Monte Carlo

Israel recently assassinated a target using forged passports of allied countries. It is one of the most shameless and robust countries in the world when it comes to executive action --- it will tough this one out because it knows it is the last beacon of anything remotely resembling democracy in the region. It's fall would herald an era of political and military instability in the near and middle east that the likes of Obama cannot even dare to imagine. It is also nuclear armed and does anybody doubt, for a second, that they wouldn't deploy them? Tough one, eh? I remember the Rainbow Warrior. Similar gig, selfish French realpolitik meets fluffy Western idealism. Very, very wrong. The agents got medals and a protracted 'hoilday' on a tropical island then everybody got back to what they were doing before. The world isn't black and white, that's the only thing that grips me about the tone of some of the posts here. My totem is crueller than your totem. Meh. Does anybody seriously imagine that, say, Syria or Iran wouldn't behave a hundred times worse than Israel if they could get away with it? This is how I view the world. I don't have to like it.

^ You talk of evidence and courts in your first post on this forum (.alt ahoy!). Terrorists adore people like you, calculating the precise number of angels dancing on the heads of pins. Meanwhile they do what they do and laugh at you. If it were 1955 you'd be in love with Uncle Joe and decrying all those tales of camps and murders as propoganda --- where's the evidence? The 'charity' behind this is suspect. Israel made a compromise offer to land supplies at one of their ports. The markets in Gaza are functional and there is no famine. There is evidence, should you choose to see it, for all of these things. Enough, though, let us agree that the IDF behaved in a way that was at best ham-fisted. But do you really, honestly believe that this wasn't the intention of those behind this affair, if not the naifs onboard?

Before some of you feint in an orgasmic frenzy of righteous indignation, ask why the flotilla refused the offer of unloading at Ashdod? Don't get me wrong, Israel seldom does itself any favours nowadays, even with those who would prefer to support her. But this flotilla was a carefully manufactured piece of Israel-baiting by Hamas, which the IDF fell for hook, line and sinker.

You, sir, are a genius but sadly too clever ever to make it in the games industry. No kidding, that suggestion would kill 50% of the problem stone dead.

No, the level of tunnelage was agreeable, it was something else. Not enough exploration, the combat started to get dull, didn't much care for the NPCs... I think I'm just over Bioware RPGs, they are too formulaic for me. They are the pickle in the McDonalds burger that makes everything taste the same, and you can't take it out. I want a big, exploration-based game with an old-skool feel, there's a reason why SoZ was my favourite RPG offering for quite a while. So while Dragon Age was good, and I acknowledge all the positive stuff about it, Awakenings was a slice too much of Ferelden for me in the end. I'm a cup half full sort of bloke, though, and predict that mebbe the wheel will turn full circle and that party-based, sand-boxy games will come back into fashion. Until then there are lots of other games to get into or re-play.

I've been unable to finish Awakenings, I was hit by a Greater Meh spell and just uninstalled it.

Mellisan would've been down to Dave Gaider, right?

LOL a Commie Walt, that's a first. Usually they pretend to be from the Underwater Knife-Fighting Squad.

^ Not if you service them regularly, but yah a BMW isn't the cheapest car to service and maintain. However, I used to run a Volvo that on aggregate cost more because it wasn't as relaible and spent more time in the shop. Mercedes are killers for maintenance too.

Why, I read on the internet that it was the worstest game ever! So it must be true then!

^ I cry foul! Yeah, the businessman in the 'M' series or rod-hog in an X5 I agree. My ageing 5 series is basically a Volvo but with better engineering. My BMW is covered in mud, full of dents and is true to the spirit of the marque. BMW make awesomely engineered cars. If people buy them as status symbols that's their lookout. As for Audi - knobheads started buying them circa 2005 when the new radiator grille design came in. Check out the 2002-2004 Allroad Estate for performance and price - an arse wouldn't buy or drive one but it's an excellent gran tourer in the old Audi style>

