Back in June of 2007, Petri Purho released a prototype of a game called Crayon Physics. The goal of the game was to move the red ball so that it collects the stars. To get the red ball to move, you had to draw physical objects and cause the objects to interact with the ball.

The game quickly became popular shortly after Petri released a video on YouTube, which in turn, caused hundreds of clones to be made and released.

Petri worked on the game as much as he could, and in February of 2008, Crayon Physics Deluxe won the Independent Games Festival Grand Prize. He has been working hard, and long, for this game to finally reach an official release date, which is January 7, 2009.

We were lucky enough to get a copy of this game, and let me tell ya, it's fantastic. After playing for just a few minutes, you can see why it became so popular and spawned so many fakes. The level play is addictive, and even if you fail to finish a level, you keep trying, as the game traps your attention.

With over 70 levels built in, and a level editor, the gameplay is nearly endless. And for only $20, it's well worth the spend.

Be sure to go to CrayonPhysics.com and pre-order your copy today.

The first sentence explains it all, when you break out the rules: "CON! is the game of becoming the most popular person at a convention, much like the one you bought this game at".

Con is a card game. It's not your standard, run of the mill, trading card game either. It takes sitting around a table with a bunch of friends, throws in some witty banter, funny mental images and nukes, and combines them into one hell of a deck of cards (Or 1 in my case).

The end-goal of CON! is to win the most points by gaining Character cards from the other players' decks. You can achieve this goal by using things such as a "Squeak Toy Guitar", or having Seppuku as a hobby. Each character card has a rule, and each one is different. There are some characters that will only "talk" to the oldest player, and some who like players who have the most "stuff". You can figure out what is worth more, by looking at the point value at the bottom of every card.

One of my favorites is the "Freakness" card that simply states "Felony Conviction for Hunting Cows out of Season".

Since this is just a preview, I will just tell you to come to the forum, and mention the game if you would like more information on where to buy it.

Monster Mayhem (c) White Wolf

I recently play tested a new board game call Monster Mayhem. Created by White Wolf Game Studio, the same people that brought you such great titles as Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, and Mage the Ascension. However, this game wasn't based on their World of Darkness setting. It was set in some miscellaneous town that just happened to have an infestation of all your standard, run-of-the-mill monsters.

The price tag on this piece of trash is ridiculous, at a suggested $44.95. Luckily, one of my friends was fortunate enough to be loaned a copy to play test and we both agreed that this game was by far the worst board game we had played in recent memory. All in all, my official rating for Monster Mayhem is a 2 out of 10. Outside of the main concept, this game isn't worth the cardboard its printed on.

Monster Mayhem (c) White Wolf

I recently play tested a new board game call Monster Mayhem. Created by White Wolf Game Studio, the same people that brought you such great titles as Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, and Mage the Ascension. However, this game wasn't based on their World of Darkness setting. It was set in some miscellaneous town that just happened to have an infestation of all your standard, run-of-the-mill monsters.

The price tag on this piece of trash is ridiculous, at a suggested $44.95. Luckily, one of my friends was fortunate enough to be loaned a copy to play test and we both agreed that this game was by far the worst board game we had played in recent memory. All in all, my official rating for Monster Mayhem is a 2 out of 10. Outside of the main concept, this game isn't worth the cardboard its printed on.

Super Mario Brothers 3

I recently purchased SMB3, Zelda, and Super Mario 64 for my Wii and spent a delightful afternoon with my girlfriend remembering all the hidden corners of the games. We might as well have been recalling pop refrences from our childhoods, except I'm 9 years older than her so any references to grunge, early hip-hop, or flannel shirts would have been utterly lost on her.

Super Mario Brothers 3

First and foremost, Super Mario Brothers 3: This game is absolutely gorgeous and, despite it being an 8 bit game, it still looks great on my 42" plasma. It also has some of the most engaging game-play of any side scrolling platform game. The sheer number of power-ups is amazing: racoon tail, frog suit, the flying P, and my personal favorite, the Kuribo shoe. There's also certain amount of choice in which way you choose to play a world: Do you finish every level or shortcut it to the castle?

Contra: Simple, straight forward, wicked fun. I'd call it a shoot-em up. There's a wonderful variety of power-ups for your gun, and if you run into trouble you can always use the code at the beginning of this article.

