Graphically speaking Tom Clancy’s End War isn’t that much to look at especially since its a dated game (released a few years ago). Although the special effects during intense firefights can get really gritty with debris flying everywhere. Damage is seen in buildings and the general environment. Textures could use a little more work, but they do what is needed.

Sound isn’t that much exciting either. One cannon sounds the same as another . A helicopter’s gunfire sounds the same as the riflemen gunfire. The voice overs are acceptable though, not as notable and wonderful as C&C but passable nonetheless.

Gameplay, well this is where End War shines. As said you get to choose a side, and once on that side you choose the type of battalion you want to control. Within that battalion you can customize your way of fighting World War 3. You can upgrade units with new abilities, armor, firepower and even mobility. You can churn out electronic warfare support and air strikes. Of course, what is World War 3 without weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – in this case the hypobarric bomb. You are pitted against the AI in the campaign where you have a choice of battles to fight with a very intuitive war map of the world.

Needless to say, End War is deep. Very deep when it comes to gameplay that this compensates for all its shortcomings. What really sets End War apart from other FPSs is its pride of being able to play the game entirely with voice commands. In fact, success in the game can come easier with the use of voice. With so many things going on in the battlefield, quick voice commands can certainly help your goal in conquering planet Earth.

As for replay value, there is a LOT. First since there are so many ways to win WW3 in campaign mode with the main side choices then different battalions, different customizations and even different strategies. But, one major pull to play this game is the multiplayer, where you are pitted against human players from all over the world choosing sides of their own and choosing battles on the big world war map.

If you are a big fan of military strategy, this game is certainly a best buy. You get to order people around with your own voice. hehe. However, if you know nothing of artillery, armor placement and garrison buildings, you might want to learn those before taking on End War.

Note: This review was written as my nephew-in-law holds the controls and I issue the voice commands.

Graphics – 6
Sound – 4
Gameplay – 10
Replay  – 10

Special Thanks to Noam Tanglao

By all means the premise and the mechanics of Just Cause 2 spell a bad game but once you get into riding it you are in for one hell of a gaming experience. First, the setting. You are in Palau, an archipelago (kayong mga pinoy na di alam kung ano archipelago mahiya kayo) that has in it military bases, small towns, fishing villages, mountain settlements, airports, oil rigs. You name it, Palau has it. The environment ranges from hot arid deserts, snow capped mountain ranges, white sandy beaches and jungle terrain. And guess what, you can navigate and visit ALL of these settings, every single location… THE ENTIRE FREAKIN’ COUNTRY.

Your primary objective is to romp around the islands doing missions for 3 factions and for your agency. You get missions by getting chaos points. You get chaos points by, well, raining down fire and brimstone wherever you grapple your physics defying hook on. What are the ways to do this? Let me illustrate by citing a couple of things I did to gain chaos points.

• Grappled a motorcycle driver to steal his ride. While doing my Chuck Norris/Van Dame “balance on a bike” impersonations, I hooked on a helicopter passing by and stole that. Using the chopper’s guns, I fired at a water tower and fuel dump inside a military base nearby then crashed the chopper on cell tower and generator.
• I jacked myself a sports car, drove to top speed, jumped on its roof fired a my rocket launcher blowing up a gas station, opened my parachute, got propelled to the air as my car gets hit by enemy fire.

Suffice to say, action is the name of the game, not realism.

The graphics are simply stunning. Albeit the vehicle and NPC textures aren’t that impressive, but the environment is absolutely breathtaking. Climbing up a tower to look over a sandy beach as the water glistens and the cloud cover shifts is simply awesome. We tried grabbing a boat and drive it to the open sea, stopped and looked at the water, the waves. Then just for the hell of it, we jump into the open ocean. Lo and behold, there are corals, seaweed, fish and underwater rocks. The attention to detail is astounding.

Sound design isn’t that impressive but still immerses you into the game. The waves as they hit rocks, the roaring of a jet engine, the cars, the scooters they all sound very authentic, even the gunfire. One thing really impressed me is the attention to detail even on the languages the NPCs spoke. Mga kapatid, may nananagalog sa game na ito. Gulat na gulat akong nakita may nagsabing “HOY BUMABA KA DIYAN!” nung umakyat ako sa bubong ng tricycle. Some speak Thai and Indonesian as well. My only complaint is the bad voice acting by one particular character that sounds soooooooo fake with her accent.

