Video game review: Diablo 3

  When I was still a teenager in 1997, the video game developer Blizzard released this game called "Diablo". I still remember installing this game on my Intel Pentium I PC, with 120MHz CPU and 16MB of RAM. The game ran flawlessly on Windows 95, and I had a heck of a good time playing this game. Some of the most fond memories of Diablo I, included playing against a friend from school using dial up modem connection. The game became a must-play classics for every hardcore RPG gamers in the late 1990's.

3 years later, in year 2000. Blizzard released the sequel Diablo 2. The sequel turned out to be a bigger and more elaborate game than Diablo 1. Diablo 2 became one of the most popular RPG to embrace the video game market. I remember playing Diablo 2 from time to time until 2005. Those great memories of playing Diablo2, came from the days when my friends and I used to have a LAN party after our university exams.

Diablo 3 was first announced in 2008 and released in May 2012. Despite the fact that Diablo 3 has broken the record of "most pre-ordered PC games on Amazon", I was not particularly excited about it. Largely because I only play video games on special occasions these days, but also because I no longer possess the same enthusiasm about video games as I once did. Although I wasn't particular thrilled about the news of Diablo 3, but for old time's sake, I pre-ordered the game anyway.. simply because it's a Diablo game.

Diablo 3 collector's edition content

The funny thing is, when I finally picked up the game from the shop on the release day. I couldn't help but felt a tinge of excitement, as I held the massive box that contains Diablo 3 collector's edition in my hands. All of the sudden, as I stare dumbfounded at the size and the weight of the game's box. The memories of my nerdy teenage years flashed back in my mind, I remembered the good times I had playing Diablo I and II, as well as the days when I played the game with my friends of old.

With this new sense of excitement. I went home and installed the game, then start the game. I was first greeted with the message of user agreements, then I was notified that I needed to create a battle net account. Then I realized, Diablo 3 requires constant internet connection to play. "No problem", I thought, "I have unlimited broadband internet, surely this will not be a major issue". How wrong was I to have thought so...

I created the battle net account, chose my username and password. Then eagerly launched the game, thinking of re-living my nostalgic and glorious gaming memories of the past. An error message popped up, saying that the server was too busy and refused to let me log in. The next 30 minutes consists of desperate, and unsuccessful attempts to input of my battle net password to try to access the game, with no luck. Disappointed, I visited Blizzard forum, only to realize that there are hundreds of post from people on the same boat as me.

Apparently, too many people wanted to log in and play Diablo 3 on the launch day. The server network at Blizzard could not handle the traffic, and folded...

At that point, I wondered to myself: "Can this Diablo 3 really be the high quality Diablo game I remember from my teenage years?" Here I will give you my review for the much anticipated Diablo 3.

Examples of Barbarian concept art

Story:

 The story of Diablo 3 started 20 years after the original events in Diablo 2. New evils threaten the world of Sancturay. In the face of new threats, new heroes came from all corners of Sancturay in attempt to defeat this new evil.

The adventure starts in a town called New Tristram. The old town of Tristram, after the events of Diablo I and II now lay in ruins. People have re-built the town in a new location. Following the event of a fallen star crashing into the town, news of the appearance of demonic monsters spread. The would-be hero arrived at New Tristram to investigate this new threat. Only to discover a series of evil plots, and raging battles that will lead to the resurrection of the Lord of Terror, Diablo himself.

Character selection screen

The story telling method in Diablo 3 has been revamped. In previous Diablo games, while the story was interesting, it was never very involving. In Diablo 3, many new elements in the story telling method give the player a more immersive experience. For example, the player character is now fully voiced, and can have conversations with NPCs. The towns in act 1 to act 3 are also bigger, with more NPCs to speak to. On top of this, the NPCs and followers sometimes have conversations with the player character through real time speech, or cut scenes in the dungeons. This method of story telling prevents interruption with the pace of the game. Most importantly, there are beautifully rendered CG movies, narrating the story from the protagonist's perspective. To make the adventure more interesting, there are also events that will trigger randomly as the player happens upon them. Finally, the world of Sanctuary is full of lores, these lores can be picked up in the form of lore books. The player can listen to these lore books while adventuring, if they are interested to explore the background of the game world a bit deeper.

There are four acts in Diablo 3, each act varies in length and intensity. While the first half of act 1 may develop slowly, but after that, the pace and the intensity of the game pretty much resembled an aeroplane taking off on a runway.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in Diablo 3 remains very similar to the previous Diablo games. The player chooses one of the five characters in the game: Barbarian, Monk, Wizard, Demon Hunter, and Witch Doctor. In Diablo 3, now the player can choose to pay either male or female for each character class. Each character class has his/her own unique skills and strategy in game. When the player logs in, he/she can either embark on a crusade against legions of demons in a solo adventure. Or, alternatively the players are also free to choose to wage the war against demons in co-op mode with their friends.

Desert land (zoom in)

There are four difficulty levels in Diablo 3: Normal, Nighmare, Hell and Inferno. When the player starts a new character, he/she is playing at normal difficulty, beating the game will unlock the next level of difficulty. Blizzard has issued a claim, saying it is impossible to solo in Inferno level because the difficulty is too high.

The co-op mode shines brightly in Diablo 3, offering much challenges and fun . The difficulty of the game rises as you team up with your friends. This means if you are building a large team, you better have a team with balanced skills, and wide range of character classes to complement each other. Only then can you hope to defeat the toughest demons that spawned from the deepest recess of hell.

The game still uses the isometric camera view, and the control only involves mouse and keyboard. Left click on the mouse attack, right bottom of the mouse activate special attacks. Which other keys that can be assigned to execute special skills.

Blizzard is the master at crafting games that provide non-linear gameplay experience. This is done by using randomly generated dungeons. Every time, when the player re-play a dungeon, it will never be the same map. In addition to this, when monsters are slain, they will drop random loots. This means even if you created 50 wizard characters , you will build 50 very different characters, because you don't know what equipment you will get in the game for each character. This obviously adds great replayability value to the game, a trademark for the Diablo games.

Desert land (zoom out)

In previous Diablo games, when the character levels up, the player can choose to increase attribute points such as: Strength, dexerity, vitality, and intelligence. In Diablo 3, the attribute system is dropped. Instead, when the character levels up in Diablo 3, the player can acquire skills. The higher the character's level means more skills can be unlocked to aid the player's quest to anguish minions of Diablo. However, the interesting thing about the new skill system is, the player is free to switch between skills at anytime. Meaning the player can choose a combination/set of skills that best suit their play style and strategy. While able to change to a different strategy if they want to. This new skill system works wondrously, because this encourages people to experiment with different strategies and explore different skills, allowing the player to have more freedom to explore the gameplay mechanism in more details.

Another new addition to the game is the follower system. Previously in Diablo 2, the player can hire mercenaries on their epic quest. However, the mercenaries are essentially mute and dont' have stories, when they die, you just go back to the town and buy a new one. It was not very interesting at all. In Diablo 3, the new follower system is in place. There are 3 followers that can join your honorable quest to defeat the Lord of Terror: Templar, Enchantress and Scoundrel. Each follower has his/her own unique background story, and will have conversations with the player character randomly. The player can customize the follower's skills and equipment. When I played Diablo 3, I took followers with me because it was interesting to have them along.

Inventory screen in Diablo 3

The most useless feature of the new gameplay system, is the newly incorporated feature of auction house. The idea of the auction house is that the player can put their excess items on auction (because some items are class based, so if you are using a barbarian you are unable to use the equipment of a wizard), in a public domain on the Blizzard network. Other players from around the world, can purchase the equipment of interest by using in-game gold, or alternatively, using money in real life. Personally, I think this is a poor excuse for Blizzard to make more money, by handling the transactions from such trades in the auction house.

Graphics:

Many people will say that the graphics in Diablo 3 is not spectacular. While it is true that the graphics is no match for Mass Effect 3 or Batman Arkham City, but I do think the graphics in this game suits its purpose for a game like Diablo 3. The isometric view is probably the most efficient method of display in a hack and slash RPG. This allows the developer to craft big areas in the game. At the same time the explorations of the dungeons won't feel overwhelmingly long. Furthermore, the graphics look superb on a 3D TV, with great 3D depth and elevations for environmental details.

