Mass Effect - A biased review of greatness

I will start this review off with a very clear point. I fucking LOVE Bioware. I will buy any and every game they ever make. I don't care what its based on, I don't care what system its on. I will buy it. They are my favorite game company, followed close by Square/Enix. So this review is not totally unbiased.

See, many years ago in a time before HD tvs, blue ray and super graphics, Bioware made a game called Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR for short) for the original Xbox. It was one of the first, and greatest, RPGs on the system. I had already started my love for Bioware before that with the awesomeness that was the Baldur's Gate series. Yet, Bioware out shined the sexy of Baldur's Gate with KOTOR. It had fantastic story telling, deep characters, solid combat and character creation. Since then, I have longed for another Bioware game that rocked that hard (And anyone says that Jade Empire rivaled KOTOR is just fucking crazy).

Mass Effect is that game. It has amazing story, deep characters, in depth character creation and solid combat (once you get used to it). Mass Effect is all I have wanted from Bioware for years now. I would go so far as to say it will be the greatest RPG on the 360 during its run. So lets get to it.

As I've said, Mass Effect has a great story. I mean fucking spectacular. It is deep, meaningful and it draws you in so you care about your squad mates and what is going on, long as that is something you want to do. You see, the great thing about the story is that if you don't want to experience it, you can. If you choose to ignore all the details and the really fantastic parts of the game, you can. The largest parts of the story are told during the main missions but there is tons and tons of story from the side missions. Bioware created a total and complete universe. Not just a world, or a country. A fucking universe, complete with detailed descriptions of every planet you can visit. Granted, you can't explore every planet because not every planet in the universe is habitable but each planet you can explore has some kind of quest you can go on. Your choices have varying effects on the over all story.

Graphically, Mass Effect does not disappoint, it actually seems to ask for more than the 360 can give. There are slight moments where the graphics take to smooth out, such as when you load a game or load into a new area. While this is slightly annoying, it becomes something you get used to after a time. When things get smooth, its beautiful. Each planet seem huge, the Citadel, which is the main hub of the game, does have the feel of a giant space station. Characters are realistic looking but not so much so they look cartoonish like some games. Honestly, I can see the 360 being able to do more, or Bioware being able to use the power of the 360 with more...ability than they did. It looks and feels like a true next-gen type of game.

For those of you who have played KOTOR, you know how the combat worked. Real time but with tastes of turn based combat mixed in. Mass Effect went a different route and used a FPS type of combat. Your squad mates can not be controlled in any real way, other than picking weapon type and deciding what special abilities they use during a fight. They work off of a pretty decent AI and they don't get killed very often. You will get an ability, if you take it, that brings your squad mates back to life during combat, but once a fight is over and no enemies are near, they will get up and only need to be healed afterwards. The combat is kind of tough to get used to and can be really tough to get used to. It can throw you off early on and don't be surprised if you die a few times early on because you are not really sure what to do. Each of the guns works differently, so using one gun is different than another. If you have played FPS games on the 360, you may be have a step-up on others that haven't. Still, combat will take getting used to though your squad mates will take care of you early on while you get the hang of it.

Over all, Mass Effect a buy, no question. It took me nearly 30 hours to beat it and has replay value beyond question. Much like all Biowares games, there are moral choices to be made during the game that will make a difference to the story. You choose not to save someone, or choose to do the "right" thing, it will make a difference on the game as it goes on. Even the last major choice you make in the game makes me wonder what the opposite choice would end up like. I mean seriously, ONE choice makes me want to replay the game over again. That makes a great game.

A lot of people in the industry are starting to say that the future of video games is no longer graphics or new types of game play but in a deep, engaging story that captures the imagination. A game that draws you in, makes you CARE about the characters in the game and a game that will make you worried about the choices you have made and what will happen from the choices you make. Mass Effect does that. You will end up worrying about what you have done. If those criteria are the future of the gaming industry, then Mass Effect really is a next generation game.

Quickie reviews

First, and very quickly, Juiced! 2. Racing games are one of my guilty pleasures. I don't buy them very often and I rarely rent them. When I do, though, I want it to be fun. The last racing game I was really really into was Need For Speed: Most Wanted. That game was fucking kick ass. You had your normal racing game with a street racing twist. While that has been done before, NfS:MW threw cops into the races and gave a really exciting twist to the play.

