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Mass Effect 2 Review

Jason Ward — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:50:59 +0000

It’s fair to say that Mass Effect 2 is a pretty awesome game. So awesome, in fact, that if the ‘net could burst from an overfilling of positive reviews, this is the game that would have doomed the whole damn thing. Going into the experience I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’d finished the first Mass Effect, and while it was a pretty good game I felt like it lacked in a few areas, not the least of which was a dry-as-dirt first quarter spent wandering the Citadel like a chimp on a banana hunt. So it goes without saying, then, that when I approached the new Mass Effect I was pretty much steeled for a dull introduction to what would eventually be revealed as a pretty good game.

I was wrong. Mass Effect 2′s intro is among the most exciting, gripping, well executed game opener’s I’ve ever seen. If it had been a CG cut scene I’d have been on the edge of my seat, but getting to actually play through that explosive, shocking–the list of adjectives could go on for days–introduction, well…had me on the edge of my seat, fiddling with thumbsticks as I desperately tried to save Commander Shepard and her crew from certain doom.

Perhaps my favorite part of the new game is having the ability to pull my existing character from the first Mass Effect into the new game, with an opportunity to make a few different choices in career and appearance. I opted to change neither, of course, and begrudgingly accepted that I would now start over with my character’s level progression. I was rather surprised and pleased to learn that although I was starting at a “low” level again, this time around my Shepard was actually much more powerful than in the previous game, which in turn made the leveling seem more satisfying than I’d expected it to be. Far from making me feel artificially powered down, instead it seemed more like my Shepard had been down for awhile and just needed a little loosening up.

In Mass Effect 1, I played as close to “neutral” as possible, but ended up with a slight leaning toward Paragon. This time around, I made a role playing choice: death had changed Shepard, and she would be hardcore Renegade. As the game progressed there were, I’ll admit upfront, a handful of choices I made that scored me paragon points, though in the interest of posting no spoilers I won’t tell you which those were. For the remainder of the game, however, I managed to steer pretty closely to the Renegade side, even taking cognizance of Samara’s statement that she might have to kill me once we’d completed the mission; thus, when the opportunity presented itself, I chose to kill her and recruit her evil daughter, Morinth, figuring she wouldn’t kill me unless I opted to sleep with her. Well…maybe not sleep.

ME2′s combat and weapons/upgrades management system is greatly simplified and streamlined compared to its predecessor. Gone are the long hours of sifting through countless iterations of ammo types and levels, or various levels of weapons of every sort. In its place is a slick, easy to use interface with a leaner set of options that, while taking away some of the flexibility of its predecessor, greatly improves the player’s ability to outfit each member of his or her team with the best gear quickly and efficiently. Too, the new combat system is much more TPS (Third Person Shooter), and the player’s ability to aim well really pays off. Headshots are your friend. Except when they’re aimed at your head, of course.

Visually, ME2 is a delight, with a wide variety of different locales all rendered in gorgeous detail. The sci-fi trappings are not just futuristic, but they also look used and lived-in, creating a sense of a galaxy populated by living, breathing people. There are the occasional graphical glitches that seem to be the hallmark of the HD generation, with little bits of pop-in here and there, but for the most part it’s hardly noticeable. It’s also fair to say that you’ll be so engrossed in the story that you probably won’t notice most of the little glitches even when they do happen.

The 5.1 mix is fantastic and really works to enhance the mood of the game. I tend to play in darkness as much as possible, with the surround sound cranked up so as to really immerse me in the experience, and ME2 did not let me down. From environmental sounds to enemies trying to flank me, the audio track is rendered with superb attention to detail and had me completely living in the experience within minutes of powering on the game.

Enjoyed:

Virtually everything. Mass Effect 2 is a cornucopia of goodness, and I feel comfortable calling it the best game of this generation so far. The artwork, audio, voice acting, writing and gameplay all work together with the precision of a well crafted symphony, sucking the player into the experience in ways that few games ever will.

Disliked:

The fact that the game ended at all comes to mind immediately, but thanks to the DLC the game can go on for a bit longer. If there’s one thing I dislike about the experience, it’s that there hasn’t been enough DLC to keep me happy yet. The other thing I wasn’t fond of is the fact that the lesbian love experience is nonexistent this time around. I played my Shepard as a female and had previously established a relationship with Liara, so I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to continue that.

Would have changed:

Beyond the obvious “no graphical glitches,” which I accept as par for the course in the HD generation, my big gripe really is just with the reduced accessability to the love interest of your choice. There’s plenty of hetero-love to be had, but the fact that the first game allowed gay relationships while the second one doesn’t seems like a step backward, so I’d have carried that element forward. Hopefully it’ll return in Mass Effect 3.

All in all, Mass Effect 2 is a top tier game well worth your time and money, even at full price. By now it’s possible to find it on discount pretty regularly, so don’t let anything stop you: if you own a 360, this is a shouldn’t-miss experience.

