GameWise: Improvements for Assassins Creed 3

With the latest Assassins Creed game, Assassin's Creed Revelations concluding the story arc for Ezio Auditore De Firenze, Ubisoft has announced that the next game in the series will be following a new character, which could possibly be Desmond Miles, the main protagonist who lives out the memories in his ancestors in the Animus for the past four games.

Expectations for the franchise as a whole is pretty heavy and given the fact that Revelations failed to somewhat awe audiences and fans of the series, here are some improvements that I suggest could improve the series as a whole.

New Engine

When the first Assassin's Creed game was released, the overall game engine was superb. However, in comparison to today's latest games like Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 2, The Witcher 2 and etc, it is far lacking behind. In fact, in comparison to the prior games, Revelations seemed to be inferior at times. A new engine for the game with better graphics and physics would be a much needed cure for all these issues.

Perhaps the game's graphics could be powered by the latest first Frostbite engine which could display much more decent graphics while not being too taxing on the overall sandbox nature of the game. Aside from that, using the Nvidia's PhysX engine could also provide smoother animations and movement to the game, especially when it comes to the ragdoll physics of the game which currently speaking is sorely lacking.

BF: Bad Company 2, powered by earlier Frostbite engine

Water simulation powered by NVidia's PhysX

Overall Pacing and Artificial Intelligence

Aside from looks and aesthetics alone, the overall movement and pacing of the game could use vast improvements and this partly ties in with the game's engine. In prior games, the game's action was fast paced and usually conflicts are quickly resolved, with little consequence to the player. 

However, this formula has gotten old after awhile, making the game lose much of it's overall intensity, which is sad because assassin based games like Thief, Splinter Cell, Hitman and other like titles are supposed to be more stealthy in nature. 

Instead of having a conflict heavy game which involves the assassin killing dozens of enemies within 30 seconds flat, bring down the game's pace to a much more realistic level. This can prove to be very pivotal for the game, especially if Desmond were to take the helm for the next few title.

In today's world, we cannot just simply kill someone and walk away, not expecting the authorities to quickly close down on us. Confrontation should make the game more difficult with tons of consequences and should only be relied on as a last resort tactic, not the primary means as to deal with the game as a whole.

 

However, this does make the game much more difficult cause as it is, Ezio's abilities in the last game is already primo for evading enemy forces, especially with his parkour and climbing skills and with the bleeding effect passed down the Desmond, stealthily evading guards and dispatching them quietly rather than fighting them in groups can be quite thrilling and viable at the same time. 

Check It Out: Liverpool 2 - 1 Manchester United - FA Cup 28.1.12

It's been ages since I last updated this blog.

Anyways, for those of you who are unaware of it, Liverpool beat United in the FA Cup fourth round.

 

It was an excellent day for us Scousers as we stand a few steps closer towards adding the FA Cup to part of our very longing silverware collection.

Speaking about the game, Liverpool's lineup seemed weaker even when compared to United with a lot of their star players missing like Rooney, Jones, Nani and Ferdinand out. Without Suarez in the game, Liverpool looked as if they lacked the necessary firepower to break United's defense (even though in truth, I personally find that Suarez as a player is not very well in-sync with the rest of the squad).

In the first half, somewhere around the 17th minute, Welbeck made quite the impression with a fantastic attempt on goal which thankfully, was saved by the post. Bastard leaped over a potentially disastrous sliding tackle from Maxi before firing it, showing his level of composition and swift reflexes. If would have gone in, I bet we'd be singing a much different song today.

Reina was beaten and aside from Maxi, the defense was no where near close in bringing him down.

Then moments before the 20th minute, Liverpool scored with terrific header goal by Agger in a corner kick. Huge clump in the defense during the corner brought both United and Liverpool players in a mosh pit disarray and Agger exploited that opportunity with a composed and well timed header into the net.

And just as I thought Liverpool was going to lead through the whole first half, Park Ji-Sung, some cunt in which we all think should have been born on the Northern region of his country, banged one in after a stunning run and cross from the flank by Rafael.

Blame should have been on Jose Enrique for that. He was standing way off his position and when the pass came in for Rafael, the idiot was too slow and off position to properly intercept. It was damn near embarrassing as Rafael knocked the Spaniard away before slotting it to Park to equalize.

Both sides went in equal.

United fans (the idiotic ones), have claimed that De Gea was a bullshit keeper but it didn't seem that way. In the  66th minute, the United keeper made a splendid save against the Gerrard's free kick which could have easily found the back of the net. It was not his best strike but De Gea still did well with the save.

Towards the later stages of the second half, both United and Liverpool made some changes. I couldn't quite remember the United changes but all I knew was Bellamy, Adam and Kuyt came on later for Gerrard, and some two other felles (sorry :p).