Juiced! 2 was not good. It was bad. When you create a "next gen" game, the graphics need to be rock solid in its presentation. I have always been a huge huge fan of creating your own characters in any game. I have always felt that unless you are making a game where the main character HAS to be someone, you should be able to have a nice, deep character creation system. Juiced 2 didnt have anything like that. The racing was...spotty at best and there was nothing close to an actual story. They tried to make a game with a lot of options but each of those options was not well done at all. It is a poor game with a pretty flash but terribly confusing game play.

Next up is All Pro Football: 2K8.

I have been playing Madden for a long long time. I am used to the controls, the game play and everything else. APK is the love child between Madden and Blitz! the league. The graphics are...well the graphics are pretty shitty for a next gen game. It looks like it was ported over from an early PS2 game. But I am not a graphics whore, so I looked past this. Its all about game play in every game and thats whats important in this game.

APK does a good job of creating a realistic football game. Obviously, EA has all the rights to the NFL teams and players so 2K8 was forced to do something different. They give you the ability to select a variety of old school players to head up your team , then select how you want your Offense and Defense to be generated. From what I saw, once you select your star players, 2 gold,3 silver and 6 bronze, the rest of the players are randomly sent out to other teams in the league. You could end up facing a team with all bronze players, or a mix. Its interesting and provides a different set of teams to play each season.

You do, though, only get to play a single season with your team before that season is over and you have to start again. That is really annoying. You would think that this is 2K8s first attempt to take down Madden that they would include a franchise option, a career option. Something beyond one season. Maybe next year for this.

The game play on the field is different than Madden but fun. The game does not move as fast as Madden and as the QB, passing is tough. If you take a QB that doesn't scramble, then you cant throw out of the pocket with any ability at all. It makes it challenging. The games I did play, running the ball was what most teams did. The passing game is difficult and you need to be precise with your throws. Make sure you set up your QB before throwing the ball.

The presentation is well done, though you will start to hear the same commentary over and over again. Also, there seems to be many times where your gold stars do just as well as bronze stars. You also have a really really hard time kicking and punting the ball. The game would serve to have a meter or something for kick offs, field goals and punts.

2K8s first try back into the football market is a decent attempt with a lot of need to polish their game. Better graphics, better controls and more difference between your gold stars and the rest of the players. I wouldnt buy the game but it was worth the rent.

Betatastic!

Ok. I am moving today and Time Warner is not going to be able to make it to my new place to set up my precious internet or television till the 3rd. So, in light of the last little bit before I go off into the void of no internet, I give you the first installment of Betatastic! My thoughts and speculation on any betas I may have been in recently, or am currently in.

First, we start of with Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. I have yet to get my review for Company of Heroes up simply due to the severe amount of gaming I've been doing, but the short of it is this. CoH is a great RTS that twists a few of the classic aspects of RTS games and makes it interesting. While it is not as straight forward as WiC, CoH provides an excellent single player game with a solid multi player aspect that I never got a chance to really play thanks to some fucked up thing with Relic Online.

Anyway. CoH:OP takes CoH and expands the game with two new, and very different, armies. You can play as the British 2nd Army or the Panzer Elite. Since this Beta was only for multi player, I didnt get a chance to see how the single player aspect works. Which is sad because the learning curve for the British 2nd and the Panzer Elite is a tough one. Though it was beta, and with it came a host of connection problems, ghost games and the unspeakably annoying "unable to connect all players" problem, the MP aspect of the game is well done. If you have been able to play CoH multi player, then you are going to get a dose of pretty much the same game. Granted, its a well done, interesting and challenging game but its pretty much more of the same with a new twist. I did find, though, that the PE (panzer elite) has the ability to totally spam you quick. If you play as I did, with a defensive mind set, you will be over run quickly. Most PE players quickly learned to spam out as many units as they could and just over run you. Thankfully, there is SOME deterrence to this since your standard infantry is able to deal decent damage to the half-tracks that seem to make up the majority of the PE forces. The Brits, though, seem to take a long time to get running full throttle and are a totally defensive minded army. With the ability to dig in to trenches, set up bunkers for your MGs, mortars, AT and artillery, the Brits can be a tough nut to crack.

I found that the game was slightly off balance, as you could get crushed by either army quickly if you were not careful and the games would drag on for a long time if you matched the unit spamming. I don't know if I will go out and get CoH:OP when it goes gold, which it may already have done, but I did enjoy the single player aspects of CoH, so I may give it a shot.

Next! The Awesomeness that is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the xbox 360.

