Video game review: Assassins Creed Revelations (PC)

Ever since the first Assassins Creed video game was released in 2007, the series has become one of the most recognizable franchise in the world of video games. The series managed to capture the interests and generated a solid fan base with its unique and interesting history based storyline, intriguing characters and open world game play. Over the years, UbiSoft has released 4 Assassins Creed games up to date on major platforms. When Assassins Creed 2 was released in 2009, it was an instant hit where the game made a lot of improvements over its predecessor.

In 2010, UbiSoft rolled out Assassins Creed Brotherhood, once again it was met with positive reviews and response from the gaming community. This year, UbiSoft released Assassins Creed Revelations, which is no doubt, one of the most anticipated game of 2011. One has wonder how can a developer release one sequal every year within such a short development cycle.. so has the latest installment of Assassins Creed game keeping up with the standard of the previous games? Or is the short development cycle finally catching up with this otherwise remarkable franchise? Let's find out.

Story:

The entire idea of Assassins Creed is, our ancestors' memories are encoded into our DNA, and with a certain scientific method. The memories can be unlocked, this led to a conflict between the ancient assassins order (based on the historical Hashashin order) and the templars order. In the first game, the templar's order kidnapped a young man known as Desmond Miles. In attempt to unlock his DNA memory to determine the hidden location of the fabled artifacts "pieces of Eden". Through a series of events, Desmond was rescued by the members of the assassins order, and agreed to help the assassins to re-live his ancestors' memories to determine the locations of "pieces of Eden", which can help to prevent a global catastrophe in 2012. In the last few episodes of Assassins Creed, Desmond has lived two of his ancestors' memories: Ezio Auditore, a master assassin who lived in the renaissance era, and Altair, a master assassin from the crusader era.

The central story of Assassins Creed Revelation follows three major characters of this franchise so far: Ezio Auditore, Altair, and Desmond Miles. After the events of AC:Brotherhood, Desmond was left in a coma status, and was suffering from the bleeding effects of the machine that was to used to unlock his DNA memories. At the beginning of AC:Revelation, Desmond found his mental self arrived at a strange island. Having realized that he is trapped, he needs to recollect more of Ezio and Altair's memories so he can leave his coma status, and go back into the reality.

Desmond re-lived the memories of Ezio's later life this time. Where Ezio was an older man in his 50's. As a master of the assassins order in the renaissance era. Ezio embarked on a journey to retrieve his predessor Altair's secrets. Ezio's journey took him to Constantinople, where he had to find the 5 keys that will unlock Altair's library. As Ezio found the keys, he discovered that these keys contained the memories of Altair himself by using the technology of the "first civilization".

So in a way, the story of this game can be summed up as the following: Desmond (in 21th century) reliving Ezio's memory (in 16the century), and Ezio re-lives Altair's memory (in 13th century), the memories unveil the secrets of the "first civilization" and the hidden location of the artifacts "pieces of Eden" which can be used to save mankind of the impending doom in 2012.

UbiSoft has already announced that Assassins Creed 3, a game that will be the finalle of the Assassins Creed series is to be released before December 2012.. so how the story will end, it is still to be seen. However, I think the story of Assassins Creed is by far, one of the most interesting stories ever told in the platform of video games. The stories are semi-historical, which actual historical characters and locations. At its core, Assassins Creed is a work of science fiction, but blended with elements of historical fiction with styles similar to Dan Brown's novels. Only that the story of Assassins Creed is a lot more interesting than Dan Brown's stories. I think that is why the story of Assassins Creed has managed to attract the audiences.

Assassins Creed Revelations is the last game to feature the Renaissance era, so essentially. This is the last game where Ezio Auditore will make an appearance. And I have to say, the character of Ezio is one of the best characters in video game stories, and I think this is a fitting end to an otherwise remarkable fictional character.

Gameplay:

There are a few new features added to AC: Revelation. Some are good, some are bad. For example, Ezio is now equipped with hook blades to enhance his climbing abilities, another worth while mention is the addtion of bombs. The only problem is that, while the hook blade is a most welcomed addition to the gameplay. The inclusion of bombs are.. well not so well implemented. In the game, the procedure to craft the bombs are simply too tedious to be useful. I only used bombs 3 times in the game.

Another "not so great" item in the gameplay is the tower defence mode. In AC:Revelation, as Ezio you have to win Assassin territories in the city of Constantinople. However, if you are too "infamous" amongst the templar, it could prompt the templars to attack your dens. This is where the tower denfence mini game comes in. While it is an interesting idea, but this mini game is simply too out of picture in the context of AC: Revelations, and the mini game is overly repatative and can become really frustrating.

AC:Revelation is also considerably shorter compared to the previous three games. The main story will only last approximately 12 hours of game play. While there are side missions, and these side missions are more varied in comparison to the previous games, but I just couldn't really be bothered to do most side missions because they don't provide enough rewards. The only side missions that I completed was the mission to collect the memoir pages of the Turkish general Ishak Pasha, at the end of this mission, I got a set of very cool armor to be used on Ezio. The other side mission I completed was to explore the dungeon of Vlad the Impaler, and I found the sword of Vlad Impaler which is quite rewarding. So maybe in Assassins Creed 3, if UbiSoft can add more rewards to these side missions. It will greatly enhance the values of doing side missions.

It is also worthwhile to mention that in AC:Revelation, the difficulty of combat is a bit higher than before. Having said this, I still think the combat was too easy. Once again I have completed another Assassins Creed game without my character dying during combats (yep, I have never died during the combats in any of the Assassins Creed games).

To summarise, there are enough innovations in AC: Revelations, but not enough to make this game feel like an entirely new gaming experience. Hopefully UbiSoft can come up with some dramatic renovations in AC3.

Graphics:

I have to say, although the graphics engine of AC: Revelation is now looking slightly dated, but it is still an amazing looking game. The city of Constantinople is very well crafted, and I actually believed that is what the city looked like in 16th Century. Having said this, I do think if UbiSoft wants to make AC3 a dramatically improved game, they will have to put some efforts into renovating their current graphics engine.

