Enter the Matrix was a horrible game. "Yea... we knew that," you're probably thinking. Unfortunately I didn't back when I bought the miserable assault on human decency on the day it was released. And yet, amidst its veritable onslaught of tedium and glaringly untapped potential, I managed to find one thing, and one thing only, that almost made me think that the money I had spent was perhapse just maybe well spent; a mini-game.

I've always been fascinated by DOS. "Wait, DOS? You're supposed to be discussing some silly mini-game!" I'm getting there. Whenever I saw DOS in a window I was mesmerized by its strange abbreviations. The tiny flashing underscore seemed filled with unlimited potential. If only I knew its secret codes I could command it to do anything I wished. It was like stealing a forbidden glance at the first page of a wizard's spell book and thinking if only you understood its secret language.

The reason I mentioned the DOS thing was because Enter the Matrix managed to tap into that intermingled since of wonder and ignorance for me with a simple mini-game designed to make you think you were hacking into the Matrix through DOS. When you first loaded the game a main menu popped up like most games, but this one let you choose between the main game or an entirely separate hacker mini-game. That mini-game had me utterly hooked for hours. Constantly I was learning new code I could type in to gain secret access into new computers and networks in order to seal new information needed to continue hacking. The entire experience was freeform, and the story was only a thin varnish of bread crumbs for the persistent and observant. The game almost never told you anything explicitly; this was your experience to discover, interpret, and imagine on you own. The fact that in the end the only thing gained was some broken godmode-esq code for the main game that could have been found in about five seconds on-line hardly detracted from my since of accomplishment. The experience had been reward enough.

"Great, so you want us to go find a copy of Enter the Matrix. He's lost it. Someone go find a way to contact his next of kin; they'll want to know what hospital he's in." NO, No, no! The last thing I would ever tell you to do is buy, rent, or even waist your time to steal a copy of this turd. No, I told you that so that I could tell you this. I've rediscovered that experience I had with Enter the Matrix in grand sty-le

Ladies and gents, I introduce Uplink.

Uplink is a simulation (though I doubt a very accurate one) of what it is like to be a computer hacker (minus the 1337 and 12 year old wannabes) in the near future. It takes place entirely in a simulated Uplink OS where you can do everything from routing your IP address to bounce off of countless networks to befuddle trackers, to running password breaking programs, to reading and sending emails. The game even goes so far as to play along with the farce that YOU, yes YOU, are a rookie hacker who is using their computer (that would be the one you're reading this on) to access a secret gateway computer from which you can launch all of your nefarious activities. This farce means that when you get caught and loose the game the FEDs only find your gateway but not YOU. The game has very little story, leaving you to create your own persona and story in you head. Instead you're free to take whatever missions you want, hack any computer you like, and do anything you wish with the 'proceeds.'

I must say, that this game has been one of the most ridiculously addicting I've played in a long time. What little social life I have has suffered for it. Every mission follows the same basic routine; locate your target, bounce you IP address of as many networks as you can (preferably those you have admin access to), determine its defenses, find a way to crack those defenses and accomplish your goal before the warning timer on your little trace-tracker runs out (i.e. game over), find a weak link in the chain of computer you bounced off of to delete you logs from before your victim can use them, to track you down after the fact, and finally report your success to collect your fee. Rinse and repeat. If you're an addictive personality like myself you'll love this thing (or hate it depending on your perspective)!

The only down side is it's not free. You'll either have to buy it from the developer's web page for 10 Pounds UK (approx. $20 US) or download it through GameTap. Either way I'd say it's worth it.

Get out there and try that game! To make up for the $20 and countless hours I just cost you and your significant others next week I'll be bringing you another free-be. Have fun!

-Fade2Gray

P.S. For those of you who missed it, please give my last Addicting Games a perusal. It kind of got lost in the shuffle last week during my triple post extravaganza. It's about a game that no one should miss.

Here you are, three posts in as many days. I must have made some sort of minor impact around here 'cuz I was barely back more than a day when I was taged with the latest webernet trend. To be honest, I'm not much more of a fan of these chain games than Chilidragon seems to be, but I guess I have to pay my dues for my prolonged absence. And so, whithout further ado; Five Things You May Not Have Known About Fade2gray...

1)I can write in one of Tolkien's runic alphabets.