Super Mario 64: This game is massive. When I played it again, I was astonished at just how massive it is. Each level can be played as many times as you like, you can spend 20 mins just faffing about, not doing any of the "missions" to collect stars. It's incredibly open ended and has so many hidden zones that it's almost beyond me how any one who didn't use google to find them, could finish the game. Super Mario Galaxy may be getting all the buzz right now, but it's older sibling still has a lot to offer.

Super Mario World: Ok so another Mario game? YES, can I help it if Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto are geniuses? The game is a beautiful evolution of the gameplay concepts established in SMB3, but they take full advantage of those extra 8 bits the SNES provided. The visuals are beautiful, Mario takes on a slightly pudgier texture and though it lost some of the quirkier power-ups from SMB3, it's the only game that featured Yoshi that I didn't dislike. Maybe it's just me, but the idea of Yoshi as the protagnoist of his own game rubbed me the wrong way. Can anyone image if Chris Nolan had directed "Robin Begins"?

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: My all time favorite Zelda game, period. It consumed me when I was 14 and first played it all the way through, and I fear it's consuming me all over again, since I bought it for my Wii. "Damn you Miyamoto!" The game, like many of the ones mentioned above, is huge. You play in a very large world that has it's mirror version, the dark world and such wonderful secrets as the Chris Houlihan room*.

^{*Google It :-)}

I thought I might as well hit all both of these at the same time because they make the same exact impression on me...THEY'RE JUST SEQUELS!!!!

I get the fact that RedOctane wants to milk this great game for all it's worth, but they're not only killing it, but they're raping it, torturing it and give it multiple STD's. I remember when Guitar Hero first came out, it was a great concept: press the right buttons and at the same time you strum the guitar (mostly because I can't play a real guitar to save my life *sniffle*).

The 2nd game came out and I thought "It's the same thing, just different songs". Then, they came out with the 3rd. Sadly it just started rolling downhill from there.

In a nutshell, it's the EXACT SAME DAMN THING!!! Besides the fact that the star power is now on the sides of the board. The designers said "fuck it, let's place all the songs you get in the game and place them all in the quickplay". Thus, giving us absolutely NO POINT TO PLAY THE CAREER!!!" unless of course you want to play as a few other characters (santanna, ect.)

While I was playing these games with a few friends of mine, I realized that not only is this game going downhill, I'll still probably end up buying another one, due to the fact that I just want a new challenge with these games. Then I realized that I don't even listen to the music anymore. I just play the controller to the beats, try to get up to 5 stars (which isn't all that hard anymore) and the rest of the game is just a lot of lights and noise. Kinda sad when a gamer starts realizing this.

I give these games a B, not because they're sequels of the game, but they're the exact same concept except with new instruments from previous games. If you've played it before, you just play and not appreciate the game you're given by the designers who actually try to put this game together. Sorry RedOctane, you make great games, but try something new.

While I was at Gen Con in August, I happened upon a booth where they were demonstrating a character generator called Hero Lab. Now, my first reaction was "Okay, big deal, it's yet another character generator that is going to be more trouble than its worth". However, the gentlemen giving the demonstration was kind enough me let try it out first hand.

I was amazed at just how user friendly it was, and how in-depth its features were. It was simply amazing. One of the coolest features I found was that it not only supports the d20 system, but also World of Darkness and Mutants & Masterminds.

You can download a free demo version on their website (www.wolflair.com). The full version is thirty dollars, which isn't bad considering what all you get with it, plus any updates to the program.

The nice folks over at Lone Wolf Developement also have two other programs I haven't had a chance to check out. The first one is Army Builder, which is a tool for miniatures based games such as Warhammer. The other is Card Vault which is a tool designed to help keep track of TCG cards and collectable minatures.

I hope everyone checks out Hero Lab and enjoys it as much as I have and keep an eye out for Army Builder and Card Vault.

