Review: Mass Effect 2

The original Mass Effect was critically praised for its unique blend of RPG and shooter elements as well as its incredibly detailed universe of alien planets and alien species. The storyline was large in scale and creative. For the second game of the announced trilogy Bioware took everything that was criticized from the first game and fixed it creating one of the most immersive and impressive games in history.
I really can’t explain the plot without spoilers so here they come; you play as Commander Shepard, a spectre and the commander of the SSV Normandy. The Normandy is attacked by an unknown alien vessel at the beginning of the game and Shepard is lost in the evacuation of the ship. A pro-human organization known as Cerberus takes in Shepard’s dead body and resurrects him. It takes two years and for that period of time Shepard is considered dead by the entire galaxy. The Reaper threat from the original Mass Effect has been discredited by the council and most of the galaxy so Cerberus has resurrected Shepard to help them stop the Reapers. Whole human colonies have been vanishing and it is up to Shepard to find out who is behind the abductions and how to stop them.
The game relies heavily on the choices that you made in the first Mass Effect if you still have a save on your hard drive. Many characters will reappear or plotlines will change based on how you played the first game. This is one of the best applications of this idea ever to be put forth in a game, you feel like your actions had actually consequences and will have additional consequences in the next game.
The story is superb and is presented in a very cinematic and dramatic fashion. The end of the game feels like watching an incredible sci-fi action movie and it will keep you on the edge of your seat while you play it. Your actions have dynamic consequences and you may lose many of your squad members in the final battle if you make the wrong choices.
The missions are laid out in a semi-linear fashion but there is still plenty of freedom for the player to do missions however he wants to. A big part of the game is recruiting specialists for your mission and each of them has a quest to recruit them and a loyalty quest to gain their loyalty. (duh) There has also been a huge emphasis on exploration of the cosmos and you can scan planets in a system to find resources you will need for upgrades. While scanning planets you will also come across some that have an “anomaly” and this will lead you to an unmarked quest.
There are tons of weapons and armor that can be upgraded but in a different way than in the original Mass Effect. Instead of buying completely new armor, you buy or create upgrades to your base N7 armor. You can also upgrade your weapons damage and the amount of rounds that you can carry for it. About halfway through the game you have the choice to become trained in the use of another weapon that you don’t already have training for. Leveling up allows you to evolve your biotic powers and each one, when evolved fully, will allow you to choose one of two options, usually increasing either the intensity or the range of the power. You can also have ammo powers that you can equip to your weapons to increase damage to certain opponents, the ammo power will last an entire mission and can be re-equipped for the next mission.
The different classes of character allow for different abilities, Vanguards can use a biotic charge to slam into their enemies even if the enemies are far away. Tech specialists can utilize tech armor to increase damage resistance. The other classes have similar perks and it is fun to replay the game with a new class of character. There are a large variety of weapons to choose from, heavy weapons in particular, and they all deal a lot of damage when used correctly.
The dialogue system is the same as the first game but with an added feature where an icon will appear on screen with either the left or the right trigger button symbol next to it. When this happens you can choose to hit that button an Shepard will perform a renegade or paragon action (left trigger is paragon, right trigger is renegade) This on-the-fly system adds a nice new element to the dialogue which is already very well done.
The missions have been streamlined so there will be no more aimless wandering through cookie-cutter landscapes in the Mako. Each mission has unique cut-scenes for the way in and out and instead of the Mako you have a shuttle craft.
Wall safes and datapads can be hacked just like the first game but you don’t need to be at a certain level and instead of a small game of Simon, there are unique mini-games for wall safes and datapads. They can be slightly confusing at first but after a while they become relatively easy.
The graphics are stunning and the assets don’t take 10 seconds to load like in the first game, however the load screens are pretty long which is slightly frustrating but understandable. The gameplay is even more polished than in the first one and really feels more like a third person shooter than an RPG. There is a new cover system and you can send your two squad members to two different locations unlike the first game where they both flocked to one. Though tactics will still be pretty straight forward in this game the cover system and the new squad commands will help make the battles easier.
One last thing that is great about Mass Effect 2 is that along with the game you get a code to register with the Cerberus network, all DLC will be available via the Cerberus network and it is all free to download once you are signed in. As of right now there is a new squad member with a loyalty mission, 2 new heavy weapons, and a new vehicle pack that includes 5 missions. There is already another new character will several new missions slated to be released in April or May. It is a great change of pace to get free DLC and I am hoping that this formula will catch on.
Overall Mass Effect 2 is one of the best games on the market right now, it has an immersive storyline, awesome gameplay mechanics, fantastic graphics, and free DLC. It is an early contender for 2010 game of the year and rightfully so.
Pros
-Awesome Gameplay
-Stellar Graphics
-Dynamic Consequences for your actions
Cons
-Mineral Scanning can get boring
10/10

