Rescuing Dr. Emmerich

An update for Metal Gear Solid! Yay!

Ok, now seriously, here is the latest info on my playthrough of the game.

After getting into contact with Meryl via Codec (on frequency 140.15), i managed to confirm her safety (to the relief of the Colonel) and also managed to get a bonus out of it - she unlocked the cargo bay door for me, which required the use of a Level 5 security card. After exploring the upper floor of the Tank Hangar and collected some valuable items (such as the Cardboard Box A, the Mine Detector and a SOCOM suppressor). i managed to make my way through the cargo bay, avoiding the security lasers, (thanks to my cigarette smoke) and made my way outside.


As i started on my way traversing the Snowfield, i recieved a mysterious call from an unknown individual who used the alias of "Deepthroat" to conceal his true identity. He warned me that there were Claymore mines hidden around the Snowfield and that i should utilise my Mine Detector in order to avoid detonating them. After informing the Colonel of the unknown contact, he told me to proceed onward with the mission, and that we would have to deal with Deepthroat later. 


As i made my way across the snowfield, i was ambushed by Vulcan Raven in an M1 tank. After some choice words, we proceeded to battle. Although he had the advantage of a long range tank turret, i had the benefit of Chaff Grenades, which allowed me to get close enough to the tank without having to worry about the turret locking onto me.


Once close enough, i let him have it with a couple of well tossed Grenades, and before i knew it, the tank was down for the count. After picking up a Level 3 card from the body of a dead soldier tossed from the tank, i proceeded into the Nuclear Warhead Storage Building, and after getting a stern lecture about not using weapons around exposed nuclear materials, i took the elevator down to the 2nd floor basement. 


When i arrived, i was greeted with an area flooded with poison gas. Deepthroat called me again, warning me that the floor was also electrified and that it would fry me if i stepped on it. He told me that the best way to make my way through there was to use a remote controlled missile to blow up the switchboard located on the northwest wall of the floor. After consulting with Meryl, i discovered that i could pick up a Nikita (and subsequent remote controlled missiles) from the 1st floor basement directly above me.


After collecting the Nikita, i headed back down to the gas room, and after launching a remote controlled missile, i managed to successfully direct it into the switchboard, effectively disabling the electrified floor. Now free to walk on it, i explored the rooms, and picked up a Gas Mask, which greatly increased how long i could stay underwater or in gas filled rooms. 


From there, i headed east into a small room that circulated all the poisonous gas out before unlocking the door to the following room. While i was in here, i heard the sound of guards shouting, followed by several slashing and stabbing noises. Curious, i followed the sounds, and made my way into a corridor.


The corridor was littered with the corpses of at least half a dozen genome soldiers, all killed by some type of blade. Making my way carefully down the corridor, i turned the corner and witnessed the final guard getting killed by the Cyborg Ninja.  As he entered Dr. Emmerich's lab, i knew that the scientist was in danger so i quickly headed in to save him.


As it turned out, the Cyborg Ninja was looking for me. After confonting him, he and i proceeded into a fist fight across Dr. Emmerich's lab, which resulted in him losing it and fleeing, and me discovering who he really was - Gray Fox. The same Gray Fox that i supposedly killed in Zanzibar almost six years ago. 


After informing the Colonel of the situation, i had a chat with Dr. Emmerich who discovered that Metal Gear REX wasn't actually an anti-nuclear battle machine, but was in fact a walking nuclear death machine. Determined to stop it at all costs, he gave me his Codec number, and also told me to call him "Otacon", after Otaku Convention. 


While he was there, i also got in touch with Meryl via Codec, but during our conversation she was discovered and was cut off. Fearing for her, and the safety of the cardkeys needed to shut down Metal Gear REX, Otacon and i went our seperate ways, him with the added protection of stealth camoflage, while i made my way back down through the corridor of death, and back across the poisoned floor, until i reached the elevator and headed back up to the 1st floor basement. 


It was here that i spotted Meryl patrolling the floor (thanks in part to her funny way of walking), and after following her into the girls bathroom, we filled ourselves in on the current situation, and made plans to head north to the Underground Maintenance Base where Metal Gear REX was being stored. 


It was here, after exploring all the rooms on the floor, and heading into the hallway of the Commander's Room, that i finished playing and where i am currently upto.

I would also like to point out that i broke this escapade up into two seperate nights, with the first night taking place from the Codec call with Meryl through to the corridor where the genome soldiers were, and the second night taking place from the corridor, through to where i am now.

It might be a while before i play again, but once i do, i will be sure to post updates. Until then, sayonara!

Welcome to Chorrol

So, it's about time for another update on Oblivion! I must say, i really haven't had much time to play this over the last few days, but i have managed to complete some more quests and get some pretty cool things along the way.

