The last few weeks haven't been too productive, but I did manage to do some things.

Basically, I've been working my butt off to keep up with the bills and buy me some stuff, but since my work has me away from home for a few days each time, I haven't been able to really get on with my gaming so I'm still playing Assassin's Creed but also progressing slowly whenever I'm home. Now on memory block and I think in a few hours I might jump back in for an extended session. Killing civilians is way old by now and I'm going for the kill right away this time.

I did, however, order Mass Effect and it's already here. Once I'm done with Altair I'll install this one and start it. I believe I'm going to be hooked and it'll take me a bit longer between work to finish this one so maybe I'll wait until I'm done with this job. I have many games waiting anyway.

The biggest change I've made over the last few weeks is making the jump to Windows 7 and it is awesome. I've been using Vista for the last year and a half and never noticed anything very wrong with it. Until I moved to Windows 7, that is. The system is so fast! Vista often takes its sweet time thinking things over even when I start a MP3 playlist, but not only is 7 way more comfy with the improved user interface, it's actually that much faster and eats up much less RAM. I'm happy!

Make the jump. Because it's fast and all

I'm now going to catch up on my TV and then visit some blogs over here. Have an awesome weekend and week, everybody, and have a

Well finally I got around to reviewing Raven's latest. Please, PLEASE make the time to read it and give me your most honest feedback - I'm taking this reviewing thing quite seriously and would like some constructive critique - I'd especially like to know what kind of expressions and slang I can use (you know, stuff like "state of the art" and "push the envelope" and "doing the cha cha" or whatever) since English isn't my main language.

Hope you enjoy it!

I also uploaded an older review for Opposing Force, but that one's much shorter and lighter since it's an expansion and all (:

I'm now playing Assassin's Creed which is mostly quite awesome so far, though traveling through the Kingdom is quite tedious as is saving civilians - and that's as early as the first Acre mission! Hopefully it gets more interesting soon because so far the incredible game mechanics don't really make up for some of the repetition I'm encountering.

On top of that, Gearbox has published the recommended specs for Borderlands which are quite moderate. This is understandable because it uses Unreal Engine 3, which is about as well-optimized as half an onion in a chicken salad. The specs are:

OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: 2.4 Ghz or equivalent processor
Memory: 1GB System RAM (2GB recommended with Vista)
Graphics: 256mb video ram or better (GeForce 8 series or higher/Radeon R8xx series)
Hard Drive: 8 GB or more free space
Sound: Windows compatible sound card

Those make me one happy puppy. I have a Q6600 and a 8800GT which have proven very adequate at running UE3 games before. Wooptidoo! This game is going to be way too awesome.

Next reviews coming over the upcoming weeks, depends on how much work I'll have. Maybe something older, maybe Assassin's Creed, depends on which game I beat first - that or Condemned.

In other GRAND news, I'll be seeing OPETH live on November 11th in Tel Aviv. I really can't wait - they're my favorite band. Next friday I'll be at a Korpiklaani show. Life is sweet.

Saw District 9 the other night. This is without a doubt one of the finest movies I've ever seen. Yeah, this whole aliens-speaking-noisish-but-understanding-English-and-people-speaking-English-but-understanding-noisish was kind of silly, but the concept, and the political statement, and its criticism against human nature - it's all very powerful and emotionally engaging. I wrapped up watching the movie feeling part ashamed, part despaired and part apocalyptic. I'd recommend watching it as soon as possible if you haven't already! Click here for a trailer. This is an amazing debut for Neil Blokmamp, and I can't wait to see what he does next, especially if he retains a contract with Peter Jackson as producer.

***SPOILER***

Anyways, have an awesome, peaceful, rainy week everyone!

People can be darn stubborn, and unfairly hard to please. Note to Raven Software: You've done nothing wrong.

I've been playing Wolfenstein for a while now and I'm pretty sure I'm about to beat it as the game says I'm over %80 done. I've been enjoying this wonderful game to no end, but surfing the internet and reading others' opinions, I find myself baffled at some of the responses I've seen. People have been dismissing the game as average and mediocre if not even downright bad, for reasons that I (mostly) find hard to accept.

Let me start with artificial intelligence, as this is the main gripe that I, and many others, have with the game. The AI, as stated by many others, is a bit… indifferent, I'd say. They can take their sweet time realizing you're standing right beside them and with the exception of them making good use of cover, their in-battle behavior is quite basic. On top of that, the graphics really are hit-or-miss. Sometimes the game can be quite attractive with dramatic lighting and well-animated enemies, but it can also look quite dated, especially when exploring some of the ins and outs of Isenstadt itself.

But, if there's one thing that I don't agree with people doing, it is blaming Raven for being unoriginal. Yes, the game has little to no innovation in it, but that's part of the whole thing. With the exception of then-astonishing graphics and enemies that could climb ladders (I'm not talking multiplayer here), what was so innovative about the praised Return to Castle Wolfenstein? Nazi zombies? Please…

I said it many times before and I'm going to say it again – games do NOT have to be original and innovative in order for them to be enjoyable. Hell, people have been playing Call of Duty 2 with different skins since 2005 on a yearly basis and I don't hear one eighth the complaints that I see about Wolfenstein, and those games had infinite respawns. Did Gears of War bring anything particularly new to the table? No. It refined the gameplay of one kill.switch and made it look and feel really great.

Now, Raven has done innovative stuff in the past, with the best example being the successful implementation of a third-person perspective to what is essentially a first-person shooter (see: Heretic II), but man – if there's one thing these guys can do, it's make action feel, sound and look good. And that is exactly what they've done with Wolfenstein. So yes, it doesn't break any new ground and it isn't always the prettiest kid in town. Screw that – this game is pure, unadulterated nostalgic fun, and for creating this pure, unadulterated nostalgic fun, Raven Software deserves some kudos.

My review will be coming soon. Thanks for taking the time and reading my blog. Now, for some questions:

1) Did you play Wolfenstein?
2) What did you think of it?
3) Do you believe games should be original and/or innovative if they want to be fun?