It is.
Downloaded the demo on Steam. You can also get the demo from the linked website. It's coming to PS3 and 360, so console people will get to enjoy FEAR 2 the same time as us PC folks. Sorry Wii people, this is not for you.
Anyways, the motion blur plus hi-res textures made my card chunder a bit, but the game looks fantastic. Even on medium settings it looks impressive. Much like the original FEAR and Crytek's Farcry and Crysis, the sequel looks to show what a game engine is capable of.
Personally, I love this stuff. And not just FEAR (it was a fucking awesome game) and FEAR 2, but the whole engine war and the uncanny valley. CoD4 was a phenomenal game, and not just because of its story, but also because of its engine. The depth of field blurring that was used was some of the more realistic I've seen. Gears of War 2 implemented depth of field blur as well, though I think it functions a bit poorly. The use of motion blur in FEAR 2 adds such a great deal of realism to the visual effects that at times the game looks almost eerily life-like. Which is made even more unnerving when you're wandering the corridors of an elementary school as desks and chairs move by themselves, the cries of a woman sobbing rings through your ears, and you can hear your heart pounding loudly through your speakers.
Story-wise, its the same-old. It's Suspense/Horror/Survival. Alma's back and she's fucking up shop. The funny thing is, your teammates... well, I don't wanna ruin it. It's pretty funny and leaves you shouting, "what the hell do you think you're doing!? Don't do that!" The gunplay is still incredible. You can shoot people in half and blow off limbs. The particle effects are amazing. The lighting is moody, creepy, sparse, and your flashlight helps a lot less than in the first FEAR. Plenty of gore spatter on the walls,floors, ceilings. Found a dismember head in a toilet. The music actually seems a lot creepier, as if that was possible. Slow-mo is still ass-tons of fun and is actually needed now. The mech combat was incredibly fun, but felt a bit overpowered. Kind of how the Death From Above mission felt in CoD4.
My only complaint about the demo would be that its too damn short.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
FEAR 2 demo is fucking sweet.
Friday, January 23, 2009
DoW II multiplayer beta impressions.
When at looking at videos of multiplayer, and hearing that there is building in multiplayer, one would logically think that DoW II's multiplayer would play somewhat similar to DoW's. Well, it doesn't. Not even close. In fact, this game completely breaks the traditional idea of RTS and throws it a curve ball. "At last, back to war."
Gone is the entire notion of base building. There's still tech-trees, to an extent, but they are highly streamlined. There's still resource gathering, but it works in a very different dynamic. There is still "building" in DoW II, but the only building you'll ever do is creating generators around power nodes and having your hero deploy turrets. Even then, you can only deploy turrets with certain commanders.
Basically, the game works like this: You have one base, and only one base. You cannot move this base nor can you build another. There are no builder units for you to use. There are, however, still resource points you need to capture. There are power nodes, which give you power, and requisition nodes, which give you requisition. Captured power nodes can build generators (at the cost of requisition) which will drastically increase the amount of energy created. You cannot build anything on requisition nodes. This makes requisition the harder resource to maintain and the real focal point of the game. Combat will constantly erupt on the battlefield around requisition rather than energy. When a unit from a squad dies, they must either be near a base or be near a vehicle that can allow them to reinforce. It's an odd system at first, but it increases the strategy of the battles a lot more since you will probably have to retreat units occasionally to reinforce, giving up ground, or subject your reinforcement vehicle to potential damage and loss.
One of the more interesting dynamics of the game is that your units level up. This grants you higher health and, I presume, other bonuses. That is why the notion of retreating, using cover, and properly reinforcing your units is so important. Without it, you will have to constantly spend exorbitant amounts of requisition on units, which simply isn't feasible unless you control most of the req nodes on the map. I haven't really played with the other races, but the Space Marine units are pretty expensive. (though, they do pack one hell of a punch) This means that keeping those units alive and letting them level up is the key winning strategy. It's an interesting dynamic and is so drastically different from how old-school RTSes (like Warcraft) worked. The idea of building up an army and sending wave after wave to the slaughter, whittling down your enemy, just isn't reasonable in DoW II. Instead, combat is touch-and-go with a series of skirmishes erupting out on the field. You can have big stand-down battles, but you will be left very vulnerable.
Initially, DoW II reminds me of a mash-up of Warhammer: Mark of Chaos and Relic's previous title, Company of Heroes. The former was a massive let-down and the later a wonderful title that breathed fresh air into the RTS genre. I don't quite yet know if I can say that I like DoW II or don't like it. The one thing I will say about DoW II: I am greatly intrigued and look forward to trying some more multiplayer. It's not exactly an endorsement, but the gameplay is good enough to make me want to try it more. At first I thought the gameplay was slow, too simplistic, and just underwhelming. I'm now realizing that it is much more complex than it seems and that even 1v1 games can get to be pretty insanely hectic.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Y'know it's hard out there for a dentist...
It truly is. The future of dentistry is in decline. Why? Because people just aren't loosing their teeth like they used to.
