Review Mashups and more

Some of the reviews I would be posting today are almost a decade too late. Two of these games are in their third iteration, the other too have already received millions of updates. But for the benefit of a poor soul, who doesn't own a cutting edge PC and a billionaire's bank balance (like me), these games are either free to play or would be available for dirt cheap prices, not to mention they won't shred your PC and console when they run.

Lately however, its been all physical sport for me. Was involved in a intro-corporate cricket tournament spread over 2 weeks. This meant that when I was not on the field, I was either at my desk or in my bed. All that sport, left no room for my X-Box though, as I was too tired to guide Commander Shepard after I was run ragged on the field daily. Anyways, all my labor bore fruit and we ended up as the eventual champions of the tournament; Check out the tournament and the celebrations in photos by clicking on the image below.

The Trophy that we won

When I did return to Mass-Effect, it was after 20 days (the longest gap I have ever had ever since I had bought the console). I didn't suffer from any gaming rust however, as I finished off the first play-through of the game, notching up 6 achievements along the way. I started my second play-through on Hardcore and have already notched up 2 more. The game achievement list is such that you have to play the game multiple times to get that elusive 1000. I am probably the most lazy gamer that you would see in this regard, I absolutely hate multiple play-throughs(with some notable exceptions; more on that below), Dead Space, Arkham City and Borderland never pinged the 1000 because of my taste (this btw extends to movies too, never seen a movie worth a second watch). Mercifully, Mas-Effect main story is quite short and quite frankly quite intriguing; the game-play is tight (shooting can be a pain sometimes, but expected from an old game), the graphics are neat and tight too, however the game does go through the motions when rendering textures. Then there is this small matter of 50-60 side quests that should be concluded with various team members for different achievements. I don't know if I have the patience for all that, especially since my laptop has been wooing me with MMOG recently. But I will say this, Mass-Effect's real punch is in its story, and if you are not a cheevo hunter like me, I would suggest you skip as many side quests as possible and jump into the story as soon and as deep as possible.

Kabelled Score- 7/10

Moving on, remember the MMOGs I mentioned above. I recently installed an unlimited Broadband connection into my house, and decided it was about time I gave my laptop a run for his money. Installed League Of Legends and played it like for 6-7 hours straight. I sucked at it, but at least I didn't suck at it longer than 45 minutes at a stretch. The game looks and feels like Warcraft, but is actually a hyper fast R.P.G. if you ask me. You and 3 others like you are asked to choose a character and are then pitted against either bots or more human players. Each team has castles, which you need to bring down, once that is done, you win. Simple and addictive with loads of layers. I would have played more, if I hadn't sucked less, or if my room-mate would not have left my X-Box alone. The games is simple in its pick and play appeal and amazingly addictive.

Kabelled Score- 8/10

Another MMOG that I recently picked up was D.C. Universe Online. The prospect of playing a super-hero in the DC universe is too much for a comic book buff like me, and as soon as I came to know that the game was now free to play on PC (yup I am a cheap Indian), I signed up for an account and got busy. Its too bad the game would probably never make it on a X-Box (its developed by Sony Entertainment), because my laptop is not really cutting edge. The game hung up a few times, and played with an absurd amount of lag sometimes. Visually, again limited by my computer's prowess, it didn't break any new ground. I only just played the opening tutorial mission to comment too much on the story, but whatever I have gathered from the opening sequence, and the trailers and videos on You-Tube, it looks nice and as convulsed as a DC story arc . The game also provides various option to customize your character and you can create your very own superhero or super-villain, with a wide range of powers. The inventory and your equipment is probably the most varied I have seen  in a while, though it kinds of contradicts the fact that you design your hero to look a certain way, and then it is over-ridden with what you equip yourself with in the actual game. Other multi-player options such as PvP are also available, but the game's biggest asset is the nostalgia of playing in the DC universe.

Kabelled Score- 7/10

Now to Diablo-2. Yup you heard me right, not 3 but 2. Just a few days ago, my brother (who is on a ship somewhere off the coast of middle East) called me up and asked me how to install Diablo-2 on to his laptop (he was bored and found the setup file lying around). Not completely sure, I did a dry run on my system and then helped him go through the motion on his machine. Once installed, I wanted to test if it was running fine, and so I fired it up. What was supposed to be a test run, ended up in a 4 hour run with me finishing up the first chapter. That's how addictive the game is. Its been almost 12 years since the game released, and I keep coming back to it after a gap of 3 years of so every time. This ancient dungeon crawler by Blizzard, kept me more involved than Shepard, LOL and DCNU could only hope for. If you haven't played it, do give this game a chance. Graphics wise, its 12 years behind the curve, but the beauty of the game is that its not driven by visuals but by the point and click game mechanics, which are a treat to play with. A varied character selection and millions of combinations available for everything from weapons to boots, Diablo-2 never becomes too hard or to easy to play. In a world where games are reviewed and dissected under a microscope, I am sure Diablo-2 would have made a perfect 10 everywhere it went. I am telling you if you haven't played it, find it and do.

Kabelled Score- 10/10

So that wraps up the most of last month. 4 games and a lot of cricket, is what it was all about. I am still trying to juggle between Diablo, Mass-Effect, LOL and DCNU and work and life, but as of now I am losing. That's why I tend to stick to one game at one time, not a multitasker I am. Each one of these games, have a cult following; and I would hate for you to miss out on any one of them. All of them are RPGs, but each one is inherently different from the other. I am gonna try buying Halo-4, or WWE-13 next, and try posting a proper relevant review next time. I am also planning to brush up on my Gears Of War, before judgement comes out next year, also I have this little itch to play Fable-3. May yours and my gaming wishes all come true this year or the next.

Signing Off,

Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan

Lazy Inspired, Diwali and Unimportant Updates

I am beginning to think that some people actually read what I jot down here, so here is me telling you what's happening all around (not that you would care much).

Starting off, Happy Diwali everyone; I know its kind of late, but I was busy traveling and then busy sleeping that travel off. By the way this was the third time in a row that I was not with my family on Diwali (which is like Hindu Christmas, so its a big deal), so if you were there, just know you had something special, and if you weren't, know you are not alone out there. Oh and by the way, all the elitist that keep on telling me that I should have a green and peaceful Diwali, we will talk when you have switched off your refrigerators and air-conditioners(believe me its taking a lot, keeping that to one line).

