PAX Prime 2011- Day One

PAX Prime 2011 is here. It’s my first one and I’m crazy excited to be here. I got to Seattle Wednesday night after an odd flight on a very small plane and spent Thursday getting passes and exploring the city.

Today I checked out Mass Effect 3 in an early morning appointment, but I was mildly disappointed. It was nice to get my hands on the game, but it was the same demo they showed at E3 and our demo got cut off early so we all missed out on the end.

Other than that today was mostly my wandering day. I did go see The Secret World at the end of the day because it has me quite curious, though it wasn’t playable to the public. I’m not much of a fan of MMOs, but I am a fan of conspiracies.

I also attended a PC Gamer panel, which was quite fun. A few new titles were announced, and they showed off PC Gamer Digital.

One of my highlights of the day was checking out Lollipop Chainsaw. It is absolutely absurd and I love it so much already. The demo has a few small rescue missions and a mini-boss and then it skips ahead to an incredibly interesting (and creatively crass) boss. It’s definitely a demo I want to try again before I leave if I have time.

There is still a goodly amount of things I want to see, and two days just doesn’t seem like enough time.

L.A. Noire Walkthrough

I’ve started posting my L.A. Noire guide. In order to avoid any spoilers I posted the cases on separate pages which can be found in the side bar.

This started out at a simple Interrogation guide, but now it’s a basic walkthrough. I don’t have the locations of the Gold Film Reels, the Landmarks, or the Hidden Vehicles, but GamesRadar has a great guide for those right here:

A review for the game is coming soon.

Dragon Age 2 DLC

The two main DLC bits for Dragon Age 2 so far are The Black Emporium and The Exiled Prince. There were a few pieces of bonus armor and some weapons in the Signature Edition, but I’m only going to talk (type?) about these two. If you didn’t get the Signature Edition, I’m hoping this might help you decide if buying them is worth it.

The Black Emporium

Think back to The Wonders of Thedas from Dragon Age: Origins. This is roughly the same thing. The Black Emporium does not open up any new missions, it is just a new location on your map. However, inside The Black Emporium there is a chest full of free equipment, a place to buy crafting ingredients, a special shop, and mirror for changing your character’s appearance. Depending on your character class and level, the chest of free items can either be a huge help, or it can be useless junk only worthy of being sold. But, whatever you decide to do with it, it’s still free so it’s hard to say no to. The station where you can purchase crafting supplies is handy, but only once you have a lot of gold as it is quite expensive to buy most ingredients. The special shop offers some neat toys, but the only really handy things I bought there were accessories like rings and necklaces that gave my character a +1 to all attributes or an immunity to stun or some such bonus. New items appear as you progress through the story, so checking every once in a while may bring something new. I did have fun playing with the mirror though, because every so often I would get bored and decide to change how my character looked. I am sighing as I write this, but I will admit to a small level of joy at being able to change my character’s makeup on a daily basis so she didn’t have to look the same every day. Don’t judge me. My weak heart can’t take it.

Also located in The Black Emporium are numerous fun things to click on and read funny/disturbing facts about. The decrepit keeper of The Emporium will politely tell you to not stare at the nude statue of Andraste for too long, or to kindly not touch the urchin boy standing in the corner as he is not for sale. Last, but certainly not least because I think it’s what I enjoyed the most about The Black Emporium, near the entrance there is a golem just standing there. He never moves, but I took endless pleasure in hurling my characters against him and listening to them scream and fall backwards for no apparant reason. I brought each member of my party in and took turns tossing them around like ragdolls to listen to the ridiculous noises they made. I probably thought this was way funnier than it actually is, but I have an odd sense of humor.

The Black Emporium is $9.99 (PSN), 800 Microsoft points (XBLA), or 800 BioWare points (PC/Mac). I like the extra gear and the Mirror of Transformation, but ten bucks is a bit much for something that adds no missions to the game.

