One of the many benefits of gaming: re-read the title of this post.
OK, I haven't done number 1 on my to do list yet. I got my bro to download Crisis Core on PSP Go. So I'm really just biding my time. Really.

I can't start no. 11 or 12 i.e. improve Maxsurf and Rhino Skills until I get the help manual and training guide and they'll arrive on Malaysian shores by mid December. (this is such a lame excuse I know)

Usually I'm really choosy with any of the PS2 or PC games I play. I remember playing the Crusader (he was dressed all in red, looked like iron-man a bit and all we had to do was shoot people but the graphics was amazing, all the rendering was so smooth and looked real). Then I had a go at Doom but I'd always hover above the enemies and shoot them from the sky. Hey, they were really ugly looking dudes and scary to boot. Then there was Earthworm Jim which was the hardest game ever. I kept killing myself. I remember Pitfall, which had a really catchy soundtrack to it and the highlight was fighting the cheetah. A bit Tarzan-isque. And let's not forget the ultimate PC game of the 90s, DOS mode!!!: Prince of Persia. Yeah I  lost count of how many times I got killed coz of the spikes on the ground in this one.


My favorite PC game was a collaboration between EIDOS and Square Soft (now known as Square Enix). Hands down, the best Role playing game EVER MADE. C'mon take a guess now.. oh well, put us all out of our misery already ey... it's called Final Fantasy VII. The most successful series in the FF line coz of the intriguing story line and very relatable heroes (and heroines). And let's not forget the super awesome jaw-dropping computer generated images (CGI) which was beyond their time. The PC was really slow at the time and playing a 2 minute cut scene took ages. Like. Literally. AGES!!!! The 3 CD game was packed really nicely with Cloud Strife on the front cover, hefting his Buster Sword and Shinra/Midgar in the background.

 I beat ALL the weapons including Emerald Weapon. I mastered all the materias and gained all the special materias. But the one thing I didn't get was Ribbon. I still don't understand how I missed getting the greatest accessory in FF. Anyways, my favorite players were Tifa, Red XIII and Cloud. I hated Cait Sith. Min was okay with her Clear Tranquil limit break but in the end she was kind of weak (and annoying!!!! Still can't forgive her for playing that trick on me. Stole all of my materias!!!). Barret was plain unattractive and handicapped (haha, shoot me I'm a racist). Who else was there? Cid was kind of strong in the end but I didn't train him like I did for Cloud, Tifa or Nanaki. His Viper Halberd really came in handy. I could go pages and pages on FF7. Didn't hurt that Tetsuya Nomura handled the visual side of it: read: his illustrations were perfect. And of course I have the Blue-ray version of Advent Children. You kidding me?


Now to get to the point of this post: I haven't had much fun playing games since gaming God of War I and II (hands down best game in this day and age, graphics were flawless, storyline even more interesting coz of the play on Greek Mythology). And Kratos was handsome eye candy.

But hey it wasn't a walk in the park. I had to get a hang of some of his skills to kill that biatch Medusa. Turned me to stone like 16 times!!!! until I killed her. So yeah, a really great game. And then now, since I've graduated (no longer a student, holla!), I went and bought meself Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, yeah I was enchanted with Angelina Jolie in her awesome movie.

Turns out the game was developed by EIDOS. Deja vu? The storyline's got enough depth to it and the gameplay? It blew me away. I knew there was a lot of hype to the game. So I guess I knew what to expect. Not. The game's super tough! Especially if you were still figuring out how to hang onto sides of the cliff and jump from ledge to ledge. And hang from hooks (?) attached to the ceiling. It got so tough that I gave in to the temptation: I searched the walkthroughs to get past this particular stage with the giant octopus. Turned out there was this minor detail that I overlooked. But so far, this is, hands down, the best game (aside from God of War) that I've played in a long time. The only downside are the graphics. They look really bad. Horribly pixelated background. Dunno, probably coz of the new LCD TV?
I'm up to the stage where Lara's going to South Mexico to find Thor's hammer. Super awesome. She's riding a super-bike this time around. Now that's girl power.