Metal Gear Solid 4 (review)

Consequently, having made a review for MGS3 it would be mean of me not to make a review for the MGS4 Sons of the Patriots. Although I am not sure if this would do justice to the title but here goes.

The story is set five years after the events of MGS2. The world is in chaos with PMC's (Private military companies) running about in different soils engaging in armed conflict and struggling for dominance. Solid Snake is once again sent out to carry the burden of stopping his brother Liquid, Liquid Snake, from tearing the whole world apart with chaos and death. The whole story takes you into the middle east, South America and Eastern Europe and ultimately to where it all began, Shadow Moses Island. Intense action, twisting conspiracies, love stories and humor fit perfectly in this last installment of this title. This time enemies are much sensitive about what's happening around their environment. Enemies are ruthless and gunfights are much more intense. You can grapple, hostage, slit their throats, choke them or simply put a gun in their heads to make them more compliant with your demands (in this case to not kill you). It is a lawless world in which your decisions could make it easier or a lot tougher for you. Also there are a lot of familiar faces in this title such as Solid Snake's friend, Otacon(from MGS1 and 2) and Raiden( who is uber cool now btw) . As to who are the others I leave that to myself. This is where the story shed light to what happened after the events that took place in the 60's cold war era from MGS3 to the present. It is a game which feels more like a movie in which you are a part of. It will take your breath away and leave you asking for more of the same. The usual stuff are there such as top class voice acting, Oscar worthy story and nostalgic and new soundtracks. The thing that makes me love this game is that they have tweaked the controls in which hostaging and shooting or moving about it a lot less taxing. Graphics are superb, you won't know the difference of a cut scene to the actual game until the ai tries to shoot you. Although cut scenes are somewhat longer it is perfect for the game as it reveals how everything falls into place. For the avid fans, the final boss fight is very nostalgic and will give you a sense of closure after you beat the game. For the new gamers, be ready to be converted into fans of the title. Avid fans of the series and new gamers alike would be left in awe.

Over all this last part of the series will leave you in a standing ovation with a little drool on the corner of your mouth. In a score of 1 to 10 I must not lie and give it what it deserves... an eleven.

Cheers!

Snake Eater (a review)

(This review is long overdue and it is just now that I have found the guts to make one for this game)

Snake Eater - Cynthia Harrell (MGS3)

What a thrill
With darkness and silence through the night
What a thrill
I'm searching and i'll melt into you
What a fear in my heart
But you're so supreme!

I give my life
Not for honor, but for you (snake eater)
In my time there'll be no one else
Crime, it's the way i fly to you (snake eater)
I'm still in a dream, snake eater

Someday you go through the rain,
Someday you feed on a tree frog,
It's ordeal, the trial to survive
For the day we see new light

I give my lifeNot for honor, but for you (snake eater)
In my time there'll be no one else
Crime, it's the way i fly to you (snake eater)
I'm still in a dream, snake eater

This song is the original sound track for one or if not the best game I have ever played for the Playstation 1,2 and 3. Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Snake Eater and last but certainly not the least Metal Gear 4 Sons of the Patriot. Among all those games MGS2 is a bit of a letdown not because of the plot or gameplay but because of the lead protagonist (raiden). After MGS 1 we were hoping that we get to play as Solid once again but we were let down by the developers. Nonetheless they have redeemed themselves on the release of MGS3 Snake Eater. The game was set in the 60's during the cold war era in which the original "Snake" is still learning the ropes of ultimately being the Big Boss by killing his mentor the "Boss". For the people new in the series, the Boss is the mentor of Naked Snake or Snake. She basically taught Snake everything he knows. In the story Snake was sent for a standard rescue and extraction but things got more complicated than that with the Boss defecting (betraying) sides and giving Volgin (antagonist) 2 portable nukes in which he fires later on thus making things more complicated than it is. To prove that the Americans have nothing to do with the detonation and also to prove that snake is innocent as well. They sent Snake to kill the Boss and to recover the Philosopher's legacy. I could go on and tell you the story but this would mean nothing unless you play the game and experience the plot on your own. Action packed, full of suspense with a hint of love story on the side. It is the perfect James Bond-ish movie, the only difference is that the hero is no Suave Brit guy but rather an American grunt for the military, who gave it all and kept none for himself. Making snake the tortured soul in which he must kill the person/comrade whom taugh him everything he knows. Soundtrack is superb, voice acting is outstanding and gameplay is very addicting. Replay value is well worth it with lots of hidden items and information you need to look for. Overall the game would have been a really good movie because of it's story and a perfect game because of... well Snake of course. In a nutshell this is a must have for every gamer out there who are looking for the overall experience and thrill of being a part of one of the best games of all time.

