As someone who loves to read history books from specific events to people, survey books like this one usually only get a quick read through. However, the Classical era is something I'm not very learned in and having picked up this book and read it from front to back I definitely gained a greater perspective on many cultures often overlooked from the era. It definitely seems to be suited for a high school audience with broad overviews of the various empires until Constantine. It examines the beginning empire in the east to the foundations of Rome and the various conflicts that erupt. Those looking for more detailed overviews of specific empires would be better suited to look for books relating to them because while the book provides a comprehensive survey of the Classical period, it never truly goes into detail for many pivotal events. However, since the scope of the book was to provide a survey, that can hardly be used to fault the book so that's why I strongly recommend this book to those that are new to Classics. Susan Bauer's source list is quite extensive and I have myself tapped many of her sources to gain further understanding of specific details that I needed further elaboration on. Overall it was good, leisurely read and I would look into it again though mostly for the sources.

I don't know how they didn't include the nunchuck into this package, sure you can substitute a PS3 Dualshock but if you want the full experience you'll need the nunchuck.

I've been a fan of Plantronics headphones for as long as I've used headphones so I picked these up as they looked fairly nice and had pretty good specs. The ear cups are pretty comfortable, they have this velvet style cover but these are open ear headphones meaning they don't really cancel out outside noise. The microphone tucks into the set which is nice since you can't really see it when it's not being used.

My biggest gripe with them is how tight they squeeze your head. Literally the first time I wore them it felt like my head was being squeezed by a vice grip and after about 20 minutes, the back of my jaw was hurting. I ended up putting the headphones on a stand to be stretched out overnight and since then they're a lot better in terms of comfort. Another issue with these headphones is that the bass is not as good as it could be. I still use my Plantronics 365 headset which unfortunately has been discontinued for gaming since it has a 50 mm speaker with very nice bass in game. The 377 has some very clean sound in terms of highs and lows but I would expect far better base in headphones like this.

Ultimately they're not bad but I wouldn't really recommend them for gaming but they're decent for music and watching videos on the PC in quiet. I'd go with closed ear headphones and something with better bass in the future.

For those of you who played Assassin's Creed 1 and felt the repetitiveness really brought you down, this game definitely improves on that by cutting down on the tasks that need to be repeated but also add new objectives in order to help you fight the boredom. Now the game itself is a lot of fun combining parkour like gameplay with assassination missions that progress a fairly interesting plot. You gradually improve your skillset and weaponry as you move along the story. However that's where the fun ends.

The PC version ships with a real nasty DRM (digital rights management) which requires you to be connected to the internet the entire time you are playing the game. It's unfortunate for those of us who are not always able to be connected to the internet as even in this day and age, not every household has broadband internet 24/7. Also play on laptops on the go becomes impossible unless the wi-fi connection is strong enough to maintain constant communication with Ubisofts servers. It's a nasty shortfall in the game because I had been playing it and when I had a blip in my connection, the game froze and forced me to restart from an earlier point once I was able to get my connection straight again. Another big issue that comes into play is that if Ubisofts servers are down or are not working (like they weren't the first weekend it was out), then you also cannot play your game. It's quite ridiculous for a company to treat paying customers like this and recommend that you all stay away from this one if only on principle.

I would recommend people try this game on one of the console systems out there now (PS3/Xbox 360) instead, much more reliable than having to constantly be connected to their servers to play a single player game.

I found the keyboard had everything that most people could expect from a media keyboard, my only gripe is that the buttons are fairly flush with one another. What I mean is that you don't have to push down very much to push a key and for someone with bigger hands, it can be uncomfortable. I ended up giving the keyboard to another family member that has smaller fingers and can deal with it. I would recommend the digital media pro keyboard instead for those that are used to the traditional type of keys.

Fantastic game created by Creative Assembly based out of the UK, game mixes real time strategy elements with a campaign map akin to something that looks like Risk. You play as one of many kingdoms in Europe and the Middle East circa 11th century and you try to lead your kingdom to greatness through conquest of your surrounding neighbors. Diplomacy does not play a huge role in the game and could be one it's faults but the Total War series has never been known for it's intricate diplomacy systems. The goal is to build your kingdom as best as you can, build armies and invade. The gold pack also includes the Kingdoms expansion which is a must have as it includes the fully updated game to 1.5 and introduces mini scenario maps which some history buffs may really enjoy. These include the conquest of the Yucatan by the Spaniards in the 16th century, the British Isles in the 13th century, Crusader campaign in the 12th century, and finally the Teutonic Campaign in the Baltics in the 13th century. The game is also supported by an enormous amount of modders who continue to improve the game and introduce new scenarios on their own time. I highly recommend this title if you are new to the Total War series.

