This Space For Rent

For reals this time.  No I'm not giving up gaming, I would never do that.  That would be like giving up my legs, arms, one lung, and part of my brain.  With the gaming season slowing down a bit for me, I plan to stick to one or two games for the next while (read: RED DEAD REDEMPTION), I am running a D&D campaign, blog on that to come soon, and it's summer movie season at hand, I have much much much more to talk about than just video games.  I wanted to keep this blog JUST gaming but with a multitude of other cool shit going on, I feel the need to talk about it as well.  And again instead of trying to run three blogs at once like I did before, I am combining them into one blog about everything.  I loved talking about games and I hope you guys loved reading about them, so with a thanks I bid you farewell...until you like click that link below...

Nobody Cares

Go ahead and add me to your Reader, Blog Roll or whatever subscription you use, hope everyone does!

Game Over.

- Nerdsbeware Out.

I think I am missing something again...

I was a stead-fast Nintendo supporter for many many years.  I owned/still own all my Nintendo systems with the exception of Virtual Boy (lawlz).  I didn't get a PS2 until probably 2004-2005 when the 3rd gen systems were coming out.  Even then I only bought the PS2 for a handful of games including Guitar Hero, Kingdom Hearts and Grand Theft Auto 3.  With all this being said, I wasn't into Microsoft console gaming.  Halo came out and I ignored it.  My general FPS multiplayer thirst was quenched by Quake 3, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch or Counter-Strike.  Halo 2 was huge for console multiplayer, but again I was a mouse and keyboard player, so I pass on it and didn't bother.  By the time Halo 3 came out I was a 360 owner.  I had a bunch of vacation time to use, and the hype behind Halo 3 was huge enough for me to guy pre-order, pick the game up at midnight and play until like 3-4 in the morning.  It took me a while to get into multiplayer,  the controls were quite awkward for me being used to something totally different.  Long story short, I sucked, I pushed it off for other games and eventually sold my copy back.

Then we came to Modern Warfare.  The same thing happened but I never got into it.  Eventually I played Modern Warfare 2 and went "shit THIS is what I've been missing!?" And if you regularly read this blog, you'll know that I love MW2.  In between there was Halo ODST which I didn't even bother with.  Again I was never much interested in Halo multiplayer.  So now we come to Halo Reach.

The hype behind this  game is huge.  I've heard talk that this IS Halo 4 if there was a true Halo 4.  I come to the conundrum again of will I be missing out on something as a 360 owner by not playing Reach?  The game looks really cool and the marketing for it is pretty awesome with the live action commercial.  I mean hell I feel like that's the closest were going to get to a live action Halo movie right now at least.  I wish someone could really sell me on Reach.  Besides the fact that I have a laundry list of games building up, on top of numerous games coming out toward the end of the month...Reach is no where on my radar.  Is it just because I am a MW2 fan?  Is it because I prefer FPS's via mouse & keyboard?  I don't know!  There is just nothing about the Halo games that gets me hooked like other games do. 

Like I said above I have so many games to play right now and so many coming out.  I'm currently playing Borderlands again, finishing up the Zombie Island DLC quite soon and very much looking forward to moving to Fort Knox stuff.  I forgot how fun that game is, single player is enjoyable, but not as much as co-op.  Along with that I want to wrap up my Mass Effect 2 gaming with the Katsumi DLC and the free DLC stuff they put out in March.  Tack on the fact that I am flitting between Fallout 3 and Gears Of War (yes, GoW 1 sadface here) so I can grab a copy of Gears Of War 2, to prepare for Gears of War 3, but that's a year away so I got some time.  I also just purchased Shadow Complex.  A nice bit of XBLA content made by Epic Games that puts a new spin on the whole "Metroid-vania" style of games.  Look for a full review of that soon as I just started playing it.  Coming out, sadly on the same day, is Red Dead Redemption and Alan Wake.  Both games that I am really looking forward to playing. 

All I can say is it's a good time for gaming.
- Nerdsbeware Out

PAX East 2010

Like my friend over at Eve Newb, I started this post numerous times but just didn't have the will power to get through writing out a post to the crappy standards of my other posts.  I went to write it numerous times and would just start and stop, get distracted by Plants Vs. Zombies, or start work on my first campaign for Dungeons & Dragons.  Either way, short and sweet bullet points of PAX East 2010!

