League of Legends Update

 

Click Here: Item Shop and HUD Changes

Click Here: Nidalee Visual Update

New Champ: Zed, the Master of Shadows

            

What We're Playing: Stronghold 2

The price of fish had gone up again...
Tonight, I'm re-installing my favorite castle-builder,
Stronghold 2

Not that I ever buy fish...
Everyone knows knights and barbarians are awesome, but before I play Four Woods on Kingmaker, I'm gonna get down to the brass tacks.

Don't play this game for the campaign, play the KINGMAKER mode, an every-lord-for-themselves' scrapfest for land, gold, and soldiers. This gamemode thoroughly satiates my lust of subjugating peasants, erecting grand fortresses, and destroying other peoples' homes.

 

So many building to choose from.
So many aspects of life to control.

Things about SH2 that are boss:

• Keeps and Staircases you can do battle in
• Mercenary Camps (where you can hire assassins, axe-throwers, and berserkers)
• Traps (including spike traps and attack dogs, obviously)
• Random Events (such as bumper crops, peasant revolt, and wolf invasion)
• Individually Controlled Units
• Tower Mounted Ballistas 
• Warrior Monks
• Countless Mods
• In-Depth Village Micromanagement Options

Best of All

• You can arrest thieving peasants, let them rot in a cell, and then mercilessly remove their heads, burn them at the sake, or any other various mean of execution and 
  torture...Bueno.

So, if you like being a tyrannical overlord, or maybe even a nice person, you should give this game a try. It is, of course, one of my all-time favorites. Anyway, I'm off to pillage the village.

Fuck you, I'll put huge pictures wherever it pleases me.

That's Hot Stuff! - 'Monday Night Combat' Review

"HI-OH!"
Monday Night Combat is a third-person shooter developed by Uber Enterainment. Released on August 11, 2010 for the Xbox 360 Arcade and January 24, 2011 for Windows by Steam, MNC is a class-based game where your team of 5 genetically-altered super-human clones destroy enemy players, their teams bots, and their Moneyballs... Sounds fun, right? Of course it does.

"Get Out There And Do Some Damage."

Monday Night Combat is a DOTA-sytle lane game, comparable to titles like Team Fortress- with a hint element of tower defense. As stated before, you play as a cloned pro, choosing one of 6 classes, including Assault, Tank, Sniper, Support, Gunner, and Assassin. Each class has its own unique skills and abilities which you upgrade with the money you collect during gameplay. You also use your cash to do things such as build turrets, spawn bots, and drink Juice (a.k.a. heroin in a can). You may also add endorsements to your Pro, increasing certain attributes such as Armor or Rate of Fire.  

Bullseye: MNC's masochistic,
 bacon-dropping mascot

While there's several game modes to play in, we prefer Crossfire, the online death-match/base-invader game mode (we leik to slay silly n00bz). This type of match takes a combination of both skill and teamwork.What interesting about this game is that, if you're good enough, you can carry your team to victory almost by yourself, bathing in your enemies' blood, gold, and Juice while ripping down their defenses. However, if your not necessarily a MNC Achilles, you can stick next to your teammates and start bulldozing down a lane in no time, granted your pal isn't a newbie either. This makes almost every game high-impact and fast-paced.

The class selection in this game is varied enough, no two pros being too similar to the next. If you're looking to jump right in to the heat of combat, you may prefer to play as

"Time to get our roll on!" -Assault



A deployed Gunner taking it easy.

• Assault - 'High-energy' and 'boastful' describe Assault to a tee, as he is always looking to make the next big play (and maybe get into some other activities behind the stadium, judging by the looks of his eyes). With his jet pack he can zoom around the stage, peppering opponents with fire from his automatic rifle and grenade launcher. His sticky-bombs can be utilized in a variety of ways ranging from providing an extra jump boost, killing enemy pros, and getting the 'Headcrab' achievement. Assault is also able of grabbing an opponent during a rocket boost and nail them with a powerful uppercut, sending them far away.

