Sorry that it's been a bit of time since our last update. As we've said before, we're a small group of people, and we're (at the core) gamers by nature. We get wrapped up in plenty of games, and sometimes don't have the ability to make posts.
That being said, it's been fairly hectic, between the holidays, job hunting (at least for me) and cranking out reviews. David (@thejervan on twitter) has taken back the reins of editing, and is doing a much better job (as you may have noticed with the last few reviews).
Speaking of, we've got a Donkey Kong Country Returns review up on our YouTube page (check it out!). More reviews are on the way. I just received our review copy of Nail'd from our friend Aubrey over at Southpeak games (Joe posted a preview a few weeks ago), so that's next in the review queue. I also recently picked up Epic Mickey.
Now, a lot of you probably wonder "Why are you reviewing so many Wii games?" The reason behind this is simply that there are a lot of interesting titles that have been coming out for the Wii recently. They're titles that I've been interested in since E3, and being the gamer that I am, I usually pick up games that I'm interested in. It just so happens that (thankfully for my wallet) there's not as many PS3/360 games that have been coming out that pique my interest. Nail'd is definitely one of those, and I have several more on my "To-do" list. They include Splatterhouse, Gran Turismo 5, and more Kinect time.
Speaking of Kinect, I haven't really been able to play it enough to give it a review. I only have 6 feet of space at the moment, and being 6'4" I don't really have enough space to accommodate that height. A review will come as soon as I'm actually able to get enough space, but in the meantime it's just kind of sitting there watching me as I type this.
In more recent news, I've been getting through my backlog of games at a steady pace. If you follow us on twitter (@Bossvideogaming) then you'll have seen that I was overjoyed in beating an RPG that I've had sitting in my selection for close to 10 years now. Grandia, probably my favorite RPG of all time. Once the dust settles, I'll be doing a full review of it in a new feature that we're working on, "The Test of Time" once I clear out my review pile of new games.
But more for the real reason I'm making this post. I want to do a mini-review of Mass Effect 2, a game that came out a little less than a year ago, and I find to be my personal GOTY2010 pick.
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Now, I beat this game back when it first came out. I had never played a Mass Effect game before, and I went into this game expecting to be bored by it like I frequently find myself with open-world RPG's. After I finished installing the game, I instantly became hooked. The first cinematic has your ship getting blown up, and your character getting killed. I was already on the edge of my seat, as if I was watching an action movie. The graphics were at a level that I hadn't witnessed before, and I'm playing on a PC. In my opinion, they blow Crysis out of the water, and that's a game that everyone uses to benchmark their computers with. The character models are so detailed, and the textures, terrain, and even backdrops are fucking unreal.
The gameplay is pretty standard cover-based combat, but at the same time the powers and different abilities meld to make it something far more unique than any other cover-based shooter I've played before.
But it wasn't the gameplay that got me hooked. It was the interactions between the cast of characters, and the change that you felt you were unleashing upon the universe. You feel like Commander Shepherd, and although everyone knows of you, and you're the obvious hero, you're not this pre-ordained at birth hero. You're a very mortal character that can (and will die) if you fail in your mission.
Another unique aspect of this game is the ability to import your character from Mass Effect 1 into the game, further influencing your world. On my initial playthrough (as I mentioned) I hadn't played Mass Effect , so I went in cold-turkey. The game does a good job getting you up to speed, but this game is 1000x better with the contiguous save file.
The real draw though? Your interactions with the characters. There is such immersion that is present that I don't quite think I've ever felt before. Although it becomes cut and dry which choices are "good" and which are "bad", I don't think I've ever played a game where the good and the bad choices shape the outcome so much. And the game doesn't penalize you from walking off the golden-brick road either. During certain character interactions, you get a popup with either the right mouse button, or the left mouse button. Left is a "renegade" action (or a bold move, as the game tells you) and the right button is a "paragon" action, or a more noble move. The thing is, although the right mouse frequently results in someone getting killed, or fights getting started, even if you're leaning towards "paragon" you'll still have access to that action, the only thing it may change is the story.
There have since been three major DLC packs that have been released for Mass Effect 2 since I played through the initial game. Kasumi, Overlord and Lair of the Shadow Broker. This was part of my reason for coming back to this game. The other part was that I finally got through the original Mass Effect, which was a good game when it released, but is so eclipsed by the new one it just makes the game pale in comparison. The story is solid, but a lot of the gameplay mechanics are so-so.
Upon loading my game up and getting past the initial hour of the game, I already notice differences in dialog trees. I notice that there are characters that you can talk about that didn't exist in my initial playthrough, due to the game making the choices of what happened in the original game instead of me. What's more is the more that I get into the game, the more new scenes I discover, with characters that I let live in the first game appearing in places that I otherwise wouldn't have even encountered a character. I also encountered one of my old crew members in a leadership role that was filled by some other random character in my initial playthrough.
I know that Bioware has released the numbers on just how many decisions from Mass Effect 1 went into #2, but it's different when you actually experience it for yourself. I really can't wait for #3 to come out, so that I can finish this trilogy and honestly say that I had the pleasure of playing the best game trilogy of all time.
As for the DLC, it's the best DLC I've ever bought. The game clocks in around the 40-60 hour mark, so you're already getting a complete game. The two packs that were added only further enhance your gameplay.
First off, the Kasumi character pack. It adds a new squad member to your team, Kasumi Goto. She's an Infiltrator class character, which you did not have on your original crew unless you chose the class on startup. She specializes in stealth attacks. Her mission is extremely unique. It is James Bond-esque, in that you have to infiltrate the party of a wealthy crime-boss, break through his security, and find the memories of a dead partner/lover of hers. The action is amazing, and there's a set piece that had me screaming "YOU DAMN DIRTY APES!!!!" when I saw it.
It's pretty amazing, and the ending to the DLC is kind of sad.
Next up is the Overlord DLC. Basically the goal of this is to explore a Cerberus (the organization that brought you back to life) base in which an experimental Artificial Intelligence has gone haywire and killed just about everyone in the base. This is definitely a cyberpunk-inspired mission. It's about 2-4 hours long, and was extremely enjoyable. It's a little creepy, and more than once I jumped when the AI would randomly scream out gibberish in the deserted buildings. The ending is pretty cool, and made me think of Tron, as your perception of the world is coated with computer data.
The ending is pretty crazy as well.
Finally comes the cream of the crop. The Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC was probably the best DLC I have ever purchased. It centers around an old crew-member, Liara T'soni, from the first game. If you've read the comic books, you witness her rescuing the body of Commander Shepherd from the bad guys, but losing a friend in the process. You help her get revenge on the bad guys (the Shadow Broker and his long-reaching arm of corruption). Never have I played such a well-put together mission. It starts off with you telling her that you know the location of the Shadow Broker, and then it escalates from there. There's a bit of detective work, a car-chase, and a lot of fighting. When the dust settles, you get things that lend even more immersion to the game.
I may just be geeking out over this, but you get an insight into a lot of the character's personal lives, as the Shadow Broker seems to spy on everyone at all times. There's also some interesting video footage (the funniest being this) that the shadow broker was storing.
To sum it up, if you don't have this game yet, you probably don't like games very much. And you probably run around punching out old ladies. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU. GET MASS EFFECT 2 NOW!!!
Oh, and it would be awesome if you voted for it in the G4TV Videogame Death Match, which will be deciding GotY2010 for G4. Although Starcraft 2 was an awesome game, I think this is one of the best games I've ever played. You can vote here.
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