Countdown to Mass Effect 3

The Reapers are coming.

March 6th, 2012 is a day that I have been anxiously anticipating for nearly four and a half years. Granted, I didn’t know back in 2007 that I would be embarking on an epic journey that would encompass three separate video games but that’s when it all started.

In November of 2007 I came across a brand new video game called Mass Effect. I didn’t really know much about the game but I recognized the name Bioware. From Baldur’s Gate to Jade Empire, Bioware was a name that I associated with quality RPGs and the blurb on the back of the box of this Mass Effect game was good enough to grab my attention. I’ll admit that I was disappointed that this wasn’t a Star Wars game. Bioware’s work on the Knights of the Old Republic really knocked my socks off and I was leery of this foray into a new IP.

To say that my disappointment with Mass Effect vanished in the first few hours of gameplay would be a gross understatement. It was as if someone had taken everything that I enjoyed about science fiction, put it in a game and then expounded upon these base concepts in a manner that I would have never thought of myself.

The story was outstanding. While it’s nothing groundbreaking, it was implemented in a manner that made it all seem fresh. You assume the role of Command Shepard, a man (or woman) who gets caught up in events that will shape the course of the galaxy. The game allowed you to make decisions and it gave you the impression that they really counted. By the end of the game, Commander Shepard had saved the galaxy but it’s here that you learn that you may have only delayed the inevitable.

Enter Mass Effect 2. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 5th, 2012 , Console Gaming Tags:
CALL OF THE DEAD: New Zombies in Call of Duty!

Holy hell yeah, this looks awesome.  I mean, where can you get Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michael Rooker, Danny Trejo, and Robert Englund in the same place fighting zombies, led by George A. Romero?  Well, right here:

That’s right!  Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation (coming to Xbox Live on May 3 and PSN sometime after that) features a zombie level entitled CALL OF THE DEAD, featuring the actors listed above taking on a cargo ship full of zombies in a story inspired by George Romero (hopefully good George Romero, and not his last couple of films).

More info here.  You can be damn sure I’m going to be picking this bad boy up!

Written on April 26th, 2011 , Console Gaming, Games Tags:
Mortal Kombat: Legacy – Episode One!

From the creators of that AWESOME Mortal Kombat: Rebirth viral video now comes the official Mortal Kombat webseries, Legacy, starring a whole slew of cool people, including Jeri Ryan, Michael Jai White, and Tahmoh Penikett.

Written by Kevin Tancharoen, Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing, “Mortal Kombat: Legacy” is an anthology of nine live action shorts and brings to life the motivation behind each character’s participation in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Each episode will provide never-before-revealed insights into characters featured in the upcoming videogame as well as the game’s universe.

This comes just in time for the release of the new MK game, out next week!

Written on April 12th, 2011 , Action Adventure, Console Gaming, Games, Movies & TV Tags:
VGM: Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Bah! Back in my day we only had two Marvel versus Capcoms. The two wasn’t because it was the sequel, it was because “two” was the running theme of the game. There were two dimensions to the game, there were only 2 buttons per punch and kick and most importantly, there were only 2 move sets that encompassed every char. Ken, Ryu, Morrigan, Akuma – it doesn’t matter. It’s the same move set!

We’ve been playing this game for over a decade. Why? Because we like it, and back then, games were expensive. You played those games until the disks melted. Now we have Marvel vs Capcom 3. 3? It’s not 3D. Is it because it touts a new “simplified 3-button control scheme”? Simplified! This is Capcom fighting game! We don’t buy these for simplicity. We buy these so we can spend 80 hours mastering one character, so we can bash our friends’ faces in with him.

MvC3 is targeted towards today’s kids. It has pretty graphics, the ability to play online, and girls with big racks. Graphics, pssh. Play Zork, then tell me what you thought of the graphics. Graphics are a compensation for bad gameplay. The ability to play online? You know what we did to play against someone? We walked down to the arcade. Uphill. Both ways. In 4 feet of snow. During the summer. As far as girls with big racks go … well, everyone can enjoy that.

If you’ve enjoyed any Capcom fighting game in the last 10 years, buy MvC3. You won’t be disappointed. If you are, suck it up. There’s a long history of disappoint in video games. Some of us didn’t grow up with fancy rating systems. If you can’t make a decision with out one, go read IGN. I hear they gave it a 8.5.

Until next time, stay off my lawn.

Written on February 17th, 2011 , Console Gaming, Games, Video Games
DC Universe Online – Fractured Future Trailer!

You know, it’s trailers like this that make me wish I was more into online gaming. DC Universe Online seems like it has an awesome story and, despite the flaws I’m hearing about, has generally garnered positive reviews. Luckily, I’m still getting the story in the bi-weekly DC Universe Online Legends that DC started up a couple of weeks ago. But check out this AWESOME new trailer for the game.

DC Universe Online is available on PC and Ps3 NOW!

Written on February 13th, 2011 , Console Gaming, Games, PC Gaming Tags:
Movie Review: Dead Space – Aftermath

I really, really enjoyed the first Dead Space video game.  I felt it was challenging (though sometimes a bit too challenging), genuinely creepy and scary, and, most of all, INTENSE.  I spent a good portion of the game on the edge of my seat, guiding Isaac through the abandoned space station, worried about what would be around the next corner, or how low my ammo is.  It’s a truly exciting video game experience, and I really recommend checking it out if you’re into the survival horror genre.

