I do not recall in recent years reading a book that moves me as much as The Shoemaker’s Wife does. It is quite possibly the saddest novel I have read, on par with Romeo & Juliet. OK. Not the entire book is sad. The majority part of the story is a celebration of life and the journey of struggle and triumph. But the sad part is really sad. I have lost sleep reading this. I fought hard not to cry inside a cafe reading this. After I have finished reading the book, I felt like taking a day off from work and eating ice-cream from a tub instead.
In The Shoemaker’s Wife, Adriana Trigiani tells a story inspired by her grandparents Lucia and Carlo’s love and life story. The setting is extraordinary. It reads like an epic love story that only the magical hands of fate can weave. Lucia and Carlo’s characters were born in Italy. They met once in their homeland and parted way due to unforeseeable circumstances. Somehow, they managed to meet again in America and then they got separated. Each having their own relationships with someone else and yet, fate brought them back together time and time again.
This book is more than a story of love. Set in the early nineties, Adriana’s grandfather was brought up in a convent together with his brother. While his brother was a devout Catholic planning to be a priest, Carlo did not believe in God. This sense of conflict between faith and non-believer is imbued deep inside and throughout the story, which is as real as life itself. Meanwhile, Adriana’s grandmother was brought up from a poor Catholic family. Being the eldest daughter, Lucia worked hard to help her parents to provide for the family and take care of her siblings. Lucia must be one of the strongest female character I have come to read. In order to give her family a chance to build a place called home, Lucia accompanied her father to come to America, a journey that almost killed her.
Once the backdrop has switched to America, the mood has changed. It is hope and opportunity in the land of the America. To read this part of The Shoemaker’s Wife is like reading what the American dream is all about. Adriana Trigiani tells it through the eyes of the migrants. Hardworking pays off. So is innovation and the desire to dream big. Those who made it live in luxury and richness. New friendships are made. Alliance are formed. People look out for each other. America is a dream for many and many have found a new home in America.
In as much as it is a tale of hope and dream, it is also a tale of life and death. Going through the two world wars, relationships and what holds dear to the hearts have become ever more precious. My heart weeps for what the characters have been through. It is emotional because behind every closed door, behind every happy face that we see everyday are the untold stories of struggle and sorrow. How much you can feel for the characters would depend on what you have experienced in life thus far. Having said that, I have gained more insights on what others may have been through under their unique circumstances.
I can imagine a lot of research has done prior to this project. All the details of the past – be it as the town and architecture, food and music, costumes and fashion, mode of transportation and the then-state of migrants – are vividly described. There is this surreal feeling that it is as though I am seeing the nineties through Lucia and Carlo’s eyes. I do not know how much of the story is authentic to author’s grandparents’ lives and how much of it is crafted with wild imagination. Adriana Trigiani has done something smart about the approach. She has used characters with different names to represent her grandparents. Therefore, she can have the artistic license to fill up the gaps without getting into the question of: Did her grandparents really do that?
All in all, The Shoemaker’s Wife is a fulfilling read. It is as emotional as life itself.
I have watched Warm Bodies the movie with my wife and my friend. We love it. The concept of a zombie falling in love with a human girl in a Romeo and Juliet-like setting is so unique and fun. The date of the story is unknown. It begins some time in the future when worldwide conflict has resulted in the collapse of our civilizing giving rise to a new breed of ‘human’ – the zombies or the Dead. The Living lives in fear, hiding inside closed walls isolated from other pockets of survivors. Once in a while, the humans send savaging team out of the city and collect essential items that may still be of use to the Living. Zombies meanwhile have developed this hunger to eat human flesh and to relive human memories by eating human brains. This may sound like a horror story but it is not. One day, during a hunting trip, R the zombie has done the unthinkable (zombies can think?) and has taken Julie the human to his home of the Dead. Not knowing exactly what to do with her, R’s first task is to teach Julie how to blend in. Those who have seen the movie may agree with me that this is perhaps the most memorable scene of the show.
I walk and she follows, stumbling along behind me and groaning every three or four steps. She is overdoing it, overacting like high school Shakespeare, but she will pass. We walk through crowds of Dead, shambling past us on both sides, and no one glances at us. To my amazement, Julie’s fear seems to be diminishing as we walk, despite the obvious peril of her situation. At a few points I catch her fighting a smile after letting out a particularly hammy moan. I smile too, making sure she doesn’t see me.
This is … new.
It is this new feeling that has started to change R. That to kill or not to kill, he has a choice. His hunger can be overcome. Love – in the context of care and reaching out to one another – can induce change from within. And that change can be infectious, affecting those who have witnessed or heard of the union between the two different worlds.
While R may have lots of words in his head but few to speak of, Julie has a certain character attitude that fits well in such a bizarre setting of humans and zombies. She has come to term with the current situation. But unlike other humans who are holding onto status quo, she has hope for a better future. That a cure can be found. The whole situation can be reversed. Humans can once again live freely in the open with a future.
“I guess I talk a lot of shit about Perry [Julie’s boyfriend who was eaten by R], but it’s not like I’m such a shiny happy person either, you know? I’m a wreck too, I’m just … still alive. A wreck in progress.” She laughs a quick, broken laugh. “It’s weird, I never talk about this stuff with anyone, but you’re … I mean you’re so quiet, you just sit there and listen. It’s like talking to God.”
The author has done a great job in portraying a world of end time through Julie’s eyes. Each day could be one’s last day to live. It is a lot easier to forgive given such circumstances. Books and pictures have become essential in preserving memory, and humanity. While the overall backdrop is gloomy, the book is not without hilarious moments so brilliantly weaved into and light up the story.
The scene as Julie and I make our way out of the airport [full of zombies] resembles either a wedding procession or a buffet line … The unnatural silence of a room full of people who don’t breathe is surreal. I swear I can hear Julie’s heart pounding. She is trying to walk steady and look cool, but her darting eyes betray her.