Review: Modern Warfare 2

Modern Warfare 2 was one of the biggest releases in 2009 and one of the most anticipated games in recent history. Building on its predecessor, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, this game continued with the present day setting and some characters remained in the game from the last one. The game focuses on two groups Task Force 141 consisting of Soap from the first game and Roach, the character you play as, as well as some others. The other group is Sgt Foley’s US Army Ranger squad, you play as Pvt James Ramirez when the story shifts to this group.

Like the first game the focus shifts from group to group allowing for tons of different environments from snowy terrains to deserts and more. The story is pretty intricate but isn’t too hard to follow, for spoiler’s sake I won’t go into the story very much.

The gameplay has definitely been made more fast paced as there are many chase sequences and parts where you slide downhill to make the game more like an action movie. In this respect the game does a great job of making you feel like you are playing an action movie and that is a cool feature that hasn’t been done this well in games in the past. The storytelling element is great and is a leap forward for games in the shooter genre.

There is a wide variety of weapons in the game and it is fun to see what kind of havoc you can wreak on the enemy with different weapons. Flash bang grenades are very useful for room clearing and grenade launchers on machine guns pack a nice punch. There are also sniper rifles, pistols, shotguns, and RPG’s. You can dual wield certain weapons, like the Glock 18, and this allows for more firepower but less accuracy.

One level that garnered a lot of attention before release was the “No Russian” level where a terrorist attack on an airport is portrayed. The level is disturbing but the option to skip it is there with no negative consequences to the player. While disturbing the level is important to the story and not put in just for a shock so I believe that it is a natural step forward in storytelling in games. An R rated movie with a scene like this wouldn’t be a shocker so an M rated game with a level like this really shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

The graphics are nice and polished and there are very few clipping problems or other things like that. The visual design is great incorporating all kinds of environments and all of them rendered beautifully. The weapons and equipment look fantastic and the sound design is good but not great, Bad Company 2 does a much better job capturing the sounds of the weapons in game. But even though the sound isn’t as good as Bad Company it is still very good.

There are some gameplay issues like M203 grenades that just don’t explode and grenades that roll way too much downhill, I appreciate the effort to make the grenades rolling on a slopped surface but it was taken a little too far at times. The single player game will take about 8-10 hours to complete, more if you are on a high difficulty level.

There are some other modes besides the story that will keep you entertained; special operations (or spec ops) are missions that take place in the locales from the game but are special objective-based side quests. There are 5 levels of spec ops missions and in order to unlock the next level you need to get a certain number of stars, you get more stars for the higher difficulty level that you complete a spec op on. Some operations need 2 players but most can be completed solo. All of these can be completed with a friend online.

The multiplayer is some of the best that the industry has to offer, there are a variety of modes but nothing too far out of the ordinary; capturing territories, team deathmatch, free-for-alls, and the like. You can create custom classes that you can outfit with different weapons and equipment that you receive for leveling up. You can also personalize your kill and death streaks, allowing you to have certain perks for going on a kill streak or perks to help you get back in the game after several deaths in a row. The team deathmatch games are 6 on 6, which is a reasonable number but some maps are bigger and could take some more players.

Overall Modern Warfare 2 is a fantastic game that takes the shooter to a whole new level. The story is fantastic and gripping, the gameplay is smooth and entertaining, and the game offers a wide variety of gameplay modes to keep the game fresh. If you like shooters this is an absolute must have.

