henceforth I'll break down the mentality/abilities.

As with all classes, PDW/Shotguns can be used with this class alongside the exclusive weapons of the class – in this case Carbines. In reality, you would pick your favourite gun from the list available to the Engineer, as you need to be comfortable engaging infantry. Utilising a suppressor is an option, however, the firepower of the Carbines alongside a Recon already favouring Stealth means that it isn't a necessity. The player should travel with the rest of the squad and provide backup when needed.

RPG/SMAW is chosen over the Javelin for a few good reasons. The most obvious one is that Tanks/IFVs can utilise smoke, rendering the Javelin all but useless. Of course, not every Tank/IFV will run smoke, but it is of my belief that any player using an Armoured Vehicle should run Smoke, so it would be against logic to advise Javelins for their disposal. I have verified it myself that it takes 2 in the rear, 4 from the side to destroy a Tank, with a similar amount for IFVs. Utilising these facts for disposing of Tanks/IFVs will leave you with rockets to spare and will be just as effective as a Javelin. Another reason to go against Javelin using is the sad fact that SOLFAMs are not common place on the Battlefield and that smart tank drivers can use buildings as cover.

When an armoured vehicle appears, every effort should be taken to flank said vehicle in order to maximise damage. Moving with another member of the squad, preferably with a suppressed gun, the 2 man team should move to the rear of the vehicle before engaging. Once the initial shot is fired, assessment of the situation should be made so as to engage the vehicle again from the rear or side. With support from the second soldier, it should be possible to remove the vehicle with minimal team losses.

I have picked Mines for Gadget 2. Clever, concealed mines can hugely benefit the team and help rid the Battlefield of enemy vehicles. Since mines don't disappear after death, the Engineer can place and forget. It is of my opinion that mines should be placed in areas that are hard to see when driving, such as a slope or inside a crater, as a mine in the open will easily be seen by many vehicle drivers.

Finally, the squad perk I have chosen is Explosion, for obvious reasons. Double the amount of RPGs/Mines seriously benefits yourself and allows you to be less dependent on ammo resupplies. 

In conclusion, the Anti-Tank engineer has a well earned position inside the ultimate squad. Providing Anti-Tank capabilities, the player can engage and destroy enemy armour whilst the rest of the squad provides backup/diversions. Mines allow a place-and-forget attitude to destroying armour elsewhere on the map and finally, the firepower of the Carbines allow engaging of infantry.

Visit again next week for discussion on the 3rd member of the ultimate squad.

Steams Big Picture; 2 Worlds Collide

When I blogged about my changing attitude to computers, I touched upon the fact that Steam were releasing Big Picture mode; a UI that turns the black and white difference between console and computer experience into a nice shade of grey. If you can get a nice shade of grey, I suppose. A few days ago, Big Picture was released into beta, with those who opt into Steams Beta option given the first public test of the feature. As one of those beta boys, I've played around with the experience and I hope to give you an insight as to how important this interface is.

Firstly, one might ask, is what's so interesting about a UI? Well, Steams Big Picture interface is optimised for television. What does that mean? Consider the regular Steam UI. Small text, drop down menus and a fairly cold experience – an interface you wouldn't put on your TV as you most likely wouldn't be able to read the text. Big Picture replaces the small text, drop down menu interface with chunky, square boxes more akin to Xbox360s interface; a solution far better adapted to the TV.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here. You, the reader, might be thinking this; Why make a User Interface that is optimised for TV when I sit here, on my computer, looking at a monitor and play games with a mouse and keyboard? If that is what your thinking, then Steam has thought it too – the answer is that the Interface isn't just for Mouse and Keyboard – it's been designed for controllers.

More specifically, the Xbox360 controller. PS3 fans, don't worry,there is a way to get your controller to work with the interface. Connecting your controller to the computer while in Big Picture instantly replaces the keyboard instructions with controller buttons. The black and white picture is turning greyer. Big Picture, optimised for TV and navigated by console controller; almost like your on a console, no? Furthermore, many of the multiplatform games, that is games that appear on the 360 and PS3 alongside the PC, have controller support native to said game. Time to take this all for a test.