I heard about this game from Game Informer a LONG time ago and at the time I couldn't wait to see what I could do on it, but then after a YEAR of waiting I finally got around to finally playing it!!! XP

First: The basics. A normal package carrier living in New York is able to jump from building to building as your everyday 'Spiderman' ((before he even gets his powers)), making him the perfect mail carrier (and yes, people really do climb up buildings and jump from roof to roof and emergency staircases to do this stuff. When you have talent, why not do what you love ).  He then gets nosey and decides to open a package just for it to literally blow up in his face. By the time the dust settles, he finds himself in the middle of a huge crater with electric powers. Now, given the decision that we all so desperately always want in a game, the choice to do a good deed or the evil one, you need to either save the people or tell them to go fuck themselves and bow down before me.

He can jump from buildings and glide through the air with electricity, or skate on top of power lines as well as chain people up with...electric handcuffs? By the end of the game you realize that the creators of this game weren't making it to let people choose their fates, but rather to make you play the game twice and allow you to get the cool prizes at the end (the prize of being good SUCKS compared to the arc red lightning you get from being the evil).

After a while, with so many choices of good or bad, no grey area is what I don't like about it. In one of the first missions, you have to save a large food crate that was dropped in to the people, but it got stuck. Using your capabilities to climb walls, hang from poles and all around 'Spiderman' your way up there, you get 2 choices: Drop the crate and let the people get it; Or take the entire crate for yourself and kill everyone below you. Why not just take the crate and laugh as people are asking "Hey, where's he going with the food?"

I'm not a bad guy, but I can't help but do the evil stuff over the good. Later thinking, maybe I took things a little too far there.

After the game is over you get your 2 choices and you get to play it over as either the good or bad guy all over again to see what could have happened as the opposite half.

Not a bad game at all, but many moral dilemmas, I give this game an A-.

You’re crouched in a bush beside your favorite red-headed Scottish sniper watching thru the foliage. Finally you spot him, the last SS officer in the Nazi camp. You nudge the sniper and she gives a slight nod raising her rifle and zeroing in on him. With a crack she fires putting a shot straight thru him and he falls to the ground turning the snow red. Well, that’s that…wait…

Three blue circles appear on the ground and you groan to yourself as you see two squads of zombies and a squad of bloodclan vampires appear.

Crap, so much for this being an easy mission.

That’s the idea behind Operation Darkness, Atlus’s new turn-based strategy game for the 360. The idea shows great promise, however Atlus dropped the ball greatly on it. (Ok, Japanese studio Success developed the game and Atlus just imported it to the US)

The first major issue, and perhaps one of the most frustrating, is that the camera control is HORRID. It is difficult to control the angle and zoom. Losing site of your own allies is easily done, but keeping track of your enemies and making sure that you have a line of site on them is near impossible.

This brings up the next issue, unlike many other such turn-based strategy games you cannot start to move a character and then see their attack range or cancel the move when you realize that you don’t want to move there. Once you select an action, that’s it it’s done. Now I can kind of understand that, however when you combine that with the fact you tend to lose track of whom and what are where, it sucks.

Another glaring issue I have with this game is the graphics. You are putting this game on the Xbox 360 so let’s make use of some of its graphical capabilities. The graphics look like a mid-aged Xbox game, not a newer 360 game. During the “cut-scenes” between story battles you get a fixed 2d picture background with fixed images for the characters, rather like cardboard cutouts or comic book pictures.

Ok so enough ranting about the bad, even though I’m sure I can come up with more, and see what the game does have good … um … It has 2 characters on your team that are werewolves ... umm … the battle system itself is actually pretty good … umm … did I mention the werewolves (Yes that’s one of the main reasons I bought it :P ), Oh and you have a character that is pretty much Jack the Ripper!. Yea, ok, I’ll be honest if your really want to try the game just try to borrow it from a friend or rent it.

Prototype

GeekGirlsOnline Game Review - Prototype

trying to protect his sister. The storyline is pretty straight foreward, seeing as I basically explained it just now. Not only do you have to look out for military units having the natural human response of killing anything that looks, but isn't human, as well as killing all those that were also infected, basically both halves of what you seem to be. As you go through the story you get to shapeshift, not only into people you consume, but change your limbs into blades, claws talons (even though most likely you're gonna keep using the extendo arm with a really long distance reach, ability to grab and not to mention LITERALLY being able to cut people in half) and if that doesn't work you can always steal a soldier's weapon and use it, or hijack a tank or a helicopter which you can find practically ANYWHERE in the game.

