DARK-WITNESS.com

It’s coming people. Not long to go now and all the ps3 fanboys will be crying in their nappies as the invasion of Halo Reach ads take over every living space in the public eye.

To be Honest I lost my love of halo a little because quite simply, halo 2 and 3 were not what I was expecting of the awesome experience that was Halo CE. I thought all hope was lost, but Halo reach is looking to be the Halo Game I have been waiting for all these years.

3 weeks to go, 3 weeks.

In the mean time, keep of the internet as much as possible. As some of you may know the game has been leaked and people are out there trying to spoil our adventure.

Ok guys,

It’s been a while since I posted last, the reason being I have been playing Alen Wake trying to fnish it before Red Dead comes out, thats done and dusted and for the last few days it’s all been about Red Dead Redemption.

I will give my full thoughts on the game onceI have finished it, which is not too far off now.

For now all I will say is that I love it, I really, really, really love it !!

One thing has been buggin me though, duelling.  I have been playing it for a while, but I just didn’t seem to get how the whole system works and don’t think it was explained as well as it could have been in the in game tutorial.

I have found a post on the net which gives some great insight into how the system works.

A big thanks to the guys at Game Spot forums, credit and thanks for posting this;

” When the duel screen loads, you’ll see your enemy & his name. Afterward, the camera will slowly zoom in from behind you. At a certain point, the words DRAW come out & the screen goes dead-eye mode (orange screen color). Note: This doesn’t mean your enemy has drawn yet (we’ll get into detail about that later).

Feeding The Meter:
The meters on the right side of the screen belong to you (blue) & your enemy (red). Whoever fills theirs more will win. When it says DRAW, use the Left Trigger or down then up on the Right Stick to bring up your cross hairs. using RB or RT, you’ll “paint” your enemy with marks which fill your meter.

Aim Small Miss Small:
WATCH THE CROSS HAIRS. They will flash red to white, reflecting Marston’s aim… Simple phrase: Red=Dead White=Tight. Red will raise your meter a little, white will fill it 25% – 100% depending where you aim.

Hard Target:
Painting certain areas will fill your meter more. 2 can fill it to %100 & end the duel immediately if you paint ‘em White: His Gun or Head. Just aiming at the head won’t work, though. I’ve found you have to aim for the upper head area (forehead or eyes) for 100%. As for the gun, plain & simple: Perfectly paint his gun white with one shot. Painting his hand can fill your meter about 75% (you’ll probably still win)

Disturbing the Piece:
You get +100 Fame & gain Honor by disarming him, but not all opponents can be disarmed. These are usually story-related character & some stranger-related ones (specifically the Wronged Woman & Eva in Peril).
A telltale sign is if you paint their guns / hands & your Meter does not rise. Even a badly painted gun / hand will raise your meter by small amounts. If this happens, make a mad dash for their foreheads!!

Timing Is Everything:
You’ll notice that after DRAW comes up, the camera continues to zoom in. Drawing will stop the camera. Drawing first gives you more time to paint your enemy but at the cost of a smaller target area, making it more difficult to accurately paint a specific body part. Letting them draw first gives you less time to paint him, but a bigger area to paint.

Opponent behavior:
Everyone you duel is different in terms of Nerves, Speed & Accuracy. Unfortunately for experts, Rocktar didn’t make them more varied (no ultimate challenge). But basically, Nerves is how SOON they draw, Speed is how FAST they draw & aim (this is the real timer for you), & Accuracy is how much their meter rises with each shot they place on you. These affect the duel: Opponents who are nervous will draw early, hampering their aim. These guys are usually easy as their meters will never be fuller than yours if you can place 1 good shot. However, if you get a nervous enemy with a fast hand, you’d better be quicker at placing that shot..

Tips Please:
Any duel can be won by mashing the RT, but to get those badass one shots watch your opponent’s draw speed. This will give you an estimation on how much time you’ll have to “wait & paint”. The minute he goes for his gun you’ll see how fast he is. For fun, on opponents who can be disarmed, shoot his gun then his hat. ”

you can find the link here

ok, so here is a quick update on a cool book I have been reading.

The authors of this title are top game designers and focus on creating games that are an involving, emotional experience for the gamer. Topics include integrating story into the game, writing the game script, putting together the game bible, creating the design document and working on original intellectual property versus working with licenses. Finally, there’s complete information on how to present a visionary new idea to developers and publishers.  Make sure you look into it if your really interesting in game developement.

Now onto other stuff;

This week is The Week… Yes !   The week Red Dead Redemption comes out.

I know I have said it a few times, but the more I have read about this game the more I am looking forward to it.  It’s been getting great reviews across the net from all the gaming press.

