The Massive Mass Effect Fiasco

You knew it was coming. I had to tell you all about just what I thought about Mass Effect 3 and the ending that has seemingly rocked a fan base at its very core.  First off for what its worth ME 3 is not a bad game at all. The story is a solid continuation of the narrative from the first two games. Its also worth noting that the gameplay is also very solid. Mass Effect 2 tightened up the gameplay from the first game and made it into more of a narrative based shooter, and Mass Effect 3 took the best of both worlds . Its much easier to run at angles than in ME2 and though sometimes its spotty you can now run over cover without having to sit down the other way and duck first. Despite this addon  the cover system seems to have gotten much stickier. Often times while attempting other actions I found myself sticking to cover on the side fire was coming from resulting in a few stupid deaths. Also in the stupid death department is the ability to die after you've been "saved by the cutscene" There were a few instances in the game where I completed an objective just in the nick of time only to find that after it finished playing the game gave me the ole critical mission failure screen.

Mass Effect 3 also attempts to rectify the whole disdained mining system from two by having you simply ping planets for objects and then gather anything useful that you find. Its an interesting incentive to search the galaxy, as it gives you war assets that determine your final strength for the final push.

Mass Effect 3 also has a multiplayer mode for the first time in the series. As skeptical as I was to begin with I can honestly say I've spent more time in this mode overall than I have with the main storyline. After finishing the main game and having its ending leave a bad taste in my mouth I've been playing the multiplayer. Its a blast to say the least. Its very simple, you and 3 others against ten waves of enemies, while you try to complete various simple objectives. You can do these games on Bronze, Silver, or Gold and the higher the difficulty the more XP and Credits you'll earn. You can use these credits to buy weapon packs which include weapons, mods, upgrades, and ever new characters. They have also released a free DLC pack called Resurgence, which adds several new weapons and a new character for each class. For the first time we get to actually control the other races in the series and its quite fun. Want to play as a Geth or maybe an Asari? How about classic ME enemy race the Batarians? With the free resurgence pack, you can!

Now about that ending, no I wasn't on the side of those who actually liked it, but as far as the whole fiasco I'm quite surprised something this catastrophic has happened within the fanbase. Games have been giving us less than satisfactory endings since the dawn of the video game narrative, but I don't think one has ever elicited such a fierce backlash .  I won't spoil too much here but the problem I have with is isn't really the route they took with it, but the fact it went so much against the whole your choices matter in the end. I made a point to get nearly 100% of all the war assets and get maximum readiness, but the ending I got was still equally depressing and for the most part the same as the "bad" endings. There are also a few off the wall continuity errors with a certain scene involving your crew as well.

So yeah. The ending may leave a foul taste in the mouth of some because of a lack of influence and continuity errors, but I'd still say its worth the time of a playthrough.  The game has , if anything caused EA To hit the "Bad publicity" spotlight, which may be a positive thing. With all the nickel and diming by EA and other DLC pushers its might be a good wakeup call that the customers can turn things on you if you do something so bad you get enough of them to care.

Tekken 2

By late 1994 Namco had already managed to get Tekken 2 out there to arcade goers. Of all the games I play Tekken 2 is one of my absolute favorites because its everything a sequel should be and a large source of nostalgia for me.

Back when dad was in the arcade business Tekken 2 was one of the games he had that i remember playing quite alot when it was in the shop.  At that time I had never played Tekken 1 but now that I have I can make the comparison call and talk about what it did that was so special.

First off the bat if you had played Tekken 1 you will instantly notice the overhaul the graphics received. Though the characters faces are still largely stoic, the character models and faces have all been redone to make everyone look much smoother.  Even the CGI cutscenes in the game totally overshadow those of the first game. Though most of the CGI endings are short burst showing the characters doing something like they do each one has a ton more personality than those in Tekken 1. Rather than sticking in those ugly sprite backgrounds into alot of the scenes everything is fully rendered and flows much more fluidly than before, you'll find no more of Michelle's odd knee running in this game.

Non graphically speaking the gameplay is still the one step per button tap style, but it all feels much more fluid. Whereas Tekken 1 could get almost sticky feeling at times, Tekken 2 handles its movement system much more better. In this entry we also start to see some of the characters signature moves that they have even still in Tekken Tag 2. Heihachi and Kazuya who were near perfect clones in 1 even start to disseminate themselves slightly, a trend that would be solidified in the great clone character slaughter of Tekken 3 and 4.

All that being said the game manages to bring over all of the original cast, although several of the subbosses got little attention other than being graphically redone. Characters like Kunimitsu, and Ganryu had real potential, but instead they are just mainly clones of their respective rivals, with a few extra moves that they got from the PS1 port of Tekken 1.

All in All Tekken 2 is a monumental entry to the series, and an important game in the early 3D fighting game scene.  I still load it up from time to time to hear those catchy tunes and experience the addicting gameplay.

Doos Eks

I read an article about this recently, and found it to be true, that there is always that one really big hit of game that you missed playing for whatever reason.  I recently came into possession of the entire Deus Ex series, and have found them to be quite enjoyable. I missed the series the first time around, because I just really wasn't ever a PC gamer, and the fact that I have always entertained a PC that was less than gaming worthy in my days. Fortunately with technology constantly doubling it is easier to get a PC that can play more games for less money. My current laptop is nothing to write home about,(especially when compared to my roomate's monster alienware laptop)  but it is more than capable of playing alot of the hits of yesteryear via Steam and other online resources. I had always heard good things about Deus Ex so when Steam launched their massive holiday sale I figured even if it didn't run or wasn't good the six dollar price tag for a full game wouldn't kill me. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised , as the game started up and ran without a hitch, and with no lag or slowdown. Finally I would get to try this game I had heard so many good things about.

Set in a dystopian future Deus Ex puts you in control of anti terrorist agent JC Denton, as he embarks on a long quest full of guns, conspiracy, and action. The game was praised especially for the myriad of options players had to conquer objectives, and while this is true I felt like the game pushed toward certain ways more than others. For example, players usually can opt to go in gunning, but without at least a little stealth and hiding, more often than not you will find yourself killed very quickly. Either way its only a minor complaint and once you get the skills you want to use in place, and a method of operating your JC down pat the game should move relatively smoothly for you. One more problem  I found was there are a few too many situations where you can get insta killed, and many times you have no idea its coming. Also you had better be at least two football fields away from any kind of explosion or you'll be blowing up with whatever it is, or at least taking a ton of damage.

On a more positive note, the game's story while sometimes confusing, can be influenced by your actions and give you a varied experience each time you play.  There are several instances where you can  fight and kill a certain character, or just run from them and depending on your actions they may show up later to trouble you again. It makes sense yes, but think of how few games let you run from an encounter and actually give you ramifications for letting that boss live later on. Probably more so now than when Deus Ex first hit shelves, so for the time this was a relatively big deal.

Within the game you will also find a fair assortment of weapons and gadgets. You've got your hacking tools, your lockpicks, and of course weapons. Weapons are divided up based on weight and usage and you have a different skill level for each. You also may find weapon upgrades that you can buy and put on a certain weapon. This doesn't mean your weapons are set however. You can drop anything in your inventory at almost any time really and never pick it up again.

There's really just too much crazy stuff to mention here. After playing the game you can be in on certain in community jokes like "what a shame" and "A BOMB?"  I'd give this game my recommendation. Its a bit dated now but the game play is still solid and definitely worth the time of going through.