Thief Chapter 3: Reaching the House of Blossoms

Now that you have reached the brothel, you need to find your way in. The place is very exclusive, so don't expect to just bribe a doorman (especially since there isn't one). The first thing you should do is grab the plaque in front of you as you enter the area. It won't help you get in, but it's worth some money.

Follow your locator cursor until you hear the sound of people talking. This will lead you to the brothel. Of course, there's no way to swim across the moat like sewage channel, so you need to find the lever, which is conveniently placed next to the gap you need to cross. Don't forget to push the button on the nearby wall. Just use focus if you don't see either of them. Walk across, and press "X" to start the next part of the chapter.

The voices you hear now are that of the person you are trying to trail, and some guards. As always, sneak or snipe. It's up to you. I didn't have the patience, so I sniped the best I could. And remember, IF you have something equipped, like a throwing item, put it away before trying a silent take down. That's something I tend to forget about until I'm getting beat up.

Climb up to the large pipes, and use them to travel overhead. There's some treasure up there, so don't rush to complete the mission. then head back to the stairs, and slowly go down. If you have the wrench, open the gate and head to the overhead beams. If not, you'll have a slower journey. When it's time to drop down, watch out for glass on the ground. If you step on it, the guards will hear.

This can be used as a trap for the guards. After you step on the glass, run back to the grate, and hide inside. Go the beams, and you can do a silent drop on at least one of them. Grab the item that's on top of the barrel, and then put out some of the lights. As you can see in my clip, the gas lights can be broken, but it makes a lot of noise. If you don't want to use (or don't have) a water arrow, this will still help you. Remember, light and noise are your two biggest enemies in the game.

And as you can see, I didn't really need to put out the two lights that I did. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES! I don't edit them out, and I am (mostly) playing this game for the first time. As such, you get to learn what NOT to do, as well as what to do.

Swoop past the guards and the politician that are just outside of the door. You can try to use a water arrow, but it's a waste of an arrow. The light will be re-lit right away. Instead, just swoop past them, head to the climbing spot, and over the wall. Just walk the beam in front of you, and hop down to the the door. You're in!

Thief Chapter 3: Erin's Mill

The Walk Through:

Before you enter Erin's hideout, be sure to check the outside area for treasure. There aren't any guards or traps, so move freely. When you're ready to enter, just pop on in.

There are two traps to watch out for once you're inside. They are both essentially the same, and can be seen with focus. The first is a set of pressure plates next to a stack of crates. You can either press the off button, or just climb over the crates and move on. The choice is yours. Just be sure that you don't accidentally step on the plates.

Move on, and you come across a stair case. Look through the peep hole, and you'll see there's a small room hidden away. To enter, you have to go up the stairs. As with the crates, you have the option to either climb past the pressure plates on the stairs, or to turn off the switch. Just be sure not to accidentally step on these, either.

If you need to, use focus to find the button for the trap door that leads to the hidden room. All you have to do is drop down, and a cut scene is activated. This isn't the traditional type of cut scene, however. You do have to walk around a bit, and follow Erin. Or at least, some sort of psychic manifestation of her.

She's on some beams above you. Don't worry if you don't see where she goes. You're only capable of moving so far in a wrong direction. You also get an vocal prompt from her. Just do your best to follow the beams, and you'll find her.

Once you find where she's leading you, she tells you about a "key" that you'll need. To find it, just click on the three pictures of your character in the area. After the third, you're transported back to reality. Then all you have to do is press the last picture that you found in the psychic dimension (I honestly don't know what to call it), and a secret compartment opens in the wall behind it. Grab the "key," and you're done.

Backtrack through the mill, and exit through the same window that you used to enter. Now, it's time to go to the brothel. YIPPIE!

The Review:

This section is fast, and the psychic world area is so silly, it's annoying. I have no idea why you were given two traps, but could avoid them so easily. They were totally optional. Fortunately, the next area gets better.

Thief Chapter 3 Part 1

The Walk Through:

You start out back at the clock tower. Here, you're given a chance to grab or store some arrows, health, or poppies from your chest. You also have the option to examine any special items that you collected. Then once you go upstairs, you're given your next mission, via carrier crow (raven?).

Start out by making your way to Basso, who will introduce you to Orion, the man that wanted the ring. He tells you that the Barron is ruining your town. The people are suffering because of his desire to gain wealth through the suffering and death of his people (insert political reference of your choice here).

Orion convinces you that you can make "a better future for everyone" if you help him. Your next mission: steal a book for him from the local brothel, The House of Blossoms. Most people would go to the library for a book, but where would the fun be in that? So it's off to the South Quarter for you.

On your way there, you will see the world's shortest guard tower. It's not tall enough to see over the wall, but is tall enough to give the archer stationed there an easy kill. How you proceed is up to you, but I decided to take the easy way and shot him from the alley. Don't worry about his death scream. The other guards either ignore it, or just don't hear it. How you deal with the other guards is up to you. There are street lamps lighting up the area, so don't expect an easy sneak.

