Monte Carlo

Rogue. Fair enough, I like that class. But why is the new PHB 75 US$??? What does it do, make the coffee or something? Dispense beer? The more I see when I lift up the corner of the D&D website, the more I reckon people need to go out an play Pathfinder. Cheers MC

Enoch, 300 is all about Myth, a battle as told around campfires by people who knew someone who knew someone who knew someone there. I can understand why people loathe it, but personally I thought it was stylish, visceral and interesting. From a historical perspective, it's also one of the most important battles in history: if you wanted to play a counter-factual around what would have happened if Xerxes' army had won... Right, another movie review: Pineapple Express I liked Knocked-Up, where Seth Rogan was a breath of fresh air. I liked his dumb cop in Superbad. He tries to push this persona a bit too far in Pineapple Express. The plot? Slacker process-server Seth Rogan and his dope dealer buddy get involved in a feud between rival drugs gangs. The comedy potential is obvious but unfortunately the movie is about as funny as an afternoon locked in a secure unit. Why? It's self-regarding, lazy and has no discernible plot. Rogan's lovable wise-cracking slacker meme is wearing dangerously thin - in this movie he isn't as funny or as talented as he seems to think he is (his names are all over the credits, which at least suggests that he is prepared to take responsibility for this car-wreck of a movie). Watching this, I was reminded why Cheech and Chong aren't funny (when the entire comedic narrative is 'WE ARE STONED. AGAIN.' you know you're losing) and why Clerks is (and, boy, do these guys want to achieve Clerks, or even Swingers levels of indie comic hipness). To give you an idea of how bad this movie was, ten minutes before the end, when there's a mildly amusing attempt at referencing the 'You Only Live Twice' ninja assault, I sighed and went and did the washing up instead. I'm not even giving this movie a rating. Maybe it wasn't aimed at me. Cheers MC

Tactics' most annoying feature was collateral burst damage to your squad members. Apart from that it was although CGs point about the later level design is well made.

OK, I didn't make myself clear - I'm bored, mightily, of superheroes. Especially Marvel superheroes. I wish Hollywood could give it a rest for a couple of years. Cheers MC

From this article in the Times newspaper (UK).

Gadzooks I'm bored of comic book movie adaptations. Yawn.

People slam ToB, and yes some of it was rushed (particularly art assets). However, it was a big, crunchy expansion pack, good value for money and Watcher's Keep is good fun. I like the protracted boss battles, hack and slash and OTT loot. Fully modded with Ascension / Redemption (cheers, Dave) it's a good end to the series. I've usually got a few BG2 save games on my 'puter... my latest has just seen my Ftr/Thf leave the Underdark and I'm looking forward to WK (haven't played it in ages, only remember a few bits of it). Hmmm..... I might go play again. My other games in progress are MTW2 (which ain't on Steam ) and SoZ. Still can't get my SoZ party right, it's bugging me. Cheers MC

Without de-railing us into firearms geekery, most practitioners will tell you that a modern 9mm pistol is a 9mm pistol is a 9mm pistol (I know someone is going to point out that the action on this pistol is superior to the action on that pistol yadda yadda but really, it's a RPG, what's the point?). I think a blend of different eras to represent calibres and respective stopping power is fine, but you only need a few weapons to do that: Example: .38 revolvers (generic) WW2 era automatics (with all sorts of calibres from .45 to 9mm but not as polished and maybe slower on the action point front) Modern 9mm pistols (fast and reliable with better access to peripherals - i.e. you can't plug a laser sight onto your WW2 Walther) Monster pistols (Your auto-Magnums and Desert Eagles) Then add to the equation ammo (i.e. Glasers / AP / dum-dums / frangible etc) What would be cool, however, is to concentrate more on skills. The handgun skill tree might look like this (bear with me, it goes from gritty realism to John Woo freak-out) Entry Level - Basic handgun awareness (i.e. you can shoot without penalties) Specialism - Weaver / basic instruction (increases accuracy) Specialism +1 - Close Quarters training (as above but fire on the move) Specialism +2 Advanced CQ training (as above but increase rate of fire / accuracy quotient) Specialism +2a / b / c (environmentally specific - i.e. sense of direction bonus in low light, urban combat training etc) Specialism +3 Akimbo / advanced Ninja stuff (You know the kids'll love it, what about that bullet curving trick from Wanted?) So, a few basic types of guns, some cool peripherals like sights and different ammo and a menu of skillz = firearms coolness. Maybe not hyper-realism, but something a bit more immersive and three dimensional. Cheers MC

Am displaying epic self-discipline and cool judgement. Have other games on the go, so am waiting to pick this up when it's patched, cheaper, de-Steamed and modded to fix the AI in the way only the hardcore TW modders can. It's not easy, but (grits teeth) it's the only way to fly. Cheers MC

