I meant to mention this in my Splinter Cell post but my mind got all caught up with ways of entering the damn embassy that I completely forgot about it.  DamnStraight.net, the site I'm supposedly going to write for, should be getting a graphical upgrade within a few days.  Possibly this week, perhaps.  I don't have an exact time on when the site will launch, nor do I know what I'm supposed to be writing/posting about it.  It'll obviously be games/hardware/entertainment oriented, so it shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

Visually it looks quite nice.  I don't have a link to the layout, but even if I did I probably wouldn't post it.  It mostly consists of your usual WordPress layout: a banner at the top, a menu below that, and then the main content.  To the right is a bar that has other options, such as categories to help navigate throughout the site.  There's a search bar and log-in box as well.  And that it's.  Again, plans are to upgrade the site sometime this week.  Whether or not this will be the actual "launch" of DamnStraight.net isn't up to me.  You can look forward to more than 80 hardware and game reviews at launch, however.  Heck, some of them might even be mine...

Yep, this is indeed another Splinter Cell post.  The replayability of this game has increased from what I originally thought.  However, this time I didn't play CIA Headquarters, like I usually do.  For some time I've seen a saved Checkpoint at Chinese Embassy, and I've always wondered where exactly I left off when I saved it.  I loaded it up and noticed I was pretty much done with the level.  At the time I'm sure I wasn't aware of how close I just was.  If I did I probably would've finished the mission.

I remember this part being quite the challenge because I didn't know what to do, exactly.  I whipped out my laser mic, listened in on a conversation, and that's it.  You aren't specifically told what to do after that.  I remember thinking I had to enter the embassy, because that's where Nikoladze exits.  However, time and time again I'd end up failing the mission one way or another.  Obviously I know now what I was supposed to do, so I approached this scenario a bit differently.  Recently, I've found out that shooting an enemy in the head with a diversion camera acts just like a ring air foil-subsequently knocking them out.  You have to aim just right, however.  It must be in the head.

So after Nikoladze left the embassy I was now left with 3 guards to take care of.  Usually in this scenario I'd sneak past them, but I had time so I had some fun.  I knocked one out with a camera, then another with gas.  That left one guard left who I really didn't even have to worry about since he was in a small room of sorts.  I tried entering the embassy but the door read "Door Jammed".  Nuts.  I then thought I could possibly sneak in right after Nikoladze leaves, but things didn't go too smooth...

Ok, Nikoladze has just exited when I decided to make a mad dash for the door before it closes.  I have one guard to take care of.  Sounds easy right?  Wrong.  For some reason the guards are now immune to gas.  I placed a camera directly below a guard and engoulfed him in gas, but it had no effect whatsoever.  I attempted this once more with the same result, so I'm thinking the developers don't want you going in there.  I won't give up, and I plan on asking in the Splinter Cell forums at Xbox.com if it's even possible. 

Going through Splinter Cell again has showed me that the majority of it's levels are fairly short, once you know the general layout, objectives and enemies.  It's also given me the opportunity to actually explore them.  For instance, at the end of CIA Headquarters, right before you kidnap the guy during his smoking break, many people never notice the door directly to your left.  Going through the level again I happened to spot it, and noticed a sign next to it labeled "UFO Sightings".  This is obviously a joke/Easter egg, which I highly praise in video games.  The developers are sort-of rewarding you for going off on the set path.

Anyways, the UFO Sightings room was overall a letdown.  All it had were some extra ammo, and that's it.  Nothing UFO-related from I remember.  So I continued throughout the mission, kidnapped the guy and proceeded to carry him to the van.  I got to that final room, where a repair-man of sorts and agent roam about.  What once seemed like an impossible task is now child's play.  Once you memorize their walking paths it's easy to take them out, or just avoid them altogether.  After tackling that room I was onto my final task: the long walk to the van, with 1 guard in my way.  This always seemed to be the most boring part of the mission, in my opinion at least.  So just as I was about to embark on this boring walk with my kidnapee over my shoulders, I noticed something.  A ladder.  Now, obviously I can't climb down the ladder with a man on my shoulder.  That wasn't my intent.  What stuck out at me was the opening. 