I have been a fan of the CoD series for awhile, though I have gotten it confused with the Metal of Honor series in the past. I was able to snag a key to get into this beta about a week or so ago and I havent been able to stop playing. CoD is making a real step forward by bringing their series into the modern day. The beta was capped for levels, weapons, perks and equipment for beta but it did give you a real taste of what is to come in the game. Granted, as of this posting, the beta is not over till sunday but I will not be able to play it anymore this weekend, so I think its best to get this done while its fresh. (They also upped the level cap in beta to 25ish or so, giving you a few new guns to play around with for the weekend)

Simply put, this game is the awesomeness. Ya, Halo 3 came out this week and sucked a lot of players away from the beta but there was still a couple thousand playing when I got on earlier. Speaking of Halo 3, I have to slap my review up for that as well. Oh what I will do for 5 day with no internet or tv.

CoD 4 is a really well done FPS for the 360. The MP is smooth, the connection is normally solid and the weapons have a very different feel to them. The additions to each weapon that are earned via challenges in the barracks section really make the guns better. There is a variety of perks to choose from and once you reach level 5 or so, you are able to create your own class with any perks, guns, additions and side arms you want. While these were limited in beta, I am hoping the developers add more attachments as well as giving you the chance to add multiple attachments to various weapons. If I was able, I would have been running around with my M4 carbine with a red dot sight and a silencer. As it stands now, its only one attachment per weapon.

They also made being a sniper a tough job. The maps are a decent enough size to accommodate a sniper, but staying in one place for to long just gets you dead. The shots have to be taken quickly since your ability to steady your shot is only a few seconds long. Hitting a moving target is no simple task either. They also make it so you need 100 kills before being able to upgrade the scope on the sniper rifles. This may all change at gold but I tend to like it. Keeps everyone from playing a sniper and moves the game a long at a quick pace.

I really think CoD 4 will take Rainbow 6:Vegas, Halo 3 and GRAW 2 down for the count on the 360 as far as multi player goes. R6:Vegas is a really well done game, but CoD 4 is just so awesome, its hard not to play it over R6:Vegas. While I didnt play R6:Vegas online much, thanks to my spotty connection to XBL, a lot of the players I spoke with each felt CoD is a better MP game. We will have to wait for gold to see what they do with the SP missions.

All in all, my two recent beta experiences were fun. I enjoyed CoH:OP for a short while before it got old and I was lucky enough to play CoD 4 for only a short while so I did not burn out. As I said, I may pick up CoH:OP but CoD 4 is a must have for me when it goes gold in November.

CoH:OP - 3.5 out of 5
CoD 4: M.W. - 4.5 out of 5

Now I go to move! Yall have a great weekend and enjoy your internets. Ya lucky bastards.

World in Conflict

Remember Command & Conquer? I mean the first one, not the resulting sequels that have come out over the years. I remember the very first mission in C&C for the GDA, or what ever the "good" guys were called. A shit ton of troops storming a beach and jacking up the bad guys. It was AWESOME. I was 15 when that game came out and loved the series ever since.

World in Conflict (here on called WiC) gave me the same kind of feeling as when I played C&C for the first time. WiC is set in a alternative world where the Russians invaded America instead of going broke and falling apart. Russia also invaded Europe a few months before that, which set the stage for the invasion of the US. You play as a promising young officer with the duty of saving America from the big, bad Red Army.

WiC takes a different approach to unit management than the standard RTS. Instead of gathering resources, creating a huge force and then crushing the enemy, WiC gives you a set amount of command points to purchase new units with. By doing various tasks during the missions, you will be given access to better units, more resources and tactical aids. This lends some to the idea that Americas military is mobilized in Europe, leaving only a small force in the U.S. Its inventive, actually adds to the feeling of being short on resources and saves you the trouble of having to build bases. Which you don't really do in the game. Generally, its all about holding strategic points until you have to move on to capture another one. At these points, you can leave units inside the circle and defensive positions will be built. These defensive positions, at a max of three, will slowly build over time and not cost you anything. They are standard on every map and will normally build three kinds of defense. One for soldiers, one for tanks and one for anti-air. More on those later.