• Gunner - This massive, playful Hawaiian known as Gunner, equipped with his equally large minigun, mortar launcher and insatiable lust to "do it Tiki style", can dish it out crazy amounts of damage. Try to close the gap between you and Gunner's respective positions and you will be met with a powerful body slam, generating shock waves not even Gunner himself can surf. Paired with a Support, Gunners can become nearly unstoppable juggernauts, ripping down lanes with dual miniguns (once he's been fully upgraded, of course)

Tank obviously doesn't use the 
LazeRazor for his face...





• Tank -  Just like the name implies, Tank is slow and heavy, able to take serious amounts of damage without succumbing to the condition known as death. However, Tank is also very lethal, boasting a rail-gun as a secondary weapon, able to take on enemies at a distance, and his primary, a jetgun (similar to a jet engine), capable of melting the faces of those foolish enough to get close. My personal favorite, Tank can not only reduce his targets to ash with his guns, but also has grenade that explodes with stickers, damaging and blinding anyone in their blasts, as well as knock enemies off of the stage with his jet charge.

Or, if you're not all about charging into battle, perhaps you will prefer the following pros:

The annoyance of constantly being shot in the face
is made only worse by Sniper's insentient, nasally taunting.

Sniper - All pros on the field are subject to Sniper's attack. With his long-range rifle, he can pick off targets who haven't even left their base yet. To even get close to the Sniper, who excels in hard-to-reach areas, one must be careful to avoid his flak grenade, as well as his ice trap, which will freeze pros to the ground - allowing the Sniper an easy headshot. The sniper also appears to be a master of CQC  (or golf, we're not sure which) as his grapple skill can, unlike other pros', be upgraded and used to smack an opponent backwards a great distance, allowing the Sniper to finish off the dazed foe, now again a distance away. 

Fun Fact: Support is good friends
 with  Goirgio Tsoukalos

Putting all the necessary 'ass'
 in assassin.

Support - Italian, whimsical, and extremely versatile, Support is a vital part of any team. With the use of his "extensive knowledge of cyberbiology and medicine," Support can both heal teammates and damage enemies with his fancy heal/hurt-gun. In addition, Support can upgrade allied turrets, making perform more efficiently, and hack enemy turrets, causing them to turn on their former masters. Aside from healing and hacking, Support also carries a shotgun that will make quick work of any opponent, just like his airstrike ability and Firebase (a mini-turret that can shred a pro in seconds). 

Assassin - A silent killer, Assassin can show up anywhere in the battlefield at anytime. She wears light armor and uses only bladed weapons such as daggers and katanas, weilding them with deadly precision. Aside from being ridiculously fast (especially when using her dash ability), Assassin can toggle her invisibility on and off at will, and disappear in a burst of smoke if the situation gets too risky. She can perform a grapple move that will kill most pros instantly (except for Tank and Gunner), as well as fire unlimited shurikens from a blaster on her wrists, able to run down any pro who's somehow managed to escaped her grasp.

"The Annihilator is Ready"

• Shitty Servers- The servers of this game are some times laggy and glitchy. So much so, that entire games will drop or cause you to ragequit. Of course, this can't really be so bad can it? Answer: Yes. MNC is notorious for having shitty sever quality. Chances range, we'd say, from about 25-50% (depending on the day) that a game your in will end via host migration or server downing.  

• Summoning Sickness- If a player leaves a game, their space will be taken by another. However, when this happens late-game, they are useless;  A first-level Assault isn't going to do anything but feed the enemy team. Perhaps if the newcomer was granted a large sum of money to 'catch-up' upon entering, it wouldn't be so bad, but nothing like this is implemented in the game. Bummer. 

• The Juice Is Loose - Juice, as stated before, is heroin. Pros who gather enough Juice can gain a massive boost to all aspects (resulting from their analgesia),  allowing them to basically run through any opposition. While it takes some time to gain Juice from combat (for noobs), you may purchase it in-game for 500 of your make-believe monies. A player can get activate their Juice, kill an entire enemy base, and go back and buy some more when it runs out, creating a loop of pain and suffering for the other team (and probably a life-long addiction/dependency for the user)

"An explosion of flavor - in your mouth."
Aside from the pesky server and programming bugs, this game is great for anyone looking for a fun and energetic shooter. The game play is balanced and can be enjoyed by both old-school shooter fan-boys and newbies to the genre alike. This game is also very funny; even someone who's not a gamer can appreciate the funny commentary of the pros and Mickey Cantor, announcer of Monday Night Combat. For $10 on Steam or 1200 Microsoft Points, this game is well worth the bucks.

