Assassin's Creed: Revelations

In light of the recent release of Assassin's Creed IV (which is actually the sixth installment in the series) I thought I would set aside some time and talk about Revelations. Why, you ask? Because Assassin's Creed: Revelations was easily the worst installment in the series so far. As with every Assassin's Creed game, that opinion is far from being across the board; there are some aggregates who called Revelations the best AC game thus far, but I think most people would agree, this was a low point for the series.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Assassin's Creed. Nobody was more ready for Revelations than I was. I preordered it, I had the poster, I was obsessed with the trailer and watched it probably a dozen times along with the various other gameplay showcases and such, I read all of the news covering it and I even went back and renewed some of the experiences from the older games just so everything was all fresh in my mind. I really wanted to love this game when I put the disc into my console on November 15th, 2011.

What I got was a bit disappointing.

First and foremost were the graphics. Now, I'm not one to get all uppity over such a thing, most of my favorite games are featured on older consoles. I know that fancy graphics do not a great game make but did anyone else watch the release trailer? Was there any doubt that this game would look stunning beyond what any other game had previously accomplished? Ezio does not look like the badass assassin master that we saw with a noose around his neck in the trailer, he looks... homely. I can't quite place it but they messed up his face somehow.

Next we have the setting. Before I played the game, I thought that Constantinople would be a really great city for Ubisoft to work their creative magic. It seemed ripe for the assassinating. When I got there, however, I realized it wasn't quite as fitting as I'd originally thought it would be. It was crowded, shrouded and all very much the same looking. It made me miss the clear openness of the previous installments or the many completely unique structures and city squares that those worlds were littered with. I found myself becoming very board very quickly with this dull landscape that you'd expect would be just the opposite. And sure, it's vibrant at first but after playing for a few hours, you'll know what I mean.

The next major issue is the equipment used within the game. The hookblade was a big selling point for this installment and it was supposed to be this awesome new tool that would reshape the way you play the game. However, if you've played AC III, you know that the hookblade isn't in that game at all so obviously, this did not happen. The hookblade could be utilized in many ways to assist in combat, escape, climbing or just getting around. Despite all of that, I found that I barely used the damn thing. Every chance I had the opportunity to use the mechanic, I either didn't think of it, found it was too difficult to go out of my way to pull off or I simply didn't require it. For instance, you can do this neat escape maneuver that does a flip over a stationary guard while you maintain your speed in a sprint but instead of doing that, I found it much easier to just run around the guard, that way there's no chance of me fucking up the timed button pressing. The only thing I regularly used it for was for zip-lining which was, admittedly, really cool.

Another equipment inclusion would be that of the reimagined bomb system. Whereas in the old games, you had a bunch of smoke bombs that could be used tactically to either make an opening or stall for an escape, in Revelations you'd be able to construct your own bombs and tailor them for use in various situations. This is done by combining a plethora ingredients that you can acquire throughout the world be it from a locked treasure chest or off of a dead guard's body. This is a neat idea and I can see where they were going with it as it encourages the player to explore and think tactically. Depending on what ingredients you use you can control the size of the explosion, method of detonation and the effect of the bomb. For instance, one bomb could just kill while one is a smoke bomb while still another is a blood bomb that creates panic. At first I got all enraptured in this idea and thought it was great until I realized something: they're all pretty much the same. Yep. The only real difference between bombs is that you have ones that kill and ones that stall. Size? Always go maximum, no reason not to. As for the detonation, don't bother with anything that's not explosion on impact after being thrown. I found that even after all of my meticulous planning I still had a very difficult time getting guards to walk across my tripwire bombs and even then it wasn't worth much when I could easily just kill him myself and be done with it.

Pictured: Being done with it.

When I play through Assassin's Creed games, I don't take any part of it for granted. I do everything from even the pettiest of side quests to collecting all of those elusive feathers and achievements. You know what's fun? Putting effort into obtaining money and then purchasing land in order to build a strong tax base in order to buy more equipment as well as more land and then being satisfied as you reap your rewards. You know what isn't fun? Finishing that only to have someone erase your hard work before telling you to do it all again. This is what I faced with Revelations which tasked me with buying all kinds of land and properties in the exact same manner that Brotherhood had me do. At least they upgraded and modified the process from AC II to Brotherhood but here it's just copied and pasted. I didn't even give it the time on my playthrough and to this day, it remains unfinished. Who wants to do all that shit twice?

Another thing that remains begrudgingly the same would be the Borgia tower missions. AC Brotherhood introduced this feature wherein if you systematically take out the Templar-backed Borgia fortresses, you could gain land and footholds towards taking Rome for the Assassins. Revelations lazily recycles this idea and by now, it's just tedious.

What's even worse is the addition of the tower defense mini-game which received ubiquitous disapproval. In this mini-game which occurs randomly during gameplay, Ezio must command his assassins to defend one of the multiple towers that you've won from the assailing Templars. You do this by positioning various squads at different vantage points. This is fun all of one time, after which it's a drag and you'll wish the Templars could just take the stupid tower and coexist. Furthermore, this completely dissolves the whole idea of the enduring secret war between the Assassins and Templars that is a (if not the) defining point in the story that sets up the universe. All of this sniping and bombing and exploding and marching and armies just kills it completely.

Ezio signals commands to his Assassins during a high profile tower invasion.

