Gaming Update (2/10/10)

Just thought I’d post a blog of some of my thoughts on the games I’ve been playing recently. I might make this a regular thing... depends on the response... but anyways... 
 
Been playing a crapload of games lately. After coming back to work after the break I’ve had a significant cashflow increase and I have been putting it to good use! Recently I’ve picked up Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and played some Darksiders and Assassins Creed 2, and of course, I picked up a copy of Bioshock 2 yesterday. 
 
Some Thoughts: (and of course spoilers ahead) 
 

Assassin’s Creed 2:

When I first picked this game up, I hated everything about the gameplay but loved the story. I played through it to about the half way point (Sequence 6 or 7) before getting so frustrated at an Assassins tomb I pulled the disk out and didn’t touch it for weeks. The only thing that brought me back was seeing the ending on youtube. I’m glad i did too because this game is excellent. The thing that I realized is that AC2 is as fun as you make it. Just running from objective to objective makes that game real dull... 
 
Once I figured out how to play tis game it got real interesting. I found the most fun way to approach combat was to use disarm on a polearm dude and knock fools over and poke them to death. Priceless. And that final fistfight is one hell of a sequence. Overall a great game, with some glaring flaws but worth playing anyways. Maybe I’ll write a review later... though I doubt it 
 

Mass Effect 2:

I don’t want to come off as some crazy Bioware fanboy... but goddamn! This is one hell of a game. I just love the open ended structure and the removal of those clunky rpg mechanics makes for a better game. And playing as an intergalactic space badass Shepard feels so good. This game just has a level of polish and detail that most games don’t even come close. 
 
The ending was very conflicting for me. I’m not sure if its the greatest or worst thing ever. The way that the suicide mission works is very frustrating. Not really being able to see the correlation as to what decisions cause what people to die makes the completionist/perfectionist in me scream in anger, but its also very realistic and creates a sense of unknown weight and actually brings value to the idea of a suicide mission. So, I’m torn as to whether the lack of correlation is a horrible way to design a game or a great way to make a statement. 
 

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Yea yea yea... I know this game is like 16 months old. But I managed to pick a copy of the “Ultimate Sith Edition” for 20 bucks. (btw. awesome name for a special edition, much better than Game Of The Year, but i guess TFU didn’t win any of those anyways... but i digress). This game is kinda... bad. I enjoy the “what if” storyline but this game feels very last gen. And that’s a bad thing this far into this generation. The graphics in this game feel very janky and stilted. The gameplay is very old school in a very linear level structure with uninteresting boss battles and enemies that all feel the same but with different animations. The physics is the only saving grace of the game but its so underdeveloped and the gameplay sorta pushes you to not use this stuff. I don’t expect myself to finish this game with all of the other games coming out... but if I do I’ll write something up. 
 

Darksiders:

This game feels like what the 12 year old me would make after going to sunday school. The story takes the basic apocalypse scenario and puts some “cool” twists on it. The game feels so childish in presentation that I find myself sickened by the entire thing. I played about an hour and a half before being so frustrated with the looks, feel, and characters that I found myself ecstatic that I was borrowing this game and didn’t buy it myself. I hear there’s a good game here, but I’m not going to look for it. 
 

Batman: Arkham Asylum:

Just thinking about this game is making me want to play it. This game is so original and has so much polish that I really can’t believe it was made by a practically unknown developer. It’s just so much fun to stalk enemies and perform silent takedowns and trying to figure out how to take out all of the armed enemies without getting spotted. And the Scarecrow levels... OMG... This is the kind of game where I finding myself wanting to play just one more section and continuing to play well into the night. I’m about half way through and I can’t wait to play through the rest! 
 

Bioshock 2:

I was one of the anti-bioshock 2 people coming up to the release. I loved Bioshock, but I didn’t see any need for a sequel. I had absolutely no intent in getting this game and I would scoff at my friends who were excited. Well... I have to say... I haven’t been so wrong since my Too Human excitement. After hearing buzz and seeing the positive reviews I decided to pick it up. 
 
Well... This game is awesome. This game is everything that you would want out of a bioshock sequel. For a game that is following an already concluded story it does a great job. This game isn’t bioshock and it will never had the level of appeal or weight. But this game is a hell of fun to play. It takes all of the issues with the first (Hacking, combat, etc.) and improves it in great ways. and it creates a story and world that are worthy of taking place in Rapture. I’ve only played 3 hours or so, but as I continue through it, I’ll definitely write more. 
 

Some other stuff:

-Watched a buddy of mine play Halo Wars. Looks kinda dumb, but I’m not a Halo or RTS fan so It’s not for me anyways. Pretty cutscenes tho. 
-Hate the new bombcast theme, I get the joke but I hope its a one time thing. 
-Talk about new Dragon Age expansion gives me butterflies in my stomach... so pumped. 
 
Well, I think thats about it... I hope it was enjoyable... 
 -Inf225