TDWB Rating: 8/10

Read about the recently announced 'Super Monday Night Combat' or sign up for the BETA here!

-written by Nick

Not Wearing Hockey Pants - 'Batman: Arkham City' Review

It may come as no surprise that -between my Joker hoodie, Dark Knight DVD's, and my Batman car floormats (codenamed “Batmats”)- I am an avid fan of the Caped Crusader. I've noticed many times before there's almost a sadistic instinct amongst most comic-superhero fans to rip apart any non-comic based superhero media that they have any knowledge about. That's why I couldn't wait to get my hands on the newest installment of the Batman console game series Batman: Arkham City (released October 17 in the U.S. for X-Box 360, Playstation 3, and Microsoft Windows). Before I begin I would just like to mention that while I understand my opinion is almost guaranteed to be thought of as biased, no matter what the game we review,  I always try and keep a level head about its features, styles, and nuances before I start laying judgement calls. That being said... this is, without a doubt, the best Batgame to date. Hands down.

Wayne Enterprises runs a charity that hands
out knuckle sandwiches to homeless clowns.

Batman: Arkham City is a sandbox style beat-em-up game, boating coutless stealth missions and puzzle-solving mini-games. You travel through a beautifully crafted cityscape, completing side missions and gathering riddles while following an interesting story line, taking down mastermind criminals so sinister -no, maniacle -no, daster-diabolical - that they make Hannibal Lecter look like a teething toddler. 

Did someone say 'weird boner'?

So if you've never played either of the two most recent Batgames, the normal storyline gameplay is broken up into three parts as I see it. 

• Hand-to-hand combat scenarios with mobs of gangsters from the notorious Blackgate Prison (Hell yes)

•  Silent manhunt games, complete with thermo-vision and armed thugs (awww yeaaaa), and

• Ridiculous and creative boss fights with arguably some of the best villains in comics (I have a weird boner right now).

Justice
It's important to mention that this is a very linear single person game. But that is mostly to keep the integrity of the gameplay; It would be too hard to fit another character into the picture, that doesn't stop Arkham City from being amazing anyway. Batman don't need any bitch ass sidekicks slowing him down, as you learn all too well throughout the game.

Luckily, Batman's nips do not hinder his aerodynamics (thanks
to his suit's great design. 

• The graphics are outstanding
 (you can almost see Batman's Batnips poking out from his suit), and every character has a great new realistic aesthetic (though personally, I think the Riddler could have looked a twinge more crazy (no one will take your throne, Jim Carey!)).

•  As said before, the terrain is well mapped and animated, giving the whole game a very gothic and ominous feel. This is complimented incredibly with a musical score that practically bleeds the sounds of an epic journey into a twisted, classical musical blend. 

• These pieces jigsaw into a storyline filled with character plots that keep you excited and interested as well as turned away in horror at times. The writers made a very valiant effort into giving you a subtle foreshadowing of events that you will forget the moment before they bloom into a big problem for the Bat.  

Batman keeps his bitches in check

• The boss fights are well-designed, engaging, and fairly effective at not being repetitive, as well as showing you just how big of a badass Batman truly is.

•  The predator missions were really cranked up a notch in the new installment, bringing all new Batgadgets to the table, and coupling them with a whole new slew of ways to use the environment to take down enemies for a much more hectic and panic-inducing feel. 

• But most importantly for me, the combat in this game is par-none. I said the exact same thing for the first game - and this one tops it by far, giving you new ways to use combo-multiplier to bend your advantage in battle. Also you gain a new ability to counter up to three enemies at once during a normal encounter, promoting very fluid and realistic fighting moves, so brutal that you'll actually find yourself feeling sorry for the poor thugs you just disgrace along the way.

"I use batons so I don't cut myself."

Not to mention the fact that there are now several new playable characters added to the roster, including Catwoman, Robin, and my personal favorite for combat, Nightwing and his awesome tazer baton combos.

