Review: The Sims 2: Double Deluxe PC

If you're reading this, it's either because you're a mass murderer or you're really into killing zombies at night with a plate of hamburgers. If those two reasons are not true, first comment below why you're here, then continue reading this.

See what I did there?

Anyways, THE SIMS! Who doesn't love The Sims?! You get to live your life through an animated, brainless soul, making him/her do whatever you've always wanted to do, or not want to do, forever and ever! ...Until they die, in which case, you call up the Grim Reaper and either get an awesome zombie version of your Sim, OR you get your Sim again! Win-win situation!

One great thing about this game, one that I personally enjoy, is the fact you get to age. You go from newborn, to toddler, to child, to teen, to adult and then finally elder. And yes, there is death afterwards. But there is life after death! The ghost of the Sim roams around wherever the graveplot and or ashtray...I mean urn is located. That part isn't that great, but whatever.

Also...ALIENS. 'nough said, am I right?

This game is just a really great game. It's so easy to get engrossed and lost in this magical world you control and create. It's endearing, really. My favorite thing is building houses. It's easy and just plain fun. Then, of course, making the perfect family for the house.

Overall, it's just fun. I give it four out of five stars. The only reason it doesn't get the full five-stars is because it is missing a few minor elements I'd like to have personally. Like having other animals, not just cats and dogs. Going into more detail with...Detail. Other things which are added to The Sims 3. Yeah.

But mostly because of the loading times. Basically, you either stay at home or wait forever to get somewhere. And the downtown/other locations aren't even fun. Where's the pizzazz? I want pizzazz, man!

But anyway. I've given LOTS of time to that stickin game. It's very entertaining. I like the fact they give you three awesome towns, stocked full of awesome people, right off the bat. And then once you screw those worlds (and people) up, you can make your own town and start screwing them up! Endless cycle of screwing!

...Wait.

Moving on. Let's just take a moment to look at all the expansion packs for this game:

 

Really, you need some ex packs in order to have the best experience while playing this game. I'll tell you the ones you need:

 

 

Mansion & Garden + IKEA + Kitchen and Bathroom = The Housebuilder Packs

 

Pets + University + Teen Style + Family Fun = The Family Pack.

 

Freetime + Bon Voyage + Open For Business = The "Extra Something" Packs

 

Apartment Life + Seasons + Freetime + Pets = The Real-life Packs

 

All The Stuff Packs = The Big Into Detail Packs

 

All The Packs - Stuff Packs = The "I just wanna do stuff" Packs

 

All The Packs = An Experience In Which You Can't Play The Game Otherwise.

 

But the only ones you need are Freetime, Pets and some stuff packs. In my mind, at least. Apartment Life is a great addition, also, but not one you absolutely need. Bon Voyage is really fun...The first time you visit the destinations. Seasons is really cool, too, but the snow is annoying and nothing really happens. Open For Business is something to get your mind off the main game, but nothing I use constantly. It gets quite old. Nightlife is nothing but blah, blah, blah. The only plus is it came with cars. Seriously. That's the only reason to have it.

 

However, it's a really great game all-in-all. Definitely give it a look.



PG: Update

Hey guys, what's up?

I just wanted to stop in and update you all on my gaming/writing life, so you Fanfiction followers of mine: make sure to read also.

I'll start with my gaming update. Cause you always start with video games.

Currently I'm limiting myself to one game per console. So that would be Kingdom Hearts 3D for 3DS, The Last Story for Wii, and LEGO Batman 2 for Xbox. I'm still stuck in TLS, so I'm on gamers strike from the game. I've finally progressed in Kingdom Hearts 3D, I've completed Hunchback of Notre Dame's world and moved on to Tron's world. (Yeah, I'm still at the beginning) And I've beaten Batman 2, except for the bonus levels and all that stuff. Also, I've been cheating on Batman 2 by playing some Call of Duty. Anyone remember/have COD 2? The really old game? Yeah, that's what has been my "wind down" game. It's been somewhat of a stressful week.

I've done a lot of reading up on Xbox 1, which I thoroughly believe should have been named Xbox Infinity. I mean, Xbox 1 shows no creativity. At all. It's better than 720, so I gotta be thankful for that.