Sound:

As usual, the sound effects and the soundtracks for AC: Revelation is just as great as all other games in this franchise.

My thoughts on this game:

I remember when I played Assassins Creed 2. Ezio said the Creed of the Assassins Order is this: "Nothing is true, everything is permitted", which is actually a quote from Hassan-i Sabbah, the master of the Hashashin order in the 11th century.

The first time I heard this in AC2 two years ago, there was a massive alarm rining in my mind. Because I thought it was some post-modernism propaganda. However, in AC:Revelation, there was a cut scene when Ezio explained the creed as the following:

"nothing is true" meaning to realize that the foundation of the society are fragile, and we must be shepherds of our own civilization. "Everything is permitted" means to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.

While I do not entirely agree with this philosophy, but I do agree with some of it. I agree with the later statement that we are to be responsible for our lives, and to live with the consequences of our own actions, but I do disagree with the former statement. Because surely there must be a standard where we should shepherd our society accordingly.. if we do what we think is good for our civilization, without following an absolutely true standard, then how would we know if what we are doing is actually "good"? If we steer our society according to "our" standard (which is adjustable due to circumstances), then how will we be able to tell what is right and what is wrong? What if we go astray?

What about you? What do you think? Do you think this makes sense? If you have played this game, maybe it will be good to discuss this with your Christian friends and see what the Bible says about human responsibility and God's standard.

Conclusion:

Story (8.8/10): AC: Revelation has an interesting story. What a great way to bring a final closure to Ezio and Altair's journey, while building up the setting for the finale! It's sad to say goodbye to Ezio, but in the meantime, I cannot wait to see how the story will finally unfold in this intriguing adventure.

Gameplay (8/10): AC: Revelation has some innovative elements, but not all these elements are well implemented nor fitting. Furthermore, the newly added features are just not enough to make this feel like a new game. Having said this, the open world exploration and the core gameplay is still just as good as the previous AC games.

Graphics (9/10): Though the graphics engine is becoming dated, but AC: Revelation still manages to look great. And because I played this game in 3D mode, the 3D effect is amazing. If you have a 3D HDTV, do not hesitate, play this game in 3D!

Sound: (9.5/10): The soundtracks are very well done, it really captures the essence of the Assassins Creed story.

Sex: None - Another factor I really liked about AC:Revelation is Ezio's low-toned romance story with one of the game's female character (which later became his wife). There are no sex nor nudity scenes.

Violence: High - This is a game about Assassins and Templars.. you will be stabbing, slashing and hacking your enemies all the time.

Final score: (8.5/10) - While AC: Revelation is not the best in the franchise, it is still a good game. With great characters, intriguing story, fun gameplay and most importantly, it's the final chapter of Ezio's story, and a great one as well. If you have played other AC games and like it, then you definitely shouldn't miss this one.

Video game review: Skyrim (PC)

The last quarter of 2011, will be a very busy month for fans of video games. With many AAA titles released, (Batman Arkham City, Assassins Creed Revelation, Zelda Skyward sword), it is really difficult to find the time to play all these games.

Amongst these AAA titles, one of the most anticipated release is Bethesda's "The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim". After 5 years in development, Besthesda finally released Skyrim on November 11, 2011. Personally, Skyrim has been on my "to play list" ever since I first encountered the teaser trailer at the beginning of 2010. Being a fan of RPG genre for 15 years, I had great expectations for Skyrim. After I picked up my copy of Skyrim on its release day, I have played the game for around 50 hours (according to the developer Bethesda, to complete all the quests take approximately 200 hours). At this time, I have already completed the main storyline of the game, but left numerous amount of side missions undone. Anyhow, I decided I know Skyrim well enough to write a review for it.

Introduction:

Skyrim is the fifth installment of "The Elder Scroll" (TES) series. The last installment of TES was "Oblivion", which was an open world game. This means after the player enters the game world. You can literally go anywhere in the game. Besides the main storyline, there are numerous side quests a player can do, while accumulating items such as armor, weapons etc..

Oblivion was a good game, it had a massive game world with numerous amount of contents. However, the game was not perfect, as there were many complains about the character models, bloomy atmosphere, and had some flaws in the gameplay system.

In Skyrim, the developer has promised to fix all those problems. The game is heavily inspired by Norse mythology, from names, people, cultures, armors, weapons, buildings etc.. all look very "Viking" like, and are simply great!

Story:

It is really hard to say what the main story of Skyrim is. Because of its open world style and the massive contents. It is possible for a player to spend hundreds of hours on Skyrim and still not touch the main storyline at all. Personally, I think this is the one of the greatest charm of the Elder Scroll games. You don't have to play the main quest to play the game. The player can craft his/her own adventure base on what you feel like doing. In Skyrim, there are 6 factions that the player can join. Each faction has a series of storylines and quests that make them feel like a different game by itself. Other than this, random encounter with NPC (non-player character) in the game world can sometimes trigger new quests. Personally, I didn't start to play the main quest until I was 38 hours into the game. But the best thing is that after you finish the main storyline, the adventure doesn't end. Actually, you can continue to use your character to keep on adventuring in Skyrim and doing quests.

Just in case if you are wondering.. Yes, there is a main storyline. Which takes about 10~15 hours to complete. In the main storyline, 200 years after the event of Oblivion crisis (the main story in Oblivion), the dragons have returned to the land of Skyrim. This is an ancient prophecy foretold in the Elder Scroll. The dragons are lead by a powerful, ancient dragon known as "Alduin", which will consume and destroy the world. As hopeless as it sounds, all is not lost. The prophecy also foretold that there will be one last Dovakiin (dragon born), who will come to Skyrim at the desperate hour to do a final, titanic battle and slay Aldiun for all time. Guess what? If you play Skyrim, your character is the last Dovakiin the prophecy foretold.