Nintendo DS My Weight Loss Coach

Juliet Flores — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:20:21 +0000

Everyone at some point in their lives wants to improve their health, but adapting to a more healthy life style entails a lot of details. Eating healthier and being more physically active can be somewhat of a challenge when we’re not used to it. Honestly, I cannot remember nor do I have the time every day to journal about what I ate, how many calories I consumed or if participated in any exercise activities. I’ve attempted to keep track of my daily progress, but in the face of a busy life I haven’t had much luck. Hey, tracking this stuff is important to me, not only to see how far I come in the end, but to focus on my ultimate goal. So, I decided to hire myself the most affordable personal coach a person on a budget-especially my budget, oh paycheck granting gods-can buy.

My personal coach goes by the name of “My Weight Loss Coach” (Ubisoft). It’s a fun way to keep track of your progress to becoming a healthier individual! The game comes with a pedometer which you plug into the Nintendo DS on a daily basis to keep track of the distance traveled throughout the day. In my first two days I managed to climb Mount Everest without even having to pack for the trip…hey what more can a person ask for? It has motivated me to keep on walking, take the stairs at the office, park further away, and to go that extra lap around the block, just to get those steps adding up on the pedometer. I want to see what else I can climb!

In the Daily Session you keep track of on the calendar your pedometer reading, the challenges given to you by your “Coach” in order to track your physical activity for the day. Depending on how physically active you were it will give you a distance bonus to your next milestone…who knows, without even knowing it and without breaking much of sweat you may have completed an Olympic Marathon. Awesome!

Your Daily Session also tracks food balance. Food balance is somewhat genius. At the end of the day you give a detailed account of what you ate and it will give you on the food balance a total of calories consumed according to what you ate. You get to drag from the food groups the servings of food you ate and feed your coach from general fruits, vegetables, different kinds of meats-almost anything you can find on the food pyramid-yes even fast food. This feature of the game has to be my favorite, which probably tells you I eat too much fast food. I always wanted to keep track of my calorie intake and this is as easy as it gets. I am now eyeing the fruit bowl more enthusiastically then I do the cookie jar. Usually.

If you want to invest in a fun way to keep track of your progress, become more aware of your weight and overall gain a healthier life style, go out and get Nintendo DS My Weight Loss Coach. It’s easy to use, not to mention fun, provides you with healthy tips, and personally I look forward to keeping track of my progress at the end of the day. Keep in mind that buying the game and turning it on will not magically make the extra “fluff” around the middle go away; it is up to you to make the changes. The game is a tool to keep track of your progress, see how far all your hard work takes you and motivate you to become a healthier person. So, clip on the pedometer, put on your running shoes, turn up the tunes on your MP3 player and report back to your coach! Soon you will see not only was it fun but it was so worth it.

I’ll try to keep you guys posted on the healthy improvements I make with My Weight Loss Coach. Till then, get out of the way-I have mountains to climb.

Nazi Zombies Strategy Guide (Call of Duty)

Scott Pohlers Games Columnist — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:57:58 +0000

Call of Duty: World At War

Nazi Zombies Strategy Guide

Map: Verrückt

Number of Players: 2

Highest Level Achieved so far: 24

Done right the strategy will consistently take you to at least level 18 – 20 with only two players working together. It relies mostly on strategy, some skill, and some luck. I realize there are people out there who get to level 1000 or more by glitching or running the Zombies in circles. This strategy is not meant to break records its just a fun way for you and a couple friends to have some intense encounters and maybe progress a little further than the norm.

ALWAYS start on the American side; you’ll know it’s the American side because the chalk drawing of the M1 Garand will be in front of you. If the game starts you on the German side (Kar98 will be in front of you) just restart until the game gives you the other side.

DON’T BUY ANYTHING IN THE STARTING ROOM. Use your pistols. 4-5 shots into the oncoming Zombies followed by knifing them when they come close will net you the most points. Your goal is for one person to collect 1950 points and the other person to at least have 1200 points. The person with 1950 then opens the door to the next area, which I call the Thompson room for obvious reasons. Everyone buy a Thompson and start using it as soon as the door is open. Typically if playing with 2 people, this should happen no later than mid-way through round 3 and possibly by the end of round 2.

Hold the Thompson room. Stay in this room and rack up points. There are 2 windows facing the courtyard, a breakaway wall (around round 5 they start coming through here) and the doorway to the first area that you were in. Typically one guy covers windows and the other doorway and wall. Either way your goal is to accumulate points so let some Zombies in so they can drop things like 2x, max ammos, and insta kills. Only hit bombs at the end of rounds or if desperately needed. A nice feature is that the bomb always gives you 400 points as well. Move upstairs in the break between round 5 and 6 otherwise the running zombies will cause havoc in the downstairs.