As long as there are hockey players, there will be niche markets for false teeth. But the real news about the future of dentures is that there isn't much of one. Toothlessness has declined 60 percent in the United States since 1960. Baby boomers will be the first generation in human history typically to go to their graves with most of their teeth.
The introduction of cavity-preventing fluoride into drinking water and toothpaste is viewed as one of the 10 greatest public health accomplishments of the 20th century, right up there with vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And it's not just your flossing and brushing (like you should) that is creating this pandemic for dental professionals, it's also regrowing teeth. The whole idea of dentures will become a bygone thought. Lose a tooth? Fuck it! Grow some more and shove 'em in there. All thanks to the miracles of stem cells. (which will probably all cause our brains to implode or stricken us with horrendous mutations later on in life)
So what's the future of dentures?
"Hopefully, they will become a relic," says Mary MacDougall, director of the Institute of Oral Health Research at the University of Alabama. "Like Washington's false teeth."
Regenerating a whole tooth is no less complicated than rebuilding a whole heart, says Songtao Shi, of the University of Southern California, who heads a team working on creating such a tooth.
Not only do you have to create smart tissue (nerves), strong tissue (ligaments) and soft tissue (pulp), you've got to build enamel -- by far the hardest structural element in the body. And you have to have openings for blood vessels and nerves. And you have to make the whole thing stick together. And you have to anchor it in bone. And then you have to make the entire arrangement last a lifetime in the juicy stew of bacteria that is your mouth.- Source
Okay, maybe it isn't so easy to do. But we'll get there one day.
"Welcome! To the world of tomorrow!"
more...
Dawn of War II multiplayer beta access.
If you're into RTS games, you should know about Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. If you're a fan of Games Workshop, especially the Warhammer 40k franchise, either you've played this or missed out on one of the best tabletop to video game translations ever to be based on a GW license.
Anyways, the multiplayer beta for Dawn of War II is out on Steam right now. But there's a catch. You must have purchased Dawn of War: SoulStorm (the final expansion for DoW). The good news is that you can buy SoulStorm for a whopping 75% off. At $7.50, it is simply a steal. Throw in the DoW Platinum Edition and you got the whole set.
Unfortunately, neither DoW, DoW II, nor Steam are Mac compatible, so you'll have to load Windows through BootCamp. I don't think you can use Crossover, either. DoW requires DirectX 9 and (I think) Crossover only emulates up to DirectX 8. So, it's Windows or bust.
I downloaded the beta just last night and haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. I'll post up my impressions after I get done purging the unclean.
"A good soldier obeys without question. A good officer commands without doubt."
^ DoW II multiplayer trailer ^
^ DoW II SPace Marines multiplayer
^ DoW II "Enemies" trailer ^
^ DoW II "Space Marines" trailer ^
Thomas Jefferson was one kinky dude.
Seriously! Not only did he knock up one of his slaves, but he knocked up two of his father-in-law's daughters!
You probably know about Sally Hemings. If not, well, she was the slave that Jefferson had an illegitimate child with. What I thought was so surprising is that Sally Hemings was, herself, the illegitimate daughter of a slave owner. That slave owner? John Wayles, father of Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, who would later become Jefferson's wife.
Yep, that's right. Jefferson not only knocked boots with one of his slaves, but was also married to that slave's half-sister. Not only did I find this pretty unbelievable, but so did interviewer Diane Rehm.
You can listen to the interview by clicking here (Real Audio) or here (Windows Media). The webpage regarding this interview can be seen here.
And, yes, Diane Rehm does have a weird voice that sounds like Hans Moleman. It's caused by the disease spasmodic dysphonia.
Robocop realer than you think.
Remember that scene in Robocop 2 where they showed the test footage of all the Robocop prototypes that didn't make it? Well, remember how they kept going crazy and attacking the scientists or killing themselves? Turns out similar incidents are no longer just a piece of fiction.
P.W. Singer, author of Wired For War, was on NPR's Fresh Air today, and he detailed just such an account. During one test, a machine equipped with an automatic machine gun turned on and, while being shown to the VIPs, automated and began aiming at the gun at the VIPs. Fortunately, it wasn't loaded. However, in South Africa, a similar such machine was being shown. These onlookers were not so lucky. The machine automated and began opening fire, killing nine people.
Other interesting tidbits Mr Singer brings up is a scientist who said that he doesn't see any legal or ethical problems with using machines in war, unless the machine repeatedly keeps killing the wrong people. In which case it is a recall issue, and still not a legal or ethical issue.
Overall, the whole piece was incredibly intriguing and should appeal to a wide range of interests. You can listen to the stream by going here and clicking the "Listen Now" link at the top left of the article. I believe the player requires Adobe Flash.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Salt & Pepper
Oddly similar to two years ago, I found a white hair a few scant days before my birthday. This time, the iridescent, pigment-less filament was sprouting forth from my chin. After my previous stark strand fell out, as hair is wont to do, I have yet to notice its re-emergence. At least, that I am aware of.
I am getting old.
As my bones begin to break
my heart slows its pace.
That is all.
more...