^-^ GLORY TO ARSTOZKA. GLORY. v-v

This took a long time to write. Smuggling out a game review out of Arstozka is hard work.

This review may be a little robotic, I’ve only recently returned back the the land of the living from after playing Papers Please, that, and it’s my common writing style when it comes to analytical informative subjects. Hence why I found Papers Please fun. I also bring a bit of Politics into this, that’s because I’m a political person and can see and link these things. It’s an interesting way of seeing these things.

Alright. If you haven’t heard of Papers Please, you must have had your head buried in the sand living under a rock for a very long while. Papers Please is set in the style of a Soviet State that has just ended a war with its neighbours. You’re set in the fictional communist country of ‘Arstotzka’ who have just ended a 6-year war with neighbours Kolechia, and reclaiming their rightful half of Grestin. Your role in the game is a border checkpoint guard, stamping passports, checking visas and permission slips. Now. This doesn’t sound interesting; however, when you get into the game, and I mean past the first 5 days, it becomes more evident in how it works – and how fun it can be. Well, fun is in your own opinion, as there is no one definition of ‘fun’.

The Game starts off easy, having only to accept Arstotzkan nationals, then it extends to everyone with a valid passport. Later on it all gets complicated with the addition of Entry Permits, Work Permits and ID Cards. Hard enough? Well tough, the more you play, the more that happens, Data Supplements, Diplomatic Envoys, Asylum Seekers, then you have the addition of looking for Wanted Criminals, then you have to remember to press the denial reason button. It all gets complicated fairly fast, so keeping on top of it all can get hard fast, makes you want to shove your head in an ice bucket, or shut it in a fridge because you’re getting a headache. You wouldn’t be alone… Serious, I’ve gone through a box of Nurofen since starting. THE PAIN.

In the game, there are around 20 different endings, depending on how you play, so it’s not a game where you only finish one way no matter what (*Cough* Mass Effect *Cough*). You have ones where you get arrested, ones where you’re successful, ones where you run into debt, others where your whole family dies, one if you don’t let someone in, one where YOU SHOOT SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T DESERVE IT… or the one EZIC tells you to shoot. Guns. Look at the wiki if you want to spoil the whole surprise for you.

The art style is that of something slightly depressing, but that doesn’t take away from how the game is! Imagine you’re forced to work in a passport booth. You’d be very downharted and, well, blue. People go from being normal colour, to green, purple and blue, like your mind is imagining people’s faces to be different to pass the time, and feel better. Now, in the “top view” the surrounding area is very grey and bland, like a border checkpoint. When you’re looking over your finances and your family, there isn’t much there, so not much needs to be said about it – it’s a menu, deal with it. The opening titles are dominated by black and white, with grey writing and the Arstozkan national emblem. It’s a very unique style, one which I haven’t seen before in games, so it’s quite interesting. It shows the mood, air and atmosphere of the game, which is refreshing as most games now-a-days are all bright and wonderful, it gives another aspect on life. So complaing that you had to do PE or play Football (or Soccer) in the Rain, imagine you’re this bloke in a Passport Booth. Wait. I did that. OH GOD.

The music, well, that’s interesting. If you have the time, google “Papers Please Theme Tune” and start listening to it whilst reading this. Go, I honestly wont mind, it’ll add to the mood of this “Dystopian Document Thriller”. If you don’t want to bother, it’s an ochestral piece, like Durn, Durn, Durn Durn, with some violin bits in it, when you start the game up every time (You have to wait the first time, click to skip to the menu after that), the opening screen moves up to the top in tune with it, and when it eventually gets to the top, the logo moves up and down in tune with the music. It’s a wonderful addition that is impossible to miss when starting the game, and just adds to the mood in the game, it moves in an Autocratic order of the game, in order and up and down, no other. Truth be told, when you’re not in the menu or the money part of it you can’t hear the music, it’s still interesting and a fairly good tune when it comes around. Except that it makes you depressed. Very Depressed. Play happy music in the background and be less depressed. v.v

During the game, your character also grows a friendship to a Jorji Costava, who can trigger one of the endings at the end [SPOILERS SO NO.] Who has to be one of the funniest characters in a game ever, first he comes with no passport, then with a really really really crude fake one (Aa La above), then with a real passport without a ticket, and always finding problems, until he’s normal. He eventually shows himself as a drug/contraband dealer, which is interesting. But you have to allow him in. Or you get warned. Or Fined if you manage to mess up at least twice on that day. Which is hard, as it’s one of the FIRST DAYS. IT’S HARD TO SCREW UP. SO DON’T. PLEASE DON’T. #DuckLifeTips.