Once I got my PS3 controller paired to Windows, I plugged my heaterImeanlaptop into the TV by HDMI. With Steam loaded up and the window in front of me, I pressed the PS button. For a lack of a better word, boom! Steams new intro pops in (albeit, on may laptop, jittering). Rather instinctively, I navigate to my games collection and scroll past FM, Company of Heroes and such to the Limbo Demo; a game that was time-exclusive to the 360 and designed more-so with consoles in mind. Couple taps of X and Limbo loads up – no rectangle telling me its launching or pop up which would appear foreign in this interface. With Limbo loaded up, my controller is still working and operating the game. I hit the PS button once more, and I'm greeted with the Big Picture UI layered on Limbo. Back to the game, I sink 20 minutes into the demo before deciding to quit out. Right back to the Big Picture UI.

Although in Beta, the whole experience makes you forget your operating a computer. Big Picture has it's own web browser optimised for the controller, as well as the friend list easily accessible for chating with your fellow gamers. Steam have got around the whole difficulty typing messages by including a new type of keyboard to use with the controller; the daisywheel. From my experience, it compares to the PSPs keyboard, although circular and generally more easy and fast to use. The store is also included in Big Picture, allowing you to browse for games and even purchase – all optimised in the new UI.

There are, at this stage, obviously a few bugs. I've had a little bit of trouble getting the search function to work and I've had a couple of times a sound bug. However, these bugs will be highlighted and fixed. There is no word how long the beta will last but I fully expect that when they remove the “Beta” tag this new interface will be ready to stand up to, and possibily beat, consoles interfaces.

A console experience, on your PC. Games optimised for controllers, being launched by controllers though the UI of the biggest game store on the PC. All that's required is a PC that can play said games (easily achievable for less then £300) and a HDMI cable. The colour is well and truly grey now.

BF3 Ultimate Squad - Part 1

This is the first in a series of five blog posts specifying, what I believe to be, the best combination of classes for a four man squad. Whilst the Battlefield is most certainly a fluid, living system requiring at certain points direct modification of behaviour to counter a specific threat, it is my belief that the following squad can counter most – if not all – threats.

Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon. The four available soldier classes. With the ability to choose unlocks, different perks and gadgets – what is the best class for the squad of four to pick?

My first pick for the ultimate squad is the Recon class.

Title: Stealth Recon, Squad Leader

Weapon: Silenced PDW (UMP-45 Recommended)

Side Arm: Silenced

Gadget 1: T-UGS/MAV

Gadget 2: Spawn Becon

Squad Perk: Grenade

Reason: The Recon class should always be an integral part of a squad; although I believe it isn't being used as it should. Firstly, although sniping is one of the main draws of playing the Recon class, it should not be the main one. For my ultimate squad, the Recon should have the job of Squad Leader and be played with the perspective of being an advanced, stealthed soldier.

To expand on the last point, the Recon player shouldn't, and can't, be the killing machine. Many, if not all, Battlefield maps allow the player to slip behind the frontline to attack from a different angle. As a Stealthed player, utilising the Suppressed gun allows the player to choose his battles. Too often players break from what they were originally doing to go grab a kill. This isn't how the Recon player should play. Even with a suppresor, a big skull on the enemies radar alerts everyone in the vicinity that a death occurred and draws attention to the reason. Choosing not to engage in conflict, unless it is absolutely necessary, allows the player to place a Beacon down behind, or aside, the objective. Having a fixed, advanced spawn point allows continued assault from the rest of the squad from a different point – stretching the enemy and more often then not securing whatever the objective is.

Gadget 1 is left open to the player and depends on the map, game type and circumstance. In general, having the T-UGS is most often the preferred choice. T-UGS gives the player an extremely powerful tool in the enemy showing up on the radar. Having the drop on the enemy greatly improves your chances in any circumstance. If on an exposed map, such as the first MCOMM on Operation Metro, the player can communicate and guide the rest of the squad to the objective – an extremely powerful and underestimated option. Describing, guiding and alerting negates the missing firepower from the fourth soldier. I have not recommended the SOLFAM in this analysis – this is mostly because I believe the ability to know where the enemy is on the Battlefield is superior to the additional damage done by the Javelin.

In closing summary – Stealth, Forward placing Spawn Beacon and T-UGS. This turns a class often used to sit 500+ meters away from the Battlefield and being any use to the squad into a game changing soldier. Playing solo, I am able to drag a team that is stuck in the same bit of the map killing each other in the same place into an interesting battle, capturing flags and blowing up MCOMMS before the enemy can realise what's happening. Together with clan mates, it often leads to victory after victory.