BEFORE GOING UPSTAIRS CHECK YOUR THOMPSON AMMO IF IT’S LESS THAN 100 ROUNDS BUY SOME MORE

Once upstairs immediately progress through to the next room (determine door opening duties amongst partners so that you all have about the same amount of money). The room you are now holding is the one with the grenades on the wall and the unlit green (slight of hand) fast reload perk machine. You have two areas to watch, the window in the adjacent room and the hallway that leads to the main room with the stairs. Keep using the Thompson and grenades. Your goal is for you and your partner to accumulate around 6500 points. This should happen by the end of round 6 or 7. After which, the following sequence of events needs to occur:

Step 1. Acquire Points around 6500 (more is actually better but this will do)

Step 2. Leave a Zombie alive at end of round (should be 6 or 7), crawlers are preferable

Step 3. Someone opens door to kitchen area

Step 4. Someone opens door to power room (usually the other person however sometimes points are not distributed equally)

Step 5. Flip the power switch

Step 6. Grab Fast Reload/Slight of Hand Perk 3000 points (both players)

Step 7. Go back downstairs to Thompson room, back to starting room, through the now opened door to the German side.

Step 8. Grab Juggernaut Perk 2500 points (red machine with cross on it) Typically one person grabs this and the other opens the stairs. The one that opens the stairs will need to come back for it, usually in the lull between the next round.

Step 9. Open Stairs

Step 10. Kill Zombie that you have kept alive up until this point if you have not already done so

Step 11. Have the person with both Perks watching the long hallway that contains the Double Tap Perk and the person with the Slight of hand perk watching the window on the balcony.

Important thing to remember at this point is to keep an eye on ammo and funds. Once the Thompson runs out of ammo buy the MP-40 (1000 points) off the wall on the upstairs area (near Double Tap machine). The double barrel shotgun is also a good investment for the guy on windows as long as they have the quick reload perk. My friend and I have survived using just these 2 weapons up to round 20.

Hold these two positions until you are killed by an onslaught of the undead.

Some Tips for holding this area:

- Make sure everyone gets the juggernaut perk as soon as possible

- Grab MP-40, Double Tap perk, and Bouncing Betty’s as funds increase

- Grab shotgun if needed

- Around round 11 or 12 try to keep one Zombie alive at the window (constantly repairing the window so he doesn’t burst through) so that the other player can run back through the level to the power room to grab weapons from the mystery box. Hopefully by this point at least one player has a surplus of points. The following weapons are the most desired: Ray Gun, M1919 Browning Machine Gun, MG42 Machine Gun, and possibly the Ppsh and sawed off double barrel shotgun, but the first 3 are the main ones your aiming to get.

- Also try to make the teddy bear appear. Why you ask? It refunds you the money and moves the box closer to your holding spot. The box will either move to the Thompson room in the dark corner, the juggernaut room, or to the left of the broken wall in your upstairs defense area (this is the closest most ideal place)

- NEVER EVER OPEN THE OTHER DOOR IN THE POWER ROOM OR THE OTHER DOOR AT THE END OF THE DOUBLE TAP HALLWAY. Opening the other door in the power room isn’t the end of the world, but it will cause another random box location to occur and this one is even further than the electricity room. Opening the door at the end of Double Tap hallway is suicide because the Zombies will flank you

- Past round 15 start using the electric fence traps located on the balcony. This gives you a rest and is a way to conserve ammo. Once triggered it lasts for one minute, it then must recharge before it can be retriggered (I believe 1 – 2 more minutes) it beeps when it can be retriggered.

- On bouncing betty’s. Always place them behind you so that you can lead hordes of Zombies into them for maximum damage. Betty’s will not hurt you or other human players. Use them to create traps and fall back points.

- On Ray Guns. The Ray Gun is the most powerful weapon in the game especially in the realm of Nazi Zombies and it is almost a near necessity for one person on the team to have it, so that you can progress past round 20, as it’s the only weapon that still retains some semblance of stopping power at that level. However, it has a severe drawback: splash damage. If you shoot at a wall, window, or Zombie that is too close to you the splash back damage from the Ray Gun will kill you, causing you to go down and lose all of your perks. So be careful and try to shoot Zombies from a distance (shooting your partner with the Ray Gun has no effect).

Same old crap: Different game

Mike Kukuk — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:59:44 +0000

How games remain just the same as they have always been.

Although I will use FPS as an example in this article, I realize that Resident Evil: 5 is not one. I compare to that genre because AI need is often strict, as are graphics (closer adjusted view = higher GPU requirements, texture fidelity, etc.) and large levels to keep pacing. Also, FPS games (for some, like myself) offer more immersion, (first person = me, not some puppet I control) yet, many will submit that they can cause motion sickness or sometimes feel like they are ‘looking out a window.’ Many sub-genres have been done ‘FPS-style’ a few times with muted success, but I still personally find little to be immersed into when staring at any 3rd person character’s butt (or even over a shoulder).

What I will be discussing here and critically pointing out is gameplay fundamentals that have not changed. This translates to elements that remain exactly the same as when the very first games were conceived.