All but this one spot on the ledge was blocked off by a railing.  So what does this little opening mean, besides access to the ladder?  The opportunity to throw my kidnapee over the ledge and onto the ground, completely ignoring the long walk and finishing my mission within seconds.  Now, one little thing did stand in my way: the risk of my unconscious fellow dying upon impact.  I'd never thrown a man from a ledge before, so I didn't know exactly what would happen.  I took the risk anyways and over the ledge he fell...but not before smacking his head against an aluminum roof.  Whoops.  This made a very loud sound that would alarm any normal patrol men instantly, but not in Splinter Cell.  The sound of another AI falling really doesn't alarm them unless it's close by(very close by, actually).

So, he smacked his head on a roof, then fell onto a cement slab.  Amazingly he survived and I completed my mission by handing him over to a group of interrogators.  I did this 2 more times, because I really enjoy that particular level.  My third attempt, however, was...inconsistent.  I got to the opening and threw my man over the ledge.  Now, there's no "Throw over ledge" option, so you have to improvise.  Get as close as you can to the ledge, turn your back to it, and press "X".  "X" simply throws your victim from your shoulders and onto the ground, while at the same time whipping out your pistol/rifle.  Normally a fall from Sam's shoulders is quite small, only a few feet.  However, in this instance, those few feet turned into about 30 or so.  What made my third attempt so weird is that when I threw my guy over, he landed on the aluminum roof, instead of merely smacking it with his head on the way down.

So now I've gotta get on the roof and do the whole process over again.  I get to my guy, and throw him a second time onto the cement cushion.  Oddly enough however, he died.  I failed the mission.  So a throw from a lower height results in an instant death?  Perhaps the initial fall onto the roof damaged him a bit.  I don't know, honestly.  The AI in this game don't have any health indicators, which seems rather odd compared to games today.  Anyways, I restarted from my last checkpoint and finished the mission.

Just yesterday I attempted the level again, but from a different approach.  Just before you enter the room with a repair man and agent, there's a fairly long walkway that really serves no purpose whatsoever.  It was a complete mystery as to why they decided to add this walkway, complete with railings and detailed gated floor.  I walked down it and saw a roof that really didn't look safe to jump onto.  The roof itself was safe, but the distance to it was staggering.  At first glance, the mere thought of jumping onto it seemed suicide.  But as I analyzed it some more, it started to look survivable.  Knowing my last checkpoint was only minutes away, I really had nothing to lose if I did die.  It was decided.  I would jump onto the roof, and approach my mission from a whole new perspective.

One jump put me onto the railing.  I turn my back in hopes of catching the ledge before I fell, thinking it would help soften the initial fall a bit.  I backed up and down I went.  But I missed the ledge!  It was now a total free fall to the roof, which seemed miles away.  Down and down I went, thinking surely I'd die automatically before I even reached the bottom.  But, alas, I survived...with 1/16th percent health left.  And I'm not kidding.  Without full health this jump IS suicide.  Thus began my new approach.  Overall it was actually quite boring, which makes all the drama up to it quite humorous now that I think about it.  Honestly, this new approach has no real benefits.  It takes longer, and you're practically dead anyways.  If the guard sees you, you're toast.  I ended up finishing the level anyways, which was good.

All of this was for just one level, too.  God knows what I'll find in the others...  

If you have an Xbox 360 or browse the Xbox.com community boards, you might've heard a few people(ok, a lot) say the avatars are childish.  This is mainly due to the comparison drawn from Nintendo's own little avatars, also known as Mii's.  I've seen countless threads proclaiming Microsoft simply ripped-off Nintendo's feature and were grasping for new ideas to make their system more family oriented.

I myself don't view avatars as childish.  Mii's, yes.  But not avatars.  We've all had an avatar at one point, whether in a forum or using a service like the Yahoo! Avatar Creator.  They give people something to look at instead of walls of text.  Some use their own personal image, others use something totally abstract.  It's merely a little boxed-in picture of anything you choose, which is why they are so fun.  You can use any image you wish, depending on the services' TOS.  They've been around since the 90's, so saying Microsoft stole them from Nintendo is ridiculous.  The only similarities between the two is that they are both 3D representations of the user, but Microsoft goes for a more realistic look as opposed to Nintendo's Miis.

What's unfortunate is that Microsoft could've avoided all this from the begining.  In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Mark Betteridge stated that Rare threw the idea of avatars to Microsoft 4 years ago, when the Xbox 360 was in development.  It wasn't revealed why Microsoft turned down the offer.

