I really hate to admit it, considering i hate Bethesda for butchering Elder Scrolls and Star Trek but Fallout 3 is surprisingly amusing. The whole Character creation childhood thing in the vault is actually fun. When you get out of the vault though, the look of the world does look like a Wasteland. But so far the vault is my favorite part, though I’ve not made it far.

The only problem i have so far is the 3rd person camera sucks, for some reason they shove your character to the side instead of centering the camera on your back. Also heads and limbs get blown off WAY too easily. I have no idea why my little 9mm peashooter gives bloody mess results. 9mm shouldn’t be able to make heads explode.

The only part though that really disappointed me is the sexual under-stone present in fallout games. They have 1 prostitute and she doesn’t really seem like one. It fails to capture the seedy side of the Wasteland, which i find odd considering they have   of F words in the game and it gets really gory but sex is bad? That’s pretty lame on Bethesda’s part.

The combat part is rather easy, I know the old school people would hate it because VATS is like the I win button. I’ve played every fallout and own the originals but i don’t care about difficulty. Though even i was surprised how godlike you are at level 1. It seems that was the intention though, i looked a little at the making of DVD and Bethesda people said how its a single player game and your character is meant to be the most powerful person out in the wasteland.

So in closing, It is actually fun and it comes close to feeling totally like fallout but it falls short. Its sort of like Star Trek Enterprise, it has the name and theme and the like but it makes up its own cannon and generally tries to appeal more to mainstream then the actual fans. And like with that show, if they didn’t call it Fallout it’d probably be a true Game of the Year contender in my opinion, it unfortunately really is enjoyable but once you have the fallout on it, and the intention of making it like that, it falls short.

I always dream of space; of what’s out there. Surely, there’s somebody else out there. We can’t possibly be the only living things in the Universe. But our technology advances fast & if somebody doesn’t get to us soon, maybe we’ll get to them. That’s what happened in Mass Effect.

Well, in year 2148, humanity has discovered on Mars a construction of alien origin. After numerous studies, it was discovered that it was in fact built by the Protheans, an extinct race which disappeared over 50000 years ago. 8 years after, in 2156, the humans discover the Mass Relay, which allows them to travel faster than with the speed of light, permitting them to explore space. Well, in 2157, the humans discover another civilization on a planet, the Turians almost start a war with them. The war is prevented by the Galactic Council on the Citadel. In 2165, the humans manage to get permission to establish an Embassy on the Citadel, their power growing.Thing is,you can find all info you want about the solar system, planets, races, technology, politics basically everything, from the Galactic Codex, a very interesting addition in the game, in which I’ve spent entire hours.

Thing is, the action starts about 20 years after the last events,where you’re sent to prevent a get attack & investigate a strange artifact discovered on a planet.Firstly you’ll have to build your character,  you’ll have lots of options to choose from. You can also determine your past, where you were born, how you ended up traveling in space, you can also choose your class & specialization. They’re different from each other, I must tell you that this game has a huge replay value.

Graphics

Not too much to say about the graphics, because really, the game as a whole draws all attention to it, so you’d ignore the graphics. If I really have to tell you something about the graphics, I will have to use only one word “excellent”. They couldn’t have been better. The interiors look awesome, KotOR like, but much much better. The exteriors look even better, very detailed & well animated, with the perfect chromatic combination, a really great draw distance detail.

But the characters simply look perfect. Yeah, not only the face/clothes details are awesome, but the animations & lip-sync are so great that you’ll really feel that the characters are real. But about the characters I’ll tell you a bit later. As a conclusion for the graphics, they are the perfect choice for this game. I heard the engine is Unreal Engine 3. I would never have said that, but now that I know it, it really seems to make sense. Just to know it’s no Crysis or Lost Via Domus, but it looks definitely better than Gears of War. The only things that I didn’t like, graphically speaking, were the motion blur & the film grain. I usually like motion blur, I consider it to be a “delicious” effect, but the one in Mass Effect is really exaggerated. When you move you can’t distinguish anything when you stay put, there still is some motion blur. Geez, motion refers to moving, so how the hell can it be motion if it’s not moving?! The film grain would have been more appropriate to a bad SF film from the ’50s, not in Mass Effect. Well except these two things I really can’t complain at all about the graphics in Mass Effect.