The Exiled Prince

I’m not even going to pretend that I didn’t like this primarily because Sebastian is fun to look at and listen to. By purchasing The Exiled Prince DLC you gain access to Sebastian Vael’s missions as well as the chance to add him to your party. His quests were kind of interesting, but not an entirely necessary addition to the game. I did enjoy having him in my party though. Sebastian is a rogue archer, like Varric, but his specialty moves set him apart. Because I was an archer myself (most of the time) I used Sebastian as my “stealthy” archer, while I took the unrogue-like approach and rushed at enemies with my bow. Apparently I don’t know the meaning of distance attacks. Sebastian is a staunchly religious character, and sides with the Templars and the Chantry over the mages, so if your character is either a mage or mage-friendly, keeping Sebastian in your party will likely lead to a rivalry.

Sebastian is a love interest option in Dragon Age 2, but only for females, and only if you follow a very strict set of rules, including never, ever, not even once flirting with another character at any point in the game. Even then, a relationship with him is, for lack of a better word, meh. He’s arm candy, and that’s about it.

The Exiled Prince is $6.99 (PSN), 560 Microsoft points (XBLA), or 560 BioWare points (PC/Mac). Not as much as The Black Emporium, and totally worth it if you feel the need to have every possible party member option and get a few extra missions out of it.

WonderCon 2011 and Other Such Frivolities

Wow, it really doesn’t seem like it’s April. March was busy as hell, what with work, school, and stupid, stupid apartment inspections forcing my roommate and Ito actually clean. Good thing they didn’t find my rapidly growing army of wombats I am training to destroy the on-site managers.

Anyway, time to get to the point of this post. WonderCon has begun, and I was able to go check it out opening day (arguably the worst day to go to a convention, but I have to work this weekend). I bought way too much stuff, and yet still didn’t spend as much as I had originally thought, so I gave myself a nice pat on the back for that. I was mildly disappointed by the lack of cosplayers, but only because I really like taking their pictures. I made it my goal to find someone in a Green Arrow costume though, and by golly I did it. He was only about four, but I still found him and his mother didn’t spray me with mace when I asked to take a picture of her child. All in all, I would say today was a success. I might try to go again either tomorrow or Sunday if I can get off work early enough, but the chances are slim. Also, I don’t have a functioning camera, so if anyone reading this who will be attending WonderCon can take pictures, I would love to post them. I promise to give full credit. Unfortunately, the only picture I got was of me with The Doctor, taken by my roommate.

But now I’m free from the horror of March (Spring Break my non-existent Aunt Fanny), and it looks like April will be calmer. Now that I’m over my Dragon Age 2 addiction I can get back to playing other games. My list keeps growing and I have no idea how I’m going to get to them all, but dammit I’m going to try. A brief “To Buy, or Not to Buy” Dragon Age 2 DLC review should be up tonight, and I’ll also have Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm out this month at some point.

Dragon Age 2

The roommate and I picked up Dragon Age 2 day one, and that’s all I’ve played since we got it. I finished campaign number one and have been slowly working my way through a second. There were a few disappointments, but overall I enjoyed it more than the first. I found it quite a bit more accessible and the graphics were much improved. Some of the accessibility took away from certain aspects I liked in the first game, such as party customization, but that was fairly easy to look past. Everything I noticed as a change in gameplay was primarily there to make the experience easier, which some people approve of, and some don’t. For those looking for a hardcore RPG, it might be wise to look elsewhere. Dragon Age 2 is designed for people who want a fun story, but don’t want to spend much time on little details. The improved graphics is something I’m sure most people who played the first one can appreciate. They are far smoother and improved graphics have also led to prettier characters and designs for armor, weapons, and such. The change isn’t monumental, but it is pleasantly noticeable.

Dragon Age 2 takes place during and after the events of Origins, but involves a different set of characters, with minor crossovers. Without spoiling much past the first act Isabella (or Dirty Pirate Hooker) and Flemeth are both returning characters. Isabella joins the game as a party member and Flemeth plays her role as an ominous presence throughout the game. Also available to the party is Anders, the escapist mage from Awakening. Many might know him as Alistair 2.0, though I still personally prefer Alistair. Several other characters from the first game make appearances, but mostly only in side quests with no real effect on the rest of the story.