The main storyline is interesting enough, but as I said before. The main strength of the story of Skyrim, is not in the main storyline. But in the fact that the player can craft his/her own adventure depending on what quests you do, and continue to do after you complete the main story quest.

Gameplay:

Skyrim is an open world game. The land of Skyrim has numerous cities and towns to visit, people to talk to. And dangerous caves, dungeons, ruins and forts to explore. The game world is filled with infinite adventures and quests to do. Yes, because of the new game engine used in Skyrim, the game will randomly generate quests depends on how your have been playing the game. Theoretically, you can play Skyrim for as long as you want with just one character!

The game can be played from either first person view, or third person view. Personally, because I hate first person view. I have been playing Skyrim entirely in third person view. But I do have to say that when it comes to spell casting or archery. It is far easier to do so in first person view.

The gameplay system of Skyrim has been revamped. Now besides the traditional fighting methods (two handed weapon, sword and shield, spell, archery), Bestheda has added the new option to dual wield. By duel wield, I am not saying just dual wield two weapons, but the player can actually dual wield spells, or have weapon in one hand and spell in another. Dual wielding spells can be especially fun, as the player can assign different spells in each hand, and even combine them to create different effects. Another new addition to the gameplay system is the finishing move animations. The finishing moves look great, but they don't happen too often to create distractions.

Skyrim is an RPG, so it also has a lot of player leveling ups. The character level-up system in Skyrim has been simplified. Before you start to rant about your dislike for "streamlined level-up system", let me say that the character level-up system in Skyrim, is so well done that I do not miss the level-up system in traditional RPG at all. In Skyrim, the players are no longer required to invest in physical attributes such as: strength, intelligence, vitality etc..as in Oblivion. There are 18 skill trees in Skyrim, when the player levels up, all you have to do is to choose which of the three areas you want to improve: health, magika, and stamina. After that, the player is granted 1 perk per level, to invest in special skills under a certain skill tree. When the player starts the game, you no longer choose which class you want to be. The player's character built depends on how you play the game. This means, for example if you use two handed weapon and wear light armor a lot, you are going to land up with a character that does insane damage, can move quickly but has very low defense rating. I really like the idea of "your character built depends on how you play" system. Thumbs up to Besthesda on this one!

As the player is meant to be "Dovakiin", this means the player is going to slay a lot of dragons in this game. The dragon encounters in Skyrim is simply awesome! The game engine is made in a way so dragons appear randomly in the game. There were so many times when I was just running in the wild, and all of the sudden I heard the roars, see the shadow, look up and.. a dragon is flying down the mountain to attack me! The random dragon encouters, not only add to the fun factor of the game, but also creates a sense of immersion and real adventuring for the player.

As good as the gameplay in Skyrim is, but it is not without flaws. In PC version of Skyrim, the user interface is extremely poorly designed. Skyrim has probably the worst UI I've ever encountered in video games. Maybe it is because this game is directly ported from console? Anyway, the user interface is so clunky and it is really frustrating to use.

Another gameplay flaw is that for some reason. Besthesda has decided to cap the frame rate on PC version of Skyrim to 60FPS! This is really annoying, because this means the PC user cannot get FPS higher than 60 even with really high end PC. To disable the VSYNC through modifying the game file can cause some graphics glitches, so this means if you want to play Skyrim without graphics glitches on PC, you are stuck to the console limit of 60FPS!! Come one Bethesda, please put some effort into looking after your customers who use your products on PC! After all, PC users are also paying hard cold cash to support your business! This game feels like a direct console port without any effort to adapt to PC platform. It is simply ridiculous and unacceptable!

Other than these two flaws, the gameplay in Skyrim is near perfection.

Graphics and design:

I love Norse mythology! And I also love Conan the Cimmerian! Skyrim seem to be taking these literary elements and infuse them into their game design. The game world looks like something straight out of Beowulf and the Norse Epic saga with a touch from Frank Frazetta's artistic input! (There are numerous references to Norse mythology, i.e. Poetic Edda, Hrothgar, King Olaf, Volsung etc..)

Skyrim looks like a land that existed long before you entered, and feels like it will continue to exist long after you're left. The game world looks absolutely amazing, there are so many times when I just stopped in the wild, and looked around to admire the scenery.

Another major improvement in Skyrim is the character model and design. In Oblivion, every NPC you encoutered not only look ugly, but also extremely comical in appearance. To simply put it, in Oblivion, it is hard not to mistaken an orc for Shrek. In Skyrim, an orc actually looks like an orc and you don't want to mess with him. All the character models now look different, and they all have unique looks.

I also want to praise the dungeon designs, all the dungeons in Skyrim are hand crafted. This means every dungeon, caves, town or cities that you visit, are all unique. This is very good efforts on Bethesda's behalf.

Having said this, the textures in the game seemed pretty low for a 2011 game, which is a shame because the graphics of Skyrim could have been even better if not for the low textures. I think this is because the developer tried to accommodate to the console version of the game?

All in all, I think Bethesda has done a great job at crafting the world of Skyrim, and it is very clever of them to infuse Norse mythologies into the game to inspire a sense of realism. The result is a game with just the right amount of "fantasy and realism". Skyrim, is a stunningly beautiful looking and deeply immersive experience.

Sound and music:

The soundtracks in Skyrim are amazing. From serene music in the cities and in the wild, to extremely epic music in battles. The soundtracks for the dragon battles are especially epic! Sounds like a group of ancient barbarian warriors singing with the orchestra!

The sound effects are among the best in video games. Not only do the dragons look menacing, but they also sound menacing as well. Enough for you to actually want to run away from them.

Conclusion:

Story (9.8/10): The best thing about the story in Skyrim is not in the main storyline, but in the way that the player can craft his/her own story through adventures you choose to do. Having said this, the main storyline is still interesting enough to be treated as a "major quest" in the game. This is a game that you can play for as long as you want, and theoretically with "infinite" replayability. A very robust game indeed.