Sound

The sound in Mass Effect is once again, perfect. I’ve been looking for a long time for the perfect sound, the sound with nothing bad at all. I thought I’ve seen it in The Godfather, then Bioshock, but the real one was Mass Effect’s. What does that mean? It means Mass Effect has the best voice acting (surprisingly, no use of famous actors, such as in The Godfather), the most appropriate music for a SF (& really touching sometimes) without the use of famous songs, as in Bioshock really the coolest sound effects to be used in a SF game. To start all over again, all the characters in Mass Effect are greatly interpretative by the actors, resulting in the best voice acting in a game.They really seem to be there, to be implicated in the action taking place there, to be affected by everything that’s happening. They are not sounding like robots, like bored people who want to finish recording their lines before the baseball match starts. No, the actors really put their best into the recordings, they put heart & emotions in what they are saying this is very rare nowadays. I have to firmly congratulate them. The music is the best that SF has to offer. No Star Wars themes fortunately, the music is really well fit. You may just ignore its presence sometimes because it’s just one of the factors that contributes to the perfect futuristic SF atmosphere, which you’ll feel as a whole,not in small parts. But you will actually hear it in the key moments of the game, when it gets more intense, impressive, touching really. Believe me, I know what I’m saying. Next, the explosions/gun shots/all other sound effects are done brilliantly. Nothing bad to say here, so let’s move on.

Gameplay

To describe the gameplay in a few words, I’d say it is a mix between Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic & Gears of War. It’s obviously that almost everything looks like an improved version of Knights of the Old Republic: the menus, the statistics, the interface, the skill tree/level advancement; basically everything. Well Bioware also made the first Knight of the Old Republic, so the resemblance is self-explanatory. Now the combat is planned exactly like in Gears of War: it’s real-time, the cover system functions great & why not, it’s very intense. Maybe not as intense as in Gears itself, but hey, Mass Effect ain’t just a third person shooter. But we’ll discuss about the blend later, now let’s take it from the beginning.

The first thing you’ll have to do is complete that recon mission I spoke about in the beginning. This will be the typical start of the fighting missions, interrupted by some short dialogues & some decisions to take. You’ll have some get to shoot & that is a very cool thing to do. With two other teammates following you (exactly as in KotOR & Jade Empire,they fight alongside you & level up when you do), you can turn Mass Effect into a tactical shooter by giving your mates orders like attack that enemy, take cover there, throw a grenade or use that special ability. It’s a very cool aspect of the game, but it’s not really necessary on the lower difficulty levels. But shooting is not an optional thing & you’ll certainly need it. As I said before you can take cover & try to shoot the enemy from there but that again depends on the difficulty level. If you’re playing on easy the enemy will come forwards to you in a straight line,so you won’t need to take cover. On the higher difficulty levels though, the enemy will try to take cover himself, or flank you in those situations cover for you & your squad is a must-have. You’ll also have a bunch of special abilities depending on your class & specialization, such as Overkill (better aiming with increased damage), the ability to temporary disable the enemy’s shields or to instantly heal your companions if they’ve fallen down. But I can point you a bad thing here. in KotOR, when your main character was defeated & fell down you could take control of one of the other two characters in your party. actually, you could play as the other characters trough the whole game. Unfortunately, you can’t do that in Mass Effect: you’ll be stuck with your character trough the whole game & if some companion fall during fight you can resurrect them but if you fall, game over. That’s not too bright.

As for the weapons,they’re divided into 5 categories: pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles & grenades. Each of these categories has a skill bar for every character & their weapons. There are a lot of weapons corresponding to the categories & each weapon has some upgrade slots: better ammunition or just add-ons that result in better accuracy, more damage to certain types of enemy, etc. To make things easier, the game’s interface will sort the objects in the inventory for us, so that the best ones will always be the first & easiest to select. Oh, I forgot, all these things I said apply to armor as well. Now let’s go again for a not-so-good thing: weapons overheat. Quite quickly. I dunno if the weapons 150 years from now will overheat or not, but in Mass Effect you fire two shotgun rounds & it’s already overheated. This is where an ugly bug comes in: sometimes the overheated weapons will not de-overheat & will remain unusable. And believe me, it ain’t nice to go trough an area crawling with enemies only with your pistol.