Happy Diwali

Okay first up, Vaultmix is back up. Yeah that's right, the site which was supposed to share my blogging load (and then conveniently shut down last month) is back up, and what more all my hard-Googled content is restored as well. This little phase where I thought I would lose all my work on the site because of the re-vamp, taught me a lesson, of backing up your work, especially if you are as lazy as me and probably won't replicate it anytime in the future. So I would be backing up all my blog work soon, as soon as I shake off the laziness from me. On a similar note, I would try to digitize all my stories for the nth time, and hopefully you would soon see them lying around somewhere.

Lessons apart, the site looks all kind of awesome and you should check it out as soon as possible.Gonna post a perma-link on this blog somewhere too, now that we seemed to have settled on a standard logo for the web site.I will be posting something that's been on my mind on it some time soon, so be sure to check that space, and give me some love.

The other thing that I have wanted to brag about for a while now is the fact that I have now officially crossed 10,000 G on my X-box. Reached the pretty figure of an exact 10,000 recently while playing Mass-Effect, and I need to confess that I didn't play for a few days just to keep that ideal number on my gamer-card. So yes I am kind of proud these days. Check out my history by clicking on my gamer-card on the right.

Moving on, I was thinking of starting a simple business of renting games out locally, since I don't really re-play any of my games, and I just hate the thought of selling them. Once again, I don't know how that is gonna work out, given my crazy level of laziness and freakish low duration of attention span. I have some other ideas fluttering about in my head, but right now I think this blog is probably the most committed I am gonna get to something/anything..

Oh and before I forget, my younger brother Ashish Chauhan, is off on his first of many Merchant Naval sail. So a big shout out to him, and bring home the moolah baby!!! And no matter how many countries you visit, or how much cash you rake in, I am still gonna beat you at cricket. Wish him luck, and he may bring an expensive gift for you from the gulf. Below is another lame attempt at a meme, and at iconizing something we  do a lot whenever we are together.

Forgive me if the gamer in you is feeling ripped off, but I am busy playing Mass-Effect these days, and I am sure you would prefer a bear ripping your head off than me writing a review for you. Also in other news, I have a life.

Signing off,

Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan

The Gaming New Year

When the E-3 came out earlier this year, and I started this blog, it was all about building up the hype for the biggest games that were going to hit the streets. That hype is over and its show time now. With the holiday season almost upon us, the gaming world is coming face to face with what was promised to them almost 6 months before. While the year end is still some weeks away, I believe its safe to say that the 'Gaming New Year' is upon us. And so in proper Christmas tradition, I make up a list: a list of games that have come out or are coming out this year, a list of games that I would fight tooth and nail to own, a list that should define your future weeks too if you are a gamer. Since I really can't put these games into any kind of ranking, I am just going to place them in alphabetical order. So with further ado, my Christmas sock for this year.

Assassin's Creed 3:

When Ubisoft created Assassin's Creed as a Prince Of Persia rip-off, nobody would have imagined it would grow into a flagship franchise for the company or one of the most celebrated games of all time. With 4 proper canonical games and host of spin-offs, Assassin's Creed 3 is the magnum-opus for the game's protagonist Desmond. The game set in the most expansive setting yet (that of the American Revolution) was touted as the biggest and the best Assassin's Creed yet. I had a taste of Brotherhood on a PC sometime before, and earlier this year I played and loved Assassin's Creed 2, so I know what to expect when I get my hands on it. Its always fun to free run and meet historical figures and feel that you are playing an unknown part in shaping the world's history. While it maybe quite some time before I get my hand on the title (what with my meager pocket change), all that I have seen of the game have been impressive. Meanwhile, the game released last month on the 30th of October, and is now out there for you to decide. And just in case you are into video reviews, check out IGN's review below:

Far Cry 3:

Anybody who was a part of E-3, knew how much buzz the game has created. I have never played far-cry before, but it has always been because I was never in the right place on the right time. With the game looking as beautiful as it is, and the game's antagonist Vaas making the right(read wrong) kind of noises; I don't think lighting would be striking the same place for the third time. The game comes out on the 2nd of December this year, and after postponing its release date twice, lets just hope this Ubisoft biggy hits its target this time. Coming back to Vaas, Ubisoft recently released some live action videos based and tying up into Far-Cry 3 revolving around the character. While the expectation from the series was quite low, it's doing a decent job, and needless to say Vaas entertains. Check out the first episode of the series below:

Halo 4:

Yes, if you own a X-Box, there is no way in hell you haven't heard about this game. Its all over the X-Box Dashboard, its all over the internet, and come today(6th Of November) it will be all over the marketplace. I played the original Halo, way back during a college break, it wasn't mind blowing but it was okay (keep in mind I played this 2 years after its release) and I was enamored by Master-Chief. Almost 3 years after that I ended up playing Halo Reach (so I have now played the first game and the last, but none of the ones in between) during June-July and it was awesome. There are games you know (God Of War, Counter-Strike), which you need to play just once and you are hooked. Reach was that kind of a game. Maybe I am just overrun by all the hype the game is building(and its probably building more hype than all the other games combined) but if you think I am gonna buy the game just for nostalgia, you are so wrong.
Check out IGN' review of Halo-4 below:



On a completely different Halo related note, Halo has its own Live-Action series doing the rounds on the internet. The series known as "Forward Unto Dawn" is a prequel to the Human-Covenant war and has for the first time 'Master Chief' in a non-animated form. If that's not incentive enough for you maybe that Hunger Games girl(yeah she is in the series too; no big deal) would make you change your mind. Still unconvinced, check out the trailer below and decide for yourself. The series updates with new episodes each Friday both on You-tube and Halo Way point on the X-box.

WWE'13:

Given a choice, I would probably buy a WWE game every time over any other game that I don't own. Year after year ever since Here Comes The Pain, I have played and owned every single iteration of the franchise as it evolved from Smack Down to Smack down Vs. Raw to it current WWE avatar. With CM Punk on the cover, and the attitude era in the spotlight, only a fool would overlook this game. I have already written enough about the game and you can check it out here and hence I won't waste much space here. The game came out on the 30th of October this year and is already making waves all over the world, check out the IGN review below:



 Oh just a footnote before I leave you. Finished Borderlands finally. Don't think I would touch the game again but it was fun while it lasted. Also my room-mate has gone back to his hometown in pursuit of happiness, so while I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors, it also means I am back to playing single-player. This brings me to Mass-Effect. Now I have never played this X-Box marquee franchise, so when I saw a deal on the same on a web portal, I thought to myself why not. Would post a review soon, though I am not sure why anyone would read a review about a game that's about 5 years old. So anyways, while my adventures on Pandora have ended, the ones as Commander Shepard are just beginning, wish me luck.