Before you leave the area, there's a leaf pin on the crates next to the tower. If you use the wrench, you'll gain access to a new merchant. Grab what you need, but don't expect to find the wire cutters. Just arrows, food, and poppies for now, Once you leave the area, Garrett tells you that Erin used an old mill in the area as a hide out.

After you enter the South Quarter, you need to deal with some guards. Again, sneak or attack, it's up to you. If you climb the wall near the carts, there's a room with a bureau. DO NOT OPEN IT! Use your focus to reveal and avoid the trap. Steal everything that you can for now, and leave. Snake your way past the two guards looking into the water, talking about killing a debtor, and jump into the water.

Once you're in the water, there is a gold bracelet on a broken fence plank. After you find it, head towards the well lit dock, and climb up. There is a rope that you can reach once you climb a crate. This will take you to an upper level with an open window. Crouch and move slowly towards the window, You will be spotted by an archer inside if you wait to long. Duck around the corner, grab what you can, and force open the next window.

Now that you're in a new area, you have a couple of windows to force. Again, grab what you can, then when you enter the apartment with a staircase going down, pick the lock (for experience), and head back up the stairs, and exit through the window. After you exit, you should notice a crawl space. Grab the loot, then exit. Follow the beams back to where you entered the area, and there is a guard with a torch walking around. Perform an aerial take down, then keep moving in the same direction.

There is a railing to your right. Head in that direction, pick up the treasure, and jump the railing. Grab the next items, hop a wall for a silver frame, and then hop the next wall. There is a pair of scissors on the walkway just to your left. Hop over the rail on your right, turn left, and hop the short wall to get back to the rooftops. Go left, and walk across the beam. After you drop down, move slowly to the lit area, and stealth attack the guard leaning against the wall. Turn around, and sneak up on the guard with the torch.

The area is now safe to explore, so climb the rope to the platform above you. Cross the beams to a pair of scissors, walk around the next two corners to another treasure, then jump in the water. There is a small alcove with a poppy down there, so don't head to the next area right away. Once you have the poppy, turn around, and you should see the door to Erin's Mill before you jump back in the water.

The Review:

There are some things that I just don't understand about this part of the game. I got to shoot the archer on the small tower, but I couldn't climb it, even using the nearby crates. It should have been in reach. Earlier, Basso told Garrett that he had been gone for over a year. Yet at one point in this mission, Garrett asks himself how long he was gone. And of course, there's still the mapping issue. I really think that Eidos could have made bigger areas, instead of making people put up with so many load screens.

The game still has SOME fun to it, but it really is getting old. Especially since there are traps that you can't deal with, due to a lack of wire cutters. My guess is, the areas will be reused so many times that I will get back to the trap once I have them. Still, it seems like the programmers cheated by putting the trap there.

Remember game designers, you're supposed to CHALLENGE the players, NEVER try to beat them. You have far too many ways to unfairly beat a player, say with bad designs.

Shorter Clips

The last clip I posted at YouTube took around 12 hours to upload. I also noted that it had audio glitches that came from the editing software that I currently have. In an effort to eliminate both the amount of time posting and the glitches, I will not be doing entire missions of Thief, or other games with long missions. They will instead be posted in smaller parts.

Thief: Chapter 1 & 2

 NOTE:

I finally realized that I forgot to embed the videos directly to the posts. While cleaning up the posts to include the videos, I deiced to rename the posts to accurately reflect the game. Below is the original posting, as well as the video that should have been attached.

Since I started playing the game to test the EZCap, I thought I'd do a review of the game as I play it. There are no reviews for the first three parts. The parts are not named after missions. They are named 1, 2, and 3, simply because that's the order they were recorded in. I wasn't planning to play the game, since I didn't like it when I previously played it. So, in lieu of a review / walk through for the first three clips, I'll give you a recap.

The Story So Far (Chapter 1):

You are a master thief, in sort of a steam punk world. As you start the game, you go through a basic theft of an apartment. You learn that the X button takes things, snuffs out candles, open drawers, etc. All boring and basic.

As you move on, you come across a young, arrogant thief. Your time with her is basically to show you how to move around. Hold the RB button to hit or do a sneak attack. Water arrows snuff certain types of fire (light bad! Light lets people see you). Rope arrows attach ropes to beams, that you can then climb, and the A button lets you "swoop" (think sprint) from one shadowy hiding place to another.

After your brief tour of the buttons, you end up on a glass domed roof. There's a cut scene involving some priests chanting inside. "Robes. Robes are always bad." They do some sort of spell, there's a big magical explosion, and the dome collapses. Fade to black.

You awake inside a cart, with two men pulling you. The setting is like a serious version of the "Bring out your dead" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. After the two men are done talking (which is only to give you a hint about what's going on), the guards get suspicious of them, kills one, and chases the other. This gives you a chance to escape.