 Holy Down-Side, Batman!

So, what's the bad side? Well, no game is perfect and Batman is no exception. Aside from minor glitches here and there (thugs getting nudged off of a building by another thug, Batman hanging from a doorframe), there aren't very many flaws in terms of the programming (even the camera is fluid and tracks your movements well). There are, however, many things missing from this game that we think would have made this game nothing short of perfect for us.

Down the Barrel: The gun dynamics in this game are wholly unrealistic. You learn throughout the game that every armed villain in the city has military grade artillery that they are throwing at you (Proved by Hugo Strange's TYGER guards) Literally the weakest guns in this game are automatic burst rifles and semi-automatic shotguns. Every once in a while, you'd find yourself staring the barrel of a gun right in the face - and as it turns out, you can still win the fight. Now, I'm positive that Rocksteady Studios, the developers of Arkham City, made the guns as weak as they did are only to keep the stealth missions easy and balanced. But to me, having guns be Batman's bane (no pun intended) is kind of the point; You shouldn't be allowed to get shot and still be stealthy.

Story Mode “+”: After your first full playthrough, you unlock a “Story Mode +” version of the game but in all honesty, they should have called it “Play again, but with less advantages.” The only differences were that there were no indicators against melee combat enemies, that predator missions were substantially harder, and boss fights started out at the difficulty they ended with in the previous playthrough. I for one actually really enjoyed playing this version because it gave a whole new feel to melee combat, having to notice when an enemy is throwing a fist rather than waiting for the blue bolts over their heads. And the predator missions became more about really utilizing special takedowns in the rooms. Why is Story Mode + so crappy then? Well we were under the impression that it would come with a little more story in this mode, perhaps even giving us a plus to the incentive of playing it. But really though you just have less advantage over the people you are beating the crap out of.

"Perhaps, then, you haven't learned where I keep my heart."

Thug Life: Imagine for a moment that you're a crazed homicidal maniac, you're jacked as fuck, and an even crazier guy breaks you out of prison to come live in a city where MORE crazed criminals are running around murdering each other as well any vigilantes that come their way. Now take a second to imagine what your vocabulary is like. Every other word should make a nun flinch, but that isn't the case in this game. My speculation leads me to believe that, in wanting to keep a 'T' rating, developers had to dial back the language- especially when considering how much implied and literal violence there is. Because of this, the thugs basically say the weakest versions of “I'm gonna fuck you up!” (or when you're playing Catwoman - “I'm gonna fuck you!”). I first really noticed this blunder when local surveillance dialed me into a thug complaining about the cold weather in game saying, “It's colder than the snowman's heart out here,” and all I could think was that they didn't have the balls to just say “Snowman's Balls” to be more realistic.

Rooftop Rumbles: One great new aspect of this game compared to its predecessor is that there's outdoor freeroam on top of the buildings of Gotham. One unfortunate thing that wasn't taken into consideration at first was that Batman - as a rule - doesn't kill. When you're hustling henchmen on a rooftop though, there's a very prominent danger for them considering they don't have parachutes and that a 10-story fall can and will kill them. But that's ok, 'cause as long as the ol' Dark Knight is around, buildings have invisible thug safety gates! They took out the ability to throw enemies at eachother or obstacles because of this (though it honestly didn't make sense because real people would wiggle a lot if a 6'2" bat picked them up by the groin and shoulder). I understand why of course, but personally I think it'd have been more badass if when you did send a thug off of a roof, Batman's keen bat-like reflexes would automatically batgrapple-grab the person's ankles, and staple the cord to the floor, not only breaking the victim's fall, but also swinging them straight into a brick wall to knock them out, and they could reuse the explosive gel quickfire animation to do the stapling animation. Put a second into an interesting fix rather than an unsightly glitch fix like this one is all I'm saying.

Did someone say 'pound the downtown clown?'

So in short, this game is a 10/10 for me. It's a definite buy for anyone who enjoys seeing Batman pound the downtown clowns or someone who just enjoys a good brawling game. And even if you're not in the market for a fantastic game, Batman: Arkham City is, without a doubt, at least worth renting for a playthrough.

