I woke up to a warm, yellow glow through my
window. I get up and start to get myself ready for another day in the mine. I
grab my helmet and extractor and step out the door. I stand there for a moment
admiring the amazing view. Saturn`s rings. I can`t get over waking up every
morning and seeing that magnificent view. Back on earth all we had was a pure
blue sky. After a minute or 2 I snap myself out of my trance. I head off to the
Saturn shuttle or the SS. I take the SS every day from the Auir sector where I
live, to the Omega quadrant where the mine is. The days on Saturn are 44 hours
long so when I'm on the SS it is a good time to catch up on sleep after my 34
hour shift at the mine.
Once I get to the SS station I put my eye up to the identification
machine. A piercing green light shoots out and scans my eye. A robotic female
voice comes on, “access granted, Jeremy Samcraw”. The metal door slides open
with a hiss and I step through. The shuttle should be here any moment. I go
over and sit on a bench under a large holographic billboard with “happy new
years, 3014!” written on it. I completely forgot it was new years! We don’t
really celebrate new years on mars because the years are much longer. Suddenly,
the floor starts to vibrate and slowly turns into a rumbling shake. In moments,
the shuttle swiftly glides into the station. People stampede off as the doors
retract. As the night shift mines pile off, the day time miners head for the
doors I take my seat and the shuttle rumbles to life and we take off. Looking
out the window I can see the people slowly turn to the size of ants.
I drift off to sleep in my comfy shuttle seat. When I wake up I hear the
robotic female voice again. “Prepare to arrive at the Omega quadrant station.” The
doors swish open. I quickly race ahead of the other miners and head towards the
Tarazine mine. Tarazine is a very precious resource that can only be found
close to the core of Saturn. When exposed to massive amounts of pressure
tarazine can produce an unlimited supply of oxygen and energy. It is very
valuable and may be the answer to our now disgusting and polluted earth. Saturn
is already being run on tarazine power. That is how we can breathe on the
surface of Saturn. Once I get to the mine entrance I see my 2 co-miners Jim and
Brock. Once I meet up with them we all suit up in our tarazine powered cooling
suits we head towards the mine elevator. Without these cooling suits we would
get fried by the intense heat of Saturn core.
We must go down 8000m below the surface to find the tarazine. Tarazine
crystals can only develop under very hot temperatures. We all step into the
rusty old elevator. I click the down button and it slowly creaks down the
shaft. As we descend farther and farther we can start to see the purple glow of
the tarazine come up the elevator shaft. Once we get there we realize the other
miners have already finished their shift. We all take out our extractors and
start breaking off pieces of crystal and loading through the suction shoot that
brings them up to the surface.
Hours later rocks from the roof start to fall and we hear faint sounds
of explosions high above us. Suddenly, a large portal opens in the middle of
our mining area and 3 slimy turquoise aliens walk out. These aliens are a race
called the Protoss from the planet Char.
The Protoss are always trying to steal our precious tarazine. They
simultaneously turn towards the 3 of us and start speaking in a strange hissing
like language. We don’t know what it means but Jim Brock and I start to climb
over the mountain of purple crystal behind us. We know the Protoss are now
physically strong so when we reach the other side we all think we are safe.
Seconds after we sit on the ground to catch our breath, we hear the
charging rev of the Protoss photon cannon. I quickly take cover behind a rock
just as a rain of purple shards of crystal shoots out in every direction. I
peak around the edge of the rock and see my 2 best friends Jim and Brock lying
face down on the rocky floor. There are gaping rips in their suits from the
flying shards and sharp pieces of crystal penetrating their skin. I know
immediately that they are dead. The Protoss may be physically weak but their
weapons are destructive. Through the new tunnel the aliens made through the
40ft high mountain of tarazine I could see the aliens start walking towards me.
I had to think fast. I swiftly pull my extractor off my back. I aim it at the
rocks above where the aliens made the hole through the giant glowing purple
mountain.
Hopefully the extremely powerful laser we use for mining will be enough
to break the rocks and cover up the opening. I slowly pull the trigger and a
small flash of green light shoots out of the end of my extractor. Just as I
planed the rocks from the roof come crashing to the ground and cover the
opening. The aliens won’t have the physical strength to move those rocks. And I
know from my alien invasion course that is mandatory to take that a photon
cannon take at least 24 hours to recharge.
This gives me some time to find a way out.
I see one of the air ventilation shafts leading up to the surface in the
ceiling but it is much too small to climb through. After 2 hours of searching
for a way out I give up. I slouch against a rock and decide to get some sleep.
I am abruptly woken up by the humming of the photon cannon. I know immediately
to go and hide behind the same large boulder. I sit for a few seconds waiting
for the blast. As expected, rocks explode in every direction and the small area
I am in starts to fill will dust. As the dust clears, I can see that the aliens
are only about 20ft away. I pick up 3 large rocks and plan to throw them at the
imposters. If I can knock the plasma rifles out of their hands I can make a run
for the elevator. They will never be able to catch me.