Very shortly later, you make it back to your clock tower home, ready to start the story line. This is where Part 4 (as I'm calling it) starts. It is officially Chapter Two. And on a side note, just once I'd like to have a place in real life as nice as some of the run down apartment these computer people have.

You start by exploring your apartment. There is a trunk to store your extra goods, and another to store your collectible items. Head upstairs, and you get a cut scene. It seems your guild uses crows to deliver messages written on match boxes. The box you pick up tells you to meet Basso, the man that arranges your contracts.

After your short, basically uninformative cut scene, you're told that you need to get a ring from someone that has recently died. You're not told why the ring is important. You only need to know that it is, and that you need to buy some supplies before meeting with the Queen of Beggars.

As you're about to leave the neighborhood, a salesman "subtly" calls you aside. He has some interesting upgrades and weapons available, but the most useful for now is the wrench. Batman could kick the grates in this game open without making a noise. Garrett, however, noisily uses a wrench. Another tool you will need before starting side quests is the wire cutting tool. More on that later.

You speak with the Queen, and she informs you about the city, your absence, and the foundry. After you speak with the Queen, you can steal the plaque from the church she uses as a headquarters. Don't worry about your back pack getting too full, since you automatically get the gold for everything. Something I wish more games would utilize.

Once in the foundry, it's hard to be sneaky. There are blast furnaces everywhere. The place was designed to smelt metal, after all. Now, it's being used to destroy all of the dead bodies that the plague is creating. It's up to your play style how you go about navigating the place. You can be very slow and sneaky, go full out commando and kill everyone, or use a combination. I chose the later, since it saved time and supplies.

The first part of the foundry is cookie cutter. Sneak, steal, knock out guards if you have to. To get into the foundry itself, you will need to grab an empty body hook, and play dead. Once you get the prompt, hit the B button to gt off the hook. Explore, grab all of the loot laying around (who puts broaches and coins on top of rafters?), and fight if you must. After you finish the area, move forward to the next.

Soon you come to a very well lit area. You have the option of trying to loot it all (one guard is asleep), or grab another hook and advance the story. If you want to grab loot, avoid the hook. There is no dropping from this one until you hit the next part of the foundry. The game gives you lots of greed over stealth options, and you do receive a rating at the end of each story arc based on what you choose.

The next area starts with a cut scene. The head ghoul is upset because the two guards in charge of stealing all jewelry, coins, whatever, off of the corpses haven't been using the butcher knife to check stomachs. You see him get the swallowed ring that you are after, and leave. Now, you have to get through this well lit room, and find him.

Fortunately, the blast doors of the furnaces shut from time to time. It's easy to sneak behind the guard at the table, do a quiet sneak attack, and grab what's on the table. If you time things right, you can swoop between the next two tables, grab what's there, and swoop to the stairs. The shadows are deep here, and the guards don't turn their heads, so relax. There's a peep hole on top of the landing, which shows you were the ring is. After you peep, just go through the door.

There is no one inside the office, so grab all that you can. The puzzle is very easy and straight forward. All you have to do is use the D-Pad to rotate and move around some tiles to match the pattern. Once a piece is matched, the game sets it in place, so you don't even have to worry about one going out of alignment while working another piece.

Once you grab the ring, the ghoul comes back, and there's a quick cut scene of you pushing him out of the room and blocking the door. Just grab anything you missed, and leave to the courtyard. There are three guards, and plenty of light. If you can, try to pick the guards off one by one. If you try to use the water arrow, one of the guards will relight the torch fast, so don't waste the ammo. You are also given the ability to dodge at this point, by holding LB and using LS.

Leave this area through an opening above a barn door, and head to the next. Don't miss the poppy on the ground. These restore your focus points. Head up the pipes and climbing points to a window. Outside, a very brief cut scene lets you know that ghoulie set off the alarms. Finally. For a general, he isn't very bright.

Your only way to movie is to the roof on the right. After a couple of steps, you fall through. Get up as fast as you can, and hide behind the shelves. You can surprise at least one guard there. Another will enter after you're done with the first. There is also some food on a shelve near the window. Grab it, and eat it if you need health.

Outside, there are some more guards, which are now alerted of your presence. so sneaking will be harder. There are also some caged dogs in the area. Since they're caged, they can't attack, but they do bark, which summons the guards to the area. Yes, it is possible to shoot the dogs with an arrow, but arrows cost money, and as I said, they can't attack. Save your ammo! it's rare to find, and expensive to buy.

There are a couple of crates in the area that you can use to reach a short climbing wall (the walls that look like a bird pooped all over it). Enter the window above it, and crotch down to pass through a small opening in a wall. Simply exit through the window, and your mission is complete. You receive your statistics for the mission, and then have to option to replay, or move on.

The next thing you know, it's five nights later, and you're back in the clock tower.

