Monday, February 16, 2015

Watch out for Storm Shlemenko!

I'm always excited whenever Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko is in mixed martial arts  (MMA) bout. This Middleweight Russian veteran has been in over sixty MMA fights. He has once held the Bellator Middleweight title, and prior to his defeat against Tito Ortiz, he was on a thirteen fight winning streak. Last September at Bellator 126, Shlemenko loss his Middleweight title against the undefeated American MMA fighter, Brandon Halsey, by the way of rear naked choke at thirty-fix seconds into the first round. This past Friday night, The Storm redeemed himself and is back in title contention.

At Bellator 133, Alexander Shlemenko headlined the event, where he went against the dangerous Dutch striker, Melvin "No Mercy" Manhoef. Shlemenko started the beginning of the first round pushing the pace with a series spinning back strikes (both kicks and fists). In the middle of this round, he attempted a standing guillotine while pressing Manhoef against the cage. Shlemenko failed multiple times to take Manhoef to the ground, so he utilized his striking skills by landing more significant strikes than his opponent.

In the second round, Shlemenko kept Manhoef guessing by attempting takedowns, and landing spinning back kicks to his body. Then, at the three minute and thirty nine second mark, Shlemenko landed a devastating spinning back fist that knockout Manhoef. After this fight, during his post fight in-ring interview, Alexander Shlemenko mentioned that he made a mistake in his fight against Brandon Halsey, and that he wants a rematch.

A rematch between Brandon Halsey and Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko is a fight I want to see. Alexander Shlemenko is definitely one of my favorite MMA fighters, and I look forward to see him back in the Bellator circle.

Storm Shlemenko is back!

Monday, February 9, 2015

The countdown until The Order: 1886

There are plenty of video games to look forward to in the first quarter of this year. Returning franchises, new game IPs, HD remastered games, and indie titles are all shaping this first quarter to be an exciting one. One PlayStation 4 (PS4) exclusive, that I kept in mind is slated for release on February 20th. Yes, I am referring to The Order: 1886.

The Order: 1886's visuals is absolutely stunning, but initially, what raised my eyebrows while watching the game's debut trailer back at E3 2013 were the developers working on this game. The development team behind this PS4 exclusive is, Ready at Dawn, and they're collaborating with SCE Santa Monica Studio on this project as well. Prior to The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn created critically acclaimed titles such as: the God of War PlayStation Portable (PSP) games, Daxter (one of my PSP favorites), Okami and God of War: Origins Collection. I think it's a wise choice for Sony to decided to make Ready at Dawn collaborated with SCE Santa Monica Studio. This studio founded in 1999, has tons of experience collaborating with other developers in the creation of popular Sony exclusives.

I'm a fan of horror games, and games that has horror elements, so it's no surprise that I find The Order: 1886 intriguing. The gameplay consist of taking cover and shooting baddies, similar to Gears of War, and quick time events. I must say, I like the game's setting because it's in an alternative history London. Video games' settings are extremely important because, it will have a huge impact on the entire game, from the storyline, all the way to the gameplay. With that said, I hope that Ready at Dawn creates a fulfilling single player campaign that attempts to try something new. My biggest fear is that, since it's a third person shooter, it's core gameplay will get in the way and will become repetitive.

The Order: 1886 is expecting to come out at the end of next week, and I am hoping for best.

Game On!