The main character, Hawke, can be male or female, and rogue, warrior, or mage. The story is being told by the dwarf, Varric (also a party member), as he is interrogated by a woman named Cassandra. The story unfolds over three acts, and we really don’t know why this woman is looking for the Hawke until the end. All we know is that the world is on the brink of war and Cassandra is trying to find the location of the Champion of Kirkwall, aka, us. Bits and pieces of story are hinted at along the way, but writers tried extra hard to make sure everything remained vague until the very end. Instead we work our way up from a fleeing immigrant of Lothering, a town destroyed by the Blight in the first game, to wealthy champions embroiled in a battle between Templars and mages. The darkspawn from the first game are still a threat, though they seem to be only minor inconveniences and only pop up on occasion. The main enemies in Dragon Age 2 are magic-based. We see the return of abominations, shades, and demons and they are a common theme through most areas.

As is customary with BioWare games, choice determines the game. Almost every choice players make will have some effect on the game, as well as inevitably piss someone in our party off. Not all choices are game altering, but many quests will have reaction events depending on how we decide to act in a given situation. I would definitely recommend saving often and keeping several different save files, just in case you play like me and speak to important people with the specific goal of making them angry. ProTip: Characters will hate you for this, and that is bad. Unfortunately, Varric is the only easy-going person in the game, so picking other party members with similar sensibilities is a wise move. For example, putting a mage character and either Fenris or Sebastian (only available The Exiled Prince DLC) is a recipe for rivalry for one of the characters. Of course, as with the first game it is possible to have a relationship with the characters, and with the exception of Sebastian, all potential love interests are available for either gender Hawke. Note for those interested: Sebastian is absolutely beautiful, but starting a relationship with him is a pain, and if you’re like me, will end in throwing the controller down and cursing chaste marriages.

Another returning feature is the class specializations. Based on the class players pick, they will have three specializations to choose from. They will get one specialization at level seven, and another at level fourteen, leaving the third out in the cold. However, unlike in the first game, Dragon Age 2 does not offer this specialization for party members. They come with their own special set of skills which are unique to the character and can be accessed at level seven. Players can still pick and choose amongst party member attributes and abilities, but they can no longer change out character’s armor sets. This is only a minor change, and is just one of those aspects that make it less necessary to pay attention to the other characters.

The game takes place almost entirely within the city of Kirkwall, with a few quests venturing to the nearby mountain area, but travel is much improved over the last game. Rather than a set “Party Camp” location, players can interact with teammates at a base of the character’s choosing. For instance, Varric and Isabella camp out at the local pub, but characters like Sebastian would not be found there. It is important to check up with characters periodically in order to build relationships with them so when the time comes to choose, they will choose to stay at the player’s side. I lost some good characters on my first play through because I didn’t bother to stop and chat with them occasionally.

Fans of Dragon Age: Origins will appreciate many of the changes, but fans of the hardcore RPG might find themselves disappointed by how easy it has become. Based on the number of side quests completed, the game can take anywhere from twenty to thirty hours. There have been some complaints that this is too short for an epic RPG, but unless you sit down and power straight through it, it can be stretched out quite a bit, and in true BioWare fashion there is plenty of replay value.

Dragon Age 2 is available for PS3, 360, and PC for $59.99 new, or $44.99 used at Gamestop.com. The Signature Edition comes with all The Exiled Prince DLC as well as The Black Emporium, several in-game weapons, and a download code for the soundtrack. I’ll be posting a separate review for the DLC in the next few days.

LIMBO

I’ve been on a bit of a platformer kick lately after the Sly Collection came out. But as I have yet to finish the Sly Collection, I decided to try out LIMBO.  I think that might have been the best use of 1200 Microsoft points ever.

