E 'questo per reale?

Is this for real?

MAFIA 2 - a comprehensive review by Gilma a.k.a Pramod


2 days.. That's how long Empire Bay has been my current state of domicile. A bit of dig back first. Well, to start things, I've to say I come from a modest background. Through years I've been living in petty and upscale neighborhoods alike, but never have quite lived in the past. Hmmm..... Vice City, Los Santos, San Fierro, Tierra Robada, Las Venturas, and not to mention the dumps of Alderney and nightlife of Algonquin in Liberty City have been but pieces of a pie. A pie that is ever so growing in terms of textures, flavours, and of course size. But for those of the Bourgeousie, who have led their perfectly stale and pretentious lives, may never have bumped into such cities, not even during their average business trips.

But for those like us, like me rather, people who'd like to live in a dream and believe its real don't usually like our parents' idea of "inception" in our mind that all of this is not real. After all "The Matrix" says but we are using contraptions stuck to our heads to play the game of life. So what's wrong in going one level deeper and assuming another game in life?

To those who have been wondering what I've been trying to bring about here, yes its all a bit of a faff.

But for those who even remotely understand the very fabric, the inlying connection, the organic feel of history the sandbox style games have brought to this very point in time; they would know.... They would know that life's about to take them to a new place. A place more popularly known as - EMPIRE BAY !

Now for a person who hasn't played Mafia the original game but seen it being played, I could point out a world of difference in terms of visuals. Instead of jumping head-first into all details, I've summarized them into sub-parts for easy reviewing.
Visuals:-
3 words.. "Drop Dead Gorgeous". I must say the rendering of trees, diners, quintessential Newark suburbs and its amalgamation with the retrospect of the 50's is just stupendous to say the least. The air around is bright and warm, and the sun bathes itself across the porch to welcome you to a world of vivacious spirit. The people, the policemen, the hot-dog vendors, to name a few, all present a rather dynamic yet unique personality to their existence. The cars bring about nostalgia, the houses allude the safety of home, and the seas just plainly bring back childhood memories...

That brings us to the seas... Wow!! The most amazingly rendered water graphics I've seen in my entire life. And this would satisfy any junkie who looks too much into nuances of graphic elements too.

But all in all, considering the very small strip of island that was provided in the demo, A VISUAL TREAT it was... Soothing yet eye catching. To the discerning few though, the visuals would ring a few bells and resemble elements of THE SABOTEUR; but don't take away anything from it.DX11? Hmmm... You need to find that out yourself (get a DX11 compliant card). But sigh! I can only imagine.

Gameplay and storyline:-
Just as usual I'd like to point out the best elements first. The shooting experience. Being touted as one of the most intense shooters, it does live up to its expectations. The demo level starts off with you as Vito, a young Italian slick who's trying to make good money and reputation by joining in the rings of the Costa Nostra or the Italian Mob family. With its infamous grip on the "Family", MAFIA the game goes on to show how relentlessly the MAFIA chases you down no matter where you go.
A similar setup gets Vito aspiring to achieve riches from rags. As thin and clichéd might be this storyline, much has to be lauded for bringing out life in it through some awe-inspiring voice acting that the game is so famous for.

So here again, the one demo level puts you in the middle of the game where the cut-scenes do give evidence of a sincere storyline and acutely accented, glib-talking Italian voice acting that does get you believing that you're looking into the eyes of real Italian men.
As the level progresses, the game displays some quintessential features,.... the physics by PhysX (I don't recommend it, really) or without, the gun shooting, the explosions, the headshots, the breaking walls... All these do add fine aspects of what generally is expected of a 3rd person shooter...SHOOTING!

Simply put, "a very intense shooter"...

Downside:-
As much as the "seas" and its beauties deserve lauding, it deserves twice as much censure. I mean immediately after seeing the gentle, froth layered waves hitting the shoreline, any sane person would wanna take a swim or atleast drown himself. But wait... 2k Czech (the producers of the game) have decided that you can't even drown in the sea, let alone swim in it... Damn... You just hit an invisible wall a millimetre away from the shoreline, and all you can do is press your nose against it and jog about in the same spot. What a ripper!! Its like being in a museum, where a glass sheet separates you from rare artefacts.... Except here these artefacts happen to be half nude strippers egging you on for a free lap dance... You get the point.

But although skeptics do assume the exclusion of the seas in the demo prevents nosey parkers from going out of bounds (coz the demo has a very small area to roam about), lets all hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed.

Besides this, the driving's a bit sticky.... but that's just my perspective after coming off from playing GTA IV a lot. Hmmm... Yet the water... Hmmm....