It's no secret to those around me that I've been a big Tolkien fan since I was in middle school, so I wasn't surprised when in my freshman year of college someone gave me a really nice high end collector's edition of The Hobbit for Christmas. A few days latter I was perusing it when I stumbled onto Tolkien's note to his readers at the beginning of the book. The letter discussed his runic alphabet and translated just enogh of it to get the ball rolling. The rest he left up to his readers to figure out by translating the writing found throughout the rest of the book. I eagerly flew through the book and had the entire alphabet translated in under a hour. Not only that, but the entire thing was almost instantly engraved into my perminant memory. Don't believe me? See if you can read this

2)I have seen every episode of Star Trek ever aired.

As Further proof that I am indeed a geek I offer up this nugget. My dad is a huge treck fan and owns every eppisode of ever series on DVD. For reasons still unclear to myself one day I asked to borrow a season, and I was hooked. The rest is pretty much history. I watched every signle DVD and then found myself whining at the end of it all about how unjust it was that Trek was off the air. I've never been to a convention, worn a uniform that I or a friend made for me, or discussed the finer points of any of the infamous Trek debates on a discussion board, but I suppose I'm still a Trekie by default now.

3)I was once run over by my own mother.

I don't know, does this make me sound like even more of a geek? Back when I must have been no older than 12 I was hanging out in the parking lot of the local elementary school. I don't know why or who I was with (though I suspect that Graphicartist21 was probably with me) but whatever we were doing got cut short when my mom showed up in her old white Ford Taurus station wagon. She told us all to get in... and most of us did. You see, I had only just open the door and steped towards the car when my mom started to drive away without me. Before I knew what was going on the back tire of the car ended up running over my foot. I was fine but my mom flew into a panic before scolding me for not getting in quicker. OK, so that was a rather anti-climactic story.

4)I've totaled a car.

A few years ago I was just starting on bachelor's at a new universit, but the drive was putting a pinch on my folks' wallet. I was still driving my parents' old Cheve Suburban gas guzler at the time and it quickly became apparent that it was going to bankrupt us in a week if I kept commuting in it. My parents decided to kill two birds with one stone by buying me an inexpensive used economy car (a toyota corolla if you wanted to know) for my birthday. A few weeks later and I was commuting home in the first huge downpore of the year. If you know anything about SoCal drivers then you know we HATE rain. People were zooming all around me on the freeway whipping up a thick soupy fog of mist and it was all I could do to keep up. I still don't remember entirely what happened next, but I do remember a wall of red lights coming at me out of the fog and feeling a complete loss of control of my vehicle. When I woke up my air bag had been deployed, my chest and hips aeched where the seatbelt was, and there was a horible ringing in my ears. I eventualy realized that my car was still running so I pulled it over to the large center medium and got out. I had rear ended a man who had himself only just avoided rearending another driver. The two of us exchanged info while we watched other drivers swearving (sometimes unsuccessfully) to avoid accidents themselves in the same spot. Eventually a fullsized van came cureaning down the freway bouncing off of cars like a pinball and didn't stop untill after it smashed into the backend of my car. If my car had been salvagable after the first accident, it clearly wasn't anymore.

5)I'm British... sort of.

I like to say that I'm 100% home grown American, but that isn't entirely acurate. Both of my folks were in the US Airforce when they married. A short while later they were stationed over seas in England. Remember that these where the days near the end of the Cold War when both sides were actively involved in a massive military buildup. A lot of that build up involved having a large and active Airforce presence in Engaland and Germany, and so that was where my folk's went. Not long after ariving my mom was pregnant with me. She stayed there with my dad a gave birth to me in '84. Because of that I have dual citizenship; I'm both a US citizen and a British subject. My dad ended up hurting his back a little over a year later so he was sent home with my mom and I. I haven't been back since, though we are planning a family vacationto England the summer after next. I guess all I have left to say is God save the Queen ya'll!

There you have it. Five juicy and bloated hidden trueths about the man that is Fade 2Gray. Have I paid my dues now?

One last thing; Arcadius and Graphicartist21, your numbers are up!

-Fade2gray

Cave Story Review

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Pros: A deep story with engaging characters that unfolds like a flower, tight controls, challenging gameplay, nostalgia for NES and SNES fans, value, good sound and art

Cons: Story and gameplay can be slow at first, final ending requires a walktrough to find, final boss is ludicrously hard, sound and art would be bellow the bar for the non-nostalgic among us.

