So I finished Dragon Age 2 (360) last week. I played as a Male Warrior. Once again, BioWare came through with a game that has a cast of very colorful characters and a very interesting world. It's too bad the world has been shrunken down to one major city and a few other locations.

The game's graphics are an improvement over DA: Origins and everyone is very expressive. The new elf designs caught me offguard tho. They look a lil odd at first but I like that the elves actually look different than the humans.  Btw, EVERY human female in the game has some of the biggest boobs in any video game. It's pretty funny. Although I guess no one beats Isabela in that dept. Whoa momma. Anyway, the environments also look better than Origins but it's not at the level of the Mass Effect games.

I liked the gameplay changes. The combat is fun and much less tedious than Origins. Yea, I know that the PC crowd hated the changes but I played Origins on the 360 and this was an improvement. It's much more streamlined and the new interface is much easier to navigate. Unlike Origins, DA2's conversation and mission structure is basically Mass Effect 2 reskinned. It's scary how similar it is to ME2. Fans of ME2 will know what to expect.

But I have to mention that the dialogue system is much improved over both DA: Origins and the ME games. The choices aren't so easy to figure out and your party members may not agree with your choices even if you think is right. Speaking of your party, the banter between them is EXCELLENT. The amount of hilarious conversations is truly well done. If you have the right combo of members on at the same time, you may even get a fun conversation from all three guys on the team. I also loved all the optional dialogue that pops up if you have a specific member on your team during a Companion or any other sidequest. Isabela is my fave. She comes up with some of the funniest lines in the game. <3

But the game has two MAJOR issues I need to point out for the uninitiated. There's a bug with Merrill's Companion Quest where the end cutscene plays out of order when you talk to her at the beginning of Act 3. It spoils the mission ending and it cannot be avoided unless you ignore her quest. There is also a sidequest in Act 3 where you need to rescue a kidnapped person but the quest doesn't trigger. Both of these bugs are in ALL versions of the game and CANNOT be fixed in anyyway . It's annoying so I hope a patch comes out soon before I my NG+ run.

Anyway, DA2 is worth a look if you loved DA: Origins. Don't fret over the changes and just enjoy the game for the characters. It's not as good as Origins but if you like the world, it's worth checking out.

I also completed Crysis 2 (360) after a mega marathon. I actually almost finished the game in one sitting but it's so long that I had to take a break. Yea, the game is surprisingly long and incredibly satisfying. Reviewers weren't kidding.

First thing that caught my eye were the graphics. It's a great looking with some really nice looking environments. I didn't find the game as crisp as another recent FPS like Bulletstorm but Crysis 2 is full of detail. I wish there were more enemy variety though. The voice acting was surprisingly good too. The actors managed to take the somewhat cliche script and make it their own. The guy who does Hargreave is pretty awesome.

The Nanosuit powers are pretty good but upgrading is a bit of a chore. You have to manually collect the particles from downed aliens which is just plain tedious. I also don't understand why some power are locked out until later even when I had enough points for them. That takes away some customization. They don't break the game even if I got them a lil early. But yea, the powers are fun when you start to figure out which power is best for you. Armor and Cloak is your friend. Oh yea, the voice for the suit is pretty badass and never gets old. 

The story ain't bad. I disagree with people who say the story is terrible. At least this story is cohesive and made sense. It's not anything amazing but there were some pretty epic and unexpected moments. I also liked the various twists and turns along the way. It kept the plot fresh and kept me playing. I also thought the ending was very satisfying. 

I discovered a few minor bugs but it didn't break the game so I wouldn't worry about it. If any pops up, just restart the checkpoints. Overall, fun game and quite lengthy. Highly recommended.

New pick-ups blog next.