Signing Off,

Ayush "Kabel" Chauhan

How ‘The Big-Bang Theory ‘Saved the Nerd in Me

Initially planned for vaultmix, I am posting this here since that website is under some re-work. Anyways should be a nice break from all the video-game crap I have been posting. Time for some Big-Bang.

So Basically It All Started With this

With the big-bang theory hitting the American TV earlier this month for its 6th season, I thought I would put in a bit of love myself for the show that put nerds on the map. Before the Big-Bang ever happened (see the pun!), nerds were always a part of comedy series (and movies and YouTube gags, and college bullying, and the brunt of every sad joke a little I know), but this show; the show where 4 very intelligent people take on the big bad world, living life on their terms and enjoying it immensely; changed the dynamics.

An manga version of the cast

I have watched a host of serials in my lifetime, and I would watch a few more before my time is up, but The Big Bang has to be the closest thing to my kind of humor. So what is my kind of humor; let me explain:  I am from India (where academics is third to parents and gods), I came from a school where the lower strata used to score 83% in tests, and then I did engineering in computer science (which is nothing special, spent 70% of that time sleeping). During that time I watched a lot cartoons, read a lot of comic books, and played a lot of counter-strike. If you haven't guessed it yet, I am a nerd, I am 6 feet tall, 92 kg and can hold my own in almost every physical sport out there (on a completely different note, I was never bullied), but deep-down inside I am a nerd. I enjoy the humorous application of Einstein’s theory of relativity ('If you run around a tree naked with the speed of light'), I feel offended when someone says he is the biggest Batman fan ever (and doesn't know there were 4 Batman movies that Nolan never made), and I find it real vindication on killing someone in Modern Warfare (more so if it’s a head-shot, though MW has nothing over Counter-Strike). So that ladies and gentlemen is my kind of humor.

Humor has come a long way from the black and white antiques of Charlie Chaplin. Today one-liners are the conversation-starters, everyone talks in references, and your sense of humor is an intangible pointer to your knowledge. By those standards, Big-Bang is a gold-mine. For the American pop-culture it is full of references to what a typical child of the 90s would have grown up with. For the engineering enthusiast, there are physics, chemistry, math jokes galore (at some point it’s like TV version of XKCD.com). If you are a comic book fan, just watch the show. And for any fantasy based lovers, just observe how coolly they discuss Vampires (see below) and wizards over lunch. The truth is you don't have to be an over-educated snob to like Big-Bang, but if you are one, you would enjoy it immensely. Big bang is global in its appeal, but it’s not dumbed down to achieve that. The show assures you: no longer feel bad when someone doesn't get your jokes, it’s their problem.


The best thing about the show is that they live on their own terms. They know what they like, and they are not afraid to show it. Howard has a pair of light-sabers on his bedroom walls, Sheldon regularly wears DC inspired T-shirts, Leonard has a miniature bat-signal in his room and Raj is proud of his bro-mance. They can act as overgrown kids if they want to, they can spend their weekend playing Star Wars RPG, they actually have a Halo night(they had all the famous consoles too, but they were stolen, see below) every week, and they make money doing what they do best: studying. As the show demonstrates, they had a hard time because of what they are, and they still do from time to time, but these are the guys who didn't change their definition of cool because of peer pressure, on the contrary if you weren't down with them, you were not cool enough. These guys show that's its possible, that's it’s not strange being skinny and smart, in reality its actually quite fun.



Leonard, perhaps the most socially adept of the four, proves that you don't have to give up on your Star-Trek costume to score women. Howard is a NASA engineer/astronaut (how cool is that!) who in some strange ways is still 'Mommy's Little Kid'. Raj is living the Indian academic dream, away from his parents, in the land of opportunity and looking at stars for a job(though his selective mutism is a social handicap). The coup de grace however, has to be Sheldon, as the socially awkward, immune to sarcasm and irony, intelligent to a fault, room-mate to Leonard, Jim Parsons shows one how to be happy. He is un-compromising with his life-style, puts his own happiness before others, completely backs what he believes in and can take you down a peg when he wants to. When Sheldon is good at it, he is great and when he is not, he dismisses it as un-important. The fact that Sheldon is a geek, makes that conviction even more so important and commendable but Nerd, jock, emo, catholic, republican, or ethnic; no matter what you are and what you believe in that's how you believe in you and your principles.

The cast in their well Flashy self

The Big Bang Theory is a comic series, and it does a great job at being one. But for me, it’s also an inspiration. I no longer have second thoughts when I want to buy a light-saber from e-bay. I proudly flaunt my knowledge and appreciation of the DC universe to anyone who gets the cannon wrong. And I have satisfactorily replaced weekend outings with X-Box gaming sessions. I am still good at sports, at my job, and with girls (if you can believe that). I haven't become withdrawn or alienated or think of others as my inferiors. But this post Big Bang times allow me to express myself better, and to feel a little better too. Maybe I am looking to deep into a petty TV show, but then again that's what a nerd will do.

Signing Off,

Ayush "Kabel" Chauhan

Borderlands 2: Shoot Loot and Squinting

So once I was finished with Witcher 2 (killed the dragon thrice, and earned every achievement before I was done with it), I turned my attention to the latest version of the "Shooter R.P.G" game, Borderlands 2. This was my first tryst with the Borderlands series, but I was intrigued by the concept of a Diablo like weapon system, and an R.P.G. like leveling system only this time the weapons are guns, and you are actually in a F.P.S.. The fact that the game provided a local co-op option made it a much more tempting buy, and the rest (doubts if any) were taken care of by the anticipation and the excitement built around the game by the gaming industry. This is probably the first game, that I have owned right from its release date, and thus this review is probably the most relevant one ever. So with further ado, lets drill down to Pandora(that by the way is the name of the planet where the action happens).
Check out the reveal trailer before reading the review:


So the first thing Borderlands is that its BIG. Now I haven't played Skyrim, so I don't know if it matches those scales, but the game has huge sprawling environments. Most of them are are icy glaciers or barren wastelands agreed, but they act as big expansive battlefields which give you ample clear space to run and shoot. The both of which you would end up doing a lot. After about every 15 min or so, you will run into a hectic set-piece, which will have waves of enemies, a lot of swearing, and a lot of healing you co-op mate, so he can do the same later. The look and feel of the game is that comicy shade that you see now and then in animations. So I can't really say how amazing the game looks, but it looks okay for the most part.