- THE PROTOMEN.  The concert on Friday night was amazing.  Their live show brings so much more energy than any of the CD's could do.  Sounded even better live, if you don't know who the Protomen are you suck...just kidding, please please PLEASE check them out and support them!  The are a "Mega-Man themed rock opera" IE they don't do covers of Mega Man songs, but instead have created two concept albums set in the world of Mega Man.  GO HERE NOW.

- An Evening With Scott Kurtz:  This was just plain awesome.  He was the last panel of the night, showed up somewhat drunk and talked for almost 2 hours.  I love Kurtz ever since I first listened to the PA D&D podcasts, and have been a fan of PvP for a while now. After that seeing his first panel at PAX Prime I knew I had to see this one, he is one funny dude.  I loved every minute of it.

- The PAX East Musical Guest Panel.  Once again I went to go see the Protomen as I heard they rarely break character for interviews and they didn't let me down.  Most of them came dressed up and in their "not face paint, but robot forms."  The guys from Anamanguchi were really funny too as was the rest of the panel.

- The Penny Arcade Q&A Panels. These are always fun for the crazy shit Gabe and Tycho talk about and how they answer questions.  This time was no different.  The arm wrestling match between the two was exceptionally hilarious.

- The Omegathon Final Round. A relay race of old school Nintendo games.  First Super Mario Brothers, followed by Rad Racer, Tetris and finally Contra.  It was pretty badass...if the games didn't crash a few times!

- GAMES. I saw a TON of really cool games on the show floor, but not actual on disc games that truly impressed me.  This time around the focus was clearly on DLC and XBLA games.  Shank looked exceptionally awesome which I heard about at PAX Prime. Monday Night Combat was to be checked out as commanded by our ruler Tycho, and I got to see the new Behemoth game, Battleblock Theater.  And we picked up a new card game called Fluxx, that is just simple fun as shit.  Oh also Shootin' Ladders is god damn amazing. 

Over all a great time.  The hall seemed smaller this time around and the expo floor lacked the big name games that PAX Prime usually brings.  I chalk that up to E3 being right around the corner and that the summer isn't usually the games season so nothing big is coming out.  They already said that next year will be in a bigger place so hopefully we can expect much much more stuff.  I loved it and already can't wait for next year.

Catch you on the flip side,
            - Nerdsbeware out

Embarkment

Tomorrow we begin our venture to the north to slay the juggernaut that is the inaugural PAX East 2010.  I figure I would get one more post in before the long weekend, since when I get back I hope to report on all the awesome video game happenings.  Think of this as a sneak peak as to what's to come next week! 

PAX East is considerable smaller (in pure terms of vendor/company appearance) than PAX Prime with heavyweights like Blizzard and Bioware not putting on their game face this time around, I can only assume because E3 is right around the corner, and everyone is waiting for the big show to lay their cards on the table.
That and the fact that we are sort of at a gaming slump right now.  Not in terms of quality at all, quantity.  All your major releases have dropped, expansions and DLC are floating in the winds waiting to drop over the next few weeks, and any major announcements have been dropped.  PAX Prime had a whole panel discussion on Star Wars: The Old Republic revealing a new class and everything, they had footage and playable areas of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age.  I even got to demo the next WoW expansion Cataclysm and Diablo III...DIABLO III!!!  This time around, the list of companies is a bit smaller, but that doesn't mean that this wont be one of the best damn weekends I have all year.  Just being in a community where you feel, at home (lame much?) is a great thing.  Quite frankly I could give a shit less what companies show, or what games are there, because just being there alone is worth it.

While there might not be a lot of heavy hitters this time, the roster is still awesome including companies like: EA, Ubisoft, 2K Games, The Behemoth, Sega, Rockstar and Wizards of the Coast.  While Bioware isn't there EA is which means we could have a look at some new Dragon Age/Mass Effect 2 stuff, and dare I say Old Republic!?  Only time will tell!  Again those are just some of the companies listed on the PAX East side bar as sponsors so there might be more booths on the floor for other companies.  I thought Nintendo was going to be there with Super Mario Galaxy 2 or some more Other M stuff, but we'll just have to see about that.  Aside from the video games the actual Penny Arcade panels are awesome, Gabe and Tycho are hilarious.  A keynote from Wil Wheaton, concerts from some awesome bands including the amazing Protomen, tons of gaming...all in all this is going to be an awesome weekend.