“Are you sure about this?” she whispers.
“Yes.”
“There’s like … hundreds of them.”
“Keep you safe.”
“Right, right, safe, how could I forgot.” Her voice grows very small. “Seriously, R … I mean, I’ve seen you kick ass, but you know if someone decides to ring the dinner bell right now I’m going to be sushi.”
The story takes a turn when it is R’s time to enter the human world, with Julie and her friend Nora trying to keep him safe. And it is where the movie deviates more from the book. In the movie, the plot has turned into an action scene with humans and zombies fighting against each other and against the skeletons. In the book, the author explores deeper into R’s mind, juxtaposes R’s narration with Perry’s memory, his imaginary dialogue with Perry’s soul, and his new dreams and illusion. This clever transition between these branches of subplots makes the book less of a linear read.
Do I like the movie or the book more now that I have seen and read both? I would say that the filmmaker has done a good job in transforming the story into something more action oriented while preserving the author’s sense of humor. The book dives deeper into emotion and the various human conditions – something that probably has to be read than seen. In short, watching the movie and reading the book gets the best of both world.
Oh. I am such a Kinsella fan. I have read every book of hers. Good or bad I … take it like a man. OK. Her books are mostly good. Always a hilarious read. One time, while reading Wedding Night inside a Starbucks, I have to squeeze myself real hard so as not to laugh out too loud in public.
Typically, her books start out with a flawed female character going through some girl crisis. Much of the limelight would be on the girl characters and there is little character development on the male counterpart. But, these are chick lit. You know what you are in for.
Wedding Night is different. It is still a Kinsella book. Lots of emotional moments making it a page turner aside, there is something special about her latest novel. First, the narration is told not from one female character but two. The switching between the two main characters is seamless and not predictable. It is like a double dose of chick lit in one volume. Second, there is character development for the male characters. Third, it is not some trivial crisis that the characters are going through. It is about real life dating, marriage, and career and the struggle like we may have experienced in our lives. The moral of the story is that at times when we are stuck, the best foot forward may be to let go, be free and lifted, and open to new possibilities.
Back to the story, Lottie is very certain that her boyfriend Richard is going to propose one evening inside a restaurant. But instead of a wedding proposal, his big question involves a trip abroad. Lottie is totally crushed and has decided to walk away from the relationship. Out of nowhere, one of her ex-boyfriends Ben turns up. Following a pack that they have made in their teenage years, they have decided to get married immediately since they have both hit thirties and are still single. To avoid falling into the same relationship mishap like in the past, Lottie wants to go the old fashion way – no consummation of marriage before the wedding night.
Meanwhile, Fliss – Lottie’s elder sister – is undergoing a bitter divorce. She is furious that her little sister is again rushing into something crazy after yet another breakup. So, Fliss is going all out to stop this wedding night from happening, which is going to be in a Greek island, a place where Ben and Lottie first met. At the same time, Lorcan – Ben’s colleague – also comes into the picture as he fears that his friend’s hasty decision would ruin his career. An unlikely collaboration between the bridesmaid and best man, Fliss and Lorcan fly all the way to Greece and intend to talk some sense into this new couple. To top it up, there is always Richard in the background who may have a regret or two.
An overall entertaining read, a must for the Kinsella fans.
There were moments during the show when I gasped deep and mouthed, “This can’t be possible!” It was almost like the clip when Edward of Twilight saved Bella from a would-be car accident at school. That superhuman power. That moment, I did not see Vin Diesel as Vin Diesel. I saw him as a demigod. That powerful leap into midair, with razor sharp trajectory precision. Something that parachutists might be able to do at terminal velocity. Or maybe not. I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was to jump out from a fast moving vehicle on a highway, grab a 60kg object that is thrown onto him, and then land on his back through the shattered glass, would he have survived? Not a bone broken?
Vin Diesel is not the only invincible one here. Those leaps between a plane that was about to take off and the cars below struggling to gain traction, wow! One could take a multistory fall and land right onto a car seat OK. That is incredible. More incredible so is: How long was the runway exactly? That airplane scene went on and on as though the runway was as long as two parallel lines stretching into infinity.
Actually, these things don’t bother me too much. I knew what I was in for. What really bothers me is that why would one of my favorite characters die when everyone else is given such superhuman treatment? Puzzling. Perhaps that character did not die. Perhaps the answer lies in the future installments. I can only hope.
I can imagine why Fast & Furious 6 is popular. I like cars. While taking the action to fist fighting, tank smashing, and plane crashing may seem too far off from the franchise, I still like the car scenes a lot. Of course, I wish that the convoy on the final missions was the same make, same color. Like some of the memorable scenes in the earlier installments. That visual coherence would have radiated a stronger sense of teamwork. I am a Formula One fan. Those F1 like cars in Furious 6 are quite something. They seem like working prototypes. If the filmmakers manage to build those, in real life, I doubt any road car would be able to get close at all.
In a way, the franchise has grown up quite a bit. It is not about street racing anymore. It is like a mini-Expendables whereby the ex-criminals’ skills are required in saving the world. Or saving a briefcase. Some of the dialogues can be kind of cheesy. But because most the characters – especially so for Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and The Rock – are so cool, I really don’t mind. The exchange between Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson – also a musician – is hilarious. Some parts of the movie struck my emotional core too. Overall, an entertaining movie.
Looks like Jason Statham from The Transporter will be starring in Fast & Furious 7. At least it looks so from the post-credit scene. It is hard to visualize him as a villain though. We shall see.
