Obama or Romney? - St Paul's High School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

32Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 2012Arts and LifeXCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012) ReviewAdam SaundersContributorIt’s finally here, a sequel thatdeserves the honor of calling itselfXCOM. To me the original XCOMstands out as the best PC game ofits era. It had everything, massivebattles, tactical choices on asmall and large scale, a hugeprogression tree and one ofthe most memorable set ofenemies from any game Ihave played. All of this in aDOS game made back in thegood old days of 1994. Soit came as a surprise to hearthat the people who madeCivilization were makinga modern day sequel andI am as giddy as a kid onChristmas to say that it isfantastic.Gameplay Score/StorylineScore 9.8/10The first XCOMhosted the best turn basedstrategy gameplay of its eraand its sequel doesn’t stopshort of that. You take onthe role of the commanderof the newly formedXCOM program, a secretorganization made up of theworld’s best soldiers, scientists andengineers funded by a shady worldcounsel. The game starts with youbeing assigned your monumentaltask of repelling the alien invasionand then almost immediately youare left to your own devices. XCOMtakes places in two different areas,your “ant farm” base of operationswhere you build buildings, researchthe aliens and design the mostadvanced weapons of destructionthe earth has ever seen, and thebattlefield. You have to sendyour intrepid soldiers on multipledifferent kinds of missions on 100different individual maps. Wherethey will have to face anything froma protecting a VIP to raiding the hullof a UFO you just shot down withyour own fighters. XCOM doesa wonderful job of making yourdecisions feel like they have weightand your choices in both areas ofthe game ripple through the other.For instance say you only have 20Dying is Back in Stylealien shards and you have to choosewhether you want a set of armor foryour favorite soldier or build a laserrifle. You end up choosing the laserrifle and because you did when ahuge muton rushes through a walltrying to tear the head of one of yourrookies in the next mission, he ismet by a hail of laser fire and dropslike a rock. But another muton hassnuck behind your squad and opensfire upon your favorite guy; if heis hit you know he will not survivewithout that new suit of armor, soyou sit there, watching this hulkingbeast as it slowly raises its rifle andtakes its shot, praying that it misses.That is just one of the many fun andtense moments I have had playingthis game. XCOM manages to keepa great balance between its inherentdifficulty and fun, its iconic randomnumber generator manages to makeno matter how flawless a move feellike a risk. This spawns all sorts ofmoments, from the disaster of havingone of your veterans blasted awayin full cover because a mile awayalien got lucky and the moment ofpure joy when you manage to hitthat 10% shot that saves your squad.Behind all of this is the omnipresentsituation room where each fundingcountry has their own individualpanic level that must be managed orelse they will withdraw from yourprogram and take their funding withthem. If enough countries leave theXCOM project is shut down and theworld is doomed, so it manages tokeep a constant desire to impressthe council and makes it the bestfeeling in the world when you get agood rank.You might askwhy the storyline didn’tget its own segment.That is because it’salmost non-existent,there is enough plotto create a significantsense of emotion anda good ending but thegame is mostly fueledby your own choices.So it would be unfairfor me to assign a gradebased upon that. Besidesa few visual bugs thatwere ironed out inthe first patch XCOMis an almost flawlessgameplay experienceand a ton of fun.Graphic Score 8.5/10The new look ofXCOM is a tribute tothe cartoony style of theoriginal and it translatesreally well. The sceneryis well defined and every kind ofcharacter model manages to lookboth cartoony and have just enoughrealism for you to be able to becomeattached. The makeover of the aliensis also superb while in the originalXCOM mutons looked like purplemen in green leotards they are nowpurple muscle-bound monsters inwar gear. While they may be simple,the graphics do a wonderful job ofconveying the games sense of dreadand unknowing. Watching thatUFO softly glowing in the distanceas you advance upon it through thefiery gouge in the earth it left as itcrashed is a visual treat.In comparison to gameplaythere isn’t too much to talk abouthere; it’s not the best graphical styleever made but it’s certainly not theworst.Audio Score 9.0/10XCOM is a game where you
Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 2012never really notice the music toomuch and in this case that is a greatthing. Almost all the in game musicis focused around atmosphere,providing a fantastic background towhatever you may be doing at thetime. Whether it is hopping fromcover to cover hoping no aliens spotyou to trying to wildly fend off acrysalid attack, it always managesto deliver the right mood. It usesan interesting mix of electronicand orchestral music that somehowmanages to alternate between thetwo perfectly. But the main starof the Audio is not the music butthe sounds effects. For me it waslike a cross between watching anold horror movie and an old Sci-Fi movie, mixing funky Theremintunes and laser noises that feel likethey could belong in star wars inArts and Lifeorder to create a war you could loseyourself in.Together with the graphicsthe audio manages to create agripping atmosphere which is theperfect backdrop to the gameplay.Replay Value 9.5/10By its nature XCOM is agame to be played over and overand over again. With a really healthymodding community as well ashaving ton of difficultly settings ontop of its random number generatornature XCOM is going to have areally long play life in your library.My only recommendation is thatafter getting the hang of the game isto play classic mode; it gives a greatchallenge and unlocks the full AIgiving you a worthy opponent.People have dumpedthousands of hours into the firstXCOM and it looks like the secondmay be able to carry on that legacy.Overall Score 9.2/10Well it turns out I mademyself a liar. I said that Borderlands2 impressive score of 9.1 wouldn’tbe topped anytime soon, but hey it’sa win-win all around. To me thisgame is truly impressive display ofwhat a good company can do withan old IP. This is Adam Saunderssigning off saying once again, whyhaven’t you bought this game yet?Nicholas KjernistedSenior ContributorOn October 26 th , 2012,Windows 8 was released. This newOS is a complete reinvention of theWindows experience. It strips awaymany of the unnecessary components ofthe GUI, such as Aero, and streamlinesthe OS for tablets as well as laptopsand desktops. Additionally, it comes inboth a full version, and a more limitedversion meant for ARM processors.These drastic changes to Windowshave gained Microsoft many accoladesfor innovation. At the same time, manycurrent Windows users absolutely hatethe upgrade, and believe that Microsoftis moving too far, too fast by blendinga semi-mobile with a more traditionalexperience. Windows 8 is an innovativeOS with some great features, but itmight be overstepping its boundaries.The entire Windows experiencehas been altered in Windows 8. TheAero interface has been eschewed alongwith the start button for what Microsoftbelieves to be a much cleaner interface.In actuality, the stark minimalismbrought about by the lack of Aero is anice change. However, the lack of thestart button is a mild pain, and may getelderly users confused. In addition tothe lack of the start button, is the lackof the traditional start menu. It has beenreplaced with a full screen interface thatwas at one time known as MetroUI.Windows 8 ReviewThis interface essentially resemblesa series of rectangles designed to beeasy to use one a tablet. They’re knownas live-tiles because they update anddisplay information directly on them.In a way, they act as app icons andwidgets all in one. Though this interfaceis sure to be a pleasure to use in a touchenvironment, using it with a mouse isan extremely “clunky” experience. It’sunfortunate that an option to regain thetraditional start menu isn’t an option inthe full version of Windows 8. Otherchanges include the addition of an AppMarketplace and full screen “metro”apps, among other operation-relatedchanges and features.In addition to the multiplechanges made to the Windowsexperience, Microsoft has added anew kind of Windows: Windows RT.Though the regular Windows (and W8Pro) have received all of the abovechanges, Windows RT is somethingelse. It operates in the same way,but is meant to run on ARM mobileprocessors. Additionally, it will onlybe able to run system programs, andones from the Windows (App) Store.This will be the version found runningon most tablets, and the one that is incompetition with the iPad and Androiddevices.Despite all of the greatchanges in Windows 8, they weren’t allnecessary, at least not yet. For example,the constant switching between thedesktop interface and the new startmenu isn’t very fluid, and creates andodd disconnect, reducing fluidity inoperation. This can be a detriment toeveryday tasks, work, and gaming.Additionally, it is quite the contrarywhen compared to the rest of the OS,which is very clean and smooth feeling.Additionally, as was stated before, thelive-tiles are awkward to use with amouse in a traditional desktop/laptopenvironment. Despite these problems,it’s no doubt that Windows 8 will besuccessful on tablets, and even on newtraditional-style systems due to it’sslew of new features. Windows 8 is agood OS, but not for everyone.Overall, Windows 8 is lookingto be a great experience for tablet users,and at least a decent one for desktopand laptop users. For those users readyto tread new waters and abandontheir old setups for a completely newexperience, Windows 8 will be great.However, most people on Windows 7would be better off sticking with it. It’sa solid OS with ten-year long support.Additionally, gamers should almostdefinitely keep using Windows 7.That said, Windows 8 appears to be aninventive new OS. If an average useris in the market for a new computer,they shouldn’t hesitate to buy one withWindows 8. In summation, Windows 8is a great new OS that is right for most,but not all.33
Page 4 and 5: Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 2012
Page 6 and 7: 6Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 201
Page 31: Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 2012

Obama or Romney? - St Paul's High School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?