o SMITHEREENZ o

site is coming down soon !!!!!

moving it all to my main site

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Gold medal on Focal Point (poison core)

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The Xbox mouthpiece and general announcer, Major Nelson, fittingly announced a while ago that an incoming system update for your Xbox 360 would be available sometime in the next few hours.

That update is currently live, and is mandatory for those of you looking to use the Xbox LIVE service any time soon. What does the update do?

“There are no new features or changes in this update,” says the Major. “This update is preparation for additional system enhancements (Facebook/Twitter/Last.FM) that will arrive later this year.”

There were reports that this latest update has caused some issues with some Xbox 360 consoles, but those issues have since been resolved.

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Defense Grid is set in a distant future where you must protect the last remnants of a mighty civilization from an alien menace. To make a long story short, it all comes down to keeping power cores out of the aliens’ hands. On each level, the aliens enter the map and travel the shortest path to the power cores, and then they make the way to the exit. If they escape with a core, that core is lost. If the aliens escape with all the cores, you lose and must try again.

To prevent this, you must build and upgrade defensive towers that pound the aliens with different weapons. There are gun, laser, and cannon towers; concussion towers that rain cluster munitions; missile towers for aerial units; meteor towers that serve like artillery; inferno towers that are basically flamethrowers; Tesla towers that electrocute the aliens, and a temporal tower that slows them down. However, the more powerful towers cost a lot in terms of resources, and upgrading them is even more expensive. Since the only way to “earn” resources is to kill aliens, each level is a desperate race to design and implement an optimum defensive grid.

To make things more difficult, the aliens come in many different varieties. There are juggernauts and shielded juggernauts; these are basically huge, lumbering behemoths that are extremely difficult to kill. Then there are decoys, which are basically whipping boys that are designed to absorb an insane amount of damage so that the aliens following it remain relatively unscathed. There’s an alien boss that shields any other aliens that make contact with him. There are speedy aliens that can race through your defenses, making it difficult to inflict a lot of damage on them. There are flying aliens that can bypass all your ground defenses. There are horde aliens that come in huge packs that can overwhelm defenses designed to target single aliens. There are turtle aliens that, upon death, unleash a horde of units.

Each level will throw anywhere between three or thirty waves at you, and each successive wave is designed to push you to the limit. Thankfully, a warning system lets you know the composition of each wave in advance, so you can try to prepare for it as best as you can. If you see a wave of racers coming in, you know you need to build and upgrade laser towers, as they do the most damage against them. The balancing is very well done. It’s very difficult to stop some of the more advanced waves without losing some cores. The good news is that there’s a very handy checkpoint system that lets you instantly revert to a previous checkpoint by just taping the backspace key. And the game does give you a powerful superlaser, though you must be very strategic about its use, as its recharge time is considerable.

Defense Grid has 20 levels that ramp up in difficulty as you go. At first, the aliens will travel a long, narrow, linear track that’s easy to defend, as there are plenty of places where you can build towers. However, the levels get more difficult, as there may be separate tracks or multiple entrances to worry about. The best levels are the more open ones; there isn’t really a track, but rather a relatively empty grid that you have to “mold” by placing towers down. These are extra challenging because you have to try to build a maze while you’re busy fending off the aliens. Level progression is challenging, but the last level the difficulty curve takes off like a NASA rocket; it’s frustrating, but ultimately extremely rewarding to beat. (I made it through with just a single core remaining, and that core came very close to escaping.)The open levels also provide an unlimited number of configurations, providing plenty of replayability. To further boost replayability, there are also leaderboards where you can compare your scores with others, as well as a challenge mode that amps up the difficulty.

The 3D graphics engine isn’t particularly cutting-edge but it still remains far above the norms of the genre. After all, many tower defense games are Flash-based. And the 3D engine allows for three dimensional levels that have multiple tiers to them, which adds complexity and depth. The audio is also a step above most of the genre; the sound effects are workmanlike but there’s also a guide that mentors you and provides commentary. The voice actor for the guide is nicely chosen, but he does tend to ramble on about raspberries a bit too much, and some lines are repeated over and over and over again.

Closing Comments
For a budget game, Defense Grid easily delivers plenty of gripping gameplay; it’s easy to lose track of time while playing it. In fact, there were quite a number of times where I defeated a wave of aliens only to realize that I had made it through the entire level. I actually wanted another wave or two in order to test the effectiveness of the mouse trap I had designed. It’s always a good sign when a game leaves you wanting for more.

[SOURCE]

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You receive a reward for every 10 ingots you find and turn in.

1. Laborer Outfit
2. Filtration Helmet
3. Steel Knuckles
4. Metal Master Armor
5. Metal Blaster
6. Bombshell Armor
7. Leather Rebel
8. The Mauler
9. The Perforator
10. Tribal Power Armor
1. In the abandoned area before you head to the Steelyard, to the left through the fence there is a mine cart with 3 ingots in it.

Note: Before you can get to these you have to first collect the 10 for Everett. When you come back in the Trogs will have busted through the fence.

2. There are 2 ingots as soon as you enter the steelyard next to the dead slave.

3. You will find 2 in the first dumpster to the left by the the trailer with the couch on top of it.

4. There are 2 ingots in the 2nd dumpster to the left.

5. There are 3 in the smaller dumpster next to the 3rd large dumpster on the left, there’s a dead slave in there as well.

6. Head up the stairs by the dumpsters, after you hop the broken fence go right then turn left there are 2 of them in between the 2 knocked over barrels.

7. Go north along the ledge. Looking down you should see 2 on top of a freight car in the middle. Carefully jump onto the steel beam and walk out till you get to the freight car with the 2 ingots on it. Drop down and they’re yours.

