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The demo came out this week for the PC port of Full Spectrum Warrior, the very good Xbox tactical simulator commissioned by the US Army and developed by Pandemic. I played the training mission and the first level all the way through, and I think you all should grab it.

Gameplay: Freakin' cool. It's a very simple interface but the game is far from a walk in the park. The game's very challenging but all of the difficulty comes in the tactical situations you're put into. You end up spending more time planning your attacks than you do running and gunning, and it's extreeeeemely rewarding when you finally manage to sneak around behind a machine gun nest and double-tap the gunner in the back of the head while he doesn't suspect a thing.

Graphics: Not bad. It's definitely still an Xbox game. Shadows are hard and blocky, textures are low-res and polygonal detail isn't really astonishing. But the visuals are still a solid 4 out of 5 and the game is still smooth in high resolutions, so there's nothing to complain about.

Sound: It's very good, also a solid 4 out of 5. The effects won't rattle your speakers but the hilarious dialogue by your soldiers more than makes up for it. Curse words get dropped as often as grenades do. All in all, you get the effect that you're in control of some crazy soldiers who are anxious to see some action and are confident in their skills and training.

Production value: Fantastic. Army-commissioned games tend to have that quality. Attention to detail has been paid here. The game is very scripted in terms of events and missions but how you solve them is entirely up to you, leaving you with the perfect kind of structure of a free-roaming game that gently prods you along. Truly, no corners were cut in the making of this game. Everything's on purpose, and it's a great thing.

Verdict: Grab the demo. The rest of the game is in much the same vein (I've played the Xbox version with my roommate), so if you like this level, you'll like the rest.

On thefacebook.com: I have 58 friends. I am connected to 663 people through friends.

On freeipods.com: I have 12 people signed up through me. 4 have completed offers.

Ugh. Another weekend when I'm busy in school, another funeral in Oklahoma. My mom's aunt passed at a fairly ripe age, and my mom asked me to come up and go with her to Oklahoma for the funeral. She just about never asks me for anything, so I oblige since it must be a pretty big deal to her. My mom got clingy at moments, which was odd, but she's a very strong person and took the loss pretty well around her family. Like virtually any family event, everyone knew who I was, since I was the baby, but I had no clue who anyone was. Here was a typical dialogue between me and a relative:

(relative): Hey Blake! It's so good to see you again! [It's been so long / You look terrific / How's college?]
me: Hey! [No idea who this is, but give a reassuring smile anyway.] [I know! It's good to see you too. / Thank you so much! / It's great, UT is totally the right place, and Vince is going to pull it out this year.]

Regardless, I'm really tired of this funeral thing. Dear family: stay alive. Love, me.

I wound up driving home to A-town on Sunday night, eating with Mom, then spending the night there chilling and studying. It just felt really weird to have this little voice reminding me I have class in the morning, and I'm in the wrong town. Once I finished working, I ended up having the first conversation in a long time with my dear old friend Monica. She's headed off to NYC, permanently this time, and so we ended up having this long conversation about how great it's been hanging out with one another and something about a crush and blah blah blah. All in all, it made me wish I had told her all this stuff a long time ago. There's a slight chance I'll get to see her one more time before she moves away and if that happens, I'll be overjoyed, but only until she leaves, at which point it'll be like a sad movie. Either way, there's a definite lesson to be learned:

Tell people how much you appreciate them.

Dear friends: I love you guys. Really, I do. Love, me.

And now, since my post has had much sadness and much happiness, it's time for some deep thought.

On the drive home, my mom spotted a pair of abandoned black labs on the road. She felt tempted to stop and pick them up, but didn't (probably mostly for my sake; animals and I don't get along). And it's like that for a lot of people. Whether it's a cute puppy, or a harmless and helpless turtle, or a guy who's down on his luck, we tend to avoid these situations thanks to high speed. Imagine transportation in the 1850s. If you were crossing a given state in the span of several weeks, and randomly came upon a lone dog or person, you'd just about have to include them in your trip. Nowadays, you can shrug it off. The creature you just saw will disappear as quickly as it appeared, and somewhere in the back of your head you dismiss it as "Well, I'm past it now, no use in turning back." Had you crawled up to the dog or person at an amazing 6 miles per hour, you'd have to interact with it. You can't simply stroll by a lone guy in the middle of nowhere without talking to him. The dog would probably follow you. Cars are great, they really are. But with every great innovation comes a cost that drains away a tiny part of your soul. Think about that next time you see a dog on the side of the road that got abandoned by its owner.