That being said, the original animated tie-in movie, Dead Space: Downfall was really just a bit meh.  The animation was a bit rough, the story kind of generic, and ultimately just felt a bit throwaway.  I mean, it gave me a bit more insight into the events of the game (without having to read all the journals and stuff that you pick up during the game), but overall I just didn’t leave the experience feeling overwhelmed.  I was just … whelmed.  The Dante’s Inferno tie-in animated movie (from the same production company) really actually just kind of dragged for me, despite being a relatively short film.  So Dead Space: Aftermath didn’t have a lot going for it… Read the rest of this entry »

Written on February 8th, 2011 , Animated, Console Gaming, Games, Horror, Movies & TV, Video Games
Video Game Madness: Dead Space 2 (Demo Impressions)

I actually really enjoyed the original Dead Space game.  I thought it was a really pretty intense, and had a ton of great action and scares.  I really had only two main gripes about it – one, that the story seemed to rely too much on reading documents or watching other things (like the animated prequel) to really get more than “guy in space station kills monsters.”  And two, some of the scenes went from challenging (which is good) to frustrating (which is, quite obviously, bad).

Playing the demo for Dead Space 2, released last week on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, I get much the same impression for Dead Space 2.  The demo shows impressive visuals and new models for the characters, but I don’t see a huge leap forward in gameplay.  Of course, not that there was much wrong with gameplay in the original.

The demo for Dead Space 2 isn’t very long, but you do get a pretty fantastic sequence (which appears to be set in some kind of church) where you fight all sorts of creatures with minimal ammo.  It’s relentless, action packed, and suspenseful.  Not only that, it’s sure to whet your appetite for the new game.  A video at the beginning of the demo brings you up to speed, telling the story of the original better than the original game actually did.  It gives me high hopes that the new game will focus on story more than the original.

The promise of Dead Space 2 is that we’re going to get more action and less focus on horror.  While I don’t see that in the demo, video footage of the new game does show plenty of action, including some  cool looking jetpack action.  Dead Space 2 is due out on Xbox 360 and PS3 on January 25th, 2011.  Read more at the official site.

Written on December 29th, 2010 , Console Gaming, Games, Video Games Tags:
Video Game Madness: James Bond 007 – Blood Stone (Single Player Campaign Review)

Disclaimer: I’ve mentioned before on VGM that I’m not into playing multiplayer unless I know who I’m playing with, so if any readers are interested in playing multiplayer on Blood Stone with me, let me know.

James Bond video games have an unusual history.  The Pierce Brosnan era of Bond brought us GoldenEye for N64, which still stands as one of the greatest first person shooters of all time, but other than that, fans have given Bond games a lukewarm response.

  • Tomorrow Never Dies went with 3rd person storytelling
  • The World Is Not Enough brought back the 1st person shooting of Goldeneye

But then Bond movies took a break for a while.  Not wanting to waste the license, we saw original Bond content for the game systems, featuring Pierce Brosnan including the pretty decent Agent Under Fire and Nightfire games.  Everything or Nothing was Brosnan’s final Bond game, leaving on a high note in a pretty great game.

After the poorly received Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, Sean Connery was brought in to voice a retelling of From Russia With Love, which met with decent critical response, but lower than expected sales.

Mixed reviews came on the heels of Quantum of Solace, which actually adapted both Daniel Craig Bond movies, including portions of Casino Royale.  Since the movie series is again taking a break, it’s been some time since fans have received a Bond game, so we actually got two on the same release date in November – a remake of Goldeneye for Wii (getting much praise) and Blood Stone for the Xbox 360 and PS3, which is garnering mixed reviews. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on December 27th, 2010 , Console Gaming, Games, Video Games Tags: ,
Day Late & Dollar Short Gamer: Ico, Feminism and You

While in Iraq, I found myself with quite a bit of free time on my hands on a regular basis.  I had heard across the internet that one game in particular would blow my mind in its beauty and gameplay, yet was very hard to find.

If you played a little game called Shadow of the Colossus (which I have reviewed here) then you may be familiar with what has been called the spiritual prequel called Ico. The term “Spiritual Prequel” comes from the fact that the games were created by the same developer, a man by the name of Fumito Ueda, and have a similar design scheme to the world.  Both games could easily be set in the same world and time frame, though if so, I have many questions to ask about whomever is running the land.

You are Ico, a boy who suddenly sprouts  horns on his head.  The village you are from casts you out because obviously horns mean something bad, and you are taken to a castle and locked into a sarcophagi to die.  An earthquake hits, you are freed, and then decide to bomb around the castle because hey, the hell else do you have to do? Read the rest of this entry »

Written on December 7th, 2010 , Console Gaming, Day Late & Dollar Short Gamer, Games
Video Game Madness: Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit (2010)

I’ve been a fan of the Need for Speed series since the original in 1994.  I used to play it with my friends on my PC while we listened to rock CD’s for hours upon hours.  It was a great time, a gorgeous game, and a whole hell of a lot of fun.  It was as close as we were going to get to driving that kind of exotic car, and it quickly became a tradition that we’ve shared since that initial entry through almost every entry of the series (save for a few lame entries while the series tried different variations).

Still, no entry brought quite as much to the series as the original Hot Pursuit (Need for Speed 3 in 1998), which took on much of what worked in the first two entries and distilled it down to what has made the series work – exotic cars and cops.  Since then, the series has tried different themes, with varying degrees of success – from ultra realistic sims (ProStreet) to pure arcade (Nitro) and everything in between (Undercover, Carbon, the two Underground games).  I actually enjoyed some of those entries, despite the fact that none particularly succeeded too well with fans.  Read the rest of this entry »

Written on November 23rd, 2010 , Console Gaming, Games Tags:
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