Like I have anticipated after reading a sample chapter from the previous book The Alignment Ingress, Felicia Hajra-Lee’s writing style is more agreeable to me. It does not feel like trying to fit Ingress into an established storyline like Thomas Greanias’s book does. It feels like I am reading a book on Ingress told from the inside. In the previous book, Ingress was described like a digital game mashed into a classic treasure hunt plot. Hajra-Lee’s approach is different. She has shared insights on what exotic matter does (in fact, Exotic Matter was the original title of this book) and how XM affects the bodies of some. There is this subtle notion of the two opposing ideals a similar way that we have the two factions in game. One that opposes to being ‘shaped’ by the XM transmission and one that embraces that for our next evolution. I would say The Niantic Project Ingress is bias towards the Resistance faction – at least that is how I perceived it to be. But I suppose a story told from one perspective can be an engaging read.
Those who have followed Ingress on Google+ may be aware of the ‘real life’ events that happened around (government funded?) Niantic Lab. The facility has been locked down after an explosion due to an experiment that involved exotic matter and power cube. Since then, key characters have fled the premise with valuable information. Kill orders have been issued. Even ADA the virtual reality entity seems to have come up with her own agenda. Without a base, some of these key characters have decided or being forced to approach the Chinese and the Russian in order to continue the project using private funding. And then, a third organization seems to have formed by the ‘patriots’.
There is plenty of action, plenty of intriguing insights in the world of Ingress. The narration of this novella tends to flip between different characters rather frequently making it at times a slightly disorientating read. And it does not have that climatic ending that makes you go wow. Yet another introduction on what is to come? Judging from where this book is heading as well as the Ingress events that took place in Google+, the next chapter of this Niantic archives series could well be heading to anomaly whereby a new type of matter is found – dark matter or chaotic matter. I am excited to find out more.
I am not a Trekkie. But I have thoroughly enjoyed the reboot. Hence, I have high anticipation of Into Darkness, also directed by J. J. Abrams. Besides, the casting of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock is simply brilliant. Before the movie, I was thinking to myself: How nice if I could see some Klingons. The good news is, there were some Klingons. The not so good news is that they did not last long.
So I lamented just a little bit with my movie buddies Cynthia and TK. In a sci-fi movie like Star Trek, when human are exploring the frontier of the galaxy, should we not see more interaction with other alien species? Like my favorite Klingons?
What we see instead is the conflict between the human in the future with the generically modified super-human in the past caught in the middle. At first, I felt the villain Khan acted by Benedict Cumberbatch was a bit stiff and emotionless. Then, when it is his part to shine, Cumberbatch delivers some of the memorable moments in this movie. As for Kirk and Spock, the filmmaker has given them plenty of opportunity to showcase the unique characteristic of the two opposing figures. Kirk who acts on his initiation versus Spock who is governed by logic and has chosen not to be affected by emotion. In Into Darkness, both Kirk and Spock are being deeply challenged against their principles. It is part of a learning journey for them to mature and take greater responsibility. The filmmaker has nailed the character development aspect perfectly.
The ending plot is not without its loophole (or so I have observed). Cynthia and TK did not notice until I have pointed it out. It is like, why go into such great trouble to catch the one when there are plenty of stock back in the ship? And if they have no idea how to unfreeze these stocks, why risk freezing the main character in it? Anyway, that is minor on this pretty entertaining movie of late.
For two months I have participated in Marvel Heroes Online’s closed beta. Most weekends when the server was up, I would try to log on. Recently, the beta server is switched on 24 x 7 so I get to be more active. This game will be officially launched in a week’s time. If you wish to know more about this upcoming free-to-play massively multiplayer online game, you have come to the right place!
What is Marvel Heroes Online?
It is a casual action role playing game. You don’t need to spend a cent to start playing and it is pretty easy to get the hang of it. Like the Diablo franchise, you hack-and-slash your way through waves and waves of enemies. The number of buttons you get to interact with is minimal. Left and right mouse buttons are for your main attack and then another five keyboard buttons to spice things up. One key is bound to med kit for self-healing. That is all you need to master. You are free to assign available powers into these seven keys and buttons. But we will get to the power tree later.
The entire story at launch has eight chapters. For the first four chapters your base would be in Avenger’s Tower. For the last four chapters, it would be Xavier’s School (disclaimer: I have only played up to chapter 7 so two bases is my best guess). The bases are where you perform your routine chores like managing your S.T.A.S.H., selling or donating items, crafting, stocking up on med kit, and etc. Unlike Diablo 3, there is no auction house but instead, Marvel Heroes Online has a store for you to buy heroes, costumes, and miscellaneous items using real world money. Also unlike Diablo 3, the open-world portion is a true MMO whereby you would get to see other players going around with their business. There are tough outdoor bosses and nearby players can join force to bring these bosses down. There are two types of instanced ‘dungeons’ for up to 5 players to go in as a group. One that is for treasure hunt and another is for the story development. Auto-grouping happens for story mode and not for treasure hunt. If you are someone who prefers to solo, you can turn off auto-grouping too.
There is plenty of action when it comes to Marvel Heroes Online. It is a feast of hack and slash!
Items and experience globes dropped in open-world as well as inside an instanced ‘dungeon’ appear to be for you and you alone. Health and spirit globes that boost up your vital resource are shared among the players in the area. Interestingly, these globes shrink in size over time. This forces you to go out of the way in order to grab these globes before they diminish in value. To me, this mechanic keeps the fight fun as you may need to abandon what you are currently doing, even to take risk in order to gain more experience or to refill your health and spirit bars.
‘Dungeon’ difficulty doesn’t seem to scale up as the group size grows. While ‘dungeons’ – even most of the bosses – can be soloed, that makes auto-grouping a great feature to have. Anyone who enters the same ‘dungeon’ within a similar timing would be automatically grouped up. This works perfectly when the server is vibrant with many active players. When I log in during US late hours, most of the time I am on my own.