If you like a puzzle element, there’s an Endless mode which is unlocked by getting ending 20. It’s a code however, so a quick google search gets it (I wont mention it here because it’ll probably annoy people). It gives you 3 choices, Timed, Perfection, Endurance. Timed is how many travelers you could process in 10 minutes, with getting 5 more seconds if you detain someone, losing 30 for allowing someone wrong and a point for allowing someone correct. You need good timing for this… I lack it. Perfection, Like the man Nick Knowles says “We only pay for Perfection”… Basically, you lose when you get a citation, but your points slowly dwindle, you get 10 points for each in the first minute, 9 in the second, 8 in the third etc, and 1 point for each detained. Endurace (I lack it, urm. I can’t run too long…) is one which you play until your points balances goes to 0 or negative, with one point for each allowed in, 2 for detaining and -5 x the amount of citations for, well, getting citations. These modes are good for those who don’t like following story lines, want a quick/long game when they want a quick fix of Dystopian passports and stamps… Or both if you’re that person. YES ADAM. YES. I’M LOOKING AT YOU.

There’s also another group which you can help, called EZIC. They end up messing you about etc, with their ‘agents’ not having the correct paper work needed, so helping them can be both controversial and could end it badly or well. I wont say no more about that. Spoliers y’know. ;D Bombs.

Before I end, lets talk about Replayability. When I mentioned 20 endings earlier, there’s your replayability. You can play it over and over and over again, doing each playthrough differently will enact a different-ish ending. You can also collect little tokens, which come from doing certain tasks that can come from not following the correct protocol (Allowing people who don’t have the required documents) or through completing smaller challenge bits. As well as that, you can upgrade your living (you start in a Class-8, highest is Class-5) so upgrading your living in one save, and not the other may weild different results. As well, you have to keep your family alive, keeping them all alive in one save, but then letting some/most/all of them die in another will end much differently. So playing in different styles reaps different rewards… or death. Read into that what you will! Except if you like death, you crazy crazy person. (Annoyingly that’s another one of my friends)…

Ok, TL;DR.
Papers Please wont necessarily be everyone’s cup o’ tea. But don’t just write it off because of it’s nature of stamping passports and looking at slips (like this review, slightly boring but interesting), but it’s very interesting and can be very fun… If you put your head to it and don’t give up by Day 21. The music and art are very unique, but are designed for the style of game. Lots of Blue, black and grey, and autocracy is a repeating theme in this Dystopian Document Thriller. You can play it in many different ways and It’s one of those ‘just one more’ games. I like this game, possibly to do with the fact I’m a referee and some obsessive freak where rules must be kept. My parents describe me as being born with a clipboard. So if you’re like that… This is for you!… ¬.¬
It’s a very interesting and good game, and at only £6.99/$9.99, pick it up now! Because it’s cheap and supports those that aren’t huge and aren’t massive and probably live in a flat down your road and don’t know it! You can help these people.

I’ll give this 4/5.

Keep gaming people. -Duck Out.

Alright, now for the reasons for a hiatus which I never told you I was going to have. Why? I’ve been running #DMSC (linking broke – http://www.dmsc.tv). A small charity organisation, where we play video games (now in a LAN environment) for Charity. Yes, this sounds simple, but I’m already planning for the next one (December 2014). Why? Because it’s an event that deserves the attention that I’m giving it. It’s a huge event that’s horrendous to manage overall, but it’s amazing and fun and Video Games are brilliant. Let’s Keep an eye on it.

The other reason, is that I honestly didn’t have the time to write. That’s another big reason.

Ah well, we’ll keep at this.

Keep Flatcapping guys,

-Michael Moriarty

Welcome to FlatcapGaming.

We’re an eSports team that plans to take part in a mass of leagues and events.

Let’s have some history…

In July 2012, CollaboratedCinema was starting to take off… slowly… So, with me and a friend, we formed CollaboratedGaming (CC:G). Originally, this was the team that was to represent CC in eSport competitions. However, that idea never took off and it was left to basically, well, rot. It was left in a cupboard. Thrown under the stairs like an old rug or something. I had plans to re-launch CC:G but I was like, sod it. Let’s leave the guise of CollaboratedCinema. Let’s go our own way, but keep the history. We’re still the same team, but we’ve gone through a period of re-branding. Because, hell, we needed it.

