The Summer Vacation Report or: Why I Haven’t Posted in 4 Months

Salutations Readers,

First off, I’ll apologize for my extended absence. But, summertime is quite busy for me and my family. Lots of weekends outdoors can put a dent in the amount of time to play games or write about them. Also, my brother got me involved in a softball league that nabbed a normally free night from my schedule.  All these little things add up and cause things like this blog to get set on the back burner.  Sadly this blog is no stranger to a setback like this.

Now, I’m back to resume blogging and roll out more great content to my readers and friends. I’m unsure of the rate that new articles will be released, but I would rather post something than nothing at all.

The reason I decided to kick-start this now is the Extra Life 24 Hour Marathon.  I’m signed up and ready for October 15th!  I hope to raise some money for Children’s Miracle Network and specifically St. Louis Children’s Hospital.  Look for more information including how to get involved or donate in the next few weeks!  If you can’t wait that long, visit http://www.Extra-Life.org/participant/commandercody83 to make a donation.

Now that I’ve got all the big stuff out of the way, I want to talk about games for just a bit.  I’ve been playing a ton of games as usual.  I’ve managed to finish Call of Duty: Black Ops, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Tornado Outbreak, Rez HD, Transformers: War for Cybertron, Red Dead Redemption, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Duke Nukem Forever, Nail’d and now Crysis 2.  I’m also caught up on Fallout: New Vegas including all the DLC that has been released and the Hardcore achievement.

So obviously I’ve had the time to game, but writing a review or article might take up to three hours.  But now things are slowing down and the weather is cooling down.  So I’ll hopefully have more time to write and produce some fun stuff.

Thanks everyone around me for your continued love and support.

Cody

Short & Sweet Review: Portal 2 – Single Player

Caution: if you are reading this review I assume you’ve finished Portal. So consider that. But I’ll try to avoid discussing much of the story in Portal 2.

My first experience with Portal was over two years ago. I remember it fondly. A friend urged me to purchase The Orange Box for Half-Life 2 and it’s episodes, but this little gem made me a Valve fan. To many, Portal seemed like a small pack-in. To me, this the game is a great bonus to a stellar package; no collection is complete without it. The announcement of a sequel floored me, but I’m glad to see how Portal 2 has continued the story.

The game picks up several hundred years after Portal. Aperture has fallen into disrepair but continues to function. Chell returns, but has been kept alive in cryogenic sleep. She is awakened by Wheatley, a personality core who proposes an escape. While traversing chambers and catwalks you cross the chamber that holds an inactive GLaDOS. She comes online, still holding a grudge for Chells’ actions so long ago. The game evolves into an adventure filled with testing, a history lesson, and a load of surprises. I was quite impressed with the story. It takes what the original did and develops the narrative further, making for a beefy experience. Before playing, I suggest reading the Lab Rat online comic. It helps to flesh out details surrounding the graffiti messages that guide Chell through the test chambers. I can’t stress this enough, the story in Portal 2 rocked my world.

The gameplay is also incredibly fun. The controls of this first-person puzzle-platformer work wonderfully. The way Chell flys through the air reminds me of the high flying thrills in Mirrors Edge. The portal gun remains the same, but there are some new mechanics thrown in halfway through the game. The Gels help players bounce, run, and add portals to surfaces. There are also Excursion Funnels and Hard Light Bridges that make crossing areas a breeze. The game does a great job of teaching how to use each while slowly integrating them. Even water makes an appearance, which can wash away the Gels. I found most of the chambers and puzzles solvable within a reasonable amount of time. I only ran into two instances where I got stuck. One took more than 45 minutes and I’m still not convinced I solved it right. The other had my Companion Cube sticking to the edge of a bridge. This caused it to stick to when I tried to jump off the bridge. These annoyances were nothing more than bumps in the road when compared to the joy I found in the rest of the game.

The presentation of Portal 2 is nicely done, which is to be expected in a Valve game. I found the visuals and audio to be superb. The Source engine continues to look great. I liked how they gave characters like GLaDOS and Wheatley such a wide array of emotions. Even the test chambers are filled with life as in the occasional moving panel. The chambers are topped off with a constant hum of machinery. Better yet, the voices of Wheatley, GLaDOS, and others deliver incredible performances. I can’t imagine it being any better than this.

The story took me about six to nine hours. I’m unsure of the exact time because of some technical difficulties with Raptr. I found it to be adequately paced and of decent length. I think a lot of people get hung up on the amount of time a game takes. I see quality over quantity meaning much more than the reverse. Plus, there is more to it than just the single player campaign. I look forward to listening to the developer commentary sometime. Finally, I hope to find a co-op partner to take on that section of the game (and review it).

Valve has managed to release another gem. I can’t imagine a better sequel to an already amazing game. Portal 2 is the ultimate experience for fans, but also an excellent choice for any gamer. Take the time. Become a test subject and earn $60. Even if the game costs that much, I’d still consider it a steal.

DLC Review: Mass Effect 2 – Overlord

Keeping with the trend of being the best problem solver of the universe, The Illusive Man asks Shepard to travel to Aite. There he must shutdown an unruly virtual intelligence occupying a Cerberus research facility. The main contact is Dr. Gavin Archer who briefs you on the situation.

Unlike other Mass Effect 2 DLC, Overlord takes place on a planet with a navigable overworld. So instead of being dropped off a for a single mission, there are multiple tasks to make the trip worthwhile. The M-44 Hammerhead tank is the primary mode of transportation even if players don’t own the Firewalker DLC (which you should). There isn’t much to do between objectives except kill the wildlife and collect Cerberus data packets (there’s an achievement for that).  At least Aite is pretty when compared to other worlds Shepard visits.