The centre of New Tristram

One of the most interesting thing about the graphics in Diablo 3, is the use of color in the art design. I noticed that each act in the game have their own unique color set. Creating a sense that each chapter is distinct in its area, location and lore. The use of the color scheme also created great immersion for players, a sense often missing in traditional hack and slash RPG. Overall, the atmosphere of the game stays true to the previous Diablo games, dark, bleak and depressing. With a sense of dangers looming around the corner.

Music and sound effect:

The music of Diablo 3 remains to be one of the best aspects in the game. The soundtracks are atmospheric and sometimes, creepy. The sound effects are very well done, from the slashing sound of the sword to the death cry of the demons. The sound effect and the music of Diablo 3 brings this dungeon crawling adventure to your living room.

What I think about the game:

I thin Diablo 3 is a very good game, hands down. This is probably the best game in the series. It has a lot of improvements on gameplay, story telling and graphics compared to its predecessors. The story is the good old fashioned tale of good versus evil. With a mixture of tragedy, desperation, loss of hope and the ultimate triumph of good against evil. While the story is not epic in scale such as Baldur's Gate, the story of Diablo 3 is interesting enough to attract the players to spend time to listen to the lores, talk to the NPCs and wanting to know what will happen next.

The gamplay mechanism added new elements and improvements in Diablo 3. The new skill system is very interesting, and will encourage the players to explore different play styles and strategies. While some may accuse Blizzard of "dumbing down" the game mechanics. Personally, I think the new system allows the player more freedom to craft their own unique strategies and play styles. Everything else about the game, from the graphics to the music and sound effects are pretty good, well suited for a game of this genre.

In other words, I think Diablo 3, is definitely (or better than) the Diablo games I remembered from my nerdy teenage years. But I am also sad to report that my experience of Diablo 3, was ruined by cob webs of technical problems.

An example of a skill tree layout

A more terrible foe than the Lord of Terror:

As if the quest to vanquish Diablo does not put enough chills into the spines of the would-be heroes. There is a even more horrifying foe that stands as the insurmountable enemy, threatening to thwart our noble quest. That foe, is none other than the abominable entity known as "Blizzard server network infrastructure".

Seriously, other than unable to log in to the game on the launch day. In the first two days, I experienced constant error messages (error 3007). Telling me that I have been "removed" from the server. This happened at 15 minute intervals. Thousands of people have posted on Blizzard's forum, reporting they the same problem. This means everytime this happened, the game crashed and I lost all the progress I made in the game. In the 20 hours that I played this game, I experienced in excess of 100 disconnections, meaning I had to restart certain dungeons more than 100 times! Honestly, this is not a technically sound product. While it is true that the network problem, is due to the network traffic caused by millions of users playing this game on the server. However, this does not excuse Blizzard from the responsibility of preparing for this kind of network traffic before the game was released.

Currently, the work around for error 3007 is to join the general chat in game. This also requires the player to say something on the general chat channel every 15 minutes. To "keep the network connection alive". In the last two days, whenever I played Diablo 3, I was always frantically type in something on the general chat channel. In order to remain connected. Suffice to say, I am not the only one spamming the general chat to avoid the infamous error 3007 message.

The reason for this network failure, is because Blizzard has made Diablo 3 to requires constant internet connection. Even in solo single player mode! Why do I need to be constantly connected to the internet, if I am only playing solo adventure? All we can hope is, Blizzard will release a patch shortly to address this problem. Otherwise in the meantime, Diablo 3 is almost unplayable due to the technical problems with the servers

Verdict:


Story 8.5/10
Gameplay 9.5/10
Graphics 8.5/10
Music and sound effect 9.5/10
Replayability 9.5/10
Recommended age of audience: Mature audience only

Final score: 9.1/10

I really like Diablo 3, I think it is a great game. And unlike Skyrim and Mass Effect 3, I can actually see myself playing this game from time to time in the next few years. From its game play mechanics, random dugeon/loot system, multiplayer co-op mode, and wide range of characer class choice. Diablo 3 has much to offer in terms of replayability. I wouldn't mind playing this in co-op mode with my friends. unfortunately at the moment, the more diabolic element of the game is not Diablo himself, but the poorly designed Blizzard network infrastructure, which has rendered the game almost unplayable. Today I heard that Blizzad issued an official apology to the customers. Promising to release a patch to fix all the problems. Let's hope they do so in the very near future. Otherwise, it will be a shame to see such a jewel of a game being ruined by a poorly executed technical infrastructure.

P.S. This game is quite violent, and the atmosphere of the game is very dark and depressing. The general vibe is a blend between horror and fantasy. Therefore, I do not think it is suitable for younger audiences. The horror theme might frighten younger audiences (I used to have nightmares in my sleep after playing Diablo I some 15 years ago), and the game can be very violent at certain places.

 ** This review is based on playing in normal and partially, nightmare difficulty (both solo and co-op mode). Game play experience might vary according to different game play difficulty settings.**

Book Review: The Saga of Beowulf

Beowulf, is arguably the oldest surviving English literature. The epic poem tells the story of heroes and glorious battles in the days long gone. This piece of literature has been passed down from generation to generation for the last thousand years. The epic poem of Beowulf, is one of my most favorite of all time. To me, not only is Beowulf the Scandinavian version of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian in epic poetry, but the character of Beowulf himself is a hero of mythic proportion. Everything about Beowulf is intriguing: A hero with the strength of 30 men, slayer of giant sea serpents, swimming for days, the hand to hand battle with the troll Grendel, the battle against the troll hag and his final confrontation with the dragon, has captured my imagination ever since the first time I opened up the magical pages of this ancient poem. In fact, it is not hard to find traces of Beowulf in J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth  Saga [1], and C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

Independent author R. Scot Johns, after a decade of research on the historical background of Beowulf, and the ancient poem itself. Has written a novelization of this epic poem, titled "The Saga of Beowulf". While the original poem consists of roughly 3200 lines, this novelization version amount to almost 620 pages, and is quite a hefty tome. The would-be reader must be willing to invest some time if they are interested in this book. Is this book worth your time? Let's find out.

Story:

To begin with, forget about the 2007 Hollywood movie "Beowulf" with Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie. All I can say is, that movie was not a faithful adaptation of Beowulf. In fact, it is everything but Beowulf, with main storyline so disfigured from the original. This is hardly a surprise since the script was written by Neil Gaiman (author of American Gods) and he was on a mission to not only remove all the Christian elements from the original poem, but Gaiman has taken a step further to attack Christianity in his script. The bottom line is, if your only impression of Beowulf is based on the 2007 movie, then you need to read the original poem. Only then can you appreciate the beauty of the original story and realize how poorly written is the Hollywood adaptation (the only redeeming quality of the 2007 film were the soundtracks, and the 3D effects in the cinema).

It seems that the modern attempt to adapt Beowulf into a movie has failed to capture the spirit of the original poem. What about this massive novel? Before I give a brief summary of the story, I am happy to report that most of the essence of the original Beowulf poem has been captured in Scots' novel, but not without flaws.

The story of Beowulf probably took place at around 500-600AD, mainly in Denmark and Geat land (in modern Sweden). Unlike the original poem, the novelization portrayed Beowulf as more human, and has more background stories about the history at the time, and also has many complex characters in the book.

The story started with a troubled mead hall of Heorot in Denmark. The kingdom has been besieged by a monstrous troll, Grendel for 12 years. The human eating monster comes into the hall night after night, and no warriors can stand a chance against this super natural monstrosity. Many brave warriors have stood in front of the monster and fell. Including Beowulf's father, the crimson warrior Edgetheow, an exile from the Geat land and a right hand man of the Danish king Hrothgar. However, Grendel has never attacked the king himself. After a siege of 12 years, most of the king's warriors are slain and Denmark was in a pitiful state. As a grown man, and a warrior of renown, Beowulf led a small war band to Denmark, in attempt to slay the monster and also avenge for his father's death. In an epic battle, Beowulf managed to tore off Grendel's arm in hand to hand combat, and in effect slain the troll that has laid waste to Denmark. Little did Beowulf know that the Orge battle is but the beginning of a series of struggles against fate, where his struggle will leave behind an epic tale of legends.