*********************************************

Doukutsu Monogatari, a.k.a. Cave Story, by the enigmatically named Pixel is a freeware game that was released a few years back on the interweb in Japan and has since been translated by fans into English for those of us not blessed with tong of the Land of The Rising Sun. The game is fairly typical Japanese fair at first glance; you have the typical cliché amnesiac for your main character who wakes up in a cave with no idea who he is or where he's at, a town full of cuddly anamorphic rabbits with a secret, and plenty of expectably bizarre anime type art. The wheel wasn't reinvented gameplay-wise either; the entire game is a fairly straight forward side-scrolling action-adventure game in the model of games like Metroid and Castlevania where you start out defenseless and gradually discover new weapons and upgrades through exploration and advancing the story. Perhaps the most unique thing gameplay-wise are the weapons which can level up (and change in functionality) and back down as you gain and loose experience in battle.

So what makes this game so great? I mean, think about it. Why would anyone care so much about this thing that they would go out of their way to translate it in its entirety (and trust me, there was A LOT to be translated here)? The first reason would have to be the story, it's simply wonderful. Early on this game feels completely bland and even a tad predictable. The true secret to the story is the way it unfolds like a flower as you play; the story becomes a sort of reward for game-play. You'll soon find that story is actually quite engaging with characters that you'll actually begin to care about; you'll even see a few die before the end. By the time you reach that ending you'll think that you finally managed to put all the pieces together to make a satisfying whole, but you'd be wrong. This game actually has three ending, and each one adds a new and deeper layer to what's really going on inside the cave with the third and final ending being the most satisfying and difficult to achieve (the only down side being that you'll probably need a walkthrough to help you on your way to finding that third ending). Now I'll admit that one of the endings is a bit cheap (you'll be given a chance to simply walk away near the end of the game which ends the story in its tracks). That being said, you simply don't see this kind of quality storytelling in freeform games very often.

Secondly, that straight forward side-scrolling action-adventure game-play I mentioned is actually some of the best the genre has ever seen. It doesn't add a lot new to the mix, but what it does it does VERY well. This game simply oozes with polish. The controls are tight and responsive (though I would strongly suggest the use of a gamepad) which is a godsend considering how challenging the game becomes by the end. The game is clearly harkening back to the old days of gaming when beating a game truly was something to brag about and left you mentally and physically exhausted. But don't worry that you have to be some sort of gaming god to play this thing. One of the things this game gets right is the ramping of the difficulty level. You'll find yourself getting better with time so that you'll usually be ready for each successive boss fight by the time you reach it. The game doesn't hold your hand, but it doesn't intentionally try to make you fall to your knees crying "I'm not worthy" either (at least not until you find the final boss of the final ending).

Third, nostalgia. Anyone with a fond spot in the heart for the days of the NES or SNES will instantly feel right at home with this game. The art and gameplay is clearly harkening back to what many people would consider one of the great golden eras of gaming without trying to feel like too much of a retread. This game could have easily felt like it was simply lifting gameplay and ideas but surprisingly manages not to step on any toes.

Flat out, go try out this game! Perhaps it won't be you cup of tea, but what have you lost? The ting is free; F-R-E-E... FREE! I'll end simply by saying that I would gladly pay for this game, but you don't have to.

5/5

P.S. If you're curious about my Avatar he's from this game.

P.P.S. I have recently learned that there is a PSP homebrew circulating out there for this game. If you want to try and hunt it down let me know if you find it so that I can link to it.

P.P.P.S. You'll probably want to stay far way from the Wiki for this game until after you play it. They gave WAY more away about the story than they should.

-Fade2Gray

Hiddy-ho good nieghbors!

I'm still kicking, if limping while I do it! My second quarter of credentialling is over so I've got a brief break to recoop. I've been teaching at a local middle school which has been quite the experiance. I might write about it I find the energy; those preteens have a way of taking it out of you!

Anyways, I've been helping Graphicartist21 out with his game a bit lately. He set up a new forum for it and anything else gaming related if any of you are interested (yes I realize that linking to an outside forum is a little shadey, so sure me).

I'll also have a review I wrote recently for another freeware game going up here soon.

Take care all!

-Fade2Gray

Given the positive reception of my last entry I've decided to bring yet more freedom to the masses with this week's edition of Addicting Games. Today's game is, well, an entire sub-genre. "What," you say, "An entire genre!? He's gone mad! This can't be allowed! Some one stop him, please!" Calm down, calm down. It's entirely alright. The reason I've decided to focus on an entire sub-genre of games this time is because they're a relatively obscure and small group dominated almost exclusively by a single indie-developer. They're the Grow games.

