by Bret

Prototype 2 Screenies!

At first I wasn’t all that enthused about Prototype 2. Largely because P1 is just a silly gore fest.

Then I played P1 again through the grace of Steam and I must admit I have rekindled my love of the viral mash-’em-up.

As much as I normally choose plot over play, you do have to nod the head to a game with such wanton destruction; the pure glee of throwing a car at a tank and a man at a helicopter and shooting anime tendrils out of your body to impale the weak, etc, yesterday.

So I have boarded the P2 wagon of bands and thought I would share some of the release info and screenies for them what ain’t seen ’em yet.

 

Behold protagonist:

“Sgt. James Heller was a U.S. military soldier who lived in New York during the first Blacklight viral outbreak and was stationed in the Middle East during the second outbreak.  His wife, Colette, and  daughter, Maya, were caught in the initial outbreak and killed.  Since Blackwatch claims that Alex Mercer caused the outbreak, Heller signed up for patrols in the severely infected Red Zone, hoping for a chance to find Mercer and avenge his beloved family.

Heller has military training.  Before he lost his family, Heller had a joyful life.  His relationships with Colette and Amaya were close and loving.  When they were killed, Heller became a man transformed: he grew grim, rude, and impatient — a dark shadow of his earlier personality.  Even so, he is kinder and more sympathetic than Alex Mercer.  Heller’s goals rarely or even convincingly exceed his own personal desire.

At the beginning of PROTOTYPE 2, Heller eventually confronts Mercer in the Red Zone and tries to kill him, naturally without success.  Mercer, impressed with Heller’s bravery and fortitude, infects Heller with the virus for reasons yet to be understood, and now the ultimate fate of humanity desperately hangs in the balance…”
Mercer will still be ‘in’ the game, huzzah. Frankly more interested in him than Sarge. We also have Father Guerra (‘a kind-hearted badass — the classic inner-city priest who carries a sandwich for the hungry and a lead pipe for the evil.’). Everyone likes an angry priest. There’s a whole pile of other people I can’t be bothered to mention. Here is my favourite of the new enemies revealed so far:

“Flyers are a brand new phenomenon that have begun to appear in the skies over NYZ since the beginning of the second outbreak. Flyers are vulture-like monsters that spread the plague and attack anything that stands — or flies — in the open.

The origin of the Flyers has not been uncovered. Other than the Hydra, they are the only Blacklight monster that does not have a humanoid physiology. It’s possible that Flyers are city birds (pigeons, crows, starlings) that have been infected and mutated by the virus.

Flyers look like diseased vultures. They have pinkish flesh, scraggly feathers, and gnarled faces. Their wingspan is approximately two meters and they have bulk sufficient to knock a helicopter out of the sky. Their favorite attack method is to perform a high-speed dive-bomb. They mass in flocks.”

Sounds awesome. A few screenies of those in action below.

 

Tapas break!

 

Crafty baddies use a blue glow to make themselves look friendly.

 

Yes, we still have the gliding that makes no sense. Couldn't he at least morph up some bat-like wings?

 

Our birdy things looking rather sleek and cool here.

 

Bit awkward.

 

You can tell he's a badass army fella, on account of the knife.

 

There he is! Pictured here between consuming innocents.

 
[sociable]

Neil Gaiman has damn good taste…

Well, this happened on Twitter.

I made a shameless self plug of my American Gods homage to the big NG, and against all odds (the man has 1.6 mill followers!) he saw it, took time to read it and replied!

Well, I know that this isnt an accolade, or a medal, or whatever. The man is just being polite.

I also know that I hold him in very high esteem as one of my favourite authors and to have him read one of my short stories, and say something positive- is encouraging beyond words for me and a real dizzy schoolgirl moment!

Thanks, Neil, if you ever check out the site again- for inspiration and being a generally decent and nice bloke with cool hair.

Good times!

[sociable]

The Healthening – 17/02/12

Salebriations!

Yeah, so, this happened:

 

This time, I’m going to avoid imparting any more information from the BHF grimoire. I have wrapped it in chains and hidden it from human sight.

Here I stand in the second month of dieting; am I a gleaming Adonis?

No.

Actually, I haven’t made much progress in the last few weeks. There have been… slip ups.

Being left to my own devices for a couple of weekends, I gave in to my laziness and partook in not one but two takeaways, followed by a hearty calorific meal for Valentine’s Day. Frankly this is no surprise; my willpower is no endless reservoir but more like a puddle on a hot day.

Having said that, I still kept up my calorie counting. So I at least know how much I screwed up.

Gym? No. Walking? Not a lot. Yeah, it’s been one of those months.

I’m determined to get back on track, so as of today, I’m getting my routine back in line. One starts to wonder just how much of life is little more than habit and routine. The things we eat, the things we do, the times we wake and sleep and so on. Routine is effectively down to willpower, within a framework of… well, work. My hours are a floppy mess which helps not one jot, but I’m going to be taking a look at my daily comings and goings and trying to adopt a more uniform, disciplined approach. This may mean getting up before the sun reaches the yard arm, or whatever.

It ain’t all doom and/or gloom. Despite my slips, I haven’t put any weight back on; so all I’ve done is slow my progress. I just need to get back on track. It isn’t a race, after all, unless you count racing against the proverbial ticking clock of mortality.

Back to the fruit.

 

Weigh-in of shame:

Weight at week two: 15 stone, 2 pounds (212 pounds)

A loss of 12 pounds from the start of January! Not so bad, right?