As well as the killing, Alex goes around eating people and taking their memories to try and piece together what the hell is happening and how he can stop the entire city from being blown to hell by the military, from you being that much of a threat. If running on the streets doesn't work, you can steal a vehicle or run up city buildings or even slit your wrists and glide through the air with your powers. The game all in all, just suped up the guy who doesn't even remember his own past, going around destroying all of manhattan and taking the looks of other people...anyone else see the problem here?

It's a one-track game. There are side missions and everything, but guess what they are mostly about? That's right: KILLING AND/OR CONSUMING!!! Sure, there's the running and jumping and gliding side missions as well, but if you jump and drop from one 200 story building, landing on the street, making a huge crater and destroying everything around you, you've jumped from them all.

I give this game a B+. Great graphics and funny as hell with the many ways to kill, but like I said, a one track game.

Do you dare to play the game that makes you wanna slap the hell out of the next person you see?

OpenGL will forever be best, as long as companies still use DirectX.

Remember when movie games were awesome? You don't? Well, neither do I.

"One shall stand...One shall fall."

Made by: Activision in association with Hasbro

Based on: The Movie "Transformers" (Paramount & Dreamworks - 2007) as directed by Michael Bay

Available Formats: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, XBox, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PC CD-Rom

Plot

The planet Cybertron is at war.  The participants are opposing factions of sentient robots with the ability to change their appearance and disquise themelves in some sort of vehicular form.  The Autobots (the good guys) are lead by the powerful and benevolent Optimus Prime.  The Decepticons (the bad guys) are lead by the equally powerful and malevolent Megatron.  Their war has raged for millenia and in the course of which, both sides have lost the All Spark, a powerful and ancient cube-shaped artifact which was responsible for the birth of this mechanical race of shape-changers.  A centuries long search ensues during which time the All Spark has made its way through the Cosmos to Earth.  Now the battle continues here as the Autobots and the Decepticons race to locate the All Spark and claim victory once and for all over their enemies.

Gameplay

"Transformers: The Game" allows the option for players to run one of the two campaigns.

The Autobots: Players control popular franchise characters (and their alternate forms) Bumblebee (a Camaro), Jazz (a Pontiac Solstice), Ironhide (a GMC 4x4), and Optimus Prime (a big-rig semi cab) as they protect young Sam Witwicky who has unknowing possession of the key to locating the All Spark, while safeguarding humanity at large from the imminent threat of Megatron and the Decepticons.

The Decepticons: Players control the equally popular Blackout (an MH33 Pave Low Helicopter), Barricade (a Selene model police car), Scorponok (a robotic scorpion), Starscream (an F22 Raptor jet) and the mighty Megatron (a Cybertronian high-altitude jet fighter) as they seek to tear the world apart in search of the All Spark so that they can remake the universe in their image.

Each campaign is broken into 6 chapters which are in turn broken down into missions (ie: Rescue Bumblebee from Sector 7 agents) that take you through highly detailed renderings of key movie settings (the town of tranquility, Hoover Dam, the US air base in Qatar) which are almost fully destructible.  The object of each is simple: succeed so that you can move on to the next part of the relevant campaign.  During each mission you will fullfill the assigned tasks which will often include battle with opposing human forces or transformers of the opposing faction while changing back and forth between vehicular and robot modes as needed.

The key difference between playing the two factions is that as the Autobots, the challenge is to complete the various segments with a minimal amount of damage to the surroundings or friendly forces (ie: the human military and police forces).  As the Decepticons, destruction and mayhem is more freely encouraged, however as a result the required battle situations tend to be a bit more challenging than for that of Optimus and his ilk.

Bonus Content: the game itself has a host of bonus content (ie: movie stills, trailers, character bios, playable alternate skins) which can be unlocked by a variety of methods including the completion of each mission:

Collect Energon Cubes / Faction Symbols: There are 100 glowing energon cubes and 5 Autobot/Decepticon faction symbols hidden within each chapter setting that can be collected at anytime.  Bonus content is unlocked for each 15 energon cubes or all 5 faction symbols.

Skills: There are various skill points that can be earned (ie: Speed, Throw, Jump, Destruction) which can be completed by performing certain tasks (ie: driving as fast as possible along a city road) and holding that task for at least 5 seconds.

