User-Preview: Xam'd (Sub)

The following article was submitted by Rp Phantom. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

We all know the mecha genre. From Mobile Suits to Giant Robots to Giant Robots that are actually not even robots, an anime fan would think that, by now, the mecha genre has become formulaic and predictable. So, now that Eureka Seven has come and gone, Bones and Aniplex are back again, and they bring to the table yet another tale of an adolescent boy, giant airships, mechas, and living weapons. They bring Xam'd: Lost Memories.

So I bet you're asking, "So who's the new teenage boy who has to control these robots?" or "Who's the new mysterious introverted girl?" While Xam'd seems to fall under the mecha category at first, it is made clear from the start that the story does not revolve around mechas. Yes, there is a teenage boy, there is a mysterious girl, and there are airships. To set the record straight for Xam'd, here's an early plot overview.

The story begins on Sentan Island, a land of seemingly contradictory nature. It is described as isolated, but it is highly populated. It is apparently under military rule, but the citizens live in peace. Akiyuki is a teenager living on this island, living between his separated parents. He is a confident and amiable individual, and has a pair of close friends named Haru and Furuichi.

On his daily walk with them to the school bus, he spots a pale-looking girl named Nazuna who appears to be a new rider on the bus. The soldier guarding the bus has the students lined up to check their armbands, and he notices that this frightens Nazuna. He passively slips her his armband, to help her avoid complications with the soldier. He claims he forgot his, and is expectedly let on anyway because he is a familiar face.

This appears to me a dreadful mistake, as Nazuna detonates a bomb on the bus as he exits in front of the school, an apparent act of war. Several students are wounded and killed, and a strange light from the explosion hits and enters Akiyuki's right arm. Confused, he re-enters the blown apart bus and tries to help Nazuna, who is wounded and bleeding green blood. She apologizes for getting Akiyuki caught up in her actions, and offers to give him her lost memories: Xam'd. Nazuna touches Akiyuki, and a strange white liquid envelops his body, and transforms him into a monstrous creature. (Just like they said would happen in Catholic School).

Suddenly, airships from a belligerent military from the north drop super weapons known as "Humanforms" onto the island. These humanforms are like living attack vehicles, except the are behemoth in size. A passing postal ship remains nearby, examining the situation. On this ship is Nakiami, a mysterious young woman who takes interest in the humanforms, and even more so, the Akiyuki-turned-Xam'd.

Xam'd is compelled to fight these humanforms, possibly to protect Akiyuki's friends. After being destroyed, the humanforms start to crystallize and corrode apart before the victorious Xam'd. In no time, Nakiami swoops down to Xam'd, and traps him. He then starts to corrode in a similar matter as the humanform. Nakiami urges Xam'd to come with her if he wants to live. Xam'd obligingly collaspes and transforms back into Akiyuki, unharmed, leaving only a mutated Xam'd arm on his body.

Nakiami takes Akiyuki back to her postal ship, where she cares for him, and explains that he now requires training to control the Xam'd within him and to keep himself alive. From then on the stage is set as Akiyuki travels with the ragtag crew of the postal ship, while his friends are left to try to restore their devastated lives and homes, in a city that lies on the brink of warfare.

Xam'd brings recognizable qualities with something new to the table. Like their previous work, Eureka Seven, Bones's animation is flashy and fluid, and of course, action-packed. Even the theme song, "Shut up and Explode" by the Boom Boom Satellites is catchier than chlamydia. Overall, this new anime seems to have a lot of potential, putting a new twist on predictable sci-fi and mecha genres. Definitely worth watching.

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uWrite: Professional vs. Consumer Reviews

The following article was submitted by Raidon. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

For the past week, I have been researching for my next purchase. It was between BioShock and Call of Duty 4, and the main argument was good game with no multiplayer versus a game with good multiplayer. So I went online and looked up both of the games, and found that all the stores within a 10 mile radius of my house are plumb out of both of them. I also didn't feel like waiting for a month for them to restock the game for three reasons:

1. I want a good multiplayer game.
2. I don't want it to be run and gun.
3. I was supposed to get both of these games for christmas, but my parents (lame, im still dependant on them) couldn't find a store that held either. Heh, and they complained about my procrastination.