Gameplay in Just Cause 2 is absolutely brilliant even with its loose grip on reality. Infact, being unreal helps in the fun. Infinite parachutes mean infinite jumps over ledges and even out of planes and choppers. The grappling hook makes getting to places easier and even downright hilarious when used on the proper combination of vehicles (i.e. hooking a motorcycle to a helicopter and fly it out). Apart from the bottomless parachute bag and the “hook of the Gods” you can also get weapons from enemies and buy them from the blackmarket. You can also upgrade your vehicles from there as well. So far the best help the blackmarket can help you is when you can them you can opt to have them extract you and bring you to a nearby stronghold you already unlocked. This beats running around the gigantic map, REALLY GIGANTIC map.

As for replay value, how many ways can you think of to blow up one objective? Well, top of my head, I have 15 already. Sky is the limit with this game so replay value is pretty much through the roof. There is no dull moment and each moment you’d want to play differently.

Just Cause 2 is a bit buggy however. You get stuck in the strangest of places and sometimes the physics engine fails (tank is propelled into the air by an exploding grenade, weird). However, the slight and occasional bugs don’t hamper the gameplay much making this one of the most fun games we’ve ever played in a long while.

Graphics – 9
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 10
Replay Value – 10

Kinect employs a sophisticated camera/sensor system mounted on your television set connected to your 360 of course. What does it do? well, it tracks your movement, scans your body, answers to your body’s commands and heck, depending on the software, talks and responds as well.

We were very impressed with their Kinectimals title which will allow people of all ages to acquire pets to take care of. You can teach them tricks, play games, and basically cuddle virtually with your beloved animal. Also impressive is Ubisoft’s Your Shape which is the best fitness software we’ve seen since nintendo came out with the Wii Fit.

Check out the video on the main site for the Kinectimals feature. Kinect is set for release during the holidays. Magpakabait na mga bata kung gusto niyo ng Kinect this Christmas.

You play another Prince of Persia (duh!). You are helping your brothers defend your home city when you find out your brother wants to release Solomon’s Army as a desperate move to fight the conquerors of your country. You find out later that the army is evil and you have to stop it. Pretty standard Prince of Persia plot.

The gameplay is what you would expect from a Prince of Persia game. You jump around, killing opponents, mash buttons in combinations to stop the evil, and fall several times. Funny thing is, you only have 2 attack buttons which seriously reduces combat to a mash and pray activity. Dodging is counter-productive as well considering you’re always surrounded.

Although there is a sense of satisfaction when you pull off jumps and grabs unscathed, a sense of achievement is sadly missing since the obstacles are very easy to navigate through. In the more later levels the obstacles become absurdly difficult turning your ease in the first few levels intro extreme frustration.

Graphics wise, we expected this game to be a beauty considering the last prince of Persia was a cell shaded masterpiece. Repeated enemy textures anyone? There’s no noticeable variety in the opponents you encounter even in the environments you playthrough. Even on the PC where everything should look a lot better than in consoles (provided you have a powerful PC), the game looks and feels bland.

The sound design isn’t particularly notable either. Voice acting is on the shabby but acceptable end. The sword clashes and sound effects of boulders and catapults don’t excite the senses. The music is pretty standard fare too.

As for replay value, there isn’t much. Yes, you can play it again if you want to, but you’ll be doing the same things you did on your first playthrough leaving no room for decision making in this railed out action adventure.

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands is a disappointment considering the satisfactory success of the movie it came out with.

Graphics – 5
Sound – 5
Gameplay – 4
Replay Value – 3

Apple’s iPad brought us back to the world of tablets where every single techno-titan such as Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Fujitsu tried to saturate with their convertible laptops and failed. Yes, those companies sold only a few units. Only until Apple has captured consumers around the world with their iDevices.

Steve Jobs with the Apple iPad

Para sa mga adek ng DoTA na walang kamalay-malay sa labas ng computer shop, Apple released last April its latest “magical” device, as Steve Jobs called it, the iPad.