The game is really fucking impressive to look at. That, of course, demands some higher end hardware if you want to run the game at peak quality. My rig falls into "medium" status and the game is amazing to look at. All the little details are done well and big battles are really something to behold. The cut-scenes in the game are also well done, with no stone being unturned. The really neat part about WiC is beyond its amazing visuals. The games story is solid, giving you characters that you begin to either really like, or really hate. Its a more personal story than others. You also have Alec Baldwin narrating the story while your missions load. I found that to be a nice touch since he doesn't cheese it up to much and manages to convey the feelings of a solider who did a lot and say a lot in the defense of his country. It's an interesting premise, considering no single country has invaded the United States in the modern era. It really hit home for me, thanks to the short but well done cut scenes with soldier's calling home and the President. You begin to care for the characters in the story, which is more than I can say for the "Best Story Ever - Bioshock".

The game play is fairly easy to learn as it keeps lose to its C&C roots. All point and click, the control over your units is easy to manage. You have the standard mini-map to keep track of any large scale battle you may be fighting, along with the ability to assign unit numbers to groups of units. It does prove useful in keeping tanks, helicopters and ground troops separate and using this ability will help keep accidental slaughter to a minimum. As stated above, you will be given access to a limited amount of command points that you can spend to purchase reinforcements. These units will be air dropped into a specific location that you pick on the map. You will also be given access to tactical points, which you can spend to call in air strikes, tank busters, artillery, airborne troops and other stuff which can save your butt. As I said before, the main idea of the missions is to take and hold various strategic points on the map and hold them for a period of time. There is no base building and the only way you gain access to more powerful units is by completing secondary objectives with in the main mission. This cuts down on the confusion that some times can appear in many RTS games.

The game, on normal mode, was some what challenging. Thanks to the limited amount of command points you have to spend, each unit matters. Losing two or three heavy tanks at the wrong time can be a very bad thing. Getting reinforcements takes about 20 seconds and you have to wait another 20 seconds after that before ordering more, which you normally wouldnt be able to do since command points are earned rather slowly. Again, though, command points are capped for each mission and you will stop earning them once you reach the cap. So keeping your units alive is a priority. I did find, though, that it seemed that the Russians had an unlimited supply of troops to throw at me. An invading army, I would imagine, would have a harder time reinforcing their troops than the defending army, but apparently the Russians built a couple million tanks, helicopters and other stuff and brought it all over to the US.

While the single player mission is able to be completed in around 12 hours, where WiC really shines is in multiplayer. The game types are rather similar , everyone starts with the same amount of command points and its more of an attrition battle while you save up tactical points for a nuke. Tactical points are earned for destroying your enemies units and that can be harder than it sounds. In the games I have played in, a lot of people will take armor, support and air trees at the start and most will ignore ground troops. Which makes sense because ground troops get their asses handed to them by just about everything. Even with a balanced group of soldiers, you will find that ground troops will die from helicopters, tanks and artillery rather quickly. They are needed though, which sucks for anyone who gets stuck playing that role. While the game play tends to be repetitive in both single and multiplayer, its the tactics that make MP so much fun. If you have a group of players that work together, cover each others flanks, provide air support and anti-air support, that group becomes hard to beat. Each player, though, needs to know their role or you will find yourself losing more often than winning. Being the lone wolf type will not fly in MP. You also need a variety of air, ground and support. A group of players with all tanks will get decimated by helicopters. Same goes for helicopters against someone playing support with lots of anti-air. Another part that makes it interesting is that you can not stay put for very long. If you are a type of player who turtles up and believes a strong defense is the best offensive, than a couple of precision artillery strikes will cure you of that mind set real fast.

Over all, WiC is a strong entry into the RTS market. With a good story, amazing visuals and solid game play, I could see it making a run for RTS of the year. If you don't play online or just are an antisocial person who hates multiplayer, the single player mission is almost worth the price tag. While its good, the problem is that its short and I got drawn into the story so I beat the game in one day. I would keep that in mind before picking it up.

Blitz-o-reviews!

Well I have been playing some games since my last review and boy do I have some reviewing to do! I've got World in Conflict, Madden 08 for the 360, Company of Heroes and Betatastic! (which is my word for talking about the betas I am either in or played)

Lets do this!

Bioshock! GREATEST STORY EVAR!!

(First, I gave Bioshock 5/5 because it deserved it. The game is awesome. This is more of a rant about people claiming its the greatest story in the history of video games.)

Everyone needs to remove Bioshock's dick from their mouth. I have been reading a shit ton of web comics and everyone that doesn't have a running premise has a Bioshock comic up. While the game was well done all the way around, most everyone spews how wonderful the story is in the game.