The menu text however, is something I have a problem with. The menu is akin to what you have in Dead Space but the text is so skewed that you have to squint and read them inches from your TV screen. Especially when you are in Co-op, the menu becomes vertically scrollable and more often than not the more important info is not the first thing you see (happened more than once that my partner picked up a gun before I was able to properly evaluate it). As you go along you learn to compare you weapon by the arrows rather than the numbers, otherwise avoiding the menu in most cases (just pick up a mission and follow the square on your mini-map is what I did for most part). I do believe this makes you miss out on a lot of extra fun information which would not have been the case if the text was much more readable. Apart from that no real complaints, textures, framing and all other things run just fine. You can find yourself in a graphically tight corner (like in-midst of some icicles which you have jumped into and are not able to get out) sometimes, but overall it works for me.

Graphics And Sound- 8/10

The game is a shoot and loot. As is obvious, there is a lot of shooting involved. There is something awkward however, in watching yourself shoot and hit-points bleeding out of your opponent, especially when its in a F.P.S situation. What this leads to is you spamming your shoot button heavily (which by the way is a solid strategy), which again is a deviation from regular shooters in which the onus many a times is on how you use your ammo. Ammo is something though, which you will frequently run out of, but worry not, the loot is plentiful in this land, and everything from enemies to their frozen poo pile will spring you guns, money and ammo bountiful. You would hardly start a mission with low ammo, and you are sure to end one with a high count. This brings me to the guns, of which there are basically 5 categories: Shotgun, Sniper, Assault Rifle, and S.M.G. This in no way means that you have a limited arsenal, instead different random combinations of ammo size, damage, status effect (yes bullets have status effects, this game is awesome or what?), accuracy and the like present you with a gazillion options to choose from (remember how I said the weapon system is like Diablo). Thus, you can never have the ultimate weapon, and you are always on the look-out of that next big thing.

From the guns, lets move to set-pieces, which for me are the highlight of the game (yes even the plethora of guns to choose from pales before it), after every 15 minutes or so, you will run into an ambush, and as goes the rule ('NEW is always BETTER'), each ambush is bigger, badder and awesomer in every way.  While in the battle, you have little time to relax, as the enemies come from all directions, and because the enemies are diverse, you never find yourself using the same gun, even in the same battle. Apart from that the R.P.G. elements will not exactly engross you (thanks to the difficult to decipher menus) but they provide you with strategical relief from the frantic action. The game even rewards you in two ways, not only do you level up your playing character by killing enemies, but you also strengthen fields(like health re-generation, and shield capacity) which you can carry over to any of your character by finishing challenges. All in all the game doesn't meddle too much with any genre and concentrates on keeping the game shallow and fun, which in the end works out just fine.

Gameplay-9/10

Story wise, its no Halo to be sure. I am told that the story this time is an improvement on the earlier game, so that's that. There is Handsome Jack (he wants to kill you), then there is Sanctuary(a city where other people Handsome Jack wants to kill lives), and then there is a race for a vault(which currently hold an old ancient Alien warrior who is controlled by the one who opens it). The rest are just smaller sub-lots with a splattering of humor, which is nice. The game at no point takes itself too seriously, and even the most serious situations are presented in a tongue in cheek manner.

Story- 5/10

The game is as fun as it could be to run headlong into an army of henchmen, difficult but definitely not impossible. I remember having 3 guns equipped and 2 in my inventory with full ammo for all of them, and by the time I was finished defending a beacon (a mission from the game) I was almost out of ammo in all of them (I was down to my least favored weapon). That's how frantic the game can be, fast-paced, swearing filled, umpteen minutes of bullet pumping action. The only downside is that so-much adrenalin and the squinting that you have to do every time you open the menu (the menu is the only down side of the game), doesn't let you play the game for long hours (which I believe should be a facet for a R.P.G.). Anyhow, I can't fault Borderlands for the shooting, leveling up and the bad-ass moments it provides almost every 15 minutes

Mojo- 8/10

Kabelled Score- 8/10

Signing Off,

Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan

Why WWE'13 is a step back

So The revolution is coming, but is it here to stay.

From the time I saw Shawn Michaels Vs. Bret Hart in an iron-man match in 1996, I fell in love with wrestling. As a kid I was mesmerized by these flashy gladiators(Hulk Hogan, Doink, Papa Shango, Undertaker) as a teenager I was smitten by the bold ladies(Lita, Trish and Torrie) and the brash gentlemen(DX, The Rock, Chris Jericho), and as a young adult its a sport that I enjoy not limited by the names but by the art itself (AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy). I didn't know it then, but what I watched growing up was the Attitude era, a timeline in the wrestling world punctuated by the spunky new grit that became the signature of my generation. Today as the WWE tries to garner to a totally new generation of kids with what they call the PG-era(John Cena, Rey Mysterio), it tries to relive that time (and potentially cash in on it) by bringing the Attitude Era to the latest iteration the WWE gaming franchise in WWE'13.

Check out the awesome Punk in the awesome release trailer below:


For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, each WWE game has a season mode or in recent years Road to Wrestle-Mania mode as it was called. This season mode was basically a story mode to play out using a given wrestler. Over the years, the story has had its background in the time of its creation, so if you played Smack-Down: Here Comes The Pain, Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle would feature heavily because they dominated that particular time in the wrestling industry. This time however, WWE and THQ have decided to throw that chain of thought out the window and replace it with the settings of the 90's when Austin 3:16 was born, Mick Foley started putting bums on the seats, and The Rock became the people's champion. WWE '13 will allow you to control the superstars of those times (Austin, Rock, Mankind, Brothers Of Destruction, DX and Bret Hart have been announced so far) taking part in the greatest and iconic matches and events of that time. Its great right, for people like us (who grew up watching it) with the technology like today (Xbox-360 and PS-3), this is the best way to actually witness those legendary, epic, and awesome moments again, and again and again (and be a part of them), then why do I feel its a step back rather than forward.

By the way below is the Rock inspired WWE'13 trailer, tell me what you feel about this:


So while the whole world goes gaga (me included) over the attitude era coming back, I sit back and look at the big picture for once. I love everything about this (including the fact that CM Punk is on its cover, which is awesome), but for one small itsy-bitsy question. And that question is: "What after the Attitude Era Mode?". Sure the game will come out, and sell like hot cakes, everyone will buy it, play it and love it. It may even become the watershed that Here Comes The Pain once proved to be. But what happens when WWE'14 comes around. Would it be another Attitude era mode? Will the Road To Wrestle-Mania return? Or will they try to relieve another part of WWE history?