My review of the game SO FAR:

Eh. I thought the first Assassin's Creed was a lot better. AC let you buy from various vendors throughout the game, pick pockets for throwing knives, and move around more freely. All of the guards in this game seem to know you're a thief, just because you're wearing black leather. If that's the case, shouldn't Garrett (your character's name, by the way), have some sort of disguises that he can use?

If I hadn't played AC, I might enjoy this game more. It does offer some nice flexibility to how you play. Unfortunately, it has one very serious flaw. As I mentioned earlier, some missions cannot be completed unless you have all of the tools needed, such as the wire cutting tool. Once you start these missions, you can't exit it. I had started the game before I was doing capture test, and made the mistake of starting one such side mission. The only option that I had was to restart the game. Period!

As you progress in the game, you'll also find another very annoying element that the design team messed up, the maps There was one area the last time I played that was truly annoying, even though it didn't have to be. The area I was in was roughly two blocks long, in comparison to real life, modern city blocks.To get to the second story window I needed, I had to move from one end of the street, EXIT the area, sneak into a building, and leave through a window. All this just to get to where I was before, but on the other side of the street.

I don't know what your real life is like, but I don't have a lot of time for gaming right now. I don't want to waste ten or twenty minutes of my game time just crossing a street. When I come home from an annoying day at work, I just want to crack open a beer, play fetch with my cat Snorky, and kill a few stream punk guards. Is that really too much to ask from Square Enix, or Eidos Montreal, or any of the other companies behind this game?

EZCap HD Capture Device Review

Let me start this review with the obvious suggestion to the company that makes this. Please, rename this product. Instead of a name, you gave it a description. I don't go to the store and ask for those "round, orange, citrus fruits with the red center." I ask for Ruby Red grape fruits.

I should also put in a disclaimer somewhere, so I'll put it at the beginning. I cannot say with 100% certainty that I have a genuine device. I bought it off of New Egg, and the seller claimed to be in New Jersey. Instead, the seller was in China, and using the name of an energy provider (solar and wind). The box does not list the manufacturer's name, nor does the leaflet that comes with it.

To further complicate issues, EZCap is associated with AGPTek, as well as EZCap. The device that I received does NOT have the EZCap logo on it, which seems to suggest that it is the AGPTek version. Besides laptop batteries, their page, if you can get it to load, mentions walkie talkies and inspection cameras. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you see that they also have a water proof MP3 player, some ac adapters, and some tablets. There is no mention of the capture device.

Granted, it is possible that they do some sort of contract work with EZCap, but as I said, there is no mention of the device. I only know that the device is associated with the company because I have seen it advertised at Amazon and eBay. I also can say that my version of the device is the AGPtek model, because I do not have the EZCap label on top.

Having gotten all of that out of the way, I will review the device that I have, whoever made it, legal or not (that was aimed at the company that I bought it from, as well as Newegg.com, not AGPTek). The device is good. If that's all you care about, go grab one and start making your own videos. If you want more details, here's a few.

The device is SMALL. If you have seen the remote for the Xbox One, stack about five or six together. That's roughly the size of this thing. It has an in put and output for HDMI cables, as well as the micro plug for the composite adapter (the same input type of most smart phones). The composite adaptor is included, by the way. The back also has a place to plug in the power supply, also included. The front of the unit has a USB port, the on button, and an in, an out, and a mic port. That's it.

The leaflet gives you virtually no useful information. It will tell you that mics require the 280M version, but doesn't let you know which you have. It says to check the bottom of the box, but there isn't a place that specifically says you have one or the other. Based on the serial number, I am guessing that I do not have the M, because there is no M in the serial number.

Supposedly, you can use either a USB 2.0 flash drive or an external hard drive. I did try a USB 3.0, 1T HDD, but the device did not recognize it. I did plug it into both my XB1, and my computer, so I know the HDD works. It may have just been too large for the device to recognize. Eventually, I will try an old HD that I have in an external case, to see if it helps. Eventually.

I can say that not all flash drives work equally well with this device. While testing this on three different games, I found that my PNY was slightly better than my Lexar. Both are USB 3.0, and have 32G of memory. The Lexar seemed to record fairly well, but would often drop frames, or give more audio glitches than the PNY. The Lexar would occasionally not kick in when I hit the record button. I would have to stop and restart a couple of times, or even take the drive out and pop it back in. Then, when it was time to transfer the files to my PC, the Lexar would take as much as six times longer to transfer. There's a bonus review for you. PNY over Lexar for flash drives.

As far as the quality went, the video on both my Xbox 360 and XB1 were a bit off. The 360 was much darker, forcing me to reset my graphics output. In my YouTube clip below, Defiance Game: Season 2 -  Until the Arc Rises, the graphics were so dark that I wasn't shooting directly at enemies. I was aiming just below the red indicators above their heads.

The opposite was true for the XB1. Thief is a game that is played in a very dark world. A big part of the game play is the ability to blow out candles and turn out lights, so you can sneak around better. There were moments where it seemed like my character was out during an over cast day. Granted, the capture is more accurate than what I saw, but it was still annoying at times. There were times that I felt like I was cheating during Thief, because I had so much light to work in.