Grow games are a type of puzzle game in which the player is presented with a unique game world and number of tiles each representing some object to be placed into that game world. The gameplay is divided up into turns in which the player chooses one of the available objects to be placed into the game world. After each turn all of the objects already in the world interact with one another in unexpected and imaginative ways as they literally grow. For example, a bowl may grow into a fountain, then a tall piece of architecture and finally into a 'Tomorrow Land-esq' plastic house on stilts. Most objects influence the way in which other objects grow such that the goal of every game is to place the objects into the game world in the right order so as to allow every object to grow to its maximum potential. I know this probably all sounds a little complicate, but trust me, it's actually quite simple and intuitive. There's no real punishment for failure and experimentation as you can restart with a click of the mouse. In fact, some of the failures can almost seem as entertaining as the final success. The difficulty for any of the puzzles range from a short and simple three object game that'll take no more than five minutes to solve to a fairly long and challenging twelve object game that could easily take over an hour.

Eyezmaze is pretty much the exclusive developer of this type of game. The puzzles they produce are constantly of high quality, and they all have a fun and colorful drug-induced anime look to them that always leaves you wondering what's going to happen next. Their entire presentation looks very sharp are highly polished making the entire experience fell user-friendly. Their most famous game, and probably the best representative of what a solid strait forward Grow game is, is Grow Cube. It's to their credit though that they not only virtually invented this type of puzzle game but that they often attempt to re-imagine it instead of simply churning out countless clones of Grow Cube. For example, in Grow RPG you're given the goal of creating a fantasy world around a small Link type hero as he quests through the land in an attempt to slay an evil daemon. In another game instead of giving you a list of objects that you slowly dwindle down until you reach the end you're offered two objects at the beginning of each turn which change with each round.

Eyezmaze is the undisputed king of the genre but there is at least one other game not made by Eyezmaze worthy of mention; Sand Box of God(SBG) by Vertigo Games. SBG takes the basic concepts of the Grow games and uses them to place you in the role of The Big Guy as he creates the Earth, Humanity and a race of Anamorphic Rabbits. Yes, Rabbits that can build cities and wage war with the humans. SBG does a few unique things that makes it a deeper game than the Grow games produced by Eyezmaze. First of all, you're not only placing objects like trees, water and animals into the world but also controlling natural disasters and performing miracles. Secondly, the game is divided up into Ages, each with its own set of objects and miracles to be performed that change according to what you did in the previous Age. Lastly, you have no single end goal (You are God after all so its your prerogative to decided which out come is best). Instead you're given a list of objectives to perform (such as create World Peace or Kill all Rabbits after 2nd Age) that can't all be achieved with a single run through. The game keeps track of your accomplishments after each run-through and make note of it on the objectives list so that you can easily see that you still have yet to do. For this reason alone SBG has a lot more replay value than the Grow games, which in turn may make it more addicting for many people. The only big down side to SBG is that it doesn't have the same quality of polished presentation that the Grow games have. The UI is a little muddy and most of the objects in the game look like they where drawn in MS paint, but some people may find that endearing too.

Thats it for the Addicting Games this week, but before I end this blog I wanted to finally answer Xboxrulze' challenge now that my camera has temporarily resurfaced. Well, here I am, your humble bloger...

Please feel free to PM me any fan mail. Hate mail and lawsuits due to blindness can be emailed to nosuchname@nosuchplace@no.plc

Oh, and here's an unnecessary picture of my co-host. Yes, he's a Big Daddy guarding my Imperial Septim. So what?

Lastly, For those of you who missed it last week I did a short update to my blog entry Addicting Games: Freedom! about Aquaria. If you haven't heard of it before or looked into it lately you should check it out. Thanks for reading everyone!

-Fade2Gray

I decided that this week I wanted to show you all a freeware game that could rival those to be found on shelves or Xbox Live. The problem however wasn't that I couldn't find one, but rather that I had difficulty choosing between them. There are several that I'm quite fond of, but finally I decided on the one that I felt was the most inherently addicting (when all else fails look to the series title eh?). That game is simply titled N.