While you ponder over that, here is the DX inspired WWE'13 trailer:


The truth is Attitude Era mode is a stop-gap measure. WWE'12 was a huge improvement on its predecessor's game-play (if we ignore the collision-detection), but it took a lot of flack for its Road To Wrestle-Mania. A lot of people didn't like it, they wanted something better, something more interesting and realistic than Sheamus winning every single Championship that WWE has to offer simultaneously. THQ wanted something that could stick this year, and with their financial problems, a poorly received game is the last thing they want on their list. Ditto with WWE (though they are not under impending threats of being dissolved), CM Punk and his pipe-bomb apart, WWE is struggling with its ratings. Their PG appeal is not sitting down with most Wrestling lovers, and in today's connected world, these lovers make sure that they are heard. More than a few, are asking for the return of the Attitude times. This game is an attempt to satiate those appetites.

And to satisfy the hunger for trailers, below is the Austin 3:16 inspired WWE'13 trailer:


From WWE's point of view, the game provides novelty to the fans of that time(remember a lot of those kids who watched wrestling then, are young gamers today), and bases its game on the most popular names of its company rather than the popular names today. And if you don't believe that's a solid strategy, just play WWE'12 online. The community is filled with created classic wrestlers, and the lobby is full of Eddies, and Rockys and even Batistas. The fact is, that what WWE had yesterday still outshines what it has today, so it has decided to cash in on it while it can.While I don't hate the move, I realize the short-sightedness of this. How will the people back Drew McIntyre if WWE doesn't. How will Kofi Kingston get his place in the sun, if WWE doesn't give him the opportunity. Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett are knocking on the doors, the video game at-least could have acted as their catalyst. Even CM-Punk who is on the high tide of his career, would miss out being a central part of the game (an opportunity that might not ever come again, remember Goldberg was a part of just one installment) even when he is on its cover (gives more heat to CM Punk's view of being overshadowed every time doesn't it). What this is, is a feeble attempt to satisfy the hundreds out there who want a more 90s WWE, if you can't give them Television, at-least give them the video game.

Breaking The Ring. Another new and awesome thing you can do in the game

Coming to THQ, as I said they have problems of their own.With the company almost in ruins with their self-destruct investment in U-Draw, they have been having a hard time maintaining finances. Though times have improved with the encouraging sales of Saints Row 3 and Darksiders 2, THQ still need to run a tight ship. They can't afford another ill-reviewed game (in any aspect), and god-forbid a low selling game may put them back where they came from.So they pulled up their boots, buckled up and produced whats looking like the most improved wrestling game till now. While the game-play and other things would come under the scanner soon, its the Attitude mode that's under the spotlight currently. As I said earlier, this is a defense mechanism from THQ, pulling out the RTWM mode and replacing it with a sure thing, but in the long run this is more harmful than helpful. What THQ should have done is pay more attention to the season mode, make it more like Day Of Reckoning (probably the only wrestling game that was known for its story line), allow for players to carry forward their created characters and provide a smooth flowing storyline, which I assure you is more easier to implement in the WWE than in Mass Effect or Dragon Age. While this would have been a more subtle change, but it would have allowed for user loyalty over a longer period of time instead of this one shot of adrenaline.

Before I forget the Attitude mode is not the only highlight of the game. Don't believe me check out this video below:


If the WWE and THQ were so keen on building an Attitude inspired game, they could have made it as a one-off offering. Something like WWE ALL Stars, and the upcoming WWE Brawl. This would have allowed even more in-depth coverage of that iconic time. They wouldn't have had the pressure of adding all the current superstars, and thus have a little more muscle to flex budget-wise. They could have then fleshed out the current 1 year into the real Monday Night Wars that it was. Add to this the fact that WWE today owns the rights for WCW as well, just imagine how awesome it would be to play both sides of the fence. Iconic matches that made or broke both the promotions, Goldberg Vs. Hogan, Macho Man Vs. DDP alongside Austin Vs. McMahon and Rock Vs. Mankind. Yes that would be the true return of those dangerous times. At max this could have been a freak hit, and at minimum this would have been a history lesson to the young who still don't know why that time was so cool (sounding old at 25 am I?).

King Of The Ring returns

And So Does the I-Quit Match

THQ and WWE are still going to achieve those goals mind you, and I sincerely believe that this game would be a major improvement in the franchise. But alas, it would be overshadowed with the Attitude logo, rather than its technical advancement. Something that WWE has been all too familiar with. What is done is done however, and in a few weeks time we will see WWE '13 hit stores. With all that I have written about this game, I would be the first one to buy it (just like I have bought every installment since Here Comes The Pain), because even though its a dirty tactic, I won't get my principle get in the way of me having fun. I just hope that the kids watching wrestling today don't get treated to a PG Era mode in 20 years time from now.

Before we say bye, here is the latest release trailer, once again featuring our very own CM Punk:

The opening cover is from this awesome website that houses Wresting Wallpapers called kupyWrestlingWallpapers, check them out here.

All the other videos are from tha actual WWE'13 home page, where you can find even more videos, screenshots and news, once you click here.

Before I say goodbye, I would like to say:

"In Punk We Trust"

Signing off,

Ayush "Kabel" Chauhan

A leave of absence, and Witcher 2

Its been a busy first week. I shifted my residence, attended my first ever Test Match in a stadium (an account of which you can find here ), was a part of the very first Comic Con in Bangalore (the account of which you can find here:)and of course burning the midnight oil at the office (my project just got deployed, an account of which is both traumatic and confidential). Add to that the fact that I have been without a proper internet connection for the past 2 weeks, means I am way back on my blog-work. It has been so demanding that the past Wednesday, my body just decided to rest (I came out of the shower, and it went "You ain't going to office today nigga!"). So I didn't, what I did do on Wednesday was play the Witcher 2 at length. It was an ideal day off, and ideal way to play a R.P.G.. I had the quest handbook, the online wiki for the game, and snack at my hand's length and nobody to disturb me for hours at length. This was how a game is meant to be played and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

First up, my initial and lasting impression of the game is this: "Its not all that its made out to be". I mean everyone out there is praising how it is not a dumbed down R.P.G., which I quite frankly don't think is such a good idea. The last R.P.G. that I played was Kingdoms Of Amalur, and Witcher 2 is in no way like it (you will see a lot of comparison below). Yes the game has skill trees, yes the game has resources, and crafting and potions, and magic and trolls and golems, but somewhere in the process of being old-fashioned (if that was what they were aiming for) they lost a bit of what I was looking for in the game.