OK,so that concludes fighting & inventory, so now let’s speak about the quests. It’s true that man of them will always get you too shooting someone or blowing something up, but that doesn’t go for all of them. In some you’ll have to use your persuade or intimidate skills in order to convince some persons to act right. Now here’s where your orientation comes in; as in Knights of the Old Republic there seem to be two sides, but not really seen as good & evil, cause that really got lame by now. No, in Mass Effect you can either be the nice guy who wants to help all people who need it, called Paragon, or the cold-hearted one who does everything to accomplish his goals, even if that means murdering innocents, Renegade. While acting as a Renegade you may do quest faster & easier, Paragon always brings you more satisfaction & also allows you to enter Mass Effect’s universe better & know all the characters much better. The good thing is that there isn’t only a single bar showing the alignment: there are two. Because even if you’re a Paragon, you may act as a Renegade in some situations. Okay, now going back to the quests, there are also some quests that require path finding skills in order to find some objects or characters. There are no stealth-base ones, but that would have meant a stealth-engine & I don’t know how that would have ended up. Nevertheless, whatever you do in Mass Effect, you’ll talk a lot. Yeah, the dialogues with the other characters are maybe the best part in the game. Not only because of the terrific voice acting but also thanks to the very wisely written lines & very cinematic look of the dialogues. I mean the characters won’t just stay there looking to each other while talking, they’ll move from one place to another, gesticulate…in a word, they really seem like speaking & directly implicating themselves in what they’re saying, both audio & visually. Yeah, in these moments you won’t feel like playing a game (the only thing you’ll have to do is selecting the dialogue lines); you’ll really feel like watching a movie. A really great one indeed.

Now at a certain point in the game, you’ll be let to explore the galaxy as you wish. You’ll be given access to the Galactic Map, from where you can navigate trough the different solar systems. Thing is,there are a lot of clusters & nebulae, each containing one or more solar systems, each solar system containing a lot of planets. In all, there are certainly over 200 planets, with their own attributes: specific orbit duration, gravity, day length, temperature, population (if existent) & a lot of other things. Some of these planets may be colonies or uncolonized & uncharted. Well it’s a very cool thing that you can explore & chart these planets. You land on them with your special jeep, explore part of their surface & maybe you can find something interesting: some rare minerals, resources that can be gathered or artifacts. And you may encounter a couple of people in your adventure who would like to know about such facts. Of course, the local inhabitants, be it huge sand worms or just monkeys or strange jellyfish, may not ignore you totally. Not once have I found myself in an epic battle against some upset sand worms or running after a naughty monkey who stole an important data pad. You might also encounter pirate bases in the most unexpected places, somebody might repay you handsomely if you destroy the base & kill them. In a word, the galaxy is a very very big place & you have a huge number of things to do & worlds to explore.
You might also like decrypting. It’s done by a fun mini game that is a good addition to the gameplay. By decrypting or hacking you might be lucky enough to recover some great equipment or some Codex entries.

Storyline

What’s this Galactic Codex? It’s a kind of Encyclopedia regarding the Mass Effect universe. Many of you will ignore it, but that’s a very stupid thing to do. I highly recommend you to read it (or listen to it being read), because this way you’ll get to know everything about the history of the galaxy, the races, planets, politics…a lot of things you’ll love to know & that may come in handy at a certain point in the game. All put together, the Mass Effect universe is new, but very intelligently done, so that it comes better than the Star Wars universe at some points. And that’s truly incredible. I can’t wait to see it in another game (ummm, Mass Effect 2), but there are also two books available that take place in the same universe: one being a prequel to Mass Effect, the other one a sequel & a prequel to Mass Effect 2. So till it comes out, you’ll have more than enough time to read them both.