Graphics
Graphics can be pretty, people are wowed over them. Reality-wise, only a minimum of feedback is required in this area to perform or achieve any desired effect. Graphics have become like the too popular big breasted girl syndrome – offering mass cleavage but no personality underneath. The true requirement graphics must meet falls into feedback, but is typically delivered via beautiful texture mapping or special effects.

Primary purpose of Graphics = player feedback.

Artificial Intelligence
Sad to say – there is no such thing. “A.I.” actually refers to the illusion of intelligence, created by commands telling animated objects to go through a command set like “If this = this, then, go do that.” As complicated as pathfinding (pre-placed game world paths for “AI” to follow) can be, it is remains just a set of commands that those objects follow to ‘search’ for the player. Game AI has changed very little since the very first video games were created… thats nearly 40 years.

Primary purpose of Game AI = Direct opponents, followers or objects of rescue or protection.

Manipulable objects
These give the player the illusion of having control over and interaction with the game world, whether they are merely objects to destroy (like mushrooms in centipede) or bricks to bump (Super Mario) or statues to move for some reason (like Resident Evil).

Primary purpose of Manipulable Objects = player interaction.

Sound effects
Audio can be important, interesting, intriguing, haunting, scary, thrilling and heart pounding. Yet, sound effects primary purpose is to reveal information to the player and deliver feedback so game play can proceed.

Primary purpose of Sound Effects = player feedback.

Controls
Well thought out control systems (like ease of comprehension in button use & placement) universally connects players via immersion into the the game world, promoting the ‘illusion of actually being there.’ Bad controls force difficulty, frustration, impede and obstruct any effort on the players part to try and enjoy, destroying any possible seamless interaction in said world.

Primary purpose = game world connectivity.

Arenas and areas: linear hallways or free form, open worlds
Open areas containing places to go, things to see, interact with, use as cover, etc. From a simple open rectangle having only a few squares, to the most realistic 3D map, the principle remains the same, it is the area in which game play takes place. While some are confining & claustrophobic, others are open, freedom promoting vistas.

Primary purpose = game world & environment.

Music
Music can provide feedback and foreshadowing, yet as a rule should not be forced upon the player (like Halo). Ideally, the player will be offered choice to allow or eliminate, and therefore the game will have a separate ambient track, if such elimination is chosen.

Primary purpose = immersion into game world & environment, and setting of feeling and ‘tone’.

Story
This is usually the reason to play, the tale, the main characters story, what causes interest, or the backdrop for the game. It is not necessary to pay attention to the story, as many stories can be ignored and still enjoy the game; yet it still provides a base framework around which the game is constructed, no matter how simple.

Primary purpose = backdrop.

The typical videogame generally will have all these elements in some amount and variety, from the most simple to the most complicated. These are the elements I am speaking of when I discuss gameplay fundamentals, as they do not have to be complicated in order to exist. They can be created and utilized in very simple and creative ways, and nearly every successful video game that was created before games that are now being published had these elements too.

To Underworld and back again

Mike Kukuk — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:34:49 +0000

The story of one character’s trip across the wastes…

Imagine for a moment – a book that writes itself. All you would need to be is that character, be placed in that world, have it be an interesting setting that you can interact with on many levels, and the ‘story’ would flow from that point. Fallout 3 is that ‘book’. Sure, you can follow the quests (whether main or side), but you don’t have to - there is tons to see and do aside from that. You might still stumble into the occasional quest that starts suddenly, but you can always back off – no one is forcing you do it, or even complete them.

I have played quite a bit of Fallout 3, and I suppose now is a good time for a review, although – maybe a bit late. I have also played Fallout 3 as a “good guy”, “bad gal” and a “neutral guy.” Bear in mind, I have had no experience with previous Fallout games, so I will not be making any sour whining noises about that, and how ‘it does not meet my sex fantasy expectations of what a dream game needs to be’ – blah, blah, blah.

Backdrop
Fallout 3 is a wasteland, filled with blowing sand and burning seeps, radioactive areas that are dangerous, leaking barrels killing or damaging the unwary. There are also lots of rocks, big shelves and walls, caverns, & cliffs to sneak around or get to the top of so as to see better, to get a vantage point or just protect your back. Many buildings are rubble, others you can explore. It just takes investigation, and curiosity – and sometimes that’s half the fun.

The story’s backdrop, we have all heard about – 1950 science fiction nuclear aftermath. Giant radiated movie ants and roaches, and even a mini game of ‘whack a mole’ (short – part of a quest, pound 10 moles with a stick). Everything that seems like debris adds ambiance, is dangerous or, is something actually useful – if you can just find out for what. But there is plenty of funny 1950′s childhood retro fear here on tap, so feel free to enjoy it. Typically, (for me) 1st person view was the most fun to play in, but I tried 3rd person too, as it is good for running and skipping sneaking all the time, which does eat up a lot of REAL time by the way.

