D2

John Allyza Marie

Technews
The Outland
f the huge number of 3rd-person shooter games available, some would raw plaudits for entertainment value but only one would stand out for having its own unique quality. It may be a cool game protagonist, the unique storyline, or simply having the indescribable it that gives players crave for that makes them engage in hours of playing time. With this, the latest Red Faction in the series, Red Faction: Armageddon, come into its own. Developed by Volition Inc, the Red Faction series has built on its decade-old reputation as a game that reflects real-life physics. It has the new and improved GeoMod 2.5 as its engine and continues on and delivers mayhem and destruction upon the craggy abyss of Mars. Players assume the character of Darius Mason, grandchild of Red Faction: Guerillas protagonist, Alec Mason. The game continues with the

EVERY MONDAY July 11, 2011

It's on...Red Faction: Armageddon

f you'd like a platformer game, then Outland is one of the best out there. It's beautifully crafted with a stunning design, and has a cool gameplay. The beauty of the game goes deeper than the surface, because even the controls provide a big impact to it's beauty. The story is that of ancient heroes, mystical powers, and the decaying world in which these kinds of myths take place. Your character, along with the traps and enemies positioned all around you, is in striking neon colors. Your character will have the ability to shift your color to blue or red, depending on what the situation calls for. Sometimes you have to change colors depending on your enemy. For instance, if your enemy is blue, you have to be red

to deal out damage. When a dragon spits red bullets your way, you too must be red so you can safely absorb the bullets. Items which are blue or red can also be collected this way. Combat tools, such as an energy blast and mighty sword strike, are unnecessary additions to your inventory, although they can be lifesavers against a few of the more-challenging bosses There's also a cool multiplayer feature, which allows you to play co-op with an online friend. Things become easier and more fun that way. Although it's a little bit more challenging, and will put your color-changing ability to the test. Here, one person is given the power to change the color of both players at the same time. The game boasts of a lot of features and is very much one of the best 2D platform games on the PS3.

Developed by Volition Inc, the Red Faction series has built on its decadeold reputation as a game that reflects real-life physics. It has the new and improved GeoMod 2.5 as its engine and continues on and delivers mayhem and destruction upon the craggy abyss of Mars. Players assume the character of Darius Mason, grandchild of Red Faction: Guerillas protagonist, Alec Mason. The game continues with the colonized Mars setting.

To Find the Right Words

ometimes we know what we want to write, the sentence is phrased in our mind, but we can't figure out some of the words we need. This is where phraseup* comes in. Using a patent pending algorithm, phraseup* assists you with writing, by suggesting possible combinations to fill-in the words you can't remember. Each suggestion is accompanied by definitions, synonyms and translations to other languages. Just type the words you remember into the phraseup* box, and put an asterisk * sign where you desire something to be placed by the application. You can use more than one * in the phrase, the

colonized Mars setting. Red Faction: Armageddons story begins with Cultists threatening to blow up Mars terraformer, a facility which tames the planets harsh environment. As a fighter of the Red Faction, Darius Mason is sent to combat to eliminate the threat. But the mission goes awry, destroying the terraformer, and forcing the human colonists to live underground to escape the catastrophic weather. Years after the incident, Mason unwittingly unleashes Mars sleeping inhabitants, an alien threat bent on ridding Mars of its human inhabitants. Red Faction: Armageddon is a typical 3rd-person shooter. Players are to traverse linear levels to accomplish objectives while getting swarmed at by waves of aliens. Missions range from going to point A to point B, protecting a convoy, and devastating infested buildings. Armed with a variety of weapons to bring down both aliens and structures alike, youll never get tired of delivering and witnessing destruction. Wrecking stuff and picking crates net the player Salvage points which could be then used to upgrade Masons skills and attributes. The GeoMod 2.5 engine features no significant graphical upgrades,

but it continues the destructive glory of the series. Aside from blowing things up, Mason is equipped with the Nanoforge, which can be used to reconstruct blown objects. The physics bit is a bit weird, but the Nanoforge is a very useful feature as it helps players to go all out with the surroundings and rebuild it afterwards in order to advance. The game does not offer a competitive multiplayer versiom. As an alternative, Armageddon features a cooperative Last Stand-like mode called Infestation. Another game mode featured is the Ruin mode. This offers players a chance to wreak havoc upon the desolated areas under time limit. Basically, its a game mode to show-off GeoMod 2.5s physics and explosive grandeur. Red Faction: Armageddon is a decent game. It features all the fun in 3rd-person shooting and adds a superb amount of destruction elements in it. Sadly, the game suffers from repetitiveness and dull moments. But is then remedied by the in-game physics engine, and the creativity involved in ruining stuff. So if youre angry, serious, or just wanting to have fun, then play Armageddon and let loose your inner child. (Jose Gamaliel Felongco)

* anywhere in the sentence and all * will generally signify one to three words. After hitting the complete button, you will get a list of possible options for you to use. Chances are that you may know the word as soon as you view it. You can press on any of those words to look at definitions, synonyms and also examples of how the word might be used in a sentence. It works for idioms, proverbs and even for usual daily sentences. As a writing aid, phraseup* is for everybody. phraseup* is found to be helpful by lawyers, technical writers, teachers and students, and many more. Give phraseup* a try, what are you * for? Have Fun!