I told you what you should know about Mass Effect’s storyline, so I won’t say it again. So to conclude this as well, Mass Effect is set in an excellent universe & also benefits from an awesome storyline, strong characters & not only. Thing is, you’ll make the storyline, based on your decisions. Not exactly as in the Witcher, but more that KotOR did. The other characters are so greatly created that you’ll feel very close to them (speaking of your friends). The moment when you’re forced to let one behind to sacrifice himself is truly epic & you’ll nearly cry then. And I think that says a lot of things about this game.

Overall Impression

I’ve waited a lot for Mass Effect to come out for the PC,and I was convinced that it will be an awesome game. But it really excedeed my expectations: it’s better than you can possibly imagine. Some people say it’s not as good as some classic SF RPG-s, or that it is made up with a lot of clichees. Don’t believe them. I played most SF role-playing games, classic or not & Mass Effect smokes them all. Mass Effect is the best game in the last 6 years & I think that says it all.

The thing that strikes me most about this game is the art direction. A lot of research must have gone into 1930s Art Deco, which is the visual style of this game. It’s everywhere, from the buildings and signs to small details like the content of posters, taps in the toilets. Everything has been lovingly and authentically created and comes together as an design experience, and is perfectly complimented by a tasteful selection of soundtracks from 40s and 50s epitomized by Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea (La Mer)” echoing.

The sound is used very cleverly to create atmosphere. The music is in 3D, which means it has a source, and we often hear it emanating, with some distortion, from some distant room which generates an eerie atmosphere that reminds me of how the same technique was used in the movie “The Shining” where we hear the haunting strains of Al Bowly’s “Midnight and the Stars & You”. The sophisticated music constrasts starkly with the dystopian state of the society and half-ruined locations

Sound effects are also well implemented. As we wander through Rapture, we hear footsteps, muffled voices that and other inexplicable sounds close by…

Lighting and shadows are technically spot on, but go one step further in that they are also used to further increase the atmosphere and suspense of the game, such as when we see the shadow of something waiting for us round a corner…

“Water, water, everywhere. And not a drop to drink”. Well, not exactly…the underwater city is leaking and flooding, and you won’t see better water effects in any other game - I promise. It’s quite amazing. I read somewhere that the developers hired a programmer just to work on the water effects. He did an excellent job and set a new standard for these kind of effects in computer games.

If you’ve read other reviews, you will hear a lot about narrative. For me the unfolding story of the game, which you get to know by finding tape recorders strategically place around each level, puts a nice frame around the FPS experience, making it more like an interactive movie. In this sense it reminds me of that most excellent game of a few years ago “Mafia”. However, like Mafia, it is an FPS. And although we have a wide range of weapons and abilities to find, master and use, and a few puzzles to solve, the bones of the gameplay is to shoot your way through each level through waves of enemies. Personally, I get a bit bored with this, and this game had enough going for it to offer something slightly different.

Oddly, like “Mafia” of a few years ago, there is no multiplayer, which is a shame since it has a nice physics engine that allows you to toss objects and bodies around, as in “Half-Life 2″. Mulitplayer would have ensured its longevity, and it would have been great to play with a map editor!!!

Like “Mafia”, when “BioShock” is over, you’ll feel a bit of a come down, like you might feel if you’ve been to see a really good film at the cinema. And then you’ll find yourself wishing you hadn’t played it, so that you could play it all over again for the first time!!

Definitely a significant game in the history of PC games, and deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

 

 

Well I won’t bore you with constant flames about POTBS. The thing that stands out most to me is there seems to be zero end game content. You can reach lvl 50 without ever doing a single quest yet when you hit 50 the question is what do I do now. PvP is not something people do much of yet the game is about 90% pvp based. There is no benefit currently to doing pvp and the changes coming to promote pvp will not do so. This is the main reason I am cancelling my account. I think over time the game will pick up and things will improve but right now there is no justification of paying $15 bucks a month for the content. There are too many alternatives to this game and ones that by far will keep you entertained.