8. Now head back up to where you dropped down on the freight car. This time continue to the end and drop down into the dumpster for 3 more.

9. Once again head back up the stairs but instead of going right go left, there is a small building to your right there are 2 of them sitting on a shelf. If you open the gate you went to far.

10. After you get the two in the small building head through the gate and go straight till you see a large dumpster. Climb up the stairs on top of the building and drop down into the dumpster there are 2 in there.

11. Now Jump from the dumpster over the barbwire fence to the south head right until you reach a dead end. There is a dead slave and 2 ingots.

12. Jump back over the fence and head back up the stairs till you reach the roof. Looking down in between the buildings you should see another set of stairs and 2 more ingots. Careful of the 3 Trogs waiting to attack you.

13. Now open the gate and go out to the left. Go down the hill to the end where there is a ditch and a dead slaver. There are 3 laying next to him. Make sure to bring some Rad-Away.

14. Turn to your left and continue into the radiated barrels there are 3 more in the middle. Make sure you get all 3. I noticed quite a few people have missed one here and only ended up with 99.

15. Go back up to the stairs and jump on top of the building you will see a makeshift bridge crossing over to other buildings. There are 2 in the middle of the bridge.

16. Once you get the 2 on the bridge continue across to the other side. Stay on top of the building and head to the back there will be 2 more sitting on a roof you can drop down to.

17. After you get the 2 on the roof drop all the way down to the ground, there are 2 more sitting on a shelf.

18. Head around the corner behind the stairs where you will find 2 more.

19. Head south till you can’t go anymore and you see a set of stairs to the left climb the stairs and there are 2 on the first landing next to a dead slave named Wild Bill.

20. After you find Wild Bill continue up the stairs there will be a makeshift shack with 3 wild men inside kill them and there are 2 ingots by the fridge on the floor.

21. Continue on till you come to another bridge, there will be 3 or 4 trogs that attack you from all directions, after you kill them turn right and head out over the big pipe. There are 2 of them near the end.

22. Turn back around and head all the way to the end of the roof and drop off the edge to another building below, drop down behind the building to find 4 ingots in a mine cart.

23. Now head east along the wall to the right. You should be following a fence. Follow it till you reach a dead end. There will be a dead slave with a combat shotgun and 2 ingots

24. Go all the way back up to where you dropped down from and take the stairs that take you up to the top of the factory building. Turn left at the top of the stairs and take the first right you can. There are 4 of them in the back right hand corner by the dome and dead slave.

25. Now go back and climb the stairs to the very top of the structure you’ll hit the mother lode of 12 ingots

26. On your way back down you’ll see a really large and long conveyor belt, hop on there and follow it to the end for 7 more ingots.

27. Head back up to the rooftops with the domes on it. Head all the way south till you get to the wall turn left and drop down it’s a long drop but you won’t die, be sure to save in case just to be safe. Now you’ll need to drop down to the next platform with the 3 big silos on it. Head all the way east and and turn tight at the fence. There will be a dead slave with an autoaxe next to him. There will be 4 of them.

28. Head back down to where all the freight cars are. There are 2 ingots at the end of the tracks by the collapsed tunnel.

29. Back by the freight cars there are a bunch of protectrons lined up and a door. Enter the door and head down the hallway in the second room you’ll come across 3 ingots.

30. Continue on to the lower level of the factory. Go down the hallway on the right and follow the tracks all the way to the end. You’ll come across a couple of madmen and a bunch of dead Trogs there are 8 of them in an overturned mine cart. Some are upside down and hard to notice so make sure you double check you got them all.

31. Now Head down the hallway to the left and you will come across a door on your right and two dead madmen with bobby pins laying everywhere. Pick the lock on the door to find a nice supply of ammo and 6 ingots.

32. Continue up the stairs until you reach a room with a bed. There will be an autoaxe on the bed and to the right is the final Ingot.

LINK TO SOURCE WITH IMAGES AND VIDEOS

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Last night we played an official clan match under gamebattles rules.

This came about after Noodles suggested we start a clan just for fun… nothing serious…. so we got a few guys together.

1st game we lost to a set of over confident rude assholes, the 2nd we won which was pretty good considering we had never played together.

Scott and mike Scade don’t really play CoD5… Fenick plays EndGame, Noodles plays anything and I just tag along…. and we won the 2nd match 2-1

Even though we said it would be just for fun, the guys tried SO HARD and we just couldn’t help take it seriously… just for that 15 minutes.

This was my first clan match in over 10 years when i used to play Counter Strike on the PC and i don’t remember it being so exciting… maybe its just old age kicking in .

It was good Noodles was on hand… he’s a seasoned pro at this and knows the rules inside-out… he is also very good as a mediator. During work hours I do this really well… but after hours… thats another story

Anyway… this was the first and we had a good time… we now need to make this a weekly/bi-weekly event spreading out to CoD4.

I’ve played with all of these guys quite a bit… and in CoD4.. a team of Noodles, Fenick, MikeScade and Scott would do some real damage… plus there are a queue of guys sitting in the wings waiting to have a go

Its ALL good !!!!!!

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Due to work commitments I found myself real busy over the weekend and never played the xbox.

As a result, I lost my 459 day streak

…. anyway, I’ve decided to take a couple of days off from gaming… should be back on opve the next day or 2 as I’ve now cleared some of the work I had sitting .

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Downloaded this DLC last night ans completed it withing 5 hours. That said, I just flew through it… there is quite a lot do and I can always go back.

At the end, you are presented with some real good weapons and armour

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