Tech behind world's amazing masterpieces

From the amazing, sweeping design of the new Cultural Centre in Azerbaijan to Turkeys massive Deriner Dam, join architect Danny Forster as he tours the globe breaking down state-of-the-art construction projects that are changing the lives of millions of people for the better in the fifth season of Discovery Channels BUILD IT BIGGER. Danny visits a different location where he drops in on an ongoing mega-project to reveal the groundbreaking ingenuity behind its construction. He breaks down the unique architectural challenges of each construction site and speaks to the architects, engineers and building crews on-site to get an inside perspective on the science, physics, and often seemingly impossible mechan-

ics behind each project. He also puts himself into their shoes and tries his hand at some of their jobs. Discover how Australia is dealing with 12 years of drought by turning to the islands only unlimited water source: the ocean. Marvel at Azerbaijans amazing transformation as

its capital, Baku, attempts to reinvent the countrys reputation by rebuilding the entire city. Witness these and other state-of-the-art architectural endeavors as Discovery Channels BUILD IT BIGGER Season 5 premieres on Discovery Channel every Thursday (10:00 p.m.)

Purchasing Gadgets in Three Words

No one can stop manufacturers and tech giants from launching one gadget to another in a span of weeks or months. As consumers, we become tempted and eventually long to have that ultimate new gadget in town. But wait! When buying a new gadget, there are three words for you scout, haggle, and wait. SCOUT. You have to look at all possible places you can reach in order to know the going rate of the item you want. However, it does not mean that the price of majority of sellers is the price you need to pay. Theres always gonna be that one store that will be exceptional. Dont stop scouting within the local market. Try the gray market. If not, go for international sellers. More often than not, they have cheaper rates. Some countries are tax-free and closer from the manufacturing country; thus, lesser cost for shipments. If youre not traveling anytime soon, go and ask favor from friends to look around electronic stores abroad. It will be very helpful for you to gauge if the item is cheaper in another country or here in the Philippines. HAGGLE. Its always a good practice to try asking for discounts from the seller. Never settle for the price given at once, especially when abroad. They usually lower down the initial price or offer you additional freebies to make it more worth it. Always remember that its not a waste of time to try. Of course, do your own math. If the freebies given will not be useful to you and will just amount to an even higher price as compared to buying them separately from the standard package, do not buy it. Be confident when you ask for price points. Sellers get the vibe if you are clueless of the product youre asking about and will tend to give you a higher price. Whether you plan to pay the item in cash or card, ask again. Some sellers give more discounts to customers paying in cold cash. In the opposite manner, several merchants would add up 2 to 3 percent of the items amount if youre going to pay via card. To reiterate, haggle once and haggle again before settling any purchase. WAIT. Unless you crave for popularity and power to be the first owner of a newly launched electronic device in the country, I suggest you wait until prices go a bit lower. If you have something to use thats similar to what youre intending to purchase, wait a few more months till the price drops

By GLENN RICHMOND ONG

Point Blank now available here

P e-Game Ventures Inc., together with XPlay Online Games Inc., the casual gaming subsidiary of IP e-Games, officially unveiled the commercial version of POINT BLANK Philippines, its latest free-to-play massively multiplayer online first person shooting (MMOFPS) game to its valued i-Caf partners and card distributors. Developed by Korea-based game developer Zepetto, POINT BLANK is currently among the top online game titles worldwide. At present, the game is the top online game in Indonesia and Thailand, with 100,000 and 35,000 CCUs (concurrent users), respectively, as well as being the top title of its genre in Russia. In addition, this online FPS also has a significant foothold in major gaming markets in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. POINT BLANK Philippines started its closed beta testing this May 2011. It quickly became the hottest online FPS game today

and garnered more than 1 million local unique users since it started. Enrique Y. Gonzalez, President and Chief Executive Officer of IP e-Games said that POINT BLANK's success in the Philippines has been phenomenal. The response from gamers has been overwhelming. POINT BLANK already ranks amongst the top 5 games in the Country in terms of Concurrent Users (ccu), and has become the #1 FPS game in terms of CCU(s). We are committed to the long-term success of Point Blank in the Philippines, Gonzalez said. Members of the Malabon, Navotas Caf Owners Association (MANACOA), the Valenzuela Internet Caf Association (VICA), the Internet Caf Association of Marikina (ICAM), the Unified Lanshop Owners Portal (ULOP) together with Ellana Enterprises, Unimiz Tradesales Inc., Asizone Computer Center and thirty (30) of the biggest prepaid card and electronic pin distributors gathered today to show their support for the game.

a bit. Remember the iPad 2 experience in the Philippines? Many people thought our country wont have first dibs on the Apple product. After buying them at Greenhills for a steep price point, what a heartache it is to know that itll later on be officially launched here at a much lower price. Aside from the price, waiting can be beneficial to be able to get more consumer reviews from fellow techies and online junkies. Who knows, it might end up saving your wallet from buying a useless or non-worthy gadget. All these tips were useful from a recent experience of purchasing a new digital camera. Ive dug several online sources, as well as local, international, and gray markets before purchasing my new baby. It was an effort to jump from one store to another in Singapore, Manila and Hong Kong to haggle for the best price available. Several stores carried the same standard package and price tag, but one store stood out. After much waiting and scouting, it was all worth it. I was able to get the item with several freebies at a very affordable price. Whats your story? Email me at glenn@glennong.com or tweet @ GlennOng.