Gameplay (9/10): The revamped gameplay system is well implemented, but the clunky user interface and the FPS cap makes the PC experience somewhat frustrating. It would be really good if these two issues can be fixed in the upcoming patches or mods.

Graphics and design (9.7/10): Despite the low textures used in this game. The land of Skyrim looks amazing, but with a touch of realism thanks to the inspiriation from Norse mythology. The game world feels like something out of an ancient saga only found in almost forgotten, epic poems from eons in the past.

Sound and music (10/10): In Skyrim, dragons sound and look like real dragons and not lizards. The epic soundtracks makes you wonder why they don't use the soundtracks as national athems.

Violence: Heavy: Skyrim has a lot of blood and violence. Strictly "M" rating for mature audiences only.

Sex/nudity: low: Apparently, according to online forums. It is possible to marry NPC in the game world, including same-sex marriage. No sex scenes are present, but one should beware that there are some sexual references in NPC conversations.

Final Score: (9.7/10): I found it hard to describe what it feels like to play Syrim, but I think this quote from Tolkien sums up quite well: "The value of myth is that it takes all the things you know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by the veil of familiarity" - J.R.R. Tolkien.

Skyrim is a game that transports players into a fantastical world of an ancient frozen wasteland, it is a place filled with lore and adventures. You may find yourself lost in it and captured by its beauty, and wonder if such a place can really exist!

Building a high end PC for under $2000 in 2011? Here is my 2 cents worth - A guide and PC configuration

When was the last time you purchased a new desktop PC? Or have you switched to the "laptop computer generation"? Or even worse, have you gone down to the "dark path" of using those mass produced, style over quality (lack of character),

and massively over priced Apple stuff?

No matter what you are using for your computer solution. At the end of the day, custom built desktop PC will always produce better performance and faster in speed over laptop or Apple computers any day.

The problem is, not many people know how to build a high end, custom PC. Having recently acquired a new PC after my 4 year old rig died due to power supply failure, I have re-entered the world of custom PC building and did some research, and I will like to share some information on the config of building a high end, custom PC for all your home computing solutions (server, gaming, movies, internet, music, work etc..)

All for the cost of under 2000 Australian dollars.

You might ask, why not just buy Apple? Well, after playing around with Apple Mac Pro online config, I found out to buy a Mac Pro with the roughly the same CPU power, but only with 50% of graphics power compare to the PC I am about to configure for you, it will cost you at least $4300 dollars!!

I know! What a rip off! Paying more than twice the price for something that is not as fast... that is why I've always thought going down the road of Apple = going down the path of the "dark side", flashy but with no real value.

So without further delay, let me get started in my guide.

Before I start with my config, I will show you the config of my new PC, then compare the config of the PC I am recommending. So you can see the differences.

My PC Built:

CPU: Intel i7-2600k@3.4GHz, socket LGA1155 ($332)

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe motherboard, socket LGA1155 ($299)

Graphics card: 2 x Gigabyte Geforce GTX570 (in SLI) ($372 each, so $744 altogether for two cards in SLI)

RAM: 4 x 4GB (16GB) Corsair Vengeance low profile heat sink RAM ($164)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 high performance CPU cooler ($90)

Case: Silverstone Raven RV01 ($192)

Power Supply Unit: Antec Quattro true power 1200w PSU ($267)

HDD: 4 x 2TB HDD running in RAID O. I didn't have to buy HDD, because I already have them.

Total cost = $2088

My computer has exceeded the $2000 limit by 88 bucks, and this is without HDD. If I had to buy HDD, the total cost would have gone up to $2300 at least. This because I deliberately purchased a more expensive motherboard, and bought an overkill 1200w PSU, and a massive heatsink the size of a small turbine. However, now that I have put my PC together, I realized that if I were to do it again, I could have configured a PC with the almost identical performance, but with a better tower case at a lower price, to save some money.

Intersection:

You might wonder, why using the LGA1155 CPU and not the new LGA2011 CPU? Currently, there are three types of Intel LGA2011 CPU being released. The i7-3820 ($327), i7-3930k ($680), and i7-3960x ($1270). The motherboards for LGA2011 are within the range of $300~$500. With the top of range LGA2011 CPU (i7-3960x) having a performance increase of roughly 25% over the LGA1155 i7-2600k. (source: Passmark ).

In case you haven't noticed, the new LGA 2011 i7-3960x cost over $1000! And that is just the CPU. To build a full PC with the i7-3960x will cost you almost $3000! So unless you are rich and loaded with cash to spend, I would say LGA1155 is still the best buy for your money.

As for the LGA2011 i7-3930k, at $680 it really isn't Worth your money (the motherboard and CPU will cost you $1000 already!) Here is another review from bit-tech where they tested the i7-3930k, and reported that most general PC users should still stick with LGA1155 (article from bi-tech)

The general consensus here is, for most general PC users. It is better to stick with Intel i7-LGA 1155 CPU, especially the i7-2600k (or the i7-2700k). As the i7 LGA2011 are aimed for enthusiasts with nothing better to do than to spend their money. The i7 LGA 1155 are still the best for its costs.

So here is the config I would recommend, for a 2011 high end PC under $2000:

The config I will recommend for you:

CPU: Intel i7-2600k LGA1155 ($332)

The i7-2600k is extremely overclockable, not only it is already very fast at stock speed. But its unlocked function allows you go overclock to 5GHz per core.. provided that you have a good CPU cooler. The 2600k is still one of the best CPU on the market.

Motherboard: Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 ($178)

This motherboard is almost as good as the ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe, and almost $110 cheaper too (I wish I can exchange my MB to this one.. too late).

In case if the sales person tell you to buy the Gigabyte G1 Sniper 2 motherboard, which cost $420.. DO NOT fall for it.. the G1 Sniper 2 has some additional features but most users are not likely to be utilizing them. Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen3 is all you need. I promise!