The audio is great for the most part. You will see in the Defiance clip that there are audio glitches. I have watched game play from a few other people that used the 360 or PS3 to play, and noticed that they had video and / or audio glitches as well, no matter what they used to record their games with. The game does have a lot of lag, since it is an MMO that features lots of events, instead of just giving people quests.

The other game that I did 360 tests with was The Darkness II. While using the HDMI cable for input to the device, I had lots of video glitching. Once I replayed the same cut scene with the composite cables, the glitching went away. Again, there was little difference between the two flash drives.

The one thing that impressed me the most about the device's ability to capture was how smoothly cuts were made. Clips are only about 5 minutes, 22 seconds on the 360, and 16 minutes and 32 seconds on the  XB1, give or take a couple of seconds. For the longer clips, such as the two I have posted below for this review, I inserted a comment where each clip was joined to another. I expected the clips to have a brief pause, hiccup, or flicker in between. Instead, the clips were all smooth and pretty. If I didn't place the annotations at the seams, I wouldn't have known where they were when I watched the finished clips.

It should be noted that I did not attempt to use composites for the output. Output is strictly HDMI, so I couldn't have tried it if I wanted to. I'll also add that there is not an input for the yellow composite cable on the adapter. I have no idea if this makes a difference or not, since I pretty much just use my TV for gaming, and watching the occasional TV show, such as Arrow.

Speaking of TV, I should point out that part of the sales pitch, as well as the leaflet, tells people that they can capture DVD and Blu-Ray movies with the device. They also add that you shouldn't, because it's illegal. I considered testing the XB1 TV app with the device, to see if I could capture TV or an old, public domain movie from a DVD. I chose not to, because I'm reviewing this for gaming purposes. There are also so many ways to pirate a DVD or Blu-Ray that would be easier. *LEGAL DISCLAIMER* Please don't pirate movies or TV shows. Please?

I was asked via a YouTube comment about the mic. AS I said, only the M model can record HDMI input games with a mic. The model I have can only do this with a composite. I did think of buying a cheap mic to test the device, but I couldn't find one locally. I attempted to use my SRS universal headphones, but the mic cord was so short that I couldn't move far from my computer.

To power the headphones, I had to plug the USB into my computer, on the other side of the room, with my EZCap in the middle of the room. If I would have paid more attention to the leaflet, I would have known that the mic wouldn't work with the XB1. I was not about to contort myself in the position that I had to be in to try again with the composites.

Before I sum things up, I should also add that the device comes with a free version of ArcSoft ShowBiz on a mini CD. The software does come with a registration code, which makes me think that AGPTek, or whoever packaged this, is legit. That still doesn't mean that I know who made it, however. The software will let you glue together the segments of your game, and add some nice annotations (captions) to it. It even claims that you can add voice overs, but without a mic....

You can, of course, add annotations for free at YouTube, but they do not show up on consoles, cell phones, or other mobile devices. Maybe it has something to do with bandwidth or load times. I don't know. I don't care. All I know is, it doesn't take ShowBiz any longer to process a clip with annotations added. It takes a little longer to add them, but not that much time.

So, is the device worth the $80 or so that they sell for? I am very satisfied with mine. I have even recommended it to others. It is not a perfect device, and I would like to be able to use HDMI input for the 360. However, the "higher quality" devices that some people insist on require you to have two things, that I don't want to buy just to play and record Xbox games.

The first thing is a computer with a high end graphics card. The EZCap uses a USB to record everything, so you don't even need to own a computer. If you have something that plays MPEG-4, you're fine. Of course, you may have to update your drivers, as I did. Big deal. And the free Q Time that I have is pretty choppy when playing them, but that's Apple's fault, not EZCap's.

The second thing you need is a smart TV. The more expensive, high end capture devices force you to use a TV's USB port, instead of an HDMI or composite cable. I am not about to buy a new TV, just to buy a more expensive computer and capture device. The video quality that I've seen really isn't that much different. It's just that while you play, the 360 picture quality is a bit darker, and the XB1 is a bit lighter. Big deal.

So yes, if you are on a budget, or are just recording game play as a hobby (say for bragging rights and epic fails), get this device. The reviews from other people are roughly the same between the models that have "EZCAP" printed on them as this model, so just go for the best deal.

And one last thing, I originally wanted to use the Blurex capture device. I bought one at Amazon, and it didn't work. It had even less information packaged with it than the EZCap, and like AGPTek, there is no mention of the device on their web site. The Blurex did not work at all. I could watch my XB1 boot up, but once my dash board popped up, the device would die.

They did have an 800 number listed on their leaflet, but with really bad hours of operations. And since I was trying it out on a Friday night, I just decided to return it flat out. I received my EZCap on the same day, and didn't have a single problem with it, other than needed the composites for the 360.