Next Monday, I will give my verdict to the next class that a squad member should utilise. Check back on the 17th!

For those interested in my BF3 stats, click here

On the 30th of August, I woke up to the news that the next Metal Gear Solid has been showcased as part of the Metal Gear 25th Anniversary. After shutting up the 10 year old screaming girl inside me, I re-read the news report and took in what it meant for me. The game was running on the PC. It wasn't console exclusive. It was the push I needed to abandon the console ship.

Bit of background. I've had a console in my life since before I could remember. Well, that's a slight lie. I remember getting up for Christmas and finding a Sega Megadrive with Sonic. But since then, I've always had a console. I had a PS1, 2 & 3. My brother lent his Xbox to me and I bought a 360 (which then died 3 days later) before I purchased a PS3. My girlfriend has the Wii and DS/3DS, whilst I have had a GBC,GBA and PSP. I also had desktops in my life, on which I did play games such as BF2 competitively, but the console was always around. I have had every generation of console that was possible to buy alongside my life, basically.

Yet I will not be buying the PS4, Xbox720 or WiiU. Even without knowing the features, I know that I will not pick up the next generation. Why the flip in behaviour?

The answer lies with the desktop PC, Steam and perhaps with my age.

Firstly, my age. When I was a young whippersnapper, I bought the magazines previewing games, I went into Electronic Botique wide eyes and read the back of the games cases with vigour. Nowadays, I look at the price tag of a new console game - £40 in most cases – and say “Fuck no”. I see the latest releases and hardly any interest me. Uncharted 3 disappointed me, F1 2011 was, well F1 2011. Battlefield 3 is fun but anyone can see that the 24 player experience is nowhere near the awesomeness of 32-64 players – and thats without examining Armoured Kill. My latest game and the game thats made me return to the PS3? Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection – games from the PSP and PS2? The only game that interests me is The Last of Us, and even then I won't slap down £40 for it.

My age has taught me that gaming is expensive and that my golden generation will be the games I was playing when I was younger. Yeah, I'll still buy the latest FM, Metal Gear or the like, but most games these days are no longer “exclusives”. This trend will do nothing but continue and while the PC suffers from piracy and horror stories of software which does more to offend the customer then the pirater (Ubisoft!), [deep breath] there is one shining hope of becon; Steam!

Steam is the argument for the desktop PC, in a gaming sense. They have recently announced Big Picture mode. The premise? Console UI for your TV, PC games. There has been a trend alongside this of games becoming more “Console” on the PC as well, with interfaces designed more for controllers along with the option of using controllers for operating the game itself.

The benefit of this is clear to see. Why do you need to fork out for a console with static hardware, closed software and relatively high (at launch) failure rates when you could buy a PC and hook it up to your TV for a console experience?

An argument can be made that the initial price for consoles are lower then when buying/building a PC. An argument which is, in my opinion, fairly wrong. I've been doing some research and found that I can buy a pre-built barebones computer, missing around £40 worth of hardware, for £120. This PC can play current games such as Dirt 3 at 40FPS. The system can then be upgraded whenever you have the available funds – building a PC which far surpasses the current crop of consoles for minimal cost and will cost less then the next generation of consoles.

Consoles are known to be friendly to use. Plug it in, launch it and stick the disk in – game away. Well, with the computer literacy of children and our generation, not many people don't know how to use a PC. Steam once again comes into the argument with their store. It's simple to just download games from them and Big Picture mode will make the UI even better.

The most compelling argument is consoles normally come with some form of proprietary hardware. PS2 came with a DVD drive which helped justify it's position as not only a console but a system which lets users watch films. PS3 followed suit with the Blu-Ray player, as did the 360 who tried to wage war with the HD-DVD add on. At the time of launch, the PS3 was the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market. It could be possible that a next gen console will use a new proprietary hardware, giving us a cheap way to have some more expensive kit. It is, however, possible it will go the other way – cloud source gaming, download only games or the like. Cloud source and download gaming is already available on PC and, what with games no longer trending towards exclusivity there is no strong argument against the PC gaming.

There is, however, one huge cloud on the gaming horizon that I have to consider when ditching the SS. Console for the Battleship PC. Windows 8. There has been much rumblings about how gaming will be segmented by the new “Metro although its no longer call Metro” UI. It seems that Games for Windows, the Steam like download service, will be the only “apparent” gaming application on Metro. Steam will be relegated to the normal desktop view, hidden away in Microsofts eyes. Not very, erm, user friendly.