So what does this have to do with pro versus amateur reviews? Well, for one, I received a total of $230 spendable on games. So I thought, it wouldn't hurt for me to buy another game first, then get Bioshock and CoD4 in a month or two. That game was Hellgate: London. It was a great target for press, seeing as how its MMO function had an optional payment choice. It was criticized because most people would be playing free, and those who aren't would have an unfair advantage. In addition, they also pointed out the Diablo style backpacking system and the outrageous ammount of loot dropped by monsters. Randomly generated levels were another topic that came up, but not as often. For these reasons, pro reviewers gave it ratings as low as 20%.

Hold on now, one of the best games of the year received 20%?

All the pro reviewers are looking at it from a developer's standpoint, which, most of the time, is good. However, they see that a game that is only half free will deter players from getting the game. However, what really happens, from the gamer's standpoint is this: "Hey, that guy has a lot cooler gear than me and has the ability to play the game for much longer. Maybe I should put down money too to be like him." Or it may not be a problem at all. Runescape is a perfect example of a half-free game, where there is little gelousy between the free and paid players.

Reviewers are also complaining about the randomly generated levels, large ammounts of loot, and tricky backpacking system. Seeing this, I thought, "This looks an awful lot like Diablo." I suddenly realized my stupidity in this comment, and looked up the reviews for Diablo 2. Again, reviewers were crying over the same reasons. I, for one, enjoyed Diablo 2 while it lasted. At this point I decided to read some customer reviews.

Most of the customer reviews were commenting on the pig-headedness of the reviewers rather than explaining their own. There were some, however, that mention that the intensity of the graphics and gameplay are revolutionary for the dungeon crawler genre. So, what do I have to say?

Nothing. I don't have the game yet. But once I do, I promise I will write a uReview on this magnificent website that is anigamers. Did you hear that, Vampt Vo? I complimented you!

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uWrite: Steam Power Still Exists, Not To Anyone's Suprise

The following article was submitted by Raidon. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, the first official game to use the source engine. Since then, mods for it have been released, the most famous of which is Counter Strike. It's still a good game, but even the most fervent fanboys of the intense tactical shooter get bored of it every now and then. So, what do you do if you're bored with your current collection? Look for more mods, of course!

Dystopia
The first one covered is Dystopia. Think of this as Counter Strike meets Ghost in the Shell. There are three classes: light, medium, and heavy. With each able to choose from a bank of abilities, you will fight the war on two fronts, cyberspace and the "meat world." The gameplay is much like Unreal Tournament; almost every game requires you to capture or destroy certain objectives. It's a fun game, and good enough to keep you distracted from the pre-pubescent infested Team Fortress 2 (I'm not bashing TF2's gameplay, but please refrain from using voice chat if you sound like a 10 year old).

Zombie Master
Mod number two is Zombie Master. One player controls hordes of zombies in an RTS scheme, and the other players exist as survivors. They have to complete chalenging objectives, such as repairing a truck to drive away from an infested city. The game mechanics are great; you have to take advantage of the Source Engine's physics to succeed. Survival gear includes a crowbar a la Gordon Freeman, a sledge hammer, a pistol, a shotgun, a winchester rifle (some see it as a tribue to Shaun of the Dead), and an uzi with Something Awful's signature awesome face grafted onto it. Have fun surviving!

Eternal Silence
Eternal Silence can be seen as a hard-futuristic port of the space battles seen in Battlefront II. However, I have very little to say about this game as there are never any playable servers.

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Half Life 2: Deathmatch is a mod you have to purchace from the Valve store. However, the $9.95 is well worth it. The game pits the Combine police and army against the terrorists and freedom fighters, the Rebels. Arm yourself with weapons from all three Half Life 2 games, including the gravity gun. Nothing is more satisfying than throwing an enemy's grenade back at them. Maybe throwing a buz saw at their neck, or crushing them with a car. Oh well, be creative.

Zombie Master
Half Life 2: Deathmatch is a mod you have to purchace from the Valve store. However, the $9.95 is well worth it. The game pits the Combine police and army against the terrorists and freedom fighters, the Rebels. Arm yourself with weapons from all three Half Life 2 games, including the gravity gun. Nothing is more satisfying than throwing an enemy's grenade back at them. Maybe throwing a buz saw at their neck, or crushing them with a car. Oh well, be creative.