The big question on most gamers minds is this wheather it will be another GTA4.  Is it just a game thats getting great scores from the media due to hype, or is it the real deal.  Is it really that great.  Well I will know for myself in a few days and I will give my own thoughts on it then.

For now though, we just have to watch our blasted US friends on live play the game while we watch.

Ok it sounds like a pain, but hey, we got Alen Wake early so we can play that while we are waiting.

Another weekend is here…

So being in the UK it’s nice to be coming out of all the rain and cold. Everyday seems to be getting hotter and hotter, clear skys the works…

Only problem with this weather is it makes you feel like a loser for just wanting to stay indoors and play video games all weekend.

Every week is a great week because it’s one week closer to the release of Red Dead… oh and Alen Wake… not to mention Lost Planet 2 … and the heap load of other games due out.

Rock Star have been nice enough to release yet another video about Red Deads mulitplayer. watch and enjoy, I could write all day about why I think it’s going to be great, but one video is worth a million words. So far this is still on my list as game of the year.

next up;

More Halo Reach madness. The Bete is just a few days away and another Vid-doc has been released. Some people say it’s just another Halo game. Well it’s the last one by Bungie ( if you believe what they say ) and it looks like a return to the original formula that made Halo CE an amazing game. The haters like to think that halo has not changed much but the truth is every halo game has brought a fair amount of change with it, which is why there are fans of different Halo’s. Anyway, come May the third I will be looking forward to sticking a few noobs in the face.

Until then, it’s back to Bad Company..

So my hungry gamers,

Another update for the weekend, I could talk all day about all the new and great games coming out… but the truth is one so far seems to be out shinning them all.

between your halo’s and crysis, rage, gt and the never ending list of other shooters, medal of honour, ghost recon, brink, body count…
ya you get the picture, anyway Red Dead his filled a deeper wanting for a quality title that is NOT A FPS Shooter. In my book there are two types of westerns. You have your John Wayne and your Clint Eastwood westerns. For me it was always Clint that was actually the ” cool ” one of the two.

I think this gen is long overdue it’s western shooters. There have been a few but they have not stood up to the seemingly never ending dominance of the FPS games.

This time though, it’s the FPS games that are in the line of sight. It was due out last year, but as the holidays saw the release of MW2, just about every other game ran for the hills. Slowly they have all showed their face, but Red Dead has seen even more delays.

Time and time again R* have said it’s been their biggest challenge and there has been a lot in the press about it’s ” troubled ” development.
The most important this at the end of the day is that the hard work pays off and from what I can see I think it has.

Big update as i have not done one in a while.

gaming is good, although I have been so busy I have not had a chance to do as much as I would like…

So lets start with Halo… yep, not halo 4 but Halo Reach.  The prequel to Halo CE.

Can Bungie pull it off ?  can they return Halo to the Epicness that was Halo CE ?  Time will tell ?

It’s simple…

Wow and wow…

The first AC got mixed reviews.

personally I always thought it was a technical master piece, what it seemed to lack was content and structure.  The overall story was interesting and gave a lot of room for more to improve and inspire.

Wold they really be able to pull if off with AC2 ?  After finally finishing the game, I have to say they did.

AC2 is not just an improvement on AC, it’s one of the best games of the year.  Right at the top with uncharted 2.  it was my favorite sandbox game this year and a totally awesome game.  It’s a must own game for anyone and everyones collection.

Renaissance Italy isn’t the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin’s Creed isn’t one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles – a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin. Ezio is just as dangerous an assassin as his forebear Da Vinci’s glider is just one of the gadgets on offer The level of detail in the graphics is astonishin.

The Collectors Guide to this huge game. Hard Cover: Rugged Hardcover edition for extra durability. Essentials: Nearly 400 pages packed with every quest, NPC, monster, and item across the world of Ferelden! *Classes: Complete ascension guides with level-by-level tips on how to maximize a warrior, mage, or rogue class! *Walkthrough: Detailed walkthroughs to master all quests, puzzles, and pivotal story choices! *Equipment: Full equipment lists to gear out your PCs!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ZxV58226E

Another weekend update.

Its been an interesting one on the gaming front.

A fellow gamer has started an online petition regarding the price jump. If your as passionate about it as we are, please sign it and don’t buy Modern Warfare 2 at launch;

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?cod6

Remember, the majority of people may run out there and buy it because they don’t know better or are too dumb, but its not about anyone else, its about you as a gamer. If you think the price is unfair, don’t sit back. Do something about it !