Apple’s iPad is a tablet computer with the same function, looks and features of an iPod Touch (hopefully hindi naman nakakalito spelling ng dalawang device hehe – mga jejemon diyan baka malito ha). 2 main features that differentiate it from its older brother is its 10″ size and 3G communication capability. Yes pinoy gamers, you’ll be spending more for the same capabilities as an iPod Touch for over $500 bucks but with a better screen real state and 3G.

The iPad was backed by the same rich apps present in iPhones and iPods through Apple’s iTunes. With thousands of apps ready for download, your iPad is on steroids and ready to rock & roll.

More Tablets to Come

Acer, MSI and HP have all expressed their intention to compete with Apple by releasing their own version of tablet computers that promises to deliver a rich array of connectivity for high-def video and USB devices which the iPad obviously lacks.

A slew of devices will be presented in the upcoming Computex while Dell already announced the availability of its 5″ Streak this June 4 to be first launched in the UK and later in the US and the rest of Europe.

Fusion Garage with its $500 JooJoo tablet is already selling in the US but isn’t doing well. It was designed for browsing the web and nothing more. Unlike the iPad, JooJoo has no marketplace like iTunes to extend its functionality. It may have supported Flash but with the current software and support it’s quite a disaster.

HP Slate

Among all the upcoming tablets, I was more excited at what HP will unveil. It was earlier known that HP Slate will be powered by the Intel Atom microprocessor and Windows 7 operating system. But recently this was rumored to be canceled to give way for software (and maybe a hardware) overhaul after they announced the acquisition of Palm. What’s the big deal you say? Well, because along with the acquisition is the ownership of one of the world’s best smartphone OS – the WebOS! WebOS is believed to be the best ecosystem to run a modern smartphone and tablets with its fantastic multitasking and synergy features. With the cash that HP will be pouring into the development of this WebOS and porting it to better and more cutting-edge devices, this will make those devices at par if not better than Andoid and iPhone OS.

The future of tablets is the most exciting development in the world of gadgetry. It will surely revolutionize our way of computing, the same way Asus revolutionized the world with its Netbook.

With Asus, MSI, and Acer promising to deliver cost-effective tablets before the year ends, it is guaranteed that every gadget-loving-teens will try to afford one. Imagine the flexibility of bringing a lightweight device that you can use inside school to take down notes and browse the web for research. I am already happy with my netbook and iPod Touch but a tablet will sure come in handy.

The story begins right after the events of the first game. You still play as Desmond, you’re still trapped in the laboratory of Abstergo the organization representing the modern templars that seek the Piece of Eden, powerful artifacts that were once used to control the world. After a daring escape assisted by Lucy your new found friend, you are brought to a hidden facility run by Assassins where they jack you back into a new and improved Animus 2.0. This time you won’t be in control of Altair, you will be controlling Ezio a young man of Italy during the 1400′s. Yep, you read it, THE RENAISSANCE.

For a console port, Assassin’s Creed 2 (AC2) looks fairly well rendered. On a high end PC, expect to see a lot of eye candy especially when you have Ezio climb really tall towers to look over Italian cities such as Firenze (Florence) and Venice. On top of those towers, the view is absolutely marvelous. Is it just me though or did the developers lessen the number of people inside the cities since part 1? Not only that but Ezio’s clothing clip on top of his other clothes? Perhaps its the console porting that did this. A PC game of this calibre, I’d expect, would have more polish. Generally though, the feel of the first game has been essentially preserved, even if the setting was changed.

Soundwise AC2 remains to be truly inspired. Markets sound like markets with people hawking their wares. Street corners are busy with carpet sellers, fish merchants, blacksmiths and even prostitutes! Yes, another game with prostis. What could have been improved is the transition of the sounds. When you walk towards a market, you should be able to hear the market sounds slowly getting louder, instead, you hear the market sounds the moment you step into an imaginary line that separates the market from the other places. It makes the transition sound contrived. Other than that, AC2 has superb sound mastery from music during chase scenes to the clanging of swords and even as weapons hit flesh.