Not too sure when it happened exactly but during the second half, Liverpool won a corner in which should have rightfully been converted into a goal. Lame effort from Carroll where he should have scored with a header, given his height advantage. What else is he good for anyway?

To be honest, after United's goal by Park, I was expecting the Scouser team to go home with their tails in between their legs. However, I was proven wrong when in the 87th minute and by golly of all times, Reina sent a goal kick all the way to Carroll which was later given to Kuyt deep in the right side of the United penalty box.

My favorite Dutch bastard found was virtually one on one with De Gea and thankfully, he smacked it into the back of the net. Liverpool took 2 - 1. Moments later, another shot on goal appear for Kuyt again with many of United's players including De Gea in disorder. Unfortunately, we failed to make it 3 - 1 as Kuyt wasted it with an off target attempt.

Regardless, despite United's utter domination throughout the game, the Kops managed to stand their ground and after the second goal, we were golden. In the final 3 minutes of injury time, Carroll was busy holding the ball at United's right corner flag, shoving his ass in the United's defense's face. An ass in which rightfully, should be shoved back to Newcastle...

Final whistle blown and Liverpool fans celebrate as if they've just won the FA Cup, typically. FA Cup is still not over yet my friends but hopefully our luck will not run out soon. I mean, look at what happened to Arsenal in the previous Carling cup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBkh77-cX2s

Error 404: Nobody's Gonna Read This

Despite it being one of the most hated things in life, everyone when it comes down to it, is a little bit hypocritical inside. In fact, most of us are massive hypocrites when it comes down to it.

My whole life, I have dedicated everything into combating that problem by building up principles and putting the agendas of other people above myself's and despite having a long standing grudge against someone whom called me a less than genuine person, I have to admit that I am in some manner, hypocritical in much of my judgement.

This is my argument.

For most of my life, I dream about being able to find love with someone who is completely impartial to my physical appearance (or for lack of a better term, lack of physical attractiveness). It's something that deep down, I am extremely insecure about.

Given that, I often have scoffed at many women for being in a sense, biased in their judgement when giving men "chances" based on their physical appearances or material possession above other things. I always believed that people should instead be loved for being who they are instead of how they look instead.

With that being the case, many things I do in life are directly linked to that purpose. People often wonder why am I so available with my aid and helping them, often without asking for anything at all. That is because I want to be known for my helpful and caring character instead which in return, I expect for people to vouch for.

Sadly, this is where the crook comes in.

That despite being someone who appears to have good character, only wishing for others to love me back in return for being genuinely nice instead of attractive, I myself am hugely biased based on the women I find myself attracted to.

Often enough, much of my evaluation of them is based of how they look instead of who they are. In fact, I frequently find myself misleading myself under the pretense of "love in first sight" rather than, she's beautiful or pretty which is why I like her. It's not cause I think she's smart or caring or anything of the sort but rather because in my own discretion, I find her "physically attractive".

Which goes back to my point.

How can I expect someone to love me unconditionally, in recognition of my moral merits when I can't even afford to do the same unto others.

How can I hope for true love when I'm busy staring at other people's asses all day?

Idealistic mindsets often have to be extinguished before one throws himself into more delusion.

The media has convinced us that true love lies with people who behave like Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez. That love lies in material possession and physical attraction, based off what the media says which is spotless white Italian clothes laced with expensive Bvlgari cologne.

Maybe I've been too harsh on Taylor Swift all along...

However, it is also in our human nature to be loved for something more worthwhile than that because we know these things don't last. Money can run out and people grow older and sometimes a lot fatter. Religion, human instinct and romantic comedies teach us these things which again, causes a very interesting paradigm shift.

Given that people are evaluated for their possessions and appearances externally in the beginning, people find it hard to revert back to their old selves when it comes to the later stages in relationships, causing the whole, "Why did I date this douche bag syndrome in the first place".

In the early stages of courtship, we are evaluated for our fidelity to Pitbull, Marc Anthony and Ne-Yo, which is based off how much we have to offer in terms of sex and financial luxury.

However, in the later stages, we are seen based off are genuine romantic and caring nature which is how much we are like Adele or Bruno Mars, being all lovey dovey, idealisitc, responsible and what not.

Pardon my French but don't we realize how fucking stupid that sounds?

It's like when someone goes to a pet shop, he wants a pet that's like a dog but when he brings it home, he's pissed that it's not a cat.

In the book, "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus", it is stated that in the later stages of a relationship, women's expectations in men shift to someone who's more of a family man, who is more emotionally available and responsible to his family. Pitbull doesn't seem to fit the picture to me, dale.

In the end, I don't think I need to explain how much all of this makes for people being more and more messed up which result in such a statistically wonderful divorce rate we see today. Truth be told, we all deserve it. Given that we show so much appreciation for those who do not actually value true love, even genuinely nice guys are slowly being convinced that the way to a woman's heart is discarding it like rubbish.

We are literally garbage wrapped in skin given the way we behave.

