I've come a long way on the notion of shooting things. I really preferred my games with more slashing and less shooting. Shooting requires precision, patience, planning... slashing a sword only requires - well, slashing. But I've found that I have increasingly and increasingly been evolving to enjoy active combat and a weapon that can aim.
The Mass Effect series were the games that put Bioware on the map: a space opera series about Commander Shepard, human extraordinaire, and his ragtag group of adventurers. Having finally been re-released for the PS3, the time was ripe to play and enjoy the series.
dmuma
I review, preview, and wax poetic about the things that interest me: video games, coffee, the world.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den
Lasers and gravity, oh my! |
The add-on tells a completely unrelated story of an Alpha Series Big Daddy, Subject Sigma. As Sigma, you are lead through the three-levels by C.M. Porter, the proclaimed designer of "The Thinker," the punch-card computer which controls operations of the underwater city of Rapture. Things in this part of the city aren't much different from the rest of the dystopian waterworld: Splicers (so named for their history of splicing their DNA with ADAM) are running the asylum.
One new add in this DLC is a new type of Big Daddy, the Lancer, and its unique weapon, a laser. It's a fun add, and the Lancer is no joke to defeat. The other add is a new plasmid: Gravity Well. It's a game-breaking method of dealing with the Splicers, but useless against heavier hitters. It also is a huge suck on the graphics capacity of my PS3, causing the game to freeze once.
The story of C.M. Porter and Reed Hall (his spliced-up, crazy rival) is very engaging, helped by familiar audio diaries that are scattered throughout the levels. The story rivals Bioshock 2's main story, which is universally despised. The entire thing unfolds over two sittings, 6-8 hours depending on your play style.
If you've picked up Bioshock 2 recently, it may have included the DLC - but if you have it sitting around and you haven't, it was well worth what I spent.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (International)
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Let's not kid ourselves. I was not the biggest fan of Final Fantasy XIII when it first appeared, but a second play through really made me appreciate the game. And even my first inclinations with its sequel (in demo form) were positive. So how did Final Fantasy the Thirteenth Part 2 fair? Hit the jump for the full details...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
inFAMOUS 2
Listen, if you liked inFAMOUS, I have very little notion why you wouldn't enjoy inFAMOUS 2.
Cole McGrath, everyday-courier-turned-electric-conduit continues his adventures, now confronted with a monstrous beast which has destroyed whatever New York is being called these days. The beast sucks all of Cole's powers away (how convenient) and Cole and friends head to whatever New Orleans is being called these days.
The games has learned its lessons from inFAMOUS prime. If nothing else, the issue with chain-link fences has been addressed. In fact, the environments are much more strongly involved in gameplay. Combat remains nearly identical: you shoot lightning out of your hands, your powers increase with time, etc.
The other "lesson learned" is that blast shards are increasingly easier to find, which is to say that it is still a bit of a pain in the neck, but not the 14-month WHERE-IS-IT endeavor that inFAMOUS presented to me to finally Platinum the game.
This time around, morality is linked to which of the two ladies in the game you'd like to ally yourself to. The crazy, chaotic Nix or the straight-laced Kuo. Much as women are keen to do, there are betrayals and hurt-feelings and "come-rescue-me" moments. But this is a video game, after all, not a treatise on feminism.
The choices remain as unsubtle as ever. Save the orphans, burn the orphans, etc.
But the game is certainly fun to play and enjoyable to complete the quests that the game presents. The difficulty amps up a couple times, especially with certain bosses that you experience.
The simple end to this review is this: it's like inFAMOUS, only twoier.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Skyrim
Skyrim, or more completely, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim continues the story of imprisoned-and-then-freed destiny-bound heroes of Tamriel, this time located in the frigid north, titular region: Skyrim.
The game was dense, as was the first draft of this review, which I have subsequently broken up into 5 entries (seriously). Today's post looking at the main story and game mechanics, and subsequent posts dedicated to all the shit that got done in the name of collecting the sweet, sweet platinum trophy.
In media res being a bit of a gameplay-must these days, you start the game as an imprisoned man/woman/whatever on your way to the chopping block - the head chopping block - when you are serendipitously saved by the arrival of a fire-breathing dragon. Amidst the chaos and fear of behading/being eaten by a dragon, you select your character's gender, race, and appearance. Unlike the fourth Elder Scrolls entrant, you do not select a sign, have specifically anointed skills, or any of the other things that made that game have an astounding 743 sextillion (a lot) character builds.
The undead are a frequent encounter. |
I decided to put my perks into archery, sneaking, light armor, and Illusion-magic, which you think might have been setting myself up to be a total badass ninja, but I still chose to confront most conflicts at high velocity while spamming the attack key.
Combat is relatively unchanged from Oblivion, with the main exception in that you can wield magic while simultaneously wielding a weapon, or wield two spells at once. Spells have also been pretty well nerfed, only dealing a set amount of damage and not able to be customized (a la Oblivion).
So, fresh off of not-being-killed-by-a-dragon, you are given the same mind-numbing freedom common to the Bethesda games: you could literally do anything. Only a few story-related areas are blocked off, and to be honest - it's nearly impossible to find them, as there is just so much else to do. The game improves upon Oblivion's compass system, and exploration begins to be "just... one... more... area..." and before you know it, you've mapped most of the locations in Skyrim.
Oh hey girl, lemme shout at you. |
While dialogue with townsfolk may lead you to believe that dragons are rare sights anywhere in Tamriel, the reality is that the whole place is lousy with dragons. And they are dragons: they eat townspeople and their steeds, devastate farms and hovels, and will fuck you up if you aren't equipped with enough healing potions to ward off the inevitable crispy feelings of being burned to death.
One dragon, in particular, plays your chief nemesis. His purpose is straight black and white fantasy: he destroys worlds. It's almost refreshing to meet a bad-guy who is really bad. No tortured childhood. No on-the-fence attitude. Dude just wants to obliterate existence. I can respect that.
The game is great, though the story does have some pacing issues, common to the robust world games like Skyrim. And that's just the main story. It was definitely worth the 80 hours I sunk into it, and definitely worth a platinum run.
Always worth it. Always. |
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Demo: Warp
Warp. Cute alien dude. |
Note: despite the immense cuteness of the alien, the game introduced itself as having "blood and gore," and I understood why after I warped into a human and moved around, causing him to explode. Oops.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Flash Game Friday: Politricks
Just Pres. Obama - doing what he does. |
So here's Politricks. It's silly fun. The upgrades are what you would expect to find in a launch game (go further, jump higher, use a kite, make more supporters appear).
If you're into launch games, this is a political based no-brainer. You don't even need to understand "legitimate rape" or "struggle snuggles" or "tax documents." Just click and twirl and rake in the dough to save Uncle Sam!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Flash Game Friday: Nuclear Plant
The monsters are coming. |
The game play is half platform-y, half point and shoot. You control your character by using the arrow keys (or the ASWD), but aim and shoot using the mouse. Uniterrupted time at the Laboratory is used to build your skills (e.g. more health regeneration, better accuracy) and killing mutated monsters yields cash to buy new guns (from - where?).
It's fun, and short, though it took a couple of game overs until I got the hang of it. Enjoy!
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