Cheers!

Smoke & Drink

"Thank you for calling..." usual opening spiels of inbound agents. "is there anything else i can help you with?" typical almost closing spiels of inbound reps. "Hi this is (name)...." usual opening of outbound agents. "thanks for your time" typical closing spiels of outbound. It's a good thing that most of our Filipino brothers are adept in the English Language because if not there will be tons of unemployed people out there with or without a degree just bumming out or worst being unproductive to the already weak economy of ours. Most people think that call center agents are shallow and know nothing but drinking sessions and smoking and just spending their pay on superficial things. Well, some are but not all. Nowadays when someone asks you what your job is and you say that your an agent they will immediately take it as your not serious with your life and that the work that you do is not serious or productive. Again, some of them have this way of thinking but not all.

When I first started I was thinking...well i wasn't thinking to be honest because my hearts was pounding because I didn't know what to expect yet and it was my first job interview. But to my surprise when it was my turn to be interviewed by the hr person everything was so spontaneous. It's only as if I was talking to my peers. It ain't a stiff atmosphere that I dreaded that met me. Instead we were laughing and well seems like old friends. After which she told me that I passed not knowing how exactly i shook her hand and signed some papers while she's telling me that I can start on Monday. Well it's not so bad and it was relatively easy thinking that it was a technical account that i got hired to(yabang). So I started my stint as an agent. All the while telling myself that I'm an agent ( ala James Bond or Ethan Hunt hehe ) it boosted my morale and self worth that there is something else that I am relatively good at. Talking. A few months have passed and the job was, yes, easy but I got to a point that I was looking for more challenging things and that I was beginning to miss my friends and sibling back home because I rarely got to see them anymore because I have to work the night shift as most cc cater to the people in the states thus we need to follow their time. Earning a lot didn't help either. It just made me feel that I can quit my job anytime I want and be ok until I get the drive to work again. Well this post is not how I got hired or my experience so enough of that.

The main problem with being an agent is the repetitive task that you are required to do and the night shifts and the stress that comes along when you hardly get to see normal people, especially your loved ones and friends. It can really burn you out no matter how enthusiastically you take on your job. Yeah it's easy but let me ask you. Are you ready for the same old thing every day??? If you're a person who happens to be a loner and an anti social type of person then this job is not for you because sooner or later you will crack and end up frustrated that you weren't able to enjoy your work, the company of your peers or even find love or aren't challenge enough by what you do. However, I'm not saying that if you are the life of the party is that you will enjoy the job without a hitch. It can get to you but atleast you can make friends ( or enemies) that you will be looking forward on seeing everyday and would not mind if it's the same old things that you're going to be talking about (work related stuff like a call you had about this person in which you may have already told him before and is just trying to strike a conversation to kive up your yosi break). Im not here to discourage future cc agents to be one of us but rather i just want them to know that it is not always fun and games here. Sure the place is fun with people the same age as you and as preppy as you and share the same interest like you to be your officemate but it is still work. There are still scores that you must maintain, quotas that you need to reach and customers to satify and bosses to please in order for you to grow in the industry. I know that now because I have wasted quite a lot of my time looking for that perfect cc job but found none. The only time that it will be perfect is that when you make it so as to your liking or have alread accepted the fact that this is what you do as a person to earn a living. Work ain't work if you're having fun while doing it right so try the best to have fun while you're at it so as to perform better and di-stress yourself. So take this tips from a non-expert like myself;

S - Sit up and do you job
M -Make new friends
O - Organize your thoughts
K - Keep busy
E - Enjoy
&
D - Di-stress once in a while
R - Relax
I - Induce yourself to sleep
N - Nourish your health
K - Keep your stats up

Cheers!