With that I close this post and bid you farewell my readers,
          - Nerdsbeware Out


PS - There's a count down timer on Bioware's site sitting at 4d21h (it's currently 8:15ish AM in Jersey).  Could we be getting an announcement at PAX about a Bioware game?  Could we be getting a major announcement over the weekend PERIOD...well obviously yes, question is WHAT?  Mass Effect 3?  Dragon Age 2?  My money is on Old Republic, but we'll just have to wait...

I Have No Class: The Ranger

Today we take a step back, quite literally, from the action and take a look at the sniper class.  Now I am going to just lay this out there first thing, I'm pretty piss poor with a sniper rifle, so please, take everything I say here with a grain of salt, since most of the time I just find a small spot to camp and hang out there for a while.  Again to explain my naming conventions, in most RPG games, the Ranger or Hunter acts as ranged DPS.  If you remember what DPS is from the last post, just think of it the same way, but instead of being right on top of the guy your fighting, you are banished to the back of the room.  I apologize to most of you who read this and know what all this crap is for these long winded intros but hey, it's what I do.  So without further ado, my sniper class.

Reference: http://www.themodernwarfare2.com/

The Ranger
Primary Weapon:  As stated above, the Sniper Rifle is going to be your main weapon.  Your goal here is to provide cover for any other teammates on the rush along with being the bane of everyone who happens to get shot from across the map and never see where it came from.  Two things you wont have to worry about comparing rifles is mobility and range.  Both of these stats are automatically maxed out, you really only need worry about the other three stats, which when sniping, are super important.   For my money, I love the Barrett .50Cal.  With the highest fire rate paired with the second highest damage it's usually my top choice with a good attachment on it.  I know a lot of people use the Intervention because of its highest damage and accuracy, but it's bolt action is to slow for me.  Granted for the most part you aren't going to need about quick firing if you are a sniper, because with the correct perks, it's usually a one shot, one kill deal.  With every review I have done it's always been my personal choice, but really pick and gun, take a few shots, find what works well for you.
Attachment: Scopes.  Normally I would say ACOG, but with a sniper, I love thermal scopes.  I really never use them for anything other than snipers.  Once again I shy away from the heartbeat sensor only because you can't see it when zoomed in, and you pretty much have to rely on the audio blips.  A silencer can be nice if you don't want to give away your position.

Secondary Weapon:  I play this class two ways.  The first way is with a side arm, any type of gun.  Something to have to cover your back if someone sneaks up on you.  Pretty straight forward, you need to watch your back when sniping.  Modern Warfare 2 did a really good job of keeping the camping spots to a minimum, forcing you to always keep a look at and never feel safe with your back against the wall.  The second way is with the One Man Army Perk, which I will discuss below.

Equipment:  I would say that 95% of the time I am using claymores.  Say you are on Estate and you spawn at the bottom of the map where that building and all those generators are.  You can go onto the roof of one of the buildings right there which has a full view of almost all the front and side windows.  Place a claymore at the top of that ladder, put your back to it and start sniping.  After a while you get used to the sound that a claymore makes right before it goes off, and if you are quick enough can turn to meet your foe...if he isn't blown to hell.  It works well.  That or Tactical Insertion, just so you don't have to run to your nest each time you die.

Perk 1: One Man Army.  The reason I use this is because as I've said, I am not a very efficient sniper.  What I like about the OMA Perk is that when I spawn, I find a good spot where I can take a couple pop shots, kill a couple people, and then when I feel that my position has been compromised or I get killed a few to many times, Pop over to OMA, switch to say my Tank or Striker class, and get on the move.  It works pretty well for me and saves me from being bored sitting in the same spot missing shot after shot.  Again the downfall of this is it takes a bit of time to switch your class, and you have no true side arm to cover your back in a tough spot.  If all else Bling Pro is pretty nice, strap a scope + FMJ/HBS works well.
Perk 2: Stopping Power. I can't stress this enough.  Snipers already do decent damage to begin with, but with Stopping Power, its almost a sure fire instant kill.  I don't think I use any other perk with a sniper.
Perk 3: Again, another perk I can't stress enough for a sniper class is Steady Aim Pro.  With sniper rifles, to hold your shot steady and not all over the place, you have to press down the control stick to simulate "holding your breath."  It makes your shot more accurate which you always want.  With SAP, the duration in which you hold your breath is extended, making it easier to line up your shot.

If you like not being at the front of the action and take a more relaxed from a far view of the fight, play a sniper.  The learning curve can be a bit tough and in most cases when you see someone and you zoom in on them, the next thing you know is you are dead, because they were zooming right in on you as well.  I've found there is usually someone who is always the better sniper.