LIMBO is a dark and rather disturbing platformer featuring a boy traveling through the gruesome LIMBO to save his sister.  This game is violently difficult and, dammit, it made me feel smart when after trying again and again I managed to solve a particularly complex puzzle.  Many challenges seem to be just as much trial-and-error as they are actual problem-solving and some require a few attempts to get the hang of it.  There were several points in the game where I knew exactly what it was I needed to do, but my timing was slightly off.  When it comes to puzzles like that it becomes a matter of muscle memory.  I had to memorize every step and repeat it numerous times, hoping to hit the right buttons at the exact moment I needed to.  This might sound horribly tedious, but to be honest it made finishing a level all the more satisfying.  However, I won’t lie, there were a couple of challenges that caused me to throw down the controller in a ragefit and pout on the couch, but those were the levels that felt the most rewarding when I finally figured them out.

The monochromatic environments add to the gloomy and sinister mood of LIMBO, and despite the lack of gory details, each and every death your character goes through is thoroughly unsettling.  I know I run the risk of sounding pretentious by saying this, but LIMBO is quite possibly the most artsy game I’ve played in years.  Each level is intelligently designed with the player’s pain and mental torment in mind.  The game is riddled with booby traps which leave the player feeling mistrustful of every step they take, fearing the next might lead to death.

Every once in a while, I feel the need to sit on the edge of my couch in the dark and feel paranoid.  Usually I turn to the more obvious choices- Dead Space, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc.- but I had some leftover Microsoft points one day, saw LIMBO, and thought “Eh, why not?”  Best.  Decision.  Ever.  LIMBO is one of those games I can easily keep going back to, and as cheap as it is, it is completely worth it.  If ever there was a game to toss some points into, LIMBO is it, and I swear I’m not just saying that because I’m a sucker for platformers.  LIMBO is on the Xbox 360 only and as I mentioned before it’s only 1200 points, a pittance compared to most titles of an equal caliber.

Hyperdimension Neptunia

Alright, so I don’t normally play JRPGs, because I usually tend to hate them.   However, after hearing a couple in-game clips on TalkRadar (if you’re not already listening to it, you should start), I felt compelled to play Hyperdimension Neptunia.  Of course, as with most games of this genre, I could only stand it for so long before tossing the controller down in boredom.  My ennui was put on hold for a little while due to the over-the-top humor, but when it hit, it hit hard.

Hyperdimension Neptunia does not even try to take itself seriously.  At many points during the incredibly long, primarily fan service cutscenes (because every game needs women in compromising positions making obscene noises that are all too easy to take out of context) my roommate and I found ourselves laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the characters and the story.   We play as Neptune after she is cast down to the world below Celestia by the other three goddesses.  With her party she must gather Key Fragments from all the landmasses and return to Celestia.  The game takes place during the Great Console War, where the goddesses are fighting for control over Gamindustri.  The goddesses are known as Console Patron Units, and each one rules over a different land below.  There’s Planeptune, which is the landmass our character presides over.  The other landmasses have far more recognizable names: Lowee (Wii), Leanbox (Xbox), and Lastation (PlayStation).  Each landmass and goddess is based on the console they represent.

This idea is silly and cute, but novelty can only take a game so far when it has nothing else supporting it.  The gameplay mechanics are lacking even for such a commonplace formula, the inventory system is faulty, and the dungeons are plain and repetitive. Battles are randomly interspersed throughout the dungeons and combat is turn-based.  Players keep attacking until all their character’s AP is used up, and then it is the next character’s turn.  As I mentioned, the inventory and item skills section sucks.  Instead of using a healing potion during or even out of battle, players must use the item skills section to get the different characters to use healing items when their health is below a certain point.

There is no depth or soul to Hyperdimension Neptunia, and as I said before there is only so much a game can do with a funny idea.  Even the character designs have been seen before.  Scantily clad ladies with large breasts and techno-fab outfits are universal in JRPGs, and while for some people, that’s just fine, I like a little variety every now and then.  On the plus side, the soundtrack for the game is not half bad.

Hyperdimension Neptunia is a game only hardcore fans of the genre should consider buying, and even then, I would recommend waiting for a drop in price.  Hyperdimension Neptunia is only available as a special edition copy for the PS3 and it is currently $59.99 new or $44.99 used at GameStop.