N, sometimes refereed to by its tagline "The Way of the Ninja," is a simple and slickly designed 2D action puzzle flash game in which you don the role of the Ninja, a tiny ninja man with a metabolism so fast that he's capable of performing amazing physical feats. The down side to this ability is that his life span is measured in mere minutes unless he can accumulate gold, of all things, which increases his stamina. Collecting gold though is not his main objective. Instead the goal of each level is to quite simply reach the exit. Thats simpler said than done however as the exit is usually guarded by a layer of switch activated doors, machine guns, lazier turrets, hovering mines and mindless automatons. Its your job to run, jump and wall slide with exacting precision to avoid each trap, flip every switch and reach the end goal all before the clock runs out. Oh, and the timer caries over so if you only just squeak a level in under the wire, the next level will only be that much harder.

This game can be brutal. For all its simplicity the levels are expertly designed to constantly provide new challenges. In one level you be climbing up level after level crawling with motion detecting robots to reach a switch only to be forced to climb your way back down again to reach the door, in another you be leaping from one precarious rounded perch to another all under the constant gaze of a lazier turret. And during all of this you'll be trying to weigh the benefits of trying to reach that next out of the way load of gold to help ease some of the time pressure you're always under. The controls are equally simple and responsive with the traditional WASD setup and one button for jumping. The entire game simply oozes polish and its simple design combined with constantly evolving challenges (there are roughly 400-500 individual levels in the game) will likely keep anyone glued to their computer once they start playing. If you want a simple game to play between bouts of Bioshock or Halo 3 this is definitely a good option.

-Fade2Gray

Update: While I'm talking about excellent flash games I though I'd mention a particularly good looking flash game still in development called Aquaria. In short, its a free roaming Metroid ****game set in an under water fantasy land... I mean sea. No, This one wont be free. You'll probably find it running about $20 online (I'd guess somewhere like steam). I've been watching this one fairly intently and have high expectations based on what I've seen. Speaking of what I've seen, They just released a fairly long gameplay video on Youtube. Notice how good the music and voice acting is. Wow!

Update to Update: S T Y L E is a censored word!? Give me a break!

What was your first kiss? When was the first time you fell in love? When was it that you first found your thoughts consumed with the desire to return with open arms to the object of your passion? Don't lie to me, you'll only be lying to yourself (and an inanimate computer screen); if you're reading this than you've already found your first love and you've been chasing that same feeling ever since. We all have. Every game we play, whether consciously or not, we compare ruthlessly to the exacting perfection of our first true love, to that first game that truly made us fall in love with gaming- our first kiss with the Gaming Goddess (or God if you're of such persuasion). This is the story of my first kiss; Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura. Just Writing the name still sends chills down my spine as I remember the untold days I spent playing trough that world, living countless lives and touch countless others. Arcanum for me is the game that no other game has ever lived up to, and no other ever will. Agh! Enough of my sappy ramblings. You don't want to know about my gaming love-life, you want to know why YOU should care about this game. What is it about this game that will suck you in and travel with you for time to come?

Arcanum is a game that hearkens back to the now passed golden age of the Isometric RPG on the computer. Indeed, Arcanum marked the genre's dieing days; few Isometric RPGs followed after Arcanum as 3D (often First-Person) RPGs began to dominate the field. How do I describe what made Isometric RPGs on the computer unique and special? I suppose its just one of those things you experienced in their hay-day (and understand what I'm saying) or you didn't ( and you don't). If you've never played one I'd suggest you give one a whirl if for no other reason than for a history lesson. Their controls and such can be a little confusing at first (as Arcanum's are) but they're usually more than worth the learning curve.

One of the strongest aspects of Arcanum is that it embraces whole heartedly the two foundations of any RPG; the first being story. The premise behind Arcanum is that you are the lone survivor of a mysterious blimp wreck. Yes, I said blimp wreck. You see, Silverfall wasn't the first, and clearly not the best, game to set a fantisy game in the middle of an industrial revolution. In so doing Arcanum managed to tap into one of the few areas of fantasy that seem to have been largely overlooked by most video-games and modern works of literature alike. The concept of conflict between the the works of man and industry verses nature and magic go as far back as Tolkien (and probably even further back than that). It's against this backdrop that Arcanum tells a story that manages to embrace this conflict without using it as a crutch to avoid telling a tale of its own, and it manages to do so quite well. The story is deep and fairly involved as you travle all over the game world, which is fairly sizable if difficult to compare to modern 3D RPGs, trying to uncover the many mysteries around your blimp crash (which range from opaque religious riddles to political intrigue and ancient history). Theres a lot to take in here as the world of Arcanum is full of life and history. It could take weeks, if not months, to explore everything there is to be learned and experienced in Arcanum. Ultimately, the storyline itself in Arcanum probably isn't going to win awards or make you stop reading Harry Potter but it does its job well. If you take your time to dig into it you'd find a lot of meat to sink your teeth into; which I'd say is one of the biggest strengths of its generation.