Witcher 2 is relentless, even its tutorial isn't really a tutorial. Its more of a test, after which you will be told, what difficulty you should be playing on (I am told the PC version didn't even have that, I feel sorry for them). The game on face value, is simple enough, there isn't much to confuse yourself, and you know everything you need to know to survive out there by the end of the first quest. Mastering and learning how to use them effectively however, is a completely different matter.

The game does not allow you to play to your own style (Kingdom of Amalur thrived on that). The best (read only) way to fight is hit one, move around a lot, don't let yourself be surrounded (you get whacked so fast, you can't even say Witcher), and keep looking for an opportunity. Preparation is vital in Witcher, if you think you are getting into a fight, you better oil your sword, drink your potion and keep your skill of choice riled up, cause once you get into the fight, you won't be able to do any of this once the fight starts. Actually you won't be able to do this in most areas, as you need to "Meditate" to drink potion and for that you need to be in a safe area. Add to this the fact, that there is no real concept of Health or mana potion, and your health doesn't regenerate when you are in combat (at least I haven't come across it my game-play as of yet). I know a lot of people put a positive bling to this, but for me it was a simple fallacy (I mean that's like making Diablo without Diablo). There are something that you shouldn't touch in a R.P.G. and I believe Health potions is one of them.

Further, this emphasis on preparation and not winging it mostly lands you up into the following 3 situations:
1) You exit town well prepared and by the time you enter a fight, all your status effects, are almost over.
2) You are not prepared, and you end up in a boss battle, with the auto save not in a safe area and your own save, days before the battle.
3) You save often, and you learn where to prepare, by first dying.

Gameplay- 5/10

None of the above is as you may know is ideal. But I am a gamer, and I move on. The games is adult/mature material and it makes no bones about it (nude women, and vodka-loving trolls, if you still didn't get the drift). The decisions are difficult to make (some choices may make you skip complete chapters) and have a long range effect. Gerarlt is not a knight in shining armor, and this is where the game shines the most: the storyline. Its intriguing, multi-path, choice oriented, and there is no high or low road. Unlike other R.P.G. the other N.P.C. (non playable characters) are much more fleshed out, your interaction with them is often more fun than earning glory in the battlefield (another contrast to K.O.A.) especially when there is an opportunity to end up in someone's pants (of which there is plenty).

StoryLine- 8/10

A final word before we end up with a judgement. There are a lot of glitches and bugs that I noticed while playing the game, especially in combat. Your moves seem out of place sometimes and the movements are not in sync with others around him (you would end up doing an elaborate counter-attack with you jumping around while the other guy just kind of slide back and then dies at the end of it). This I believe is because it was initially made for the PC, and while most of it is ironed out, there are a lot of bugs and glitches that I came across.

Graphics+Sounds- 7/10

All in all Witcher-2 isn't a game that you can switch on when you come back from 8 hours of office. It requires your undivided attention for you to make any progress in it. Its  like a frustrating challenge, that you really want on your trophy case. I really wanted to fall in love with Witcher and I tried, but I end up playing Red Dead Redemption (more on that here) instead everyday. I will get through it eventually, and it is by no means a bad game, but it wasn't the addictive gaming experience that I was expecting from it. Its like that movie that everyone praises so much, but you have a hard time understanding.

Mojo- 4/10

Kabelled Score- 6/10

Signing off,

Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan

With VaultMix and beyond

Hey everyone,

Of Wolves, And Lions, And Stags, And Women

I have been watching a lot of "Game of Thrones" these days (resulting in me calling people Lords and Ladies) and also I am in the middle of a resident-shift. So I haven't got much chance to play The Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings.

Hence, no gaming thingy today. Though I do have some news. I have joined VaultMix.com. Its a web-site run by my friend Mohit Madan and is a melting pot of everything new in gaming, music, movies and the rest.
I would be handling the "Movies" section of the web-site, and would really appreciate if you turned up there as well from time to time.
My gaming exploits will carry on here, while my movie watching streak would be showed off there.



So check out my first blog on VaultMix here: SlamBangBoomBazinga.

Oh and one more thing. The Winter is Coming.

Signing Off,
Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan,

Lord of the X-Box,

From the House Of Chauhans,

In the North of Doon

When an achievement becomes a pain in you know where

When does this unlock?

This is no doubt experienced by anyone and everyone who has ever played a X-Box 360 video game during the achievement generation (and if you haven't they you are so on the wrong blog). The introduction of achievements has changed (if not revolutionized) the gaming scene today. It has added a new aspect to re-playability, a new measure of skill and dedication, it has become the new definition of completing a game. In fact, it is because of achievements that gamers now have veterans, rookies and amateurs. Each one identifiable just by a quick look at their game-score.Today, complete web-sites are dedicated to that popping sound in your X-Box (check out www.xbox360achievements.org); There are more tutorials on the net for how to gain a particular achievements, then there are actual walk-through for the game itself. Gamers today want interesting achievements (there are even competitions for the best achievement tile) as much as they want an interesting game.



An ideal achievement can ask you to explore a facet of the game, which you would have normally ignored (for eg. being a rogue instead of a barbarian in an R.P.G., or kill enemies with a pistol instead of an assault rifle in an F.P.S.). An ideal achievement may also award you for staying true to the game (for eg. finding all the alternate endings in Silent Hill: Downpour (the game has 8, and there is a bracket inside a bracket), or reaching the rank of Captain in Halo-4). An ideal achievement may even be the reward that you get when you do something really gigantic and improbable or in gaming lingo... 'A bit tough' (for eg. complete the HALO Reach campaign on Legendary difficulty without dying....Alone). All in all, an ideal achievement is something that you should feel proud on getting, something you can show-off to people (to those who understand what it means), and a trophy to your hard-wasted time.

Hope I don't get into trouble for this

However, not every achievement is like that. Many are your run of the mill, story driven achievements, others are awarded when you as much as press the START button (The Simpsons I believe). Worse yet are the achievements which makes you wanna find the guy who came up with this idea, and then punch him in the face, then in the gut, and then stomp all over him as writhes in pain on the ground and then drag him outside and run him over with your car (vivid enough?).