TDWB Rating:9/10

-written by Jordan

Greetings and Salutations

Hello, I am Vincent from TDWB. As you may have noticed so far, this is a very opinionated place. Because of that, we would love to hear all the good - or bad - people can send our way. Don't be shy, we encourage it! So come in, enjoy our posts, and send us some feedback. Also, be sure to request a game to be reviewed by us
We will attempt to review all games suggested to us. 
We may come across at first as bloggers -but get this - we are gamers, so you may find us on X-Box Live or various online games, such as League of Legends and World of Warcraft (find our contact info in the Contact Us section)

In other news, we hope to have a new review up by the end of the day.
Until then, stay BIG.

Love is Over! - 'Catherine' Review

Catherine is a puzzle-platformer/adventure/horror-survival game, released on July 26, 2011 in North America (February 17 for Japan) for X-Box 360 and Playstation 3. Developed by Atlus Persona Team and published by Atlus, this game is described as "adult-oriented" by Shigenori Soejima, the game's designer. One would have no problem figuring that out after a few moments playing this game (or by viewing X-Box's and PlayStation's differing cover arts, respectively).

 Right off the bat- 

We want to discuss how great of a job the Atlus Persona Team did of mixing the 3 factors of this game. They took Puzzle-Platforming and Decision Making (which, arguably, makes as much of an impact on this story-line as that of some Fable titles), and amalgamated them with a grand dose or horror and shock. The result is a sadistic game of Tetris where your mind is constantly twisted and prodded, just like the blocks that make up each level. If your not convinced about how intense this game is, this a picture of a boss in one of the levels.

Vincent's nightmares contain bosses reflecting that which
stress him out most in life.

 The game starts like this - 

(We're not about to spoil the entire game for you out loud. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't - this game has around 1,000,000 endings (to 'spoil' yourself, click here))

You, Vincent (main character of the game), end up waking up with Catherine, a sweet blonde hussy that you met the night before at your local bar named Stray Sheep. She is just your type and always DTF. Sounds awesome right? Wrong. Or right. It all depends on your preference. 

You go on to make choices that seemingly influence whether or not you will continue to be with her, or Katherine (that's right, same-name-game), your long-time girlfriend of 5 years who's got her shit together and has been pressuring you to marry her. While all this is going on, it just so happens that lately a lot of men have been having strange dreams, waking up exhausted and strung out. Some of them have even been turning up dead. Vincent, as we find out has strange dreams himself, but he can't seem to remember them (These dreams are where the puzzle part of the game, as well as a good portion of decision making, takes place) Like I said, we're not about to spoil anything out loud, but look how cool this screenshot is.

The 'horror' aspect of this game is much more subtle and creeping, as opposed to
the in-your-face surprise scares made popular by games like the F.E.A.R titles. 

 Another thing we thought was pretty cool is that when you make a choice in-game for the first time, you will be shown the percentage of other first-time answers made by other players (in pie-chart form). You can also separate results based on sex (of course). Many of the results are very interesting; We found that on Thursday, December 08, 12:40 a.m, when asked the question:

"Would you risk everything to get your lover back?"

More women said 'No' than men did (Confirming what most already know - women are fickle and cruel). 

Aside from the in-depth choice-system and cinematic/anime cut-scenes, the actual puzzle solving aspect of this title is great. While pulling blocks every which-way to create steps for climbing, you must avoid obstacles such as spike traps, slippery ice, and blocks that appear to be Gibbering Mouthers. As if that wasn't crazy enough, the level begins to fall out from under your feet if you take too long to climb, and other 'lambs' on the level will interfere with your ascension if given the chance. Even for someone like me who doesn't usually care for 'race against the clock' puzzle games will find Catherine engaging and not too difficult, as you can retry about 100 times without being penalized (One may also turn the difficultly down if they find them selves too often being violated by a literal Ass-to-Mouth demon). 

 So what's the catch?

• Just like you might expect from a Japanese game, Catherine takes some weird turns. Most of them are for the better, but at one point in this game, it gets a bit too supernatural, moving from 'psycho thriller' to a more cliché  'ancient evil' feel. That, of course, is just the consensus here at TDWB, but others may enjoy it.  

