justincheah.com™

I’ve been busy gaming on new PC.

After work, game.
After game, work.

repeeeeeaaat.

equipment: Samsung B2230H, Razer Copperhead, Roccat Sense, Steelseries 3H
Now: Mass Effect, Bioshock, Crysis
Soon: Battlefield Bad Company 2, DoW:2, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, MW2, DA: Origins, Dirt 2.0, C&C 4, Starcraft 2

And the geeks shall inherit the earth.

Kerblammm.

Borderlands

First game on the new PC.

“Think Diablo, but FPS.”
I got this game via recommendation.

What it is
Borderlands is an action/adventure FPS-RPG. A hybrid of genres, so to speak.

First Impressions
Cartoonish. But in a good way. The game is beautifully designed to have a hand-drawn feel throughout.
Everything has that hand-drawn black border around them.
It feels like you’re playing a character inside a Marvel comic.

The opening cinematics sets the rythmn and feel of the game, giving you an idea of what’s coming up ahead.
I immediately related Borderlands to three things: Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, and Crazy Taxi.
You will imagine that it was developed by the same people who made the movie. It’s THAT similar.

Story
The setting is a chaotic world called Pandora. The goal of the game is to access the contents of a vault carved into the side of the mountain. The contents are said to contain alien technology and secrets.
All sorts of people are trying to hunt it.
They are….vault-hunters.
You get to be one of them.

Gameplay
To start things off, you now get to choose a class.
There are 4 different classes.

Each character has its own skill tree, weapon specialty, and special ability.
The game starts with a short tutorial, only because controls are pretty straightforward.

You get off a bus and start your journey as a vault-hunter. A mysterious lady appears on your HUD and proceeds to guide you throughout the game. Your objective is simple: Find quests, kill enemies (or collect items), get better weapons (and shields), and level up.
Go to new area, repeat.

Think Diablo, but in FPS.

There are tons of quests for you to do, each offering XP and good cash. You can use the cash at shops to upgrade your gear, but I found that most of the better gear were found as loot from enemies.

The items remind me of WoW and Diablo.
Regular items are white in colour, but special items have their name in green, blue, and purple. These items have enhanced attributes (damage, reload speeds, recoil, extra ammo, elemental damange, etc.)

Honestly, though. The game can get a little repetitive.
Some special side quests, and the unending choices of weaponry rescued it, making it pretty fun to play.

Game response and interface are simple yet pretty; Graphics are gory and awesome, and the landscape of Pandora is beautiful. Eye candy eye candy eye candy. Gun designs can get wacky, and all your enemies die in such lovely manner.

Downsides
The game is pretty easy. The AI is programmed to just rush at you and fire. They don’t hide, dodge, or do anything that makes them seem anything but a scripted bot. Their actions are thoroughly predictable. Even boss fights were a walk in the park. Find a nice spot, camp and shoot. A trick is to get them lodged (stuck) behind a pole of somesort, and fire at them without taking any damage.

Summary
Point and shoot. Fun to play if you are into the whole levelling up and gear-collecting. (which i am)

Pros
Nice graphics. Tried and true gameplay. Simple and straightforward. Impressive array of gear. Interesting.

Cons
Can get repetitive. Predictable AI.

Rating
7/10

:)

Intel Core i5 750 Processor: RM685

XFX 1GB DDR5 ATi Radeon HD5770: RM620

other kickass pc components: RM1,700

Buying an original copy of Windows® for the first time in 24 years: priceless.

.

.

(actually, it was RM329)

say it together now,
“Ouch.”

It hasn’t.

But is it because of this post?

will upload photos sometime soon.

:)

You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep

‘Cause they’d fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You’d think me rude
But I would just stand and stare

I’d like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
‘Cause everything is never as it seems

‘Cause I’d get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

I’d like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
‘Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Leave my door open just a crack
(Please take me away from here)
‘Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I’m far too tired to fall asleep

To ten million fireflies
I’m weird ’cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell

But I’ll know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
‘Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

I’d like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
‘Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

I’d like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
‘Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

I’d like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

I know it’s them, cos I don’t bring any of my office stationery home.

I have already lost a really good eraser, a UHU stic glue, a penknife, my favourite highlighter, and countless pens.

Gah.

STOP STEALING MY STUFF!

Couldn’t get tickets to watch it even though it’s been in the cinemas for 2 weeks+.
We called to book the tickets and they were sold out as well.

walao. force me to support piracy.

 yay!

Facebook album : here.

Nikon D3000

Still new…Need to learn how to use first.

a country and pure bliss,
deeply loving, deeply wanting.
the distance loud, calling the chase.
the pain and pleasure a wrestling fight.

no wine dost quench, no brew dost wake,
no lasting awareness, no searching fright;
struggles of who, battles of where
he will follow, he will
to collision, to glory, to ruin, to end.

and oh, when the purge dost come,
far late and to waste.

Public holiday, so the best friend decided to organize a day trip to Desaru.

For the unacquainted, Desaru is a place with some beaches, located in Johor of Malaysia.

Golden Resort, Desaru - where we were.

Takeoff
We first met up for breakfast at the one and only Reuben’s mamak; (equivalent to our Central Perk, McLarens; our Cheers.)
After roti and tehtarik and whatnot, guys got to sit in Phil’s MPV and the girls rode in the Waja.

Who
Oh. The guys were Phil (driver), Ahyi, YeeLong, Cliff, Henry, and myself.
The girls were Christine (driver), Tianshi, Joy, KangMei, and Fionna.
The missing ones were Jordan (in Malacca, for SMM Dota tournament) and Philip (at home, afraid to drown).

We did not drown.

I got quite badly burnt though. And the sea stole TianShi’s sunglasses.

What
Sandcastles (and sand turtles, sand people, sand faces, sand guitarman), beach olympics, hurling wishing stones, bumping waves, beach dai di, beer in a flask, ukulele, and lying in the sand. (and burying YeeLong and making him a mermaid).
Taylor Swift and Black Eyed Peas (and Green Day) playing over and over again on the radio.

Had to write that all down so I can remember when I re-read this in years to come. I want to remember.
Dunno who has the photos.

All in all, an awesome getaway from reality. Escape, with a bunch of close friends.

Next time, will bring sunblock. Getting badly burned isn’t fun.
Hope Phuket in December will be just as good.

Hmm…Should have more trips.