allround geek

Today is a sad day for allround geek.

The blog's founder, mastorak, departed today for his mandatory 9 month tour of duty in the Greek army. It is a time during which boys become men.

It is also a time when all your earthly possessions are getting plundered by your friends and relatives.

As I am writing this post, mastorak is waiting at the airport and already his sister got his car, hotshuk got his PlayStation 3, his cousin got his PlayStation 2 and yours truly is enjoying access to his steam account.

Goodbye Kostis, we'll really miss you man!

Every once in a while, a game is released that raises the bar for everyone else. Two years ago Bioshock was released and did just that. Since then very few games have managed to be as immersing as this one. Rarely we see a game of that quality and so high production values. I was late to trying it, but when I did, I did not stop until the credits were rolling. I was so thrilled by it that when I was not playing the game I was thinking about the game. Every aspect was so masterfully done that I simply can not find anything to bitch about.

Bioshock is one of those games/films/books that can create really strong emotions through its story and setting. You start the game as a lone survivor of an airplane crash in the middle of the atlantic ocean. Soon you find yourself in a city(Rapture) built under the sea. NO GODS OR KINGS, ONLY MAN. This is the banner that greets you into Rapture and sets the tone for the mind of the inhabitants of this city. Something though, has gone terribly wrong and all those bright minds; the scientists, the artists, instead of freeing themselves and excel, they where enslaved by greed and power. You soon find yourself in sick situations and witness horror and perversion. This game is not for the faint of heart. You will have to find out your place in the story and try to save yourself.


Even though the game at first appears as your usual FPS, it is not. I mean it is definitely not. The gameplay is so rich and offers so much depth that you simply can not call it an FPS. The game has numerous RPG mechanics built in to it. You acquire a certain resource by killing powerful enemies (the infamous Big daddies) and squeeze it from helpless kids (the little sisters) by force or kindly. You use this essence to advance your skills, and powers. Besides your weapons you can use your powers (plasmids) in various occasions. Your plasmids range from simple attack powers to freeze, burn, control and defensive mechanisms. You can use them in many different ways and the environment is highly interactive to help you with that. For example, if you use your lightning plasmid on an enemy that is in the water, besides stunning him for a few seconds, you will damage him due electrocution as well.

The levels are full of items to gather and there are many machines to interact with. You can use vending machines to buy ammo, health packs and any other items using the money you got from the mad depraved inhabitants of the city you just killed. There are slot machine, health station, turrets, weapon upgrade machines, you name it. All play a very important role in the game and you better use them effectively in order to survive.

The sights and sounds of Rapture are breathtaking. Wandering around the city's corridors haunts you with the destruction that has taken place. The misery of the city is present in every corner and the blood that has covered the walls reminds you not to let your guard down to check out the fantastic job the game designers and artists have done. On the same level are the ambient sounds the music and the voice acting.

This is a unique game, one, I dare say, of the same quality as Half Life 2. It is one of those games that make other developers hide in shame because their games will be laughable before this masterpiece. Bioshock is not a game, it is art in all its interactive glory. Now, that Bioshock 2 is around the corner if you still, like me, had not played this one get it. It will be a revelation. It's so good you will crap your pants.

Welcome to the age of the great guilds! we hear the narrator say and our magical journey begins. 20 years ago Loom was released by Lucas Arts and after all this time it still manages to lead us in its mystic world. This is one of the most enchanting games (adventure games for that matter) that i have ever played. Swans, music, art guilds, magic all blend together in a way to offer us a unique experience.

You are Bobbin Threadbare, the Loom child, a young man of the guild of weavers, off to find answers to your questions and possibly save the world. I will not go into the details of the story 'cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone. When the game came out in retail 20 years ago in the box there was a cassette containing an audio drama that helps the player get into the game world and story. I strongly suggest you hear it. You will thoroughly enjoy it and it is only 30 minutes. You can find it on youtube in three parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Having just finished the game again after so many years I still find it refreshing, unique and immersing. I simply did not want it to end. Being an adventure game you solve puzzles in order to progress into the story. In Loom though the puzzles are not you usual inventory based, slider or mechanical puzzles in other games, but rather, a unique use of musical notes. You wave your stuff to play music and according to the melody something happens. So basically, you have melodies that perform certain actions and you use them when you want something done. You hear this melodies when something is happening and then you play them again to perform an action. This works very well and its use blends wonderfully into the game world. There are many ways to use a melody. For example if you play the melody of 'open' backwards, you close something!

The game is rather easy and short. An experienced adventure gamer will finish it probably in an afternoon and that is the game's biggest drawback. In order to extend its length you can play it in a higher level of difficulty. The different levels of difficulty do not have to do with the puzzles themselves, but instead with, how the notes are presented to the player. In the easiest mode the game shows you the notes of the melodies that you hear in order to play them again. In the highest difficulty mode you play the game by ear alone. In any difficulty level though, it is essential to note down the melodies and what they do, which is fun on its own.

The game's finalle clearly suggest that there will be a sequel, but 20 years have passed and nothing. I would have really loved to play the next Loom game but unfortunately Lucas Arts probably is not going to give us one. You can get this game from steam for a very low price, or try your luck in Ebay. If you encounter any old disks of any version(PC disks, Amiga CD, FM Towns, etc) it will play wonderfully with ScummVM. I strongly suggest this game to anyone that likes a good story and an immersing experience in a magical world.

Last night I went by a friend's place to hang out and ended up watching two of the greatest science fiction films ever made, Alien (the Directors Cut) and Blade Runner (the Final Cut).

The last couple of days have been witnesses to something that was only possible in William Gibson stories. Those stories spoke about a future where mega-corporations would be as powerful as states and would be at war with the world's Super Powers. If that is the case, then we live in the future. That is the only way I can perceive the bomb Google dropped on China a couple of days ago.