So there is one more default custom class spot, they give you five to begin and at level 70 you can prestige (which resets all your guns and stuff) and get an extra spot.  I am sorta a fan of the Pokemon gotta catch them all aspect of fully unlocking all the weapons and attachments for every gun, so I most likely won't prestige at 70.  Anyway, that 5th slot right now is just sorta nothing.  Well I have been messing with the riot shield a bit, and it can be good, but sorta tough.  You pretty much have to stay crouched and strafe if you get into a fight so your enemy can't get behind you.  Do this while trying to get close enough to bash them with your shield can be frustrating unless you use the right perks.  Maybe after I play with it some more tonight I'll right up a post on it.

Well that brings the class review of Modern Warfare 2 to a close.  First off I want to thank all my non MW2 readers for bearing through these posts, and then I want to thank all my MW2 readers for not pointing out that I fail at class building.  Stay tuned, some new stuff coming up within the next week, and then PAX EAST!

Thanks for reading,
       - NerdsBeware out

I Have No Class: The Striker

Alright, back on track.  Missed the deadline on the last post due to lame school obligations but here we are once again.  Today we look into the Striker class.  Strike is more of a Dungeons and Dragons term for DPS rather than the WoW definition of things.  If that still doesn't make sense to you, DPS stands for Damage Per Second, or just simply your damage output...but were getting off topic. Once again, MW2 doesn't really work on the standards that most RPG's do, but usually the purpose of DPS in a group is damage.  Quick and nasty damage.  So lets speed right in, and get down to it with the Striker.

The Striker
Primary Weapon: For the Striker, we want fast, burst damage.  The best results for that is sub-machine guns.  SMG's make for great weapons when you want to move quick but still crush your opponent.  SMG's lack in range greatly, but again these guns are great for close, in your face action.  I put my money on the UMP .45.  With it's above average accuracy, top damage among the SMG class and middle of the ground fire rate, it makes for a great weapon.  If you prefer to not worry about range and are the type of person that likes your rapid fire, rapid fire, best bet is to roll with the P90.  With the second highest fire rate of the group, it personally tops the Vector because of it's damage and bigger clip size.
Attachment: Rapid fire is really fun, especially on guns where the fire rate is already jacked pretty high.  While it doesn't up the damage of your gun, it sure as hell tears through someone like water through cheap toilet paper.  I only ever tried Akimbo once with the UMP and as I have said numerous times, I'm not a hip fire person anyway, and I only really like it with the Ranger.  As I always tell you kids, take advantages of sights.

Secondary Weapon:  Now here's is another bit of contention for me for a quick damage class.  It would see that a likely side arm would be a machine pistol due to their high fire rates and top mobility.  If one were inclined to use a machine pistol, I suggest the PP2000.  The stats are pretty average which makes it a good all around gun, where as the G18 is to inaccurate, the TMP fires slower and the M93 does burst fire.
Attachment: Sights, maybe Akimbo.  In reality and a close fight using FMJ to try and get someone behind a wall or box wont work as effective if they are on the other side with a bigger gun in the first place.

Personally though for my Striker class, I pair myself with a Launcher.  The reason behind this is A.) it's always good to keep a launcher handy and B.) With a SMG, and a few perks to help I can move around a lot better on a map, avoiding fire from above.  It makes it easy to zip behind a building, get into a safe spot, and take down the jet.  I prefer the Stinger above all else because of its nice lock on and damage.  I know the Javelin and RPG-7 are favorites as well, but I don't really use my launcher to go after players, I really reserve it for taking down aircrafts. 

Perk 1: Marathon Pro.  Again our goal here with this class is speed.  With unlimited sprint and a light weapon, you can kill someone twice before they notice once on small maps like Rust.
Perk 2: Lightweight Pro.  Again it's all about the speed.  Being able to sprint around someone, come up from behind and aim down your sight with quick flare is just plain fun.
Perk 3: SitRep Pro.  I like this one because most of the time when I'm on the move, I'm not really looking at the ground or around corners slowly.  I keep my head up to watch for oncoming traffic, so SitRep is a handy perk to have when you don't want to accident eat a claymore burger.

Death Streak: Painkiller or Martyrdom.  A good health boost is nice incase you take off running soon as you spawn and encounter enemies, and you can never go wrong dropping a grenade if someone knifes you.

This post was pretty short, but again the Striker class is a pretty straight forward one.  Get in, waste some dudes and get out.  Next up is our Ranger/Hunter class, whatever you feel like calling it, and we'll be taking a look at the art of the sniper.