•  The camera can be difficult to control at times, making it even more difficult to escape the puzzles in Vincent's nightmares. Sometimes, a block you have to move will be out of immediate view leaving you confused and, most likely, with a few less 'Retries' available than you started with. Also, during boss stages, the camera will shift outwards, making the stage itself harder to see.  While there's no way around these flaws, they don't occur too often, and definitely not enough to really upset gamers, but we couldn't just write an all-perfect review (especially after what we did to Skyrim)

In the end...

The ending of our first play-through (which TDWB's Aaron captained as a man 'committed' to Katherine), was completely surprising and gratifying; Even in the last moments of the games, it felt like we were on a dramatic roller-coaster. Aaron then went on to be confronted with the true nature of his decisions in the end-game review, where his character's moral standards where examined and explained in a detailed and understandable way. Obviously, if you play this game and answer the questions honestly, the review of your in-game character can be interpreted as an actual review of your inner self. Catherine gets +1 for making us soul-search. 

TDWB Rating: 9/10

- written by Nick

An Arrow to the Knee - A Brutally Honest Skyrim Review (We're about to talk a lot of shit)

Let's Be Honest... 

Indisputably one of the best games of 2011, and the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls fantasy-RPG series, Skyrim has been well-recieved and loved by millions. Despite the negative things that we're fixin' to say in this review, Skyrim is amazing. Its looks fantastic in high definition, a feat made all the more impressive when you think about how 'big' the game is (Mountains, Giants, Mammoths, and of course, Dragons galore). In addition to to being awesome, the characters, armor, magic, leveling in this game have taken a huge step forward from what came stock in Oblivion. Dual-Wielding is fantastic. The Skyforge is enchanting. The list goes on and on. Skyrim is amazing. Skyrim is amazing.

Let's just gets this out of the way  

TDWB Rating 9.5/10

Main Negative Points- 'Bout to get serious...

Despite being awesome in most aspects of the game, older fans of the series couldn't help but be disappointed with a few things *inhale* ...

• Dragon Aren't As Cool as Expected - Dragons were supposed to be the big, new thing do battle with in Skyrim. They look brutal and terrifying, and they are, but after a few hours in, they start getting annoying an just plain boring. Avoiding their shouts until they land is about as challenging as it gets - around the second 'land' phase of the dragon fight, you have chopped its health down to nothing. A dime a dozen, they appear so often and are so easy to kill, their bones and scales over-encumber you. Todd Howard stated that he was excited that Dragons will chase you wherever you go, but perhaps seeing how awkwardly they fly (and 'pursue' you, for that matter), maybe he decided to compensate and make them spawn everywhere. Despite all of the bashing, the dragons of Skyrim are, in fact, cool, but it's safe to say Howard went a little too
  Peter Molyneux-y on the dragons

• Dynamic Snowfall?- Contrary to popular belief, there is no official source that can be cited (that we know of, at least) that ever stated there would be dynamic snowfall in Skyrim (As users as the internet, most of us believed Wikipedia with this false information on the subject). That being said, there was no way someone can argue that it wasn't expected (and highly anticipated. Just search 'Dynamic Snowfall' on the web). Todd Howard and the team at Bethesda should have put the time in to make it happen. There's no way it didn't come up in conversation: "Hey Todd, since the entire map is basically really fucking cold, why not implement some sort of dynamic snowfall to spruce things up?" 

In any case, it may appear as if we're just being sticklers (that's how this review works, if you haven't figured that out), but it just is something that bothers us as well as other folks. If you're gonna make someone name their kid after this game, can you at least get some snow action going on?

Keanu, always the deep thinker.

• Fallout Mod - Another obviously painful aspect of Skyrim is that it just feels like Fallout 3 (I, for one, did not play Fallout New Vegas, and I expect it too be just like, if not more like Skyrim). We know it's unfair to say, seeing as how the Fallout 3 is also awesome, but we just don't want to think about radiated landscapes, Nuka Cola, and an Iguana on a Stick when trying enjoy the grandeur and genius of the Elder Scrolls.