All the boss fights require you to observe patterns and try your best to avoid huge damage. Be ready to burn those stacks of med kits in order to stay alive because most of the fights, there is no way to replenish your health in mid fight. Should you fail, you can always teleport back to your base, grab more med kits if need to, and try again. Boss’s health does not go back up immediately once you are defeated so you could keep trying till you win. There were times though when my character was not strong enough to face certain bosses, or it cost too many med kits. I either replay some of the previous content to gain more power and better gears and / or group with a stronger team. In one particular boss fight, it was really hard. A few days later, it was nerfed by the developers. So in short, this is a casual game and you should be OK to sail through the chapters.
Marvel Heroes Online does not seem to offer different difficulty levels like Diablo 3. I have found an area possible for end game dailies. With that many heros to choose from, I suppose there is always something to do.
The Story – The Good and the Ugly
Provided that you can get the narration in the right order, the overarching story is pretty good. Cut scenes are more or less presented in a comic strip style. Your hero choice does not have a bearing on the cut scene rendering. You may be playing Ms. Marvel but you may not see her being featured (in fact, I have not seen her in any cut scenes). You just have to imagine that she is there, together with the heroes in the cut scenes.
Or maybe, you are not the hero. You are just a replica like many others online players fighting with the real heroes.
On the right is the chapter layout. It opens up as you progress into the story. On the left is the hero’s main stats that will increase over time as you level. As you can see, there are only 5 armor slots, 1 medal slot (on top middle), and 2 artifact slots (top). Not at all hard to fill them up with epic gears if you are into crafting. Click to see a larger image.
The story is divided into 8 chapters and I am now on chapter 7. It does not seem to take long to complete (perhaps like going through Diablo 3’s normal mode). Each chapter has several missions that may have multiple objectives. Main missions are mixed with side missions and are arranged in a linear fashion. Because the appearance of the quest givers does not follow your story progression or simply because in an open world, you are free into venture into any area that may cause you to unknowingly skip the story, it is possible for you to miss the last few missions of the current chapter and dive into the next chapter. Even more mind-boggling is the fact that you may not enter the next chapter on the first mission. If the first mission happens to be a side mission, you may enter into the second mission instead. One time, I got the last mission opened for a chapter I have yet to enter. I wish to say that because the game is still in beta so the story mechanic appears as wonky. But early access program is due to start in less than a week. So I guess that must be how the story is implemented or the game is still buggy.
In short, going through Marvel Heroes Online story is like watching a movie on cable. You get to watch a fragment of the movie as and when you switch your TV on and off. Over time, through watching the same movie a couple of times, you may get the whole story.
It is possible to reset the entire story (perhaps you wish to play with your friend who is new to the game?). Simply wipe off your progress by talking to one of the non-player characters. Another point to note is that switching heroes erase your current story progress. I have no idea why that has to be so.
Crafting – Administrative but an Absolute Must
There is something really good and really bad about crafting. As you collect loots during your game play, there are three things you can do besides throwing them on the floor for others to pick up. First, you can sell them for credits, which I do not recommend unless you are short in credits. Second, you can donate them to a particular vendor and increase your rank with that vendor. If say that vendor is a glove seller, the higher the ranking you are with him, the better glove level you can buy from him. That is also not recommended. Because each vendor only sells one type of armor, you would have a quite a few vendors to level the rank with. On top of that, I have yet to see any blue (rare) or purple (epic) items sold by these vendors during my beta testing. So why bother unless you really hate crafting?
Crafting is really rewarding. Donate all the unwanted loots to the forge vendor and level up the rank fast. You won’t regret it. On the left is your stash. As you can see, (1) crafting materials eat up space and (2) you can buy more stash slots using real money. Click to see a larger picture.
The more sensible thing to do is to level your rank with the forge vendor through item donation. Here is a list of benefits that should make you go wow.
You can craft your med kit for 10 credits each versus 75 credits when bought from a vendor.
You can craft your set of potions to temporarily increase your stats for 20 minutes, which is just about the time to return to your base after a hack-and-slash session in order to clear your inventory.
You can upgrade any rare items into epic quality!
You can transform any epic items that are not meant for your hero into one that is!
You can unbound any items and pass it to other characters. This comes in handy for artifact and medal items that are not hero specific.
You can add offense and defense affixes even decorative attribute to your costume (but the cost can be high).
Because the crafting materials drop so often, you can afford to waste them on med kits and potions. That is great.
Now, the down side – besides the occasional bugs – is that crafting materials do not stack. They can be combined into a higher tier but they do not stack. They eat up inventory and stash space like no tomorrow. The user interface for crafting is poorly designed making the whole exercise feels really tedious and administrative. Perhaps that is the intention, to get you spending more time with the game.
Select Your Power!
As you level your hero, you collect power points. You can spend your points across three talent trees like good old RPG. This is a casual MMO. I dare say nothing you can do would grim your hero. You can either spread your points across to all available skills in order to have a more varied play style or you can – like me – focus all your power points into the 7 abilities you are comfortable with. I enjoy efficiency and I like to min-max everything I can. You may prefer a different approach. I like it fast. And I like it furious.
As you can see, the power tree design is pretty simplistic. Ms. Marvel has an ability called Binary Overdrive at high level. With only 7 abilities to be active at any time, it doesn’t really make sense to spread them across everything. Click to see a larger picture.
In general, when it comes to selecting your power, here are some points for consideration.
For most of the 14 heroes I have experienced with, one tree is usually for utility like escape abilities and etc. For hybrid build – which is my preference (read more here) – I level up both melee and range DPS trees simultaneously.
Your gears may add points to your trees. This makes min-max optimization a little bit tricky.
Some abilities synergize others. This was implemented very recently. I have yet to see how it works. My best guess is that you may be encouraged to build some combos into your rotation. Bottom line is that the power trees are still very fluid and may change in near future.