As always, thanks for reading.
         - Nerdsbeware Out

I Have No Class: The Tank

By definition, speaking in WoW standards naturally, "A tank is a character whose primary role is to absorb damage and prevent others from being attacked."  Now of course in MW2 there's no such real thing as a "tank" since there are no bosses fights or anything, but due to the load-out and perks I choose for this class, a tank seemed appropriate.  Again you might say wouldn't a Riot Shield combo be a better fit?  And you'd be right, but again this really isn't a RPG and I'll name my classes anything I damn please.  Moving on, the point of the Tank is damage, lots and lots of damage.  What better way to do that then getting some action with a Light Machine Gun.  Paired with a good heavy damage side arm and perks that hopefully keep you alive a bit longer.  Like I said in the previous post, these are just what I use and by no way a professional take on which weapons you SHOULD be using, just my favorites. Once again, a DPS based class would probably just be a better name fit, but hopefully you'll see my point.

Once again, for reference: http://www.themodernwarfare2.com/

The Tank
Primary Weapon:  AUG HBAR.  Hands down my favorite LMG.  With it's superb accuracy for a machine gun and high damage, it makes for a great "tanking" weapon.  I generally favor this weapon for those reasons, but the only downside I can see is if I remember correctly, the clip size isn't as big as say my second favorite LMG, the RPD  The RPD lacks the accuracy and fire rate of say the MG4, but puts out optimal damage with a huge clip size.  Nothing feels better than seeing and enemy peak out of a window, and unloading 300 bullets into the wall until you hit them.  Now yea, it screws with your hit-miss ratio, but I'm more interested in getting a kill.
Attachment:  In most games, I prefer a Grip to sights/scopes.  Light machine guns accuracy is always an issue and the grip does a favorable amount to fix that.  For something like the AUG with good accuracy, roll with a sight.

Secondary Weapon: Shotguns.  Like I said above, I am looking for BIG damage output here.  Shotguns are notoriously terrible with accuracy so really only pull them out when you need that close quick kill.  With a LMG your clip is pretty big, so you should be able to hold tough with your primary for a while.  At first I only used AA-12 because of its crazy fire-rate, and brutal damage, but then at level 42, I met the Ranger. A double barrel hellcat that is a pretty much guaranteed one shot kill if used right.  Everything on this bad boy has pretty low stats except for damage, again, really only use this in a close fight.  Time it right and you can fire off both barrels at once crushing your opponent.
Attachment: There are only two attachments available for the Ranger, FMJ, and of course if you play MW2 a fair bit, akimbo.  If you are like me, at least once a match you round a corner to be looking down four barrels of death.  It's cheap, but effective, use it.


Equipment: Again I stick with what I like, Claymores and Frag grenades.  I tend to stay away from something like the throwing knife only because the gun takes kinda long to pull back out when you are switching weapons.  As for special grenades, again stuns are always great due to the fact that it slows the enemy down making it easier to lay into them.

Perk 1:  We can go two ways here, I'll explain each.  First a great choice is Sleight of Hand Pro.  Having large magazines comes with a price, they take a while to reload.  SoH really helps cut down on that.  You could always just switch to your secondary too.  My second choice is Scavenger Pro.  Again big magazines run out faster than you think, pick up more and keep unloading.
Perk 2: Lightweight Pro.  Mentioned before, LMG's reduce your speed greatly due to their size, take that burden down a bit by being able to move some what faster.  I like to use this instead of say Stopping Power because the guns do a fair amount of damage to begin, but I also don't know how or if Lightweight actually increases your overall speed with the gun.  Will have to do some tests...
Perk 3: This one is sorta a tough choice since none really impact the effect guns.  I tend to fall back on Commando Pro, but I guess Last Stand works as well.  I wouldn't rely on Ninja or Scrambler because with a giant gun, you really aren't trying to be sneaky, but both are still good perks.

Death Streak: Painkiller or Final Stand.  A nice boost when you spawn is always good, espeically in this case where you are using someone inaccurate guns.  Final stand works as well because it allows you to still use say your Ranger to try and get off one last kill.

In closing, the Tank is a heavy hitter, pulling out all the stops to lay down destructive suppression fire while still being able to survive for a while.  When I am looking to just have some fun on a map and blast the crap out of anything in my path, I play my tank.  Part Three tomorrow will take a look into my Striker class, so check back for that!

Tip of the hat to you folks,
  -Nerdsbeware out