Graphics card: 2 x Gigabyte Geforce GTX570 (in SLI) ($372 each, so $744 altogether for two cards in SLI)

The Geforce GTX570 is a very powerful card. However, to ensure that your PC can stand up to the the test of time in future generation games. I recommend multiple GPU setup. So do not hesitate! Grab two Geforce GTX570, it's worth it!

According to this benchmark test (source: Guru3D), two GTX570 out performs two ATI Radeon 5870 by 28% (at Apple store, one Radeon 5870 will cost $500, so two Radeon 5870 will cost $1000! Why is Apple selling something not as good for higher price? I don't really know). Two GTX570 also outperform one GTX580 by 43%, and one GTX580 will cost you $580 by itself. Yes, two GTX580 will out perform GTX570 by 10%, but you will also need extra $300 to buy those! So in my opinion, in terms of costs and performance, the GTX570 SLI is the winning combination.

RAM: 2 x 4GB (8GB) Corsair Vengeance low profile heat sink RAM ($82)

After I installed 16GB, I realized with the current level of software. No home PC user is ever going to need that much RAM, unless you are planning to setup RAM drive. So just get 8GB is enough!

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!

A side note with RAM. When you buy RAM, MAKE SURE to buy RAM that come with low profile heat sinks (no protruding fins and such). This is because most awesome CPU cooler only have RAM clearance of less than 45mm, while RAM with high profile heat sink usually have height of approximately 50mm. This means the RAM is going to be in the way to your CPU cooler! This can be a very disappointing experience!

CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo ($48)

After I read some reviews, it turned out that this CPU cooler is really good for its price. Unless you are planning to overclock your i7-2600k to over 5GHz per core, I would say the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo is more than enough for most overclocking situations.

Case: Silverstone Raven RV03 ($164)

In my new PC, I used the Silverstone Raven RV01, which is an older generation case released over 2 years ago. The Raven RV03, was released a month ago, and after reading some reviews. I almost wish I can return my Raven RV01 and get this one instead! Not only it is cheaper by $30, but the Raven RV03 also features improved cable management, more HDD hot swap bays and such! With the Raven series trademark of 90 degrees rotated motherboard orientation, for stacking effect cooling.

By rotating the motherboard by 90 degrees, this means the output connectors for mouse, keyboard, USB, video are on the top of the case. All the Raven cases share this unique design. The case has two fans at the bottom to suck/push up cold air for cooling the PC components. And because hot air rises due to its lower density (PV = nRT, as temperature T goes up, the volume V goes up. Since the mass flow rate of the air remains constant, the density reduces), there is a fan on top of the case to pull the hot air out of the case.

Theoretically, the Raven should produce superb cooling effects to your PC components. From different reviews, the RV03 has been greatly improved since RV01, and the cooling effect is really good. Watch this video for demonstration of stacking effect.

Therefore, Raven RV03 is in my opinion. One of the best full tower cases in 2011. Even better than Coolermaster HAF942, because RV03 looks better as well.

Power Supply Unit: Antec 900w high current power supply ($156)

HDD: 2 x Hitachi 1TB Deskstar 7200rpm HDD running RAID 0 ($115 each, so $230 all together)

The reason why I am using RAID 0 in this config is because RAID 0, is stripe set, higher bandwidth = great speed. But note that in RAID 0, is one drive fails, then the entire array will be stuffed. Meaning higher chance of data loss.

If you want redundancy, you can setup RAID 1 (mirroring) instead. However, remember that if you set up RAID 1, you will only have one hard drive storage space instead of two. Because everything is mirrored to the second hard drive.

Or you can just not use RAID at all, the choice is yours.

Note that this PC config leaves room for future upgrade to SSD (Solid State Drives), when they become cheaper.

Total cost = $1964

So here it is, this is my 2 cents in, for $1964 AUD you can get a very high end PC for the best quality home PC solution in 2011 and beyond!

Movie review: Warrior

I will begin this review by saying this. "Warrior", is my most favorite film of 2011".

While the name of the movie sounds generic, and the trailer looked cheesy. The movie itself, in my opinion, is the best sports drama since Rocky.

While Rocky is about an underdog story of American dream coming true, but I prefer Warrior, because at the core of this movie, it is the message about forgiveness, love and family that makes Warrior a more meaningful movie than Rocky.

Synopsis:

The movies starts with Tommy (Tom Hardy) paying visit to his former alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte), after years of disappearance. During the visit, Tommy found out that Paddy has been fighting his alcoholic addiction for 3 years, and have become a Christian, and is sorry for all the past hurts he had to done to his family (such as neglecting his family, and domestic violence). Tommy, carrying resentment towards his father, mocked his father's new found faith and adapted a very harsh, and sarcastic attitude towards his father's pleads for forgiveness.

Paddy informed Tommy that his older brother Brendon (Joel Edgerton), is married with two kids, and have become a high school physics teacher. Carrying anger and resentment towards his father and brother for leaving him and his mother (who is deceased), Tommy left Paddy's house. The next day, Tommy signed up to at a gym, and in a unintentional bout for 200 dollars, defeated the top contender for UFC middle weight championship. Tommy returned to Paddy, and ask him to be his trainer, but all the time mocking Paddy. Tommy's reason was because he is interested in competing in "Sparta", a MMA event where the winner walks away with 500 million dollars. However, he refused to tell his father his motivation for joining this competition.

In the meantime, Brendon is struggling with finance. He was informed by the bank that he will loose his house if he can't pay the mortgage. It is revealed that Brendon is in debt because he was trying to pay for his daughter's heart surgery the year before. Unable to pay the debt on his school teacher salary. Brendon went back into MMA fighting, but became suspended by school after he was discovered for participating in MMA matches. After seeing an advertisement, Brendon visited his old friend, asked to be trained and also joined Sparta, in hope of getting the prize money for solve his family's financial problem.

As the story unfolds, it turned into a family drama about forgiveness, dealing with past hurts and loving relationship between a repenting father and his two sons, together with some top notch MMA actions.

My thoughts:

As I stated at the opening line of this review. Warrior is my most favorite film of 2011. Not only is the movie very well done, but it portrayals of the characters in the movie are very realistic, and so humane that I think anyone can somewhat be related to it.