Complete Sub-Missions: Within each chapter there are 4 optional sub mission types (scavenger, attack, sumo, etc...) depending on your faction.  These are sort of mini-games, often on a time limit, and with each one completed additional bonus content is made available.

Pros

The gameplay is easy to get a handle on with relatively simple melee attack options and vehicle controls.  The near fully destructible settings are rendered in great detail as are the characters and you really get a feel for just how large and heavy (yet graceful and fluid moving) these beings are as they scale buildings, pick up and throw vehicles at their enemies, and jump across busy freeway overpasses.  The effects and chapter vignettes are of near movie quality with the likes of Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Frank Welker (Megatron), Keith David (Barricade) and Shia LaBeouf (Sam) lending their voices to this project.

Cons

The gameplay is easy to get a handle on with relatively simple melee attack options and vehicle controls.  While the POV is almost always fixed on the rear of the player character during battle situations, occassionally the angle slips and gets obscured by a large tree or building at a time that can be very inconvenient.  The physics don't quite make sense all the time as little Jazz will easy barrell past a tank and flip it off its treads while in vehicle mode, while the hulking semi truck mode of Optimus tends to get hung up on a traffic light that's been knocked down across the street in front of him.

Summary

On the plus side, if you are a fan of the franchise (as I was having grown up in the 80s) or a fan of the new movie, this game definitely has its moments and certainly makes for a good time waster.  Watching Optimus Prime jump from roof top to roof top in the big city is a thing of beauty and some of the sub missions are challenging enough to keep you entertained for a bit as you try to get through them.

On the downside, the controls aren't terribly sophisticated, making remote set ups like that for the Wii a bit of a headache to use.  The camera angles aren't always the most friendly and the night scenes can make the gameplay a bit frustrating (although it makes the cubes are super easy to spot) with darker shaded characters to keep track of like Barricade.  The biggest dissapointment of all however is the short-sightedness of the designers to not allow for a multi-player mode and satisfy the long standing debates as to who is stronger or better - Optimus or Megatron - by allowing you and your best friend to put these great titans head to head instead of the single player set-up it is now where the game itself has control of one or the other.

Basically, unless you're a die hard fan or collector, save your money and rent it.  A few days is about all you should need to get through this one...both ways.

Made by: Nintendo

Available Formats: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Game Cube

Caution: Spoilers may follow

Plot

Gameplay

Twilight Princess is the 14th installment of the popular Legend of Zelda series and is a follow up to Ocarina of Time (although was originally developed under the working title The Wind Waker II).  You are Link (with the option to select a character name of your own choosing), starting the game in human form at an age approximate to your mid-teens and as in past versions, you have your faithful equine companion, Epona (who's name you may also change for gameplay) to help you get around during much of the early stages of the game.  Link has two personas in this game, each with their own pros and cons:

It should be noted as well that initially, Human Link is exclusively played in 'day' segments of Hyrule and Wolf Link is exclusive to the 'shadow' settings.  However the opportunity does come up sometime later in the game where you will be able to change back and forth between the two at will which becomes extremely helpful in later stages and all but makes Epona unnecessary.

There are a number of beautifully rendered areas (day and twilit versions) to explore and many faces familiar to series fans to encounter (the moutain dwelling Goron and water dwelling Zora, for example).  Fans will also find many familiar enemies to pummell upon (ie: the ghostly Poes, keese, deku babas, walltulas and bokoblins), as well as a host of new denizens exclusive to this latest Link adventure.  As is typical in versions past, important items found in dungeon exploration become key in getting through the various Boss and Mid-boss battles and there are a host of mini dungeons to explore (for battle or profit) and mini-games / quests which will yield items when completed that will be immensely useful as the game progresses.

Summary

Granted this isn't exactly Halo 3  or Final Fantasy XII; and in fact between the classic platform fighting moves and arsenal of tools and toys at your disposal its very much like Super Mario Bros meets James Bond in appearance.  Still for the fans of this long standing franchise, all you could hope for from a Zelda adventure is present with Twilight Princess and then some.  

The graphics continue to improve with each new release and Twilight Princess is no exception.  The care the designers take in the finer details is apparent. The backgrounds are richly detailed and the camera movements are very fluid and the battles are very quick paced compared to Link's earlier adventures.  The sun is positively blinding when the camera angle is moved to the sky during mid day and Wolf Link even stretches and yawns not unlike the family dog when you allow the character to idle for any period.  Even the cinematic at the beginning while the game waits for the "start" button to be selected is more like a movie trailer than a screen saver.   