Some abilities may only be unlocked after you have invested at least one point in the previous tiers. To me, it is like an ability upgrade. Thankfully, your investment on the previous tier ability does all not go into waste. Because previous tier points contributes a damage bonus to your current tier.
I prefer to invest on passive powers.
To reset your power selection, you need to consume a specific item. I have seen that dropped very occasionally. Or you can buy from the store using real money.
Like I have mentioned in my previous post (Marvel Heroes Online: Picking Your Heroes), the power trees are designed such a way that you would want to reset your power as you level. I suppose that is a small price to pay for a free-to-play online game.
On a side note, as you gain levels, some of your hero’s base attributes such as durability will be increased making you feel more powerful.
In Summary
Marvel Heroes Online being a free-to-play online game is worth checking out. It is certainly built with casual players in mind. Do not expect much from the story presentation and graphic perspective. That aside, you can still expect to have fun slashing and hacking your way through hordes and hordes of enemies solo or group with others. Crafting is rewarding despite being administratively tedious. As of today, the game still feels very much in beta. There are rough edges to be polished and I shall expect more improvements to be made in the initial months.
This game offers one free hero (from a choice of five) for you to get started. However, to fully enjoy the game from day one, you are better off buying a premium hero of your choice from the store. Tier 3 and 4 heroes cost US$15 and US$20 respectively (with some gold left over). Tier 2 and 1 hero cost US$10. I would strongly recommend you to pick at least a tier 3 hero (more on that in my previous post) while buying a tier 4 hero does not always mean that it is better.
Marvel Heroes Online will be launched on Jun 4. You may register today.
In about two weeks from now – June 4 to be exact – Marvel Heroes Online will go live. From what I have observed, the mere mentioning of Marvel Heroes has already got the fans excited. How not to be? You’ll get to play out your favorite heroes joining others to battle the iconic villains. Besides, to start playing this massively multiplayer online game, you don’t need to spend a single cent. The game is free-to-play. But is it really so? How would your gaming experience be affected by going free all the way?
Well, you have come to the right place. I have been playing the closed beta for months. Thanks to an account reset, I have tried out 14 heroes out of 21 using in-game currency provided during beta and have progressed pass the midway point. Here are a few thoughts to share with regards to free-versus-paid gaming experience. As a disclaimer, the game is still in beta and Gazillion may still change it as we speak.
To start playing Marvel Heroes, you get to pick one of the characters offered free-of-charge: Daredevil, Storm, Thing, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. I have tried all but Hawkeye. My conclusion is that this basic tier feels underpowered compares to the premium heroes. They are noticeable weaker and they lack some of the practical as well as fancy powers other premium heroes have.
While I did not have fun with these basic heroes, I really enjoy playing the game with some of the premium heroes. You can keep on playing the game and hope to obtain one of these heroes for free – which could take some time (in fact, I haven’t seen one dropped yet). Or you could spend real money and buy a hero that you would love to play. I would highly recommend so since time is more valuable then money. The rest of this article helps you to make that decision.
You are likely to stick to one hero until you have completed all the eight chapters because switching heroes reset game progress. Also, since all heroes share the same inventory and stash, you would run out of space much faster by leveling multiply heroes at the same time.
The free edition provides you with an inventory space of 40 and a stash space of 48 shared by all your heroes. This may seem a lot but it’s barely enough to get by. Medical kits only stacks up to 10 per slot. Crafting materials – the space eater – do not stack. Also, if you plan to pass items to your other heroes, that 88 slots are going to fill up very quickly. You can however spend real money to buy space. Two more general stash of 48 slots each, three more for potions, and one stash for each of the 21 heroes. I have no idea how much that would cost you. From early levels, I have already been struggling with space. It seems to me that I would need to buy one or two extra stash once this game is live.
Want to look different from the rest of the heroes? Costumes are available for purchase with real money too. Each costume may cost as much as the hero himself. At minimum each hero has three different costumes for sales. Iron Man has eleven costumes at beta!
While some consumables like XP and rare item boost purchasable using real money seem optional, the ability to reset chosen skills to me is mandatory. Why? The skill trees are designed so much so that you have to go for a reset once new skills open up as you level pass a certain point. Because only 7 skills can be active at any time, I would highly recommend to put all the points to these 7 skills (as well as the passive ones) instead of spreading them across to all skill options. Rarely you need to swap skills for different fights. Fortunately, I have seen this power reset potion (or device) dropped freely from time to time. If you are desperate for a skill reset, the online store is your best friend.
There are some companions for purchase too. In the past I used to buy them for other MMO games. Again, totally optional like costumes but they are there if you feel lonely in a villain infested world.
In summary, my suggestion is to start the game with one of the freely offered heroes and go through Chapter 1. Once you get to the point whereby you feel you may like the game, purchase a premium hero and be prepared to buy other stuffs like extra stash. If you need some advice on picking your second hero, read on! I have some insights to share. What if you want to stick with the freely offered heroes? Thing starts off good due to high durability and strength. But due to a lack of mobility and speed, some of the boss fights would be pretty hard. Storm is kind of weak and looking at the stats of Hawkeye, I am not impressed either. Scarlet Witch is OK as a caster type of hero if kiting play style is your cup of tea. Daredevil is a melee hero with range attack making it also a viable choice among the five heroes.
I have tried 14 out of 21 heroes on beta. That includes Black Panther, Black Widow, Cable, Captain America, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, Jean Grey, Ms. Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Storm, Thing, and Thor.
When it comes to picking or rather buying your heroes, I have some insights for sharing. Now, I understand that this can be a personal choice because you may have a liking towards certain Marvel Heroes. So, my insights are purely from a game play perspective. My aim is to equip you with the right information so that you can make an informed decision.