I don't know about America, but... In the UK the rule of thumb is that Japanese cars a good - reliable, lots of features, value for money but lack residuals. 'Residuals' is car salesman talk for a vehicle that holds value. Japanese cars don't. My friend in the sheep-skin coat who flogs used cars tells me the car with highest residuals he's seen recently is the BMW reincarnation of the Mini. For Calax, I think he needs a reliable heap that will keep him going for a bit before he consigns it to the great junk-yard in the sky. So go Japanese, I would agree with the previous poster's suggestions. For Theslug, I say go German. The Germans make the best cars in the world. I drive older German cars (currently a 10 yr old Beemer) and always get a decent return on my outlay when I sell them or trade them in. And I use cars as tools - A - B with kids and a dog and shopping... not because I'm a car afficianado. So buy yourself a five - seven year old BMW 5-series estate and just keep it running and you won't be disappointed (this is also far more environmentally friendly than buying a Toyota Pious). I'm also a big fan of VW if you want to spend less - VWs are Audis without the price tag. Obviously, I want an Aston Martin DB5 or a Hanomag flak halftrak, but life's not like that. Cheers MC

Medieval Japan and more mandatory Steam nonsense? No thanks. Never played Empires and I was a complete TW addict. I'd like to see them step up to the plate and make an early 20th century-into-WW1 game with cavalry, trench warfare, artillery silliness, very fragile airplanes, prototype tanks, conscription as a resource and all the rest of it. The visceral juxtaposition of 19th century infantry tactics with modern mechanised warfare. The ability to win WW1 then crush Russia or vice versa (how cool would it be to manage, as a Russian faction leader, 1917 and see which way it rolls, or as an enemy take out Lenin or inject him into the enemy?). anarchists and commies would replace priest agents, spreading ideology and causing unrest. This grognard says move the franchise forward, be exciting, amaze us. Don't re-hash an old game, they did that with M:TW2 and although it's fantastic doing it again is a bit... meh.

^ Indeed. And in other news, this apple tastes quite different from that orange.

^ Sadly, you are correct.

Sarevok is much cooler than Jon Irenicus, he has a bwuahahahaha laugh, wears a big suit of black platemail and kills your stepdad after being hit with a magic missile. He has platoons of mooks trying to kill you and lives in an old graveyard in a dungeon under a city. Honestly, he's a proper D&D villain and no mistake, AND you can recruit him and use his really cheezy powaz later on. And although she's only a minor character, the Drow chick you have to work for in the Underdark in BG2 is great: sexy, completely amoral, scheming...

I doubt it. 'Brain-washing' never stopped East Germans from braving razor wire, mines, machine-guns and dogs in Berlin, did it?

My advice to the Pentagon is, this time, have a plan for what you're going to do after you pull all the statues of Kim Il Sung down. Let's get the Chinese on board and pulverize the N. Korean regime, quickly, with as little collateral damage as possible. I suspect that North Korea is the one place where the population really will, unlike Iraq, welcome the S. Korean and US armoured columns trundling beyond the 38th parallel.

Pedant's Corner - in the ad the main character has a belt of what looks like a belt of FMJ 7.62 ball link wrapped around him. Is there a machine gun in this game? If there is the ammo belt would have been cloth / fabric, unless there's also a time travel mechanic.

Hi. In my local computer games shop Alpha Protocol is shown as their 20th best-selling game in their top 20 chart. I assume that's down to pre-orders, so a game hitting the top 20 pre-release must be a good thing for the developer, right? I've not noticed this before, is it common?

I saw the Doom movie, very drunk, eating pizza. It was great, although I think the triangulation of alcohol, fast food and late night sci-fi movie is significant. Plus Rosamund Pike is very pretty and The Rock is a likeable enough action hero.

No I didn't. You'd know

Mr. Kettle, may I introduce you to Mr. Pot? Not biting. That was a D minus.

LOL, reading all this makes me realise what a load of pretentious, navel-gazing load of old bollocks this probably was.

^ Wow, I bet you're a bundle of laughs at parties. You need to live on a small, wet island off the Northwest coast of Europe.