Review - Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

Wow, how long has it been since I've posted anything on this blog? Over a year? It feels like a lot has happened since I've stopped regularly blogging, but it really didn't. I've been busy working 6 days a week, 9 hours a day for most of the past 3 years now, leaving me very little time to enjoy anything else in life. During what free time I did have though, half of it was spent playing Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin with my friends, and here is my review for the game.

Keep in mind that this is my first Dark Souls game and I have very little knowledge about Dark Souls I or the original Dark Souls II. With that said, let's get down to business.

Journal of a Busy Person. Boring stuff.

Well, it turns out that this work schedule is too much for me to keep up with the blog. It's unfortunate, but I hardly have the free time to plan a post in an environment where I can think without distractions. I wish someone would either get some better taste in music or learn to use headphones... Instead, I have implemented Raptr and my Twitter feed on the side as a pseudo-update to the site. It isn't much, but at least there will be something new to see on the site until I finish moving to the new house.

Also, I have to say, Steam's Summer Sale this year was pretty neat, but I ended up only buying 3 games and a soundtrack. Regardless, I was able to complete the badge via collecting all the Trading Cards for the Summer Sale. I have to say, it's a neat system, and I'm pretty interested in collecting more cards now. There's a good chance that you'll be seeing games that gives cards in my Raptr feed for a while because of it.

Speaking of trading cards, I'm surprised to see that my Dark Summoner Monster Giveaway isn't taking off. I've only given out 3 monsters so far. The previous three giveaways I did were a success, but things have changed. I also want to know why Dark Summoner wants to limit our trades with Trade Tickets or whatever. I may not be able to do any more giveaways if gifting monsters continues to cost tickets to do.

That's all I can post here for now, and I'd like to do a progress report on my games again, since I haven't done one in forever. I feel the need to talk about Project X Zone some, and all these Steam games that I'll be playing will have some details I'm sure.

Awesome Deals - Defense Grid: The Awakening for Free

I just got word that Defense Grid: The Awakening on Steam can be downloaded for free (legally) through an activation code you can get off of Facebook, by Logitech. I tried it out, and the activation code certainly did give me a copy of the game, so I'm sharing the info to you guys too. I'm not sure how long this deal will last though, so if you're interested in getting a $10 game for free, give it a shot. You just need to "Like" Logitech and Defense Grid. You can get to the Facebook page through the link on this page.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/95948/logitech-defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-digital-download

Thanks, Logitech!

Steam Summer Sale 2012!

Oh snap, Steam's Summer Sale has begun, and there are so many things on sale now! If you haven't seen some of my reviews for Steam games, particularly Terraria, Sequence, Just Cause 2, Gyromancer, Duke Nukem Forever, and Space Pirates And Zombies, now may be a good time to check them out, in case you find some of these at the best sale prices that you would find them in. I had plans on doing a review for Beat Hazard, Recettear, Chantelise, Bastion, Gratuitous Space Battles, Trine, and more, but it seems my schedule has been too busy for that at the moment.

It seems like they will put games up on even greater sales every 8 hours or so, and by community vote as well on what game should go on sale. Hooray for democracy? Well, if you see a game that you want, might as well vote for it to go on sale. Maybe it'll get that nice 75% off discount within a few hours after voting. If your wishlist is a decent size, you'll surely want to be keeping an eye on Steam until July 22nd, when the sale ends.

Well, I know when I'll be doing another Backlog Update post.

Edit: Well, it seems like Steam has also just added an achievement system for this sale as well, although a bit more community-based than it is about collecting newly added achievements within some Steam games. For all those achievement-hunters out there, some of these might be some easy things you can do to add more bragging rights to your Steam account. You can find the details on the right side, right below the poll for what game should go on sale next. 

Review - Duke Nukem Forever

Before I really get into the review, let me say that I am new to the Duke Nukem series. The early day FPS games like DOOM and such never had an appeal to me as a kid. Maybe it was the choppy looking 3D graphics; particularly the ugly, blocky textures and the enemies not blending in well with the background because they're still sprites instead of 3D models. Whatever the case, I never played any of the games before, so that makes me a new Duke player.