"It's all a matter of perspective: are we judging it against only PS3 games? If so, things are shaping up! If you own more than one console - or a personal computer - your standards for grand storytelling were recently adjusted upward." - Penny Arcade!

That little link at the end of the most recent Penny Arcade stripe takes you to the Bioshock website. Which is saying that your perspective on great story in a video should start with Bioshock, at least for the "next-gen" systems. I mean really. Lets take a look at a classic fantasy story.

1. Random person is going about his/her business with no aspirations at changing anyone else's life but their own.
2. Terrible event occurs and our random person is thrown into an extraordinary situation for which they should no be prepared to handle.
   
3. Random person is then helped by strange figure at the start of their journey and learns the ropes.
4. Random person then goes on long quest against impossible odds to save world/family/love ones.
5. Random person faces various physical and emotional trials on said long quest, showing who they really are. Strange and unforeseen plot twists shock said random person.
   
6. Random person kicks hordes of enemy ass, taking down various sub-bosses before finding real boss and kicking his/her/its ass.

Bamo. There you go. Its standard fare for fantasy stories. So if that is your standard set up for a fantasy game, how can a story be epic if it follows the standard? Well, the telling of the story could be great, with rich characters that you begin to care about and good pacing for the story. Does Bioshock have this? Some of it, yes but not enough to make the story near epic.

The plot in Bioshock requires you to shut off your brain for the next 10-12 hours. Which is great, because as a Sci-Fi fan, its something I do when ever I watch some of my favorite movies. The story its self, though, is trying a bit to hard and they are able to drop various clues a long the way to give you an idea of what is really going on. Not only that, but you have various factions in Bioshock fighting over a substance that is only worth a shit in the city of Rapture. If any one of those crazy mother fuckers came to the surface, they would be thrown into the crazy house and never heard from again. The twist in the story isnt one that surprised me in any way and is a standard sci-fi twist that lacks any real imagination.

So stop. Bioshock was a well done game that deserves all the acclaim its been getting. Comparing other games story lines to Bioshock and saying that we, as a gaming community, need to do the same is fucking stupid. The story was fine, but it was there solely to move you through various stages, show of the kick ass graphics and give you a reason to keep going. It is not a fucking master piece of story telling.

Bioshock: Xbox 360

Bioshock for the Xbox 360.

So I have been reading about Bioshock for the past few months, eagerly awaiting a new title to buy for my under used Xbox 360. Poor thing hasn't gotten much use since I stopped playing Oblivion awhile back and NCAA 08 had to be returned. Bioshock was claimed to be a unique experience for every player, that no two people would play the game the exact same way, thanks to its RPG type elements. Needless to say, a FPS with RPG elements made me excited.

After picking it up last week, I rushed into playing the game with out reading anything else about it. I devoted a few hours every day to playing the game and taking it all in. I was hooked and really enjoyed it. Only problem is, while the claims of being different for every player could be true, the game basically makes you keep a few select powers slotted at all times. While you don't HAVE to have those select powers always at the ready, the game would be vastly tougher if you didn't.

You play as a survivor of a crashed airplane, who manages to make his way down into a underwater city called Rapture. As you arrive from the surface, you are greeted with how unforgiving the city of Rapture is. Through out the game, you will discover what happened to the city, where things went wrong and how power drove the entire city to madness. Genetic alteration is the driving force in Rapture, those who have the Adam will rule the city. You will be tested in various ways during the course of the game, both in puzzles (hacking), combat and morally. Will the good in your prevail over the offer of unlimited power?

Onto the review!

• Graphics & Sound

The graphics are top notch, taking great advantage of the 360's power. The characters are well done, the physics are fantastic, the entire game feels like you are thousands of feet underwater the entire time. 2kgames did an awesome job on the level design, each section of the city feeling different from the last and making you feel like you are back at the end of the 50's. The game is just plain beautiful to look at while you play through.

The sound is also fantastically done. You are able to hear the voices of enemies around the corner, the heavy steps of Big Daddies walking around and the light foot steps of Little Sisters going about their twisted business. Weapons sound spot on and the cries of enemies as you light them on fire are realistic. Granted, I don't know what someone really sounds like when you light them on fire, but my imagination agrees with what 2kgames went with.

There are zero faults with the graphics or sounds. The game plays perfectly, never having a single hiccup while playing through. Even is heavily populated battles, with explosions, gun fire and multiple nasties, the game is smooth as silk.