Price Tag: Each hero comes with a price tag: 600, 900, 1200, and 2000 in-game currency. Heroes with the lowest price tag are usually basic. Their general stats are usually low or they are crippled with some aspects such as mobility. At 900 and 1200, heroes often come with extra resources to manage. Like Jean Grey being able to turn into a phoenix, Ms. Marvel fights better as she takes on punishment, or Thor gets more powerful as he is overwhelmed by enemies. At 2000 price tag, some heroes can be real fun to play. Like Spider-man’s ability to swing across enemies with his web and look striking too. While a high price tag does not necessarily mean that the hero is for you, it is a good indication on where you should start looking. I would start from 1200 up.
Hero Stats: Each hero comes with 6 stats. They are durability, strength, fighting, speed, energy, and intelligence. A detail explanation can be found at the bottom of this entry. In a nutshell, the higher overall stats your hero has, the better the game play. Higher durability and fighting increases survivability and damage output. Speed affects both move and attack speed. There should be a balance between strength (physical damage) and energy + intelligence (energy damage and mental a.k.a. DoT damage). My preference is physical damage output because there is a certain edge to be at the front of the battle, collecting health and spirit globes before others do. Or simply, progress ahead of the group.
Hybrid Build: Normally, in other online games, you may choose to pick a tank class or range damage class or melee damage class and be merry with whatever game play that suits you. However, in Marvel Heroes, I enjoy hybrid builds much better. Because tank classes such as Thing or Hulk aren’t that tough. There isn’t a dedicated healer class therefore making a tank class less attractive. Range damage classes such as Jean Grey may be powerful from a distance, she would need to do a fair bit of kiting against melee enemies. Some melee classes like Black Panther is pretty fun to play being able to leap onto the back of the enemies and deliver melee damage. But against bosses that require space may be a challenge. Hence, from my experience, those heroes who are excel in both melee and range and with a decent amount of durability are the most enjoyable ones to play. Such as Ms. Marvel, Thor, and Captain America. All of them are able to deliver respectable damage up close and decent damage at range. They are pretty high in durability too.
Escape Skills: While stats and builds may give a good indicator on how enticing a hero is, you have got to spend some time reading up on the shortlisted heroes utility abilities as well. Take Ms. Marvel as an example, she is able to lunge forward knocking off enemies along the way and get behind them (Spider-Man has similar ability too). She also gets to fly over enemies and obstacles (like Jean Grey in phoenix form). That versus Storm’s leaping backward and still facing the enemies, I would much prefer lunging forward instead. You would need sufficient escape skills to get you out of sticky situations, especially so during boss fights.
The Fun Factor: Sometimes, we play a character because it is fun. Being able to fly around, turn into a phoenix, or swing around like Spider-Man does can be fun. Having a high intelligence level hero like Iron Man and hence speeds up the leveling experience can also be fun.
Now that you know how to pick your hero, where shall you start? First, visit the official Marvel Heroes website and check out the heroes’ stats as well as some story write-up. Then, visit the official wiki website and look through the skills available for your shortlisted heroes. Pay attention to hybrid build and the escape skills and pick one that suits you.
What about me? My favorite hero has got to be Ms. Marvel. She has a set of well rounded stats. As a hybrid build, Ms. Marvel is able to neutralize enemies up close, from afar, and in a group at ease. She also has the right sort of escape skills to get out of sticky situations. Thor and Captain America both rank high on my list too due to their well rounded hybrid builds. Looking at the fun factor, Spider-Man and Jean Grey score high. Iron Man is another viable option though the game play seems a bit less exciting compares to say Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man. But being able to gain experience points faster, that alone is quite a plus point. Oh yes, did I mention that fun looking Mark I or Mark II costume for Iron Man?
Here is a little bit extra for those who want to know what the attributes mean.
Durability
Reduces incoming damage
Improves health regeneration
Reduces stun duraction on you
Strength
Increases your physical damage
Allows you to throw objects of increasing size
May add stun to your melee powers
Fighting
Increases damage with fighting powers
Reduces incoming damage from fighting powers
Reduces spirit cost for fighting powers
Increases attack speed with fighting powers
Speed
Increases move speed
Increases fly speed
Increases attack speed
Reduces slow durations on you
Energy
Increases energy damage
Increases mental damage (a.k.a. DoT)
Improves spirit regeneration
Reduces spirit cost for energy powers and mental powers
Initially, I wasn’t sure if I should watch Iron Man 3. I remember the Iron Man five years ago was great. I did not like Iron Man 2 and could not remember what the plot was. Not even a single bit. Part one was memorable. Part two was forgettable. But since both my buddy TK and my wife were keen on part three, and the box office seems to do well, why not give one of my favorite actors Robert Downey Jr. another chance?
As it turns out, Iron Man 3 is fun! It reminds me why I love the first installment. There is this human factor as we get to see more on the vulnerable side of Tony Stark than a hero in suit. Tony Stark as an engineer who is playful at heart and he loves to create. The end products may or may not work as intended. Loving it. I am trained as an engineer and I can relate to this aspect of the show. Again, nothing really going on with the Pepper character. There are some silly moments too, like assembling an anti-terrorists outfit and gear using common goods purchased from a local DIY store. Or blowing up robots in order to create a firework. But all in all, an entertaining movie.
I have been wanting to write an article on Ingress – an augmented reality game by NianticLabs@Google or better known as the Niantic Project – for months. But every so often, the more I dive into this ‘game’, a new dimension of game play and awareness has opened up. That prompted me to observe more reminded me the inadequacy of my understanding. Now that I am at the end game, while the journey from now on may still be long, it is a high time to share my initial thoughts of Ingress.
How Ingress Has Changed My Life Thus Far
Perhaps a better way to introduce this augmented reality game is by listing out how in the last three months, Ingress has changed me.