*UPDATE*

I recently noticed that the ArcSoft ShowBiz program that came with my EZCap may have caused some, if not all, of the audio issues. I edited together a clip that was over an hour, and the finished product had audio glitches. The original clips did not.

I also forgot to mention that the device produces an MPEG-4 file that may require you to update you Quick Time player (or what ever you play MPEG-4 files with). The software only puts out files in MPG4. To tech gurus, this may mean something. To me, it's just a faster way to type the file extension's name.

Defiance: The Game Part 3 (of 3)

As I mentioned previously, I can't get into the show. As such, I really don't know how much cross over there really is. The initial premise was that if something big happened on the show, it would eventually be added to the game. If someone came up with a really good character, then the show could use it (royalty free, of course) in the show.

With that said, after you chose your character type (race, gender, profession, etc), you get something called an E.G.O. It's a computer chip that enables the HUD on your screen, as well as gives you advice and story points while you play. It's sort of like schizophrenia, without the aluminum foil hat.

As you earn experience, you can build up your EGO. There are four main skills, such as invisibility cloak, and various add on skills that you can choose from, such as doing extra damage once your shield wears down. And by the way, your EGO gives you the ability to equip a force field as well.

I don't want to put in any real spoilers, so I'll keep this kind of vague. The storyline for Season One is what you might expect. The war is over, but there are still plenty of bad guys from all of the races around to take care of. First, you earn the respect of a Human general, as you take out various groups of raiders near the main camp. There's also lots of hellbugs (really big bugs) to squach with your ATV, or use for target practice, as you explore the San Franscisco Bay area.

Eventually, you will meet new kinds of bad guys as you complete the tasks mentioned in the previous post. Miners, Volge, Dark Matter, and so forth. The game does make it easy to keep the rank of the bad guys equal to yours. For instance, the raiders and hellbugs really aren't that bad. But if you decide to just explore the world without doing missions, you will stumble across something bigger than you are early in the game. The joys of an open world game.

The main missions, like restoring the radio station, will be marked either by a big exclamation point, or a start on your map. Anything else that you come across is either going to be a side mission, which you don't need to complete, or a challenge, such as a race against the clock. These are also optional, as well as repeatable, so don't fret if you don't like the score you get.

You should also know that the skill levels in events are affected by how many people show up for it. If there is just you, the level will be low. If say ten people show up, there will be more bad guys, and their skill levels will increase. Unfortunately, the game does NOT self correct for people leaving early, or just passing through. Trion has been saying that it does since day one, but I have yet to see this happen.

Eventually, you will find yourself at the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a big battle there in the storyline. However, if you are just exploring, you can cross it and explore first. That's what I did. Once you complete this mission, you will find a California that is unrecognizable. It looks as if a nuke hit, and whipped the city off the face of the earth. You will find some broken up streets, as well as destroyed houses. Other than that, there is little to make you feel like you are still playing on Earth. Even the unique plants from the first territory look more alien.

Your next big story arc involves defeating the Dark Matter. They have a sinister plan for the planet, and all of those that live on it. Again, I don't want to give out any spoilers, so let's just say its along the usual "there can be only one" mentality. Only without Quickenings, Adrian Paul, or Christopher Lambert.

Once you complete the final mission here, you get (or at least got) the whole end credits, "Wow! You're a god" style ending. When I finished Season One, there wasn't a Season Two, or even free software. As such, I don't know what happens now. I was, of course, allowed to keep playing, since the dlc was still coming out.

In Season Two, which is where I am now, you're delving into events concerning your EGO. That's pretty much all I can say about it, since all I finished was the story arc, and none of the "episodes." I have a clip from Season Two embedded below. It is a spoiler, however, since it is of the last mission in the main story arc.

If you want a review that was done when the game first came out, and is contrasted with how it is now, I have one up at Amazon. As with Xbox Live, I'm Psycho_Archer there. The only difference is the "_" in my name.

I hope you enjoyed this review, and will subscribe to my blog, and/or YouTube channel. If you need a boost to get caught up, there were 72 codes provided by Trion to give players some freebies. I do not know if they still work with Defiance v 2.0, but feel free to use them if you can. I did a copy/paste instead of typing, and it only took a few minutes.

Defiance: The Game Part 2 (of 3)

For those of you unfamiliar with the game or the TV show that it's tied into, Defiance takes place on Earth in the near future. An alien species found our planet, and used Voltan technology to terraform part of our planet. As a result, the changes started to spread as other races decided to settle on our planet.

As a result, our world now looks very different. Of course, there was a big war that took place in order to stop the terra-forming, but since the series starts after the war, we don't gt to see any of it. Beyond that, I know virtually nothing of importance about the show. I hate sci fi that takes itself too seriously. Through in some humor (like the Mr Spock and Dr. McCoy fights on Star Trek), or I'm bored.

