The more time I spend playing Mass Effect 2 the more I am impressed by the quality of writing on display (and the voice acting as well for that matter). I can’t remember the last time I have been so enthralled by dialogue in a game and I have laughed out loud many times already, and I’m not even all that far into the game yet! Of course, this level of quality is hardly surprising considering Bioware’s reputation, but even then I feel that they have truly outdone themselves this time.
What’s been especially unexpected for me is how engaging/amusing the exchanges between the NPCs have become, NPCs you would normally ignore as you continue on your mission. Not only do I find myself stopping to listen to the conversations, I have also gone out of my way to trigger every single stage of a group’s exchange which basically requires you to move away from them a few feet before moving close to them again. I whole-heartedly recommend seeking out these amusing talks as you play through the game and also make sure to check all the points of interest, such as the often amusing advertising kiosks on the Citadel station; it really helps to reinforce the notion that this is a living, breathing universe, which I feel that Bioware has captured better than anyone else to date.
Now, that’s all well and good, but that’s not really why I’m writing this post. Rather, I wished to share a truly facepalm worthy moment (a good facepalm though) that I encountered mere minutes past.
Continue reading ‘Really Commander?’
So I’ve had a chance to play Mass Effect 2 for a few hours now and so far I’m loving it. The opening sequence really blew me away and though it sort of stumbled a bit after your initial combat engagement it has quickly recovered and has me wishing that I was a Salarian and didn’t need 6 hours of sleep every day. It definitely takes a bit of getting used to the modified control scheme and other changes to the game, especially considering how recently I played through the first game, but I have been able to acclimate myself to these changes with relative ease. A couple more things I wanted to mention before moving onto the main point of this post: the new hacking minigames (yes, there is more than one this time) are a huge improvement over the original, even the PC version; also, the first time I used the Vanguard class’ Biotic Charge ability to warp into an enemy cluster and lay waste to them in seconds the first thought that popped into my mind was, “That just felt right.”
Ok, so what’s the point of this post’s title? Well, I’ll tell you right now that it’s not that I’m drunk right now, but rather thanks to a very minor, but to me very noticeable detail that Bioware has paid attention to in their latest sci-fi epic. Anyone who has had any experience with cinematic games should be well aware of how silly drinking (and eating for that matter) looks in a game. One moment you see an empty glass, the next it’s completely full, then a character picks it up, holds it in the general vicinity of their time-wasting mouth, and poof! the glass is empty again. This is a really good thing to do if you’re trying to destroy your game’s immersion.
Now, I know that such a seemingly simple process as realistically pouring and draining a glass is in reality anything but simple. It is doable however, though most devs just seem to ignore it. Not Bioware though.
Continue reading ‘Here’s to Getting Happily Drunk!’
Just got Mass Effect 2 in the mail a little while ago and I am so happy that this tortuous wait is finally over!
I don’t know what possessed me to preorder this via the EA Store website as opposed to going through my usual channels but I’m definitely glad that I went with them this time. There was absolutely no hassle involved with my order (and considering the online store is American and I live in Canada that’s certainly not always the case) and seeing as it actually arrived at my door a day before release means that I can most definitely recommend taking advantage of their services. I have no doubt that there are plenty who could attest to a more negative experience in using the EA Store but all I can say is that it worked out great for me.
Okay, enough babbling, I’ve got a universe to save!
Ok, so I just finished a playthrough on Mass Effect in order to have a viable save for importing into the soon to be released sequel. I first played Mass Effect when it originally released on the XBox 360 but that save has since been lost. I had purchased the PC version of the game when it first came out as well though I couldn’t bring myself to play it due to the terrible glitchiness of the port. This time, because I desperately wanted to get ME2 on Windows (anyone familiar with the difference between shooters that use mouse and keyboard controls versus control pads should know why) I decided to give the PC version of Mass Effect another shot, this time with all the latest patches and DLC. And so, in the interest of continuing my original saga, I opted to recreate my renegade Vanguard, Jack Shepard, or Jack Bauer as I prefer to think of him.