I walk a lot more these days, progressively over time. My daily walking exercise can go up to 10 km a day, including pockets of sprinting activity. For someone who seldom exercise and often stays behind a computer at work and at home, this is amazing.
My wife comments that my heartbeat is now slower and more steady (yes, we hug each other to sleep each night). I feel healthier too.
I have met more new friends face-to-face than I ever would have in years. And we keep in touch regularly.
I have discovered new and interesting places, monuments, and artworks that I would have easily missed.
I have rekindled with my photograph passion and am actively taking pictures of what would be interesting locations for future players.
A Brief Introduction to the Lore
The folks from the Niantic Project insist that Ingress is not a game. That it is real. The following extract from the book The Alignment Ingress sheds light to Portals, Exotic Matter, and Shapers – the key ingredients of this ‘game’.
Portals are transdimensional anomalies through which order data was transmitted via exotic matter (XM). Nobody knew what was contained in this data, only that it is sequenced and thus engineered by some intelligent.
All of which beg the question of who or what is on the other side of these portals? Again, nobody knew. For the timing being, whatever they are have been coined with the term “Shapers”, because it appears that this ordered data in exotic matter had for centuries been shaping human thought and influencing human civilization. The existence of the world’s ancient shrines, monuments and cities around XM portals made the link indisputable.
Because of that, agents (or players) all around the world are examining ancient and modern architecture, monuments and street arts, sending photographs to NianticLabs for XM verification. In fact, this aspect forms an important part of the game, in allowing the players to expand on the Ingress universe.
Core to Ingress is two factions divided. The Enlightened and the Resistance. The Enlightened (green) believes that we shall open our eyes and look upon the exotic matter and Shapers as an inspiration towards our next evolution. The Resistance (blue) believes that the key to survival is to be free from Shapers’ influence. Hence, the eye and key as the respective logos for the two.
Shapers are entities with an agenda. Whether it is for good or evil remains to be seen. But if the Shapers have wanted to destroy humanity, they could easily induce humans to destroy themselves. So far, however, we have not noticed any violent intentions for the Shapers.
The only thing anybody knows is that the Shapers want something from people, and that nobody knows what it is.
The conflict between the two factions is very real. In a way, it can be rather sad to see how Ingress has divided my friends into two camps. Whatever the future holds, the very notion of Enlightened and Resistance seems to have the power to attract two distinct set of personalities into either camp, generally speaking.
Ingress can be thought as a game of capture-the-flag using real world landmarks as the objects of contest. Both factions compete to capture the portals. Once the portals are captured, depending on the availability of resources called keys, teams can then form triangular fields. The larger the field is, the more Mind Unit (i.e. estimated human presence within the area) it controls. That figure rolls up to the global level and ultimately influence how the battle between the two factions turns out.
It is worthwhile to showcase field creation in Ingress. Because that is where the fun lies.
Portal A can be linked to Portal B so long as the player is physically close to Portal A and has a key to Portal B.
A key of a particular portal can be obtained by hacking of that portal. Key dropping is random in nature.
Once a link is established, the key is consumed.
A field is formed when three portals are connected to each other.
A link cannot cross an existing link, cannot be established to an enemy portal.
A link can be created from a Portal lying at the boundary of a field into any Portal inside the field. But not vice versa. Layered fields – i.e. fields within a field – created this way rewards more Action Points (for leveling) and Mind Units.
A larger field can envelope another smaller field in totality creating another type of layered field. Doing so rewards more Mind Units.
Each link a Portal has adds to the strength of that Portal making it harder to be destroyed.
Creating links and fields rewards more Action Points than destroying links and fields.
How far apart the Portals can be linked depends on the level of the Portals. Higher level Portals can be linked from a further distance than lower level Portals.
Because no two portals are deployed the same way even at the same location – due to human positioning, GPS accuracy (or rather inaccuracy), the portal’s level, and how connected the portals are – the approach to the capture of a portal or a set of portals can be different in any given day. Besides, new portals are frequently added into the game. Ingress game mechanic evolves over time too.
In my work area, I often can take my time capturing portals and creating fields. Not so for the portals in the Central Business District. To create the fields above, I had to defend and recapture the portals a few times over. To shock-and-awe the enemy with the fields, I had to do a final capture, dash across the few portals at the bottom, and create the link within a short time!
My Milestones
Due to the fact that I am obsessed about taking screenshots, I am able to put together the milestones of my journey with Ingress.
Jan 29 – Training day.
Jan 30 – Discovered 2 portals in my work area in the afternoon. In the evening, headed downtown and attempted to strike a level 6 portal as a level 1 and had my first taste of you’ve been hit!
Feb 1 – Submitted my first portal via email. It was approved approximately 2 months later.
Feb 5 – Hit level 2 by hacking and recharging portals.
Feb 22 – Captured my first portal at Greenwich. It was a new one, unclaimed. I was meeting with my buddy Mark for lunch in a mall up north. I was level 3 by then.
Mar 4 – Took down a level 6 portal at Changi City Point as a level 3 and the one next to it as well. By then, there were 6 portals in my work area.
Mar 14 – Took down Singapore Flyer portal for my wife to deploy. My first experience as someone who helps others to level instead of getting the maximum Action Points for myself.
Mar 15 – Finally met one of the high level agents in the Expo area. Together, we built fields and I leveled up to 4 in no time.
Mar 22 – The number of portals in my work area has steadily been increased to 8.
Mar 23 – Charlie a.k.a me finally got to team with with my ‘angels’ – Hana, Moana, and my wife – and we struck Central Business District in late evening hours. Hana and I smashed portals and Moana and my wife deployed and upgraded them. It was a fun evening until Hana dropped off the radar and lost contact (out of battery).
Mar 26 – Leveled up to 5 by building more fields in my work area.