I know I don't have any readers from my old blog, so I'll state this again.  Here is my history of blogging:

"Yeah, I started another blog. This would be my...6th generation of blogging(technically). To those wondering what other blogs I've started and why I made 6 of them, all I'll say is this:

1. 2005: techtoday.Blogspot.com. All I wrote about were games and technology which in turn got me a spot at Game-Spectrum.com

2. Early 2006'ish: MySpace.  Ah, what an experience....

3. 2007: Game-Spectrum personal blog. Same as techtoday, only lamer.

4. 2007: LiveJournal. What a waste.

5. evanvolm.blogspot.com.  Decent blog, but due to technical difficulties it got deleted.

6.  evanvolm.spaces.live.com. This is currently where I'm at.

So why didn't I just stick with one? Well, since I started writing at Game-Spectrum I had no need for techtoday.  They basically merged into one another. MySpace was pure ownage and a fantastic experience, but I decided to delete it in mid-2007 due to personal issues. LiveJournal just wasn't my thing. I didn't like the design at all. The reason I deleted my Game-Spectrum blog was because I left GS in early February of this year. That's right. After almost 3 years I've decided to leave the site. But that doesn't mean I'm not part of a site! I've secured a spot at another site which is supposedly going live sometime soon. That's the plan, at least...."

The sentences in bold are the important part, but I thought I might as well throw in my blogging history as well.  I wrote that summary in March of this year, and I haven't had a site to write for since.  I thought I had a spot lined up, and technically speaking I did, however it was merely a wordpress layout without any graphics whatsoever.  No one really posted any news stories, either.  The man in charge was just way too busy to start a website, so it got put on hold...for a long time.  I needed a place to write, hence the creation of this Space.

Fast-forward to today when I get an IM from someone who was originally planned to work on the site way back then.  He says James, the man in charge, would like to start working on the site again.  Great!  James has a real bone to pick with the way the industry rates games(possibly media in general), yet I've never heard him state how he'd change it.  So, if you're interested, keep an eye on DamnStraight.net.

Tonight was movie night.  Haven't had one in a while, especially this busy.  I rented WALL-E, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Tropic Thunder.  First up was WALL-E.

I've heard from numerous people that this is in fact Pixar's best movie yet.  Being a fan of Pixar(honestly, who isn't?), I just had to check it out.  This isn't a synopses or analysis so I'll get straight to it: WALL-E is a good movie.  It borders great, but I don't view it as Pixar's crown jewel(Toy Story has that spot).  It has a pretty good commentary on today's youth, enviroment and general human relationships, while at the same time having fantastic CGI.  WALL-E is easily Pixar's best movie, visually speaking.  The subtle 2001: A Space Odyssey references were nice, especially for Kubrick fans like me.  But there was just something, or perhaps something lacking that didn't really make me get into it.  Overall, I'd give this movie an 8/10. 

Next up we have Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  Any actual laugh out loud moments were rare in this movie.  I was expecting another 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, but it didn't have the same feel as those two movies did.  At all.  What's funny though is that I found Paul Rudd to be possibly the funniest guy in this movie.  In his Apatow movies I find him to be the least funniest guy on screen.  Overall, a disappointing 6.5/10.

And finally we have The Strangers.  Oh boy...You know, this movie had potential.  I was truly looking forward to it, which is a rarity nowadays(especially in the horror genre).  From the beginning of the film I felt Liv Tyler was miscast(not a huge fan.  Sorry).  James Hoyt was fine and dandy, but nothing special.  He seemed to fit the ex-boyfriend character just fine, if that makes sense.  I viewed him as a supporting actor of sorts.  He was good, but you never really felt emotionally attached or cared for his general well-being.  The same could be said about Liv Tyler's character as well, seeing as how fucking dumb she was....

The movie starts out slow and sure takes it's time at getting interesting.  The whole backstory of her rejecting his proposal serves no purpose whatsoever, so I was kept waiting for them to just make up, be happy, then terrorized.  Things start to get interesting when they get a knock on the door from a young woman looking for someone named Tamara.  Weird, but far from horrifying.  Tyler's character says she's outta cigarettes, so the pussy-whipped ex leaves to get more.  So, she's now alone in a cabin in the woods.  I'd saying this is ripe for the cliches to start, wouldn't you?