Similarities
Also, I have taken the time and looked previous fallout games over somewhat, and can see there are differences, such as what monsters didn’t make the cut, number of weapons, plot, perspective of play (1st/3rd, overhead) and other various nuance. Granted, Bethesda does have a certain way of doing things, and Fallout 3 is a fine example of that style. I would not say that it is “Oblivion with guns” because that game had a lot of sword-based ‘club-bashing’ of monsters. Not like real swordplay, but kind of. If you play Fallout 3 in that way (melee) you will probably have a similar experience, play wise. Other similarities include dialog interaction with NPC’s, as that is identical.

A final similarity would be ‘dungeons’ that look increasingly similar to each other after about 40 – 50 hours or so. This game at least leaves the player with a better rational of why opponent characters are in those areas, but not always. “dungeon” areas begin to all look a lot alike after awhile though, and that is part of what brings on a sense of boredom, along with similar monsters being there, and similar various stuff to collect. Once one hits the level 20 cap it’s pretty much dullsville incorporated, unless you start really toying with the game.

Many folks complained about travel in STALKER, as anywhere you wanted to go it was walking. Well, the same applies here, with an exception that once you have been there, you can always fast travel back to shortcut your time to a mere load screen. There are dangers, of course, like the occasional enemy in the immediate area who jumps you, but that does not always happen. This is also a similarity with Oblivion and Morrowind, although Morrowind referred to it as “teleporting.”

Gameplay
Game play is not at all like your typical shooter, except the barest comparison. Most FPS games (Halo, COD for example) have enemies that attack in hordes, and are all very twitch based, meaning – your reflexes and quick aiming ability account for much of ‘actual gun skill.’ Not so here, as Fallout is an RPG, so you play a character that must learn to use guns (or whatever) just like in real life, and that takes time to master. While this can leave something to be desired at some levels, by level 20 you will have a pretty tough character. So, although you might get some armor, you will be relying on health packs and good old fashioned brains to fight most of your battles.

This of course, brings up what is so very great about Fallout 3 – it is no cheesy hallway run, where your only reward is some ammo, or finishing the game. You can attack from many, many different directions, and possibilities exist for one who is strategic, creative and patient. Wide open spaces means maybe you can attack from above, below, either side, with an enlisted follower, by setting traps, sneaking, head on, big guns, small guns, melee, or even leading a different enemy into their ranks by trickery. “Dungeons” (buildings, caves, metros, etc.) are not so different, as finding an enemy to trick into attacking them isn’t always available, yet do often have turrets that you can hack and manipulate to your own ends. It’s a rare game where you can be truly devious in an attack.

What else is different from a typical FPS? To start, there is food. There is many, many types of food, and drink. (I have found more than 4 types of booze already… and it can have good effects and bad, that are useful… but risky…). Food like: Squirrel stew, iguana on a stick, iguana bits, insta mash, mirelurk cakes, sugar bombs, to name but a few (so, squirrels survived?). All help your health, and add a bit of radiation (except for a few). Not exactly damage, but it will be over the long term, if you get enough of it (500 rads or so). Food helps your health when you are shot up, as can many other things like water (dirty or purified) but it takes quite a bit if you are really shot up. Stimpacks are more like healthpacks – for ‘no radiation’ health, and there is an area in the interface/Pipboy where you must add it to limbs, head and/or torso too, when you get really shot up and become crippled. You can easily choose which, and, stimpack effectiveness is delivered by medicine skill level.

Junk, weapons & skills
Junk in Fallout 3 can be used to build things if you possess an appropriate schematic, using about 4 items of what could only be considered crap, you can make something of worth (a weapon) that can be used, repaired or sold. Small gun skills are very useful, as is repair, because ammo is hard to come by, as weapons have damage levels that repairing them will increase, which adds effectiveness. Big guns do great damage, but are harder to come by, and use ammo up quick. All ammo has NO weight, so you could always collect it anyway and just sell it. Small guns are plentiful, and have more of a sniper aspect, whereas big guns require more personal exposure for lesser accuracy, and sometimes take awhile to “wind up”.

Melee weapons can be a hardship. because not all enemies get in your face – some either run away, or stand off at a distance and peck at you or just rail gun you. Some love to throw grenades at you too. Try advancing on a robot with a flame-thrower and you will see where the sneak skill and a stealthboy (temporary invisibility) comes into play. So, obviously, unarmored fists can be a challenge too. The game has a particular level of hardship from around level 5 to about level 8, not sure why, but it gets really tough. If it gets too tough for you, well, just use the interface and set it easy mode, ya crybaby whiner. I suppose that is the part of the game where they teach you about “running away.” (Do I get experience points for that?)

Repair skill is a very worthy skill to have. Not only does it help you keep a weapon working well, it brings it to a maximum damage efficiency (according to your skill). It is also good because you can do field repair when needed (if you have another weapon or armor like it with you, it works by combining two similar items), and that also saves weight and makes the items you carry worth more… that is, less to haul back to sell.