Battle Grounds 2
Our final game is called The Battle Grounds 2 (requires Deathmatch). It is the sequel to the hit game of the same title. The mod takes you back in time to the revolutionary war, where you fight as either a royal infantry man, an officer, or German Jaeger mercenary for the British or as a soldier, officer, or frontiersman for the Americans. The soldier classes are armed with standard-issue muskets with average accuracy and relatively fast load times. They are also armed with bayonettes which could be used to stab the enemy during a charge. Officers start out with pistols, which have poor accuracy but are more acurate than a musket when moving. They are also endowed swords for hand-to hand combat. Jaegers and Frontiersmen are sniper classes; their muskets have excelent accuracy yet have longer reload times, and their lack of bayonette force them to rely on either a hunting knife or a a sword.

A brief conversation with the lead developer of TBG2 revealed that with the new release of Steam and Source, new features will be avaliable in game. Such features include unlockable equipment, such as better bullets, rifled barrels, a scope for the sniper classes, and a ridable horse vehicle. They will also make it possible for players to destroy said scopes with an acurate shot, dislodge bayonettes, and kill the horses. There will also be at least two new classes: a mercenary class for the British (possibly Swiss or Dutch) who is armed with only a sword, yet has the ability to sprint. The American double of this class is the pirate, armed with a sabre. The developer also claims that they attempted to make grenadier classes for both factions, yet the modeling and coding is proving quite dificult, and they have decided to delay the class. Additionally, they are looking into a way of creating musket-bayonette battles in other eras such as the Napoleanic battles and the Civil War.

Each of these mods are not my work, and credit should be given to their creators. The interview with the creator of BG2 took place during an in-game battle so not all information may be 100% accurate. After all, we were busy trying to defend our last capture point and push forward before the British could respawn.

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Points System, Wanted List Join Project uWrite

Tonight, I'm pleased to announce two minor updates to Ani-Gamers' Project uWrite. First off is a points system. It provides "points" for users who submit articles through uWrite. These points not only serve as a badge of honor on the forums, but also will allow you more privelages, and eventually even be able to turn you into a moderator. We might even find new ways to implement points in the future, so start writing articles and saving up points as soon as possible!

The next addition is a wanted list. This will have a list of every article our Editors are particularly looking to see posted. If you submit one of these articles, not only are your chances of having your article published higher, but you also receive 10 more points than usual for your submission.

I hope everyone makes good use of these brand new features!

Points
Wanted List

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User Review: RF Online (PC)

Genre(s): Adventure, FPS, Online, Puzzle
Designer: Unknown
Developer: CCR
Publisher: Codemasters
Console(s): PC (Windows)
Rated: T for Teen

The following article was submitted by Raidon. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

For any and all online games, pick two of the following:
[-] good
[-] free
[-] MMO

I think you have noticed that it is impossible to have a massively-multiplayer online game that is both good and free from that test. There are some good games out there, like Penumbra, that you can get for free. But RF Online is a free MMO, without the good. Do the math.

First off, you probably found this by Google-searching "Free futuristic MMO". You read the rules and stuff. It looked good. Then you turn on the game. You have to choose between two species of elves, and one type of robot to play as. Ok, so they're unorigional. Big deal, right? Wrong.

It goes farther than that. You create your character (and after noticing about 10 mesh interferences on your character model) you go out into the world. You are given your first weapon, and soon you go out and kill. The only problem is, this is a futuristic game. Monsters drop swords, shields, bows, guns, and magic wands. Now you start to think "what the crap?" The entire basis of the game is turned inside out. The combat system is Diablo-meets-Star-Wars-Galaxy, taking the worst from both and combining them into one mesh of pure fail. And don't get me started on quests. Every time you level up you are bombarded by several quests through a radio transmission from your racial leader. The rate at which they get done and at which you level are slightly off, so you will be doing the same quest along the course of 3 levels, and have others stacked on. Enemy dynamics are even worse; they have more health than you, and deal more damage if you travel at the same pace as your quests (the enemy monster level is not even shown). I found myself chugging about 75 superior health potions in the course of half an hour just to stay alive. The PVP is not much better anyway; high-level players ride around in mobile-suit-like tanks and high-tier armor near the racial spawning point to gain player kills, as well as in mines, where victory leads to the ability to stand in a predetermined area for hours on end mining for ore. So, overall, RF Online sucks. It's a good time waster, but you have better things to do with your life, right?