Cheers!

After a call we always tell our customers to have a great day, have a nice day (classic) or take it easy or enjoy the rest of your day(s). To us Filipinos it's so generic. Yet our american counterparts take this gesture really seriously and are, if not all, are greatly affected by what we say after a call. But in my case it's different. Having assigned to UK OSG there are a lot of things that mesmerized me. One of them are how polite they can be. It is as if you're talking to royalty. Their most common expression is "lovely" and "cheers". At first it was kinda... ok. you know. But soon enough I found myself using these words. Lovely being used when both parties agreed on something or if we captured their interest and then cheers before hanging up. If not always then most often it's like "Cheers! bye!". I googled it and here is what i found out from a couple of websites.

"It's a way of saying, "good luck, have a great day, great chatting with you, thanks for your input, and talk to you later," all without sounding like an uptight corporate moron". (http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/we-need-an-americanism-for-cheers)

Cheers - This word is obviously used when drinking with friends. However, it also has other colloquial meanings. For example when saying goodbye you could say "cheers", or "cheers then". It also means thank you. Americans could use it in English pubs, but should avoid the other situations as it sounds wrong with an American accent. Sorry! (http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml)

But one can't deny the fact that it sounds really good and somewhat sweet when used properly. It's nicer than telling them the generic ending spiels or trying to sound as if you are composing one of your own or worse having the spiels mixed up in your head then saying them like a pretentious jerk. With that being said you may want to sort out your vocabulary and try using a different slang for different nationalities so that you may not look like them but you certainly sound like one of them or maybe even better. Cheers!

Comments

After Charice Pempengco's video was posted on YouTube. It didn't take long before criticism struck her. The saddest part of it was her very own kababayans we're the one's who are throwing their hurtful words at her. I remeber one comment there saying that there are a lot of musically talented people in the Philippines that it was just out of sheerluck that made her what she is today. Well I'm no expert but you don't get a voice like that by being lucky and you won't certainly get a break like that without doing something right. Crab mentality never fails to ruin us Filipinos in the eyes of our very own kababayans. I may have said something to criticize another person but not to the extent of sounding like an insecure singer who never made the cut. There is also one more comment that I saw in youtube that had me scratching my head then saying "inggit ka lang". 1 person commented that "she may be good but she's so conceited" i can't remeber the excat word he used but it was something like this. Well whoever you are mister or miss. with a voice a talent like this boast all you want as long as you can back it up. It is perfectly fine to be mayabang but not to the extent of bringing somebody down. And always be sure that before you talk the talk, you can walk the walk.

Q A

Quality and Assurance, for the people in my same line of work you know very well who these people are. Although these people are really nice outside of the office or let's say not waiting for someone who's in a call to screw up, they can still be a force to reckon with. For some they are the grimm reapers and then for some they are... well still grimm reapers with out the scythe. I am no expert but it seems that their main job is to wait and hope that an agent screws up so that they can file it in their report. Not to generalize all of them, there are still a very few who does their job accordinglly, if not flawlessly. People are born to praise aswell as criticize each other's work. SO it will be no surprise if we find a flaw in an utterly flawless thing. We may overlooked it but for those people who thrives to criticize, their ever keenfull senses will detect you in a heartbeat. Most of them seeking for perfection but then again there is no such thing as a perfect call. It just so happened that the flaws eluded the one observing. . .