There is of course ways around this. Firstly, we don't even know if Windows 8 will sell well. The new UI is very Tablet friendly – why would a business or customer want that for their home desktop – why not just get a tablet? Secondly, Windows 7 isn't going anywhere. Game companies won't suddenly lose compatibility for their games with Windows 8 much like the new consoles do. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly in the long run, Steam are not taking this lieing down.

What hasn't really been mentioned is the other benefits PC gaming gives the console user. FPS become more competitive and full of teamwork. Real Time Strategy games are only really viable on the PC and are complex and interesting. Racing games can take advantage of the superior CPUs to deliver better physics and driving experience. Other games, like platformers and Sports games, are now playable on PC due to the console controllers working on PCs. Games also normally have vibrant communities, offering user patches for games that are no longer supported by the developers or even full modifications of games, turning them into something new or adding massive amounts of content.

On the productivity front, desktops offer word processing, image editing and many other abilities that completely escape my brain. Although the browsing experience of the internet is perhaps better on tablets, it can't be denied that there are many things the computer does better and tablets are more supplements then replacements. Except when Tablets are compared with Laptops. Bloody laptops.

To sort of put a lid on all of this, there is very little reason as to not jump ship anymore to computers. Perhaps these arguments have always existed but it has just taken age to finally understand them and make them for myself. Or perhaps I'm just such a MGS fan that it took the announcement of the game coming to PC as well that made me see the light. I haven't mentioned University; a desktop will certainly help that. But these are more general arguments and I hope those who have read it will perhaps consider the Desktop option in replacement of consoles.

BF3 Armoured Kill: Initial Review

So, Armoured Kill launched on the PS3 for Premium players on the 4th and I've had a couple days of fairly extensive play to give a brief analysis. There won't be any sort of grading system at the end of this “review”, what really changes an 8 to a 9 or a B to a B+? I'm approaching this review as a player who got sick of the game a couple months back; the lack of teamplay and balance combined with overall fatigue of FPS. Will Armoured Kill get me back in the FPS groove or turn me of BF3 for good?

First up, I'll analysis the four maps from a Conquest point of view. My favourite, by far, is Alborz Mountain. It seems fairly balanced; I've been on rubbish teams with both sides and still managed to pull a victory out the hat. The Gunship is effective but not overally so – a problem I have found in other maps. It doesn't feel too lonely on your travels either. The worst map for loneliness seems to be Death Valley. Perhaps its the night time theme, meaning I can't see everyone engaging in pretty battles, but I found the fighting was centralised around the Battleship flag, with A and E hardly ever being captured. The night time effect is cool but man, that moon is shiny! I've never had a glare problem from the moon before in my everyday life. Armored Shield is good fun although, once again, the fighting is centralised over at B – the flag controlling the Battleship. The map can feel lonely at times, but overall the design is good. Bandar Desert is the worst map overall, in my view. Feels so much like Gulf of Oman, but with the Battleship flag stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Although the fighting does pick up a bit in the city, it just doesn't feel as good as the other maps.

In terms of Rush, Armored Shield stands tall as the most fun map. The inclusion of the river for a boat attack is brilliant – allows for a bit of sneaking in the midst of all this armour focus. The first set of MCOMs is a standout feature, with some real intense close quarters combat. Bandar Desert is the hardest for Attackers to get a foothold, from experience. Seems like its taking it's style from Kharg Island but the MCOMs are a bit closer together. Para-dropping from the Gunship helps, but it is just a massive target and it seems that people just wait for it to re-spawn before attacking again. Not much fun. Death Valley is so-so. It feels like the Gunship has a bit too much power on this map. Death rains from the sky, being a real pest to the defenders – I'll touch more on this later. Finally, Albortz Mountain is fun, although I don't seem to remember much of the Rush mode on this map. Must just not stood out as much as the rest.