Mar 29 – Started to team up with my wife during weekends. The two of us maintain a portal cluster near our home.
Apr 5 – Resistance has a fast leveling agent in our work area that flipped the portals in record time. That pushed me to level 6 in record time as well.
Apr 16 – The Resistance agent continued to up his tempo. With more portals going live, that gave both sides more opportunity to progress. On that day, I leveled up to 7.
Apr 28 – Even as the Resistance agent in our area has reached the level cap of 8, he continued his obsession in destroying our fields and denying his faction members of gaining any easy Action Point. Due to the sheer number of portals and links, even when I did not do much, I gained quite a bit of Action Points every day. As for the final push to level 8, I systematically captured the portals from Changi Business Park to Expo and later on, two locations in Bedok. The operation ended at 04:55 once I reached the level cap of 8.
On the night before I hit level 8, I revisited my work area on a weekend after midnight. By now, there are 15 portals in the area. Compare to only 2 when I first started playing Ingress 3 months ago. See that missing link? Regretfully, the game did not allow me to link even though I have the correct key. What a pity.
Leveling Progress: Balanced or Not?
I used to have this discussion with Leo – my friend from Google+ – on how balanced or imbalanced leveling is in Ingress. Here are two graphs for sharing.
This chart shows the pace of leveling across level 1 to 8.
This chart shows the pace of Action Points acquisition across level 1 to 8
As a disclaimer, this analysis is academic in nature because there are so many variables that affects the pace we level up in Ingress. There has been feedback that leveling is a lot slower in the beginning, which in my case, it is somewhat true. The rate of leveling from 2 to 4 is slower than from level 4 onward. This could be due to a few reasons. Most portals in Singapore are pretty high level. It is quite impossible – and inefficient – for any agent lower than level 4 to capture a portal. In addition, what can be linked has already been linked.
In my case though, it is because I have met the local agents face-to-face when I was level 4. They have helped me a great deal. What is interesting is that in order to maintain the linear progress from level 4 to 8, I actually had to double my pace of Action Points acquisition each time I level. Given the fact that I have also devoted more time to help others to level during that period of time (and hence indirectly slowed down my pace), one explanation is that I have become even more active. And the increased number of portals and the new places that I have visited helped. Our local Resistance agent going nuclear on us in the past month helped too.
In Search of Inner Happiness with Ingress at End Game
I have learned a lot during this short period of time. Not only from a game mechanic’s perspective, but also how I see things in life. More amazingly so, I have learned from some who are so much younger than me. In some ways, I feel I am enlightened.
Keep It Fun and Fair – In a player-versus-player multiplayer online game like Ingress, it is easy to grow possessive and obsessive on what you think are rightfully yours. That can be mentally tiresome. Think of Ingress as a basketball game with no end. A basketball game is interesting when you see two teams have a fair share of ball possession and interaction. Think beyond yourself. Think beyond your faction. Ingress as a whole is fun because we from either faction enjoy playing it. A healthy dose of frustration is OK because when done right, usually that makes a game fun. But there is no point in having too much fun on your own in the expense of others. Give others a chance to play.
Role Playing in Moderation – I love the role playing aspect of almost any game I have played. That enables you to submerge deeper into the fantasy world. Yes, there are two factions in this game and unfortunately, not every one is friendly to each other. This does not have to affect real life relationship though. Try to be sensitive on the things you say or you may find yourself losing a real life friend over a game, which is rather unnecessary.
Be a Mentor – It is never too early to take on a mentor role and help out the new players. Show them the tips and tricks. Think before action. Do I really need to take down those fields when I don’t need the Action Points any more or shall I leave the job to someone who needs it? Shall I fully deploy a portal when there is a much lower level player around? Once you are approaching the level cap, you are leveling others as well. Be it as they will help you or not in the future.
Help to Build and Sustain a Community – I am fortunately enough to be invited into a local community and meet many helpful people who would go totally out of their way simply to assist. It is not easy to build and sustain a community. Some are paying it forward. How about you?
Explore -While Ingress revolves largely around portal capture and field building, a vital part of the game is to explore new places. I enjoy visiting new clusters that I have not been to. All I have to do is to follow the portals and most of the time, I am rewarded with the discovery of new places of interest. And when you discover new places that are not yet in the game? Submit them as portal suggestion for the future players to explore.
Meet New Friends – I know many are shy meeting strangers and prefer to play alone. It is normal to feel that way. I can tell you that Ingress rewards handsomely when you group with others and you would tell me that you are not hang up with progress (which in your heart, you might). Let me share this with you. You are likely to find common interests among Ingress players than any random strangers you meet on the street or friends of your friends. Because the game encourages frequent collaboration, you may end up meeting your new friends in Ingress more than your existing real life friends.
Be Creative – Doing the same thing again and again can be boring. The key is to be creative and find something fun and different to do. Recently, my enemy agent and I like to tear each other’s fields apart and build something totally different, incorporating layered fields design. Your community may be doing a large scale operation too. Participate and do something new. That way, you may keep the passion alive and not fall into the same old grinding routine.
One day, I was unable to build any fields in the usual Changi City Point cluster (where the high concentration of green dots was) because a friendly agent has out of nowhere created a long link into the mall cutting off any possibility of creating decent fields. Further investigation showed that we only needed one more link from the beach into the mall to complete the triangle. Knowing that our enemy agent would unfailingly tear down all the green portals before 7 pm, I was racing against time to reach the lone green by the beach (bottom left green dot). I was not familiar with the area and got lost. In the end, I have jogged 1.2 km along the beach in order to reach the portal before time ran out. That day, before my jogging, I have already walked in excess of 12 km. But I made it, scoring more than 30,000 Mind Units. The game does not reward effort like this. However, I felt fulfilled that day knowing that I have done something different for a change.