But what's probably the biggest complaint I have for this game is your invincibility. I could probably count on two hands the number of times I died during my playthrough of Revelations (not including the times I deliberately committed suicide). With the first AC game, you were fairly weak and charging head on into a big group of guards was a pretty dumb move, at least in the beginning of the game. The second game was much the same way and Brotherhood added in the assassin follower mechanic wherein, you can summon your underlings to take out menial targets for you. This was an interesting and useful addition to the game that spared you the trouble of going way out of your way to kill everyone and probably saved you more than once.
But in Revelations it's flat out abused. In Brotherhood, it takes awhile before you accumulate enough assassins to pull these stunts off but in Revelations you have it really early on. On the other hand, you don't really need the assassins because you're already so armed to the teeth with bombs, swords, guns, crossbows and a whole shit load of other things to keep any foe at bay. Once you figure out the fighting mechanics, nothing can touch you and the entire stealth feature goes out the window. Why even bother sneaking or trying to run away when you could easily just kill your way through anything? I found that I never had to even think about something before I just dove right in. I could use eagle vision and plan out a complicated attack but there's simply no reason to do so.
Well, the game does add in the full-synchronization feature from the other games, which is basically a bonus objective to complete in each mission (e.g. don't be detected, don't take damage) but I hate it just as much now as I did then. I almost always make an attempt for these bonus points just out of a sense of obligation but they take a lot of the fun of the game away from the player. If it's telling you exactly how it thinks you should approach the situation then whatever happened to the whole 'choose your own methods' thing? Furthermore, just trying for these frustratingly difficult goals often had me throwing my controller in anger. Long story short, the normal game is too easy but the full-synchronization is just too fucking hard.

But even after all of that, Assassin's Creed: Revelations is not that bad a game. I loved that they brought Altaïr back and after all those years, it was nice to get some closure to his story. However it was admittedly pretty absurd that you were sitting in your living room controlling Desmond who's in the Animus controlling Ezio who is controlling Altaïr... still however a great addition and big selling point for this game.
After all, the game is called Revelations and Ubisoft definitely made good on that. They cleared up a lot of the questions that had been floating around since the end of the first game. As far the story aspect goes, this game satisfies and excels. Interestingly, I didn't find the plot-twist at the end to be that, well... twisty. The reason being is not by any fault of the game by any means but rather because of an intricate side-quest in AC II that tasked the player with tracking down numerous runes and symbols hidden in out-of-the-way, otherwise unremarkable places. These runes are invisible unless you view them through eagle-vision, making them all the more obscure. After finding one, you unlock a challenging puzzle mini-game and upon completing that, you'll be granted a few fractions of a second of a clip. When you complete the entire clip, the game rewards you with something that makes a huge allusion to what is eventually explained at the end of Revelations. After I took many hours to laboriously track these down and having months to think about and hypothesize about the clip, I was able to arrive at a simplified version of the conclusion we're treated with in Revelations.
One of the reasons I love this series is because you can go and do things like that and to me, that just adds so much intricacy to the game. That they had this whole elaborate puzzle that they must have known only a handful of people would figure out.

On the other hand, the online multiplayer is also a very rewarding distraction. For Revelations, they took the existing formula they created for Brotherhood and innovated upon it, expanding it to accommodate more game-types and to appeal to more styles. I wish that the techniques utilized online were as prevalent in the story mode. Online, if you go high profile by sprinting everywhere and jumping around, you're doomed. The game rewards creative and stealthy approaches to your kills whereas in the single player, I found that there were multiple times where I simply had no choice but to engage in a head-on assault which would've practically been blasphemy if it were in the first or second game.
I don't hate Assassin's Creed: Revelations, not by a long shot. It's still a good game however, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you're involved with playing through the series, in which case, you can't afford to miss it as it's integral to the lore of the game. It's still full of great mechanics and it's built atop an already awesome series but it's terribly flawed. The problem with taking a leap and going out on a limb as the Assassin's Creed games often do is that some times, the innovations just don't work out. However, Revelations was a combination of this and the exact opposite problem. Not changing enough. AC II was a massive step above the original and Brotherhood took that formula and perfected it. After two games of that, by the time I got to Revelations, I was ready for change that didn't come. They innovated in places that didn't call for it and left things that should have been amended. Overall, not a bad game but definitely below the standard that I hold for this exemplary series.

7/10 - Good formula. Flawed execution.

Good Game

Are MLG's taking it too far?

The short answer is yes, but that wouldn't be quality writing, now would it?

MLG stands for Major League Gaming and, in the world of video games, it's a self proclaimed title that essentially means, "I'm better than you." As much as that sounds like a humbling experience, all that equates to is a 17-year-old boasting loudly over his Turtle-Beach microphone before telling his mother that he'll take the trash out later. These are the people who rage-quit just before the game ends in order to keep their scores high, count their K/Ds (kill/death ratio) and proudly come in at the top of the leader-board at the end of every match. Instead of rightfully pointing out that MLGs are virgins riddled with inferiority complexes, I'm going to spend this article debating whether or not the idea of taking gaming to the next level is justified.

The way to start would be to ask the question, why does gaming exist? The answer is different to every person. For some it's for competition, for others it's for socialization and for still others it's for fetishists who like looking at pictures of skanks who can't figure out how to come in a place better than 12th while playing Zelda.

Save Hyrule harder.

Looking at it that way, there's really no true answer to the question, "why do we game?" only a plethora of opinions. I would say that it's a combination of everything. We play games for the same reason we watch a movie. To get away from real life for a few hours, enjoy a story and be social. It's recreational and we need that because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

That being said, what does it mean when you play a video game like it's your job? From what I've seen, MLGs don't seem to like the games they play; they boot up Call of Duty, get on a server,  get one kill and quit. Hooray for positive K/D. What part of what I described sounded like recreation, socializing, story or, fuck, even competitive play? There are people who do this sort of thing and for what? So some guy like me can randomly pull up the stats for xXLe3tSn1p3rXx and think to myself, 'wow, he's pretty good at this game', before closing it and then forgetting you ever even existed? There are thousands of people out there with scores just as good as yours if not better. Who are you trying to impress?

No you fucking don't.