^ Yeah, I built a warlock this afternoon and I have to say it's the spellcaster for people who don't really like spellcasters. He can even wear armour. The others are: Human Bbn/Brd/Rog (all even levels, I know it's strange but he really can do everything and is a marvellous overland map leader, we are pinging bonuses and treasure all over the place) Elven vanilla Cleric (he's got a longbow and luck and war domains, good backup tank / archer) Human vanilla Ftr (she's just a greatsword-wielding tank, but essential in such a combat heavy game)

I thought it might help to point out that the rest of the party is: Tiefling Ranger / Rogue Aasimar Cleric (aiming for Warpriest) Human Fighter (aiming for Divine Champion of Tempus) I'll probably be starting again, as the Tiefling is surprisingly frail in combat, as is the single-class cleric. Probably ECL, I usually avoid subraces with ECL for this reason.

Hello. I'm not a fan of arcane spellcasters, I sort of take them along grudgingly because you need them in higher level D&D. I've noticed, however, that in NWN2 this isn't as acute as it used to be. However, I do need an arcane spellcaster of sorts to: 1. Cast offensive magic (duh) 2. Craft items (for the first time ever I've found a crafting system in a game I like) 3. Provide meaningful combat support for when the spells run out I've tried a sorcerer / red dragon disciple (got him up to level 7) but just got bored of his general crappiness and fragility. Should I be going for an arcane archer or a warrior / bard build? Any ideas would be great. Lastly, I know SoZ has taken a bit of flak on this board, but FWIW I really like it because (drum roll)... it's fun. Am particularly loving the overland map, trading, abbreviated parly / merchant system and that there are loads of easter eggs on the map. I also appreciate the optimization, it runs as smooth as silk with every option cranked up to the max. So, cheers Obsidian.

Anything Victorian sucks. Hmmm. No. Look up the old 2000AD comic book story Nemesis The Warlock, where a race of aliens is heavily influenced, cargo cult style, by media images of Victoriana and Empire. It's a treat and it might even change your mind. Alternatively, try one of George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman novels. Cheers MC

^ I know, I took one look at one of those power-gaming character-building websites and got a nosebleed. Not that I dislike powergaming, it's just that I much prefer lazy powergaming. This is why Sawyer's core class hardcore approach has my approval. I'm currently going with a Human Ranger / Rogue (no PrC planned), an Aasimar single-class Cleric (PrC Warpriest), an Elf Ftr / Wiz (PrC Arcane Archer) and a Dwarf Ftr / Bbn (no PrC). For some reason it just isn't working for me. I'm tempted to make four Gray Orc barbarians and simply smash my way through the thing instead. Cheers MC

Storm of Zehir, trying to figure out the right party. There's too much choice. I think I might be radical and go for Fighter, Mage, Cleric & Thief. A concept so radical it might actually rip a hole in the space / time continuum. Cheers MC

OK, so I saw Rocknrolla last night. Genre: Typical Guy Ritchie London crime caper Monte Score: 7.5/10 Best comedy villains: The two bondage-loving Russian ex-commandos who spend a lot of time comparing scars I have to open this short review by admitting that I am a big fan of both Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Ritchie drives a lot of people up the wall with his alleged adulation of London's criminal classes, which I can see, but I view him as the bastard offspring of the Ealing comedies, Carry On movies and hard-arsed 1970's crime drama. Rocknrolla is already a period piece: it opens during the climax of the London property boom (i.e. the summer of 2007) where Lennie, a London gangster is embroiled in a number of planning scams for crooked property developers. People laughed at this when the movie was launched on D-Day +1 of the property crash, but if you were living in London in late 2007 you'd recognise the sleezy aura of money and greed is simply indicative of it's time. So it's no biggie. The plot concerns Russian kleptocrats, small-time villains, a washed-up junkie pop star who happens to be Lennie's stepson (a roman a clef I suspect, because he's a bit like Pete Doherty) and a beautiful accountant (Thandie Newton) with too much time on her hands and terminal ennui. There's also a classic Maguffin (a Russian icon) that is clearly trying to compete with Marcellus Wallace's mysterious briefcase from Pulp Fiction. Gerard Butler is one of the small time villains. I like him, he's an easy to watch screen presence although I expect him to scream SPARTA! at any second and run around in his swimming trunks. He gets involved in two robberies. There's also a subplot about who's informing for the police, the aforementioned Russian ex-commando hitmen and one of the wittiest sex scenes I've ever seen in a film (it's completely chaste). Is it ground-breaking or astonishingly original? No. It's actually less stylised than either of his two previous London crime movies, except for some obvious Tarantino-esque genuflection. Is it a well-made, stylish movie that does exactly what it says on the tin with a superb cast of character actors? Hell, yes, and for this alone it comes recommended. Cheers MC