What I think about the book:

R. Scot Johns has done a great job at novelizing Beowulf. It is evident that he has done thorough research in the historical background of 5th century Scandinavia. This book is on the borderline between a historical fiction, and a historical fantasy novel. Johns has successfully portrayed the human side of Beowulf that were present in the poem, and presented Beowulf as a complex character who is more than just having the strength of 30 men with a bunch of heroic deeds. Equally as well done, is the cast of supporting characters in this book. From the heroes to the villain, all the characters are well developed and their motivations are well presented to the readers, making this a deeply involved story.

It is interesting to note that the author has removed all the Christian elements present in the original poem in this novelization. I am not sure what the author's intention was for removing the Christian elements. However, while the poem Beowulf was originally a song sang by bards, circulating in Northern Europe in pre-Christian era, it is also know that the first written composition of Beowulf was probably by the hands of Christian monks in 800AD.  Therefore, maybe the author's intention for removing the Christian elements is to present the book with a more accurate historical background. Because in the time when the story of Beowulf took place, Northern Europe has just begun the process of converting to Christianity. Some have even speculated that the written poem of Beowulf in 800AD, was an attempt to reconcile Christianity and Nordic religious belief. Because the poem was largely appealing to the Norsemen's culture and code of honor in battle and glory, and at the same time trying to portray Beowulf as a Christ like character, while the poem bears many imagery to the story of Jesus Christ.

In this novel, all the Christian elements from the original poem are absent. Christianity is presented as a budding religion in certain parts of Europe, while the Norsemen were still pagans who believed that a glorious death on the battlefield, will grant them a seat in Valhalla across the bifrost where Odin awaits the brave and the courageous. Very interestingly, this novel was written from the perspective of Nordic mythology belief, which reflects the Nordic culture and the belief in fatalism, where one's struggle against fate matters little to the entirety of things, but it is the struggle itself that will bring glory and the heroic deeds from the struggle will be sung for ages to come. Perhaps it was the harsh weather in the Nordic regions that shaped the fatalistic belief? I don't really know, but I think some interesting discussions can be followed up on this topic of fatalism, Norse mythology and early Christianity in Scandinavia.

Personally, I think this is a great book. The only flaw is that sometimes the author can get pretty wordy, and pays too much attention to details that becomes distracting to the pace of the story. I have certainly speed through some of the paragraphs that seemed out of place. Nevertheless, the book is very well written, and the 1980's dungeon&dragon style cover doesn't really do justice for this otherwise fantastic novel. I think as an independent author, R. Scot Johns should probably find a good book cover artist to design the cover of his books. After all, appropriate book cover art or even illustrations never hurt, but can only be good to improve the artistic value of the book.

Final score: 4/5

The Saga of Beowulf, is the first novelization of the epic poem Beowulf. R. Scot Johns did a great job at modernising the poem and giving it more story with the rich historical context, complex and deep character development, and is very well written. The only downside of the book is the occasional wordiness in some paragraphs, which distrubed the pace of the story. The novel has successfully captured the spirit of the original poem, and R. Scot Johns has weaved an epic tale worthy of reading.

P.S. If you like this kind of books, make sure to check out Poul Anderson's "Hrolf Kraki's saga", a novelization of the 11th century Norse epic saga "Saga of King Hrolf Kraki'". This saga is actually remotely connected to Beowulf, in that both epics have mentioned King Hrothgar of Denmark.

Reference:

[1] J.R.R Tolkien, Beowulf: The monsters and the critics, Proceedings of the British Academy, 1936 pp. 245-295

Book review: Did Jesus Exist? The historical argument for Jesus of Nazareth by Bart Ehrman

It seems that now days, Christianity is constantly under attack. One of the hottest, and probably the most popular fore-front debate, is the constant discussions between theists and atheists on the topic of science vs. God. Dozens of public debates have took place where famous scientists and thinkers have pitted against each other, arguing for what they believe is right. Hundreds of books have been written about science vs. God where atheists and theists have presented their views on this topic, finally, tens and thousands of debates have been held on internet, where ordinary people have also expressed their views about science vs. God.

What an interesting phenomenon! Sometimes I really wonder why did science become the "supposed" only method of knowing the truth? When did the human society elevate science to the golden throne where it is viewed as the superior way of knowing and understanding, while ranking all other methods of knowing and understanding as second class knowledge? Is science the only way of knowing and understanding? I think not, but this is beyond the topic of discussion in this book review.

I follow Stephen Hawking's writings quite closely, not only because I think he is a great physicist, but I also admire his ability to write popular science books in styles that is readily accessible to the general public. Hawking have previously stated in his book, "The Grand Design" that laws of physics has made God redundant. In my previous book review on "The Grand Design", I have expressed my humble opinion as why Hawking's argument is weak. But after reading a vast amount of literature on this topic, and even participate in a few debates about science Vs. God myself. I finally arrived at this conclusion: Science, cannot be used to prove the existence of God, but neither can science be used to prove that God does not exist. How people view science, is dependent on what they believe. For example, as a Christian, I believe that science is God's wonders. While atheists will believe that science, is the root explanation for existence.

So I realized, perhaps the question cannot be simply answered by science. In order to determine if Christianity is the truth, one would have to look at history, and examine the Bible to come to a conclusion in yourself.

The book I am reviewing today, is written by Bart Ehrman. He is an American New Testament scholar, who is also an agnostic. Ehrman has written various books previously and is well known for his argument against Christianity.

However, this book captured my interest as Ehrman wrote this book to argue for the existence of a historical Jesus, and today, I will like to present a book review for Ehrman's new, interesting book.

Notice:

Before I start the actual review, I need to say that I do not possess any academic qualification in any history related subjects, therefore, I can only base my review on what Bart Ehrman said in the book, and the small amount of knowledge I've acquired during my concurrent research while reading this book.

Synopsis:

In this book, Ehrman used various historical evidence and formidable arguments to establish the high probablity that Jesus was a real person who lived in the 1st century, Jewish, a spiritual teacher and was later crucified by Pilate. As Ehrman stated in his book, he wrote this book mainly to debunk the mythicists (those who believe that Jesus never was a made up figure who never existed).

The book has nine chapters, and is categorized into three parts, here I will give a brief summary for each chapter:

In chapter 1, Ehrman briefly described the popular mythicists views on Jesus. He talked about the history and the development of the mythicists views, and listed a few main ideas of such views: For example, one of the mythicists view Ehrman talked about was the view that Jesus is based on ancient pagan religions for a dying and resurrected God. After listing the different mythicist views, Ehrman gave some arguments why these views are invalid.

In chapter 2, Ehrman listed historical evidences to argue for the existence of historical Jesus. Referencing to historical documents from non-biblical sources, such as the writings of Josephus (Testimonium Flavianum), Pliny the Younger, Seutonius (which doesn't directly refer to Jesus, but mentioned Christians), Tacitus. In this section, Ehrman mostly talked about non-Christian sources that mentioned Jesus. Where Ehrman paid particular attention to the writtings of Josephus, arguing that although the writings of Josephus could have been edited by later Christian scribes, but it can still be used as historical evidence for the existence of historical Jesus. In the conclusion of chapter 2, Ehrman concluded that these non-biblical historical document are not only evidence for the existence of historical Jesus, but we can also get an idea of the life of Jesus, that he really was a Jewish person, a religious teacher, and died by crucifixion under Pilate's reign.

