Our StarCraft II Collector’s Edition has finally arrived! Cheers Finnish mail system for the late delivery!

Now let’s take a look what this box has store in for us!

Our StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector’s Edition hasn’t arrived yet. So let’s take a quick look at the Normal Edition box and it’s contents!

Stay tuned for Collector’s Edition version! Also, sorry about the quality of this video.. My video camera sucks..

For those who were wondering, the StarCraft II Guest Pass key lasts for 7 hours of game time or 14 days from activation (whichever comes first).

It’s been a while since my last video game review so now it’s the perfect time to review Alan Wake for the Xbox 360.

Keeping it short, Alan Wake is a third-person psychological action thriller. You take control of a famous thriller writer named Alan Wake as he tries to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of his wife who went missing while on their vacation in a small town named Bright Falls. But that’s not going to be a walk in the park because some kind of dark force has awakened in Bright Falls and starts to cause havoc. This dark force is somehow linked to Alan and his “unwritten latest novel”.

Plot
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
When I started to play Alan Wake, the plot immediately sucked me right in and every time I played, I wanted to learn more about all the mysteries that surrounded the dark force and the disappearance of Alan’s wife Alice. The game starts off with no explanation at all and as you progress further in the game, all the mysteries will start to unfold before your eyes. Granted, there were some things that I didn’t quite understand and especially the ending (which I won’t spoil) left me confused.

I’m sure that some of my questions would be answered if I would have found all the transcripts that are scattered all around Bright Falls as they give out all sorts of info and explain things about the plot.

Gameplay
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
As stated, the game is played in third-person mode. You take control of Alan Wake as he investigates all these strange events and fights off with people and objects that have been possessed by the dark force. The game is mostly linear, telling you to go from point A to point B, but that doesn’t stop you from investigating the surroundings, which is often needed if you want to find all the transcripts and collectibles. You can also interact with other people who can give you some hints.

When combat kicks in, the most important weapon that you need is light. With things like flashlights and flares, you can make your enemies back away and shatter the darkness that shields them from harm. When the shield is shattered, you can kill your enemies with various guns that you pick up while on your journey. So the combat mostly consists of pointing light at your enemies, shooting them and dodging their attacks. The combat is nice and fun, but sometimes the dodge move can get on your nerves because you can’t dodge while moving, you have to be completely still. That may be nitpicking, but even in normal mode, one weak enemy can pretty much hack and slash 50% of your health away if your dodge move fails.

Graphics
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Alan Wake’s graphics are extremely well-done, especially all the landscapes. With high graphics, it’s also vital for the game to run smoothly. I don’t recall ever having any problems with low fps while playing, even when all sorts of crap was happening on the screen. I especially loved the moments when you were in a dark forest and it was windy and foggy, it really fits the creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately I have to take some points away from the awful lip syncing. Sometimes the characters look like muppets when they are talking.

Sound
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Alan Wake delivers when it comes to sound effects and voice acting. Especially the voice acting is well-done, I don’t recall ever cringing from badly delivered lines. The music might not be quite as memorable, but it gets the job done.

Last Words
Alan Wake is an exceptionally good when it comes to plot and quality. Although the game could use some little tweaking here and there, it’s still a game that should not be ignored and forgotten. The game is a horror game, but it’s not “Doom-3-zombie-jump-in-the-face-scary”, I would say that it’s more like “ooh-that’s-freaky” scary. There were only a few moments that made me jump just a little bit, but that’s all. I recommend Alan Wake to horror game fans and anyone who is looking for a game with a good plot.

Overall Rating: 4.13 out of 5 stars

+ Addicting plot
+ Great atmosphere and graphics
+ Good voiceacting
- Combat could use some tweaking
- Minor plot holes

Hi.

Hey everyone! Since I am on a “video break,” I decided to answer some of the questions that people ask me all the time. So here we go!

Q: Where do you get your addons?
A: I mostly get all of my addons from curse.com and WoWInterface, but I do visit other addon websites too in search of more interesting addons!

Q: You’re interface looks kinda.. Simple. Why is that?
A: Yes it does! I like to play with a simple UI. Less useless crap on the screen, the better!

Q: What’s the *insert some part of my interface* addon you are using?
A: I get these questions a lot. So here’s a handful of addons that I am currently using:

Auctionator
Bartender4
DeadlyBossMods
MisDirectionHelper2
NPCScan
OmniCC
Perl Classic Unit Frames
RaidBuffStatus
Recount
ScrollingCombatText
Talented
WinterTime

Q: This addon that you showcased in Addon Watch doesn’t work for me! Please help me!
A: You should first check out if that addon is compatible with current version of WoW. If not, then there is a small chance that it won’t work for you. Also you might want to check out some of the addon’s comments and see if anyone has the same problem and if someone has found a solution.

Q: Can I suggest an addon for Addon Watch?
A: Yes you can! Head over to our Contact us section and send us your suggestion!

Got more questions? Contact us!

Super Metroid is also one of my favorite games!

She actually speaks in this game!

If you have read some gaming news recently, you might have noticed that some gaming sites managed to get their hands on Metroid: Other M demo at Nintendo Media Summit. If you’re interested to read some of the impressions of this demo, then here’s a handful of sites that got to play this demo: 1up, Destructoid, GameSpot, IGN.

As a huge fan of the Metroid series, I was thrilled when I heard that Metroid: Other M was announced at E3 last year. But after seeing the trailer, I was skeptical. To me, the game didn’t look like a Metroid game at all. It reminded me of some spectacular fighting game of some sort.

But the trailer was somewhat confusing, so I still had high hopes that this game will be good. And after reading some of the impressions of this Other M demo, I am happy to see that the demo was well-received.

The game is supposed to be some sort of “third-person and first-person” hybrid. You mainly control Samus in a third-person mode by holding the Wiimote sideways and when you flip the Wiimote and point it at the screen, the game goes into first-person mode. While in first-person mode, you can’t move at all which may sound odd, but looking at the impressions, the first-person is really useful for finding out nooks and crannies and killing some enemies.

It’s also nice to see that Nintendo is adding a lot of things story-wise. There are cut-scenes throughout the game that both progresses the story and gives some background info of Samus. Some sites have already stated that the voice acting is horrible on some of the characters, but at least Samus supposedly sounds good.

Those are the main things that caught my attention. I really hope that Other M will mainly focus on adventuring like with all the Metroid games. I mean, Metroid is well-known for its adventuring, right?

We’ll just have to wait and see if this game is worthy enough to carry the title “Metroid”.

Image source: Destructoid

But that’s not all! DuckTales also has one of the most epic 8-bit tune of all time!

We are currently planning on replacing Cover vs. Game with a new show.

The first (and now the only) episode of Cover vs. Game will not be taken down from our site and it can still be viewed by those who are interested to see it. Click here to see it.

This show has been cancelled! Click here to read more!