Gameplay:
The combat is unique and fun when you are fighting with ships but hand to hand is something I could compare to a nintendo game from 15 years ago. As for the economy it is totally player driven and only time will tell if this will be a good thing. The quest tracking and overall quest system needs alot of work. The game could also use a better waypoint system, it is about near impossible to set a waypoint and keep it locked on.

You also have to pick 1 of 4 nations. You can then create alts on the server but they all must be from the same nation. The current system doesn’t recommend servers therefore there are 3 servers with adequate populations and the rest are ghost towns. There are too many servers and not enough players. The should combine the servers to create more player interaction. There also should be a reason to play a nation, ie better resources, ships, etc. As it is now the French are so underplayed on most servers you wont see 20 people online at a given time on most servers. This is a very game breaking problem and needs to be addressed quickly.

Story:
The story line is set in the 1700’s of the Carribean. It was a time where sheer brutality was very common and the game would benefit more from showing this. I personally have lived on the coast of North Carolina and the lore of Pirates and their impact on the state is still seen today. And since Blackbeard was a North Carolina Pirate and the stereotype of all pirates are based on his image I think this game hits the mark.

Graphics:
The open sea and ship details are amazing as well as the avatar customization. The hand to hand fighting is very generic.

Final thoughts:
The game shows potential and is a great break from traditional MMORPG’s but for now the game has far too much wrong with it to justify the high monthly fee. Lower the cost to 9.99 or less a month and subscriptions would jump. There is little justification to keep the account with the current content and long term I don’t see this game as a major contender in the ever growing MMO world. Originality can get people to try a game but its the content that keeps them coming back. My advice is to wait a few months to see if they can fix the issues that currently plague the game and to see if end game picks up.

Dark, foreboding world that looks, sounds, and feels lived in. Fantastic story populated by realistic NPCs with realistic problems. Innovative new combat mechanics add depth in place of mindless clicking. Cinematic visuals and a superb soundtrack.

 

 

This game is the one of the top two RPGS I’ve ever played .The other being Oblivion. Okay about game .Firstly its mature adult theme is something I really appreciated .Constantly during the game you have to make moral decisions and actually consider what the consequences will be .Gone is the standard RPG world of ” kill the dragon and save the princess ” .Now you have to consider introspectively …” if I kill the dragon the princess may actually turn out to be the evil sorceress who enslaves the villagers ” .Its a brilliant concept .Then the combat …this is absolutely revolutionary .This game has turned the whole world of RPG combat on it’s head .When you progress in levels you really need to decide what style of combat you want to utilize .Also in battles you have to think constantly against difficult opponents on what skills and what combination of skills to use . I hope this changes the standard RPG combat mode which ultimately evolves to just ” right clicking many times and using healing potions “.The story is also really captivating .The plot nuances and the people you meet have compelling quests and information that keep you thinking about future chapters and ” who that person could be ..And why are they doing it “. The graphics are superlative…The whole world is beautifully done, the monsters fearsome and the women beautiful and seductive .The only thing that doesn’t make this game better than Oblivion is the admiration I have for the huge world of Oblivion where you can go anywhere and do anything at your convenience .The Witcher is a chapter driven game and once certain chapters are finished you can’t go back to some areas. Finally the stability of the game .I loaded the latest patch and had only about 15 crashes in the 80 hours of the game…so that is more than acceptable in my view. I recommend this game to all lovers of Fantasy RPG…it’s a must buy.You wont be disappointed.

Open-ended profession system lets you choose your class as you play. Shooter-like combat keeps you engaged. Exciting random attacks on control points and in explorable areas.

 

 