I'm sorry, but doing that is like watching movies on 10X speed or sprinting through an art gallery. Any asshole can do what I just described, it doesn't make you good at video games. Yeah, I'll admit that most MLGs don't do that kind of thing, but think, where does it end?

You see, Major League Gaming isn't a hobby, it's a full time job. Do you think that when you finally have the best score in the world you can just hang up your coat and say, 'well, I did it, time to move on.'? Fuck no. If you have any intention on staying there for more than an hour, you've got to keep playing or else, guess what, you're going to get bumped down. People who are consistently in the top spot don't have scores that are just so high, no one can ascend past them, they just play constantly and I mean constantly. One of the former CoD champs, Kim Dotcom, creator of Mega-upload, got put in prison for a few days and his scores never recovered. Once again, I ask the question, who are you trying to impress? Do you think that people are going to be crowding around their televisions, looking at your score, mouths agape, trying to memorize your gamertag so they can whisper it between each other? It doesn't make you a celebrity.

Oh, wait, never-mind. It totally does make you a celebrity.

So am I against competitive gaming? Absolutely not. I think competition is a great source of recreation because it's challenging, gives you something to work towards (winning) and rewards you if you succeed. It's certainly fun proudly flaunting your exclusive, unlocked armor to all of your friends. That's one thing. But in the bigger picture, no one is going to care. There certainly was a time when people online would marvel at your Recon but those days have come and gone (2007-2010 you will be missed). 

Now you're essentially the in-game equivalent of a swag-fag.

No one online is going to care that you're a higher rank than they are. So is every fifth person they come across so stop putting out so much effort to impress people you're never going to meet.

When an MLG enters a competitive game, everyone in the lobby breathes an exasperated sigh because your enemies know that they're going to lose horrendously, your teammates know that you're going to lone-wolf and steal every kill in the game and everyone knows they're going to have to put up with your bragging and swearing.

You don't keep scores when you watch movies, read books, or go out to an art gallery. Those are all forms of art and I believe gaming can be art too. Why should we bring that into the artistic world? It's pointless and it's no fun for anyone. There's nothing wrong with being competitive, hell, I don't even see anything wrong with those big gaming conventions where basement dwellers have an excuse to open up a stick of deodorant and go outside once every year or so. I simply abhor the whole idea that gaming should be work. "Game", by definition, is literally the farthest away from "Work" you can possibly get so stop mixing the two. Let's all plug in to have fun and at the end, we'll all pat each other on the back and say, "good game".

Mass Effect 3

Damn...

Occasionally, I won't follow a game series at all. I'll know next to nothing about them, maybe I hear a few people chatting about it, it pops up in forums periodically, but ultimately, I lose track of it. But then I turn around a few years later and

This shit happens.

It becomes an extraordinary trilogy of epic proportions, with a badass tagline like "TAKE EARTH BACK", and I'm always like, "How the fuck did I miss out on this?"

That's precisely how I felt when I first saw that trailer. I knew of Mass Effect, but I didn't know much about it. I deeply regret not getting into it sooner. Over the short time I've been playing Mass Effect, it already means a lot to me. It's all I do with most of my free time (besides writing the reviews for my devoted readers), my friends hate me because it's all I talk about... y'know, standard addiction stuff.

Mass Effect 3 was an exhilarating blockbuster of gaming. Everything that was great from the previous titles came together and was polished to perfection. From beginning to end, it's a high-staked, action-packed blast.

The game starts off on Earth for the first time. Right in the first cutscene, the shit hits the fan and the Reapers attack Earth. As Shepard reluctantly flees the dying planet, you see a kid climb into an escape shuttle that is immediately shot down and ignites into a fiery explosion, letting you know right off that this installment is not going to be a blissful, deep-space romp. It's gloomy, it's dark, it's doomy. I don't think it's any real spoiler to say that a lot of people die, both the unnamed and the named. It's a much more emotional game than the others which is, I think, where this game excels beyond most. Most games are about the action and yadda yadda, but I can't think of a game of this type that's as emotionally driven as it is. It makes you feel for what's going on and actually drives you to form a veritable hatred toward the Reapers, which then only further heightens the emotions. After following these characters for 50+ hours, you start to really care about them and want to see them live which makes it all the more painful to see them die. I dove through the story, not desperate for the gunplay but to find out what would happen next.

One of my favorite things about this game is the sound. Playing this game warrants the use of a surround-sound, badass stereo-system. The sound effects are amazing. Bullets cut the air and whizz by, spaceships blast into hyperspeed like never before and Reapers produce an earth-shuddering rumble.
And speaking of which, the fully-orchestrated score in this game is immaculate and perfectly heightens the action as well as reminding you of the dark and emotional undertone. My favorite piece being the one that plays as you helplessly watch the Reapers ravage your home-world.

See this for reference.


It all makes for one hell of a cinematic and gripping experience which is hard to describe until you're playing it yourself.

And yes, the game is as badass as all of this promotional artwork.

The cutscenes are as great as ever, but the coolest thing about them is that every cutscene flows seamlessly with the gameplay. Never is there a loading transition. It's somewhat amazing. I can't think of many other games that are like that, and it doesn't break up the tension nor does it the combat.
And speaking of the combat...

It's fucking incredible in this game. The battles feel so much closer than they ever did. Diving out of the way of incoming brutes is enough to get your adrenaline going.

Severe amounts of pain in 3...2...

The combat just flows so well. The gunplay is tuned up and perfected. It doesn't feel like I'm sporadically flinging bullets towards my enemies, but rather like I'm taking my targets down with precision and tactics. I also love the addition of the "heavy melee" which is just plain radical. Plus, you can finally curb stomp those fucking Husks.

Do you have any idea how long I've ben waiting to do that?

