This is part two of a three part series where Michael reviews his experiences as ConBravo. I actually didn’t get a chance to play any of the multitude of table-top games available at ConBravo. Sad but true! However, former Spellstorm organizer Dominic Amann was running a newbie table of D&D Next and let me sit in for the first hour to learn the rules and get a feel for the system...
Pathfinder Racial Archetypes
The Advanced Race Guide dropped last month, bringing a bag full of goodies to the Pathfinder roleplaying game. Asides from the obvious addition of new player races (including tieflings, aasimar, and tengu), the book introduced a slew of new racial archetypes. These archetypes are only available to single races, and many radically alter the base abilities of their corresponding class. Coupled with...
Guild Wars 2: First Impressions
There’s been a lot of huffing and puffing on the internet about Guild Wars 2. It seems all summer long message boards and blogs have been extolling the game as a revolution of its genre. The boldest of these pundits have even labeled it a World of Warcraft killer (a moniker that officially lost all meaning after it was applied to Star Wars: The Old Republic). At best these comments can be deemed...
First Impressions of DayZ
In recent weeks, the internet has been afire with blog posts and articles praising DayZ. For those of you uninitiated with the project, DayZ is a mod (currently in alpha testing) for the otherwise forgettable first-person shooter ARMA II. The mod takes the gritty military-themed game and transforms it into an even grittier online zombie survival simulator. Being a huge fan of zombie cinema, I was...
First Impressions of Tribes: Ascend
I’ve recently poured some time into the open beta of Tribes: Ascend, the latest installment in the longstanding first-person shooter franchise. When the multiplayer-only game launches later this month, it will operate under the increasingly popular free-to-play model. Developer Hi-Rez Studios hopes to recoup costs by selling weapons, classes, and other perks through an integrated cash store...