• No Infinite Quests - Todd Howard, director of Skyrim, told Wired.com in an interview that “The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever.” He can argue that he meant to intend to have readers think that he meant "There's a lot of shit to do in this game," but I guess we understood wrong. With the image of an unending pursuit of justice/bloodshed in the glorious land of Skyrim emblazoned in our hearts, we waited until the release. Its only after we start completing all of the quest in the game to realize that - what, ho? Doth end of quest-lines upon thy horizon break- or something like that. Okay, before you argue that there are indeed unending quest-lines, like the very well-recieved Dark Brotherhood line, does it even matter? How many times can you do the same things until infinite quests starts to feel like the same thing over and over? It's not even like it's a new feature to this game. I know that, as an avid Oblivion fan, the Dark Brotherhood had another unending quest-line once you complete all of their 'unique' quests (Spoiler Alert: You kill the entire guild yourself - which you then try to reestablish by visiting the Nightmother and listening to her tell you which door to knock on to be 'recruited'. Enthralling in the least).

• Missing Legging Slots - As an attempt to make the game have a more 'solid and stablaized' feel, Bethesda thought it best if, unlike Oblivion, Skyrim would only have a single piece of armor for the torso, no slot for leg armor. We understand that, yes, it does indeed create a more 'stabilized' feel to the game as far as keeping people from looking like a Daedric Lord who decided to take it easy and wear leather pants, but we want to be able to look like a DRAGONBORN with LEGENDARY EVERYTHING, leggings included. When you're trying to get intricate and immerse yourself in the world of Skyrim as much as possible, lettuce get some pants we can enchant, and maybe throw on an armor-class upgrade.

  
• Removal of Classes - Todd Howard, when asked about the missing create-a-class feature in Skyrim, is quoted saying  "[Gamers] would play [Oblivion] for, like, three hours and then [say] 'Oh, I picked the wrong skills,' and start over." Is that true for anyone (let alone the majority of Oblivion fans)? We remember creating, in high amounts of detail, mind you, the in's and out's of our character's class, taking time to ensure everything was just right (At least, that is what true gamers did). If you are about to make the commitment of playing a game like Oblivion, you don't just rush into creating some bullshit class because you can't wait to watch an emperor get slain in a sewer, you gotta be gentle with it, like moose meat and Swedish ladies... and making sure you got everything just right before your adventure began. 

We understand that removing the somewhat-complex class creation system will make starting the game much more easy for the many newbies to the series, but we older fans would opt for more opportunities to make the character on the screen our own; It's not even like you can change your 'class' (Double-Staff Warrior, is that you?) as freely as we would assume at first, with the Guardian Stones basically influencing what you are (Perhaps you would care for some aged Lord Stone Magic-Tank?) And sure, the literal physical look of your character can be customized in great depth, but we know how that goes...

Unappreciated Aspects- In the Shadow of the Throat of the World 

In the midst of all this nerd-rage, we have taken the time to address what we feel is often over looked, things that Bethesda deserves major kudos for...

•  Books - If you ever want to take a load off from adventuring, Skyrim (as well as Oblivion) boats a huge selection of books with subject matters ranging from the lore and legends of Tamriel to 'erotic' tales of weapon polishing. If you're an avid reader, or just want to learn a thing to two about the history of the Mage's Guild, try reading a book (in-game of course) when you next get the chance.

• Wildlife- Your making your way across a grand mountain range when, suddenly, you straight up get mauled by a cougar. Real talk though, the amount of wildlife in this game is great - they don't crowd the game, yet provide good hunks of meat when you want to try out your new axe and not get arrested. At lower levels, you might even get killed by one of Skyrim's beasts, so it keeps you on your toes while you forage through brutal tundra.

• The Skill Menu - The concept is great - you wish upon a star and it then grants you skills and stuff, or something like that. In all honesty, though, the new Skill Menu is very nice. Plugging your skills and talents in via constellations is both engaging and aesthetically pleasing, adding a very nice 'ancestral' feel to the game (Look at the constellations in our own night sky and try honesty saying you don't feel at one with our ancient Greek brethren) In addition, it is refreshing that we don't need to find a bed to sleep in when leveling up, like we had to do in Oblivion (Level 25? Let me just find a Holiday Inn near the Sigillum Sanguis).

- written by Nick and Vin