Gameplay has dramatically changed in AC2 since part 1. Now, there are over a hundred ways to go about your mission not only because, as was part 1, its a open world game, but also the myriad of weapons under you can wield against the bad guys. You now get a second hidden blade which you can taint with poison, a small pistol, smoke bombs, oh and you can even throw money to distract people. To get around the game, you still do the awesome free runs on rooftops and on the streets of Italy the same way you did back in AC1. The game also has special action sequences as well, from driving a carriage to flying Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter.

Let’s talk about dramatic changes. Now you need MONEY. First of all because your weapons get damaged and you will need the money to get them repaired at the local blacksmith. Second is because you may want to buy new weapons and armor, one cannot survive in AC2 without a decent set. Third is to heal yourself, you now get potions to heal yourself with. And last, and something more interesting (spoiler) since you need to upgrade the Villa your uncle Mario runs. The Villa can generate income for you over time, but you will have to invest some money on it for it to grow. Investments in an action adventure, I love it! I myself invested heavily to acquire a whorehouse for the Villa, sue me, a town needs its prostis. I mean where would the politicians go if there’s no whorehouse, right?

The game is an open world, you can travel anywhere you want anytime you want which means there is a lot of ways to play it the first time, second time and so on. There is always a new way to play it, that pretty much takes care of the replay value. However it throws in a couple more surprises. You need to collect several disks from the tombs of dead assassins to unlock Altair’s armor, which looks pretty badass. Also you can choose to collect all the statues and paintings for the Villa and acquire all the upgrades for it. You could also go on side missions such as races, assassinations, beat ups and some special events. So there’s a lot of gameplay hours on AC2 which makes it a game worth buying.

Graphics – 9
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 9
Replay Value – 8

“It’s a difficult question to answer,” Lee admitted. “We launched Ragnarok II in 2007. That version wasn’t really enough for the market, so we tried to revise all the systems, but it takes time. We changed the engine and everything, it’s like a totally new game. The engine changed several times, but now we’re using Gamebryo.”

This is all funny to us here in Pinoygaming since Korea’s beta site for Ragnarok 2 is closed (previously www.ragnarok2.co.kr). However the game being a Gamebryo engine game does pose something interesting. Gamebryo is the same engine as Fallout 3 and Dark Age of Camelot. Those games were visually stunning and the gameplay was superb. If you want to see what the Gamebryo engine looks like, check out Atlantica Online, which uses the same engine.

We here at Pinoy Gaming Network look forward to this release, if ever there is really going to be one. It has been postponed too many times already and we’re getting tired of waiting for it.

Well mga kapatid, X-Play has the answer for you. X-Play is announcing the launch of Pro Gaming League (PGL) where the top players of online games in the Philippines could battle it out and have a chance of winning Php 1,000,000. Yes, that is 6 zeros there. Di ka naduduleng 1 million yan. And guess what, you won’t only gain fortune, you will get fame as well since matches in the PGL will be televised in GMA7.

Let the rise of Cybergaming as a new sport in the Philippines begin!

Domination IV is a clash of all the games published by E-Games particularly ZX Online, RAN and Cabal.

E-Games will also announce two new games that will hit the local market – Band Master and Superstar. Both are casual games designed especially for music-loving-gamers. You should try these games if you’re a fan of Audition and O2Jam.

What’s amazing and what struck me the most with today’s event is the massive network of computers around the place. There are literally over 300 computers scattered around the venue! This is one awesome LAN party guys so if your still there at your home, you should come here and party with all your friends.

Will keep on updating this post as the day progresses.

During the conference, they introduced a new watch-out-for –game: Dragonica. It will be launched during the Domination but we got a taste of this new online adventure game, much thanks to a couple of GMs present during the conference.

Coincide this event, just a floor above, Road to Domination 4 was filled with gamers and fans. For the Runes of Magic fanatics, how do you acquire XP when you have to be interrupted by work? Ching Merano was generous to share some tips (hint: decorate your house). She also gave us a teaser of another game they are launching aside from Dragonica. All we can say is that this other game will require more than pressing buttons. Intriguing, huh? More information on that, you just have to find out during the main event.

What will this downtime to do the official launching of Runes of Magic to commercial from Open Beta? How will this exceptionally long downtime – started March 16, 2010 – affect Domination IV, IP E-Games largest gaming event?