Unlike the previous installment, this one succeeds at changing up combat more effectively with levels that have intermittent shockwaves exploding down the hallways or ones with giant flashing lights that obscure the battlefield every few seconds. It's awesome and it keeps the game from feeling repetitive. As for the Reaper fights...

Holy. Fucking. Shit.
I can honestly say that the one on one Reapers battles were among the best moments in gaming I've experienced over the course of this generation. Frantically rolling out of the way of massive blasts that annihilate anything it touches as the behemoth utters it's haunting groans. These battles are of apocalyptic proportions. I was on the edge of my seat, completely wired during each encounter.

As far as technical shit goes, for one, the graphics are phenomenal. The controls feel better than the previous installments, taking cover isn't finicky as it would sometimes be in the others. The navigation is improved again from the second one. When I was first using it in this, I thought it made it almost too easy, but I think it works very well, overall. Also, the maps are easier to read too. As well as labeling every area, it also lists significant characters under each area's name. That way, you spend little time combing the area, trying to find that one guy that you want to speak with or forgot the location of.
Not to mention, this game has one thing that every RPG should have: a hot-keyed save feature. All you have to do is hit the back button and 'ping!' game saved. It's interesting because I saw that exact idea printed in a Game Informer article awhile back in a list of "Things Every Game Should Have". I guess someone was actually taking notes.
I generally had little frustration upon death. For the most part, I felt like I deserved it whenever I died, not like I was cheated by some bullshit mechanic or glitch which tends to be the case frequently in other games.
Speaking of glitches, in my experience, I found that this game was surprisingly devoid of them. Not once did I see so much as a clipping limb. That's pretty impressive for a game on this scale. I can stomach the graphical issues, but the ones that involve losing significant amounts of save data...

>mfw

Not surprisingly, the characters aren't elaborated on much in this game. That's generally expected of a third installment in a trilogy. The first is where they're all introduced. the second is where all of the character development takes place and the third is where all of the action goes down.
I didn't see every character from the last game reappear, but that was probably due to something I missed on this play-through... oh well, there's always next time.
Something that is pretty nifty in this game is the dialogue that happens between the characters that actually exclude Shepard. Rather than just stick to their respective posts all of the time, characters will venture about the Normandy and there are plenty of times where you can walk in on a conversation and just listen to it play out. These interactions range from hilarious to dead serious and are not limited to just the normandy, it occurs during combat as well.
One of the most poignant moments in the game is right before you start the final suicide mission. Rather than just the usual "it was an honor" sort of thing, each character gives a unique speech, my favorite of these being the one from Garrus ("Meet me in the bar"). Again, this is only effective in even the most remote way if you're invested in the characters, which, after playing through all three games, I don't see not happening. To invoke that sort of feeling can only be done by master writing which is backed up by what's among of the most solid cast I've ever seen in a video game that improved with every succeeding game.

So, is there anything I disliked about this game or is this just some sort of overselling of it because I just picked up a new sponsor? Well, there were a few nit-picky things that I didn't like, but they're almost not worth mentioning. But, hey, since you've read this far, you probably care at least a little, so I'll speak my mind.
I found that when I imported my female character from ME2 she looked pretty weird. I have no idea why that is, but she looked quite different from the face I'd gotten used to over the course of the first and second game. The game gives you the opportunity to touch it up, but I wasn't able to get it to look quite right. This was only a one time issue though, my male character looked fine.

And in case you were wondering, she had sex with this.

Probably the only real complaint I have is that the game takes too much narrative away from the player. In the other games, Shepard very rarely spoke without first being orchestrated by the player to tweak the conversation in certain directions and shape your attitude. In this one, it's much more limited. I guess the game assumes things based on the personality you've already established, but I'd prefer to have total control like before.

The Ending

Ah, yes. The highly controversial conclusion to the franchise. Do you really want to know what I thought about it?

Satisfying.

Yep.

Not giving anything away here, but you can all suck my dick because I thought the ending was fine just the way it was. I'll admit it was somewhat disappointing not fighting Harbinger, but the fanbase went way fucking overboard with the hate for it which morphed into pure antipathy. I think it stemmed mostly from over-analyzation, which is when plot holes can emerge and then from there, it just became a trend (like people that hate Twilight). I suppose I may have felt different had I been following the coverage of Mass Effect 3 before it was out and seeing all of the promises, but I didn't because I wasn't into it back then and thus, my opinion is my own.

I didn't necessarily like the ending, but I approved of it and, honestly, if I'd never heard anything about how much of an inhumanity to man it was, I never would've thought twice about it.

Besides, I was far too wrapped up in the exhilaration of the last act and excitement on completing the trilogy to care. I was practically shaking as I walked up to the terminal.
I looked around on the internet to try and understand what it was that was so abhorred because when I beat it, I honestly had no idea what the issue was. Much of what I found was pleb; either over-analyzation or just nit-picky, like, "Well, I didn't like it!"

As for people bitch that it didn't have enough closure, I say fuck you. Too much closure demystifies it. It'd be like if at the end credits of Inception they just showed the top fall over. Moreover, these same people were also saying that the ending demystifies the Reapers mythology too much. So, please make up your mind before you open your mouth.

Furthermore, an Extended Version DLC and one exact year later, this issue is somewhat dead and no one seems to care anymore, which stands to reason that it was indeed an overreaction.

All in all, this game is a masterpiece and the fact that I've got the thesaurus open here, looking for synonyms for "amazing" is testament to this. Any complaints in this game I could voice are inconsequential and are overridden by the greatness of everything else in it. Bioware really went all out on this game and it shows. Games don't get much closer to perfection than this. Well done. This is one of the best games to come out on this generation and I'm kicking myself for not getting it sooner.

10/Fucking 10 - Just about flawless

I'm going to take a moment here to reflect on the trilogy as a whole, considering how tightly wound they all are and I'll grade it accordingly.