In chapter 3, Ehrman used the New Testament books and letters as historical evidences, to argue for the existence of the historical Jesus. Ehrman said most historians have agreed that each books in the Gospel, can be used to testify the existence for the historical Jesus. Ehrman mentioned that although the four Gospels are written decades after Jesus was crucified, but these books are written based on oral accounts that have been circulating since the early 30 ADs, right after Jesus was crucified. In additional, Ehrman also stated that most historians believe that the earliest Gospel written was Mark, around 70AD, followed later by Luke and Matthew, and John. While Matthew and Luke are believed by most historians to be based on a hypothetical document called Q, that contain information not found in Mark. while Luke and Matthew could also be based on other hypothetical documents called L and M, while John can be treated as an independant source by itself. Therefore, Ehrman argued that in the Gospel section alone, there are all together 7 sources that testify the existence and the life of historical Jesus. Furthermore, Ehrman also provided arguments and historical evidence that there are indeed, oral accounts of the life of Jesus that can be dated all the way back to early 30AD's. Ehrman argued that we can trust that although the Gospels were written in Greek, decades after the crucifixion of Jesus, but we can trust that they are written based on reliable oral traditions around the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Ehrman supported this argument by observing that in the book of Mark, there are keywords in the sentences where it does not make sense in Greek, but makes perfect sense once it is translated into Aramaic, which is a language that Jesus and his followers spoke in the region where Jesus lived and was active. The most striking example is in Mark 2:27-28. Where Jesus used two lines to silence his critics. This is when some of Jesus' disciples were walking through the grain field on Sabbath, and because they were hungry they started eating the grain. The pharisee (a group of Jews observe the laws very strictly) saw this and protested to Jesus because the disciples were breaking the Sabbath. Jesus' response was to say that Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath, and according to Ehrman, the Greek version of this passage is: Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath, Therefore the Son of Man is the Lord of Sabbath. Ehrman said, the last sentence doesn't make sense, because even if Jesus is referring to himself in the last sentence, it doesn't add up because the pharisees are complaining about the disciples, not Jesus. However, Ehrman stated that the senetence makes sense when the key word is translated back into Aramaic, because in Aramaic, it uses the same word for man and Son of man, the word barnash. So the original sentence in Aramaic should read: Sabbath was made for barnash, not barnash for Sabbath. Therefore barnash is the lord of Sabbath. And all of the sudden, the "Therefore" in the sentence makes sense, because the reason why human are the lord of Sabbath is because of what Jesus just said. Ehrman continued to state in the original Gospels written in Greek, there are "punchlines/keywords" that are remained in Aramaic, or make better sense when it is translated into Aramaic. This is an indication that the Gospels are based on oral traditions that can be dated all the way back to 30AD's, just after Jesus was crucified.

In Chapter 4, Ehrman argued for the existence and life of Jesus by using the non-Gospel sources. He started by discussing the Christian, but non-biblical historical writings from early Christians: Papias , Ignatius of Antioch, 1 Clement. Ehrman argued that these early Christian writings, can be used as evidence to show that Jesus was a historical figure who really was crucified by Pilate. Following the reference to the non-biblical Christian sources, Ehrman comes back to the New Testament, and used the non-Gospel writings in the NT to argue for the existence of historical Jesus. According to Ehrman, in the Book of Acts, the narratives of the Apostles about the life of Jesus, especially the speeches in the book of Acts, are good testimony for the life of historical Jesus. The reason is because these speeches are based on the oral traditions about Jesus that existed before the Gospels were written. Ehrman then moved on to discuss the non-Pauline NT epistles (e.g. 1 and 2 John, Jude, James, 1 and 2 Peter etc..). Here, Ehrman believes that 1 Timothy is not written by Paul, and there is a non-Pauline source in NT. Nevertheless, Ehrman stated that the non-Pauline epistles in the NT are indeed independant, historical records that testified the life and existence of Jesus. Following this, Ehrman moved on to what I think is a particularly interesting argument from Ehrman, the witness of Paul. Ehrman stated that the earliest NT writing, is probably 1 Thessalonian, which can be dated back to 49AD. This means it is less than 2 decades after the crufixion of Jesus when Paul wrote this letter. Ehrman stated that Paul (also known as Saul), who was a persecuator of the Jews, after some events in his life, converted to Christianity in the early 30AD's, approximately in the same time period when Jesus was crucified. Another historical fact we know, is that Paul is close with Cephas (Simon Peter), and James (the brother of Jesus, both mentioned in the Bible and in the writing of Josephus). This means Paul based his knowledge about Jesus on these two actual disciples who knew Jesus before he was crucified. This makes all of Paul's letters (1 Thessolonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Phillipians etc..) another independant source to testify the life of Jesus, Ehrman argues that the fact that Pauls' writings pre-dates the first writings of the Gospels, coupled with the fact that Paul knows 2 out of the 12 actual disciples of Jesus, makes Paul's testimony about the life of Jesus highly credible, this is because Cephas (Peter) and James would have seen, known, heard and spoke with Jesus personally. Not only that, Peter and James would have be around when Jesus was crucified.

In chapter 5, Ehrman discussed what he thinks are the two main historical sources for the existence and life of historical Jesus. Peter and James (brother of Jesus). Ehrman provided reasons and debunked the mythical view that James was not really a brother of Jesus. Following this, Ehrman made another powerful argument to prove that Jesus really was a historical person who was crucified by Pilate, and that the testimony in NT that Jesus is the messiah is actually not based on Pagan religion. Ehrman stated that the ancient Jews never believed that the messiah would die. Actually, the ancient Jews believed that the Messiah will go on living, and never die (this view is confirmed by a pastor who preached at our church camp as well). Ehrman argued that the reason why Paul (Saul) persecuted Christians before his own conversion was because, the idea that a messiah can die is a highly offensive concept to the Jews, so someone who is very high up in the Jewish religious order as Paul, will find it highly offensive and blasphemous, leading to his persecuation of the Christians. Ehrman argued this means the concept of a a dying/suffering messiah in Christianity, is actually not based on some ancient pagan religion, but an original concept at the crucifixion of Jesus, an event that actually took place in history.

In chapter 6 and 7, Ehrman provided discussions and arguments against the popular mythicists views about the non-existence of Jesus. Ehrman debunked the common mythicists views that the Gospels are non-historical sources, in which Ehrman took the view that although the Gospels contain what he called "legendary materials", but can still be used at parts, as historical sources. Ehrman then debunked the mythicists view that "Nazareth doesn't not exist", by providing archeological findings and historical data to show that Nazareth was actually a small town that existed in 1st century, when Jesus walked the earth. The third mythicist view debunked by Ehrman was the view that "The Gospels are interpretative paraphrases from OT". In general, Ehrman focused his arguments to debunk the mythicist view that Jesus is based on ancient pagan Gods and myths.

In chapter 8 and 9, Ehrman focused his discussion to formulate what he thinks is the "real" life of the historical Jesus. In this section, Ehrman used a set of criterions commonly used by NT scholars, namely Criterion of Dissimilarity, Criterion of Multiple Attestation , and Criterion of Contextual Credibility (I can't find a scholar article for reference here, but basically it is saying that traditions are more likely true if they conform to what is known). Ehrman applied these three criterion, and concluded that the historical Jesus is an apocalyptic prophet, who was heavily influenced by John the Baptist, and believed that the end of days was going to occur in his time, then taught that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, one must keep the laws in the Torah. Ehrman, in his conclusion, said that Jesus died 6 hours after his crucifixion.

My thoughts on the book:

What do I think about this book?

Personally, I think Ehrman definitely has an in-depth knowledge about NT history, the background, ancient culture and history in general. Personally, as someone who did not study any history or biblical history, I have learnt a lot of news things about the Bible. I particularly find it useful to know that the ancient Jews did not believe that a messiah would ever die. Because this is a very powerful apologetic point for Christianity, and not only that, a very powerful argument for the existence and the life of historical Jesus.

In addition to this, I also find knowing that Paul's writings are amongst the earliest NT literature is very useful information. I find Ehrman's argument very convincing, in that because Paul knows Cephas and James personally, this makes Paul's testimony on the life of Jesus highly credible.