We will post updates regarding the issue as soon as we get them.

According to the warning, Google is shunning visitors to visit e-games.com.ph website as it was tagged as harboring potential malware code and redirecting its search to a warning page.

According to Wikipedia,

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term “computer virus” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

As to how google tagged E-Games website as a potential risk is still a mystery but we are getting in touch with E-Games as of this writing to get their comments.

Before this happen, E-Games suffered from intermittent hickups just yesterday. Their games constantly disconnected online and gamers are left without something to play.

Problem start at around 8:00PM last night. At first, it started with their website being tagged by Google as potential malware. Then their games started going down except Cabal and ZX Online.

E-Games promised to release statement later.

The Professor’s Trunk (the main game menu) used to hold two mini games in the first Layton game: the inn and painting games. In Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box there are four mini games: old diary, unique camera, hamster and tea set. Solving puzzles in the game will sometimes give the player components for the mini games; keys for the locked diary, parts for the camera, toys for the hamster and ingredients for the tea set. When the camera is completed, the player can take pictures (when prompted by the game) and play another mini game; this time a spot-the-difference challenge. Likewise, when the hamster is fit enough, he will begin to sniff out hint coins.

There are many hidden puzzles (frankly I haven’t even found all of them yet), but it is possible to finish the game without completing everything. When I checked the secret mode after I finished the game, I found the option to get weekly downloadable puzzles, a puzzle index of all the puzzles I’d come across, extra puzzles, and a bonus section featuring a sampling of game trivia/data (character profiles, game scenes, audio clips, films and soundtracks). There’s also a password-locked section that asks for codes from the first and third games. I can only assume that more rewards lie within.

Having played the first Layton game before this one, I have to say that Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box does deliver. It is a great game with an entertaining mystery to solve, and puzzles that can be surprisingly easy or frustratingly difficult. The story is involving and as creative as the first Layton game’s mystery, and is fleshed out well. The game even starts before the actual investigation and has four definitive areas to explore (an upgrade from the last game!). And with the addition of more mini games, the game play is now more varied and less repetitive than the first Layton game. There are also more puzzle groups here (puzzles that are similar in nature and tend to be numbered in order of difficulty; an example would be the chess puzzles or the sliding puzzles). I personally feel more satisfaction whenever I solve something that I know is more difficult than the last similar puzzle I got through. My only gripe is that it’s such a short game.

I’m going to give this game a 9.5/10. The Layton series is probably the best adventure/puzzle DS series out there.

Originally posted on my blog [http://miaowow.blogspot.com/2009/10/professor-layton-and-diabolical-box-ds_13.html] and
gamespot [http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/laytonkyoujutoakumanohako/player_review.html?id=686422].

Being a mobile suit fanatic and self-proclaimed gundam pilot that this gamer was, I immediately grab my hands off a copy of the game and immediately installed it into my PSP unit. And then voila, play time! Test subjects? My friends of course haha!

This is one of the most anticipated Gundam games not only in SouthEast Asia(Japan and surrounding countries), but also within the North America region as well. Unfortunately, no English version of the said game has been granted by the Namco-Bandai Games for release to the non-Japanese gamers(due probably to the added license/voice-acting copyrights required and such). Masyado lang kaming adik at natutuwa sa mga mecha actions within the prequel game in the sense na nakabisado na namin ang mga options and such LOL! XD

In lieu with the celebration of the Gundam’s 3oth anniversary, it now features over 60 mobile suits from 18 Gundam series(from the very first Mobile Suit Gundam of 1979 up to the latest Mobile Suit: Gundam Unicorn of 2009 – ANDAMI LOLOLOL). What’s crazy about this is the fact that new mobile suits are included within the roster – 00 Raiser Gundam, and Reborns Cannon Gundam(Gundam 00 Second Season), Providence Gundam(Gundam SEED), Altron/Nataku Gundam and Wing Zero Custom(New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz), Gundam Unicorn and Kshatriya(Gundam Unicorn) and several others! Only PSP-Exclusive!