So, without further ado, i present to you my updated list of recently completed quests:

• Deliver the Amulet
• Join the Fighters Guild
• The Killing Field
• Fingers of the Mountain

Additionally, in accordance with completing these quests, i also unfortunately picked up a couple more quests to add to my current quest list. The recently added ones are:

• Pilgrimage
• Find the Heir
• Join the Mages Guild 
• Seperated at Birth

Although my time at Chorrol, and indeed at Weynon Priory, has been brief so far, i am hoping that once i have finished reading The Odyssey and Beowulf, and knocked down the first of my assignments, and completed my part for the participation marks, i will be able to devote some more time to exploring the wonderful land of Cyrodiil. 

Until next update, sayonara!

East to Oreburgh City

Although i really didn't play much of Pokemon Platinum today, i thought i would do a quick post about it. In a nutshell, i visited all the houses and stores in Jublife City, collected all 3 tickets and got the Poketch, headed north along Route 204 to battle some more trainers and level up my pokemon, and then headed east along Route 203 where i was confronted by my rival.

Fortunately for me, his pokemon (Starly & Chimchar), were no match for my awesome team of Bidoof and Turtwig. So, after he scuttled away in shame, i headed through the Oreburgh Cave and continued east until i made it into town.

From here, i basically visited all the houses and stores, collected some nifty items from the residents, visited the Fossil Museum, headed north and did some training in the small grassy area to the north of Oreburgh City, before heading down into the Oreburgh Mine.

It was here that i set up camp for the night and, judging by the astronomical amount of work i have to do tomorrow, i will most likely not have time to play any more (i am way behind in my readings for uni).

So until next time, ciao!

P.S. For those interested in my Pokemon's progress, my Bidoof is currently Level 11, and my Turtwig is Level 14.

Pokemon Trainer!

Since i was in a particularly game-craving mood, i decided to switch on the ol' DS and start a new playthrough of Pokemon Platinum. To be honest, i have never actually completed the game fully before - sure i have beaten the Elite Four and the Champion, but this time around i am determined to actually complete everything.

In order to obtain my ultimate goal - the Black Card - i need to complete the following:

• Defeat the Pokemon Champion and enter the Hall of Fame
• Complete the National Pokedex
• Earn the Platinum Flag in the Underground
• Win 1 Contest at Master Rank
• Win 100 battles at the Battle Tower

As you can see, it will take me a very long time to get this done, which is conveinent considering i am playing Oblivion (which will also take ages to complete) and Metal Gear Solid (which i will most likely replay several times to get the bandana and stealth camo). 

At present, i am at Jubilife City, (this is a casual playthrough of the game where i'm taking my time and exploring all the houses and stores), and i currently have a Lv 10 Turtwig (named Ferny) and a Lv 7 Bidoof (affectionately named Tails). I have just handed over the Parcel to my rival and am now saved outside the Pokemon Centre about to start the mini-quest of collecting the tickets for the Poketch. 

So, as you can see, i am not very far into the game just yet. However, i am enjoying the slow and calm pace of my playthrough of the game, and hopefully before the end of the year i will manage to complete this fabulous game.

I will be sure to post any relevant updates in the near future. Until then, sayonara!

The DARPA Chief & The President of ArmsTech

If the title hasn't given it away, i have started playing Metal Gear Solid again. Being one of my favourite (and most traumatic) games of my childhood, it is nice to be able to return to it after ten or so years. I recently purchased it off the Playstation Store, along with a few themes and backgrounds, and i have definitely enjoyed the experience.

In a nutshell, i started off by listening to the full Briefing, followed by completing all 10 rounds of the VR Training before starting the game, as a way to familarise myself with the controls once again. After that was done, i set the game on 'NORMAL' mode and away i went.


After successfully infiltrating the docks, i managed to make it to the elevator and up to the Heliport without any trouble. Once i got there (and listened to the subsequent cutscenes and codec conversations), i snuck around the Heliport, collecting Chaff & Stun Grenades, followed by a SOCOM pistol. 


After getting in contact with Nastasha, she gave me some important information about the START-2 accord, and about all my weapons and cigarettes. I snuck into the Tank Hangar via the first floor ventilation duct (the one being guarded by the camera and genome soldier). A simple Stun & Chaff Grenade combo did the trick easy enough.


Anyhow, once inside, i made my way through the ventilation system, before being contacted by Master Miller, who provided me with some helpful advice. Making my way through the Tank Hangar, i descended to the 1st floor basement, where i picked up the DARPA Chief's signal, and proceeded to enter his cell via air ducts.


After a lengthy discussion, he suffered what seemed to be a heart attack and died in his cell. After a codec call to the Colonel, i hid under the DARPA Chief's bed, and waited until the cell door opened (it sounded like a fight was going on outside). Once the door was open, i snuck out, only to be caught by a female guard. After learning that she was on my side, we fought off several waves of soldiers before she legged it, leaving me behind. After she boarded the elevator, i saw a brief glimpse of Psycho Mantis before he vanished. 