The game, however, is very entertaining. Especially now that version 2 is out. The first version, which required you to buy a hard copy of the game, was so filled with bugs that it was barely playable at times. For my Xbox, it was an over night install. Then in the morning, I had to install an update patch that took an additional four HOURS. And then about once a week or so, there was another patch that required anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. FUN!

Then there was the dlc (down load content) that Trion kept pushing on you. Every new dlc came with some type of weapon or device that you could only use if you had the dlc. It also "coincidentally" seemed that you had to have the latest dlc to download the newest patch faster.

I personally only have the Arcbreaker dlc, and others have told me the other dlc isn't really worth it, unless you're a hard core fan of the game. The only reason I spent the $10 on Arcbreaker was because it seemed like there was a hole in the game without it. After all, a big part of the events at the time was the major and minor arc falls. And if you beat them, you got a weapon that you couldn't use without the dlc.

The other thing about the arc falls is that appear in different places at different times on the map. If you have the dlc, you can summon a fall at times. If you don't have the dlc, you either wait for one of the other players to do it. There is a nice mission involved with the dlc, so you can grab some achievement points as well.

Should you want all of the dlc, there is a season pass (at least at Xbox Live), that has everything, plus some bonuses, like a hat for your dashboard avatar. It's only $10 cheaper than buying each dlc separately, so if you only want one or two dlc for some reason, don't get the pass. If you really think the silly avatar hat is worth $0, get the pass.

Besides the arc falls there are other types of events. The main difference between them is, if the area on the map is red, it's considered an arc fall. If the area is yellow, it has something to do with a dlc. You can play in either one, but the rewards won't be usable to your character without the dlc.

Some of the events are in "wave" form. You and all the people that show up kill all of the (bad guy name), then you get a couple of seconds to get more ammo. Then another wave, and another, until the timer runs out. Other events have you run around from one spot to another, taking out hordes of (bad guy name here), before moving onto the next spot. When all of the spots are finished, a new spot opens, which has the head (bad guy name) that you need to kill off.

There are also story missions that you can play, if you don't feel like doing the MMO thing. You get a main story line, as well as a few "episodes" (new missions). There are even some trials that you can do, such as races, kill all the (bad guy name) in a short time, etc.

These story based missions are also recycled for small group events. Teams of four, to be exact. The corporations in the game give out two types of contracts, for extra points and money. There are the daily contracts, that you can do solo, or with as many people that show up, as well as a weekly contract. Again, these can be done solo, with friends, or with others that just happen to show up.

Besides the recycled contracts, there are also contracts that are done with a group of four players. The farther along you get in the game, the more of these are open for you to play. And yes, some of them are recycled locations. Fortunately, there isn't any dlc needed for MOST of the contracts. There are some contracts, however, that you do need dlc for.

The rest is pretty straight forward. Get the various money types (why don't games just have one monetary unit any more?), upgrade your skills and weapons, shoot-to-kill. All ammo caches and dumps refill both of the weapons that you currently have equipped. The nice people at Trion (a term I wouldn't have used a year ago) have even upgraded the grenades. Instead of an enemy dropping a specific type of grenade, of a specific color, it just drops a charge that automatically refills whatever type of grenade that you have equipped.

There is one bug they seemed to have added, unfortunately. When you pull the L trigger to aim, you don't just zoom in on your target. For some reason, the cross hairs move off to the side, forcing you to re-aim as you aim. While aiming is a very good thing most of the time, this is very annoying when you're up against the Warmaster, or any other boss. HINT: Don't open the Warmaster's cage as soon as you enter the arena. Wait until it opens on its own. This allows more players to enter the arc, increasing your odds of beating him before time runs out.

I'll cover the story, and a bit more about the basics, next time.

Defiance: The Game Part 1 (of 3)

For those of you unfamiliar with the game or the TV show that it's tied into, Defiance takes place on Earth in the near future. An alien species found our planet, and used Voltan technology to terraform part of our planet. As a result, the changes started to spread as other races decided to settle on our planet.

As a result, our world now looks very different. Of course, there was a big war that took place in order to stop the terra-forming, but since the series starts after the war, we don't gt to see any of it. Beyond that, I know virtually nothing of importance about the show. I hate sci fi that takes itself too seriously. Through in some humor (like the Mr Spock and Dr. McCoy fights on Star Trek), or I'm bored.

The game, however, is very entertaining. Especially now that version 2 is out. The first version, which required you to buy a hard copy of the game, was so filled with bugs that it was barely playable at times. For my Xbox, it was an over night install. Then in the morning, I had to install an update patch that took an additional four HOURS. And then about once a week or so, there was another patch that required anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. FUN!

Then there was the dlc (down load content) that Trion kept pushing on you. Every new dlc came with some type of weapon or device that you could only use if you had the dlc. It also "coincidentally" seemed that you had to have the latest dlc to download the newest patch faster.