Tank Superiority is the new mode added by DICE to Armoured Kill. I didn't know much about this mode pre-release, as I wasn't really paying much attention to Armoured Kill at all. It is a pleasant surprise. For some reason, it reminded me a lot of the Tank missions in Company of Heroes, but a more suited comparison is obviously the Single Player mission involving the Tank Divison. The mode seems to shine on Bandar Desert and Armored Shield. There's plenty of flanking areas, allowing you to get the drop by going behind enemy lines and setting up mines or just blending in with the other tanks for a surprise attack. There are choices in terms of going sniper for SOFLAMs so as to enable troops to use Javs and tanks to use guided shells, or keeping to engineer to repair your tank. I'm not too much of a fan of this map on Death Valley. It seems to me like the Russian team of tanks spawn too far away from the flag, giving the opposing American team too big an advantage. I have yet to see a Russian team win from about 5 attempts, take from that what you will. On Albortz Mountain the mode is passable; not too much fun though like on Bandar Desert or Shield. Bit disappointing that tank shells don't damage the ice.

The addition of the AC-130 gunship is the biggest change in gameplay brought about by the expansion pack. The slow flying, constantly circling aircraft has a major influence in Conquest and Rush – Rush moreso. In Conquest, it's a race to the gunship controlling flag, with most teams opting to attack said flag more then others so as to gain the gunships ability. In the Conquest maps, the AC-130 isn't really overpowered. It does effect the ground battles, but planes, helicopters and the patched Stingers (THANK YOU DICE) really does limit it's powers. On Rush, however, I don't think it's balanced. Having the attackers with the AC-130, aiming at the relatively shortly spaced MCOMs and its defenders is just not a good idea. It works well in Conquest because of the huge arch the plane takes – meaning some flags are protected from constant barrage for a few minutes before the plane gets in range. In Rush for the attackers, the AC-130 is nearly always in range, meaning the defenders are sitting ducks.

The new Tank Destroyers really remind me of 1940s tanks. Boxy and rectangular. Aesthetics aside, they arn't all that interesting. The ATVs shine; they are great fun to zoom about in and are the right mix between vulnerable and speedy. The MRLS is slightly disappointing. Once people work out the projectile distances, they will become valuable I'm sure, but in these early days they are too lightly armoured and difficult to use to make them practical.

The biggest concerns I had coming into this DLC was if the maps would be too big for us console players. The answer in my opinion is they are, but only just. You don't have the feeling of battle that you get on, say, Canals or Metro, but what you do get is spectacular tank battles mixed in with aircraft dogfights and people zooming around on ATVs. The big picture seems more deserted but more spectacular; more like a Battlefield. Which is the point, really, isn't it?

There is still the fustrating hit detection, annoying moments that make you consider chucking your controller and the overall IQ of the people playing the game hasn't really increased to make the game play like it should (I kid you not, some guy got to a MCOM and tried destroying it with his pistol). However, these things existed pre-Armoured Kill and the DLC can't be judged on this. What it does offer are 4 new maps which are graphically beautiful, more hardware to blow things up with and another reason to return to BF3 after the pre-Armoured Kill problems got too much.

There real acid test will be if I'm still playing this a month from now, which is why on the 5th of October I'll attempt to get my thoughts up as to if this DLC has any real staying power or if the shiny DLC clouded my judgement. Overall, I'd say it isn't worth £15 but if you want to get Premium and can see yourself getting another DLC, I'd certainly say this is a fun expansion of what Battlefield should be about. It doesn't fix anything, Rush is annoying with the Gunship and it can feel lonely, but it is still getting me to play the game again and it highlights just how fun it is to destroy tanks.

Initial thoughts: I wouldn't buy this DLC if I didn't have Premium for the price. If you have Premium, download it and give it a go. It is fun, just not £15 fun.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes 11 Minute PAX dissection

The following blog post will be my impressions, understanding and analysis of the PAX Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer. I am a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, and what I hope to do is include previous game lore so as to make the trailer make more sense and comment on the graphics, gameplay and general feel of the trailer. There is not much gameplay to be had in this trailer, unlike the extended one released earlier today – so I will cover the gameplay in a separate blog post.

I'm going to approach this by dissecting the trailer in time slots – it might make sense, it might not, but since I don't have filming equipment to explain what I see this will have to do.

Time 00:00 to 1:00

Logos and more logos! Your normal set – no rating, Kojima Productions etc. But wait! Fox Engine! Why is there so many exclamation marks! Well, this is the first in game trailer, to my memory anyway, showcasing the Fox Engine to the masses. It has been built inhouse[1], with the specific idea that the company could use it to make multi-platform games quicker. Not shown in the trailer is what system said trailer is running on, but it has been mentioned on a high end current generation PC with PS3 specifications [2]. This points to a current generation release, and not for next generation consoles.