Furthermore, I am also very intrigued by Ehrman's proposition that the Gospels, although written in Greek and at a much later time, but are based on oral traditions about Jesus that can be dated to 30AD's. The most intriguing and convincing point was that certain words and keywords in the original written Gospels remain in Aramaic, indicating that they are written based on oral accounts (narrated by eyewitnesses who lived in 30AD's, in the regions where Jesus was active) who actually have witnessed the life of Jesus, his teaching, death and resurrection (the resurrection was ommitted by Ehrman in this book, I have something to say about this later).

I think Ehrman definitely provided some sound, reasonable and if I may say, formidable arguments that pretty much demolished the mythicists view that Jesus never existed. On top of this, Ehrman was able to support all of his argument with his vast knowledge in ancient Greek, Aramaic, NT literature, early Christian history and history in general. I am thoroughly impressed with this well-learned scholar.

However, in the later parts of the book, after much thinking, research and reflection, I decided that my views departed from Ehrman's views on the "real" historical Jesus in chapter 8 and 9, and I will like to discuss them below.

First of all, although I am not a NT scholar. Neither does my educational background grants me qualifications to say much about NT history. However, I noticed that two of the key arguments for Ehrman against Christianity are:

1) Ehrman says that the world wide census mentioned in Luke, there are no historical evidence to support the event recorded in Luke, therefore Ehrman calls this an error in the Bible. Upon reading Ehrman's argument, I was brought to think about this problem. After some research, I found this internet article quite useful. (article). This article explains why the census mentioned in Luke is highly plausible, and although I have not personally checked all 7 references listed in the articles, but I find the arguments constructed by the author highly sound.

2) Another of Ehrman's argument against Christianity, is that the conversation between Jesus and Nicademus in John 3:3 couldn't have happened. In John 3:3, Jesus said to Nicomedmus "unless you are born "anothen" you will not be able to enter the kingdom of God". Ehrman argued that, the greek word "anothen" has two meanings: a) second time and b) from above. Ehrman argued that this conversation is centred on the double meanings of the Greek word "anothen", where Jesus is saying that unless you are "born again", from the spirit that comes "from above", you cannot enter the kingdom of God (this conforms with our NIV and ESV translation if you read from John 3:3-6). The problem, according to Ehrman, is that when this passage in John 3:3 is translated back into Aramaic (the language that Jesus probably spoke), the aramaic word for "born again" is not the same as "second time" as the Greek word "anothen" has double meaning. And without the double meaning of the word "anothen", the entire conversation from John 3:3-6 doesn't flow. Therefore, Ehrman argued, that this conversation in John 3:3-6 never really happened. When I first read Ehrman's argument, it does look very challenging, but once again, after some research, I found this article that shed light to debunk Ehrman's argument about the problems of John 3:3 (article). It turns out, that in the ancient Syriac Peshitta, the Aramaic version of John 3:3 does contain the word "again" in the sentence. This means the original Aramaic version (which is probably what Jesus said to Nicodemus) doesn't require a double meaning word such as the Greek word "anothen" to make sense. Anyway, click on the link I provided above, the explanation to debunk this particular argument from Ehrman is very well done.

Finally, I cannot help but find Ehrman's proposition for his version of the "real" Jesus a bit weak. To start with, Ehrman used the three criterion used by NT scholars to some degree, wrongfully. The criterion of dissmilarity, the criterion of multiple attestation and the criterion of discontinuity, are meant to be used jointly for strictly positive means to support a historical claim, not in a negative way to reduce the historical relability of a claim.

But as I am not a qualified historian, perhaps some would accuse me of over stepping my field of qualication by criticising Ehrman's argument about these criterion.

However, even if I step out of scholarly criticism against Ehrman's negative use of the criterion of authencity. There is still one big problem that I can see in Ehrman's argument in his use of criterion. From a non-scholarly perspective, but from a common sense view.

My biggest protest against Erhman's argument in chapter 8 and 9 is, Ehrman was happy to use the criterion of dissimilarity, and the criterion of multiple attestation, and the criterion of contextual credibility to deduce the high probablity of the existence of historical Jesus. Because the various sources from NT (the Gospels, letters of Paul, and speeches in Acts) has testified that Jesus was once a Jewish religious teacher who lived in 1 century, but was crucified by Pilate, therefore it passes the criterion tests. But why is it that Ehrman is happy to admit the life and crucifixion part of the life of Jesus, but is completely silent about an equally, largely testified part of these historical sources, which is the resurrection of Jesus? Where is the integrity to examine all these historical accounts with an unbiased approach? Surely if Ehrman is happy to say that because multiple sources say that Jesus lived and died on the cross, then by integrity he should also notice that the resurrection account of Jesus should pass the criterion tests. In other words, the reason why Ehrman is completely silent about the resurrection account, is because he has a bias against historical records that contains supernatural phenomenon.

I would like to call for integrity to consider the life, death and resurrection of Jesus be considered in equal terms when analysed by the criterion of authencity tests, because all three parts of the records of Jesus are equally attested in the historical sources of NT.

Human beings, often like to think that just because we haven't seen something, so it cannot happen. But time and again, we have proven that this is an ignorant way of thinking. Even in the field of science and engineering. I will give an true example where we can deter ourselves from finding the truth because of our ignorance.

In the early to mid 20th Century, scientists and engineers used to think that supersonic flight is impossible. This is because in classical aerodynamics, the engineers use a graph called "drag polar", to determine the amount of drag on a moving object travelling in atmosphere. Scientists and engineers in those days (and today), when constructing the drag polar graph from pure mathematicaly and from classical methods, the drag will approach infinity as we approach the speed of sound (Mach 1). This is still an unresolved mystery in the field of aerondynamics and aircraft design. However, we all know that aircraft such as Concord, fighter jets, missiles etc.. can fly supersonically today (faster than speed of sound. We can determine the drag of supersonic flight by recording the coefficient of drag through wind tunnel testing. Do we have a theory to explain why the classical aerodynamics predicts infinite drag at Mach 1, while the reality is so different? No, we can't explain why. But if you were to say to aeronautical engineers back in the days that you want to design a supersonic aircraft, they will surely think your proposition is highly "implausible" because base on what they know, it is impossible to fly supersonically due to infinite drag that's predicted on the drag polar curve.

Yes, science is very differnt to history (well, aeronautical engineering is very different to analysing the credibility of biblical history), but at the core of analysis, human ignorance, ego and the little knowledge that we possess can often cause us to develop a bias, and rule out the critical elements that we regard as "implausible", simply we don't understand it and think it cannot happen. This can sometimes delay/deter us from finding out the truth, until we can see such "implausibility" occur in front of us. In the case of realizing that it is possible to fly supersonically despite what theory tells us, has relatively minor consequences to our lives. However, in the case of the resurrection of Jesus, well, discovering the truth too late will have eternal consequences, if what Bible says is correct. Don't you agree?

In the case of Ehrman's argument that the historical Jesus was just an apocalytpic prophet, I think Ehrman's bias against the things that he thinks as "implausible" has disabled his ability to treat all the evidences and data that lay before him with equal integrity, and that missing piece is obviously, the equally and multiple attested account of the resurrection of Jesus.

I have just spent the last 4 hours writing this exhaustive book review. It is now the 6th April 2012 at half past zero in the morning, it is Good Friday today. This is the day when Jesus was crucified, a multiply attested event in all the historical accounts that is in the New Testament. Equally as well attested event is the resurrection of Jesus, which, according to all historical tests and evidence, should be accredited as a real historical event despite the fact that we do not know how the dead can come back to life. But that is exactly why the resurrection is a miracle, because it is something extra-ordinary. No, the resurrection is more than just a supernatural stunt that impresses people, the resurrection, symbolize hope and God's promise to us, it means so much more. Perhaps, after all the intellectual activities and discussions in the topic of science vs. God, or authenticity of the Bible and history. It is more important to think about what Jesus means to us, to our lives, and how his resurrection means to our lives?