I personally only have the Arcbreaker dlc, and others have told me the other dlc isn't really worth it, unless you're a hard core fan of the game. The only reason I spent the $10 on Arcbreaker was because it seemed like there was a hole in the game without it. After all, a big part of the events at the time was the major and minor arc falls. And if you beat them, you got a weapon that you couldn't use without the dlc.

The other thing about the arc falls is that appear in different places at different times on the map. If you have the dlc, you can summon a fall at times. If you don't have the dlc, you either wait for one of the other players to do it. There is a nice mission involved with the dlc, so you can grab some achievement points as well.

Should you want all of the dlc, there is a season pass (at least at Xbox Live), that has everything, plus some bonuses, like a hat for your dashboard avatar. It's only $10 cheaper than buying each dlc separately, so if you only want one or two dlc for some reason, don't get the pass. If you really think the silly avatar hat is worth $0, get the pass.

Besides the arc falls there are other types of events. The main difference between them is, if the area on the map is red, it's considered an arc fall. If the area is yellow, it has something to do with a dlc. You can play in either one, but the rewards won't be usable to your character without the dlc.

Some of the events are in "wave" form. You and all the people that show up kill all of the (bad guy name), then you get a couple of seconds to get more ammo. Then another wave, and another, until the timer runs out. Other events have you run around from one spot to another, taking out hordes of (bad guy name here), before moving onto the next spot. When all of the spots are finished, a new spot opens, which has the head (bad guy name) that you need to kill off.

There are also story missions that you can play, if you don't feel like doing the MMO thing. You get a main story line, as well as a few "episodes" (new missions). There are even some trials that you can do, such as races, kill all the (bad guy name) in a short time, etc.

These story based missions are also recycled for small group events. Teams of four, to be exact. The corporations in the game give out two types of contracts, for extra points and money. There are the daily contracts, that you can do solo, or with as many people that show up, as well as a weekly contract. Again, these can be done solo, with friends, or with others that just happen to show up.

Besides the recycled contracts, there are also contracts that are done with a group of four players. The farther along you get in the game, the more of these are open for you to play. And yes, some of them are recycled locations. Fortunately, there isn't any dlc needed for MOST of the contracts. There are some contracts, however, that you do need dlc for.

An Interesting Article For My Fellow Old-Timers

I found this article at Gamasutra, about ageism in the gaming industry. Did you know that 26% of gamers are over 50?

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/238236/Im_still_creative__Game_industry_vets_rally_against_ageism.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29

Defiance: The Game Intro

I have been using Defiance to test my new EZCap HD Video Capture Device (that's it's full name, not just a description). I will be doing a post about the game in general soon, as well as a review on the EZCap.

In the mean time, the game is FREE for the PC, Xbox 360, and the PS3. You can get it at either www.defiance.com or www.trionworlds.com. Please check it out, it's fun and FREE.

Did I mention that it's FREE? Trion should give me a free dlc for all the pushing I've been doing lately.

What's Your Longest Gaming Session?

There are some hard core gamers out there that do little else besides game. Back in 2005, a South Korean man died from playing Starcraft for 52 straight hours. And I mean straight. No food, no liquids, no movements, even to get up for the bathroom. 52 straight hours hunched over his keyboard.

This isn't the only death related to video games, either. Some parents have let their children die of malnutrition, because they couldn't pull themselves away from their games long enough to take care of their kids. They were able to stop long enough to make the kids, however.

Now, I'm guessing that anyone reading this isn't that addicted. If you were, you wouldn't be reading a blog. You'd be playing a game. Still, I'm betting there's a few of you that have played some long sessions.

My personal best was a weekend bender back in the early 1990's. I had finally gotten the Buck Rogers game for the Sega Genesis, and spent a three day weekend playing it. I did take the occasional break for food or the bathroom (NASA hadn't started to sell their nine hour diapers yet.), but I was awake for the whole weekend. Come Tuesday morning, I took a three hour nap, showered, and went off to my crappy job.

So what is your longest streak? It's alright if you had to take a break for food, water, or to eliminate afterwards. As long as your break didn't include naps or leaving the game to do something else, the time counts.

Upcoming Reviews

I am going to try to review a new game or accessory on the last Wednesday of each month. The first one that I have planned is the EZCap HD Video Capture Device, which I have been using to make clips from both the 360 and The One. That review should get published on March 25th, 2015.

Future reviews will include Thief, Metro, and Titanfall, for the XB1. 360 games will include some older games, as I try to finish off my bucket list for the system. I am also open to requests for Xbox games, new and old, as long as they're affordable.

Cheap Xbox One Wired Controller

If you want to use a wired controller for your Xbox One, don't bother to buy a new one (unless you need an extra controller). The input port for charging your controller is a micro USB, the same size that most cell phones use. I found a 10 foot cable for $4.49 the other day, and it works perfectly. I took the rechargeable pack out first, to make sure the controller was getting 100% of its power from the cable. I even had several color choices.

You can then use the money you save to buy yourself a new (or used) game.