Taking this into account, excuse me while I blink a few times and pinch myself. How are those graphics achievable on a PS3? The lighting and rain effect are incredible – simply miles ahead graphically to the previous PS3 MGS – MGS4. As the trailer runs on, we get to see some incredibly realistic dogs - major improvement over the dogs previously seen in the series. Comments can be made on the smoothness of the human avatars movements, although praise will have to be held until we see the player control a character. As far as the storyline goes, we are following soldiers entering “Camp Omega” - a “High Security” American encampment. Many POW can be seen with soldiers guarding over them.

Time 1:00 to 2:00

The soldiers enter the camp and we follow them over to a prison cage. The camera swoops in and focuses on one of the soldiers heads. What's so impressive is the soldiers headgear – plenty of imperfections and gritty segments on it – showing that there will be no more pristine military gear on show. As the soldier arms his weapon, the high resolutions on the weapon impresses and we are treated to the soldiers stare. You can clearly see the persons eyes and even eye colour; blue. The focus switches down to a POW, and we hear the first words of the trailer (thankfully, with subtitles!”.

The story is made a little clearer for us. We learn that a female POW told the leader, we can assume, everything he needed to know and that he held his part of the bargain by not making her suffer too long. He throws in the tape-player...

Time 2:00 to 3:00

We finally get to see the POW face. A young boy. The camera pans up and we get to see a face which looks badly burned – reminiscent of Two-Face from The Dark Knight film. The man asks the boy what it feels like to play the traitor, suggesting he has told information – possibly to save the girl who was tortured life, by betraying his boss. The boy finally shows his face fully to the camera; the graphics are stunning, showing a baby faced boy with real expression; there is even high clarity on the headphones in the boys ears. Of note, he seems to have a bandage on his left eyebrow. He removes the 3.5mm jack from what appears to be his flesh – perhaps a wound in which hes keeping his jack dry or, hopefully not, some sort of socket. The disfigured man remarks that he wants his regards sent to his Boss when he gets home. From this, we can gather that the Boss is infact Big Boss and it would seem that he believes he will soon be released – perhaps rescued?

The sound effects from the video take a backfoot as “Here's to you” plays. The men begin to leave the camp and once again we are treated to some animal shots. Rats are seen running at the feet of the men as dogs are held back from attacking. There is a real sense of momentum from the dogs on their leesh. The camera pans out to show a helicopter.

Time 3:00 to 4:00

The men leave in jeeps. The graphics are once again stunning, showcasing creases on the backpacks of the soldiers and more imperfections on the soldiers gear. The jeeps are shown to kick up spray from the ground and there is a sense of dynamic light. The storyline continues. We can assume at this point it is Kaz, better known as Master Miller and Big Bosses right hand man, speaking. He reports that Paz, last seen attacking Mother Base, is alive. As the talk happens, we get another face shot. You can see the rain droplets falling down his face, as well as the creases on his clothing. The talk between Big Boss and Kaz continues, with Kaz believing that Paz is acting as a double agent. If we recall the events of Peace Walker, Paz was shown to be deceiving Big Boss and was acting as a spy for Cipher.

Time 4:00 to 5:00

Kaz states that Paz is being held for interrogation at a camp on the southern tip of Cuba. Now, we can almost certainly assume that the interrogation camp is the one shown in this trailer. This means the girl mentioned earlier – who was interrogated by the disfigured man, is Paz. Had Chico tried to protect her? Apparently, there is a UN inspection of Mother Base due to occur shortly – they assume that Paz has talked; disclosed information that Mother Base has it's own Metal Gear and nuclear weapons and that has prompted an inspection. As this is stated, we are treated to the jeeps driving to a heliport. The helicopters shown look, once again, incredible. The jeeps stop, with the mirror adjusted to show a Fox emblem. Or is it? It shouldn't say Fox in the mirror, since it's inverted, and the F is pointing the wrong way. This means the logo says XOF. This must be the organisation the soldiers belong to. Big Boss and Kaz conclude they need Paz on their side.