Concluding remarks:

Ehrman is an extremely well learnt scholar, this book demonstrated his in-depth knowledge in the field of NT history research. Ehrman is formidable in debunking the mythicists views about Jesus, and provided some intriguing and challenging things to think about. Overall, a very good read if you are interested in history of the New Testament and want to acquire some basic knowledge about the scholar study of historical Jesus. However, I departed with Ehrman's views in chapter 8 and 9 in regard to the nature of Jesus. My biggest protest is that Ehrman, because of his personal bias against the divine nature of Jesus, is completely silent about the multiply attested resurrection account found in the books in the New Testament. This is importing data without keeping the integrity of the data, due based on personal bias. As a result of this, I find Ehrman's proposition of his version of the "real" Jesus very weak and contains major flaws, because who he thinks Jesus is, is derived based on his own personal prejudice against the resurrection account of Jesus.

P.S.

- The words underlined and colored blue, are links to articles that might be helpful to understand the topic. To access, simply click on the words

- Special thanks to Diony McPherson and Cameron Blairs for sharing, explaining and exchange of ideas and information. Please feel free to comment or correct me if there is anything that doesn't make sense.

- Due to the long the exhaustive length of this article, the fact that it is now 1am in the morning and I've been writing for the last 5 hours, and that I've had a tiring week at work. There might be grammatical and spelling errors that I am unaware of, or sentences that don't flow well. I will come back and perform some revision works in the near future. In the meantime, please excuse me should there be any such errors.

Video game review: Mass Effect 3 (PC)

In 2005, developer Bioware took the world of video games by storm when they announced the Mass Effect project. A sci-fi RPG space adventure set in the futuristic world. What really grabbed the attention was that the game would allow players to make "choices that matter" to the story development. Mass Effect 1 and 2 were released in 2007 and 2010 respectively, and have both received critical acclaims from both the critics and the general public. The main protagonist of the series, commander Shepard, have also become one of the most beloved video game characters, where millions of players around the world have spend hundreds of hours, crafting their own story for their version of commander Shepard.

The success behind the Mass Effect series is mostly that the game allows the players to "craft" their own stories, by constantly making choices through playing the role of commander Shepard. On the epic quest to save the galaxy. In Mass Effect 3, Bioware has promised to bring a satifactory conclusion to the commander Shepard story arc.

Story:

In 2157, we discovered a strange device called "Mass Replay" at the far corner of our solar system. In 30 years' time, human race managed to harvest the technological knowledge from the device, and bring about great technological advancements. Eventually, human race sent space ships through the mass replay, and discovered that we, are no alone in this universe. Mass replay, are simply devices (gateways) that connect one solar system to another, where intelligent life forms exist.

All known life forms in the universe formed a galactic system of governance. Based on a gigantic space station called "Citidal". In the event of Mass Effect 1, a human soldier, a commander of a spaceship named Shepard, was put on the case to investigate strange activities at the far side of the space. Shepard discovered that an ancient, synthetic alien life form, known as the "reapers" had a plan to wipe out all organic life in the galaxy. Shepard successfully thwarted the reapers' plan, but died later during a mission at the beginning of the story in Mass Effect 2.

In Mass Effect 2, the bodily remain of Shepard was recovered by a human supermacist group called "Cerberus", the organization spent tremendous amount of resources and capitals to "resurrect" Shepard. After returning to life, Shepard was put on a mission to investigate the strange disappearances of people on human colonies throughout the galaxy, which led to the revelation of a consipiracy plan by an alien group called "Collectors", who was working with the Reapers to wipe out organic life in the galaxy.

After Shepard successfuly stopped the Collector's plan, in Mass Effect 3, Shepard was accused of being a war criminal due to his actions in Mass Effect 2, and was put under house arrest on earth. Despite Shepard's warning of the Reapers' threat. The council ignored the warnings, and was completely unprepared when the Reapers finally made a massive invasion on earth, and simultaneously across the galaxy. Outmatched by the Reapers, Shepard had no option but to flee the earth, on a mission to unite the different alien races across the galaxy, in a final confrontation against the Reapers before all organic life forms are wiped out.

Needless to say, Mass Effect 3 is more epic than both of its predecessors, as the central plot involves assembling a unison of galactic fleet for a final showdown against the Reapers. The player can import their save games from Mass Effect 2, where the decisions they made in the previous games will shape the story in Mass Effect 3. Just as previous Mass Effect games, commander Shepard has a team of squad members who can join Shepard on this epic adventure. One of the strength of Mass Effect stories is that, as you play the game, you will become familiarized with your squad members, by having conversations with them, or be in missions with them in life and death situations.

In Mass Effect 3, the squad is smaller to the size of squad members in Mass Effect 2. However, a lot of old friends returns to join Shepard, while some new members also make their first appearances in the series. Bioware has done a really good job in connecting the players to these squad members. You will feel like you actually know them towards the end of the game, and that adds weights to your decision making, when you have to make difficult choices in the story.

Another success of the story is that new comers do not have to play the previous two games to be able to enjoy Mass Effect 3. The story narratives in Mass Effect 3 reveals the essential plot revolving around the first two games, so if you are new, it is likely that you will be able to pick up the story of Mass Effect after a few hours.

Bioware released an amazing trailer called "Take Earth Back", see below



Gameplay and design:

Mass Effect has been gradually evolving towards a 3rd person shooter game. In Mass Effect 3, the gameplay is even more action packed than Mass Effect 2. While the core game mechanics and engine hasn't been changed much since ME2, but Shepard definitely has more freedom of movement in Mass Effect 3. For example, now Shepard can sprint, jump and climb ladders. The game still retain the RPG elements from the first two games. There are still five character classes: Soldier, adept, infiltrator, engineer and sentinel. Each class has its own unique skills and play style. Mass Effect 3 also has a large library of weapon and armors. There are all together 32 sets of armors for Shepard to equip. The weapons can also be customized and upgraded. These features retain the classic RPG elements. I think Bioware has managed to improve the RPG/shooter hybrid gameplay in Mass Effect 3, and deserve to be commended for this achievement.

Enemy AI has been improved, they are now more aggresive, smarter and generally harder to beat. Mass Effect 3 is the hardest game in the trilogy with ramped up difficulty level, and should appease critics who criticized the first two games from being too "easy".

The artistic and atmospheric design of Mass Effect 3 is somewhat between Mass effect 2, and Mass Effect 1. The various alien worlds and planets have their own unique outlooks, and the mission environment gave senses of danger and urgency. The voice acting is pretty good, although slightly dull compared to the voice acting in Mass Effect 2, but once again, Martin Sheen gave a great voice acting performance as the character of "Illusive man".

Graphics and sound:

Although still graphically impressive, but it seems Mass Effect 3 is using the same graphics engine as Mass Effect 2, and there are signs that this graphics engine is beginning to show signs of age. While the characters still look detailed and realistic, but the environment can sometimes look a bit rough around the edges. Compared to Batman Arkham City which came out last year, the graphics of Mass Effect 3 looks slightly dated. But that is not saying the graphics is bad, Mass Effect 3 still looks impressive all around.

The soundtrack in Mass Effect 3 is, in my opinion the most memorable in the series. While some of the voice acting is a bit flat, but the sound effect and the soundtracks are still great. Especially on 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system.


My thoughts about the game (warning: minor spoiler!!)

Since the release of Mass Effect 3 on 6th March. The game has generated a lot of controversies over the issues of day one DLC, and even bigger expressions of anger and frustrations over the endings.

In regard to day one DLC, personally I am unaffected by this, as I bought the collector's edition of Mass Effect 3 which came with the DLC. I guess it is only fair to say that maybe Bioware should have just released one format, which is the collector's edition which contained everything. Having said this, the problem is that most people don't want to pay the extra 20 dollars for collector's edition, but this really is a minor problem.

The biggest controversy, is the ending of this popular sci-fi trilogy. Fans of Mass Effect complained that seemingly, the previous choices they made in the previous games actually has no impact to the ending, and all 16 possible endings in Mass Effect 3 are essentially identical. Furthermore, all the endings are quite depressing and gloomy. There is a facebook petition where angry fans have gathered, demanding Bioware to change the endings.

Personally, while I can understand where these angry fans are coming from, but I, for one, actually really liked the endings of Mass Effect 3.