Mobile Suit selection screen - ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam

You will generally fight on a 2 vs 2 basis(be it in a mission mode or ad-hoc versus mode/against AI), and reduce the enemy’s cost gauge from the full gauge (6000 by default) to 0 by eliminating the enemy units while keeping your mobile suit(as well as your teammate should you have any) to be busted out. The cost of each unit is based on the overall skills/capabilities of the suit, and is divided into 3 tiers: 1000, 2000, and 3000 – so basically the higher the cost, the more powerful the mobile suit it is(often the main protagonist/antagonist of the series). However, using units with higher cost means you have fewer chances to respawn.

Keep in mind that this is not your ordinary Gundam VS game, as this new installment features the revolutionary NEXT Dash System – wherein by simply tapping your boost twice in rapid succession(usually X button) can make you cancel whatever you are doing previously(either for attack evasion or combo-chaining purposes). Oo, mga kapatid, beyond godlike ka sa paglalaro nito kapag magaling kang mag-cancel/combo at umilag sa mga kalaban!  However, this consumes a bit of your boost gauge.

RX-78 Gundam using the NEXT Dash

Basic controls(by default) are the beam pistols/rifles/projectile weapons in Square, Boost/Thruster in X, Melee weapon attack/combo in Triangle, change target in Circle, and special mobile suit attacks in both the L and R button, respectively. Some mobile suits feature their own unique special abilities – worth mentioning are the Newtype Destroy Mode by the Unicorn Gundam, Biosensor Mode by the Zeta Gundam, Berserker System by the Noble Gundam, Shining Mode by the Shining Gundam, Hyper Mode by the God/Master Gundam and even the famous TRANS-AM System of the Exia/Double 00-Raiser Gundam and  SEED Mode of the Freedom/Strike Freedom Gundam.

Gundam battle royale(booyeah!) screenies

As if the number of mobile suits aren’t enough for you to chew on, Namco-Bandai games even featured several Boss Mobile Armors included within different gundam series. They can be engaged with different mission routes(modes), most notably Route K and L, respectively(Boss Mode versions) within both the arcade and PSP version.

Various game routes(mode) from the Arcade play. Clearing each route can unlock hidden mobile suits and new routes.

Mobile Armor Bosses - unleashed for the first time!

*Secret – a hidden mobile armor boss from Gundam SEED Destiny(ZGMF-X20A EX Strike Freedom + METEOR) can be fought if you attain a high-score in the most difficult mode. It will reveal itself as a FINAL NEXT Boss eventually, wherein you will fought it in its EX Boss version first, and then in EX METEOR Boss version after it sustained about 1/3 damage and finally, the EX Ultimate SEED Mode Boss version. It has 2,000 HP, special abilities, wide variety of weapon arsenals, unique combo attacks, different mobile assist form and infinite SEED Mode power that the playable Strike Freedom Gundam doesn’t possess.*

Another nice thing about this game is that (with the exception of New Mobile Report: Gundam Wing Endless Waltz and Gundam Unicorn) it features the various opening themes of the different anime series – of course all Japanese pop/rock bands/singers in full play while you’re engaging in the battlefield! Also, upon completion of a certain mecha in any mode, it will also unlock its corresponding series’ 3D animated opening theme, voice actor/actress’ works, victory poses and pilot cut-ins, as well as its own ending design theme by Namco-Bandai. Also, the battle stages are based on the actual anime series themselves, for instance – Heliopolis colony and Messiah Fortress/Requiem Superweapon stage for the Gundam SEED/Destiny series, Veda for the Gundam 00 series, World Tournament Stage and Devil Colony for Mobile Fighter G Gundam series etc.

Officially released on the 3rd of December last year, some people in Japan and even in surrounding countries have got the game early already(including the thousands of PSP gamers waiting also for the new GEND3 firmware for the PSP so as for the said game to be compatible). The general feedback among various polls is very positive, and apparently the game plays much smoother than the previous one(even the laggy 2-on-2 ad hoc gameplay has been improved significantly)!

Much to my dismay though – if Namco-Bandai really wants to make this the biggest Gundam game yet to date as they claimed, they should have included ALL series, even the spin-offs(Gundam SEED StarGazer, Astray etc). Sayang pa naman, andami pa magagandang gundams out there na hindi makilala mabuti ng general populace because of lack of promotion – even with games such as this one.