To hell with a clunky name. Lets go new, fresh re-branded.

We’re FlatcapGaming. Pleasure to meet you.

After careful deliberation with friends of mine who know how computers work, I have come to this! I believe I have a new, and good selection of parts that should be good for gaming. It also comes with two free games! NOW FOR THE NEW LIST OF PARTS!

• AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.40GHz Quad Core Processor (This CPU still provides good power, it is still reliable! Quad-Core is a good enough amount of cores too!)
• GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro-ATX Motherboard
• 8GB (2x4GB) RAM
• 1TB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive (Seagate are renouned for their HDDs, so their choice was easy! Also it’s an upgrade from 500GB, so you can store more games on your device)
• AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB Graphics Card (The HD7770 is an upgrade from the previous)
• 650W Cooler Master GX 80Plus Bronze PSU
• LiteOn 24x Internal SATA DVD RW Drive (Blu-Ray can be added for extra)
• ARIAnet Knight Black Midi Tower Case

This computer will also come to a cheaper price! Drum-roll please…

£380 (+ OS + Shipping)

Any questions + responses please use the new Form below, It will really help me out when finalising the final details!

Cheers, Michael.

Say hello to Compuduck’s first and newest computer – The Duck 1.

Now, as it’s myself here running it, we aren’t the most professional, but we do offer great service. After Microsoft announced the Xbox One, I said to myself…

I bet I could make a better computer cheaper

And you know, I was right. These computers will be unique, each with their own serial number (D1-xxxx) which gives you the piece of mind that out there, there will be no one computer exactly the same as yours. It will also come with all the necessary documents that would help with your computer. (Manuals, discs etc)

I, Michael Moriarty, know how to build a computer, and it is a fun thing to do. As well as this, we encourage you to make changes to your device and make it your own. These may include the replacement of a CPU, or adding more Graphics cards. It is literally that simple.

As I employ the wonderfulness of small companies and the trust that must be brought between them and their customers, we offer a 6-month guarantee. This will cover any problems from the first 6 months of buying. An extended warranty up to a year can be bought for an extra price if you see fit.

Specs wise, it looks a little like this:

• AMD (Piledriver) FX-8320 3.50GHz 8-Core Processor
• Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P 760G DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard
• ARIAnet Radeon HD 6670 2GB
• 500GB Hitachi Travelstar SATA II 2.5″ HDD
• LiteOn IHOS104 4x SATA Internal BluRay BD-ROM Drive
• 650W Cooler Master GX 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply
• ARIAnet Knight Black Midi Tower Case

What’s great about me being small, is that any of these can be changed for a price. What is also good, is that I offer a selection of Operating Systems. On it’s own, this doesn’t come with one, but for an extra price, a version of these OS’ can be put on.

• Windows 7 Home Premium (+£70)
• Windows 7 Professional (+£101)
• Windows 7 Ultimate (+£175)
• Windows 8 (+£69)
• Windows 8 Pro (+£105)
• Linux Ubuntu (Warning, this OS doesn’t work with most software on PCs, I wouldn’t advise using this) (FREE)
• No OS (Standard)

So, overall, How much does this machine cost?
£390 (+ OS + Shipping Costs)

It hits the mark of any Mid-Range Gaming PC, and is much cheaper than the XBOX One.

So, now here’s what I need.

I need something to gauge the interest of the general Public, so if you’re interested or not, please fill out this form.

Cheers,
-Michael “Duck” Moriarty-

A couple weeks back, LH released the first review. Now, I’m writing up more, but we’ve hit a problem.

We’ve run out of things to review, that, and I’m nearly out of cash. In a couple of days time, I’m buying a new CPU. When I’ve done that - there will be new game reviews out. By the time the new computer is up and running, which shouldn’t be too long, EXPECT SIMCITY, and a review of the CPU it self!

So yeah, see you when that happens. But, next week, we should have a review up of Arena.XLSM. So yeah, expect Excel based gameplay then!

See ya’ll later!

-Michael Moriarty

This is how it will work, I’ll show a picture of what it says on a Digital Distribution Site and then talk on the review.

What does the Steam information box say?

