HvZ Fall 2011: Da Bears Zombat Diary

Humans vs. Zombies is well under way in Athens, Ohio, and I'm knee deep in the bodies! Maybe not knee deep, but the game has been incredibly exciting. And it's only the third day! I figure, while I'm human at least, I'd keep a record of how I and my strike team are doing during this year's fall game.

Robin as a Playable Character in 'Arkham City'

If you're not excited for Batman: Arkham City, you should be. And if you've already decided to get it, then you should definitely preorder it -- At Best Buy. Normally, I like getting my games at GameStop or online (either through Steam, Amazon, or other more nefarious methods), but if you preorder Arkham City at Best Buy, you'll be able to play as Robin the Boy Wonder.

Read more and see the trailer of playable Robin after the jump.

'Mark of the Assassin' Looks Just Like 'Stolen Memory'

After playing three generations of BioWare games (Baldur's Gate II, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.) I've started to fear that their creative juice-boxes are beginning to run empty. Then, I saw the trailer for "Mark of the Assassin," which is the newly-announced DLC for Dragon Age II, and my fear was confirmed.

Japan Gets a New Pokemon Game for the Wii

Apparently, this game exists.

Earlier this week, Nintendo let slip that there was a giant Pokemon announcement on the horizon. Needless to say, Poke-Freaks everywhere had to change their pants. Pokemon Black/White only released earlier this year, so another announcement has set the Poke-Waters into a feeding frenzy of Poke-Sharks!

Alright, enough forced Poke-words. I might just Poke-barf. Nintendo and Creatures Inc. have announced PokePark 2: Beyond the World for the Wii. But Pokemon fans who don't live in Japan, you can probably go back to crying into your Pikachu plush because there is no announced American or European release.

'Battlefield 3' Trailer Makes War Look Frighteningly Real

DICE is throwing down the gauntlet for Battlefield 3, which is looking to become the FPS games to end all FPS games. The new trailer, titled "Operation Guillotine," showcases fighting in Tehran, with hyper-realistic sights and sounds of all-out war. The attention to detail, from the faces of the soldiers to the graffiti on the walls in the background, will probably be how Battlefield 3 will steal the title of FPS champion from Call of Duty.

Watch the trailer after the jump.

Redesigning the Site

Click on her. I dare you.

Dear reader,

As you may already have noticed, Half-Blaked has gone through a bit of a visual redesign. It's crazy, I know, but I've been blogging here for more than a year now and I thought it'd be nice to spruce the place up. Give the old girl a little bit more pizzazz.

Don't worry. You'll still be seeing the same kind of content you've been finding here before: video game news, my own creative works, and, of course, posts related to Zooey Deschanel. However, if you have noticed the amount of content recently declining, that is because a fair amount of my attention has migrated to my Tumblr. I encourage you to check it out!

This doesn't mean that this blog will be neglected (though it may seem like it now). Tumblr is my Internet playground, but any serious posts will still be posted here at Half-Blaked.

I hope you will keep following me! Tell me what you think of the redesign!

Character Study: Tom Hansen

A year ago I wrote my first Character Study about Summer Finn. So, I find it terribly fitting that I post this one about her counterpart, Tom Hansen. This was another essay I had written for my Lit class last year (my final, actually) and was originally titled, "The Story of a Boy" (which is also the title of a beautiful Between the Trees song).

Love – some people say that it doesn’t really exist, that love is just the combination of chemicals in the brain and the natural instinct to reproduce. They point to the rising statistic of failed marriages and divorces and proclaim that love is a fairy tale. (500) Days of Summer’s Tom Hansen, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is not one of those people.

He is an unabashed romantic who still believes in fate and that it will lead him to the girl he is destined to be with. Then, Tom falls head-over-heels for Summer Finn, a lovely girl who doesn’t believe in love. And when she dumps him, his whole world is destroyed. However, Tom succeeds in piecing himself back together and thus growing in the process. Being with Summer sets Tom on a course of self-development and, though he doesn’t end up with her, he ultimately becomes a better person.