Paddy is a former alcoholic who not only ruined his own family, but also brought a lot of hurt to his two sons and his deceased wife. Having become a Christian, Paddy is looking for forgiveness and a chance of renewing his relationship with his two sons. However, he struggled because both of his two sons are unwilling to forgive him, and to see Nick Nolte's performance as Paddy is heart wrenching.

Brendon's story is more straight forward, his motivation for fighting in MMA is fueled by his desperate attempt to protect, and to care of his family. However, as the story progresses, Brendon also had to, in his heart deal with his irresponsible past actions for leaving Tommy and his mother, although he is the elder brother in the family. At the same time, Brendon had to struggled to forgive his repenting father. Although I have to say that Brendon is probably my less favorite character in this film, because I doubt he really forgave his father at all. (Can you forgive someone without trusting them? This is a good question worthy of discussion).

Tommy is the most interesting character in this movie. At the start of the movie, Tommy's intention is totally unknown. Only that Tommy is a an extremely angry individual who harbors a lot of resentment towards his father and brother for the past hurts. However, as the story unfolds, Tommy's past and his motivations is fully revealed, and despite his harsh words and sarcastic comments to his father, Tommy's deep love for his father was eventually shown in two most heart moving scenes toward the end of the film (which I won't spoil).

The base plot of the movie is not complex, but the depth of the characters and their relationships with each other is so complex, and relevant to everyday people like you and me, that makes Warrior a relentless, and brutally honest sports/family drama that is a must see in 2011.

Conclusion:

Story 9.2/10 - Personally, the story in Warrior is my favorite type of movie stories. Simple, easy to follow storyline with in depth, complex characters and a realistic portrayal of human and family relationships. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton's performances as Tommy and Brendon are outstanding!

Cinematography - 9/10: I would complain that the camera was a bit shaky, to eminent a sense of realism in a drama movie such as this. However, personally I don't like the shaky camera style, but some of the scenes captured the character's thoughts and emotions really well. The MMA actions are well choreographed!

Sex/nudity - none

Violence - Heavy: There are plenty of MMA/UFC actions, so is it violent? Yes I would say it is violent, but no more violent than watching a boxing match.

Final score: 9.1/10 - Good story, and top notch performances from Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. The result is a unique, powerful, compelling, and heart moving family drama set in the world of MMA. It is one of those extremely rare boxing/fighting movies that you don't want to see either fighter loose. If you are planning to go to the cinema soon, make this a priority on your "to watch" list. Most importantly, it raises a good discussion topic on "can you forgive someone without trusting them?"

Movie Review: Real Steel

Have you ever wanted to see a movie with both elements from "Rocky" and "Transformers"? Well, look no further, "Real Steel" is such a title.

Released in 2011, Real Steel is essentially an action packed, family oriented drama blending with elements from sci-fi movies. And did I mention the giant robots made of shiny metals?

Is this movie good? Well, while it might have borrowed a lot of elements from "Rocky", and the plot is very predictable and somewhat cliched, but to be honest.. I really enjoyed it.

Story:

The year is 2016, the world of fighting/boxing sports has changed dramatically. In the future sporting world of boxing, human no longer fight, people make robots to fight in the ring.

Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, an ex-boxer who is competing in the boxing ring using robots. Charlie tries to make money by betting on the matches that his robot partipates in. The problem is, luck is often not with him, and soon Charlie became heavily in debt.

At this point, he was informed of the death of his ex-girlfriend. Charlie was told that he has a son Max, who is 11 years old and as the next of kin, Charlie has the legal custody to Max. However, Max's aunts wants to take custody of Max from Charlie, because Charlie is not only irresponsible, and he is also a terrible father who abandoned Max and his mother at Max's birth.

To resolve his debt problem, and also as a way to restart his robot fighting career, Charlie made a secret deal to sell the custody of Max to his aunts, for a price of 100,000 dollars. However, to keep the deal a secret, Charlie can only surrender the custody of Max after he has spend a summer with Max.

Taking the payment, Charlie purchased a Japanese robot, and participated in a match. However, because Charlie was not familar with the control of the new robot, he lost the match and his new robot was destroyed in the ring. Leaving Charlie further in debt. In a desperate attempt to rebuild a robot, Charlie sneaked into a robot junkyard trying to steal some old parts. In the process, his son Max accidently slipped off a cliff, and by chance was saved when he became stuck to an arm of a scrap robot lying on the floor. With much gratitude, Max dug the offline robot out of the dirt. The discovery of this old robot, will not only change Charlie's fortune, but will also change Charlie and Max's father-son relationship, and help Charlie to grow into a father that he was meant to be....

My thoughts on the movie:

Hugh Jackman's character Charlie, is a washed up boxer, heavily in debt, yet refuses to take up his responsibility as a father to raise his son. However, by the end of the movie, Charlie finally learnt the mistakes of his past ways, and made a commitment to change.

Many elements of this movies are borrowed from "Rocky", but at its core, this is a redemptive story about an irresponsible man's journey to grow up, and realizing how to love his son whom he had always neglected.

As I said at the beginning of the review, this movie has many cliched moments, and a lot of borrowed ideas from other movies. But I really liked the redemptive themed central plot.. Maybe I am getting softer and softer as I get older, but I have to admit at some heart warming moments in this movie, I found the corners of my eyes getting slightly wet...

Final Conclusion:

Story 7/10 - This is essentially "Rocky + Over the Top + Transformers". While it may not be the most original idea, but the essence of the story is good enough, and it is just refreshing to see a family oriented movie focusing on father and son relationship.

Movie design and special effects 9/10 - Needless to say, a Hollywood movie of this category typically includes multi-million dollar CGI and such, "Real Steel" is no exception. The robots look great, and the robot fighting scenes are very well done.

Violence - moderate - Some of the scenes depict the destruction of robots, and since this is a movie about Robots fighting each other in the ring, there are a lot of fighting scenes.