The achievement from hell

Case in point Army Of Two: The Fortieth Day - Full Arsenal achievement. The game has weapons and weapon parts, the parts can be added to an existing weapon to make it better. The cheevo is all about owning every single weapon and weapon part in the game, straight-forward enough. Then you come to know that to unlock all weapons, you will have to replay the game at-least twice (once as the good guy and then as the bad guy), fair enough. Then you find out that just finding that part and unlocking is not enough, you actually have to buy each and every weapon and weapon part, getting hot. Then you realize that you can't mass buy all the parts from a particular category (for eg. you can buy 1 suppressor, and 1 barrel out of 5 and 6 available respectively in a given buying spree), which means some very repetitive scrolling and button pressing, just to buy stuff that you are not even gonna use in your endgame, hotter. But it gets hotter still, see not all weapon parts can be put on any 1 gun, some can be put on a AK-47, while others can only be put on SCAR-L, so if you think you are done buying all the stuff for your 3 equipped weapons, that cheevo ain't popping buddy, burning?  Now consider that some part will only show if you are customizing the right gun, means you have to basically go to every single gun, customize it, run through its part list and equip and re-equip all the available weapon parts applicable to it, now that what I call a burn.

It took me 2 hours (after I had finished the game twice), first to check that I have unlocked all the weapon parts, then to realize that I have to buy each and every one of them, and then scrolling and button-mashing through them in the most teeth-grinding of manners. The process made the most fun part of the game (you can practically add any gun's part to any other gun and come up with your very own cocktails) , the most irritating. In fact it was so irritating, that my co-op partner decided to give up on the achievement after watching me go through it. So what did I get after all that useless (this coming from a gamer for a game, really has some weight, I mean I while away hours on a whim) scrolling (by now you must have understood, I just hated the scrolling). What I got was 50G in terms of game-score and that elusive popping sound while I bought a suppressor for an S.M.G. I was never gonna use (not quite satisfactory, 'relieved' is the adjective here).

Too much X-Box

So now that I have ranted about what an awful time I had last night, I would just like to lighten the tone a bit. Check out this awesome take on achievement hunting by CollegeHumour.com, and tell me what achievement you hated the most.




Signing Off,
Ayush 'Kabel' Chauhan

Why IPL should be a Video Game: Introduction

Some pretty neat Paint skill, I have, no?

When I say I.P.L. should be a video game, I mean a proper game title like I.P.L '12 or something like that, and not the mod (of EA Cricket 2007 I believe) that has been doing the rounds since the first edition. What I am aiming for here is for EA to pick up I.P.L. and run with it. To make a game like no other, because I think "The force is Strong with this one".

In the coming few weeks I will try to explore, why Cricket has not achieved the goal of becoming a simulation phenomenon, and also, how the I.P.L. can actually help. So take this ride with me and tell me, if you agree, disagree, or just simply don't give a damn.

For this argument to really begin, we need some background.

The first per-requisite is obviously knowing what the I.P.L is all about. So everyone welcome to I.P.L.-101. The I.P.L. or the Indian Premier League, is an cricket league currently played by 9 teams, during the March-April window in India. The matches are played under the T-20 format and is controlled by B.C.C.I (Board Of Cricket Control In India). While club cricket is not new to the cricket world in general, the I.P.L teams are not state/district/club oriented, instead these are franchises based in cities and financed/owned/managed by various Business organizations (for eg.United Breweries own the Royal Challenger Bangalore). What this does is allow the franchises to assemble teams, irrespective of state (or even national) boundaries. Thus you have all-stars team, star-studded with both national and international talent competing against each other. The tournament has enjoyed huge success in the Indian sub-continent and has already served as a launch-pad for various athletes in its 5 year run. In a time when T-20 cricket is changing the appeal and penetration of cricket, I.P.L. is bringing local loyalties to a game which has been country oriented for a long time.Check out the IPL 2012 advertisement that aired on TV this year below:

 The second per-requisite for this argument is in understanding how the Sport-simulation (roughly speaking video games about sports) market stands today. EA (electronic arts), pretty much rule the roost here. Annually, titles like NHL (Ice-Hockey), NFL (American Football), FIFA (Soccer), UFC (Mixed Martial Arts) receive yearly iterations bringing the best of what the sport and technology has to offer. Cricket used to be part of that annual EA cycle, but somewhere it just got lost. Codemasters gave it a go bringing out International Cricket 2010 (which is the latest you can get to playing cricket on X-Box360) and there is a Move-Street Cricket for PS-3, which is currently the cover title in India for the PS-3. None of those past games however have been able to do justice to the gentleman's game, and I think I know why.

For starters:

Currently there are only 8 good international teams (compare that to the 32 teams that play the Fifa World Cup and you get the picture) who can perform and compete in all forms of the game. This just goes to show that not many people like playing cricket. For the record cricket has 3 official formats: Tests, One-Day, and T-20.

What this tells you is that its difficult to master Cricket...

But that holds true for American Football (I don't think even USA has a national team for that), UFC (half the world don't even know what that means) and Golf (I mean come on). Europe and North-America, the two big spots for video games consumption contribute only 2 teams to the cricket world (West-Indies and England). Every single game-development company focuses their marketing strategies on these two areas, so while Europe will have major focus on Fifa and Tennis, USA will see games like NFL and NBA having their time in the sun.

Add to this the prevalent grey market and piracy in the Indian Sub-continent, it means that the market which is the most likely to play Cricket, does not like to buy original Cricket games. The piracy situation is also compounded by the fact that console penetration in India is very low, with most people preferring to stick to PCs, where the games are easier to pirate (hell even the originals are dirt cheap).

All the consoles you can buy....

These are issues, however which will resolve themselves in the coming years. Now that console makers such as Microsoft and Sony take India seriously, its only a matter of time before the game developers do too. The sales of consoles are on all time high, which is resulting in an over-growing market which is currently being fed games made for the west or for the east.

Initially the Indian gaming scene had more of a single player emphasis, especially in consoles, with multi-player being shunned completely in the favor of exciting local game-play. With the advent of faster broadband speed however, online-multiplayer is fast becoming a viable option, and for that more and more people are choosing original games over pirated ones. So games like Battlefield-3, and Modern Warfare 3, are all finding buyers in India, which is telling the people over at EA and others, that there is indeed a market for their games away from the established USA, Europe and Japan.

With games like Hanuman, Street Cricket and others, we are already witnessing games tailor made for India. Even if these games are humorous attempts at game-making (Ra-One was as bad as the movie), it does show that someone out there, wants to know what makes Indians tick, and is willing to make a game about it. Its only a matter of time, before we get our very own tailor-made marketing drive by EA, centered around what else but Cricket (or Sharukh...or Sunny Leone...who knows...but I hope its cricket).

With that ray of optimism in my heart, and on my blog, I try to answer the first hurdle in creating a successful Cricket based franchise. This also ends my first entry in this ongoing discussion. Please feel free to comment and tell me what you think.

