Tag: Gaming

Game Review: The Mass Effect Trilogy, Part 3

Gaming
1 Comment

Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 at Amazon.com

Rated Mature; Reviewed on PS3 and PC

Part 1 of this series discussed the promise of the game and Part 2 covered the how several of the key game mechanics evolved as the series progressed.  In this section I’ll cover the more subjective aspects of character growth, interaction and story evolution.

[Story spoilers will be sprinkled liberally throughout this discussion.]

Mass Effect promised a cohesive character building experience across an epic, multi-year story arc.  One in which you could build relationships, both friendships and enmities, and forge a galactic reputation.  While the trilogy definitely met many of these goals, in my opinion it often failed to meet them on the scales promised.

(more…)

Game Review: The Mass Effect Trilogy, Part 2

Gaming
2 Comments

Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 at Amazon.com

Rated Mature; Reviewed on PS3 and PC

Part 1 of this series discussed how I’ve spent my time with Mass Effect and the promise of the game.  While we’ll get into the story of the game later every gamer knows the gameplay has to be solid.  While some of us will suffer through terrible gameplay for a good story the reverse is much more often true.  If your gameplay is solid the story can be secondary (or non-existent).  Of course true classics offer both.

One recurring theme here will be that things tended to get simpler as the games were released.  The largest change was between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 where literally dozens of mechanics were simply abandoned (rather than, as many of us had hoped, being improved).  The changes then made to Mass Effect 3 were more subtle but still in the direction of simplification.

(more…)

Game Review: The Mass Effect Trilogy, Part 1

Gaming
3 Comments

Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 at Amazon.com

Rated Mature; Reviewed on PS3 and PC

The Mass Effect games represent a grand experiment in game design and story-telling.  Instead of reviewing the games individually I’d like to spend some time considering the evolution of the trilogy as a whole.  In this first part I’ll set the stage by explaining how much I’ve invested in these games and clarifying what they promised to deliver.

My Time with Mass Effect

I first played Mass Effect on the XBox 360 shortly after it was released.  During the course of completing the game I had to replace two consoles due to the “Red Ring of Death” issue that plague the early 360’s.  Eventually I ended up replacing four separate units (and spending way too much due to the insulting 90-day warranty of the original units).  I decided to simply never play anything on the XBox 360 again unless I absolutely had to.

(more…)

E3 Comments: “The Last of Us”

Gaming
4 Comments

There are few studios that produce such uniformly excellent content as Naughty Dog.  Producing exclusively for the Platform since the beginning their work has, in large part, defined each generation of PlayStation hardware.  Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Nathan Drake are truly iconic characters.  Never ones to over-stay their welcome the studio decided against a fourth “Uncharted” game and instead have moved into more serious territory with “The Last of Us”.  They presented the first gameplay trailer at E3 and it’s absolutely stunning.

As I discussed in my comments on “Beyond: Two Souls” the most impressive games from E3 this year have not been those attempting to carve out new territory but rather those that have decided to polish existing genres.  For all their undeniable genius Naughty Dog has never been known for truly orignal games.  Rather they excel, more than any other studio, at perfecting existing paradigms.  “Uncharted” was far from the first pop-and-shoot adventure game – but it was the best one.

(more…)

E3 Comments: “Beyond: Two Souls”

Gaming
1 Comment

French studio Quantic Dream, the highly regarded studio behind the under-appreciated classic “Indigo Prophecy” and 2010’s highly successful PS3 exclusive “Heavy Rain”, has announced their next game, “Beyond: Two Souls.”  Surprisingly for a new announcement the trailer is substantial (over five minutes long) and offers a significant look into the tone being set by the game.

Quantic Dream has always approached their games firstly from a cinematic view-point and this one is no different.  Ellen Page’s acting, seen clearly and meaningfully through the filter of the studio’s updated motion capture techniques, is clearly the focus of the trailer.  However it’s also clear that this game will feature more action than many have come to expect from this team.

(more…)

Game Review: Journey (PS3)

Gaming
Comments

“Journey” at playstation.com

Rated E for Everyone; Reviewed on PS3

The debate as to whether video games can be “art” is worth no more time than any of the multitude of similar debates that raged in the past.  Popular music, movies, comics, animation – essentially all new mediums – have been accused initially of lacking some quality that raises them to the level of “art”.  The debate is worthless because the answer is always the same: yes, they can be art but most often aren’t.

(The fascination for me on this topic is that film critics often incite this ridiculous conversation.  People who can see plainly that “The Seven Samurai” [IMDB] is art and “Mega Piranha” [IMDB] is not but are wholly unable to see that parallel in other fields.  Baffling.)

(more…)

Game Review: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3/PC)

Gaming
1 Comment

“Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” at Amazon.com

Rated Mature; Reviewed on PS3 and PC

Skyrim is the kind of game that people either love (and almost definitely already know they’ll love) or hate (and almost definitely know that they’ll hate).  My time with Skyrim trailed off after just shy of 190 hours of playtime – to which category do you think I belong?

I had planned on playing the game on the PS3 but after getting the Collector’s edition on Christmas my son started playing it.  Knowing that my time with the game would be indefinitely delayed I took advantage of Steam’s one-day 50% off sale and bought the game on the PC.  This resulted in us playing the game in the same room most of the time.

(more…)

Game Review: Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Gaming
Comments

“Batman: Arkham City” at Amazon.com

Rated Mature, Reviewed on PS3

“Batman: Arkham Asylum” was a revelation.  It single-handedly redeemed the entire gaming industry for the multiple generations of terrible, hackneyed, money-grubbing excuses for Batman games that littered the landscape before.  Never before had the depth of the character and its history been explored so completely.  Fans truly couldn’t have asked for a better game.

(more…)

Game Review: Uncharted 3 (PS3)

Gaming
1 Comment

“Uncharted 3” at Amazon.com

Rated Teen; Reviewed on PS3

Uncharted 2 was perhaps as close to a perfect game as I’ve seen.  It had flaws (and a lousy final boss fight) but it improved on the first game in nearly every way.  Controls were streamlined, difficulty was smoothed and the scale of the story grew.  Most importantly new characters were introduced and the characters we had grown to love from the first game were allowed to grow.  The last conversation between Nate and Elena was one of the best endings to  game ever.

The gameplay in Uncharted 3 evolves slightly from the previous games but is still tight.  You can now shoot in pretty much any circumstance and toss grenades back at the bad guys (a great idea that unfortunately fails about as often as it succeeds).  The weapons and tactics from the earlier games were great and return with only slight tweaks.

(more…)

Game Review: Dragon Age 2 (PS3)

Gaming
Comments

“Dragon Age 2” at Amazon.com

Rated Mature, Reviewed on PS3

This is the highly anticipated follow-up to the deservedly wildly popular “Dragon Age: Origins”.  While not a bad game in-and-of itself by any means this is unfortunately less than its predecessor in nearly every way.  Despite it’s length it feels like an expansion rather than a full game; like an interlude between chapters of the “real” story or perhaps a prelude to “Chapter 2”.

(more…)