The Last of Us, Again

3 months ago, I paved through The Last of Us on both Normal and Hard difficulties. I loved every second of it. Without spoiling too much, I found myself crying and having to put down the controller from shock on at least one occasion by the end of my first playthrough.

I moved onto its engaging Multiplayer mode a few weeks later, when Renegade Sandwich and Brancake had received their copies. We desperately combed battlefields to feed the needs of our crumbling virtual clans. It wouldn't last though. We eventually got too busy, or too frustrated at the Multiplayer load times. Following the untimely demise of Renegade Sandwich's PS3, we basically left The Last of Us for other prospects.

Because The Last of Us is one of my most cherished gaming experiences, I suggested it to many of my friends. One of them was hesitant, so I offered to let him test it out at my place before his (totally inevitable) purchase. Watching him play the game again made me want to jump back in (not at the moment of course; that would make me a terrible host). Despite my attempts to convince him to bring it home, he left it my place.

Playing The Last of Us again obviously became quite tempting. So I'm stepping into Joel's shoes once more, but this time on Survivor difficulty. I tried it once, but the absence of a Listening Mode (Joel's ability to gauge enemy presence in the environment) made it hard for me to imagine how to survive for very long. Now that I'm a little older and a little bolder, maybe I can survive the hordes of Infected and Hunters and beat the game again.

I think I'm ready. Wish me luck!

Bernt Toast is an author at The Ops Centre. He is up to date on The Legend of Korra, and his futile attempts to firebend are amusing to watch.

Editor's Note: Unfortunately, due to the difficult nature of Survivor mode, Bernt Toast was killed in action. As a result, he will no longer be reporting from the field.

Weapons of Battlefield 3: DAO-12

Welcome back, readers, to another Weapons Of, still in the Frostbitten locales of Battlefield 3. Having mastered the PDW-R quite quickly and quite easily because of its all-round awesomeness, I thought I'd change it up a little by trying to master a shotgun. Since I've already mastered the Remington 870MCS, the M1014 and the Saiga 12K, the DAO-12 seemed like the perfect candidate for some field-testing.

Background:
The DAO-12, or Armsel Striker as it is called in real-life, is a rather unique South African weapon that has combined the power and ammunition of a shotgun with the rotating mechanism found in revolvers. Chambered in the extremely popular 12-gauge shotgun shell, the Striker typically has a 12-round revolving cylinder feeding it ammunition, except in the more compact models which only have a 7-round revolving cylinder. Due to its rather unique design, the Striker requires shells to be loaded into each cylinder individually and has a strange clockwork mechanism to wind the drum. While the weapon is extremely interesting, it does seem to come across as a rather cumbersome and ineffective weapon.

(source: Wikipedia)

Statistics:

• Ammo capacity = 8 rounds (standard), 12 rounds (extended magazine)
• Damage:
• Buckshot = Maximum of 18 decreasing in a linear pattern to a minimum of 6 from 25 metres onwards 
• Flechette = Maximum of 12.5 decreasing to a minimum of 8.4 from 30 metres onwards 
• Frag = Maximum of 20 decreasing to a minimum of 5 from 40 metres onwards 
• Slug = Maximum of 75 decreasing to a minimum of 37.5 from 50 metres onwards
• Rate of fire = 220 RPM (180 RPM when using frag rounds)
• Bullet velocity:
• Buckshot = 300 m/s
• Flechette = 450 m/s
• Frag = 150 m/s
• Slug = 300 m/s
• Reload times = 0.69 seconds mid-mag, 2.30 seconds from empty

(source: Symthic)

Weapon Assessment

This is actually a pretty solid weapon. I'll admit I was quite surprised at how decently it performed when I started using it because it's not a weapon you often see in the hands of many players. In terms of damage output, the DAO-12 can deal out a ton of punishment and hold its own with the other shotguns because of its 8-round revolver-style drum magazine, making it the shotgun with the highest ammo capacity in the game, tied with the MK3A1 which is a significantly worse weapon than the DAO-12. Personally, I found the DAO-12 quite versatile, depending on what ammunition and attachments you decide to use, the shotgun can perform various roles, from close-quarters devastator to accurate long-range powerhouse.

Recommended Attachments

• Iron Sights
• Extended Magazine 
• Buckshot

For a down-and-dirty fight in the trenches, the iron sights serve well for the kind of range where you'll be engaging your enemies while the extended magazine gives you a whopping 12 rounds of 12-gauge goodness to spread around. Buckshot provides a large spread, allowing you to potentially damage and kill multiple enemies in quick succession.

• IRNV 
• Flash Suppressor
• Slug

For anything other than a close-up battle, this is the kit to go with. The IRNV may seem like a strange choice considering the epic nerfing it has endured following accusations of it being too overpowered, but it's excellent for spotting hard to see targets, particularly in dark areas although it gets difficult at range. If you keep watching the screen and paying attention, however, you should be able to spot most enemies when they are hiding or blending in with the environment. The flash suppressor helps you to reduce recoil, allowing you to fire quick follow-up shots in order to dispatch of your opponent as quickly and cleanly as possible. Finally, the slugs give immense firepower and range at very little cost and as such, should be used at all times except with the situations reported earlier. 