On top of that, there are already plenty of reviews out there since the game's incredibly delayed launch. I wasn't too interested then, and I definitely wasn't expecting much when I saw and bought this game for $5 from Steam. A lot of it was curiosity that got me to pick it up, as well as the huge, -75% off discount too. Having played through the campaign, how did I feel about the game?*

Conveniently enough, just as I write this review, Steam just put this game up for another -75% off discount again. See if you like what you'll read here and decide for yourself if this game is worth $5... provided it runs on your PC, of course.

* This review is based on my experience with the PC version of this game.

Failure - Nice Joke

So I've had a pretty rough start this year with the blog. I got distracted by other activities, mostly not even for my own personal benefit either, to post as regularly as I would have. On top of all that, it turns out that I can't seem to gain access to the list of people who has "liked" The Code from the Facebook Like button either. Add to that, how little the number of participants were for the Giveaway event, that I am going to be cancelling the raffle.

Don't worry, if you're still interested in the coupons that I have, please just leave a comment with your Steam Username, and then contact me on Steam. If you search "Locke Trufeld", you should be able to find me. If not, try this link.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198014161807

Of course, this means that now the coupons are first come, first serve, so don't miss out on a nice opportunity to save some money on games.

Initial Look at the Gamepad

So I've been trying out the gamepad that I got for Christmas, The Logitech Gamepad F310, and wanted to give a little details on the first impression I got from using it. Any console gamer would know the importance of a good gaming controller for playing games, especially in a competitive situation, where it is "somewhat agreeable" on blaming a loss or a missed input on the bad controller. Believe me, I've been there, when playing games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, and there's that one ghetto controller for the 4th player that's all worn out and/or a third-party controller. Whether if the controller really is defective or simply been roughly handled, it certainly can make a difference to your performance. So how does this gamepad compare to both the keyboard + mouse for PC gaming, and how it feels next to a PS3 controller?

Steam Coupon Giveaway!

Here's the first Giveaway event of the Code of Truth, and there will be as many winners as supplies of the Steam coupons I got from the Great Gift Pile event. What you do with them is up to you, whether if you want to use them, or trade them off on Steam or the likes. Just keep in mind that the coupons expire in March 1st of 2012, and are only applicable on Steam.

New Year's Code

Happy New Years, and welcome to 2012!

Now, I'm not too big on setting New Year's Resolutions, and my resolution for 2011 didn't get accomplished either, which was to find a job and to have some spending money for this year. It's unfortunate, and kind of ridiculous that I can't even get a low paying job at a fast food restaurant around here in Florida. While I will still be carrying on last year's resolution into this year, I am also making a new resolution for this year as well. Or perhaps a New Year's Code, as this year's resolution is to work a lot more on this blog; from making more graphics, writing more reviews, and other things to have a long-term appeal to current and new readers alike. But first, need to clean up after myself from 2011. Here are the poll results that have been long overdue.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is such a fun time. Getting together with family and friends and opening presents, and hang out with all our new stuff. o_o Cause that's what I totally did on Christmas. And of course, I thought it was appropriate for me to list all the new stuff I got this year, starting with things that weren't on my wishlist, followed by things that were on my wishlist, and... some more lists on the way on my blog after this post.

Steam - The Great Gift Pile

I... wanted to talk about Steam's big Holiday sale event that I was looking forward to, now that it's finally here, but, as I type this up, seems like the amount of traffic that they were getting crashed the server or something.

Anyway, it's a similar event like the Summer Camp event we had during the summer this year, and the other event like that last year, which I don't quite remember in detail now, but had lots of fun buying games at great discounts and getting custom achievements for this event that unlocks more content for you and such. I think it was the Great Treasure Hunt or something, and I managed to get the Treasure Hat on Team Fortress 2.

Not sure if there's any DLC or hats this time around with this event, but the grand prize for the Great Gift Pile seems to be ALL THE GAMES ON STEAM. >_>;;; No one's ever going to be able to play through all of the games that Steam has to offer... LoL. Other winners will win games in their wishlist, or the Valve Complete Pack it seems. Whichever the case, why say no to free games? You may even find a game you want at the best discount prices you'll see on Steam for a good, long time too, most likely. We're talking lots of 50%, 75%, and 90% off discount prices. Mostly 75% off, from what I'm seeing. You should just check it out if you're interested in some PC games... if the site will work for you. x_o;