Still puzzled as to how the DARPA Chief died, i descended to the 2nd floor basement, collected some ammunition, C4 and Grenades from the rooms in the Armory, and proceeded to the room where the President of ArmsTech was being held. Once i got there, i realised that he was strapped to a pillar with C4 wired all around him. Revolver Ocelot then made his presence known, attempting to shoot my leg, but narrowly missing. After an exchange of words, we fought. 


He was fairly easy, the only difficulty was trying to keep up with him while running. Aside from that he was a very easy first boss. After defeating him, and watching his hand get sliced off by a mysterious cyborg, i helped the President of ArmsTech (who had been freed from the pillar by the cyborg) over to a wall where he sat down and told me all the necessary info about Metal Gear. He also informed me that he had given the card keys to the female soldier, who it turns out, is the Colonel's niece, and also gave me an optical disk, supposedly containing all the data from the Metal Gear exercise. He also told me that i should seek out one of his engineers, a scientist named Hal Emmerich, who was supposedly being held in the Nuclear Warhead Storage building to the north. After that, i pressed him for info on the cyborg but he told me to ask Naomi about it. 


Shortly after, he suffered a heart attack, similar to the one that the DARPA Chief had and died as a result. Furious, i called the Colonel and Naomi, asking about it, but they both swear they didn't know what was going on. I also asked Naomi about the cyborg, but she also swore she didn't know anything about it. With a lot of questions swirling in my thoughts, i proceeded on with the mission. 


After collecting the FAMAS from the Armory, and successfully dodging all the guards, i made my way back upto the 1st floor of the Tank Hangar, where i was about to commence calling the Colonel's niece Meryl.

That is as far as i have gotten in the last two days. I'm only playing the game casually, usually at night before going to bed (Oblivion is my main game at present, and i'm determined to complete however many quests there are in the game).

Anywho, that's my first (of many updates) for the Metal Gear Solid series. See ya next post!

A Family Falling Apart

I just had to post up here. I feel that i need someone else to know about this. How do we go on? How does a family that has lost its love for each other survive?

In a nutshell, basically Dad confronted Mum with the 'D' word today. Taking into consideration that he just got out of the hospital last night, after we spent the last three days worrying sick about him, he turns around and cracks the shits over Mum swerving to avoid hitting a kid? If that had been the end of it, i suppose that would have been alright. Mum has managed to overcome yelling about things as trivial as a single topic. But no. He just wouldn't let up.

After returning home (without groceries), he proceeds to yell and scream at Mum for ages, about everything, blaming her for his deteriorating health, his anger and frustrations about life in general and many other things. Furthermore, he cracks the shits with both Catherine and myself, namely Catherine about her habit of driving to places without telling him, and his agenda against me and how i somehow don't fit his perfect son design.

To make matters worse, Catherine took off for several hours on a lengthy walk and although she is back now, he is even more furious and infuriated. To tell you the truth, control is the only thing that he thrives on. Trying to control everyone and everything. Heck, he even yelled at Emma.

So now, we wait to see where the night will take us and whether we will still be a family in the morning. I pray with all my heart that this will somehow be set right.

First Days in Oblivion

So, after spending almost a week playing Oblivion on and off, i decided that i would start posting regular updates in regards to my playthrough of the game. I have played the game before, but i have never actually finished the main storyline, nor completed all of the optional quests. At best, i may have completed the Imperial City missions , some main storyline missions and that's about it.

So it will be nice for a change to actually committ and complete this amazing game. At present, my character (named Benjimedus - a Dunmer), is still in the Imperial City, but is about to head off to Weynon Priory after doing odd jobs in the Imperial City, earning some money, looting nearby ruins and buying a house.

This week, i managed to complete the following quests:

• Tutorial 
• Unfriendly Competition
• Finding The Thieves Guild
• May the Best Thief Win
• Go Fish

So, 5 quests down, countless others more to go. Admittedly though, i have started several other quests as well, but haven't completed them as of yet. The quests i started were:

• Deliver the Amulet
• Buy a House in the Imperial City
• Imperial Corruption
• The Collector
• A Venerable Vintage

So, as you can see, i still have a long way to go before i finish this epic game. But, as long as i enjoy every minute of it, that's the main thing right?

Quick Note:

Yellow quests are a part of the main storyline (including KotN and TSI)

Purple quests are optional side quests with no adjoining or successive quests

Pink quests are optional side quests with adjoining or successive quests

Green quests are a part of the Thieves Guild questline

Red quests are a part of the Fighters Guild questline
Blue quests are a part of the Mages Guild questline

Grey quests are a part of the Dark Brotherhood questline