After he leaves the same young woman comes back, asking for Tamara.  Right away Tyler's character starts to get upset and scared.  A few more bangs on the door and she's flipping out and reaching for her cellphone.  But guess what?  Guess-fucking-what?!  The battery is dead.  But, alas, our cliche-ridden scene has a twist.  She whips out a charger!  She's like the female-equivalent of MacGyver or something!  Now, from what I can remember, a few minutes before this director Bryan Bernito shoots a truly unsettling scene.  It's easily my favorite scene from the entire movie, if that says anything, and was what got me interested in the first place. 

So there's Liv, looking at the door.  It's a fairly wide shot so we see quite a bit of the cabin.  We're looking at her in profile view, looking at the door, when one of the assailents appears behind her.  Normally, the minute a bad guy appears on screen we hear a sudden BOOM! from the sound department, but not here.  It's dead silence as he calmly walks through a doorway and simply stares at the unaware victim.  Truly awesome, but sadly the only good scene.  After this it's basically a cliche-ridden cat and mouse game.

Her boy-toy eventually returns and acts as the usual hero of the day by grabbing a gun.  They find a fairly secure spot in a room corner and aim at the doorway.  This is all they needed to do to survive, basically.  There's only one entrance to that room, and he's got it covered with a shotgun.  I won't spoil anything, but they eventually leave the room and royally fuck themselves up the ass.  Again, not to spoil anything, but her hubby takes a momentary league of absence, leaving her to fend for herself...again.  Through the course of this movie one thing is made clear: No where is safe.  They've already infiltrated the house and it's clear as day they have the outside covered(by "they" I mean 3 assailants).  After more cat and mouse games our woman decides to make a run for it.  Finally...

However, she runs into a snag...or should I say trip?  I dunno what she does to be honest.  One second we see her running, then next she's in a hole.  Now her ankle has a boo-boo so she now has a limp.  Fantastic.  She makes a mad dash..er...crawl to the shed in hopes of using a CB radio.  She manages to contact someone when all of a sudden an assailant arrives and sends the blade of an axe through the radio.  Now our woman is on the run again.  But where to?  Back to the house! Of course!  That oughtta be safe....

One final problem I have with the movie is why the hell didn't the guy use his cellphone?  The movie seems to make a dramatic case when he finds his cellphone resting on a piano, yet we never see him use it.  Perhaps it's dead or the assailants took out the battery.  I never really got that scene.  Anyways, overall I"d give this a 5.8/10.

In my last blog I mentioned that gamers are left out of the loop when it comes to the product they'd like to buy.  Since then, I've thought about this more and more and I've only gotten angrier over time.  There was a time when I actually enjoyed not knowing what would be in a game I'd probably end up buying.  The surprise of encountering a feature the developers never told you about was great, and made you wonder what else was hidden throughout the game.  Unfortunately, as time has gone by I've stepped away from playing today's games and started listening to the community of gamers themselves, while at the same time following what developers, publishers and general big-heads of the video game industry say.

By doing so, it's become quite apparent that withholding information about a product isn't a good thing(big shock!).  This is mainly aimed at the recent NXE debacle that Microsoft(and gamers) have had to go through.  LIVE went down, and gamers were left furious and without answers as to why.  A call to 18004MYXBOX resulted in a variety of answers ranging from "LIVE should be back up in 30 minutes" to "It'll be another 24-48 hours."  The fact that the operators didn't know why LIVE would be back up isn't that big of a surprise.  What is surprising, or actually disappointing, is that no one from Microsoft gave an acceptable answer.  Our only source of information appeared to be from Larry Hryb's twitter, but that proved useless since he decided to watch Quantum of Solace when gamers were growing more and more furious on the Xbox.com forums.

To add insult to injury, before he left he stated the LIVE issues had been fixed.  The cherry on top of this shit-sandwich was the fact that Microsoft had been through this before.  From what I can remember, this was the 3rd major LIVE outage.  One was during last holiday season, when LIVE was down for weeks.  Another came during the fall update this past September, which took longer than expected.  And now we have the NXE mess.  It's a safe bet to assume that when Microsoft handed out those 3 waves of early NXE access, it was merely a test on their servers.  It's a fail on Microsoft's part, but nothing compared to their first disaster.  Ironically everything ran fairly smooth today as they handed it out to everyone, but a few hiccups did occur.