Sex/Nudity none - Sex and nudity scenes are almost non-existent in this movie.

Final score: 7.4/10 - Despite the borrowed elements from other movies, Real Steel, is a very well made movie that deserves your viewing. I think most people who watch this will generally enjoy the movie for its outstanding special effects, and the simple story telling of a father's journey to rebuild the relationship with his son.

Movie review: Tyson

Mike Tyson, is the fomer undisputed heavy weight boxing champion of the world. Besides being the 2 time heavy weight champion, he was also the youngest boxer to win a bunch of heavy weight championships. He is so good at what he does when he was young, that some people use "like Mike Tyson in his prime" to describe someone who is really on top of his/her game, and nicknamed "The baddest man on the planet".

People will also remember Tyson for his controversial life style, biting his opponent's ear, rape accusation, and all sorts of other things.

In 2008, a documentary film was made by James Toback about Mike Tyson, who without doubt is one of the most memorial athlete in the history of sports.

To be honest, I thought Tyson was just some naturally talented boxer who made it big, and became spoiled by his fortune and then went into a downward spiral. However, after I watched this documentary film, I got a whole new insight about Tyson, and also a deeper understanding about many other issues in life.

The film started with a 10 minutes footage of Tyson in his prime, at the pinnacle of his career. Boxing and conquering all of his opponents with unmatched skills, skills and aurora. Then Tyson began to talk about his early childhood and his fractured family, where he had no strong male role model as he was growing up.

At this point I was really surprised when Tyson talked about how he was bullied when he was a child, and how after the first time he fought back against the bully. He was determined that he will not be bullied again. His violent reactions to being bullied eventually got him into a youth detention centre. Where he first encoutered boxing, Tyson had great interest in boxing, and after his time at the detention centre. Tyson found his mentor "Cus D'Amato, who not only became his couch in boxing, but also became a father figure for him.

At this point, Tyson choke back the tears as he talked about the devastation on him when his mentor died of old age.

From there, Tyson's life went into a downard spiral, from a divorce that left Tyson angry and empty, which led to to his drug use problem and living a life of over indulgence in all things material.

The documentary ended with Tyson describing his last few fights after he was released from the prison. Where he found himself has a new found perspective and respect about family and life, and have lost the desire to fight..

As Tyson said after he lost a match which would be his retirement, that although he had the ability to stay in shape, but he just doesn't have that fighting desire anymore. All he wanted to do was to watch his kids grow and raise them to the best of his abilities.

My thoughts:

First of all, this is a great documentary. Even if you are not a fan of documentary, boxing (which I know nothing about) or Tyson, you will still find many things in this film that you will like.

As I watched this film, I realized a few important truths about human society.

One of the most striking realization for me, is the undeniable importance of a strong male model in a child's growing up process. One of Tyson's biggest tragedy as a child was that he had no strong role model to show him what is the right thing to do when he was bullied. Having no strong male role model to guide and inspire him, Tyson resorted to violence and habored a lot of anger and fear for a long time in his life. The anger and fear did help him to become one of the most fearful, dominant boxer in history, but it also ruined him as a person.

I often wonder how can gay/lesbian couples who want to adapt child can honestly claim they can raise a child with a healthy character, in absence of a strong male role model or an obvious motherly figure. Just as God created man and woman in His image (so both men and women are both children of God), God has also assigned different responsibilities and roles for men and women in all aspects of our lives, because he created us to be similar yet so different.

Fathers are called to be good fathers and leaders of his family who needs to teach, encourage and inspire his children in a good way, and living out a life of Godly example (model) to their children. In our modern society, how many fathers are bad role models to their children because they don't understand what it means to be a man?

Although I have never being a father, nor have I being married. But from the Bible I can know what God's purpose for me as a man is. I can know my identity and purpose to live out God's calling for me as a human male in this world. It is a tragedy that our society has departed from the Bible and its teachings, so men today are becoming confused with our God given identity, calling, responsibilities and purposes.

Sometimes I wonder if true Masculinity is dead, and in its place we are brain washed and fooled into thinking it is our: social status, intelligence, good looks, physical prowess, money, social skills, beer consumption, risk taking behavior, porn consumption, number of sex partners, new age ideas, metro-sexual lifestyle, or whatever (the list goes on) that defines our masculinity.

Or have men's backs being bent in the pressure of feminism and we have forgotten our calling to be true men of God? To live a life worthy of God's purpose for us as men?

Anyway, I am glad that Tyson has seemingly worked out his issues by now, and is presently dedicated to be a good father to his children, which is very inspiring.

Final score: 4/5

Video game review: Deus Ex Human Revolution

Albert Einstein said "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of pathological criminal." Is technological progress always good for our human existence on this planet? Should we play God, and use technology to speed up the human evolutionary progress, to improve our human potentials?

This is, the main theme of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. A new addition to the "Deux Ex" franchise originally released in 2000. The first Deux Ex game was a great success, and the game is widely known today as an action/RPG classic. 11 years after the first Deus Ex game. Eidos Montreal has released Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a prequel to the first Deus Ex game.

Story:

Deus Ex Human Revolution, is a cyberpunk action/RPG. Set in 15 years from modern day (2027). In the story, in 2027 the world has reached an era when the society has begin to use biomedical engineering technology to improve our human status. Through the use of biomedical augmentation and genetic modification on the human body. This major trend to implementing human augmentations is driven mainly by international, multi-billion dollar corporations. The movement takes the form of 21th century renaissance, and much debate is presented at UN if human augmentation is a good or a bad thing. The player takes control of a highly trained security personnel Adam Jensen, an employer at a biomedical augmentation company Sarif. An incident occurred where a group of unidentified terrorist assaulted the company HQ, and kidnapped a group of scientists. Adam Jensen, was heavily injured during his attempt to stop the terrorists. In the status of near death, Adam Jensen was rushed to the emergency operating room and received military class augementations. 6 months later, Jensen worked relentlessly trying to uncover the true identity of the terrorists that assaulted his employer. In the process, discovered a series of intriguing conspiracies and secret plots that will ultimately challenge humanity on the question of "should we use technology to propel us ahead of our progress in natural evolution?"