I cannot think of a better way to end this remarkable sci-fi trilogy, this is why:

At the final moment of Mass Effect 3, I finally realized Bioware, is trying to explore an age old theological/philosophical/scientific dilemma in Mass Effect 3 story, the dilemma of "Free will vs. predestination".

Players of Mass Effect series would know that, the series is famous for giving players the freedom to make choices that shape the story arc of the games. By giving the player the ability to import saved games from their previous games, this allows the player to craft their own stories. However, at the end of Mass Effect 3, the players are faced with 3 choices to end the story, each choice will lead to almost the same result at large, but with minor different consequences.

This gives players the feeling of "illusion of free will", or "illusion of personal choices". No matter how hard you worked in the previous two games, making the best choice, attempting to bring about the perfect ending you would want in Mass Effect 3, at the end of the day, it is all futile. As players are shut down by the immovable obstacle, the obstacle of predestination, the inescapable fate that occurs in the infinite space and time.

To be honest, I was really stunned by the ending of Mass Effect 3, when my beloved commander Shepard literally "vaporized" into thin air, in his final act of self sacrifice to save billions of lives. While my final choice did have minor impacts on the future of the universe, but by large. The choices I've made throughout the entire game could not save Shepard from his final fate, one way or another.

This led me to ask the question:

Do we really have choices in life? Are we able to obtain "happy endings" that we want by hard work? Or are we all on the highway to an unavoidable destiny and nothing that we do really matters? Furthermore, does anything matter at all?

There is a good reason why the age old debate of free will vs. predestination is an ongoing discussion. This is because no one in the history, nor the greatest thinkers or the best of the philosophers that ever walked the earth have able to figure out the exact answer.

One thing is for certain, that you and I, and everyone else, have a limited time on earth. Everyone living human being knows their destiny, that the physical death of our bodies, is inevitable. That is the one inescapable destiny that awaits all of us. Just as in Mass Effect, in Shepard's final moment, he realized that no matter what he chooses, he cannot escape his inevitable fate, but Shepard didn't get stuck in trying to figure out the answer to predestination vs. free will, nor did Shepard become paralytic and gave in to his "seemingly" inescapable fate. Shepard knows what really matters, knowing his limited time and destiny, Shepard made the choice and decision that holds most true to his belief and value, for the best of everyone else. In other words, while it may seem that Shepard had no power over his final fate, but he still made the choice that really mattered in the end, because Shepard believed his belief and values, were more important than himself!

Will the answer to the dilemma of "free will vs. predestination" do anyone any good? Personally, I don't think such knowledge will bring much practical benefit to anyone's life.

Perhaps, instead of trying to get a knowledgeable answer, it is more valuable to walk away with a wisdom:

Because our time on earth is limited, with the predestined fate of our physical death, we ought to base all of our choices on what we uphold to be the most true, according to our belief and values, according to something bigger than us. Live a life that reflects what we earnestly believe to be truth and meaningful, in this sense, our lives and our choices really matter!

But the question is, what is it that you earnestly believe to be true? Have you found the belief and value that you uphold as bigger than yourself?


Final score:

Story 9.6/10 - Mass Effect 3 brings a satisfactory conclusion to the story of commanders Shepard. Personally, I think there is no better way to conclude this remarkable story with its current endings. While it is certainly not a happy ending, but at least it is an interesting and meaningful one that leaves much room for interpretations.

Gameplay 9.6/10 - Mass Effect 3 proves to be the most challenging game in the series yet. It is a really good blend between RPG and action.

Graphics 9/10 - While still graphically impressive, the current graphics engine is beginning to show signs of age. There are occasional graphical glitches in the game.

Sound 8.5/10 - The soundtracks are good, but the voice acting is a bit flat at times.

Violence - heavy - As commander Shepard trying to stop an invading alien force, you kill lots of... stuff... lots...

Sex - Mild - Another controversy about Mass Effect 3 is the homosexual romance option. The player will have the option to romance same sex squad members. With the current hot topic of legalization of same sex marriages, Bioware seems to be making a propaganda by saying that in the future, same sex romance should be a norm in our society.

Final score: 9.4/10 - Mass Effect 3 is a great way to end an otherwise amazing sci-fi adventure. It is hard to part ways with commander Shepard, but nevertheless a great way to say goodbye to commander Shepard.

Book Review: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Anansi Boys, is a spin-off novel of Neil Gaiman's American gods. Published in 2005, this novel won both Lotus award and British Fantasy society award. Compared to American gods, Anansi boys is a shorter and a lighter novel. This is a book that contains elements of fantasy, mythology, fairy tale and comedy.


Synopsis:

This novel takes place in the same world as the world in American gods. Anansi, is a trickster/spider, a dominant mythological character in West African and Caribbean folktales.

Anansi (Mr. Nancy from American gods), is a god of Western African origin who arrived in America with the immigrants. The story follows Anansi's son, "fat Charlie". Who is perpetually embarrassed of his father because of his father's attitude and carefree lifestyle.

Fat Charlie lives in England, works in a job he doesn't like because he has a bad boos, and is not very adventurous. He was planning a wedding with his fiancee Rosie, and his difficult future mother in law. His future wife insisted fat Charlie to invite Anasi to their wedding. When trying to contact his father, fat Charlie found out that his father had died in an embarrassing manner at a karaoke bar. Fat Charlie travelled to Florida from London to attend his father's funeral, and met up with his father's neighbors and old family friend, Mrs Higgler, who informed fat Charlie that his father was the incarnation of the West African spider God, Anansi. Furthermore, Mrs. Higgler also informed fat Charlie that he has a long lost brother, a man named "Spider", who inherited most of Anansi's magical powers. Mrs Higgler told fat Charlie that to summon his brother, all he had to do is to ask any spider to pass on the message that he wishes to see him.

Fat Charlie dismissed all of those information as ridiculous fantasies. Until one night, he drunkenly told a spider that he would like to see his long lost brother. The next day, a mysterious man shows up at fat Charlie's doorway and introduced himself as fat Charlie's long lost brother "Spider". This re-union marked the beginning of a series of eventful adventures for the two brothers.

My thoughts of the book:

Unlike "American gods", "Anansi Boys" is a much lighter novel, and it is also alot more funnier and humorous. In the story, fat Charlie represents the kind of man who is shy, reserved, less adventurous with a sense of low self confidence. Most of Charlie's personality can be attributed to his feeling of embarrassed towards his father, with further explanation later in the novel.

This is a story about breaking out of normal life patterns, making riskier decisions, and overcoming brute forces with cunning and intelligence. While Anasi Boys has less philosophical depth compared with American gods, but this book is also funnier, light-hearted, and has less sexual/violent contents. The story is very readable, and the pace is lightning fast.

While Anansi Boys isn't as thought provoking as American gods, but Neil Gaiman has written a book with one of the most intriguing opening lines in modern literature:

"It begins, as most things begin, with a song".

My favorite quote of the book is this one:

"Each person who ever was or is or will be has a song. It isn't a song that anybody else wrote. It has its own melody, it has its own words. Very few people get to sing their song. Most of us fear that we cannot do it justice with our voices, or that our words are too foolish or too honest, or too odd. So people live their song instead.”

Without spoiling too much of the story, the main plot is somewhat revolved around "songs". What does this mean? Well, read the book yourself and find out.

Rating:4.5/5
Conclusion:
While Anansi Boys is not as deep (philosophically) as American gods, but this book is funny, lighter, enjoyable, less sexual/violent contents, and extremely well written. The character development is great. I enjoyed this book and thought it was a great read, highly recommended for readers of any taste (fantasy, mythology, fairy tale and comedy).

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods, is a fantasy novel and winner of the Hugo and Nebula award. Written by British author Neil Gaimen. I don't know if you can easily classify American Gods as a fantasy novel, because it is actually a blend of American studies, fantasy fiction and ancient mythology. Since its publication in 2001, American Gods has been gaining increasing popularity. HBO, after its success of adapting George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones", is currently producing a six seasons long TV adaptation of "American Gods", to be released in 2013.