Mass Effect is essentially the fusion of already well-loved genres such as shooters or RPGs. It takes the best of other genres and combines them to achieve perfection. If that's not enough, throw in fantastic writing and some of the most likable and believable characters in gaming.

These games go above and beyond and stand to represent everything that a game can be. It's an intelligent and heavily story-driven plot that could be used to silence any allegation claiming that video games are all violent, murder-fests.

Games that are done similarly are few and far between, but I tend to prefer them immensely  I've always been partial towards games where the plot comes first and the gaming, second and Mass Effect is just that. Games of this caliber are always classier and more memorable as it's story-lines stick with us and we become emotionally invested in it rather than just wired in, wasting some aliens, which, don't get me wrong, I'm fine with, but those generally lack a lasting impression.
Bioware never decided that what they had was "good enough." They knew there was always room for improvement and didn't play it safe by sticking to what they know works. It comes off as being a game that exists for no other reason but to communicate a compelling story, not just so someone could get rich, which is amazing considering they're now owned by EA.

Where did we go wrong?

So while people on the internet will be whining about how they "deserved" a better ending, I will give Bioware a sincere thank you for giving me one of the most memorable gaming experiences of this generation. Mass Effect is a monument of gaming, through and through.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there are some Reapers who require my bullets.

10/10 - Would put high on a list of best games this gen

Mass Effect 2

This game was in my console the moment I finished the first one

Well, one thing that's instantly noticeable about this game is that the production quality is way up compared to the first one which is to be expected after the universal success of the first game and Bioware being bought by the notorious EA at the same time. I was apprehensive going into this game and seeing the Electronic Arts logo proudly flash up on the screen, but I don't think they really had so much of a massive effect on the game overall (see what I did there?)

As with most video game sequels, this game is much bigger than the first. The galaxy is bigger, the squad is bigger, the Normandy is bigger, the story-line is bigger. There are now more than a dozen star-systems you can travel to, which is way more than the few they had in the first game. Like the first game, most of them can't be landed on, but that's no surprise. The changes don't stop there. Mass Effect 2 is instantly recognizable when compared to Mass Effect. I respect a game that risks making changes like that, especially if the first game was successful already. Probably the most extreme example I can think of this was Assassin's Creed II which changed just about everything within the game possible without having it be a totally unrelated game.

All of the old characters from the first game make a comeback. It's disappointing to note that several of them play very minor roles in this game, Ashley Williams, Liara and Wrex all stay on their respective worlds and can only be interacted with via conversation. They just talk. I was a little disappointed finding that out but I got over it with the huge influx of new characters in this game.

Damn, son.

Most of them are just as intriguing as the ones from the first and some from the first are improved. One of the few characters I didn't much care for was the human, Miranda, who was kind of boring, but other than that they all get my approval. One of the ones I like more in this game is Joker as his character is elaborated on and he has much more to say.

Each character has a quest to recruit them along with a quest to gain their loyalty. I highly recommend doing every loyalty quest because while the rest of the game is largely unvaried combat, the loyalty quests are a great change of pace. One of my favorites of these was the Garrus quest. Through most of the game, your choices are somewhat black and white; you have the good guy way to do things and the bad guy way, but this one quest above the rest blurred the line between them and had me wondering weather the nice guy is always the right way.

The plot from this game is what you'd expect from the number 2 in a trilogy. It's the in-betweener, which is not a condemning thing to say about it. It's just the general rule for any number 2. It's less, for lack of a better word, epic than the other two. It's the necessary bridge between the first and third.That of course is not to say that this game is without action, in fact, I'd say it has more, but when you compare the first game's finale to this one's, the difference is clear.

I don't think it's a huge spoiler to say that Shepard basically dies right in the first cut scene of this game and is brought back to life by Cerberus during a process you soon find took a whopping two years.

Naturally, the characters from the first game have gone through many changes since then and seeing how they've developed is surprisingly rewarding to me. Garrus spent a lot of time doing mercenary work and thus is a more hardened and darker character than he was in the first. Liara has dropped her work on the Protheans and is completely absorbed by her obsession to find a villain called the Shadow Broker. Wrex has gone back to his home-world, Tuchunka, and is working on rebuilding it, and Tali is just Tali.

Fortunately, this game is much longer than the first whereas Mass Effect only took me fifteen hours, this one took me just under twenty-four. Testament to this is the fact that this game is stored on two discs. It's pretty rare to see that in games today and it makes you switch between them. It only told me to do so twice though, so don't be put off by the thought of having to move (God forbid).

Like I said before, this game is largely unvaried combat, which is a little disappointing. It's only slightly less tactical than the first game, which generally forced you into cover, this one, you can sometimes make do without it. One improvement over the combat of the first game is the way with which you manage your squad. In the first game you had several commands on your d-pad to tell your squad what to do, in this it's just a left or right tap to tell one of your squad members to go somewhere. It's simpler, much more straight forward and it works better. One thing I don't like all that much is the way health is displayed on your HUD. Shepard's health makes enough sense, but your squad's health is much more difficult to read. I liked it better in the first game where it was just bars. Don't fix it if it ain't broke as they say.

One of the major and instantly noticeable changes in combat is the fact that your weapons have ammo now whereas in the first game, they simply overheat after firing them in rapid succession. I'm still unsure over weather or not I prefer that to the first game. I don't like having to look around for ammunition as it sort of detracts from the main experience but it also forces me to use other weapons, which I like. I'm split.
One of the nice combat changes they made, when you try to get in cover near a squad-member, they'll intuitively get out of your way rather than just standing there and blocking the vantage point. Small detail, but a nice improvement.

