'World Of Warcraft' A Game Worth Playing

World of Warcraft
Game Review
By Brittany Boyle

Presenting a never ending battle between factions and forcing you to choose where you stand, either with the war-torn Horde or the forces of the Alliance, Blizzard’s top rated computer game is an awesome way to spend your days.

“World of Warcraft,” now in its sixth year, is an adventure game that requires you to play a character of your choosing and level it from 1-80. It’s a long process, but it is all kinds of fun. “World of Warcraft”’s many different character-class combinations are what make this MMO computer game worth trying.

You can choose between 10 different races, such as: Human, Dwarfs, or Elves, and from 10 different classes, including: Shaman, Hunter and Death Knight. Even though W.O.W is addicting and very time consuming, it makes up for it in interesting game play. With all of the different quest lines and people you meet, it is hard to be bored when you are a first time player.

With fun and excitement come consequences, however, and while playing W.O.W you will also encounter some problems. One such problem comes as a result of the game’s socially based game play. Because the game is so socially interactive, it will bring out the meanness in your fellow players. Players will encounter some people that are jealous of their playing abilities and others who will be downright horrible in their attitudes.

One thing I like about “World of Warcraft” is the history and background of all of the characters. This game was very well thought out and prepared before being released to the public.

With every quest you complete comes a story that explains why it is there. With every character that you talk to - from Thrall, the leader of the Horde, to the leaders of the alliance races - there is a background for you to uncover. It is an interesting journey that only gets better and better as your character advances.

Once you level a character to 80, there are endless possibilities on what you can do. This is not the kind of game that you can just beat and be done with. There is much more that you can do. You can join a guild, run raids and dungeons, and even get rewards for completing unique achievements.

World of Warcraft is a very fun and interesting past time with its wonderful graphics and exciting scenery. For these reasons, I rate this game an A-.

Penn Station

In 1975, they realized that the stone
edifice had drooped in the sun
and the weather which blew clouds
whistling around the warm old
marble and winding staircases
had disappeared. And Dodgers
Stadium had been built brick
by brick and cold flat plastic
over the graves of ancient
communities, flying in the
faces of angry neighborhood
owners, who would
hold a grudge for the
next fifty years, until they
slumped from inflexibility. These
Atlantean monuments rose
slowly through gang infested
park landscapes, a
pointillist feud that involved
searching into some
reflection of the past, its
landmark a slide which chips
away at pieces of nostalgia,
the memory of an old wound.
The years, ultimately, don’t mean
much to these great buildings,
their staircases clipping with sound,
from babies in carriages clopping
to the neat frame
of expensive shoes forged from
animal skins. A million
different images from as many
mornings. All moving to make
way for what we imagine might
come next. Later, still.

Football - A Slightly Different View

By Pengyu (Gavin) Qin

Before I came to America, my idea of football was a game in which everybody only uses their feet to kick the ball to gain a score. But now I know it was a wrong idea, or at least a narrow idea, for what I know only applies to the English football, or soccer, but not the American football, which is totally different despite the same name.

When one of my friends first introduced American football to me, I stared at the TV screen and asked him, “Where is the ball?” because what I saw was more like a brawl. He pointed at somewhere in the crowd and said, “Here it is!” But unfortunately, a white elliptical thing suddenly appeared at another place far away. He laughed embarrassingly and left me alone in front of the TV set.

Later on, when I watched football games on TV, my joy came from searching for the ball among a cluster of players. When the referee blew the whistle, all the players became so excited that they bumped into each other and began fighting with their hearts’ afire.

I also became excited, too. My eyes fixed on the ball and then lost it, then found it, but then lost it again. Through finding and losing the elliptic thing, my eyeball moved quickly as it ran from one person to another. I even discovered a trick: if one player covered his stomach and fell down while others still jumped on him, I know the ball must be in his hands, although I still could not see it. I found the game interesting because it was really like an exciting search for treasure, wasn’t it?

However, I am sometimes touched by the tremendous cheers from the audience. I can feel their deep love for this game, and this love somehow stimulates my respect for the game. It’s not only a game, it’s a glorious battle!

The players not only fight for the gall, but also fight for the honor of being an undefeated warrior. It’s a man’s game! Every fighter must be strong enough, or he will be bumped and fly away. And strength is not the only thing he needs. A successful player must master excellent martial arts because he really has to swiftly jink, jump, run, rotate and smartly fight with his head, shoulder, arm and hip. What amazing skills to break through the wall of flesh! How valiant the player is to carry the ball to the destination after being hit, bumped and kicked! No wonder millions of real men enjoy this game.

I feel ashamed that I have not completely understood the rules of football. So I can only watch the exciting scenes of it for fun.