^ Converting folks to your religion improves public order in that province. It's far from useless. Well, that's how it worked in all the other games. Saw this game in the shops today and it's the first TW title I didn't swoop on and buy. Why? Like I said, the historical period doesn't fire my imagination and (more importantly) I really really resent having to download Steam to install it. If I buy a hard copy of a game from a shop I expect to be able to play it out of the box, period. This creeping online control of digital media by the producers is wrong. Cheers MC

I remember one of the climactic battles of XCOM: Enemy Unknown where my victory was largely due to the Stormtrooper-like marksmanship skillz of the aliens, who kept shooting each other. Doom is another classic. Open door, room full of zombies and demons, fire gun, run away. Go back to room and enjoy the carnage as they all frag each other in their hurry to get you. Cheers MC

Under Siege was awesome. That's the only Seagal film I can remember enjoying. I like Chuck Norris, but only because I'm scared of him. Cheers MC

I don't think Troika would ever have been capable of making a genuinely successful mainstream game. Their vision of what they wanted to do was so strong, it morphed into arrogance. I've played two out of three of their releases (Vampires? Meh). Both of them were deeply flawed, ToEE could have been great but wasn't. That makes their failure even more acute. Having said that, it's not like I wish them any ill, in fact IIRC they're all doing pretty well working elsewhere. You might be the greatest games design genius in the world; it clearly doesn't mean that you're going to be able to run a successful development company. As a customer, my view of Troika was that they weren't really interested in engaging with fans in a meaningful way (which I know is probably hard work, but it pays dividends), their products were buggy and rushed and in the case of TOEE, the relationship with Atari seemed, ahem, difficult. Cheers MC

^ Although I love action movies, including pulp action movies, I've never been able to get into martial arts movies. Except Jackie Chan, who is completely brilliant on a number of levels. BTW, this week I'm going to be watching Guy Ritchie's new movie RocknRolla. Will let you know what I thought of it, although I'm biased because I like his crime capers (favourite line from a Guy Ritchie movie: Q: What's that? A: It's me Bren gun, innit? Not to mention Brad Pitt's turn in Snatch, which makes me giggle just thinking about it. As another aside, I'm seeing lots of very mixed reviews of the new Watchmen movie. When I first heard about it I thought "Er, that'll go the way of the movie Dune if they're not careful..." Cheers MC

4 Euros for an ice cream in Florence? By Odin's Raven I never suspected that was even possible! I concede that The Eternal City has it's charms, I'm sure gelato is one of them. Bread is another. However, on my forays to Italy I seldom venture that far south. Am happy that this otherwise rather dry thread has meandered so agreeably off-topic.

I've actually been to that ice cream shop in Florence (near the Ponte Vecchio I suspect). They were, indeed, delicious. However, the bill for two was eighteen euros, and that was almost four years ago. As for top hundred games designers, where's the dude who wrote 'Adventure' for the original wood-panelled Atari? Cheers MC

My post wasn't a jab at Heinlein, who is clearly a prophet. Apart from the bit with the bugs, of course. Cheers MC

Saw Babylon AD last night. Struck me as a graphic novel adaptation - a bit cyber-punk with Bladerunner overtones (aren't they all?). Turop (Vin) is a heavily tattooed skinhead who has to escort a mysterious girl and her nun-minder to New York. Straight off, I'll say that I like Vin Diesel, he's a credible movie action hero and clearly loves the genre. However, the movie suffers from some very average action scenes (shooting out the tyres of a fast-moving range rover with an MP5? No) and Michelle Yeoh (for it was she) is wasted and only gets minimal butt-kicking opportunities (which is a bit like putting Jack Black in a movie and only giving him a single smart-arse one-liner). Bizarrely, Gerad Depardieu has a cameo as a Russian gangster (who travels around in a pimped-up armoured car full of wide screen TVs), Mark Strong is a mercenary with a Duran Duran haircut and Charlotte Rampling is the high priestess of a strange cult based in New York. I liked the setting though, a sort of post-apocalyptic, dystopian Russia and all points East. To be honest, though, this movie was like somebody watched Children of Men and said 'lets make this movie for attention-deficient kids whose primary frame of reference is anything on Playstation 3.' Monte's tip? Watch Chronicles of Riddick instead, then watch the really rather good Children of Men. Unless, of course, you want to see Gerard Depardieu with modelling-clay on his nose doing a very bad Russian accent in the back of a tank. Cheers MC