There are many, many guns, assuming you have the skill to use them… sniper rifle, hunting rifle, assault rifle, SMG, shotgun, flamethrower, minigun, gatling gun, missile launcher, railspike, minikuke, various ‘nades, mines and some ‘homemade’ stuff. (really nasty stuff) But, not something you would want to waste, (made from junk you find). Oblivion made you work at becoming skilled at something, and here – you just assign points for ‘surviving’ to the next level, as it is all automatic. Much of the junk you found there was just that. Junk.

Luck has a part to play in creating a character, but it is a subtle thing. Where Strength allows more weight to be carried, and power (like punching), Perception means you detect enemies earlier than they do you, if it is high enough. Endurance affects health (hit points) amount, Charisma seems to have almost no effect, except in quests with speech and challenges. Intelligence affects number of skill points at level up, Agility affects how many points you get in VATS. All of those give bonuses if high, and supposedly actually affect your character in tangible ways (like Agility effects movement) but I have not seen that in all of them. So, in this way, Fallout 3 departs from Morrowind and Oblivion in a major way. Luck, as I have observed, might effect battles and hits, but I have experienced something else… more intriguing. Luck affected what my enemies went through to get to me once it was high enough. Funny as heck to watch, too.

Case in point: When my luck was low, I had many encounters with Talon merc’s, and they were always waiting for me, outside some doorway or on the other side of some entrance or exit. When my luck became a 9, I noticed a subtle shift of them getting reamed by other enemies long before they ever got near me. Poor idiots. So, Luck did change game play quite a bit, but bear in mind – I was sneaking at the time.

Sneak skill is also a mixed bag…I mean to say, many enemies will not see you sneaking in the dark, but many still will. It helps some, but it will not make you invisible to all. I have seen the entire wasteland, and made plenty of effort sneaking around enemies I didn’t want to deal with. It’s a mixed bag. Sometimes I could sneak past, sometimes I ran like a chicken, sometimes they saw me, sometimes one brutal shot convinced them it just wasn’t worth it.

Perks & VATS
Certain perks are good if taken right away, like Educated and Comprehension. You will probably find at least 35 books…so, double the points will be nice, as there are about 300 to find. Perks have been discussed in many other reviews, and so has character building, so I will dwell on other things. Weight, for example, and how you much can carry, is based on Strength (even average). my character is a 6 strength, so I can carry 210 lbs, which is a large amount of stuff early on. For ‘ease of use’ reasons, ammo weighs nothing, as do many ‘drugs’ and a few other items. Drugs that boost health, boost damage, intellect, perception, charisma and other needs to ‘get ‘er done’. Typically very addictive, of course.

VATS is interesting, and several perks make it FAR more useful. Initially, it might feel like a cheat when you hit an enemy in the face several times and all they do is flinch, or you just plain magically miss. It is more effective at close ranges (later in the game – medium range too) but you will still spend plenty of time finding ways to ‘interact directly’, say, with a grenade or land mine. Some enemies will also recognize a land mine when they see it – so be prepared, not all Scorpions are dumb as a brick.

A.I.
AI isn’t bad – I have found that enemies will sometimes chicken out and run off when attacked, and some will flank the long way, showing up unexpectedly. They also often change their mind about running away. Keep in mind that the game will be very gruesome and gory, perk or no perk. Generally, any AI is on patrol of an area; which isn’t so bad, as many animals are territorial and do about the same. Scorpions are a ‘get in your face’ type, like raiders, only really fast. Centaurs are a bit slower. Although many enemies are ‘in your face’, like Oblivion, some are not, some flank, some retreat… you will see varied differences in speed, approach and handling. Some enemies hate fire, others hate plasma, some hate melee, some are armored, some are perceptive. It takes awhile to figure out what’s best for who, but just about anything works by level 20.

Animation
Some animations in the game are not great, as Oblivion’s animations were not bad, per say – but there were times when a dog trying to go down a hill just wasn’t able to do it on the slope. So, the walk staggered the drop, looking very, very fake, dropping 3 or four feet at a time just to go down the slope (invisible stairway!). Well, dogs here have the ‘stagger’ too. Aside from any battles – your dog can just “sit and stay” if that is what you wish. But, he also runs off and finds crap if you ask, like chems, guns, ammo, etc…which does make him quite useful. I lost my dog – was too greedy I suppose. I sent him off to get stuff when I didn’t need it one too many times. Eventually, he did return, but it seemed like forever – I thought he was long dead. Also, sometimes stuff floats, (like chairs, tables, etc.) and enemies will float away (rare, but it happens).