As I’m sure you have already surmised, these updates to the PC version helped a great deal and besides the rare rendering fault during a conversation resulting in a crash (a very minor crash thankfully) my playthrough was as smooth as could be hoped for. Now, before I get on to my hype for the sequel I figured that I’d go over a few things the PC version did right and a few things the game, in general, did wrong. First of all, the combat controls were almost dead on. I would have appreciated being able to toggle my tactical view as opposed to having to hold down the space bar every time but other than that it controlled beautifully. I was also surprised at how big of a difference the redesigned hacking/unlocking minigame had on my enjoyment. Rather than playing a boring save-or-die timing game there was actually an element of strategy involved (a little bit anyways) and if I messed up I would generally have enough time to give it a few more attempts before I failed. I actually looked forward to this little game rather than dreading it like I did on the XBox incarnation.
At first I didn’t much care for the Mako controls on PC but I did eventually get used to them and I must be one of three people in the world who actually enjoyed the Mako exploration segments despite the wacky physics (hell, because of the wacky physics!). I also must be pretty well the only person who actually liked the elevator conceit, though that may have something to do with my being rather efficient when it comes to travel. Of course, most of the elevator complaints were focused on the XBox version and I’m sure we all know how impatient the average console gamer is compared to PC gamers (oh ho! there’s that PC elitism!). Oh, sort of off topic but I feel that I should mention how absolutely gorgeous some of the uncharted worlds are in this game. Some of these planets really take your breath away with their beauty and almost without fail the skybox for each world is a work of art. I remember one planet I landed on made me feel as though I had landed in Mordor! The people who did those skyboxes really deserve major credit for their work, simply stunning.
Continue reading ‘Massively Hyped’
Borderlands has certainly been an interesting experience for me, though not in the way I had originally expected. Now, I know I’m way behind the curve on commenting on this game but that’s just what happens when you don’t have any money for an extended period. As it is, I decided to pick up Borderlands when I had been given a PS3 for Christmas, finally replacing the one that had been stolen from me a couple years ago. I wanted a new game to have fun with on my new system and seeing as I couldn’t a find a single copy of Little Big Planet anywhere I settled on Borderlands (and Uncharted and Red Faction: Guerilla, but I’ll get to those later). Normally I would have purchased a shooter like Borderlands on the PC but I had heard that the online setup for the game was somewhat disappointing on Windows, so PS3 it was!
I’m just going to get my opinion on this game out of the way right away: I like it, but I don’t think I should. Please allow me to clarify.
Borderlands has been, for me, one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had playing a game in recent memory, yet for some reason I just won’t give up on it. I think it has a great deal to do with the rush that comes with obtaining new and exciting items in a game and Borderlands certainly has no shortage of loot in it. However, even in that respect I feel that the ball was dropped. I should of course mention that I had been following this title for some time before its release, even prior to the unveiling of the re-done cel-shaded visual style, and my interest generated certain expectations for the final product. Oh, one more thing I should mention before continuing is that I have not yet beaten the game as of this moment (I’m still in Rust Commons West and am Level 26) but I just felt an overpowering urge to write about the difficulties I’ve been having with this game.
Continue reading ‘Borderline Bad’
Ah, you just gotta love blogging promises and the painful inevitability of their lack of fulfillment. Join me won’t you as this blog becomes yet another cliche in the sea of cliches that is the inactive blogocube. Of course, this sequel just wouldn’t be complete without another rote promise to write more often, only I’m going to give it a bit of a twist by getting it out of the way right now; M. Knight Shamanamanalan would be proud.
I do hereby most solemny swear and such to not, you know, like, stop writing for a while and stuff so, yeah.
Okay then, now with that most dignified oath out of the way we can proceed into the real substance of the adventure. Guess I may as well start off by saying what I’ve been up to in the world of gaming and cinema of late. I still have yet to beat Dragon Age: Origins, in fact, I’m not much further now than I was when I talked about it in my last post. This is not because I don’t like the game or anything, far from it, as far as I’m concerned DA:O was the best game of 2009. No, the reason I haven’t given myself a chance to complete this epic adventure is manyfold but it all boils down to being terribly distracted.
Continue reading ‘Son of Lazy S.O.B.’
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