How does all of this relate back to me?

Simple.

Given my insecurity with my physical appearance, I have actually put in quite some effort to resolve that problem and in a certain manner, I see people responding to me better. It's supposed to be an overwhelmingly joyous feeling no doubt but when you think about it, am I given two cents now cause the things I say are meaningful and appealing or is it cause I look better?

Truth be told, 2012 might not be such a bad thing after all. I mean, are we even worth the planet's time?

If Jesus walked the Earth today, no one would follow Him unless he had a rap career featuring Timbaland and Kanye West.

Error 404: Columbian Independence Day

Well, if you've been following, the day this post is written is a significant one to me, every single year for the past three years.

I've been thinking back recently about what the 9th of November meant to me as?

Is it the day I met the person who changed my life and the regret I have not changing hers?

Is it the day my life went upside down and stayed there for good?

Thinking about it, probably by now, none of that even. Angeline as a person has been an extremely significant one in my life, especially at this point. She was a pivotal change that caused many things to change but still, this does not fully centralize on her.

In fact, I guess it does on me.

Ninth of November isn't about Angeline, lost love, tested patience, future enemies and friends or any of that. It was somewhat all that and another symbolic interpretation of freedom.

Prior to the event, I was somewhat codependent on my parents as a whole. I was not fully "my own man". Yet, the Ninth of November was what changed all that. It was the day I saw what I wanted most in life and pursued it for so long, I realized that I was not bound by my previous obligations.

It is the end of me as a boy and the beginning of me as an adult. The event, so significant and catastrophic, destroyed so much of who I am inside that I had to rebuilt, and on my own, I discovered my own sense of identity, free to operate as I please.

It was the day where I realized that I am in complete control of my life, that my opinions are my own and that all actions I make, the consequences should be mine to carry, and I loved the idea.

Through pain and fire, I was set free and I guess it is why I celebrate it so much. Like the Columbians who gained independence from the Spanish, I was free to live my world as I pleased, bearing the burden of my vices.

That is perhaps what freedom is...

It is mainly through this day, I saw tangibly the strings of my fate, bend before my very eyes. The point in life where you see the train tracks begin to turn. The point in a spider's web where the lonely string meets the giant network of others like it.

I have had my baptism of the world this way. This is why my mind is my own and why I don't need someone to tell and convince me whether or not something is real. This is the time where I make up my own mind with the facts presented to me, whether I choose to allow someone to influence me is subjective again.

It feels good to be free. Cause you know at any day, you can get up and run and go anywhere in this world and you can just... just be free. Forget everything and run to the sea, swim away to the furthest place possible and be...

whoever you want to be.

That's what this day means to me.

Happy Ninth of November.

Error 404: An Expression of Fondness

It's 1:29 a.m. and despite having tons of things to do early in the morning, I still find myself counting the hours before I see you again. Perhaps I have been kidding myself lately for the past few months but this time, I can say quite confidently that I have extremely fond feelings for you.

For the past few weeks, you have tormented me with your ravishingly beautiful face and endearing behavior, constantly luring my heart towards wanting to be in covered in your sweet embrace.

For the past few weeks, despite it being just a two hour class, you never fail to capture my attention with the unimaginable nirvana which is your gentle and warm smile.

For those two hours, nothing matters more than looking at you, learning every single movement that you make. You have no idea how much I enjoy watching you.

Why is it that every single time our eyes meet, I see my soul, leaping from my chest and floating over to the heaven that is you, just wanting to be right beside you, only to just watch you closer.

You are like home to me. A place where I have not been for so long, where I have been dying to travel to.

For every single moment I close my eyes, I see your face, welded into the deepest fondest parts of my mind, never going away, never ceasing to exist. Never ceasing to be anything short of amazing.

Please explain to me the language that only you and my heart commune in cause I do not understand all of these immensely painful and serene feelings you stir in my soul.

Explain to me why at this very moment my heart feel tangible and real physical pain as it longs to see your gorgeous face again.

Please give me the chance to find out all of this. Please give me a chance to tell you how much I love you and who you are for I am completely lost without it. For you are the one who possesses my heart and it is for you to keep cause I don't want it back. Keep it and hold it close to you so that you know how hard it beats for you right at this moment.

Never have I been so sure of myself of such things in a long time... Never have I been so sure that all that has happened in my life has pointed me to this very moment where I say that I will not let you go.

Never have I been so sure that I am going to make you mine cause if I don't I will never truly know what it is to be alive.

And I intend to live this life of mine to the fullest...

For one day, I will look at your kaleidescope eyes closer than any man has been in your entire life and it will be an eternity of bliss.

These words are as real as any emotion can be. These words will not fall on deaf ears because right at this moment, I want the world to know how much you mean to me so that I cannot fail.

Let me say again, these words are as real as the seven letters of your name. As real as anything can ever get.