Undead Nightmare

Lately it has been a concern of mine that I might be getting tired of zombies.  I know what many of you must be thinking: *gasp* How could you get tired of rotting flesh and survival horror?  Or on the other hand you could be thinking: Well I’ve been sick of zombies for months now so welcome to the club.  To group one I say, fear not!  For I have found the cure, and to group two I say screw you, zombies are still awesome.  My heart merely strayed momentarily, but with this game, my love was renewed and I’m back in zombie-slaying action.

The game in question is Undead Nightmare, the Red Dead Redemption even deader expansion.  If you have not played Red Dead Redemption yet then back away from the computer and go do so.  Don’t worry; I’ll still be here when you’re done.

Undead Nightmare takes toward the end of the events of Red Dead Redemption and players will come across some familiar characters in their travels.  Of course we return as John Marston, beloved bad boy from the main game and the story opens with a lovely view into his home life with his wife and son.  Now before I get too far into this, I really need to get something off my chest.  Namely, the notes I took while playing this.  One of the things I loved the most about Undead Nightmare was its humor.  It’s nice to see that even during the zombie apocalypse John Marston is still a sarcastic son of a gun (that’s right, gun, because we don’t like no damn dirty talk here.  Also, because he’s a Southern boy).  Anyway, I digress.  Here are some choice notes:

• Lasso and hogtie wife and son?  Sounds like Friday night.
• Note to self: shouting “Flame on!” while lighting zombies on fire is a good way to get your roommate to look at you funny.
• Women are still women, even after the world has gone to shit (some of those ladies are so catty, right up until their faces are bitten off).
• WTF Chupacabra?
• Jewish British Catholic homosexual elite are ruining the country (it should be noted that this is not my opinion, just a freaking hilarious thing a character in the games said.  I have nothing against the Jewish British Catholic homosexual elite).
• Sometimes you just have to make that unicorn your bitch.

Finally, the best quote of the whole game: “Jack, be good to your mother. Abigail, teach your son right from wrong.  Both of you, stop biting chunks out of people.”  If anyone could talk the zombie virus out of people, it would be John Marston.

Again, you should only be reading this if you’ve already played the main story, because it’s just better that way.  Mechanics are the same, because this isn’t a totally separate game, it’s just a super awesome expansion.  Due to events that happen right in the beginning of the game but I still don’t want to spoil anyway, John must leave his home once more and set out across the now-familiar zones we travelled before.  This time however, instead of bandits, cougars, and wolves, there are zombies, chupacabras, and a few sasquatches in the mountains (along with the unicorn and the four horses of the apocalypse).   A plague has struck the country causing the dead to walk the earth again, infecting the living with their undeadness.  John’s search to find the cure leads him all the way down to Mexico where a rather strange turn of events is waiting for him.  The Stranger missions are back, though in this expansion, in several cases the people you come across aren’t strangers at all.  Bonnie makes an appearance, along with Seth, Marshal, and Reyes.  As you travel through the map you can unlock safe houses and ammo caches by saving the town from the hordes of undead.  Other side missions include the odd hunting job that we also saw in the first game (although now it’s more along the lines of “Kill 5 sasquatches” instead of “Shoot 5 birds”) as well as cleansing graveyards by burning coffins.

One of the amazing things about Undead Nightmare is something I feel Rockstar has always done fairly well, and that’s creating interesting and unique environments.  Though the towns John journeys through are the same as they are in the main story, they are now ravaged by this new plague that has caused the dead to rise from the graves.  Many parts of the towns are now on fire, and crude graffiti can be seen on many of the walls.  But as I said before, John manages to find the humor in things and usually has an off-handed facetious remark to make, which provides a nice counter-balance to the death and destruction around him.

It is possible to continue playing the game after the cure has been found, but let’s just say Marston is… different.  I sleep with Holy Water now, because you just never know what’s going to happen.

The last expansion I discussed on this blog was a severe disappointment, but Undead Nightmare was nearly perfect in every way.  For fans of a jolly good time filled with zombies trying to eat you, I would highly recommend it.  The disc version also comes with a macabre version of the map that came with the main game as well as a very angry undead woman on the opposite side.  There’s a new multiplayer mode as well called Undead Overrun, which I haven’t had a chance to try out yet, but as soon as I find the last horse of the apocalypse I am totally on that.