But when someone is paying for a service to, you know, work, shouldn't they be entitled to know why it isn't?  In my first paragraph I mentioned that I used to like not knowing everything about a game I'd buy, and this still holds true...to some extent.  I obviously don't want to know if the main character dies, or if any character dies really.  There's a difference between spoilers and features.  I often wonder why game developers even bother with game ports they know are crap.  When they get called out from disappointed customers, some even admit it was embarrassing how bad it turned out, but this doesn't make up for the fact that they passed it on as a product worth buying.  Then you have people who blatantly lie about a product....

Once again, I'll use Microsoft as an example.  I distinctly remember reading an EGM article from 2005 in which Microsoft reps said every Xbox 360 would ship with a hard drive: EMG issue #197 "Microsoft wasn't always dead set on releasing a cheaper, hard-drive-free 360 package.  When we first saw the Xbox 360 earlier this year, company reps assured us the drive would be packed in.  They even played with the idea of releasing one package with the drive for $350 and being done with it."(Also see this and this)  Well, I think we all know how that turned out.  This was one of the main reasons I didn't get a 360 at launch.  In my eyes, releasing a cheaper system without all the bells and whistles is like giving parents who don't know better the middle finger when buying one for their child.

This initially started out as a rant against the video game industry, but since then I seem to be focusing on Microsoft, so I guess I'll continue.  The last bone I have to pick with them are options.  This can be said about any service, really, but I'm sticking with Microsoft.  The first option that bugs me is the NXE.  While it's undoubtedly better in some ways, there still exists the crowd who prefer the old dashboard.  I would love for a Microsoft executive to come out and tell everyone why they can't use the old dashboard anymore.  This isn't a mock or anything.  I'd honestly like someone to tell us exactly why people don't have the option to use the old dash.  My second argument is against the new Hotmail layout.

To me, Hotmail was fine as it was.  I didn't have a single issue with it, nor did I ever wish for any new features.  E-mail is simple to me: I'll either read the messages because I'm expecting them, or I'll send them to the junk bin because it's spam.  If I find a message useful, into the designated folder it goes.  And that's how it is for me everyday.  Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the old layout, which is why everyone is blasting Microsoft for forcing this new layout upon us.  Again, I'd ask for a Live Team rep to explain why we can't simply use the old layout.  All I've heard so far is that Microsoft deems it better overall for users.  I'm not saying I absolutely hate the layout, but I'd like the option to go back.  I guess my biggest complaints are that it looks amateurish and the bar at the bottom serves no purpose whatsoever.

All I ask for are answers.  This may come as a shock, but when companies answer specific questions, customers like it!

Where to begin?  Xbox Live has received a serious case of the flu after handing out the latest(and last) wave of NXE to select users, and gamers are pissed.  I stayed up for a few hours last night, trying to figure out just what was going on.  Unfortunately it's nigh impossible to get information when you have no real connections.  My only source was Major Nelson's twitter page, which I've actually been following for a while now.  I scourged the internet for answers, only to see more and more users complaining about connectivity problems and no solutions.  I started a thread at the Live forums on Xbox.com, posting the latest message from Major saying that all the issues had been solved.  Not having Live, I wasn't aware just how wrong I was...

For some reason one of the members seemed to think I had authority on the matter and kept asking me questions as if I actually ran Live.  He was noticeably mad, so I answered the best I could(I felt like some lame PR manager to be honest).  I think the main reason why gamers were so upset over this has to do with two factor: 1.) This isn't the first time this has happened.  Last Christmas Live was messed up for weeks, and just a few weeks ago it was down after the fall update, even though Microsoft said it wouldn't.  Paying for a service that doesn't work is a real pain, and I highly doubt people will get any compensation.  2.) No one tells us what's going on.  This is a big one, for me at least.  If the server room caught fire, tell us!  If someone tripped over a cord, tell us!  If you honestly don't know, then at least have the balls to admit it.  What you don't do is completely ignore your customers complaints until 24+ hours after the issue started. 

People felt out of the loop when they had every right to know why a service that they're paying for isn't working.  Put gently, it's simply unacceptable, especially when Microsoft has had this same problem in the past and acted the same way.  We know you're a big corporation Microsoft, but that's what PR people are for.

My bookmarks toolbar consists of a variety of news sites, mainly social sites like Digg and Reddit.  While visiting each one individually isn't all that taxing, having them all in one place would be nice.  Now, I've toyed with My Yahoo! Page before, and it wasn't bad.  I imported any site feed I wished, along with local weather and movie times.  But for some reason I just never used it.  It was a one time thing, where I spent several minutes setting it all up, but never returning to it.