Alex Plum Teaches You How to Survive College Part 2

Here is the second installation of the Alex Plum Teaches You How to Survive College. Without much delay, let us dive into the article

6. Missing home?

Are you missing your family ? Perhaps you are missing your friends from back where you came from? Just skype with em, and make it a weekly thing which you can set a certain time where you can chat relatively face to face with everyone you love and cherish. Alternatively, you could also set up a routine you could do by yourself (or with your new friends in college) where you go do something which you commonly did back home. Routines help you focus your mind and not think too much about the people back home you love.

7. Study to learn, love what you learn

I might be young, but I am certainly not inexperienced. I have taken many intern jobs post pre-university years and I have resorted to the process of elimination to find my passion. In school I used to often wake up groggy, cursing the school day that appeared before me. I like many of my kind feel school to be chipping away at my precious time, the only way to remedy this is to find something you truly love learning, and learn to do it well. That it is, the secret to happiness and success; doing what you love.

8. Only assholes party away their parents money

Do i seriously need to tell you this? Do I really have to tell you not to get pissdrunk and drain away at your parents hard earned cash. Colleges are freaking huge investments, even to afford paying the tuition fees many families make huge sacrifices in personal time and pleasure to make sure they can send their offspring to tertiary level education in the hopes that their children will have a better life. All I'm saying is; be frugal and save where you can save. You don't have to live like a pauper but set a financial goal and keep track of your spending ( There are tons of such apps on Google Play/ Apple Store). All that money you helped save may come in handy on a rainy day.

9. Have fun, you are still young but balance is key

With that said, by all means go out once in a while. Have fun and live free after all college is a time where you learn about life. Rather than being a rancorous person, enjoy yourself at the appropriate times and make friendships that last. Yes, it is a big, bad world out there but with family and friends we will persevere and make it all work. While corporate jobs and desk careers may await you in the near future, know that you should work hard and play harder to keep a level head. It may sound contradicting to my earlier points but balance in college is something that has to be worked out individually.



College is a chapter in our lives where we supposedly learn to transition into working society. This is Alex Plum, praying that you guys out there may blossom into wonderful adults but still hold firm to your inner child. Until then, remember to eat three square meals a day and cut down on your red meat :).

Weapons of Battlefield 3: PDW-R

Hello fictional readers! Welcome back to another instalment of Weapons Of, again in the brown backgrounds and blue-tint combat zones of Battlefield 3. Today, I'll be covering a brilliant weapon, the PDW-R. Just an update on the RPK-74M, I managed to successfully master the rather difficult and inconsistent LMG, scoring five service stars and a mastery dog tag in the process. Now, on to more pleasant weaponry with the PDW-R.

Background:
The Magpul Personal Defense Rifle (PDR), called the PDW-R in-game, is a personal defense weapon (PDW) currently in development at Magpul Industries. Chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, the PDR is an interesting PDW because it doesn't use a proprietary rifle round, although this could be due to the fact that Magpul doesn't actually have a proprietary round, unlike Heckler and Koch's MP7 which uses 4.6x30mm round or Fabrique National's P90 which is chambered in 5.7x28mm. The sleek, futuristic ultra-compact bullpup is a traditional PDW at heart though, aiming to bring immense firepower and range to its wielder in a small, manoeuvrable frame. With its ergonomic design, compatibility with standard STANAG magazines and ultra-compact frame, the PDR is definitely in a class of its own when it comes to PDW design.

(source: Wikipedia)

Statistics:

• Ammo capacity = 20 rounds (standard, +1 in the chamber during mid-mag reloads), 30 rounds (extended magazine, +1 in the chamber)
• Damage = 25 maximum dropping in a linear pattern to 14.3 minimum at 50 metres onwards
• Rate of fire = 750 RPM
• Bullet velocity = 430 m/s
• Reload times = 2.50 mid-mag, 3.40 empty

(source: Symthic)

Weapon Assessment:

This is one hell of a weapon. I don't know what it is about this gun but I've been doing fantastically well with the PDW-R scoring lots of kills with only a few deaths in return. The low recoil is remarkable, the amount of firepower you get is ridiculous and the fire rate is just perfect. Excellent in close quarters and medium-range combat, I'd recommend this weapon for most standard engagements in Rush, Conquest, TDM, SQDM or whatever game mode tickles your fancy. Although I dislike the playstyle, I found the PDW-R well-suited to running-and-gunning, it has fantastic hipfire accuracy and the reload times are really forgiving, making it well-suited for the soldier looking to race through the battlefield. The only issue I found with this weapon was that I kept running out of ammo because I kept killing so many people, even though I had squad ammo on as a specialisation.