So, I mentioned two foundations that make a great RPG; the second one is freedom. Now this is where Acanum comes up all Spades and becomes truly addicting. Acanum has most of the D&D-esq features of character generation but was one of the few at the time to have no ****system. There are quite a few different races (from 'halflings' to half-ogres and from gnomes to elves) all with their own unique traits. There's also a fairly broad selection of skills wich fall into three categories; Magical, Technological and neutral. None of this would mean anything if you didn't have freedom though, but in Arcanum you're free to go anywhere and do anything (and in Arcanum they real mean it!). Here's an example: You stumble into town from the wilderness with barely anything to your name but the clothes on your back when you come upon a merchant shop. The merchant inside has an item you absolutely 'must have' but you don't have enough to buy it. No you have choices to make. You could engage the merchant in conversation or simply use a charm spell in hopes of raising his disposition and then hope that he'll lower his prices enough. If that doesn't work or its not enough then try haggling with him to see if he'll lower his prices further. Maybe you don't have a way with words or haggling so instead you could try gambling with him (you win you get it for free, but losing isn't a good idea). Well, maybe you've never been one to trust random chance so you could diced to leave the shop and hunt trough the trash bins of the town for a lock pick 'till dark when everyone's asleep, pick the lock on one of the shop's doors or windows, sneak in and then find yourself with another question; to pick the locks on every random container untill you find the item you're looking for or try to pick the pocket of the sleeping shop owner to see if he has a key. Lastly, if all else fails and morality is no issue simply break down the front door (once the guards are out of sight obviously) and cut down that anoying shop owner in his sleap so that you can rummage through his things in peace. That is just a taste of the kind of freedom Arcanum offers, and its that freedom that will leave you coming back for more. Further, you're not alone on your journey as new followers will often become available. One of the more interesting feature of the game's party system is that KOTOR II wasn't the first game to allow you to say an evil party member from themselves or to seduce a goody two-shoes into taseting the apple. Lastly, Something I didn't tell you about the story-line is that all this freedom actually means something. While the storyline steadily continues in roughly the same direction, your choices can have a significant impact on HOW you get there. Choices like 'become an errand boy for a wealthy captain of industry or simply kill him and take what you need' appear frequently and have a significant impact on game-play and the stories outcome.

This game, for me, epitomises everything an RPG should be. Is it perfect? No, but it has it where it counts, and will keep anyone who gives it a try coming back for more. Unfortunately, If you want to give the game a go you'll probably only be able to find it online at some place like Ebay. I didn't discus things like Graphics, sound, or controls because I plan on covering those in my review (wich will follow later).Now If you excuse me, I have a date with the Goddess.

Thanks again for reading everyone! I'd love your comments so comment away. This is obviously my first try at this series so any suggestions you have will be really useful.

-Fade2Gray

Now I know that most of you are expecting me to start my new series, but I couldn't help but geek out a bit and review the latest New Voyages episode: World Enough And Time. For those of you not familiar with the New Voyages it's a fan made continuation of the original series of Star Trek of the highest possible caliber (these people get the original cast to do guest roles!). The CG is outstanding in all of their episodes, the acting is steadily improving, the story-lines are phenomenal and, most impressively, they use an exact museum quality replica of the entire bridge used in the original series. These people mean business, and it comes through in the quality of their work.

Now for my review of the latest episode. I'll try to keep this relatively spoiler free, but I will give a brief introduction to the basic storyline. In this episode the Enterprise is responding to the distress call of a freighter ship near the border of the Romulan Neutral Zone. To put things briefly, things go badly and the Enterprise ends up getting stuck in a dimensional rift of some sort. In the process of exploring the rift Sulu and another crew member need to be beamed back to the ship, but when he gets there he is 30 years older (as the honest to goodness Geroge Takei)... and has a daughter (played by an excelent young actress named Christina Moses). All of that happens in the first fifteen minutes of an episode that lasts just over an hour (and remember that because this is fan made there are no commercial breaks; that's a solid hour non-stop).