Dead Space 2 is Finally Here!

It’s here and sitting in my hands!  Of course I had to buckle down and get the collector’s edition with Dead Space Extraction, the soundtrack, an awesome lithograph, some DLC, and the plasma cutter replica.  The replica is smaller than I was hoping, but I guess I sort of expected it.  I plan on taking my sweet time with this game, but I’ll have the review for it up next month.  Maybe video of me spazzing out at the TV, I don’t know.  But there’s my excitement for the day.  It was hard concentrating on school because all day I was just counting down the minutes till I could slice and dice some necromorphs.  If any of you out there plan on hopping on for some multiplayer, pop me a message and we’ll see if we can’t set up a match.  My PSN account is Kirkogrimm (yeah, that’s right I got it for the PS3), so hit me up if you feel so inclined.

Prototype

Every once in a while I feel the need to play a game where I can completely disregard plot and main story missions and simply run around and destroy everything I see.  This is why I keep coming back to Prototype.  For a game with such a ridiculous plot, it is damn fun to be invincible with an arsenal of sweet powers at one’s beck and call.  During my first playthrough, the only thing that really kept me on track was my need to find out who the heck Alex Mercer is talking to in the cutscenes between each of the main missions.  Stupid reason to play a game?  Most definitely, and to be honest, the big reveal wasn’t really worth it.

But once I had my favorite of Alex’s powers maxed out (story be damned), well, that’s when the game really started for me.  Who wouldn’t want the ability to transform their hands into tools of destruction, run up the sides of buildings with a total disregard for gravity, and then glide safely back to the ground?  Or hell, you don’t even have to glide down safely.  I jumped off the top of the Empire State building and all it did was make a crater.

Players start out with all of Alex’s powers, but it’s just a taste and soon they are ripped away from us and we must earn them back by making our way through the game.  The opening scene is the “now” whereas everything that follows is a glimpse back into the past as Alex tells his story to the mystery person on the roof.  Prototype is full of conspiracies and plot twists that in some cases just left me feeling confused and a little annoyed, but when I decided to ignore the plot and just play a game for the sake of playing a game I had a lot of fun.  It’s a great game to turn on loud, angry music and play, if only just to drown out Alex’s “gravel-meets-blender” voice.

The main conspiracy in the game revolves around a virus known as BLACKLIGHT, which has begun to turn the inhabitants of New York into freakish mutants and zombie-like creatures.  One would think that with all the people turning into monsters and infecting everyone else, the protagonist of the game would be fighting them and working alongside the government agency trying to eradicate the virus, but alas, this is not so.  Alex has no allies; he is literally free to kill whatever he wants.  Some of the side missions require him to work with one side or the other, but as far as the main story goes, both sides try to kill him no matter what he does.

One of the more impressive aspects of this game is the sheer amount of power Alex has.  Many parts of the game require him to absorb someone else, whether it is to gain their knowledge and memories or to steal their physical appearance.  The memories are gathered to fill in plot holes and Alex “steals” people’s bodies to go incognito.  The virus also allows him to turn his body into a weapon.  Alex’s arm can take the form of a shield, blade, whip, or other fantastically devastating implement of pain and hack-n-slashy goodness.  As mentioned before, along with his bodily transformations, Alex can also master the power of gliding from great heights safely to the ground.  Combine this, his shield arm, and his healing abilities and he is near invincible.

I know I should feel bad for saying this, but in all three of my playthroughs of Prototype, I failed to give a crap about the plot.  I did what I had to in order to become all-powerful and awesome, but tended to ignore most of the story.  Once the game is over (no spoilers for the ending, I promise) the player is free to roam the city and continue to kill anyone he or she chooses, and honestly, that’s the best part of the game.

 

 

I thought now was as good a time as any to give a little review for Prototype, following on the heels of the announcement of the sequel.  I may not plan on buying it, but I will definitely play it solely so that I can kill Alex, which has been revealed as the main purpose for the second game.