Recommended Attachments:

• EoTech Holographic Sight 
• Laser Sight
• Extended Magazine

While the iron sights for the weapon are fairly good and since the weapon's effective range tends towards close-quarters battle, I would recommend going with the EoTech from an aesthetic perspective, as it lends itself well to the futuristic look and feel of the weapon as well as giving the player a slight zoom when aiming down sights when compared to iron sights. The PKA-S would provide the same function but unlike the EoTech, it takes up a fair amount of screen room and really detracts from the player's peripheral vision. The laser sight is to help with hipfire accuracy when you come across an enemy quite suddenly and have no time to aim down sight, a common occurrence because this weapon really lends itself well to moving quickly around the map, taking out targets on the way to the objective, or as an objective in TDM and SQDM. For the last attachment, the extended magazine is a must to balance out the weapon's fairly high rate of fire, allowing you to engage more targets without reloading constantly, which you will be doing if you stick with the standard 20-round magazine.

Alex Plum Teaches You How to Survive College Part 1

For those of you who know, there comes a time in life (providing if you are academically and financially equipped) when you are booted of to college or what we call in these parts, university. So pack your bags up and say a prayer with your family and friends cause you are gonna be gone for the next few years. However. please do not fret readers, as I am going to reveal the holy grail of the what and hows of surviving the period of life we call tertiary education. ( If you are a lucky bastard who gets to live at home and go to college, stop reading now)

1. Food is f**king expensive

Ahh food, one of 5 constituent necessities in life. 3 times a day if you have a normal appetite and a routine you will most likely follow for the rest of your miserly life. While you might have been fattened up by the ever-so-succulent home cooked meals you enjoyed in your house, I'm afraid college grub will grant any freshman a rude awakening. Chances are food in college is gonna suck real bad and it's gonna be hella expensive too. Let me explain, at home your mom cooks with love; no ingredient shortcuts and (relatively) no expense spared to provide you with a healthy and nutritious palate. In college, these people serving you food have profit margins to make and they sure aren't gonna be cooking with love for you. This is where I strongly advise to learn one of life's most pertinent skills, cooking (It will help you in college and it will help you when you have arguments with your wife). Raw food products will definitely be a whole lot more cheaper than the ready made meals in the canteens. (People who can cook also have a selective advantage when courting the opposite sex)

Here's a good place to start learning cheap ways to cook- Broke Eats
 2. Do your laundry

Clothes make the man/woman, or so they say. Just a week in college I guarantee that a mountain of used clothes will start to form in your laundry basket. The stench of dry sweat becomes unbearable; you look into your wardrobe and you are out of clean underwear. It isn't a pretty picture but it is truth. Henceforth, you would be best off organizing yourself by setting a day or two in a week when you will spend 15 minutes to do your laundry. This allows you to be efficient with your routine as well as guaranteeing clean clothes. It doesn't take too much to do laundry just some detergent, fabric softener (optional) and a washing machine.

 A good video to familiarize yourself to the rigors of laundry

3. What to bring

From experience, the most important things to brings are the most obvious culprits such as clothes (not too many though), sanitary goods, stationery, writing materials, some books, laptop, etc. While most colleges give a list of suggested items, it is advisable to ask seniors who are already in college on what to bring as they can provide you with information that took them time to learn. I for one would definitely look into bringing pots, cutlery, a rice cooker and an induction cooker. A refrigerator for fruits and eggs would also rank highly on my list. As a rule of thumb you do not really want to be bringing too much stuff ( as the rooms you will be living in will not be as large or grandiose as the ones you have at home ) so as not to clutter up your living space.

She knows what I'm talking about

4. Do your assignments the day you get 'em

Procrastination, the biggest sin of modern man. "Got something to do? It can wait until I finish this game/ movie/ comic." Get your butt in motion. You are in college now, you are supposed to know what is best for you and how to act like an adult. The best trick I learnt was to finish your assignments as fast as you get them, that way I don't have to worry about them and I do not give myself the chance to procrastinate. Do not let your deadbeat classmates convince you otherwise; do not let them coerce you into wasting your time when you could be finishing up your work. Post-assignmentsn though, you can waste how much time you want without feeling the guilt.

5. Romance can take a back seat

Every cliched Hollywood product has fucked up our generation, creating misconception after misconception and disillusioning the youth into thinking what they see in the movies and television dramas are the ideal ways to live our lives. Take that manure out of your head and listen up. College is not a time for you to party like a wild animal and wake up hung over next to a person you can't remember. College is a time where you spend looking for yourself and your true calling, you really do not need a relationship weighing you down. As a student, you can barely support yourself let alone another person. It may seem hard with all the peer pressure around you, but it is definitely something that is worth it in the end ( no heart-aches and break-ups to deal with around exam times).


This is Alex Plum with another article with the hope that this may serve you well in your own college life. I apologize for the lack of updates on my other articles, but life has gotten me pressed down like thumbtack on a soft board. Stay tuned for the 2nd part to my article and I hope you enjoy the weekend.