I would consider this a re-review of the game as it is in its current state after undergoing intensive amounts of patching. The game most definitely had one of the shakiest Total War series launches in the franchises history because of game stopping bugs that MANY people had (myself excluded). The game is much more stable and much more fun now than it was 6 months ago. The diplomacy has been improved, enemy factions can land troops on land finally and the AI plays much more aggressively (if you like that kind of style). A bit of my bias probably influenced my rating because I've played the Total War games since Shogun and have honestly loved them all though Empire was a slight bump in the road for the series.

You choose from about a dozen factions from the start which vary from France, the UK, Prussia to the Ottomans or Maratha Confederacy and try to lead your faction to world supremacy through a combination of diplomatic and mostly military conquests. That is the essence of all Total War games, to build an extensive empire but Empire added a few new features including a technology tree that needs researching in order to gain access to new military units, buildings and ships. The new naval battles are a new feature added to the series in which you can guide ships into battle which if you're into, is quite a fun experience and very visually pleasing to see ships explode after canon fire rackets them.

The game also adds a mission based mini campaign surrounding the events of the American Revolution in the 1770's, leading such figure as George Washington into battle against the English. It's a nice little campaign and quite obviously it was made for the American audience to play on nationalist heart strings but it is still a satisfying experience for truly anyone.

The only faults I could really lay against the game are the few bugs that still exist and haven't been dealt with as well as a lack of diversity of units among factions. For example nearly every faction has infantrymen of the exact same model and behave exactly the same which historically would have differed wildly throughout Europe, the few unique units in each faction are too few and far between and really go against what past Total War games presented. Still if you haven't picked up Empire Total War yet out of hesitation of all the negative reviews from players themselves, now would be a great time to try it with its lower price and the extensive patching it has received.

Yet another classic game from the Insomniac developers who have given us time and time again great Ratchet & Clank titles. For those of you returning to the series, then you'll remember the platforming elements as ratchet but this time the game is split into two sections. The first will have you playing as Ratchet sans Clank but this is the mode you most remember from the past games, running around as Ratchet, shooting things with a large assortment of weapons. The second part of the game will have you playing as Clank, similar in style to one of the Secret Agent Clank games but with new time puzzles introduced as Clank learns about his past. One of the funnest new additions is the space flight mode which will have you actually using your spaceship to manually fly around the galaxy, no more automated loading screens from one world to the next. It's really fun as you end up upgrading your ship with different components as well, similar to what you do with the weapons on Ratchet. Overall the game is an absolute blast and really great for all ages. Adults don't shy away from this one just because of the cute looking characters!

Magnificent and hair pulling difficulty could be two characteristics given to Demon's Souls as a title. The game brings you back to a day when video games had unforgiving difficulties punishing you for making a single or at most two mistakes before sending you to the beginning of the level. What begins as what could be characterized a frustrating experience in the early learning curve quickly turns into one of the most satisfying game experiences of this console generation.

The game combines RPG elements with that of a dungeon crawler/adventure game. It gives you 10 classes to choose from ranging from the melee oriented knight to the spell casting magicians. You're set off on what seems an impossible quest of freeing a kingdom from a horde of monsters and citizens who have lost their humanity. Story and game style aside, it is undoubtedly one of the most difficult games to come out in quite some time. With most enemies being able to kill you in just a few hits (and with some doing that in just one or two), the game will quickly make you aware of your surroundings at all times lest you fall complacent and get punished by a trap or a surprise attack. But don't get me wrong, the difficulty is what drives this game, it makes you engage it in a different way than a game like God of War would where you can slash unabashedly without much consequence.

Defeating bosses becomes almost a cathartic action as the culmination of a brutal level comes to an end with the capturing of the bosses demon soul. There's also plenty of items to acquire and to upgrade which makes it so all types of weapons are represented for the appropriate afficianados. Perhaps one of the best innovations is the multiplay, allowing you to leave messages in your game world for other players to read within their own. Also being able to be invited/invite other players to help when a particularly difficult section of a level seems to overwhelm you is a nicely added touch. The game holds much replayability because once you beat it the first time, you can carry your character over into a new game+ for even more added difficulty but also much greater rewards.

Overall, I believe this is a must own game if you want to own a definitive dungeon crawler for this generation. It's a purchase I made rather blindly without knowing too much about the game but in the end, I'm very satisfied with what it has delivered.