Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Mass Effect 3

Surprise! All I've been playing is Mass Effect 3. In fact, I was too busy playing this morning to type anything up. It's actually sitting on the start screen in the other room right now, because I happened to remember it was Monday as I was starting it up.

I am enjoying myself quite a bit! There are aspects I miss from Mass Effect 2 a great deal that just seem to be gone with either something not as good, such as the planet scanning, or just nothing equitable. And the scanning is so damned annoying. The Reapers coming after you if you scan too much all at one time? With no real consequence if you're caught. And, that aside, it's super easy to jump in, grab the thing you scanned, and bail. Frankly, it kind of deflates the Reapers a little bit. But, anyway, I don't want this to turn into a negative entry. I'm enjoying the cameos of beloved characters from Mass Effect 2, all the little nods to Mass Effect, and the story that's shaping up.

There are things outside of the game, though, that's kind of concerning. For instance, tying up Javik, the Prothean character, in DLC seems completely absurd. They're basically taking a really important part of, and an entirely new perspective on, the story and you have to pay extra for it. I find it worrisome. And all of this controversy over the ending is completely stupid, I can guarantee it without even finishing the game. Because even if I hate the way it's ended, the reaction has been ridiculous. I'll save my anger for if they put out some sort of Epilogue DLC that ties up loose ends instead of, y'know, finishing the game before shipping it.

But, to reiterate, I'm loving it and I can't wait to keep playing it. Wrex is fucking awesome, Grunt is the shit, Thane is the man, and Javik is pretty stone-cold. See you next week!

Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Mass Effect 3

Surprise! All I've been playing is Mass Effect 3. In fact, I was too busy playing this morning to type anything up. It's actually sitting on the start screen in the other room right now, because I happened to remember it was Monday as I was starting it up.

I am enjoying myself quite a bit! There are aspects I miss from Mass Effect 2 a great deal that just seem to be gone with either something not as good, such as the planet scanning, or just nothing equitable. And the scanning is so damned annoying. The Reapers coming after you if you scan too much all at one time? With no real consequence if you're caught. And, that aside, it's super easy to jump in, grab the thing you scanned, and bail. Frankly, it kind of deflates the Reapers a little bit. But, anyway, I don't want this to turn into a negative entry. I'm enjoying the cameos of beloved characters from Mass Effect 2, all the little nods to Mass Effect, and the story that's shaping up.

There are things outside of the game, though, that's kind of concerning. For instance, tying up Javik, the Prothean character, in DLC seems completely absurd. They're basically taking a really important part of, and an entirely new perspective on, the story and you have to pay extra for it. I find it worrisome. And all of this controversy over the ending is completely stupid, I can guarantee it without even finishing the game. Because even if I hate the way it's ended, the reaction has been ridiculous. I'll save my anger for if they put out some sort of Epilogue DLC that ties up loose ends instead of, y'know, finishing the game before shipping it.

But, to reiterate, I'm loving it and I can't wait to keep playing it. Wrex is fucking awesome, Grunt is the shit, Thane is the man, and Javik is pretty stone-cold. See you next week!