Enter Netvibes, which is essentially the same thing only with a few more options.  For starters, I can import widgets.  I currently have a nifty little Google Calendar which displays what games are releasing today, or any other time of the year if I wish.  I have site feeds from reddit, digg, cnn, gamespot, gametrailers, AMK(movie group), wall street journal, Google News, CBS, LA Times, Daily Intel, Truemors, college humor, gamespress, Wired, techcrunch and Technology Review.  All of those are accessible from my own personal Netvibes.  It's handier than ever because I'm up-to-date on the newest stories from....everywhere.  It's so much more useful than simply relying on reddit or digg, which I used to think were the best resources for the latest news.

And a lot of those feeds have branches, like Digg for instance.  I have a feed for the most popular Digg items overall, along with the most popular in gaming.  Same goes for CBS and LA Times.  I'd highly recommend at least checking it out.

http://www.netvibes.com

Yes, I've finally finished Splinter Cell.  After 6 long years, it's over with.  What a fantastic game it is.  In my last post I mentioned a bug I ran into: a man wouldn't go through a door.  Well, I've obviously solved the issue(a simple restart did the trick).  After he went through the door, he then entered an elevator.  I waited a few seconds for it to come back to me, then I hopped in and quickly followed the guard.  After doing a little trick to get past another keypad door(ie looking up the code online), I was led to a room with our guard now dead and a drunk General Kong Feirong.  I use his computer and then escape the building, resulting in a Mission Accomplished.

The next and final level was certainly entertaining.  The first few minutes weren't too bad.  It consisted of the usual stealthiness of taking out guards and guard dogs, avoiding light, ect.  The hardest part came when I was lowered into a room via elevator, and then being surrounded by 4(or more) armored guards.  These guys are much more of a threat compared to the regular guards I was used to.  For starters, they're armored.  Secondly they all have automatics.  Thirdly they know where I am, all the time.  No matter where I hide they know I'm there and fire away.  To make things 10x worse I had about 1/4 health left due to my dumbassery of getting spotted a few times previously in the level.  I died countless times while exiting the elevator.  I'd head to the right and hide behind a bookcase, but I still died.  I'd head to the left, with the same result.  I tried going on the attack and advance them, which was of course suicide. 

I decided the only way out of this was to restart the level, and try to keep the majority of my health intact.  The second time around was much more successful.  I had only 1/4 health missing, and I shot 2 smoke grenades as soon as I stepped out from the elevator.  This was basically a blind shot and luck was definitely on my side.  I ended up taking out all of the ground guards with those two smoke grenades, and the guy on the balcony was an easy target.  I then headed to a basement and found the guy was I was looking for-Kombayn Nikoladze.  Thinking my mission was finally over, they take Nikoladze to safety while I was then surrounded by guards asking about The Ark(a weapon).  They pumped me for info, but was informed that a blackout would occur in 5 seconds.  This is where I made a mistake.  Instead of taking full advantage of this blackout and making a mad dash for the exit, I decided to fight.  I died a few times, but eventually killed them all and made my way to the door.  I don't know why I didn't just run for the door the first time....

After this I'm then in a courtyard of sorts with 2 guards on the ground, and 2 on a balcony.  After taking care of them I made my way up to the balcony via pipe where I'm then told to assassinate Nikoladze, whom I can see through a window not far from me.  This situation was even more intense because I only had 3 bullets left.  Thankfully it only took one.  After all this, President of Georgia is finally out of the picture.  But it ain't over just yet.  I have the information about The Ark, so my new mission is easy: stay alive and escape the Presidential Palace.  After assassinating Niko, I notice something on the railing in front of me: ammo.  Awesome.  I make my way through a door where I then pickup some radio chit-chat from people freaking out about Niko's death.  They think there's more than one shooter, which is pretty funny. 

I make my way down some stairs where I then have to take care of 3 guards.  I failed the first few times but eventually got them.  This is it.  I'm just a few feet away from the door and finally finishing not only my mission, but the game!  The only thing between getting out of there is one single door.  Just to be sure, I decided to slide my optical cable under the door to see if the coast is clear.  Bad news.  3 guards are facing the door, armed, and are expecting me.  I then notice another door on the other side of the room I'm in.  Good, I think.  There's always a way out of a sticky situation and this might just be it.  I slide the cable under the door, and notice another 3 guards.  So in total I have 6 guards, all with automatics, waiting for me.  Well now what?

