Video Game

Its that odd time of year. The heat wave of summer if you will(very fitting considering actual US/NA temperatures lately). No new big name games are coming out. We had a fairly strong release season around Christmas 2011. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the big blockbuster I recall releasing as it is the sequel to one of my favorite games of all time, TES IV:Oblivion, an open world RPG where you can do pretty much anything you want, although the focus is on adventuring/questing.

But now, with no new blockbusters coming yet, and most people out of school, Steam is hosting its Summer Sales. Huge price cuts on nearly every game in its vast library.



The big one's(ie the gems I recomend) at the moment on the front page(only around for the next 10-24 hours) are Portal 2(75% off), Legend of Grimrock(60% off), Dungeon Defenders(50% off), Skyrim(33% off), Defense Grid: The Awakening(50% off), Spacechem(75% off), Magicka(40% off), and Dungeons of Dredmore(605 off). I have not played all of these due to lack computing power, but I would highly recommend them all, especially Dungeon Defenders and Spacechem(only $2.50 for the best puzzle game of all time), which are definitely in the upper echelon of games I have ever had the pleasure of playing.

Stay tuned to Steam for the next 11 days for more amazing deals.

Now on to other video game news. The first 2 online games I fell in love with have had a big couple of weeks. The first being Team Fortress 2, Valve's now Free to Play class based FPS, just released the final portion of its Meet the Team update that includes unique items for the Pyro. If you are looking for a fun and well done FPS, that encourages team work, look no further than TF2. And now that it is free, no reason not to at least try it out.

This brings us to League of Legends, a MOBA(Multi-player Online Battle Arena) from some of the creative minds behind DotA, Defense of the Ancients, a very popular MOBA mod for the Warcraft II engine. The basic goal of the game is to defend your teams base while simultaneously attempting to destroy your opponents base. While the goal is simple, the execution is anything but simple, with professional players and teams. Professional matches are broadcast and watched by many fans. As the article below will tell, LoL is becoming huge in the E-Sports arena.

I have been playing League of Legends since its open BETA in the Fall of 2009. Since that point in its life, the development team has added a myriad of features, including 60 playable Champions, more playable maps and game modes, and a Spectator mode to name just a few. Best of all, its Free to Play, and just recently became the Most Played PC Game In The World. That is a lofty position for a game that had less than 50 thousand players when I joined. This puts League of Legends above  Starcraft II and WoW in a direct comparison of Xfire counts. 

If you have not yet played a MOBA, hit me up, and I will join you for some League of Legends, or Dota2(a direct clone of DotA, created by the last community manager of DotA, still in BETA), or Heroes of Newerth(a direct clone of DotA that has expanded since its full release). I prefer LoL but I will play any of them with you.


I mentioned Dungeon Defenders previously. This is the game that has held most of my gaming attention for the past 8 months. It is beautifully crafted on the Unreal Engine. Dungeon Defenders is a fusion of two very popular genres; Tower Defense and Action RPG which includes persistent gear/stat upgrades.

The premise is simple, waves of enemies will enter the map/dungeon and follow paths to your Eternia Crystal with the intent to destroy it. Your job is to defend the crystal and fend off wave after wave of enemies of increasing number and strength. You accomplish this by summoning towers with your heroes. Then you can either sit back and let your defense work for you, or you can actively jump into the fray and destroy your enemies. Either way, your overall goal is to advance through 13 maps and fend off all the enemies. 4 different difficulties in the base game provide hundreds of hours of play time if you do not speed through everything. Then there is the Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards, an expansion/DLC that adds at least 6 new maps, a brand new difficulty, and multiple new Challenges. There also a few new Hero DLC's that can add even more re-playability to the entire game. I am sitting at about 450 hours since the end of October, and I am nowhere near end game content yet. Steam currently has the complete Dungeon Defenders collection for $25, which is 50% off the full price. Considering that this is less than the cost of a AAA game, and has nearly infinite re-playability, this is a no-brainer purchase if you have any inkling that you might enjoy it.


I am in the process of building a new computer, to replace my nearing 7 year old gaming rig that gor a small facelift last year. Once this is done, I will be able to enjoy some of the newer games(Skyrim and Portal 2) that I haven't had the power to play yet.


I am always looking for new games to play. Let me know some of your favorites and/or suggestions. Looking forward to some new adventures, and maybe some new people to play with(come Defend Dungeons with me or join me on the Fields of Justice or maybe a little Minecraft?). Add me on Steam and lets play games. "I didn't come here to play, I came here to win. Now let's play."