I get attacked almost immediately by a skeletal guard! Aha! I knew if I broke into a place as loudly and violently as possible, I would encounter somebody just doing their job AKA the bad guy.
I cut off his head!
He has a purple shield that fits right into the door and it opens. Wacky! I proceed. What happens over the next hour or so is unhappiness. Ever see that movie "The Cube" where those people have to make it through a crazy series of puzzles and traps or they will be trapped in there forever? Yeah, that's my experience here.
So the basic premise of this place is there are pedestals with lenses in them, and you have to get them turned the right way and at the end it'll reveal the BIG SECRET. Hoo Hah!
Getting into the first chamber with the pedestal requires me to slay-i-fy more undead guards. Yeah, yeah, they are already dead. Can't kill something that's....WHOSE BLOG IS THIS?
I kill the undead guards, and climb up where a nifty mural is hanging.
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| There's a nice picture of..er...me taking over the world. NICE! |
I proceed up some stairs, do some basic jumping across pedestals and end up in the room with the first lens.
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| Oh just twist the pedestal eh? This shouldn't take me any time at all! |
Twisting it opens a door. That was easy! I run through a hallway, there are bars! But I shift into Shadow Realm form, and walk right through them. That means Green Meanies attack me, but after I hack at them with the Soul Reaver, I get to eat their souls to refill mine. I pour some hot sauce on that and call it lunch.
I find the circle that allows me to shift back to the material plane. More undead guards, I hack 'em, I wack 'em, I recruit them to the scientology table and they run away screaming. I win the fight! I climb up and slide a pillar into position, and turn another lens. This creates a shadow bridge. Nice!
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| Because walking on a shadow is always a good policy! |
Across the way, I aim up at the ceiling and blast a symbol of the Soul Reaver with my Laser Beam Not Explained to Me Power! It opens a hole in the wall, and I jump up and travel through to the next area.
I fight more skeleton guys. I keep a couple of bones for my bulldog in Urbz, and head into a room with a big sundial. Cause giant-sized sundials are extremely useful in dark, dank, dungeons. Shoot the architect.
I turn the sundial. It causes the lens nearby to fire light into the hole. I jump into the hole, thinking I am now done-o! I discover that the lens on the ground has no lens in it! It's just an empty frame. DOH!
I fight more skeleton guys. I keep a couple of bones for my bulldog in Urbz, and head into a room with a big sundial. Cause giant-sized sundials are extremely useful in dark, dank, dungeons. Shoot the architect.
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| Gotta get one of these for my porch. |
I turn the sundial. It causes the lens nearby to fire light into the hole. I jump into the hole, thinking I am now done-o! I discover that the lens on the ground has no lens in it! It's just an empty frame. DOH!
I am actually back in the room I started in, and after much scratching of the head and a useless run-around to see if I missed anything, I realize that the original pillar can shift around to open a doorway on the opposite side. AHA!!
I kill more skeletons and then have to shift back to the Shadow Realm since I have to walk through some more iron bars. More green meanies! These guys are all over the damn place. They look like a green version of the Grimace from the McDonald's clan. Anyhoo, I eat their souls. Could have used a little more salt this time. I get on the circle, transform back into the material plane.
I climb up a wall, and onto a platform. Then I have to transform back to the Shadow Realm, and the platform grows in height so that I can jump into the next area. Neato Mosquito!
I get on another circle, and we're back to the material plane. Pat Sajak appears and tells me I've won a trip to Honolulu for two weeks. I chop off his head!
I fire another of my bolts at another Reaver symbol in the ceiling. It opens up and then I move a column into position and turn the lens pedistal the right way. Wah Lah! It makes a shadow. I'm not impressed by that. I jump onto a nearby fallen pillar, and into the now open doorway to the next area.
And there's the mirror. I bag it, head back to the starting room through a passage, put the lens on, and BOOYAH! CUT SCENE!