The story line and writing this time around continues NV's pattern of one-uping themselves. The story was emotionally deep and very compelling. If you have a pension for getting a lump in your throat when watching movies then this episode will likely leave you wanting to cry by the end, even if you've never watched an episode of Star Trek in your life (though you will get more out of it if you have some foreknowledge). I have to admit that I was left feeling a bit choked up, and I tend to be rather stoic when I see anything too emotional. Most of the characters had clear roles and help to add to the story in believable ways that fit them. We even get to see a few of the main characters explain and wrestle with issues appropriate to them that were rarely dealt with in the series. Yes, there was a bit of magic tech used to explain the storie's basic premise, but this is quickly glossed over (I presume because the writer knew that this storie's strength was in its use of the characters and not in its use Trek Tech). I'd have to say that all in all this was a story worthy of Trek Cannon (now I've really gone overboard on the Geekdom).

The acting this time around was quite solid with only a few exceptions. George Takei is simply astounding in his reprisal of Sulu. He's given quite a bit to work with in this episode and he runs with all of it without coming across as self indulgent or over acting. Christina Moses holds her own very well, especially considering that several of the most emotional scenes hinge on her acting. It's only too bad that she was a guest actress rather than a new permanent cast member. Cawley has abandoned the silly Elvis Curl in his hair and really sells himself as Kirk more than ever before. He seems to do a good job of balancing the serious down-to-business leadership side of Kirk with the less formal woman's-man. Quinn's Spock was especially good in my opinion (though sadly this will be his last appearance). Also leaving the show after doing an excellent job is Julienne Irons as Uhura. The two main weak points I'd have to say are with John Kelly as Bones and Charles Root as Scotty. Kelly lacks the Southern charm and slight accent of his predecessor and I never felt the chemistry between him, Kirk and Spock that helped sell their friendship in the series. As for Root, frankly a had such a hard time getting past his horrible accent that I can't give a fair assessment of his acting. His accent had a habit of bringing any scene he was in to a painful halt.

If their is one initial selling point to this episode that everyone will notice it's the CG. The New Voyages team wisely entrusted this episode to the Dave School, and it shows. After the impressive work in the previous episode I know that many people were unsure if the team could continue to step their effects up a notch. Well, you can add me to the list of people who're wondering how they're going to top themselves again after this! I read somewhere that this episode alone had over 700 effects shots crammed into its one hour. If for the eye candy alone I'd say this is well worth watching.

The New Voyages continues to show the world what is possible with a dedicated enough group of people and limited resources. I was one of the people that constantly laughed at other attempts at fan fiction (of all forms and for all IPs) but NVs has forced me to reevaluate all of that. World Enough And Time continues NV's proud climb upward and, as such, is well worth even the most casual of Trek fans' time (and even money if it wasn't FREE). If you're already a NV fan I probably had you convinced at "latest New Voyages episode," but if you're not this is the episode to see.

What are you waiting for? Go watch it! NOW! Oh, and thanks for reading!

-Fade2Gray

While the fate of my tech series apparently still hangs more in the balance than I had though I decided I'd hurry up the unveiling of my new series. And now Ladies and not-so-gentlemen I unveil to you my new series! Drum-roll please! *Dadadadadadadadadadadadadada Dah Dah!* Addicting Games! oh.. wait... I put that in the title, doh. Well, you should be excited anyways.

The series title is intentionally vague so as to allow me a good deal of room to roam with its topic. I'll primarily be talking about games I find addicting, which could be anything from a time consuming casual game to a particularly compelling AAA title, and why I think they're worth your time. I'll try to keep to titles that I think are either relatively unknown or simply overlooked. I already have a sizable list of games that range from top of the line freeware to anticipated but quickly forgotten games of yore. I think I'll mostly be writing about why the games are addicting and worth your time in my blog posts and then follow up with reviews later on.

I hope I've piqued your collective interest. I know I've already left at least one of you scathing with one of my reviews so I know this'll more than likely be interesting! Thanks for reading again!

-Fade2Gray

As all of you who read my last post know last week I decided to put the fate of my computer series up to public vote. To those of you who voted I want to thank you for your honest opinions. However, I think the silence of the majority of people who read my blog is far more telling. If I know human psychology, which I probably don't, than I should probably count most of the non-vote as 'no' votes. And so in next few days I'll be unveiling a new non-tech related series and, barring unexpected public outcry, quietly laying the computer series to rest.

I'll probably change my blog header soon to something that'll vaugely hint at my new series, but will probably just leave more people confused even after I tell you all what it'll be about. As allways thanks for reading!

-Fade2Gray