The great thing as i said before is that there is that there is a lot of other stuff. Now if your looking for some military shooter action then you need to check out the new videos of Operation Flashpoint; Dragon Rising. It actually looks that good that it could be real contender against MW2. The video says it all and this is from the 360;

The big news this month however is the new dashboard update for the 360.
Now personally, i am not one for getting excited about updates, but this one actually annoys me a bit.

One of the new things is avatar clothes which now come at a wonderfully low cost of 80 points starting and some of them go up to 400 points. After all my ranting about about the price increase with MW2, its kind of hard for me to say its a great thing to pay £8 for a set of virtual clothes for an avatar that really does nothing except bob up and down in a party full of other equally stupid looking virtual wastes of space !

The bad news this month has been the delay with some of the big games that were due out. Splinter Cell, Bioshock 2, Max payne 3.. have all been pushed back. The whisperings on the net is that the games have all been pushed back because of MW2 and Halo ODST’s Launch. Quite simply, they are worried about the competition. In some ways though its a good thing, even i could not keep up with all the gaming goodness due out so it will help make my pockets a bit lighter.

Other good news to come out this week is the Lost Planet 2 demo. A co-op demo of the game is due out next week. While many slagged off the first game, i have to say i was a personal fan. It’s in my little collection of games to keep for all time.

On that note i will call it a night, but don’t forget to give the Batman demo a try either. I have to say, it really did supprise me and has now been added to my must buy list of games.

It’s been busy with me, moving house and sorting out the personal life, but slowly things are getting back to normal. Also had a few technical issues which have now just about been sorted. Most of the latest post’s had not saved for some reason.

Anyway, back to the games! As you all know this holiday is looking very good for games, in fact it could just be the best holiday for games on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Now from the Dark Witness himself I am going to give you my run down of must by games, but before I do let’s talk about the game not to buy this holiday.

Modern Warfare 2 ( AKA Cod6) is arguably the biggest shooter out this coming holiday. Now I love Cod4, everyone knows it, but I will NOT be buying Cod6. The reason is simple, price!
For those of you who don’t know the RRP for Cod6 is now £55.00, that’s for the regular edition mind you. Quite simply its unacceptable. At the moment there is a lot of talk from fellow gamers of boycotting the game. Well I am in ! There are enough good games coming out such as Halo ODST, Splinter Cell conviction, Uncharted 2… the list goes on.

The real problem here is not just the price hike either, it’s the hypocrisy as well. Only a few weeks back Activision was threatening to boycott development for the PS3 because they wanted the price lower. The reason they gave for their price increase was that its needed for them to deliver the kind of quality in the title that gamers want and expect. The game is using the same engine that Cod4 used, it’s just extra weapons, maps etc and a few tweaks…. and they want to talk about quality! It’s not as if it’s been in development for 4 years like killzone 2 and using the most advanced graphics engine ever to land on a console.

Ok, I could rant on all day about this, but there are better things to talk about. The last thing i will point out though before we change subject is this. If they up the price ( which they have ) and everyone still goes out and buys it ( which they prob will )… what is to stop other publishers following them? This is probably my biggest reason for not getting it.

Anyway if you’re out there and listening, from one gamer to another, lets no let them get away with this. Now here is my list of other games to look forward to in video;
At no 1 on my list is Halo ODST. Halo CE has always been my best in the series and i am still waiting for them to top it;

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/50404.html

At No 2 its Splinter Cell Conviction. One of the best franchises to hit the Xbox back in the days. All the games have been great except the last one in my opinion. Conviction has gone through a lot of change since it was first shown, with the developers stating that they had to go back to the drawing board with the game. See what you think now;

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/52214.html

Next on the list we have two racing games; Forza 3 and Need for Speed shift.
Forza 3 is looking great; a huge improvement over number 2 which I thought was a bit of a letdown. Shift is a completely different game to the usual NFS games that we know. Once again EA is really trying to show they have changed their way. Back in the day I would have written it off, but after Dead Space I have to say give it a chance.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/50145.html

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51554.html

Next up we have uncharted 2 on the ps3. Could this be the best looking game we have seen so far this gen? Check it out and see what you think;

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/50248.html

Ok, so the action games are starting to heat things up this year. Now it’s Assassins Creed 2’s turn for the hot spot. The first one was one of the best looking open world games so far, the only let down was the repetitiveness of the game. From what they have said this is something they have addressed in this game;

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/50811.html

Next up Dead Rising 2. The first Dead Rising is one of the few games that i still have and its in my little collection of keeps for all time. That really says it all.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/48568.html

So do you think you got enough action to keep you going without Modern Warfare 2? Don’t worry, there is more;

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/48265.html

Now as I said before, this is just my list and not every game on this list will be for everyone’s taste. This is the problem, there really is so much coming out, just remember there is something for everyone and who needs Modern Warfare 2 !