I’m slightly late with the release of this review! But whatever. We’ll continue.

So. This is the latest in the Football Manager series, which originally started as Championship Manager. At the beginning of this year’s version, everyone complained about the quality of the Match Engine. Which, I had a problem with as well. It was slightly annoying, having a goalkeeper throw the ball into his net after catching it didn’t help me out. Playing on the 2D version seemed to fix the problem, that did throw you back to 2008 – the last version without 2D. They released an update which seemed to fix it, but, it was too late for some. With some playing the 2012 version again. Though, they slowly trickled back, returning to the new version. Player made Data updates also returned for the game – which I use in my game – make the game more fun as well. Whilst writing this, I was watching an episode of Football Manager (which uses a data update) by WorkTheSpace where his goalkeeper makes one of those dodgy moves, attempting to save, and completely missing it past his head. Yeah, they haven’t totally fixed the Match Engine. They decided to totally re-write the ME for this year’s version, which hasn’t seemed to be a good idea…

The Press Conferences have remained the same! Again! This is slightly annoying as it gets repetitive and as such not too realistic. I play FM for some realism, hell, I’ve got stuff to change the name of the leagues!

Network games are much easier this year. With the addition of the Versus tournament options it works well to pit your team against others. Though, this is a buggy part, where on our FM Forum we’ve had problems with it crashing so people couldn’t play their game, and as such losing interest in it. Though, it’s a nice addition to the game, it could’ve been polished. This is an area which I hope Miles and the team fix up before FM14.

In my game, I started as a former Semi-Professional Footballer, as manager of Sutton United. I got sacked halfway through the season, and ended up going to the american team, Atlanta Silverbacks. They’re a team in the North American Soccer League, who was relegated to the USL Pro. This can’t happen in real life however, it’s a Database edit from a friend of mine – Matthew “Foxo” Fox – who has been doing it for a fair few of the games. Now, I took this team from the USL Pro, and to the MLS – winning all the leagues on the way, and 4 cups. In the last season, I won the CONCACAF Champions League, like the normal Champions League, but, well, Mostly dominated by Mexican teams.

Yes, the Silverbacks have never won anything before. All those trophies are mine.

So, all around, apart from the ME shenanigans, it’s a fairly solid game. Editing the database to add new leagues/yourself is still as good as it’s ever been, and the game is addicting as ever. It’s my most played game on Steam with 318 hours played (at this point, it’ll obviously be more by the time of FM14) it shows you there. The depth of scouting and the game’s habit of predicting player’s futures remains to be seen – Hell, if you saw Lewandowski at the Euros, people put bets on his goals, and got them right, because of Football Manager. This year seems to show Neymar being good, but it’s remaining to be seen, as we’re not there yet.

So, lets get to the rating for this year’s game!

Pros: Addicting as ever, fun to see players grow in your team when stealing them from European sides when in America, Youth Prospects aren’t always overrated with usually one or two good players. Addition of Network Play being linked to Steam (after being part of Steam since FM09) was a nice one too!

Cons: The Match Engine shenanigans at the beginning! Current small ME problems and the Press Conferences haven’t changed since introduced in the 2009 version, apart from the addition of tones of voice, they need to change. Also, an Un-Polished Network mode doesn’t help the game either

Now for the hat rating – Yes, everything is rated in hats for this blog. Drum-roll please….

4 and a Half hat rating

With a rating of 4.5 Hats, you can’t really complain.

Alright, that’s the end of the First Review. Thanks for reading

-Michael Moriarty-

Links:

TheAwayStand FM Forum - Foxo’s Database releases - My career thread on TAS

FM13 Steam Page

Now, if you follow me on Twitter (Which you probably do) then you would’ve noticed that I passed.

I’m currently a “FA Level 9 Referee”, which basically means “Active Trainee Referee” (During the course I was L10, which is Non-Active Trainee). Now, I have to embark on getting my kit delivered, and having to do 6 matches. After the 6 matches I will become a Level 8 Youth Referee. These will have to be Youth matches as I’m not 16 (The age where you can referee open age matches). When I turn that age of 16 I will be a Level 7 Junior Referee. When I’m at that level, assuming I’m still doing it then, I will attempt a “Double-Jump” – Putting me up to Level 5. The year after I will go for a Level 4, and then make steady progress from there.

Oh, I get paid for this.

So, see y’all next time friends.

-Michael M-

A Referee.