(Note: I am changing the way I do my scoring, I found that the categories made it a little difficult to give credit where credit was due so now I am going to give a few pros and cons and an overall score out of 10)

Pros:

-Fantastic gameplay

-Great Multiplayer

-Stunning visuals

Cons:

-Some slight gameplay issues (like the dud grenades that happen too often)

10/10

Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Okay so I have a LOT of catching up to do, I just got really lazy. I have a ton of games to review and most of them are fantastic so you all probably already know about them. I’ll start this with one of the best games of 2009, Batman: Arkham Asylum.
This game was hyped up because it wasn’t a simple cash-in on the movie The Dark Knight the game has its own original story that sees Batman facing off against familiar faces on Arkham Island after the Joker takes it over. The game itself is around 6-7 hours of playtime but significantly more if you find all of the hidden Riddler trophies, chronicles of Arkham, patient interview tapes, and solve all of the Riddler’s riddles.
The first thing I want to talk about is the voice acting; Kevin Conroy plays Batman as he did in the animated series and it many other iterations of Batman and he does a fantastic job as always, for my money he is the voice of Batman. Mark Hamill (yes Luke Skywalker) portrays the Joker and gives one of the greatest performances I have ever heard, he mixes the insanity and the playfulness of the character so well. The other actors all do a good job but Conroy and Hamill stand out.
The gameplay is varied as you will fight opponents head-on and you will have to sneak around to take out armed henchmen who you can’t just charge up to. To fight opponents there is a free-flow combat system where you basically mash X and keep pointing your thumbstick to the next opponent, you get score multipliers for your combos and these points go towards upgrades to your armor, new combo moves, and upgrades to your weapons and gadgets.
All of Batman’s standard arsenal of gadgets are there; batarangs, grappling hooks, (no shark spray though) as well as some new gadgets like the cryptographic sequencer which allows you to overload security panels across Arkham to gain access to new areas. Pressing the left bumper pulls up “detective mode” which looks similar to Superman’s X-Ray vision. Objects of interest will appear in orange to make them easier to spot.
One key element of the game is sticking to the shadows when there are armed opponents around. You can rip off vent covers and crawl through ventilation shafts, or open up panels on the ground to crawl around under your enemies. The most important thing however is grappling onto gargoyle statues that will keep you hidden from armed henchmen and will give you a place to strike from. You can do an inverted takedown of an enemy that passes under a gargoyle that you are on, you can glide kick and knock down an enemy, or do any number of other things from that vantage point. This really makes you feel like Batman, striking fear into the henchmen every time you silently take one out. Their mental status will go from calm, to nervous, to terrified and their heartbeat will rise. All of these details serve to make the game a more complete experience.
The graphics are amazing, Batman will take damage to his suit that will remain there until the end of the game, the cut scenes are gorgeously rendered and overall the scenery looks great, very little pixilation and no delay on loading graphical assets.
The story is nice and original bringing in many rogues gallery characters like Scarecrow, Riddler, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Bane to name a few. There are also riddles that give nods to popular characters that aren’t in the game like Two-Face, Penguin, and Catwoman. All of the characters are perfectly realized and the patient interview tapes help to solidify the cruel and insane nature of Batman’s enemies.
One of the best parts of the game are the encounters with Scarecrow where Crane’s gas sends you to his domain where he is a giant in the middle of the scenery and his eyes are light beams that constantly search for you. If he sees you he kills you so you need to avoid his glance by hiding behind objects and moving when he isn’t looking. There are some great images and his realm captures the character perfectly.
The game is fantastic but there are some minor issues that should be addressed. The game isn’t level-based so you can’t go back and replay a particular part without replaying the whole game from the start, that can get frustrating and it is even worse because the saves are all automatic so you can’t save in a bunch of slots like you can in an RPG to make your own levels.
Besides some minor issues the game is incredible, the best Batman game by far and one of the best comic book video games around. A sequel has already been announced and the first teaser is out. Hopefully the second game will allow us to see some other big characters that were only hinted at in this game like Ra’s Al Ghul, Catwoman, Two-Face, and Penguin along with a myriad of other minor characters. But for now you can’t beat this quintessential Batman experience.
Gameplay: 10
Story: 10
Replay Value: 9.5
Graphics: 10
Overall: 9.9