I picked up THQ’s Space Marine video game for my PS3 this week, and I just had to post on here how much I love this game. I’ve seen a bit of mixed reviews out there loving it or hating it, but if you’ve ever wished for a full fledged Space Marine video game this really does the job. It’s really a lot of fun and the game captures the look and feel of Warhammer 40k so well.

Ok so it Ultramarines and not Dark Angels (the one downside in my opinion) however in all honesty I came out of the game having a little bit more respect for the Smurf Marines. I sincerely hope they make sequels to this because while the game covers a lot of territory their is so much more that could be explored. Things not in the game that I’d like to see in a sequel, include Dreadnoughts, Terminator Marines and Land Raiders.

Some of the things I loved in the game was how well they handled the different weapon types. For instance, Plasma guns are pretty powerful but you have to let them charge for a bit to really cause damage, they also generate heat and will overheat if you don’t vent them between shots. Another great part of the game is how well they handled the difficulty in killing different types of troops, Grots and Traitor Guardsmen can be smashed in one swipe, but Chaos Marines will take a considerable amount of damage until they are stunned, then you have to damage them even more to actually kill them, and if they come out of the stun then you have to start again. As in the table top game you have many varieties of Orks with varied levels of damage resistance.

The story is also very well done and engaging, you find yourself pushing through it as missions take you across the war torn ruins of a Forgeworld. The terrain is absolutely fantastic and you will notice that just about everything is in line with 40k miniatures terrain. I can’t count the number of times I walked into a new area and was awestruck by the immensity of the world in which I was playing.

If your a 40k fan (especially of the Space Marines) I would really urge you to check this game out, for it was everything I wanted and more and like I said I can’t wait for the sequel. There are demos out there for PS3, Xbox360 and PC and I think they do a good job of showing off the game, but let me just say that there is so much more to the game than what you see in the demo.

I’ve only played the online multi-player part of the game for a short time, but it seems like a lot of fun as well. I am playing it on the PS3 so if you have it for that platform my PS3 ID is brother_bish (of course )

So send me a friend invite and lets put on Dark Angels armor and kill some Chaos Traitors online. BTW the Online Multi-player does allow you to customize your Marine as a Dark Angel. (No robes yet but I have hopes that maybe they will release robes as a downloadable add-on)
Anyway that’s all for now just wanted to let you all know how much I enjoy this game.

On a side note, I’m thinking about getting back into painting here in the near future, Possibly selling painted miniatures through this site and Ebay. It’s still in the early stages but I have the painting bug again. Keep and eye on this page for more info as things progress.

- Bish

Hello all, for those of you still following my once in a blue moon posts, I thought I’d report in as some interesting Dark Angels news has come up in the last couple days. Fantasy Flight Games, makers of such fantastic board games as Arkham Horror, A Game of Thrones, Descent, and a plethora of others, as well at releasing an updated version of Talisman, are going to be adding to their line of Warhammer 40k role-playing products, Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader. Deathwatch, a role-playing game that will involve our favorite genetically enhanced super humans the Space Marines. To top it off they just announced that one of the chapters in the initial release of the game will be the Dark Angels. The Dark Angels were the 3rd Chapter announced, the first being the Space Wolves (boo hiss) and the second being the Smurfs, I mean Ultramarines.

I know some of you are saying but wait, Dark Angels and the Inquisition playing nice together? There were a few comments to the same effect on the announcement page, but it’s always been my opinion and I posted as much in those same comments, that the Dark Angels while secretive and completely obsessed with the hunt for the Fallen are not so blind that they wouldn’t see the advantage of having their troops in a place where they could keep an eye on the Inquisition. (And I think the Inquisition would think the same thing about keeping an eye on the Dark Angels.) Think about it, the Deathwatch are going to be in a position to possibly run into the Fallen. If they do and the Dark Angels aren’t there, how will they be able to cover it up before the Inquisition knows what’s going on. As I said in my comment, keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.

Anyway I’m really excited to see this book when it comes out as anything Dark Angels gets me all tingly inside. Fantasy flight is known for their great artwork as well so I’m sure this release will be no exception.

You can check out the main website for Deathwatch here. And the Dark Angels announcement here.

On a completely different note, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve done any miniature work since my departure from Games Workshop. However I finally broke down and got a Fortress of Redemption for my birthday a couple weeks ago. WOW, if you haven’t seen one in person or already picked one up I totally recommend it. Its really a great kit, very well put together and  perfect for that gaming table centerpiece.

Take care everyone,

- bish

P.S. One last thing and this probably deserves it’s own post but Fantasy Flight has also just released a board game based on the Horus Heresy. (Yes it’s Fantasy Flight day) Everything I’ve heard is that it’s fantastic, I’m anxious to pick up a copy. The pictures I’ve seen make it appear to live up to the quality of Fantasy Flights other board games. Check it out here.

Well, Friday May 2nd was my last day as a Games Workshop employee, and I just wanted to post here and let everyone know how much I’m going to miss being around all the great people that I’ve been working with for the last four and half years, both in retail at the Grapevine Mills GW Store and at the Glen Burnie HQ as a part of the Studio Web Team. Thats also not to mention everyone in the UK and abroad who worked with us on all the articles we created for the website.

I really enjoyed my time at Games Workshop and even though things didn’t always go the way I would have liked them to, it was a great job and one I will never regret doing. I never once found myself not wanting to go into work even on a bad day because I knew that someone there was going to make me laugh. And although we worked hard, most of the time it didn’t feel like work.

I don’t want to say anything specific yet but I have some opportunities coming up that should be very exciting and I’m ready for that next part of my working life to begin.

Take care,

-bish

As some of you may already know my time at Games Workshop will be over at the end of April, 2008. Games Workshop has decided to relocate the Studio Web Team from the US Headquarters in Baltimore Maryland to the Headquarters in Nottingham England. Because of this move, all of us on the Studio Web Team will be without jobs in the next few months. Just for the record, we were offered the chance to move to England and retain our position or take new ones, but unfortunately for various reason none of us were able to accept. So we are not be let go because we did a bad job. We all worked very hard to provide the best content we could for all of Games Workshops websites worldwide during out time at GW, and to be honest for most of the time I’ve enjoyed this job more then any job I’ve held before. So you’ll understand why it’s so heartbreaking to have it come to an end.

I say all that so that you’ll know why I’ve been very busy an have not updated this website in the last two months.

I also wanted to post here my resume and ask that if any of you know of any Web Design positions available that you let me know as I search for a new job. I also have a back ground in Digital Video Editing although it’s been some time since I did that professionally.

Click here to download a PDF of my resume, and click here to download a PDF of some examples of the web design work I did while at Games Workshop.

Thanks and take care,

-Nathan Bishop