Relationships with your crew matter more than ever in this game. Depending on how loyal they are to you, they'll have different abilities at their disposal that they can apply in combat. Just like the first game, you can take those normal relationships to the next level and become romantic with your squad-members. As far as that goes, there are many more options in this game compared to the first. In this one, Shepard can pretty much fuck anything that moves. I ended up with the Quarian, Tali, largely based on my curiosity over how that would even work. I've heard that in Mass Effect 3, Liara plays a much more central role, which makes me wonder how this love triangle is going to play out (hopefully, just as awkwardly as the Ashley/Liara one from the first one).

The sex scenes in this game are considerably less explicit than in the first game although, that too is none too surprising. The first game received a lot of public ridicule for it's 'graphic depiction of nudity and sodomy', which is somehow okay when it's in a movie with real people rather than a game with fake ones. Unfounded or not, it's a little disappointing to note that Bioware made that change, not because I want to see the sex scene but because it shows that Bioware will give in to that kind of reprobation. It bodes poorly for the future, but I doubt that Bioware would change anything that's not so controversial based solely on the public's bullshitting.

Technically speaking, this game has made great strides over the first. Expectantly  the graphics are a huge leap over the previous game and look amazing. Many of the issues that caused my bitching present in the first game are absent. For instance, the game's autosave feature is a massive improvement. Never once did I find myself frustrated over how far I was sent back after death, it worked just as well as I'd hoped it would.

Another great change is the navigation. With the first game, I would often find myself lost and running around aimlessly, hoping I had arbitrarily picked the correct way. Finding out where you need to go was a bother and it was all just kind of a mess. With this game, you can bring the map on the screen just by clicking the control stick. The map by the way is a huge improvement. Everything is labeled and it's shown all on one screen. No more panning around. If you don't want to look at the map you can click the control stick and have a little directional navigator pop up on your mini-map and remind you which way you need to go. Exactly what I'd asked for when I did the first review. How these two controls, the map and the navigator are on the same button, I'm not sure and I can't really describe how to differentiate, but I didn't have any issue. The nav is a little finicky and can be hard to follow, as it often freaks out and points you in strange directions, but any change over the first is a big upgrade.

Another nice change is the hacking process. The first game had you pushing specified buttons in rapid succession, but this game gives you two different kinds of hacking. One has you connecting matching symbols on a computer chip as fast as you can, the other has you selecting specified coding from a mass of scrambled codes within a time limit. It's much more fun and it's a much more creative idea.

The tank controls aren't in this one at all as that portion of the gameplay was taken out, for better or for worse. I can't say I miss it much, it was kind of useless to be driving around nearly barren planets like that, but it did succeed at changing up the gameplay once in awhile. Oh well.

Unfortunately, this game is much glitchier than it's predecessor and not the fun kind of glitchy. For a game that I'd expect to be riddled with glitches, Mass Effect hardly had any to speak of. Early in this game, I found that I couldn't advance through a level any further, simply because the game forgot to initiate that part somehow. I ended up having to restart the entire level, but it never happened again after that.

One of the strangest glitches I've ever seen was a recurring one in this game. Occasionally, when a character would speak during a level, their voice would get all distorted and slowed down. It took me forever to figure out what was causing this, but I found that it had something to do with weather or not I was sprinting at the time of the dialogue. I have no idea how that kind of glitch could exist and I've never seen anything like it before. It's funny until you realize that you're missing important dialogue and you don't know what to do.

Another weird thing that happens with the dialogue occasionally, is that certain things will get mixed up a little. When I did Miranda's quest, I naturally learned a great deal about her character and she acted kind of romancy towards me, but through conversations with her subsequent to that, she would tell me things I already knew and Shepard would act like he didn't know and she had brought the relationship back to square one (not that I cared).

There was one instance during a pivotal scene in a loyalty quest, where the sound cut out entirely. And no, it was not a technical issue on my part, bringing up the Xbox menu still prompted the little sound. Several seconds later, it randomly came back all at once. It never happened again, but it was weird nonetheless.

I don't much care for the new method of leveling up in this one. It's much less clear when you have ascended to a new level in this game whereas in the first one it just told you with a non-obtrusive message that would flash up on the screen. Here I never know, I just periodically check it. I also don't like the way you distribute skill points. In the first one, you could just put points wherever you wanted under one skill, but here you have to add more and more points to successively level the same skill. It's just over-complicating and I like having the freedom of the first and not having to stock points up.

Other than that, the only real complaint I can make is that I had some issues with taking cover during gunplay. It's a little finicky and it got me killed more than once, but it's not that big of an issue.

So is this game as good as the first one? Yes. Is it better? I'd say yes, but it'd be by a small margine. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. Due to the increase in action and lesser focus on being tactical, this game comes off as being slightly less intelligent than the first game, however I may just think that because I now already know the galaxy from my previous experiences.

As with any major design changes to a game I like, I was at first put off by the differences between the two, but I accept them both for what they are and they're both very, very good.

Can't wait to start number 3.

9.5/10 - Very good. Check it out.

Mass Effect

My first formal game review! Hooray!

A little while ago, I was gifted the Mass Effect Trilogy box set. I had never played Mass Effect before, not even in a demo or at a friend's house. Not for any real reason, I didn't have some sort of vendetta against this game, I just never got into it. Well, anyway I promptly started on the first game and I felt compelled to try my hand at giving it a review because I've been wanting to do some game reviews and this seemed like as good a place to start as any.

 I'm writing this fresh off of completing the game; seriously, the credits are rolling past the screen as I type this at 4:30 in the morning. My first impression after my fifteen hour commitment was very positive. Yeah, I actually liked it a lot. Matter of fact, I'm a little ticked I never bought it sooner.