So what is it about this novel that captured so much attention? To be honest, I started reading this book with no idea what to expect. At the end of the story, I cannot but help to think that this is one of the most original fiction novel I've read in many, many years.

Synopsis:

America, is a land of immigrants (much like Australia). It is a cultural melting pot, it is a huge piece of land where people from all over the world come to pursue a better live. Along the way, they bring their cultures, as well as belief systems into the country. So in a way, the American society is somewhat a product of the blending of all the cultures. At the same time, America is the technological flagship of the world, where everything is moving, improving and changing all the time.

THe premises of American Gods is that, when people come to America, they bring their belief to that land. In the process they also bring their gods to America. These gods thrive on people's belief in them. In 21th century America, people are turning to the new gods and forgetting the old gods. These new gods of internet, media, mobile phone, drugs etc.. are like the rising sun. While the old gods that came with the immigrants are gradually fading away as people forget them.

The story of American Gods follows an ex-con named "Shadow". Who served 3 years in the prison after he committed a crime of assaults. When Shadow is released from the prison, he tried to go back to his former life. He had a wife Laura waiting for him, and a good friend Robbie who offered Shadow a job once he is out of the prison.

However, just as Shadow is released from the prison. Tragedy struck, his wife and his best friend died in a car accident together. At his wife's funeral, Shadow was informed of the truth that his wife was actually having an affair with his best friend while he was in prison.

Out of bitterness and disappointment, Shadow had nowhere else to go. When a mysterious man called "Mr. Wednesday" appears (Mr. Wednesday? Can you guess who this is? To give you a hint, think of which god in the Nordic pantheon is Wednesday dedicated to), and offered Shadow a job as a personal guard. Having no other choice, Shadow accepted the job. It is not long before Shadow realized he has got himself involved in a business that will change his life forever...

My thoughts on the book:

American Gods is a very well written novel, I think it has one major plot and two subplots. The story has a lot of surprising twists, and the subplots are very well integrated into the main plot. A word of warning though, the story contains some very violent scenes and graphic sex scenes.

As I said in the beginning of the review. American Gods is the most original fiction novel I've read in many, many years. Neil Gaimen cleverly used a mythological tale of "old gods vs new gods" in his novel to illuminate the underlying social phenomenon of a materialistic, consumerism based society in America and the struggle of the old cultures among its own people.

It is pretty clear that in the novel. The old gods such as: Odin, Bast, Thoth, Anansi, Mad Sweeny etc.. represent the origin of the people of America, and the cultures that they belong to. These old gods are gradually being forgotten by people, they live in fear, uncertainty and are struggling to adapt to the rise of the new gods. The gods of Internet, mobile phones, media, drugs etc.. on the other hand, the new gods of 21th century America, while thriving and rising, also live under the constant pressure because they know that new technologies are being invented everyday, and unless they keep up, they will also be forgotten by people and share the same fate as the old gods. One of the catch phrase in the book is "America is a bad land for gods, a land that has no time for gods". While I was reading this book, I had the feeling that Neil Gaimen was trying to convey a message about the nature of belief, and that is a belief is made up by people. In the book, the gods are all created by people's own belief. The old gods were created because people needed to believe in something for protection, and the new gods of the 21th century are created by people, because people built their lives around these things and "worship" these new technological gods.

While I do agree with some of Neil Gaiman's underlying message in American gods, but I do not agree with his message that all belief systems are created by human beings. As we all know from our own experiences, a belief system/faith can be built based on good reasons, evidence and revelation from a sentient being that want you to place your faith in him. For example, when you believe that your spouse loves you, it is not because you created your own belief system (or delusion) that your spouse loves you, out of your own need. In contrast, you believe that your spouse loves you, because your spouse has revealed him/her thoughts to you, and backing it up with actions that forms evidence, so you can have faith in their declaration based on good reasons.

Similarly, I do not think Christianity is a belief system created by human. The Bible is a love letter to human beings, where God revealed himself to us about his nature, character and purpose. God also shows that he meant what he meant through the actions of Jesus, which are recorded testimonies in the New Testament. Here we have God's own revelation of himself, through the evidence of Jesus's life on earth, and we can place faith in him based on good reasons.

Is my argument circular? Yes it might be, but not more circular than the reason you believe or place your faith in anything of this world. While this book is making a statement about the nature of belief, but it forgot to mention that after all, we all believing in something. Without believing in something, meaningful relationships can never be formed.


Final rating (4.5/5):

While I do not agree with the underlying message about the nature of belief in this novel, but I really think Neil Gaiman has written a master piece here. This is the kind of book that people can write pages and pages of literary analysis on. At the same time, the pace of this book is lightning fast, and highly entertaining as a fantasy fiction novel. It is very thought provoking, but as a final word of warning, this book contains some graphical sex scenes and very violent scenes that might upset some readers.

P.S. The next review would be Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys", stay tuned.

Book Review: Arabian Nights (Barnes and Noble leatherbound classics)

1001 nights, is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian folk tales over many centuries. It is one of the most collectible literature in the world, full of wonderful and amazing stories, and form the basis for many modern fictions. Some of the stories are so popular that most people would have heard a story of two from 1001 nights. For example, Aladdin and the wondrous lamp, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, or Captain Sinbad and his 7 voyages.

In this book review, I will focus more on the quality of this particular edition of Arabian nights and less focus on the content of the book. This is because the story of 1001 nights is so popular that I assume everyone would have heard at least, one or two tales from the entire collection sometimes in your life.

Synopsis:

The story of 1001 nights started when a Persian king, discovered the unfaithfulness of his brother's wife, and became even more shocked when he discovered that his own wife has also cheated on him. Out of bitterness and rage, he executed his wife, and decided that all women are treacherous in nature. So he started marrying virgins in his kingdom day after day, only to execute them after the first night of their marriage. After a long period of cruel massacre, the people in his kingdom trembled with fear and were hateful against his tyranny. Until one day, the daughter of the king's vizier, a young lady named Scheherazade volunteered to marry the king, she was determined to save the girls in the kingdom by changing the king's heart with her own wit and power of persuasion.

On the night their marriage, Scheherazade started to tell the king a story, but doesn't end the tale. So the king was forced to stay the execution until the next day. Scheherazade repeated the same trick on the king, night after night. By telling him tales of wonders and amazement for 1001 nights. Until the end where she bore the king 3 children, and managed to persuade the king to have a change of heart, and abandoned his previous ways.

All the tales told by Scheherazade were collected together, and became known as "1001 nights".

The book itself:

By chance, at the beginning of this year, I found out that Barnes and Noble have been publishing a series of leatherbound classics, for really affordable price of 18 dollars per book. The collection included classical literature such as: The Divine Comedy, Lewis Carol, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, the complete Grim's tales, Narnia, Iliad and Odyssey etc....

So I ordered quite a few of these books. And one of them is "Arabian Nights". This edition probably doesn't contain all of the stories from 1001 nights, but it does have 20 stories. The book is decorated with numerous color illustrations. Overall, the quality of this book is excellent. It is leatherbound, with gold gilded edges and a book ribbon. As you can see from the picture, the cover of the book is beautiful and really stands out on any bookshelf.

The only possible annoyance for some people is that, this edition uses the translation from Richard F. Burton. The translation is dated back to 1850. The style of language is therefore, quite old. For example, to give you an idea what the use of language is like: "Ho thou, I once visited thy Hammam and thou entreatedst me with honor and accomplishedst all my needs..."

However, if you are like me, and don't mind the use of old fashioned English language in a book. Then I think you will definitely love this beautifully decorated edition of Arabian Nights. The only possible side effect after being exposed to more than 700 pages of old fashioned English language might be, when you are visiting your friend's house, and asking your friend to bring you a glass of water, you might say: "Ho thou, have me a glass of water bringeth so I may quench the thirst of my throat and adore the beauty of thy shelter"... After which your friend might respond with a raised eyebrow!

The bottom line is, if you like classics, if you like beautiful leatherbound books at low price. Then don't wait, go get this book, this is a good edition of 1001 nights. It's good, real good.

Rating: 4.5/5