Anyways, The Last of Us, which I was SO COMEPLETELY EXCITED FOR is only going to be released for PS3/4. I don't have either of those. This sucks. I was so excited for this!!!! My dreams...They are forever crushed.

...Moving along.

I haven't been writing as much recently. Like I said, stressful week. But I've had a lot of ideas for my Fanfiction "Snake Eyes" and as soon as I finish this post I'll start on chapter seven. At first it was supposed to be a short story...That didn't happen. I kind of feel bad, but hey I hope people enjoy it as much as I do. I really love writing it. I'll make sure to include the link to my profile below, so check it out.

I want to wrap up Snake Eyes at about fifteen chapters max. After that, my focus IS going to The Green [Winged] Hero. My Yoshi story. (Yoshi, as in, Mario character...But you knew that I'm sure.) No trying to juggle stories. Believe me, one will always outshine the other and you'll feel a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Pure Gamers Advice Of The Day: Focus on one story at a time...

So for this week, you can expect at least one blog update and a pretty little chapter for Snake Eyes. Hope you all are doing well and have a great weekend.

I would like to take a moment and thank everyone who fought for my country and made it the awesome place it is. God Bless America; Happy Memorial Day

www.fanfiction.net/~puregamer

Review: LEGO Batman 2

Why hello there, I'm here and going to tell you my innermost gaming thoughts on, LEGO Batman 2 (Xbox).

One of the big draws in this game is that, for the first time ever, the Lego characters talk. This is a really awesome addition, it makes the game just that much more fun, but I also don't like this because in the past I have liked the enjoyment of watching the silent Lego characters. It was somewhat of an original thing, I guess, and it was very, very likable. For example, Pirates of The Caribbean was super funny because they couldn't talk. Watching them scramble to understand what the others were saying was quite entertaining. On the flipside, the characters talking does make this ten-times funnier and enjoyable. So really, it's just a personal thing and hardly matters.

Another big draw was the fact they're combining DC superheroes. This is a blessing and a curse. Lex Luthor and The Joker working together is an...Odd match. The storyline meshes quite nicely, but their interaction is bland. In fact, Lex Luthor comes off as a bland character altogether. But that's something else entirely. Robin, Batman and Superman working together is a really cool thing, however. But they make Superman look like a god and Batman look like he needs his butt saved all the time. As a Batman fan, I don't like this. I mean, HELLO, it is called LEGO Batman. However, that's enigmatic. The Robin + Batman + Superman interaction is beautiful. Their characters are so well done and it's very enjoyable.

Also, the League of Justice characters is a really awesome "finale." They're done up pretty perfectly. Except for Wonder Woman, who just had super strength, steel hearts, "Lasso of Truth" and the ability to fly. Yeah, that's pretty good, but compared to everyone else...Not so much. Especially compared to Superman who, as I said, is like a god. Anywho, I especially like Green Lantern. I feel that he is perfect. Very fun to play as, creatively made, and is just a nice addition.

Moving on. The gameplay is your average Lego game. You break things, get money, build things, beat the boss, move on. The game itself is very simple. There are hardly any challenging parts. The bad guys you can take out in one hit. The bosses can be pretty hard, but nothing impossible. You will, most likely, never get stuck.

The only thing that's annoying is the split screen with two players. After a while you'll get used to it, but it still doesn't let you do things and it makes you want to murder a cat. Like I said, you'll get used to it, and it won't matter.

The storyline is pretty basic. Joker gas and kryptonite are the main worries here. In the main story you only really ever meet The Joker and Lex Luthor with some pop-ins from Harley Quinn and The Ridler. possibly others but I really can't remember them if they were there. Most likely the stuff after the main story will contain the other villains, which really sucks. In a way, they crapped out. They could have had a bunch of evil dudes running around and could have added some super fun main story stuff, but hey, the extras just might be worth it. No, I haven't played them yet, but from past LEGO game experience, it WILL be fun and worth the wait.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone and everyone. I played two-played all the way through and had a blast. I would say that it would be quite hard as a single-played, so consider yourself warned. But still fun. I laughed and completely enjoyed myself. It is one of those games you sit down and get sucked into; it's so lovable! And, come on, it's BATMAN. (Along with Superman and others) It's worth the $19.95 I paid, and I'm positive you'll find it worth it too.