The meat of Overlord involves infiltrating the multiple VI controlled stations which are crawling with Geth.  So expect a firefight. I made short work of them despite the presence of Geth Primes and Troopers on my way to Atlas Station. The coolest part of this pack comes when Shepard interfaces with the VI (who you soon find out is Archers’ brother David, or what’s left of him).  At this point, the game takes on a different look.  Imagine if the designers of Tron got a shot at one short segment in Mass Effect 2.  There is a boss battle at the end that is comparable to the Thorian encounter in the original Mass Effect except its more or less synthetic.  The final choice comes down to deciding between taking David or leaving him to possibly prevent a war with the Geth. I decided to remove him because I doubted his suffering would end this way.

When comparing the extra content for Mass Effect 2, Overlord presents the player with more content that Kasumi-Stolen Memory but not as much as Lair of the Shadow Broker.  It is priced at $7 which is more than generous.  It could have easily been $10.  I think it could have been bundled better with something like the Firewalker pack or Zaeed, but it is completely worth having.  Plus, I figure it will have an impact when it comes to Mass Effect 3.  Happy hunting.

Deal Alert: Ton of Sega content on Xbox Live

Being a fan of old school Sega I had to promote this little sale running on Xbox Live.  Most of the games are half off which means you can get a ton of great games for very little money (like 8 games for $20 or 1600 Microsoft Points).    The promotion runs through April 25th, so stock up while you can!

After Burner Climax
Was: $10
Now: $5

Altered Beast
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Comix Zone
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Crazy Taxi
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram
Was: $15
Now: $7.50

Ecco The Dolphin
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Golden Axe
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Gunstar Heroes
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm
Was: $10
Now: $5

Outrun Online Arcade
Was: $10
Now: $5

Phantasy Star II
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Shinobi
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Sonic Adventure
Was: $10
Now: $5

Sonic & Knuckles
Was: $3
Now: $1.50

Sonic The Hedgehog
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Was: $15
Now: $10

Street of Rage 2
Was: $5
Now: $2.50

There are also some related avatar items on sale if you’re into that.

Remember Microsoft Points cards come in 1600 ($20)  and 4000 ($50) point increments in stores.  In addition, Microsoft Points can be purchased from the console via credit card.

For more information check out the Xbox Live dashboard.  Impressions for some of the games can be found here, and check the internet for the rest. Now, to run out and stock up on Microsoft Points!

Short & Sweet Review: Mass Effect 2

More than a year passed from when I completed Mass Effect to when I started playing Mass Effect 2. Regardless, I was able to dive right in as if I never left it.  Mass Effect 2 to is similar to it’s predecessor: a third-person action RPG set in space around 2183. Commander Shepard is the main character though his characteristics are what you make them including appearance and backstory. During the opening he (or she if you choose) is fresh from saving the bacon of the entire galaxy. Suddenly, Shepard and crew are ambushed by a Collector ship and through a series of events becomes aligned with Cerberus. This group outfits him with a ship, some crew, and a mission: save the Galaxy again. The shady Illusive Man helps Shepard to shape his goals and grow a team that can blast into the Omega 4 Relay to destroy Collector homeworld. The suicide mission. Is it the end? Your actions will decide.

Mass Effect 2 has loads of missions, planets, and people to investigate. There are only a few major plot quests, with a lot of optional sights to see. I can’t stress enough how much these add to the fun and make the game easier. So skipping them would be like throwing money away. Resources are needed to make upgrades and are nearly as valuable as credits. Scanning planets for minerals is the only way to power your squad and ship to their highest potential. Extremely addictive and useful. Finally, a major aspect is crew management. Picking up new members of the team runs the gamut. Some come easy, while others require more skill to acquire. Each character also has a loyalty mission that usually means helping them on some unfinished business somewhere in the galaxy.

The visuals are some of the best on Xbox 360. Mass Effect 2 runs at a solid clip with minimal slowdown. Character models are phenomenal and textures look wonderful. The only rough patches I noticed are in the ship and shuttle cutscenes. Those areas don’t have the same sheen that exist in the worlds or ship interiors. No impact on the gameplay, but just something I noticed. The music and voice acting are superb. I wouldn’t accept any less. My favorites are Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man and Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson. Amazing all around. I feel like no other game rivals ME2 in this category.

I highly suggest players check out the downloadable content available for Mass Effect 2. I have worked through everything except Arrival as of this writing. For completists, buying the game new is important since you get Cerberus Network free. All the other content packs are worth the money for all the nice stuff you get.  Look for reviews of Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and the rest of the free stuff soon. I also hope to buy Arrival soon and play through that.

I had a ton of fun with this game. I recruited all the crew. Then, I gained their loyalty. I like making decisions and feeling that they matter. My Shepard ran into many characters I remembered from the original game. Since I fought the good fight most were glad to see me. I am interested to see how my choices will shape the experience in Mass Effect 3.

I imported my Shepard from a level 56 playthrough in Mass Effect. I romanced Miranda. My entire crew survived the suicide mission, so I’m happy about that. I chose to destroy the last boss, which the Illusive Man hated. It took about 32 hours to complete the game. That time includes all the DLC minus Arrival. I was moving at a brisk pace, so your experience may take more or less.

Some players won’t be interested in playing the second chapter without slaying Mass Effect. Even with that, the sequel ensures players are familiar with the story. This also makes the game accessible for people new to the franchise. With tons of refinements and a massive story to tackle, this is easily one of the best games of 2010. I highly recommend Mass Effect 2 to anyone looking for an adventure that spans the galaxy, but still manages to put story and experience first.  Thank you BioWare.