Also, the graphics and effects are re-tweaked from the original prequel, whereas most of the modifications are based on balancing and even improving some of the bugs found at the arcade version. Personally, there are still some laggy scenes when using certain abilities/playing ad hoc versus against your opponents in a wide stage, but nevertheless, it can be seen that the game engine was significantly improved from before.

For those who doesn’t know, the game features a Plus Mode wherein you can form your own team and battle it out against several mission sorties – winning can give you experience points to level up your mobile suits of choice. Also, non-playable units(in versus mode) from various gundam series are featured here, like the Blitz and Buster Gundams from the SEED series, Union Flags from the 00 series and such.

Anyway, if you’re relatively new with this game, and walang basic know-how about Gundams at all, you may find it boring, or eventually annoying in the sense that even your AI opponents are very much stronger for you to defeat(despite the easy mode). This game is recommended for gamers who have experienced playing the previous Gundam VS series(Alliance VS ZAFT, Gundam Battle Assault series and other similar games) or simply mecha enthusiasts.

Graphics – 8

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 9

Replay Value – 9

Runes of Magic is a fantasy MMORPG set in the land of Taborea. Taborea is a fairly peaceful land filled with small villages, big cities (ang hirap nga maglakad sa cities eh… napakalaki), caves, dungeons, and many more locales you might expect in a standard MMORPG. Nothing fancy there, pretty much what you’d expect in a fantasy setting.

You pick a job that tickles your play style. There’s a backstabbing, hide in the shadows rogue. There’s a meat-shield knight. There’s a berserking I-will-kick-your-balls-or-die-trying warrior. Also there’s an abracadabra-your-ass-is-on-fayah mage. A hit-and-run drive (or ride) by expert scout. And to top things off, a “Mr. Pa Buffpls” priest. Standard stuff.

You level up doing quests or killing monsters. You gain more stats and skills as you level and weapons and armor you pick up  along your adventures strengthen your character. Potions heal, weapons and armor need repair, you need gold to do commerce. This doesn’t paint a pretty picture much does it? It’s all pretty standard! That is until you delve deeper into the ame.

Runes of Magic is an enchantress dressed as a beggar. Looking at it once, you may think its a World of Warcraft clone (which isn’t exactly a bad thing since WoW is one of the highest rated MMORPGs out there). Later the new features it offers piles up, and you find yourself in a game that is not only deep and very engaging, but unique and oh so special.

First, Runes of Magic offers a dual class system. Not unique to an MMO, but developer Runewaker has topped it off with icing (sarap ng icing may diabetes kami dito). Runes of Magic (ROM) allows you to combine any 2 jobs choosing from the ones listed above. One will be primary, the other secondary. To our surprise, you can switch between your primary and secondary and play a
significantly different way! Let’s say, you play a mage/Knight. It’s totally different when you go knight/mage. And if that’s not enough, you get “premium” skills too! These skills are unique to each class combination. So possibilities are enormous!

Second, Runes of Magic offers a unique loot distribution system. Sa ibang MMO, maghahatian sa item, or ibibigay sa guildmaster then guildmaster mag decide. Sa iba, may need over greed. Yung may kailangan, dun mapupunta item. In ROM, you can all benefit from one item by way of a feature called a Transmutor. A transmutor can take an item and break it down into its simplest magic components. Let’s say for example you get a +3 stamina +3 dex chainmail. Your scout needs the dex but your rogue needs the stamina. There’s only one item though and there are 2 people who need it! You just take your item, isaksak mo sa transmutor, and separate the +3 stamina from +3 dex and fuse them with 2 different items. Boss raids will now be beneficial for everybody in terms of loot, not just experience.

Third and speaking of boss hunts/raids. Bosses in ROM are smart. The standard “tank and spank” doesn’t work anymore (tank and spank -yung knight haharang, everybody fires on it, only the knight is healed). If the boss finds that he is getting hurt more by the scouts, rogues and mages, it switches targets and goes for them instead of the tank. If the boss finds out that the priest is a greater threat for healing everybody, it will go after the father. Plus, the environment plays a role in boss hunts/raids too. Falling rocks, electricity on the floor, fire, lava surrounding you are things you must avoid with your party, while fighting the boss.