It's another mass-produced Korean MMO. They don't know what the market wants. Don't look forward to this one.

Gameplay:		1.5		Overall: (1.0 stars)
Graphics/Sound:		2.5
Design/Story:		2.5
Lasting Appeal:		1.0

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Peeling Away at the Orange Box: Thanks Raidon!

Congratulations to Raidon, the writer of the first-ever uReview (user-Review) on AniGamers! The review was posted earlier today, and marks the first time that AniGamers has published a piece of writing written by one of our users! If you're considering the game, make sure to check out Raidon's awesome review of The Orange Box for PC.

If you're interested in writing an article and having it published on AniGamers, feel free to use our Project uWrite contact form. We welcome all submissions, and we hope to see more reviews as good as Raidon's. Thanks Raidon!

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User Review: The Orange Box (360)

Genre(s): Adventure, FPS, Online, Puzzle
Designer(s): Various
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Rated: T for Teen through M for Mature

The following article was submitted by Raidon. The opinions expressed below do not represent those of Ani-Gamers or its affiliates.

The Orange Box is a collection of 5 most delicious games for the price of only one. These games include Half Life 2 (the original, Episode 1, and Episode 2), Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

Half Life 2 Episode 2:
Half Life 2 is like the Zelda of first-person shooters; It's not all blasting and dodging bullets. From the beginning you find that you have to solve challenges as you progress to either evade the Combine totalitarian police or the headcrabs and their zombie-like hosts. Your weapon set is your basic pistol-AR-shotgun-sniper-grenade setup, where you choose the right weapon for the right situation. However, you will probably find yourself either swinging away with your crowbar or screwing Issac Newton with your all-purpose gravity gun. Graphics, physics, and sound are all amazing. They're not on the same tier as Oblivion, but also not as hardware heavy.

Portal:
Portal can possibly only be described as a first-person-puzzle. Again, you have to solve all your puzzles by taking advantage of your ability to deny the laws of physics. The map designs, although simplistic, really set the mood for the game and go parallel with the strangely deep storyline of the game. Although it seems confusing at first, GLaDOS will ease you into the world of Portal. My suggestion is to pick this game up first, as it teaches you the fundamentals of solving problems in 3D without having to worry about fighting an army.
(Note on Portal Plot: Visit www.aperturescience.com for more of the storyline. Login as portal with password portal to apply for a job at Aperture, or as cjohnson with password tier3 then use the notes app to read more)

Team Fortress 2:
Team Fortress 2 has everything anyone can ask for in an FPS fighter. Multiple classes with different fighting styles, several gametypes, and downloadable content all make this game worthwhile. Following the same visual style Disney's "The Incredibles," it feels not as if you are killing other men, but rather that you are in a jam-packed comic book. Cheating is impossible in this version of Team Fortress, making it a fair fight. But be warned, this game is not for noobs on the FPS circuit; run-and-gun and pray-and-spray tactics won't work.

Final Analysis of the Orange Box:
Get it. It is a great deal for 5 excellent games, but you have to have a middle-strength PC to run it comfortably. Buy this if you are a fan of the Half Life series, puzzle games, FPS games, or if you just like to screw around. Don't get this if you want an easy game to play for five minutes at a time.

Gameplay:		2.0		Overall: (3.5 stars)
Graphics/Sound:		3.0
Design/Story:		3.5
Lasting Appeal:		3.5

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AniGamers Creates Revolutionary Open-Written System with uWrite

Today, I am proud to announce AniGamers' newest feature, Project uWrite, which allows anyone, from anywhere, to freely post nearly any written content on AniGamers. That means that you now have the ability to post breaking videogame news, a review of your favorite anime, or an article about a trend in nerd culture, to the AniGamers site, where a growing community will read and respond to what you have written. This revolutionary feature makes us the first "open-written" anime and game website ever created.

More details on Project uWrite can be found right here on its main page. The forums have also been updated slightly to accomodate this addition. Though we just had a version update, this one moves us into AniGamers version 1.3. Thank you all for your support, and I hope to see many of our readers using the uWrite system in the future.

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