Gameplay and design:

Deux Ex: Human Revolution is an action/RPG game. The player will be able to travel in an open needed, near futuristic world. Most of the game takes place in two mega cities: Detroiet, and Heng Sha. The city design and environment is believable and eye catching, and feels like something that is taken from the movie "Blade Runner". Being an open ended world RPG game also means the player will have the freedom to roam the cities, explore, talk to NPCs, and perform side quests in any order you choose. Overall, the environment in this game is very well designed and crafted.

In terms of the actual gameplay and combat mechancis. Deus Ex Human Revolution is primary a FPS stealth game. However, the game designer has implemented a 3rd person view when in stealth mode. This means the game gives players options of some of the most non-linear game play in today's video game titles. To complete a mission, the player can choose to either: shoot your way through, use stealth to remain undetected, or brawl your way through the levels assassin style! Like all RPG titles, Deux Ex has an experience system where the player will be rewaraded with experience points through completing objectives or taking down enemies. The experience points can be used to purchase augmentation upgrades that will make Jensen more powerful, depending on how you want to play your game. The non-linear game play in this game is very well designed, and when it all works, it works really well.

While the game play of Deux Ex Human revolution is truly marvelous. However, I do have to criticize three elements in the game. First of all, in the game, the player will have to perform a lot of "hacking" mini games. To hack into computer systems or door security console to gain access that are critical to completing objectives. The "hacking' mini game is essentially a race against time to control "nodes". While the concept is simple, but it somewhat feels like a repetitive exercise that could have been left out of the game.

Another criticism is the dumb AI. For some reason, the game designer has implemented some of the most stupid AI I've seen in recently released video games. Although the AI is dumb, but your enemies, especially at later stage will have ridiculous amount of health, making it extremely difficult to take them out using projectile weapons, and will force you to use the stealth/take down approach instead. This lead to a highly unbalanced game play that can be quite frustrating at times.

Thirdly, the zoom in/out from first person view into third person view in stealth can be quite annoying sometimes. Personally, I do not understand why Edios Montreal didn't implement the option to let players choose either first person or third person view. I mean, when in stealth mode, the camera zooms out and you get to see Adam Jensen, and he looks awesome. But the moment you go back to normal running/sneaking the camera zooms in to first person and you can't see Adam Jensen anymore..

My thoughts on the game:

I have always tried, to the best of my ability to review a video game story based on Christian world view. So here I would like to talk about my thoughts on the story of Deus Ex Human Revolution. I guess the main theme of the story is, "should we play God and use biomedical technology to enhance our human abilities?"

In the story of Human Revolution, augmented human can perform wondrous feats such as: improve their social skill through enhancement chips, lift cars, see through walls, perform super human feats, be connected to networks 24/7, and to many extents, such augementations can help to cure many diseases. But, is it a good thing?

Although this is a sci-fi story, but it is not something out of total fantasy. It is actually very real. Right now, as we speak, our genetic engineering technology is improving by the seconds. With the much debated ethics of human cloning technology still on the table, and stem cell research. I think it is highly likely that in the very near future, our technological progress will reach a point when, we can use our genetic engineering and biomedical engineering technology to make us super humans. Or even prolong human life spam to unimaginable length.

Personally, I cannot find any passages in the Bible that addresses topics of if human cloning or genetic engineering is right or wrong. However, certain Biblical wisdom can still help us to be aware of our situation.

While most technologies are invented with good intentions, to make our world better. At the same time it is also often abused and perverted into something bad, because of our sinful human nature and the tendency to abuse good things for our own selfish and sinful intentions. For example, the internet, can be used to improve communication, but at the same time it has also been perverted into an instrument to view pornography, stealing money, fraud and identity theft, and have created a generation that lacks face to face social interaction skills.

If Deus Ex Human Revolution reminds me of one thing, then that is our science and technology cannot solve all of our problems. Our proposed solutions through science and technology have, in the past been double edged swords that cuts deeply into the well being of our world, just as we reaps benefits from its wake. It is because we, the human are inherently flawed creatures.

So maybe the problem isn't with the technology that has been invented, but the problem is actually the end user of the technology. As Einstein said "Technological progress, is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal". So one day, if we do have the technology to make us "better and stronger" physically, will we use it for good? Or will we abuse it? Will it be better for the world? I wonder if the technology to make us more than we are meant to be will pave the way for unforetold human injustice and tragedy. It is impossible to tell right now. It seems it is what people do with technology that determine the outcome of such technological progression, and people have not always employed technology for good courses.

So how do we propose to approach the 21th century with all these new powerful inventions in our grasps, while we know so little of the long term consequences? What does it mean to be human? As inventors of technologies, how do we avoid letting technology rule over us, so we are not changed fundamentally from what we are truly meant to be by our technologies (socially and biologically)?

This, is a question worthy of time to think about. Actually, this is a question that I need to think about as well. I think Biblical wisdom is a good starting point to find the answers to this pending challenge of our era.

Conclusion

Story: (9.3/10): I think Deux Ex Human Revolution has one of the best story line in video games. It is a story of where conspiracy theories interweaves with human struggle in grasping hold of our place in the line of technological progression. The ending of the game is thought provoking, and the story is well narrated.

Gameplay and design (8.7/10): The environment design is amazing and believable, feels like something from Blade Runner. The combat mechanics is solid, but the dumb AI, annoying first person view and the meaningless hacking mini game is withholding an otherwise spectacular game.

Sex/nudity: none

Violence: heavy: Not recommended for people under 15 years of age

Final verdict: 9/10: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, with its engaging and thought provoking storyline, makes it a truly worthy sequel in the Deux Ex franchise. The gameplay is solid, the game environment is well crafted. This is truly one of the better RPG released in 2011.