As the 5 minute mark hits, we can see the disfigured man looking to the left, in front of the soldiers. You can see he is bald and has a face very skeleton. Time for some speculation on who he is. There is obviously a huge chance he is a new character; unknown to the MGS series to date. It cannot be Zero – he is heading Cipher and as such would not of had Paz detained in an integration camp. Volgin, a man last seen in MGS3 and defeated/killed by Big Boss, would have been heavily disfigured should he have survived but would likely not be working for the Americans. Could it be GENE? He gave Big Boss his funds at the end of Portable Ops, but if memory serves correctly Big Boss left before GENE died – there was an explosion shortly afterwards. If he survived, he'd be burnt etc. Possibly a survival candidate. I don't believe it would be anyone from Peace Walker.

Time 5:00 to 6:00

Mr. Disfigured dons a hat, which really should fall off in that wind – I mean, come on, he is next to a helicopter! Ah well, the MGS humour remains. He picks up some sort of scanning device, and removes XOF from his helicoper. He states that the Trojan Horse is in. Now, what could that be? It would seem that, by removing the XOF, he is either hiding the identity of his aircraft to keep the organisation secret or him and his unit are not really XOF. Considering his facial features, I think it is a long shot to say he is pretending to be apart of XOF – they would get found out. So, what was the Trojan Horse? It could very well be the Tape Player he chucked to Chico, or the idea that he tortured Paz. Could this turn Chico against Big Boss? Unfortunately, this does not get cleared up in this trailer so speculation will remain speculation.

He removes his hat and faces the camera to talk – it would appear that his hole face is burnt and disfigured. He declares the “pirate crackdown has begun”. Is this a reference to Big Boss – his Mother Base as some sort of pirate ship ready to be attacked? The men get in the chopper and get ready to leave.

Time 6:00 to 7:00

The soldier swirls his finger and off we go. The helicopter movement looks great, and once again Big Boss speaks. He wants to know the other target – confirmed as Chico. Radio contact has been lost, suggesting he has been captured during some sort of operation for Mother Base. As this is being talked about, XOF patches are removed from the soldiers and chucked out the helicopter. A peculiar action, but falls in sync with the removal of XOF from the helicopter. As they are being chucked, we get a great view of the area from which they have just left. The area looks magnificent in the rain. The lighting looks superb, and the overall design is perfect for a bit of sneaking.

Time 7:00 to 9:00

The camera falls down to the cliff, and we are treated to a nice slow mo of the XOF badge. Clearly, it is based on the design of the original FOX logo, with the colours inverted. Strange choice. Finally, Big Boss appears! The close up shows his FOX logo. Now, FOX was disbanded after Portable OPS, but the insignia was kept on the right shoulder of the sneaking suites using by MSF – possibly as the suites were obtained from GENEs stockpile. The trailer states that, from “FOX”, two phantoms were born. Wikipedia has this to say about Phantom:

Phantom may refer to:

• Ghost, in traditional belief, a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person
• Illusion, a distortion of the senses

The Ghost definition, that of a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person, is the most interesting. As we all know, The Boss's will, that of a united world without war, is what drives both Zero and Big Boss – with alternative theories of how to achieve this. They were both members of Fox – thus the two phantoms of The Boss's will were born.
Snake continues to climb the cliff and sees the helicopters departure. He is told that he must sneak in and rescue the POWs without the help of Mother Base, which is all fine and dandy for Big Boss. The camera pams around, we are treated to a line from MGS2, and then Big Boss looks directly at the camera to show us his face.
The face we see of Big Boss resembles MGS4s Big Boss much more then before. He looks older, certainly older then in Peace Walker. This throws up a bit of doubt – just how long is this game set after Peace Walker. There are a couple points to consider here; firstly, it is stated earlier in the trailer that Paz was found 10 days ago – she was drifting in the Caribbean and was rescued. Now, after defeating Paz at the true end of Peace Walker, she falls into the Ocean. How long can someone drift before dieing? It must be set fairly soon after Peace Walker – which means Big Boss has aged a fair bit in a few weeks! Perhaps the PSP graphics could not achieve the level of age of Big Boss that he should have been. Doubtful though. The light is shining on him, making his hair look very grey. The facial detail is astonishing, with many lines and crinkles as well as a stunning level of eye pupil detail.
Snake is back from Fox! So he still calls himself snake and he is back. Woo! Two more helicopters fly overhead looking sexy and the game is declared a Hideo Kojima title and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. He is told that Chico and Paz are held in the camp and boom – gameplay time.


