I'd decided to get back into World of Warcraft with a new character, and this time decided to go for a Warlock. Instead of grinding my way through the game I thought I'd try to find a good lvl guide ... and I found one.
There are a few power levelling guides available on the internet, but by far the best I found was Joana's lvl guide. She's an absolute speed-demon at leveling up and managed to get to level 60 in just five days on a new server.
While I'm taking things a bit more leisurely than Joana, it has still only taken me six days to get to level 40 thanks to the tips I found in the lvl guide. Before that it took me well over 20 days play to get my Rogue to that level, mainly because I was wandering around blindly looking for things to do. This is why Joana's guide is sooo good, as you can follow the guide from an in-game window and, best of all, it adds waypoint arrows that are loaded into your map telling you just where to go.
Playing a Horde character is really good fun (more than the Rogue) with some truly evil spells and abilities. I'm also enjoying riding my Felsteed (acquired at level 30) and can't wait to upgrade to a Dreadsteed at level 60.
If, like me, you're keen to level up a bit more efficiently then I can definitely recommend Joana's lvl guide. It's even been updated for levels 71-80 that became available in Wrath of the Lich King.
WoW Lvl Guide
Highlights From The CES 2009
The CES 2009 brought a some new interesting accessories for gamers.
Logitech were there in force with their upgraded G-range of gaming peripherals. First off was the G13 Advanced Gameboard, which is already available in the shops. That will be followed in March by the new 5,000dpi G9x mouse and then in April by the Logitech G19 keyboard. The G19 is a sexy piece of kit with a full-colour LCD screen, 36 programmable keys and pick-you-own-colour backlighting.
Razer were also there with a new mouse. This time they've gone wireless with the new Mamba mouse, which is capable of a staggering 5,600dpi and can even convert to wired thanks to a detachable cable. It looks good and, if they get the firmware right at release (unlike the Deathaddaer and Lachesis) it'll be a winner.
D-Box were showing off their latest gaming chair, the $3,000 (ker-ching) D-Box GPH-120. It looks amazing, and the motors allow the chair to give pitch, roll and virtual heave at anything up to 2G of acceleration. Pretty cool!
Far Cry 2 Safehouse Upgrades
If you've been playing Far Cry 2 you'll know that it's possible to upgrade your safe house by completing the optional buddy missions.
Having played my way through the game I've finally got the last upgrade, so here's the full list of Far Cry 2 safe house upgrades:
- Vehicle
- Small health pack
- Large health pack
- Ammo pile
- Fuel can pile (for molotovs)
- Upgraded truck gun
- Explosives pile
- Trucks get grenade launcher (fun!)
Just make sure you complete all of the buddy missions in Acts 1 and 2 to get the full list. It will take some time to get the explosives and truck-mounted grenade launcher, but from then on you really will be able to kick some ass!
Test Drive Unlimited MegaPack Available Now
Atari have made the Test Drive Unlimited MegaPack available for download.
It's about time we had some new content for this excellent driving game, and the expansion pack includes a grand total of 46 new vehicles. That's made up of 45 new cars and a single motorcycle, with a good mixture of German, Italian, American and Japanese exotica (see the full list below).
However, there's a catch - it's only available from Atari and it costs money ... real money! For Brits they're asking £9.99, which works out at a relatively cheap 22 pence for each new set of wheels.
For your money you can add the following motors to your Hawaiian garages:
Alfa Brera
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R
Audi RS4 quattro Saloon
Koenigsegg CCR
Audi S6
Lamborghini Countach 25th anniversary
Chrysler Crossfire® SRT-6 coupe
Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe
Chrysler Crossfire® SRT-6 Roadster
Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster
Dino 246 GT
Lexus GS 450h
Dodge Challenger RT
Lexus IS 350
Dodge Charger Super Bee
Lexus LS 460 L
Dodge Viper SRT-10 coupe
Lexus LS 600h L
Edonis
Lexus SC 430
Ferrari 250 GTO
McLaren F1 GT
Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole
McLaren F1 LM
Ferrari 512 TR
Mercedes CL CLK GTR
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Nissan Skyline GTR R34
Ferrari Challenge Stradale
Noble M400
Ferrari F40
Pagani Zonda C12S Roadster
GM (Cadillac®) Cien™ Concept
RUF RGT
GM (Cadillac®) CTS-V™
RUF RK Spyder
GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® C1 1957
RUF Rt 12
GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® C6™ Convertible
RUF Rturbo
GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® Stingray™ Convertible 1971
Spyker C8 Spyder
GM (Saturn™) Curve™ Concept
Spyker C8 Spyder T
Holden Efigy Concept
TVR T440R
You can download the Test Drive Unlimited MegaPack from here.
Quite how this will work online is a bit of a mystery at the moment. Some playres will be driving around in cars that other players won't have installed on their machine, so what will they see in their game world? This needs some more investigation.
Hanging Around In Jerusalem
So today's the day that Assassin's Creed hits the PC, and I still can't make my mind up whether I'm going to buy it or not.
This month's PC Gamer dropped through the letterbox a couple of days ago, featuring a four page Assassin's Creed review. Now that I've read the review I'm in two minds whether I want to actually play the game or not, never mind whether or not my gaming rig can handle the Assassin's Creed specifications.
PC Gamer rated the game at 80%, which isn't a bad score to get and was the third highest review in the mag (behind two Sims expansions, surely that should serve as a warning).
Update - the PC Gamer review has been published at GamesRadar.
However, it sounds very much like it's a game of two halves, one brilliant, one less so. Apparently the cityscapes are huge, the scenery stunning, and the gameplay is great when the action starts with a clever game engine that allows you to make the most of Altair's ability to run, jump and climb. But there's too much faffing around in the build-up to each hit, trying to find information on the target through the missions which are a drag.
To make it worse, the ending apparently turns into a hack'n'slash affair that abandons all of the stealthy gameplay that has gone before it. As Tim Edwards so eloquently puts it in his review, 'it's a betrayal of everything the player has learned so far'.
Part of the problem is that I was going to buy Assassin's Creed on Steam, which means no refund and no chance of flogging the game on eBay.
The thing is, I'm a sucker for games like this. Sneaking about, hunting down your target in a heavily defended fortress and then timing the kill to perfection ... sounds like fun to me. But am I just going to end up disappointed if I buy Assassin's Creed?
Zalman FG1000 FPSGun - A Gun Style Gaming Mouse?
This post has been moved to our new gaming hardware site, Gaming Weapons.
View the post at Zalman FG1000 FPSGun - A Gun Style Gaming Mouse?
A Steamy Affair For Altair
Valve have announced that a number of Ubisoft's titles will be available for download via their Steam distribution network, and that includes the upcoming Assassin's Creed.
The total number of Ubisoft titles is expected to reach over 40, but initially only a handful of games will be available. You can pre-order the PC punisher Assassin's Creed for $50, in time for its launch on April 9th, or you can relive classics such as Far Cry (for $9) and Splinter Cell ($18).
Expect the additional titles to include some of the Tom Clancy and Heroes of Might & Magic series.
There's no sign of the games at the time of writing, but I'm sure they'll be on the network quite soon.