GameLog: The Last Story (II)

No, I'm not dead...Or maybe I am...

Hello there gamers and internet creepers, I'm back and doing a...GameLog...? Whoa! Shocker, ain't it? And a continuation! A sequel! Hurrah.

Anyways, let's take a moment to think about where we left off on our last TLS GameLog...(Link: http://www.ablogforgamers.blogspot.com/2013/02/gamelog-last-story.html) I started the game and got through a few chapters, and ended right before going on this boat where they're keeping one of the main characters hostage. (Gurak Warship)

Well, I defeated the ship. It was pretty simple, except for the boss. The boss was...Ugh. One thing you HAVE TO HAVE if you want to play this game: Patience. There should be a warning on the box that says: "WARNING, patience is needed if you want to play this game...Otherwise, you'll jump off a bridge into a lake of fire."

Yeah. I thought about bridge jumping a lot during this game.

After about...Three hours of trying to beat this boss, I came out successful, of course. My group got the boat, and Lady Calista (Aka Lisa...Don't even complain about spoilers. It's extremely obvious and, yes, clichéd. I mean, the whole princess running away from her palace thing? Uhh, yeah.) joins you...Everything's dandy now. You're given random missions which, somehow, add to the plot. Like: Going out to explore this shipwreck, in which you learn more about one of the characters fathers backstory. I don't see how this is needed in the game in any way, but if I can slaughter some giant spiders and have a good time, it's all good. And dude, storyline additions?!?!?! Cut scenes?!?! I'm THERE.

There are two of these "Side quests" (Which aren't side quests because you have to do them), Yurick and Mirania. The latter is way more fun. At some point you're put into this maze...You have a very hard duty. You have to lure these skully Gurak, one by one, over to your group and kill them without drawing attention to the other. If one sees you, they summon uncountable numbers of backup, and you die. I'm a cocky gamer, I feel invisible in games. At that moment when I was told "Lure them one-by-one over or you'll die" I thought: PISH POSH, I'm a boss who can take these noobs.

So I just waltz out and let everyone see me, and die.

There is no way to win if you do it that way, take my advice. You have to, again, use patience and do it the right way. Although hard and at times annoying, it was wicked fun. Yes, I died many many times, but I had so much fun doing it. One of the highlights of the game, I'd say.

Moving on. With your awesome warship, you end up going into a Gurak military base. Once there you're thrown into multiple battle scenes, cut scenes, and lots of uneventful things in which I can hardly remember.

But then there's a plot twist. Let's just say...You end up in prison. Awesome, right? You're reunited with Syrenne and Lowell, who are SO far behind in levels it's ridiculous, (Because they've been absent for more then half the game) and you're introduced to Horace. He's a really interesting character, I quite like him. He's not a very good helper battle-wise, but you kinda get to boss him around at times. Total plus.

By now we're at Chapter Nineteen, so as you can tell, I've covered a lot of ground in the...months...I've not done a GameLog. And I'm not done, so let's move right along.

At the moment, I'm stuck on a side-quest in chapter 21. (Yes, I did somewhat of a skip...For spoiler purposes. You're welcome) The boss, Lesser Shade, is AWFUL. The only thing you can hit him with is fire, so you rely almost fully on Yurick's fire magic, but NO, THAT'S NOT ALL! Lesser Shade also can possess one of your teammates and heal himself(And kill said teammate). It takes so much patience that I don't have, that I can only get him to not heal himself 30% of the time. So it turns into this never ending cycle...Oh wait, it does end, because then I die. ERMAGERSH.

It's brutal. I've put in a good three hours to this guy. Am I the only one that has so many troubles with this game? Who knows. Maybe I just suck. The game is still overly awesome, so I'm not complaining too much.

Thanks for reading! The next GameLog might take this long, it might not, who knows? I sure as Gurak don't.