The dungeons are suitably challenging as are many of the boss battles and mini-games.  Being very much a plot driven game, many aspects, items and locations can only be discovered, used or unlocked in due course.  However there is enough going on once things have progressed a little to allow the player to move quite freely around Hyrule and battle the resident baddies, hunt for heart peices or Poes, or even hold up and do a spot of fishing if one is so inclined.  There is a world of familiar characters providing fond tie-ins to adventures past as well as some fascinating new ones that I hope we will get to see again in future versions.   

In fact, the only real con as far as gameplay or format is that free camera control is available only for the Game Cube via the 'C' control stick.  If you are playing this on the Wii, you will unfortunately have to pretty much settle for the defaul angles as offered: the remote not providing near the flexibility of a more standard control set up.

It took me a good 60 hours of real time to get through this one and there was quite a bit I didn't do in the way of item collecting or side trips and tasks.  To me this is one of the best franchises out there.  Each adventure builds on the last expanding the characters and world in a very natural way.  As the technology improves, so does the game play and Twilight Princess keeps up on the Zelda tradition in fine style.  If you've been living in a cave for the last 20 years and have never hack and slashed your way with Link through a horde of Chu Chus, this is a fine one to cut your teeth on.  If you are like me and have played every adventure since the original Intellevision 2D platform version in the mid 80s, Twilight Princess will most definitely not disappoint.

I give this game an A, way too good to be an A- not only from the fights and ways to take them down, but the detailed work. Not good enough for A+ because even though you want to look at everything in actual view, you can't help but look at everything in X-Ray vision, so you don't get blind sighted by a shooting thug (By the way, if you get shot a few times, not even Batman's bulletproof vest can protect him for more than a few seconds.)

...Ok...I think i have OFFICIALLY lost any hope for humanity/my sanity that i had left. First off, like Darksiders in my other review, This is a COMPLETE remake of God of War 2!!!! Except the only difference here is that one was actually worth playing (i'll give you 3 guesses and 2 of them don't count).

Being the biased game player I am (shut up, I am!!!) I decided to write my next review on the sequal to the splinter cell, the new FPS that has come out that everyone, including me (not really) has been looking forward to...ok, so I didn't have time to look at the games I was handed until last minute, kiss my lazy fat ass >.<, anyway, this might be my last review for a little while seeing as i'm bout to get shipped out next month, so hopefully I get to redeem myself with a new issue of geekzine next month...or you get to see my obituary...which ever comes first...on a slightly lighter note (VERY slight) on to the review.

Splinter cell conviction was an interesting play to say the best for it. Starts out with explaining how his daughter died in the past, how he no longer works for his former job and how he no longer has any problems with being killed at any second while he's in another country cause mercenaries obviously stick to their own jurisdictions XP. Basic breakdown of the game: new boss of the company wants to kill president, become new president (because when all else fails, let the guy who killed the leader become the new leader) and when all good and done they decide to fuck up by trying to kill the one guy who can possibly fuck them over (who also has NO FUCKIN CLUE ABOUT IT) and try to kill him, thinking that he couldn't possibly hold a grudge over the guys trying to kill him and try to take them out himself...fuckin morons...

The gameplay is a piece of sh- no wait, the gameplay is more like the smell of sh-...no, the gameplay is more like the fume of the smell you can see when you look at a huge pile of dog shit on a hot texas summer day...yeah, that about sums it up. You try to jump a wall you have to aim at a specific point on the wall to allow him to do it, otherwise you might just open the door next to it that leads to a room of gunmen you want to completely fuckin avoid at the time, the melee attacks are so overpowered, you sneak up on a guy from behind, hit the btton and no matter how hard you hit him, no matter with what blunt instrument you have in your hand (back of a gun, a nightstick, machettee, (or in many cases for people on this site) your own cocks) the guy goes down without a fight.