It's a pretty ingenious idea. Take facets from other games that people like and combine them. If I had to describe this game to someone who's never played it, I'd say, 'kinda like if Halo and The Elder Scrolls had a baby.' I think that's a pretty accurate way to summarize it. It takes the action and linear style from Halo, not to mention space and all those aliens, and it takes the choice-making, side-quests, lore style, skill-honing and (sort of) open world from The Elder Scrolls. I love it.

As for the choice-making in this game, it's a little limited, but only when you're talking about big choices. It's not a very long game, like I said, it only took me fifteen hours (and I fell asleep in front of the game for a few hours one night) and there are only a few choices that will majorly effect the rest of the game within that span. The smaller choices you make, e.g. who to take places and what to say, are incredibly entertaining. It always seemed that no matter who I took where, the cinematic quality was never lost; it always seemed like that character was supposed to be there to influence the game in such a way. Really cool.

And obviously you always have the choice of what to say. Never once do you have just one single option that the game forces you to take, you always get to pick from a few. Those choices will influence the conversation, your relationship with the character in the long run and possibly trigger certain events to occur in the longer run. For instance, the game allows you to be involved in relationships with characters, if you play your cards right.

It's kind of funny how much of a dick the game will allow you to be at times, but I often found myself inclined to be nice to everyone because I actually liked all of the characters. When I say that I like a character in a movie, game, book, whatever; what I typically mean is that the character interests me and I enjoy their screen time (I've been scolded for saying I like the murderous villain countless times), it's pretty rare, especially in movies today, for me to say that I like every character but in this case, I do. That definitely goes to show that this game is well written.

Speaking of that, the writing of the storyline itself is very good. Really unique idea that I will refrain from spoiling. The whole game is really story driven and plays out cinematically, much like a movie. If I had had prior knowledge of this game at the time, I certainly would've added it to my list of games that could be made into great movies. Aside from that, there are a few dozen side-quests that you can complete if you get tired of the main story. In my play through, I really didn't do many of those, but completing all or most of them would certainly add a few hours onto the total play time.
Also very cool is the intricacy of the game. It's much like The Elder Scrolls again where there's just so much to this world you're in that it's almost daunting. There're all sorts of bizarre, otherworldly species, all complete with history and stories and very planet your come across has all sorts of technical and political information, which only adds to the believability of this unbelievable universe.

The game also gives you many options in shaping your character. The face of Shepard that everybody knows is merely the default choice if you're for, whatever reason, too lazy to customize it. So, your lead character would look completely different from my lead character, much like any Bethesda game. It gives you the choice to give your character a name, but it really doesn't matter much because everyone will refer to you as Shepard anyway. It's just your first name and it's just for display.

You also have the ability to choose your backstory, personality type, combat type and you have ability customization. Like any RPG, you get points when you level up and those points can be put into your skills as you see fit. You do this with all of your squad members as well.

The combat in this game is very interesting. It's much more tactical than your run-of-the-mill shooter. It takes awhile to get used to, along with the items you'll have to be swapping out and the upgrades you get for them. It's daunting at first, but you get used to it. You'll find yourself taking cover, directing your squad members and using power ups and special techniques rather than just blindly running in, guns blazing, which is a good way to get yourself killed instantly in this game. You don't have a great deal of health and it only take a few direct hits to get a "CRITICAL MISSION FAILURE" message flashing up on the screen. This is one area where the game has a major flaw. Not in the combat, but in the way death is handled or rather saving. The fact is, it doesn't save nearly as often as it should. You have the option to save manually, but a lot of times, it's not there. You can't save when there are enemies in the area and when you're in the heat of a level and you're triumphantly running off to the next encounter after wasting a few dozen Geth, you're not always going to remember to go into the start menu and save and besides it's a bother. In games like Halo, it automatically saves after every battle so you won't be wasting time repeating something you've already beaten. I can't tell you how many times I was throwing my controller in frustration after losing twenty plus minutes of gameplay.

As I said before, you have sort of free roam in this game. The level never points you where to go, which is cool until you lose track of where you're going and spend all kinds of time wandering around, hoping you're going the right way. You always have your map in the start menu and it displays your objective, but if your objective is somewhere outside of the area, it won't display any such waypoint. A little arrow on the minimap would be nice, but instead you'll find yourself going from your map and then to your journal and then back to your map just to try and figure out where the fuck you're supposed to be.
The game explores all sorts of exotic planets and places throughout the galaxy, the coolest being the Citadel located somewhere in deep space.

Walking around that is interesting. All of those branches are part of a sprawling futuristic city and while you can't go to all of it, traversing what you can is pretty fun.
The rest of the galaxy is filled largely with unremarkable planets most of which you can't land on, which is a bit of a tease. When you can land on them, most of them are barren wastelands but there's generally a point of interest somewhere on it. You explore the planet in a large, six-wheeled tank-like vehicle called the Mako. The only thing I don't like about this process, is that the controls for the Mako are kinda awkward. It's fine if you're just driving straight, but if you want to turn around, you might have some issues especially if you're in an enclosed area or fighting... or both.

I highly recommend this game. It's a great experience that created a unique play-style that I've never seen done in any other game. The story and characters are great and the last act of the game is so fucking incredible that I was literally on the edge of my seat with my eyes glued to the screen (that part wasn't literal). I think this is a great example of the intelligence a videogame can display and sticks out like a beacon of hope for the gaming industry amidst the bullshit like CoD.
I'll give this game a 9/10 simply because, while it certainly is great, it has room for improvement and I expect to see that when I start up the next game.

9/10 - Very good. Check it out.

Top 8 Potential Videogame-Based Movies

If you're a video game fan

Then you must know how disappointing it is to wait and wait for your favorite title to be adapted, only to have it be done by Disney or star Angelina Jolie (i.e. suck major dicks). I can't think of any video game movie that left me not pissed off much less satisfied. This happens for many different reasons. A lot of times, it's just because the game doesn't have a lot of plot to it. Mortal Kombat isn't exactly known for it's rich storytelling and yet they attempted it nonetheless. Other times, it's because the game has too much plot. This is often the case with adventure games and RPGs especially. Seriously, try to cram an Elder Scrolls game into two hours. Not easy.