9:30 to credits

The transition is amazing – the cutscenes were clearly developed using the ingame engine and real-time. There is no HUD visable, and Big Boss switches to his binoculars without showing the item in the corner. The animation of Big Boss is so much better then in previous MGS titles. The light from the guard tower pans out and back on Big Boss, bringing the gameplay to an end. Blasphemy! There is not much to comment on in this gameplay trailer; for a more detailed analysis please wait until I analyse the extended gameplay trailer.


Closing thoughts

That is it for the 11 minute trailer. My overall impression is that of a 10 year old girl who is going to see Bieber in concert. I'm excited to see the continuation of Big Bosses story – Solid Snake is done; Big Boss still has many stories to tell. The new Fox Engine looks gorgeous and there are already questions to ask of the new antagonist, the setting and most importantly, the release date!

Sources

[1] http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Fox_Engine

[2] http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/09/01/pax-2012-metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes-is-coming-to-ps3/

Laptops: Place on lap only if you want to become sterile

As I write my first blog post since I was 15, I had to think about what I was going to write. Ideas, or the lack of them, swirled in my head. Should I write about BF3? My latest game MGS: HD Collection? My private life regarding University, new pets or how I'm going to soon turn 22 and want to become 11? All good ideas for future blogs perhaps, but slowly there was one idea that kicked and screamed to the forefront. It can't be ignored. It's my bloody shit laptop.

I used to be among the Master Race. Windows XP, BF2 and the occasional typed up Microsoft Word school report was my world. I upgraded certain aspects when they became slower and apart from a lack of sunlight, there was no real draw backs. But times changed. University loomed, a social life beckoned and the desktop in the corner which I built for myself became something that was to inflexible, to impracticable for my new life. I bought a laptop.

Now, I'm going to skip over my first laptop. I'm going to focus on my second laptop. The laptop I am currently typing on; HP Pavilion DV7. Bought for around £500 at the time, this piece of kit was supposed to be the best of both worlds for me. I could game on it, an option no longer available to me since I broke my desktop while drunk (whoops), and it was portable with a lovely battery life.

Oh how things turned sour.

First thing to go wrong is something that is always a danger with laptops; overheating. I tried to play, I believe, The Sims 2 on the laptop. Hold the laughter, it's a good game. Anyhow, the laptop shut down on me. Critical error. Whah? This laptop should be able to handle a game released in 2004 surely? It had not gone unaware that the laptop was running extremely hot. So, I got into contact with HP. They reassured me it was a well known problem and they could fix it. 2 weeks later, I was back on The Sims 2 and it was still spewing out more heat then my oven.

Fine, I thought, I'll just have to give up on the games. £500 for some technology that has a dedicated graphics card and I can't play 2004 releases. I'll take the bullet and limber on. I'm a University student! Forces me to study.

Only, the evil bastard of a thing decides to spring another surprise on me. It's not just games that causes my £500 laptop to die. Microsoft Word, take a bow, you too can boil my laptop! Currently typing this my hands are almost to the point of sweating (lovely, I know). Quick download of a hardware monitor tells me my processor is currently 76c. Fabulous.

Now, I know not every laptop radiates heat almost as hot as a slow cooker when using a word processing package. The next fault that occurs is the battery. 9 months into ownership, a big X appears on my the battery icon. Big Xs are never good. The charger that could last 2 and a half hours off charge soon lasted 30 minutes. What next to go wrong? The charger. The connection inside my laptop where the charger goes in becomes wonky. Now, unless my laptop is perfectly still the laptop will go off charge and turns off.

Is there a point to this sad story? Beyond me venting, yes. This is a warning.

Laptops are walking disasters. My girlfriends laptop has died, my laptop before it, the keys fell off. My dads laptop? The screen died. My brothers laptop went the same way as mine. Even Alienware laptops, of which a Uni friend had, spontaneously combust from heat and have to be held up by books to avoid melting into the table its on. They can't be upgraded so as to make them last and if a key falls off the keyboard, typing becomes a nightmare.

These days, tablets are coming of age. I once viewed them as wastes of money – why buy a tablet when you have a laptop? The reason is tablets don't overheat, are user friendly and do almost everything a laptop can do for much less then £500. The Google Nexus 7, my first tablet, has retired my laptop to Football Manager and Word Processing – something I could do on my Nexus is I bought an external keyboard. Bare in mind, FM causes 90+ heat.

My laptop is practically dead to me. Waste of bloody space.