The gun enhancements are basic upgrades (though I fail to see the reason to put a friggen silencer on half the fuckin weapons) and the AI is as shitty as on HALO3, always the first to shout out insults in a room they clearly know that an enemy will be aiming at their heads, which is another thing, the fuckin shooting, in this one you just tell the guy where to sneek and he sneeks there without you actually moving him, or tell him who to shoot and he goes ahead and shoots them, you're suppose to shoot them yourself, not let the AI do it, which is the point of a friggen SHOOTING GAME!!! It like in Final Fantasy (any version) where you can't dodge on your own or anything, cause that'd be too much of a friggen advantage, no, you have to wait there, let the guy hit you (hoping he'll miss instead) and try to fuck him over when your turn flies around...

C+, because due to my unbiased opinion on FPS games (SHUT UP, I AM!!!) I try to give this game a point curve from failing to at least passing up and out of my class so I can fuck up the next one in line...NEXT!!!

Resident Evil 5 isn't exactly the best, but the graphics and storyline of the game is truly epic. It is about betrayal, loyalty and above all, staying the hell alive while protecting each other. Like most 2 player games, if one dies, you both die.

Resident Evil 5 review by Negi

As the majorly detailed characters fight their way through gator-filled swamps, an old ancient temple, barren gem filled deserts and, of course, the huge tech lab where it all starts, you can't help but feel a little...less tense than the previous games made you feel. Don't get me wrong, if a couple of zomibes ran up at me with a pick-ax and their mouths splitting open like off of a "Predator" movie, I'd probably shit my pants too, but to do it in the middle of the desert and swamps? In broad daylight?

It's like the previous games, sure, with great looking effects and weapons to boot...but now it's with the lights on! I think they killed what made Resident Evil a scary game. Shocking? Sure. Especially with the bosses, and the ability to hurt yourself with your own bombs. Using one recovery for two people kicks ass. I assume the programmers thought "Hey, if one of them is about to die, why not heal them both instead of wasting a perfectly good bottle to recover half a health bar?" With only a couple of nighttime scenes, or dark area scenes, it kind of defeats the purpose here.

Even so, the game is totally worth being played over and over again: shooting the zombies, blasting off diamonds for even more bad-ass weaponry and of course, the EXTREMLY hot AI chacter you get to play with, depending on your preference of course. RE5 is full of logic, action, puzzles, and different bosses that are so unbelievable in design that you don't really wanna kill out of pure awe of the thing.

Unfortunately, as the storyline continues, the game is made more like a movie than a video game. As you play, you have to deal with the cut-scenes as well as just wanting to kill something to see what it'll look like. As you fight off miners, indians, giant bat/scorpion creatures and your own soldiers, you'll find that you enjoy placing a bullet right between their eyes, and if that doesn't work, you could always stomp off it's head or stab him in the heart.

I give this game a B+, not exactly the best shooter game I've ever played, but definately worth playing.

This guide will help you to be able to create, launch and run your very own Mu Online Server. The files that are located in this guide are provided by CoderzFactory.org and are custom done by one of the Coders Named Endi. If configured properly you should experience no bugs or issues with these files. This will give you full Season 3 Episode 1 files. The Season 3 Episode 2 files are currently being worked on and a guide with the files contained in it will be released soon. I hope you find these enjoyable, and to your liking.

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This procedure has been tested 3 times.

Result => Everything works fine, no crashes (3 whole days up with 2 users online).

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The files in this guide are all made by Endi and released by CoderzFactory.org. I just packed the files and the most recent updates (till 2j) in one archive so it'll be easier to use. I also put a backup database for the Event Server though Endi recommended to use only 2 Databases - MuOnline and Ranking (its better organized and works just as good). The only files edited by me are the shops (I was too lazy to download Endi's :P ).

OK, so let's begin! I hope I won't bore you so much :).

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Step 1:

Download the package from here - http://rapidshare.com/files/131904399/MuServer.rar.html

Next you move the file to C:\ (Optional) and extract like this: Right mouse button=>Extract to Mu Server.

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Step 2: Note: I assume that you have MS SQL Server 2005 installed (I'll add help for it later).

Now, open Enterprise Manager and create a new database as follows:

Microsoft SQL Servers=>SQL Server Group=>(local)=>Databases

Right click on Databases=>New Database...=>Name: MuOnline=> Press OK

Repeat this until you have these 3 databases:

MuOnline

Ranking

MU2003_EVENT_DATA

(Note: Don't close the Enterprise Manager)

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Step 3:

Next you have to restore the databases from the files located in C:\MuServer\DB Backup. How to do that you ask? It's simple, no...