I kill more skeletons and then have to shift back to the Shadow Realm since I have to walk through some more iron bars. More green meanies! These guys are all over the damn place. They look like a green version of the Grimace from the McDonald's clan. Anyhoo, I eat their souls. Could have used a little more salt this time. I get on the circle, transform back into the material plane.
I climb up a wall, and onto a platform. Then I have to transform back to the Shadow Realm, and the platform grows in height so that I can jump into the next area. Neato Mosquito!
I get on another circle, and we're back to the material plane. Pat Sajak appears and tells me I've won a trip to Honolulu for two weeks. I chop off his head!
I fire another of my bolts at another Reaver symbol in the ceiling. It opens up and then I move a column into position and turn the lens pedistal the right way. Wah Lah! It makes a shadow. I'm not impressed by that. I jump onto a nearby fallen pillar, and into the now open doorway to the next area.
And there's the mirror. I bag it, head back to the starting room through a passage, put the lens on, and BOOYAH! CUT SCENE!
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| Oops. Did I do that? |
The Soul Reaver now gains extra super Dark Element powers, and having scavenged what I needed to from this place, I head on out. I am met by the ancient vampire that was spying on me before. We chit chat, mostly about how it doesn't much matter who I am, I'm too late because the guy I need the information to complete my quest died.
Oh? When did he die?
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| Ancient vampires always have nice capes. You notice that? |
500 Years Ago. Ah. Alrighty, then. I head out to go back to the Stronghold. Cause that's how I roll. I find the save point, and that is a checkmark.
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**INSANITY ALERT ** Those of you who have been reading the blog know, I am not happy with some of my Strategy Games. I have now acquired a fix for one of those issues, and am implementing the switch ASAP.
Consider: Europa Universalis III banished from the Insanity Project, and in its place my favorite Space Conquest game, Master of Orion 3. Some may not like this game, as it is relatively slow in nature. I really like it. It's easy to pick up, and there are many diverse challenges inside.
I choose a Humanoid Race for this game, but not Earthlings, because why play one of us when you can play one of them?
I choose the PSION race, they've got big heads, and therefore big brains! That'll help my research. In a game where researching the best technology is a critical factor, it helps to have a research advantage. I will have a mining disadvantage however, which will make my construction queues take longer. Too bad, but part of the fun of the game is using your strengths to overcome your weaknesses, and eventually I'll get nifty technology that will assist in my production.
So, the first thing to do is take my two free scouts and Colony Ship and head to the nearest star system.
After that, let's set the production in my first two planets to ensure that the planets build mining facilities, bioharvesting (food), and other essential areas for growth.
Consider: Europa Universalis III banished from the Insanity Project, and in its place my favorite Space Conquest game, Master of Orion 3. Some may not like this game, as it is relatively slow in nature. I really like it. It's easy to pick up, and there are many diverse challenges inside.
Let's begin!
I choose a Humanoid Race for this game, but not Earthlings, because why play one of us when you can play one of them?
I choose the PSION race, they've got big heads, and therefore big brains! That'll help my research. In a game where researching the best technology is a critical factor, it helps to have a research advantage. I will have a mining disadvantage however, which will make my construction queues take longer. Too bad, but part of the fun of the game is using your strengths to overcome your weaknesses, and eventually I'll get nifty technology that will assist in my production.
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| Yeah, that's me alrighty. Handsome! |
After that, let's set the production in my first two planets to ensure that the planets build mining facilities, bioharvesting (food), and other essential areas for growth.
I then set my research queue to only research Physical Production. I am at level 1. At level 5, there is the first mining technology, plus there is the Cruiser-size level of spaceship. You have to constantly research larger sizes of hulls in order to make bigger and badder ships. In this game, he who has the largest ships in the fleet, tends to win.
I don't have cool technologies yet so I skip the ship design area. This is one of the best features of the game in my opinion, as you can design the ship however you want as long as it meets the weight parameters. So mixing and matching weapons can make for some interesting ships down the line.
