Saturday, April 4, 2009

Pursuing Prestige in CoD: World at War

Last night I ticked over Prestige Level 2 in Call of Duty: World at War online multiplayer! I know this is no big deal to my friends who already passed that mark long ago, such as Fartknocckker, Big Daddy Ogre and Bama Breeze, but I was pleased with myself.

I must thank my friend Fartknocckker again for a key piece of advice he gave me about ranking up in Call of Duty. My progress in ranking up in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was glacial because I had it in my head that I had to max out the potential points on every weapon. Yes, I know I hadn't thought it through very well, but that's what I did, and it took me forever to top out my rank. I struggled to score kills with weapons unsuited to my playing style.

The great Knocckker of Farts suggested sticking with the weapons with which I was most comfortable to score as many kills as possible, and thus help make sure that my team wins as much as possible. That's what I've done in World at War, and the points I score for doing that far surpass the points for using all the diverse weapons.

I tend to do best with bullet hoses -- submachine guns and the STG-44. I like the semi-automatic rifles, but I don't do quite as well with them. I also like the bolt-action rifles, even though I'm terrible with them.



H.A.W.X review in progress

My next review on deck is Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Flight sims and air combat are my first love in video gaming, so I've been excited about this game. The review will be on Techcetera early next week, and I'll post a link here in Sythbane Squadron.

As I was preparing the review poking around on the H.A.W.X web site, I discovered that an affordable flight stick controller is finally available for the Xbox 360!

It's the Saitek Aviator, and I can't wait to get my hands on one. I haven't found one yet, but when I do, I'm going to go back and try every fighter combat game in my inventory and review the joystick.

None of my shooter friends have joined me in the sky yet, but I hope some of you will try H.A.W.X and do some dogfighting.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Pyramid Head rules Imagicon

My son, the Pyramid Head!

Sci-fi fans were clamoring to have their picture made with Fortiscule at Birmingham's Imagicon last weekend. The whole Sythbane family had a great time. Fortiscule worked for weeks on his costume of Pyramid Head, a villain in the Silent Hill video game and movie franchise. He was quite the chick magnet, too.

Thanks to my friend Flying Monkey Joe and his ape overlord at Revolutionsf.com, Fortiscule stars in the photo with their centerpiece story about Imagicon. Thanks, Flying Monkey Joe! May your little blue wings beat with bluster.









Below: Fortiscule charmed the lead dancer of the Corpsewax Dollies by helping them find the exhibit hall where they were scheduled to perform. Here, after the show, she happily posed with him!