The animations in the beginning of the game are just horrible. The vault had characters without expressions, and they basically just stood around, and some animations look, well – cheesy. All in all it’s not reason to abandon the game, but sometimes it just doesn’t cut it and can be jarring. “Oh, yeah – video game”. Sometimes the AI is ‘ice skating’ when off in the distance. but, But, Oblivion has that too. There are better physics to make up for all of shortfalls, I suppose. And, you don’t see enemies facing the other direction when they shoot at you, like say, in GRAW. Add to problems – the ‘occasional’ texture pop in when you turn your head to look another direction. It slowly fills, and looks strange. I have experienced a few other weird glitches that were video related, but I reloaded and they went away.

The “vault” aspects sort of left me with a “what do I do?” feeling, but – eventually, I would just save and experiment. Interestingly, it put me well on my way to “vault martyr”. I did dig around some, and steal as much as I could before I left (lets see other martyrs try that!). After leaving the vault, I finally found Megaton…which was also slow. Even tried to bang the hooker, but it seemed like all she did was relieve me of my caps (money). I didn’t even hear any fun noises. Irritated, I reloaded the game file, and did something else. I was just curious anyway, but could get the same treatment from someone at J-lube.

Something you might want to try – and that is sneak. Not only does it give critical damage if enemies are not aware of you, but it also allows to to listen in on conversations you might not normally hear enemies make. Some of them are hilarious to be sure. I recall tossing some ‘nades down onto some raiders who couldn’t locate me, and one said “Oh, SHIT!” Then the grenade exploded, and he groaned. His buddy replied “You deserved it, dumbass.” I just about laughed myself ill on that one. Super mutant conversations are also somewhat entertaining…

Assessment
So. The ‘Oblivion’ trees are gone, and so are long load times. There is still loading, but it is shorter, and the frame rate (at least on a 360) is pretty decent, especially when installed to the hard drive. Very little water to be seen, maybe a river and a few radioactive ponds. So, I have seen the entire wasteland, and it is a big place. I finished the main quests and side quests, but I see a 200 hour game potential if one is in no hurry, however, the main quest will probably tap at about 15-20 hours, max. For $60 or so you can go out and write your own (although imperfect) adventure,…. so, what’s stopping you?

———————

With all of that in mind, here is an example of the book that I mean, in my own words, following my actions, early on in my game. Your experience will likely be quite different (I mean, aside from the shooting – but hey, you can always run away).

My characters story….
I headed off into the wastes looking for some adventure, and a scrap. I pointed myself via one of the little arrows on the compass, just to see how the feature worked. Checking my map, I had been to a few of them. But one steered me to an old broken freeway overpass, and from my concealed rock-ledge perch, I saw some raiders at the entrance of the overpass, and so I snuck along a lower rock line so as to not be seen in my ambush. I crept right up to the side of it, keeping low, to the overpass edge. Suddenly – one of them heard my steps – but, my back was covered, and so was my right flank. Hidden from my view, she came along the wall, turned and ran up to me in the open with a bat, and I let her get in close and – BLAM! - shotgun says no way.

This alerted another raider, and he came running with an assault rifle – big mistake – he also got in too close, and my shotgun said so. This in turn alerted another raider (or – already was) who ran up with a knife. Well, you know what they say, ‘bring a knife to gunfight’, and all that. I crept up the bridge after resupplying via their ammo cans. I figured that higher on the overpass was a probably great place for a guy with a sniper rifle.

I got up a ways, and daybreak began to dawn, a bit too quick for my tastes, breaking cover, I ran up to a big semi truck to grab for use as protection, but was seen. Poor Mr. Ballbat didn’t have a chance. BOOM! Another raider tried to flank me left, and – hey – I was right! He had a sniper rifle. Didn’t do him much good, I forced him into a close up scuffle, and shotgun beats sniper at 4 feet any day. I saved, took a few steps and saw more raiders up ahead. One came running with a flame thrower, one with a bat, one with a knife. I set a mine and threw a grenade – somehow, the flame thrower guy skirted around, but the other guys got mowed. He cornered me next to the truck, and had just enough distance where I was getting real cooked, as he was real quick with that fire tosser. Yeeouch!!!

Taking damage, I threw 2 more ‘nades – the first one killed him, the second was a waste. Then, the supposedly protective truck next to me exploded, damn near killing me. Dang! I forgot about that. I had just one little health bar left – I was almost dead, heart pounding in my ears.

Curious, I reloaded my game and tried it differently. I ran up quickly and set a mine right at a pile of planks that crossed a collapsed section of the overpass, where ‘Ol flamey would be forced to cross. He saw me, and I tossed a grenade, which missed. I threw another, it also missed. He hit the mine, and that was a big boom – body parts flew everywhere. Yuck!

But… the other guys were gone! I couldn’t figure it. I looked around, and thought… hmmm… wonder if the force of the grenade blast knocked them off the bridge… ??? I walked back across, and down under the bridge and searched where I thought they might be. I found one – obviously the fall killed her. I never did locate the other guy. Poor rat bastige.