Lookout for:-
Playboy has partnered with this game to bring about their "personal element" in it. So folks, magazine reading could get fun along the way!

Verdict:-
A compelling shooter and a visual treat sets us ablaze this beautiful city, and wanting for more. The sights, smells, and drinks all culminate to present an environment so warm and refreshing, its sure to make you say "E 'questo per reale?" which is Italian for "Is this for real?"

GILMA

The feeling of Christopher Columbus

6.30 a.m. I wake up with a start and look around. I've started feeling homesick already. Enough of this darn trek, enough of the crappy food, enough of me having to plod on for endless hours on a weathered trail. Nice way to start a day, with all negativities in mind. What would I have done at home at this time in the morning? Maybe I would have watched some TV, or rolled over and slept again, or even better, gone for a stroll in the terrace. And after this, I would have come down to have some of Mom's excellent ginger tea - having just about the right proportions of every ingredient. Sigh!
KKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - the whistle sounds.
"BREAKFAST IS READY!"
One day during this trek I'm gonna take that whistle from whoever is sounding it and stuff it down his throat!
KKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"BREAKFAST IS READY! COME QUICK!"
It had better be a nice one, you nitwit! And stop sounding that bloody whistle, for God's sake!
So, I go down to see what this breakfast is. Wonderful - puri and aloo. Especially the aloo and its digestional benefits. I'm not gonna risk any oily food today. Better stick with the bland Maggi they give at the "paid canteen".
I go there only to find half my friends finishing their Maggis in half quick time than usual.
"Dei, how much da one Maggi?"
"30 rs machan."
"What?!"
"Its pretty cheap da, considering you are having it here at 11000 feet. These people say the prices become higher the higher you go."
"Oh. Cha. Didi, ek Maggi."
The bland Maggi is exceptionally bland today, and I have no idea what it is going to do to me for the next 24 hours.
Next I go to the tent, and find one of my friends searching for something.
"Dei, what are..." KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
"DEPOSIT THE SLEEPING BAGS IN THE FIRST TENT!! WE ARE STARTING IN A WHILE!!"
You never get a gap between the timetable during this trek.
This is when my tummy signals to me - "Hey, mister! I'm overloaded, and wanna unload a bit. I don't care if you want to or not, but I'll keep troubling you till you get my work done! Ha Ha!"
So I rush to deposit the sleeping bags, and take a shortcut to my tent, only to find that there are no spare bottles available.
My brain says - "Take the drinking water bottle da. You can use that water and get another bottle anytime."
I search frantically for the bottle and find it finally after a ten minute fight with my rucksack. No water.
"Don't despair. Go to the tap at the far end of the camp, beyond the kitchen tent. No one must be there at this time. Get your bottle filled there."
And I run all the way to the other end of the camp, all the while pleading with my stomach not to give up. I cross the kitchen tent and turn, expecting a queue to be there. To the contrary, there is just a single person filling up his bottle. I heave a sigh of relief and go to fill my bottle, when he gets up and utters a possible heart-attack statement - "Water is empty i guess. Not coming through this pipe."
I look at the pipe. Drops of water fall from it. With extreme optimism, I begin the painstakingly slow process of filling up my bottle. Around ten minutes later, the bottle has a little bit of water in it. I can't hold on anymore. This water ought to be enough.
I have to descend a few feet before I can enter the area of crapping. I start my downward journey when i suddenly remember I have forgotten the tissue paper. Another sprint back to the tent.
Finally I'm all set to go and start going downwards when I see Punk Maxx crossing me. A bad omen. I ignore this omen and continue going downwards. A fellow trekker stares at me and asks - "Is that little water enough for you?"
A hurried nod and I rush towards the Twin Toilet Towers. They are basically cuboids made of thick canvas, which enclose a squat toilet. Personally I think these were bought from Hitler before his death. You could suffocate to death in those things if you stay in there for too long. Courtesy the lack of water supply.
I try entering into one of the Toilet Towers, but the stench is so overpowering that I run off, thinking it best to settle my nature's call in nature itself.
But there is a big problem involved in this.
I'm not the only one who does this. Almost half the trekkers do the same. Not allowing such petty things to dishearten me, I follow the path that leads to Crap Graveyard. Pretty much every square inch of this place had been used up by the time I got there. Disgust wells within me thinking of what I have to do now. I succumb and try finding a spot in this mess. A wasted yet lonely spot is selected. I look around. No one is nearby. Atleast not as far as my eye can see. However, there is a big rock some distance from me (I had come pretty far), beyond which someone "might" be there. Then I said to myself - "Oh come on. No one goes that far." Yeah. No one goes that far.
Wait a minute! No one goes that far!! That means...........yes of course!!
I sprint to the rock and look beyond it to see endless meadows of green. Pure, unspoiled untarnished. A virgin place, you could say. No human..sorry, trekker has ever set foot or anything here. What a discovery! The rock was a huge protrusion from the mountain, offering ample cover on all three sides. The perfect spot had been found!
At this point, inside me, I understood how Christopher Columbus, or Vasco da Gama, or Marco Polo, or any other explorer/discoverer would have felt. It is truly a remarkable feeling, discovering something (though it necessarily need not be for such purposes as mine).
;-)