I'm so close to finishing this game, and I'm stuck.  But there's gotta be a way around this.  I can't just barge through the door and expect to survive.  I head back into the room I was in before, a dining room of sorts, when I notice a platform above the doors.  After jumping onto a cabinet, I make my way onto the platform when I see 2 double doors, and the exit.  I have to make my way down some stairs which, of course, has 3 guards on each side waiting for me.  I failed once yesterday, and held off till today for another attempt.  I open the doors and make a mad dash to the exit.  With barely any health left, I made it.  I run to the helicopter, and the game is over.  What an intense and exciting ride that was, especially the last level.  I watched a few extras included with the game, such as the character modeling and voice work.  Each featurette was nice, but too short.  I'd love to see a full documentary on the game.

This is how bored I am.  I'm writing a blog, when I don't even feel like writing.  Mainly because there's nothing to write about, unfortunately.  I've started playing Splinter Cell again, because I never actually finished it.  I received it 6 years ago and have yet to beat the damn game.  I stopped playing at the end of Abattoir, where you have to protect 2 groups of soldiers and hostages.  It seemed impossible to beat the level at the time.  Each strategy resulted in failure.  I'd go after one group of enemies, while another would throw a grenade and kill the soldiers.

I played defense each time, which turns out isn't the best strategy for this particular level.  After watching several walkthoughs via YouTube, I figured the best thing to do was attack as soon as possible.  So, once the music started(signifying enemies), I stuck a distraction camera across the room right next to two enemies.  With the simple press of a button, a nice cloud of gas was sprayed into their faces, incapacitating them.  I then had to take care of the sneaky grenade thrower, to which I merely ran up to him and knocked him unconscious(but not before taking a few bullets). 

At this point I had about 1/4 of health left.  Not good.  I then had to take care of one other guy, though I knew he'd be an easy kill so I didn't worry too much about him.  He entered the room, and I snuck up behind him and smacked him in the head.  At last, the final enemy was about to enter.  I guess you could call him the "boss" for this level, even though he isn't your typical game boss.  He has no real strength or height advantage.  He's pretty good with an automatic, so I had to make sure to take care of him before he even had time to whip out a weapon.

As soon as he entered the doorway I shot a sticky shocker at him, instantly sending him to the ground.  I then shot him in the head with a bullet because of all the trouble-and stress-he caused.  In the end, every soldier and hostage survived, with myself barely getting through it alive.  Since then it's been pretty smooth, playing through fresh new content in a game I've had for 6 years.  I've run into a few snags, such as using a keypad to open a door using only thermal goggles(heated fingerprints).  I've tried it a few times but could never work it out in time, so I came up with my own plan: throw a grenade at the enemy(s) once they open the door, and sneak in before it closes.  Not the stealthiest of actions, but what makes Splinter Cell such a great game is the number of ways to accomplish a task.  You can be ultra-sneaky and not kill a single enemy throughout the game, or you can assassinate each and every one of them.  Both have their consequences, which is why I'm more or less 50/50.  I only kill those who I must.  If a guard is, well, guarding a doorway, he's a goner.  If he's patrolling, I'll usually sneak right by him.

I've had a few face palm moments lately, most notably 2 of which occurred today.  I killed two guards who were my only way through a secure door.  Hearing Lambert inform you of this devastating action is a real ego killer.  Thankfully I wasn't too far away from the latest checkpoint, so I learned my lesson.  As of now I'm at a stand-still of sorts.  After taking out one guard, another approaches when he gets an urgent message via radio.  Apparently, his boss(the guy I'm going after) is about to commit suicide!  Since both the guard and I are fairly close to his office, he starts to run and stop him.  I'm supposed to follow the guard to the keypad door and do the ol' thermal goggle trick again.  However, a bug has occurred....

As soon as he started running, so did I.  I figure he's scripted to run each time and ignore whatever else he hears on his way to the door(including the sound of me running).  Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be so.  There are 2 doors we must get through: a normal door without a keypad, and then the keypad door.  For some reason the guard stops at the regular door, and does nothing else.  Ever.  He just sits there and stares at the door.  I NEED him to open the keypad door or we're both screwed.  I restarted the checkpoint several times only to have him stand in the hallway next to the door, which is really frustrating.  I'm convinced it's a bug, so hopefully when I start the game back up all will be fixed.

And that's that.  Great game.  Really glad I started playing it again.