Signing Off,
Ayush "Kabel" Chauhan

Of FPS and Co-Op

For almost a year now, I have  lived alone in Bangalore. A matchstick apartment, a single bed, a lonely laptop, and an individual controller for my X-Box. All this changed however, a couple of months back when my younger brother came for a visit. From that day on, I have always shared my room with someone, be it for a month or for a few days. Fast-forward to today, and I have a stable and permanent room-mate, who is as interested and good in games as I am.

This change in my UMWELT (you don't know the meaning, check out this comic at XKCD in different browsers: http://xkcd.com/1037/), among other things has changed the way I play games. My priority (for the time being) has shifted from long single-player hours to significant co-op modes. While I have had my share of multi-player madness, (and I still do, though I suck big time at HALO:Reach) and almost every game out there has a multi-player mode, the number of games where you can share the storyline (especially on a single console) are few and far between. The following is an account of how I was introduced to and how I perceive the co-op gaming scene today.

As a wrestling fan, the first game that you share with your friends is obviously WWE (WWE'12 in this case), and surprisingly its as fun as it was when we were teenagers playing Here Comes The Pain. Games such as FIFA'12, and Cricket'2009 (indeed all the sport simulators out there) follow, and you end up having endless hours of video games for Bragging Rights.

While this maybe enough for an entry-level posse, it is not for hard-core geeks, who intend to make games for a living one day. Soon, you want something more relevant than a one-off football match between AC Milan and Real Madrid. Soon, you want something more lasting and worthy of your button mashing than a victory in a Hell In A Cell. Soon you want to be part of a story rather than part of a killing fest. This is what makes you go onto the net and search for Co-Op for the first time, and I haven't looked back since.

The first game that me and Gaurav tried was Tom Clancy: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. I know, I know, its old but it was cheap and I am poor (so shut up and read on!). This was also the first time I was actually playing a FPS (First Person Shooter) on my X-Box, so it was kind of a big deal. The first thing that I noticed was that health meters in FPS or most shooters these days is a thing of the past. You can die with one hit, but if you survive that you can go back to "as good as new" if you lie low for a bit. This I assume is the new thing and is more realistic than a digital counter which tells you how near to certain death you are (which me being old-school, preferred). Another thing that stood out was the absence of health packs. Either they are rare (HALO, not that your health and shield are worth a shit on LEGENDARY) or they are completely non-existent (A.O.T-2 and Vegas-2). Another variation today is in the spawning, gone are the days when you died you spawned in a random flag and safe area, irrespective of where your team-mates are. Today, either you spawn right next to your buddy, or you lie down withering in virtual pain, until your team-mate comes and fixes you up. This I think is a little bland, I mean co-op is all about executing a plan and taking two routes simultaneously, which is not achieved if the two have to be together when one of them has died or is dying. Halo at least was humanitarian in the sense it asked you got into a safe area before the re-spawn can happen, but Vegas-2 and AOT-2 were unforgiving. They just like to revive you either where you died or where our partner currently is.

Okay, back to Vegas-2. The game allows a max of 2 players going through the campaign on a split-screen mode. When I did actually go through the campaign, it was more like going through a set of multi-player maps with a splattering of dialogues (there weren't even proper cut-scenes). But just the novelty of the fact that we were playing a story together was enough to pull us through for a while. So we went along doing our jobs, killing people, unlocking guns, and swearing a lot along the way.

The next game that I bought after hours of research on Wikipedia (My office doesn't allow me to open gaming sites) was HALO:REACH. The game as you might have heard is awesome, and just like it differs in game-play from other games, it also differs in its split screen. The split here is horizontal rather than vertical, which I thought made more sense, as it gave you more width than length, which in a FPS is more important. Another thing that HALO:Reach has and which I felt was awesome, was that the two of us could even play online using the same console and the split-screen. Of-course we needed our separate profiles and LIVE Gold membership, but yet the idea just made sense (BUNGIE take a bow). In a world where they want you to pay for everything and buy something, this was a breath of fresh air. A final word for the HALO series before we move onto another, killing aliens on LEGENDARY is far worse than killing terrorists on HARDEST (Those freaking ELITES don't stay in one place for a second, and have a sixth sense which tells them some-one is aiming at them).

The third game that I bought, which as a matter of fact I am in the process of completing is ARMY OF TWO: The FORTIETH DAY. The game is different from the earlier two in the sense that it truly is a co-op experience. It isn't a single campaign with a nameless Spartan added to your cause, instead you are Salem and Rios, 2 mercenaries taking on the world together (quite literally). In fact, unlike the the other games, its rarely a good idea to split up in A.O.T: T.F.D. The game cannot be a single herculean effort and the way it asks you to implement team-work and then rewards you for it is awesome. While this remains the best co-op experience I have had so far, it isn't without its drawbacks.As I said, splitting up in AOT is not a good option, as there is no concept of health packs, and if you are injured only your team mate can heal you, and if god forbid you die waiting for your team-mate or your team mate dies coming to you, its back to the drawing board. Another facet that I found lacking in AOT was the absence of multiple profiles, i.e. if you are playing with your profile signed in, only your stats, your weapons and your progress is saved. Your partner would return to his default outfit, once the game is shut down which is a real pain, keeping in mind the game was made to cater to co-op plays. With AOT-3 coming out next year, I hope EA sort this out and improves what is already an impressive franchise.

Having played co-op for a while now, I did realize a few things. The first thing that co-op does is that it gives you opportunities, we got a lot of opportunities to put strategies in place and execute them which in a single player or even with AI would have been difficult to implement (try telling your AI buddy to hide behind that blue box on the left side while you go towards a bent pole). I also realized that having another human player alongside, allows you to up the difficulty a bit. The fact that, I haven't played anything lower than the hardest difficulty since is testimony to the fact. Another thing that gets easier with a human companion is cheevo-hunting. If the game asks you to kill 100 guys with a shit-pistol, you can do that without having to compromise on fire-power cause your friend got your back. It also lets you express yourself a bit more while you co-operate. The swearing when you fail, the victory dance when you succeed, everything is more pronounced than it would have been in a single-play. Co-op is fun for the very basic reason cricket is more fun than shadow batting, and football is more fun than wall passing; it has human interaction.

The future promises more as games like Dead Space and Far-Cry step into the co-op domain. With the devs around the world understanding and exploring the power of two or more; I hope the co-op partner that you share you screen with starts getting as much importance as you do when you have the whole screen for yourself.





 Signing Off,
Ayush "Kabel" Chauhan