For Tabula Rasa,The combat system and skill system is what partly makes Tabula Rasa unique. For the RPG and Shooter man, the battle system is for you. That combination is very rare, almost unseen today. The skills are able to be used in battle withOUT slowing the user down. One of the best ablities that don’t slow the user down is Rushing Blow, wich makes you just plow into the user like the Great Khali into Hornswogle. (Sorry, wrestling quote there.) Now, time for the downside. The biggest part of this are the glitches. When you step into a glitch, they will be huge, and could stop the game altogether. An example of a glitch is when the game just crashes randomly. Another thing isn’t big, but falling down a cliff that could be as big as 50 feet….. Doesn’t kill you. That’s just godly. Except for that, its not a bad game. So, without further ado, I give Tabula Rasa a 8.0 out of 10.0 points. It’s another good unique game.
The graphics aren’t at all something to gawk at, but for someone like me who played UO for X number of years, the biggest concern I have is gameplay and replayability. If you are big on graphics then you are going to find this game more or less an eyesore, although there are varying levels of detail you can allow, or disallow, in the video options menu. However it is my opinion that the graphics are very acceptable. I am very pleased to have purchased a game from a developer that knows not to waste DVD space on voice-overs and eye-candy that will not add to the value of the game in any way shape or form. Even though these are not the best graphics, in my opinion, they are all very well placed. He did a good job with what he had to work with. The experience of Garriott and his team shines brightly all around you proved in all you see and do.

It has its flaws, but Space Rangers 2 remains a crazy, inspired, over-the-top, and addictive blend of gameplay.

This is the best game I have played in terms of fun, addictiveness and immersion in the last year; if not two! While we get Far Cry, followed by Half Life 2, followed by F.E.A.R. which all look brilliant in any way you could think, they still are all variations on a theme. Space Rangers 2 owes it’s allegiance to the golden years of gaming not the bland one’s of today’s “clone” market. Games like Sid Meier’s Pirates, or Star Control, or even Elite.

“The name may be silly, but this brilliant space trader/combat game will have a home on your hard drive for a long time.” -GameSpy

It’s open gameplay is so refreshing, as is it’s relative simplicity. But simplicity can be deceptive. Because this game has what can only be called an ingenious interface, it let’s you handle with ease a deep, engrossing very sophisticated Galaxy teeming with life and stories. (more…)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is simply one of the best role-playing games ever made.

I have to say I am quite amazed how much I like Oblivion more than Morrowind. I wasn’t even going to buy this game untill I say the video marathon, which changed my mind the moment Greg killed that guy in the shop. Combat to me looked so much better than in Morrowind, which was the main reason I didn’t like it so much. I found that I was correct to assume the combat had been perfected, not to mention the other amazing qualities this game holds.

“The fourth Elder Scrolls entry is utterly brilliant and should not be missed by any adventure-spirited gamer.” -Gamesradar

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Great game for what it is, being a not so Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying game

“…this is the ultimate group game, and in a group the plot elements, wonderfully varied missions, and teamplay really pay off.” -EuroGamer

I’ve played most MMO’s and they all come down to one thing. Spending as much time grinding levels, farming gold and eq as a person spends at a low-end job. So basically as your career & family life advances people have very little time for the games, and you’re play suffers as everyone puts 40hrs a week in their character and you put 6-10. DDO’s solves this. It’s a no grind game, that is more akin to a Never Nights on steroids than any of the other MMO’s out there. If you like NWN, the Baldur’s Gate series this is a game for you. (more…)

Well-designed, interesting skill system and action-packed combat; tons of content and no fee!

Guild Wars became a huge popular MMORPG game that the outcome was so rapid! Seeing the fact that it requires no monthly fee which is what generally we usually like for huge and mutiplaying online games. It started to be discussed just as often and was compared to WoW since they were both exactly released in europe near the month’s that it was such a pesistent arguement. That really interested me, i wanted to have a go at both games but only had a chance at guild wars since i wouldnt need to pay monthly for it. But i do hugeally recommend this game since its fun multiplayer online game that requires more teamwork then individual gameplay and get quite addicting like WoW. However i knew WoW would have some aspects that would greatly reveal some features that would surely make Guild Wars as small as a little mouse with no mother to take care of anymore. But Guild Wars still brings the excitement into us with its newly form storyline, features and gameplay!

“Guild Wars delivers both riveting PvP action, and engrossing, cooperative MMO gameplay.” -GameSpy

About this game

Guild Wars takes the best elements of today’s MMO games and combines them with a new mission-based design that eliminates the tedium of those games. You can meet new friends in towns or outposts, form a party, and then go tackle a quest together. Your party always has its own unique copy of the quest map, so camping, kill-stealing, and long lines to complete quests are all things of the past.