I've gotten my hands on some new pop culture, rifled through some old stuff at long last, and here are my reviews:

Everclear, Slow Motion Daydream

Everclear's music is so formulaic. Granted, this album sounds nothing like Sparkle and Fade, but their sound has very slowly evolved into this modern, tame, I-have-a-daughter-who-means-the-world-to-me sort of pop sound instead of their introductory my-girlfriend-died-of-an-overdose rebel sound. This newest one is a sort of ultimate evolution of the pop sound that started with Soundtrack to an American Movie, Vol. 1. Sometimes the album even starts to take the band in a new direction that sounds like easy, timeless rock like Springsteen or either of the Dylans. It's definitely not the Everclear of old, but it is confident, easygoing, and strangely still easily identifiable as Everclear. Recommended for fans, everyone else give it a single listen.

Call of Duty

What the hell? This game's practically a year old. Well, like many games, I finally finish it way after it fades from the public eye. It's one of many World War II FPS's, even designed by most of the team responsible for the original Medal of Honor. About half of the original MoH crew from 2015 broke away from the pack at the end of the MoH project and formed Infinity Ward, and this is their first baby. The inspiration from MoH is definitely there: artwork and architecture are very familiar; many objectives play out in the same fashion. What's new is the game's simplicity and absolutely amazing production value.

Gameplay: The inclusion of three distinct campaigns gives the gameplay three separate impressions: the Americans rely on teamwork (provided amazingly by some very convincing combinations of AI and scripted teammates), the British SAS prefer to keep quiet, and the Russians simply pray for survival as you watch your comrades get mowed down by the dozens. I can't count the times when ambushes leave you clueless as to where to go, or your commanding officer gives you an order only to be taken out seconds later by enemy fire. There's a noticeable lack of plot in this game, but it's not really a problem. The game is more of a war immersion than a storytelling experience, and it works very well. From the first American entry into a French village the day after D-Day, you're in the very middle of the fight.

Graphics: A year ago, they were great. Right now they're not the best-looking thing out there (blame Doom3 and Far Cry) but they're thoroughly modern and it'll be about another year before they look even the slightest bit aged. Expect the Quake III technology to crank out a few more good experiences before the Doom3 engine really gets put into widespread use.

Sound: Amazing. Bullets and explosions everywhere, teammates bark at each other and crack the occasional joke, and it's downright scary when you hear sniper fire but you can't pinpoint where it comes from. Creative uses Call of Duty to demo its newest hardware and it's obvious why when you try the game out - even more so when you get a high-end 5.1 or 7.1 system going. The entirely orchestral score is reminiscent of MoH (and, yes, Saving Private Ryan) and it gets better as the game gets along. By the time you're a Russian storming the Reichstag in the game's final level, it's such a beautiful and moving moment that the weak-hearted FPS player might start to tear up.

Production value: At the top of the ladder for modern FPS games. There's never a gap in objectives, tension, sound quality, attention to detail, animation, level design, variance in art......

Final verdict: An amazing FPS and a very solid game. Recommended for everyone except those who hate FPS games. If you haven't played it yet, give it a spin.

What's next: An expansion developed by Gray Matter (creator of the decently-produced but boring-as-hell Return to Castle Wolfenstein single-player segment) has just hit stores this week. It includes new gameplay sequences including on-rails shooting and air combat, but the biggest improvements will be hailed by the thriving multiplayer community. Infinity Ward is at work on a sequel but no details are available.

Seriously, the Plan II office just held down the Run button, tapped Down twice, and let it go after winning the third round.

Specifically, the Plan II Honcho himself, Dr. Paul Woodruff, who is always an excellent man. Once my advisor took my essay to his office, he decided to let my essay slip in.

One of the worst days I had in a long time just got reversed, and I feel very happy. And if I win the big prize, well, I'll get something nice for some people.

Speaking of nice people and doing nice things, thanks to all the commenters who posted their consolations in the previous post. Your sentiments have been noted and I'll have my people look into something really spiffy for you guys.