I stand up and throw the rock at the first alien. The rock hits it in
the head and knocks it to the ground. I throw the other 2 rocks at the second
and third alien and their guns slide across the rocky ground. I know this is my
chance I make a direct run for the elevator. When I step in the elevator and
hit the up button a grin of success crosses my face. But just as I start to
ascend I see that one of the aliens has picked up its unconscious friends gun
and is aiming it at the elevator shaft. I jump out of the elevator just as a
bolt of orange light hits the elevator cable and snaps it like a twig. The
elevator plummets to the lower mining levels. “Now I’m doomed,” I think to
myself. But just as I give up on myself I realize the giant shining portal in
front of me. I get to my feet and run straight through it. I immediately feel a
tugging pull and then a swirling sensation.
When the spinning stops I open
my eyes and I realize I'm back on the surface near the mine entrance. I spot
the large machine used to generate the portal. I quickly shoot it with the
extractor’s laser. Sparks start to fly from it then smoke pours out of the
cracks. The portal closes and I know that the aliens are now trapped down in
the mine until they die. I wide grin spreads across my face. I head towards the
SS station to head home thinking to myself, “Just another day in the mine.”
With the newest and even more thrilling release of Batman:Arkham City, even more action packed, combat filled levels have been added. The gadgets previously used in the first game return in Arkham City. Most of these gadgets have improved or boast new capabilities; for example, the Cryptographic Sequencer can also track signals, the line launcher now can be deployed as a tightrope and has a feature that allows Batman to flip over and launch another zipline, switching directions. The remote control Batarang now has a built in brake and boost, and the grappling gun can now be used while gliding to boost Batman further up into the air. There are also new gadgets such as smoke pellets to confuse armed enemies when spotted by them, the Remote Electrical Charge, a taser gun used to power generators and shock enemies, ice grenades used to freeze enemies and make pathways through water, and a signal disruptor used to jam firearms and detonate enemy explosives. The events of Arkham City take place one year after Arkham Asylum. Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum, has taken credit for stopping the Joker's Asylum takeover, and used the notoriety to become mayor of Gotham City. At a press conference held by Bruce Wayne to declare his opposition to Arkham City, Wayne is arrested by Hugo Strange's TYGER mercenaries and is imprisoned in Arkham City. Strange discloses his knowledge of Wayne's dual identity as Batman before putting him in with the criminals. While Strange prepares to launch "Protocol 10", Wayne gets his crime-fighting equipment via airdrop from Alfred Pennyworth, allowing Wayne to become Batman. As Batman, he first saves Catwoman from being executed by Two-Face, who hopes to gain respect with her murder. After Joker attempts to assassinate Catwoman, Batman tracks him to his hideout in the Sionis Steelworks, believing Joker may know the truth behind Protocol 10. I rate this game a 4.5/5 and a definate must-buy because of its intrecate levels and plot and all of the cool changes to the weapons and gadgets that batman gets to use which is 1 of the biggest and coolest parts of the game.
The 2010 release of the 7th Call of Duty was 1 of the most anticipated Call of Duty at all. Call of Duty Black Ops shattered the past sales records of Modern Warfare 2. Within 24 hours Black Ops sold over 5.6 million copies beating MW2`s 24 hour sales record was 2.3 million copies. Black Ops is the next in the series to Treyarch`s World at War. Black Ops i based in the Cold War era in the 1960`s. Different missions in Black Ops are based in Cuba, Russia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. As always Call of Duty has created another amazing campaign in Call of Duty Black Ops. The campaign involves fighting your way through Cuba into Fidel Castro`s compound to kill the Castro look alike, and disabling a Russian missile silo. Another amazing part of the Black Ops game was the return of the Call of Duty`s epic game mode. Zombies. Black Ops returned with 2 new free zombie maps Kino Der toten and "Five" which is based in the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Also throughout the year that Black Ops was at its prime it released 4 new map packs which included 8 new zombie maps in total. Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri La, Moon and the return of the 4 World at War Zombie maps that started it all; Nacht der Untoten, Verruckt, Shi No Numa and Der Reise. Aside from the classic multiplayer mode that isn`t much different from every other First Person Shooter game. Zombies is the one mode in Call of Duty that makes it different and original. Zombies is a crazy fast-paced survival mode where zombies will come out of windows and the ground trying to kill you and you must use all your weapons and explosives to kill the zombies hoards. Every round in zombies the zombies get harder to kill and more zombies appear. Every kill gains you money and you can use this money to open doors to new parts of the maps, buy weapons off the wall, use traps and use the "Mystery Box" which gives you a random weapon. Zombies is a total original feature to Call of Duty that has kept players interested even when other games come out. Even after the release of MW3 Black Ops still has over 1,000,000 players playing at a time(give or take a few 100,000 players) and for this i applaud Treyarch on the terrific work. I give this a 4.5/5 stars rating. 5/5 for zombies, 4.5/5 for the campaign and 4/5 for multiplayer.