Why auto drivers in Delhi are not just auto drivers

Auto drivers in Delhi have diversified.
They are not just auto drivers anymore. They have branched out to become hotel agents.
Classic example: Me and 2 of my friends had just gotten down from a bus from Manali, after an exhilarating trekking trip. So from this place (somewhere near a big post office in Delhi) we needed to get to Karol Bagh, where our hotel was located. I was lugging around a HUGE bag, apart from a trolley suitcase, and was desperately in need of some mode of comfortable transportation.
So we stop an auto and ask him the fare till Karol Bagh.
"80 rupees" comes the reply.
We exchange glances and say Rs.60 is all we can give. He looks us up and down and asks whether we are going to lodge in a hotel in Karol Bagh. When we nod, the fare goes down to Rs.50! And attached along with it is a string. A string in the form of a question.
"Which hotel are you going to, saab?"
"Hotel Durga Deluxe."
"Saab. That is costly hotel saab. Come to...." - he reels out a hotel name, which I don't remember now.
We had already booked in this Durga Deluxe and there was no way we could change hotels now. Our friends would have checked into the room by now.
So the arguement begins. Mr.Auto Driver wants us to come specifically to his hotel, otherwise he won't come for Rs.50. A couple of "argues" later, he says he wont come at all.
To hell with him! The next auto won't be so bad. <- our mindset
Next auto is stopped.
"Where do you want to go sir?"
"Karol Bagh."
"Which hotel?"
"Hotel Durga Deluxe."
"That is not a good hotel. Come stay in hotel....." Yet another auto driver-cum-hotel agent. Darn! :-|

Fantastic contraption

Fantasic Contraption
Wow! Bored.com has some really cool games. Fantastic Contraption is one among them. This game is along the lines of the award winning game Crayon Physics Deluxe. You are given various tools, like wooden rods, water rods, wheels that turn clockwise and anticlockwise, and wheels that turn only on being pushed. To win you need to make a pink ball reach the goal (a pink block). You get a blue workshop area where to build your contraptions. There is also a save option for those who start despairing after a few failed contraptions. 21 levels of fun (and little thinking included)!

The link: Fantasic Contraption

Couple of other entertainers

Well here's a couple of other games that belong to the "wow" category-

Ricochet Kills 2
This one's a beauty. You control a stationary character at the bottom left end of the screen. The objective is to kill all the other stationary characters in the screen. You have a gun (with 8 bullets per level, i think) with which you have to shoot 'em. The challenge is to use as few bullets as possible. The bullet ricochets off objects in the screen (as the game's name states), so you get to plan your shots. Recommended to kill time big time!
The link: Ricochet Kills 2


Blosics 2
You get to control 4 types of balls, and the objective of the game is to make all the green blocks on the screen to fall off. Pretty interesting, keeps you occupied as the levels get tougher as you progress. Each level has a challenge to it, so it adds up to the interesting-ness of this game.
The link: Blosics 2

The greatest flash game that ever was!

Hi everyone!
This is my first post and I'd like it to be a tribute to the most entertaining game I've ever played. So, here it is - N (Metanet software).



That's the name all right! N for ninja. This tiny sized game with 500 levels is basically a platformer - a simple yet insanely gripping game that I've played for hours and hours together. And its absolutely free too. What's better in it is the included level editor, which helps you create your own custom levels. Endless hours of fun, I say! However, you do have the chance of getting bugged after frequent deaths and seemingly "impossible-to-cross" death traps.

And, I'd like to say with pride that I am one among the precious few who have finished the entire set of 500 levels (10x10 episodes of 5 levels each), which is indeed an achievement considering this game. So what do I do after finishing this game? Blink. Blink. Boredom looms upon me. It is just about to engulf me, when NUMA (N User Maps Archive) comes to my rescue, and i download a mind boggling 50000 userlevels, which I've not been able to complete till date.

So for you guys to play the best game there is around, here's the link for it:
N - The Game!

Link for 50000 userlevels of N:
http://www.fileplanet.com/164697/160000/fileinfo/N-Game---50000-User-Levels

Other relevant links:
Official Site of N and N+
N's Wikipedia page