Right click MuOnline (the database)=>All Tasks=>Restore Database

A new window should appear. Do the following:

(In General) Press the "From device" option=> Select Devices=>Add=>In the "File name:" put C:\MuServer\DB Backup\MuOnline=>Press OK(x2)=>Now go to "Options" (look at the upper left corner)=>Check "Force restore over existing database"=>Click "MuOnline_Data" and put C:\MuServer\MuServer\DB (do the same with MuOnline_Log).=> Click OK

You have to repeat the same procedure with the other 2 databases, just replacing MuOnline with Ranking and MU2003_EVENT_DATA.

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Step 4:

In the folder C:\MuServer\DB Backup there is a file called ODBC.reg. Run it=>Click Yes.

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Step 5:

Now we have to change some IPs. To check your IP go HERE and copy your IP.

You need to change all the 87.121.31.79 to your IP in these files:

C:\MuServer\ConnectServer\Data\ServerInfo.dat

C:\MuServer\ConnectServer\Data\ServerList.dat (don't remove the ")

C:\MuServer\Data\lang\kor\commonloc.cfg

C:\MuServer\Data\commonserver.cfg (there are 4 IPs here)

C:\MuServer\Data\IpList.dat (don't remove the ")

C:\MuServer\Data\MapServerInfo.dat (don't remove the S in front of the IP)

C:\MuServer\DataServer\AllowableIPList.txt (type it like "T H I S" not like "T.H.I.S")

C:\MuServer\DataServer1\AllowableIPList.txt (type it like "T H I S" not like "T.H.I.S")

Now to replace the 87.121.31.79 in some of the shortcuts that are located in C:\MuServer\link.

Press right mouse button and you will see the IP on the line "Target":

06-JoinServer.exe (don't remove the "ca" in front of the IP)

09-Exdb.exe

10-ChatServer.exe

11-Gameserver

12-GameServerCS

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Step 6:

You also have to change the SQL account and password to yours in these files: (change "sa" to your SQL account or leave it as default and 600944 to your SQL password)

C:\MuServer\EVENT_SERVER\DATA\svconfig.ini

C:\MuServer\RANKING_SERVER\svconfig.ini

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Step 7:

To configure your server rates go to:

C:\MuServer\Data\commonserver.cfg

There you will find all the rates to change to your desired ones.

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Step 8:

To start your server you will have to run all the shortcuts in

C:\MuServer\link

Start them in this order:

1 - 00-DataServer

2 - 01-DataServer

3 - 05-ConnectServer.exe

4 - 06-JoinServer.exe

5 - 07-Event.exe

6 - 08-Ranking.exe

7 - 09-Exdb.exe

8 - 10-ChatServer.exe

9 - 11-Gameserver

10 - 12-GameServerCS

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Note: Though you are finished with setting up your server you can't enter it without the proper client.

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Step 9:

To enter your server you need the following files:

1.02R+ Full Client http://muweb.nefficient.co.kr/muweb/MU1_02R+_Full.zip

1.04J Patch (extract to Client folder) ftp://muonline.nefficient.co.kr/pub/muonline/MU1_04j_Patch.zip

My Patch (extract to Client folder) http://rapidshare.com/files/131913753/Local.rar.html

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Step 10:

You must edit this main.exe http://rapidshare.com/files/136116510/main.rar.html with THIS > http://seeitworks.com/index.php?dir=Editors/hexedit/ hex editor.

Find 87.121.31.79 and replace it with your IP.

Your other option would be to use the Sky Team’s Launcher builder, however this is not recommended.

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Step 11 Note: Only for router users!

Put your default gateway in the internet explorer and open these ports:

44405

55901

If you need help with finding out how to open your ports, I would suggest http://www.portforward.com as it contains useful information for most common routers.

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After that simply run main.exe!

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Expect Sub-Server guide soon.

All credits go to Endi and CoderzFactory for their wonderful server files

Hope this guide will be helpful! Any problems or Concerns that you may have with these files, you may contact me or go directly to CoderzFactory to obtain your help.