• Game play

Developer 2kgames stated that no two gamers would play Bioshock the same way. While this is some what true, the game would become very difficult with out a few select powers always in your arsenal. Same can be said with not having enough ammo of certain weapons. Trying to take on a Big Daddy with a pistol is just stupid and trying to not use electroshock, incinerate, telekinesis and frost shock during the entire game also just jacks up the difficulty to stupid proportions. While there are a varied selection of plasmid powers to choose from, you will probably find yourself keep the same ones on hand through out the game.

Besides the failing of 2kgames promise of the game being different for each player, at least making the game easier with said powers, the game is a top notch FPS. You are presented with a variety of powers to pick and choose from, giving you the ability to customize your play. You can carry around powers that turn your enemies against each other,the cities defenses against the enemies, light nasties of fire, freeze them, electrocute them, light oil slicks on fire and turn a group of enemies into bonfires or pick up anything with your mind and turn it into a weapon. There is a plethora of options on how to kill those who come against you.

You will be able to choose a variety of plasmids to use as "magic" attacks, as well as tonics that will aid you in combat, physical and engineering. There are over 70 types of tonics and plasmids in the game, so the number of combinations are huge. Through out the game, you will be able to go to gene-stations and change what tonics and plasmids you are using, giving you the ability to change tactics when ever the mood strikes.

Through out the game, you are able to increase various powers by finding them laying about, researching them through U-invent stations, taking photos of various enemies or buying them at gatherers gardens using Adam taken from Little Sisters. Of course, the Little Sisters are each protected by a Big Daddy, hands down the hardest to kill enemy in the game. Big hulking brutes, the two types of Big Daddys present different strategies to take them down. Until you kill the Big Daddy, that Little Sister can not be gotten to. The story of the game revolves around these Little Sisters and how you deal with them will affect the games story.

As a first person shooter, though, Bioshock is standard fare with out the plasmids. You will find yourself using the same weapons through out and certain weapons only being needed for certain enemies. Your grenade launcher packs the most punch, while the pistol is a last resort fire arm. You are able to upgrade weapons during the game by finding power to the people stations. You will be able to upgrade one weapon for free at each station, though you will be able to upgrade all five upgradeable weapons if you find each station. The combat can get hectic and dangerous if you are not paying attention. Before taking on a Big Daddy, it would be wise to check for turrets, security cameras and slicers in the area. I got into some real nasty fights when I was eager to take out the Big Daddy and not paying attention.

• Story

The story is solid and well written. There are, from my understanding, two different endings to the game, which I won't spoil for you here on how to affect the ending. As stated above, you play as a plane crash survivor who makes his way down to the utopia-gone-wrong under water city of Rapture. As you play through the game, you will be guided by a mystery man named Atlas. He will guide you through out the game, leading you to where you need to go so you can return to the surface. As you move along the story, a few main characters will speak to you over the radio, giving you missions, plot points and also telling you off. The bulk of the story is told by diaries you find scattered through out Rapture. Each diary you find will reveal just a little about what happened to turn the futuristic city into such a nightmare.

I did find a few areas I could not figure out how to get to and missed a few diaries through out my game. These few diaries I missed probably contain important points to the story, so I would suggest taking your time to find a way to get to them. There is no real pressure for you to keep moving forward, and it seems that enemies will re-appear after clearing out an area; so things will not get boring if you try to find a way to get to a few diaries that are tough to reach.

The voice acting is top notch through out the game. From the main characters you encounter over the radio, to the various enemies you fight, the voice acting is spot on and fits in well with the story.

• Problems

Really, there were not any. I did not encounter any crash bugs, game hiccups or other problems. The only real issue I had was finding a way to get to some diaries and the some what obvious need for certain plasmids to be equipped at all times.

• Overall
  

The game is fantastic. Some online play would be awesome, but it does not exist as of yet. The story is well done, the game is beautiful, voice acting is top notch, and the feel of the game is well done to make you feel like you are in an under water city. I have to say that this title is one of the best for the 360 since Oblivion came out. A must buy for anyone, though the length of the game can be done in a long weekend, so renting would be a must if you cant afford the price tag.

X-Com: Terror from the Deep

Ya, this game is 12 years old and I'm sure that thousands have played it. Its warm up.