Fourth, A housing system. World of Warcraft promised a housing system early in their development stage. Nakasulat pa nga sa box ng WoW na may housing eh. Until now we have yet to see this. In ROM, the housing system is in full swing and has a few added extras. A house is not only a place for your character to rest, it is also a place where you can store your loots and items. What’s more is that you can decorate your house to your liking by purchasing furniture. Yung mga may inner interior decorator diyan matutuwa dito. The furniture are not only for aesthetics, they offer XP boosts for you.

Fifth, the PVP system and Guild system. Siguro nakapanood na kayo ng masayang pelikula na may castle sieging. Panoorin niyo yung Kingdom of  Heaven kung hindi pa. Guild vs. Guild combat in Runes will feature a real castle that you and your guild will make. A real guild castle you decorate and design yourself. You decide where to put defenses and where to put your sofa if you want a couch in your castle. Not only that, guildmaster can control everything within that guild too! They have a guild vault  where they put in all their loot and cash and they can find out who has gotten how much in that vault, making guild management easier. Also there’s server to server battles. Yeap, you read it right, SERVER VS. SERVER. This is unprecedented in any MMO. One map in ROM can accomodate 5,000 players at one time making war, TRULY WAR.

Sixth, there is no grind. Again, incase di mo nabasa ng maayos… THERE IS NO GRIND. You do not go out and kill 1,000,000 monsters and reach the level cap. In runes, you quest. Questing provides better xp than performing genocide. I can remember in Ragnarok online we used to kill millions of alarms (RO monster) just to get from lvl 98 to 99. NO MORE in Runes. In ROM, the more you go out adventuring, (raid, boss hunt, daily quests, story quests) the more xp you get. So it encourages you to explore instead of kill and kill. That is why it is essential in ROM that you read the quests and follow the story (maganda rin mga kuento eh) This has got to be the best feature for me in ROM.

Last, after conversations with IP E-games head honchos, we’ve come to know that the GM (game master) tools in ROM are very powerful that they can track pretty much everything that’s going on in game with your character and can address  almost any problem within it, may it be bugs, scams and even hacking. In fact, there have been discussions about them offering hack insurance. Once you buy it and you get hacked, everything on your character can be restored.

Runes of Magic is not a unique MMORPG. It has the same elements as any MMO out there. In fact it has many of the same elements as one particular MMO *ahem WOW ahem*. The setting and jobs aren’t unique. Graphics aren’t that awesome (we hope it gets better in future patches). However, it brings so many new stuff on the table that here in the Philippines, it has the potential to reshape the Game Publishing/Operating industry.

We here at Pinoy Gaming Network rarely feature an MMO much less recommend one. Well there’s a first time for everything. We highly recommend Runes of Magic for hardcore and casual gamers. So far, it is the best MMORPG readily available here in the Philippines. And its all FREE. That’s right, FREE TO PLAY PO!! Missing it is missing a lot.

For every click on every article, for every bookmark for our page, we humbly thank you from the bottom of our hearts and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here’s one good news for you! You may now buy EPins at all 7-Elevent convenient store nationwide.

Just head to the nearest 7-Eleven at your place and ask the cashier that you wanted to buy HighStreet5 EPins through MOLe Points.

Detailed instruction below.

Quick Links:
HighStreet5 Home: http://www.highstree5.com.ph
Download Client: http://www.highstreet5.com.ph/download/down-center.aspx
Register an account: http://www.highstreet5.com.ph/Member/member_reg.aspx

Driver Package R2.37

Realtek HD Audio Driver support all of Realtek HD Audio Codec .

• Vista/Windows 7 WHQL Supporting: ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262,ALC267, ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887,ALC670, ALC275
• Windows 2000/XP WHQL Supporting: ALC880, ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC861VC, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267,ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887,ALC670, ALC275
• HDMI Device WHQL Support: ATI HDMI Devices
• OS Supporting: Microsoft WindowsXP, Widnows2000, Windows Server 2003, Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows7 – x86/x64
• Pack with Microsoft High Definition Audio UAAV1.0a(5013)
• Add/Fix — Driver Customizations.

Download here.