Another issue is that the directors and generally everyone involved in the filmmaking process, were not part of the generation that played the games therefore, they don't have any real respect for it. Of course there are less excusable reasons as well. Sometimes, it's just because the filmmakers had no understanding of the game at all and were simply too damn lazy to ask the creators or the fans and just gave it their own interpretation. And of course, there are the douchebags who just cash in on the name of the franchise and don't even try.

I'll be damned if this man so much as touches a fan-fiction.

But at any rate, weather or not game-based movies can be done well, I've compiled a list of what I think are the games with the best potential to be done well. Not saying any of them should be adapted just because of that rant up there, but if it's ever attempted, it'd damn-well better be someone who knows what they're doing. I'm going to exclude the ones that are absurdly obvious, e.g. Alan Wake, considering it's practically a movie as it is. Let's go.

8. Dead Space

I think Dead Space could be adapted into a pretty respectable sci-fi/horror movie as well. I think it could be done well if put in the right hands. It'd certainly be an edge of your seat thriller... oh yeah, it'd have to be gory as hell, otherwise, I wouldn't accept it.

7. Bioshock

And while I'm on the subject of horror games, this was one that got rumored a ton a year or so ago (maybe two). It could be made into a very good suspense/thriller/horror movie and it has a unique and interesting plot that's much more intelligent than most of the movies coming out these days. I'd see it.

6. Metroid

Who could say that this wouldn't be awesome? A tightass space bounty-hunter flies around on her ship and fucks up gnarly looking aliens. That has Hollywood written all over it. The main issue with making this movie would be getting the rights. Nintendo is really stingy with that sort of thing; I've read about what the guys down at Wreck-It Ralph had to go through, but if those rights could be acquired, it'd be a bitchin' movie. I think having Nintendo breathing down the filmmakers necks, as they tend to do, would actually help in this situation. No one wants to see a Mario Movie made out of Metroid. This movie is actually being rumored about right now, I hear. I've learned to ignore rumors because they're typically too good to be true, but you never know...

5. Halo

Yeah, you must've known that was coming. I remember this was rumored to be released in 2007 and it seemed pretty legit from the online hype and garnered some mention in some gaming magazines. I got really excited and then 2007 came around and nothing. I think that Halo has one of the best plots in it's genre, as far as shooters go. If anything, it'd make a badass summer blockbuster that would annihilate the box office. But who would ever think that making one of the most popular gaming franchises into a movie would be a good idea? And yes I know "H" is a stupid name, these posters aren't too easy to find, y'know what I'm dealing with here?

Yeah.

4. Uncharted

Remember when you could look forward to an Indiana Jones movie? Crystal Skull was a let down, for sure, but that doesn't mean that that style of movie can never be reproduced. Meet Uncharted. A game that is, at the core, very much Indiana Jones inspired and it's got a great and dramatic plot to boot. It'd certainly make for an memorable adventure movie.

3. Assassin's Creed

This series definitely falls into the category of having an overwhelmingly complicated and large plot, but I think it could be done very well if handled with care. Start with the first one, which would be the easiest. It has the least plot development, but it's gritty and suspenseful. If/when they ever made a second one, then that'd be where the plot really picks up. Maybe try to merge ACII with Brotherhood? It just takes some careful writing. It's all a matter of deciding what can be left out and what can't. Then you work from there.

 2. Mass Effect

I just published my Mass Effect article and mentioned that I would've certainly put it on this list had I had prior knowledge of the game at the time of it's writing. Thankfully, with the internet, I can edit this article and throw this in. Mass Effect is already a very cinematic game so, adapting it to a movie wouldn't be all that difficult. Just cut out much of the quests but keep the core storyline, with Saren and whatnot, intact. Also, keep the finale exactly the same. It was badass as hell. This would, of course, be the first of a trilogy which would make great summer blockbusters, if nothing else.

1. The Legend of Zelda

Duh. Of course. No shit. Obviously.

How could I not put LoZ here? The iconic series of games could be easily adapted into what could be an unforgettable fantasy film. I don't think anyone would want anything other than the main candidate for the source material to be The Ocarina of Time. That would be my choice too. It wouldn't be extremely hard to adapt, it's a very (very) unique plot, and it's probably the most beloved of all of the games. You don't have to look far to see all kinds of shit like that poster there surrounding this movie that probably will never exist. There are even entire fake trailers that have been made.

If you think about it, there are so many distinguished moments and scenes from OoT alone to make a movie. The Deku Tree, the Time Chamber, pulling the Master Sword, the Ocarina ect. Yeah, you could cut out a lot with all of that medallion collecting shit and probably all of the children quests if need be, and fill it with whatever else, it really doesn't matter much as long as the core story is the same and the iconic moments are still there... and of course it's important that it resembles the  games, I know this, non-existent commenters. Unfortunately, like Metroid, Nintendo would not sacrifice the rights to Zelda so easily, you'd have to convince the shit out of them. If the cards were played right and it was done by a true fan, The Legend of Zelda could very well be one of the greats of cinema.

Tying this all together...

It's hard to imagine a videogame-based movie being critically praised and going down in history but there's no reason to say that it's not possible. Movies are based off of other things most of the time anyway, hell they once based an entire movie off of a commercial. My point is, is that the only thing that's holding us back from achieving that goal of a great videogame movie is doubt and a lack of respect and appreciation for games which can and should be held to the same standards of cinema or literature. They're all just ways of expressing a compelling story and there's no good reason why mixing them won't work.

Pictured: A compelling story