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| Vaht is my home system. With creatively named planets like Vaht I and Vaht 2 and Vaht 3...sometimes its best to go simple, ya know? |
Now its time to let a few turns pass and see what my happens. My colony ship and scouts head into the next solar system: Its called Sol. Imagine that! There's a couple of decent planets on it, I set one to be colonized, Within a few turns, the Colony Ship will land and take over the planet.
I find I have a mineral shortage issue early, so I investigate and set my two initial planets to build more mining areas. My economy is all out of whack too, so I head into that menu and lower all of my spending to near zero, except in the category of Anti-Rioting. So basically I invest 99 percent of my money in power hoses to spray the angry masses.
Once the game gets going and I've build entertainment spheres and put police units in the cities, they'll all settle down. But for now, I spend mad cash on anti-rioting and that should keep the people content.
After some more turns, I get some leaders for my cabinet.
These guys aren't bad at all. One of them will help the speed of the buildings, but people don't like them because they are ugly. HAHA! Yeaaah, build me an ugly city fast! Thanks, leader guy.
The other guy gives me pluses to my trading which means nothing now since I don't know anybody. However, there are 16 alien races in the game, so I'm bound to encounter plenty of extra-terrestrials soon enough.
My scouts fly about and I learn about three more solar systems in my neighborhood, marking good looking planets for eventual colonies later. Sixteen turns in, and I have played for an hour. That's a checkmark! So much better, don't you think?
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Time to give Killzone another go. This is my nemesis game for Round 3. I have attempted to pass this mission 12 times! Well, here we go!
Gah. 15 times. I will pass this mission! In comparison, it took me 45 times to pass the Hulk: Ultimate Destruction mission from Round 2. Fortunately, I am a Taurus. I will beat it. Yes, I will!
The Scoreboard: Round Three!
MIND TEASERS: 5 of 6 defeated
Chess Titans - 3
Gabriel Knight - 3
Mahjong Titans - 3
Sherlock Holmes - 2 (Amok in the Black Edelweis. In Sweden, I mean Switzerland!)
Spider Solitaire - 3
World Series of Poker - 3
STRATEGY: 5 of 6 defeated
Civilization 4 - 3
Gladius - 3
Master of Orion: 3
Space Empires - 2
Suikoden Tactics - 3
World of Mixed Martial Arts - 3
SHOOTER: 4 of 6 defeated
Crysis - 3
Fallout 3 - 3
Killzone - 2 (Note to self: Stop getting shot in the head.)
Medal Of Honor - European Assault: 3
Ring of Red - 2 (Note to self: It helps a lot if you hit the target)
Star Wars Battlefront - 3
PURE ACTION: 5 of 6 defeated
Devil May Cry - 3
God of War - 3
Gran Turismo 3 - 3
Madden Football - 2
Soul Reaver 2 - 3
Soul Caliber - 3
SWORD SLASHERS - 5 of 6 defeated
Champions: Return to Arms - 3
Dark Cloud - 3
Drakengard - 3
.Hack Infection - 3
Oblivion: Elder Scrolls - 2
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams - 3
EPIC - FANTASY - 5 of 6 defeated
Dragon's Age Origin - 2
Dragon's Quest 8 - 3
Final Fantasy 12 - 3
Suikoden 3 - 3
Suikoden 4 - 3
Suikoden 5 - 3
EPIC - OTHER GENRES 4 of 6 defeated
Kingdom Hearts - 3
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - 3
Mercenaries - 2
Rogue Galaxy - 3
Star Ocean - 3
Xenosaga - 2 (Running through Menopause, I mean Merkabah)
ROCKSTAR MISSION BASED 5 of 6
Assassin's Creed - 2
GTA: Liberty City Stories - 3
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction - 3
Manhunt 2 - 3
The Warriors - 3
Urbz - 3
GAMES THAT GOT THE BOOT DUE TO SUCKAGE
STRATEGY
1) Europa Universalis III
SWORD SLASHERS
1) Shadows of Rome
SHOOTERS
1) Freedom Fighters
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