Haven't posted in weeks- I fail at the whole LJ thing. Between coursework, tv and Dragon Age I haven't had the time. The masters has been something of a system shock in terms of the workload. I went from maths, where the entire degree was based on the finals, to this, where I have 1 or 2 assessed exercises to hand in every week for the last 5 weeks of terms. They've got me writing essays- until the other week, I hadn't done one of those for over four years. It's a pretty intense schedule, but I have to say I'm loving it. I'm so interested in the material, and learning to program is a great experience. In stark contrast to my undergrad degree, I really feel like I've made the right choice with this course. It's a good feeling.
The other main cause for my LJ neglect is Dragon Age: Origins. I can't stress enough how awesome this game is. It's been billed the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2, and that's a role it fills ably. The combat, the dialogue, the setting, the humour, and especially the characters- all are pitch perfect. I've racked up about 35 hours so far, and at a guess I'm probably half way into the main storyline. It's a positively huge game and Ferelden is an amazingly fleshed out game world. The extent of the lore that the writers have created is staggering, and I'll quite happily spend ages just reading through codex entries. Bioware are the only developer I can think of who put this kind of detail in their fiction, and I'm deeply grateful for it. It makes my inner nerd very happy.
I also got Left 4 Dead 2 last week, which is huge fun. It's essentially more of the same, but it polishes the mechanics from the first game and vastly improves the level design. The storm at the end of Hard Rain really has to be played to be believed. The melee weapons are incredibly satisfying, the increased gore is hilarious and the new special Infected add much needed variety to versus mode. The only downside to the whole package is Rochelle. A lot of the fun in the first game came from the banter between the survivors, who all had great personalities. This is repeated in the sequel with Ellis, Coach and Nick but Rochelle's personality is strangely lacking. In fact, her whole characterisation is basically her Depeche Mode shirt. An odd failing on Valve's part.
Sticking with games for a little longer, I joined the uni LAN society during Fresher's Week, and last weekend my PC and I attended our first LAN. Turnout wasn't amazing- we never got more than 9 players in any one game- but I had a great time. There's something deeply satisfying about seeing the reaction of people just as your zombie begins to tear them apart. (That probably makes me a bad person, but whatever.) I played some new games, made some new friends and generally had an awesome weekend. The next one is in January, and I'm really looking forward to it.
In order to stop this entry getting out of hand, I'll just quickly summarise some other stuff that's happened since my last update:
-- Went to see Eddie Izzard. He was hilarious, as you'd expect.
-- Getting towards the end of Supernatural season 2. How was I not watching this show before? It is genius. My brother has commented that every episode can basically be summed up as: cold open - "I HUNT DEMONS!" - "MAN LOVE!" He's right, but neither of us care very much. It's so much fun.
-- Caught up to Stargate: Universe. 'Time' was a cathartic viewing experience- Chloe not only died in the episode, she died
twice. Of course, it was all rendered moot by the next episode but we still got to see an alien creature chew its way right through her. Good times. (Is anyone else watching this show? If so, do you also feel like Chloe is the worst character in the history of the world? Damn she's annoying me.)
-- Went to see The Men Who Stare At Goats. It was excellent, except that Ewan McGregor's American accent was atrocious. The whole Jedi thing threatened to become very, very meta, but they didn't get too nudge-nudge-wink-wink with it thankfully.
-- Haven't bought Modern Warfare 2 or Assassin's Creed 2 yet. Can't afford them :( Will have to wait til Christmas I guess.
-- Lastly, I have a bunch of google wave invites going spare if anyone wants one. Comment or PM me with your email if you do.