So X-Com: Terror from the deep is a classic example of turn based strategy . Developed by the awesome, yet long gone, Microprose, X-Com: TFtD is set in the year 2040 and is a direct sequel to X-Com: UFO Defense. The is pretty much a re-skinning of the game with a different setting, but the graphics were updated and a few things changed around. One of the great things about this game is that every time you play, the game is different. Even on the easiest setting, this game provides a serious challenge to the player, with no promises the required aliens will appear and give you the tech you need to progress. In fact, there are a few bugs that make it impossible for you to actually beat the game is you are not careful, something I learned just recently as I started playing it again. Anyway, lets get to the classic type of review.

• Graphics & Sound
  

Considering this game is 12 years old, the graphics are dated. Installing it on todays "standard" gaming machine will lead to various problems trying to get the game to run. Fans of the series have released work arounds and patches that can be used to get it to work on systems that were not even dreamed of back in '95. There are limited character models for your units, as well as the aliens. There is no real way to just look at the screen and know what alien is a tech, commander or who your soldiers are just by looking at them.

Still, while the graphics are nothing compared to what we have today, they do not look awful unless you are one of those gamers that prefer look over function. If that is the case, I would imagine you are a shallow, vapid idiot who has zero taste in games and probably hates WoW simply because the graphics are kind of cartoonish.

The sound is dated. Aliens have one death sound, same with your soldiers and civilians. Weapons generally make the same noises, a do explosives. The music is well done but recycled from the first game but it does lend to a creepy atmosphere that the game is shooting for. Its not top of the line and you have more complicated ring tones on your cell phone than what is used for this game, but again it is 12 years old.

• Game Play

This is where TFtD manages to shine after so many years. The game play is very solid, a trade mark of Microprose games. Your units follow direction to the letter, even managing do a few things on their own if you save the movement points for the action. The world map encompasses the globe, giving you the ability to place X-Com bases any where in the world. Have a shit-ton of aliens moving around in the Atlantic but your base is half way across the world? Long as you have the cash to fund a new base, supply it and build it up, go ahead and build it. As the "leader" of the X-Com forces, it is up to you to defend the world from the growing alien threat. This is done by shooting down alien subs with your Barracuda attack subs, sending Triton subs to alien invasion locations, downed alien subs and basically fucking the aliens up.

As said fucking up is done, you are able to research various alien tech that you manage to recover. The tech tree is flawed, bad. If you manage to not research the right things in the proper order, the game is fucked and you will have to start all over again. This site has a good break down of what tech to research and in what order, but it does contain some spoilers. It does not take to long to run through the tech tree and make sure your soldiers are on-par with the aliens are far as weapons go.

One of the best thing about this game, and something you should consider for a game that is 12 years old, is that the buildings are able to be torn down by explosives. Have a alien that is locked in a closet and wont come out? Toss a frag in there and blow his ass away. Need a back door to a building the aliens have locked down? No problem, heavy explosives will make a hole for you. This adds a dimension of tactics that some developers still don't use today, which is just retarded. Your soldiers, though, are weak till you manage to research the heavy armors. It is standard for you to be running through soldiers fairly quickly in the early stages if you do not save a lot. I've found having a save game for each type of mission helps a lot in terms of keeping your guys alive, and finding out if you are over your head and need to bug out.

The game play is solid, provides a real challenge and can keep you interested for a few hours with ease. Even on the beginner level, you will find yourself being tested by the aliens. I still haven't managed to beat the game on beginner and I've been playing it off and on for years. Most of that was due to the tech tree bug though.

• Problems

As stated before, this game is not with out its problems. The tech tree is flawed and if you screw up by researching something before you have the item you need for the next part of the tech tree, your game is fucked. The link I provided above can help you solve that issue easy enough.

On my machine, the game will play for a solid while but your saved games can get bugged for no real reason and cause the game to crash randomly. You will find your self having to avoid missions because they are bugged. Key here is to save often so you don't find yourself have to go back a long way and maybe have to re-do some key research.

• Overall

The game is dated but is still a solid turn based strat. If you are able to look past the aged graphics and sound, you will find yourself deeply sucked into the game. From keeping track of what your soldiers stats are, what tech you need to go to next and trying to keep the invasion under control, TFtD provides it all. While it may be old, its still awesome. If you can find the game some where, I'd highly suggest giving it a try and seeing how well you do.

Welcome!

Howdy. So this is blog is going to be devoted to video games in general. Random ideas, thoughts, news, reviews and what ever else I can think of that relates to video games. I will be posting reviews of video games as I play them, review games that I have played and what games are making me drool that are coming up. Not a new idea by any means but it lets me get this stuff out of my head.