Got me another sniper rifle tho, and a number of rounds. Ugh. What a mess.
–

Maybe this is why Wii is so very popular…

Jason Ward — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:36:09 +0000

Although Executive flame wars like those routinely highlighting mega-gaming blogs can be a lot of fun (after all, who doesn’t enjoy reading about Sony’s crackpot comments or Microsoft’s clueless retorts?), ultimately they just make the companies involved look a little…juvenile. We all love to laugh at (insert company name here) when they make fools of themselves, and when they do, the blogs love it because they get page traffic like there’s no tomorrow.

But what these things ultimately end up engendering rarely reaches beyond the level of pissing off Group A, Group B or both. It doesn’t take much effort to find a PS3/360 related flame war on the net, after all.

Then enter Nintendo, who’s Wii has become the utterly undisputed champion of this generation, nearly matching the combined sales of both its competitors, a goal it will likely reach this quarter. When we see mention of Nintendo in the press it’s usually in the context of how their new system and its software is helping someone. The elderly. The sick. The Injured. The Children.

One of the best examples I’ve seen of this is a posting on mega-gaming blog Kotaku today, proclaiming that Wii Fit Helps Paralyzed Girl Walk Again. I’m sure it’s overstated, I’m sure it had more to do with her doctors than Wii fit itself did, but the effect on perception is profound all the same.

In all of these cases, what do we see that we don’t get from the other console vendors by either their press releases, their advertising or their flamebait, crackpot commentary? We see situations that virtually anyone, no matter what their belief system, their politics, their affiliations–can open their hearts to. Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, a Christian or an Atheist, you almost can’t help but feel an affection, admiration or appreciation for anyone or anything that helps people. We all know someone–or of someone–who fits into one of these categories. A grandparent. A friend. Our own children. And when we see that something reaches out, takes a little of the pain away and delivers a smile to someone for whom perhaps it seems that nothing else could, that in turn puts a smile on our faces, a warm place in our hearts, and an opening in our wallets.

I think some things are very clear when it comes to Nintendo and its Wii. It’s not selling on the power of flashy visuals and it’s not catering to the Home Theater enthusiast crowd. It doesn’t do movies, it doesn’t tantalize us with cleverly named processors or promises of 50 million dollar game budgets. Instead it’s reaching toward something far more universal and meaningful than what its competitors are: our heartstrings.

It tugs at our nostalgia with its Virtual Console. It tugs at our sense of family, friends and fun with its playful games that demand a group. And in the media, in our public perception, it tugs at our sense of purpose because–whether its true or not–it reaches out to help those who need a hand–and a smile. In the end, maybe that’s more powerful marketing than any buzzwords or polygon counts can ever be, because while only some of us care about detailed games, practically all of us care about people who suffer more than seems fair.

New Zelda for 2K9?

Jason Ward — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:48:42 +0000

As reported over at mega-blog Kotaku, Analyst Colin Sebastian joins always-ready-with-a-prediction Michael Pachter in stating that he expects Nintendo to ship a brand new Zelda title in time for Holiday 2009. Now, at the risk of sounding all naysayerish, duh. I mean seriously, Holiday 2009 will mark 3 years since the last console Zelda title shipped, that title has obviously worn off some of its polish–and let’s face it, it wasn’t really a native Wii game anyway, it was a ported Gamecube game. A nice launch title, to be sure, but let’s not pretend it was something other than what it is, OK? I hate that shit.

With that said, it would truly behoove Nintendo to maintain their huge momentum with the Wii platform by not only bringing out a new Zelda title in time for holiday 2009 worldwide, but to ensure that the game pushes the system to its absolute maximum limits in all areas from graphics to gameplay. It’d also be beneficial for the game to require and ship with a Wii Motion Plus peripheral. Heck, I’d be onboard with Balance Board support, too. Whatever else is true and in spite of what the other manufacturers like to say, the momentum of this console generation is truly with the Wii platform. The question going forward is, how will they sustain this momentum, and how long until Wii 2 (Wii HD, whatever) hits? What do you think?

WOW…That’s a lotta Wii’s, Mario!

Jason Ward — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:15:16 +0000

So I was scoping the local Fry’s for an iPhone condom when I was struck by a Holy Frickin’ Crap (HFC) moment. What, pray tell, could surprise me? How about an entire aisle full of Wii’s, numbering over 100 in total. Scary; who knew they traveled in packs so large? Pic’s after the jump!

Anecdotally, 360 ain’t in da house!

Jason Ward — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:11:13 +0000

For the sake of curiosity I spent a little time wandering the local stores after the Xbox 360 price cut. I live in a fairly major metropolitan area (Orange County, CA) so it’s fair to say that there is a pretty high population density here. While anyone could have easily predicted an upsurge in 360 sales, what I found was pretty shocking: Not a single 360 of any flavor in stock anywhere. My visits included a couple of Targets, Wal Marts, Best Buy, Circuit City, and even a Gamestop. Not one place had a single 360.

So this basically begs another question: Is it possible that the 360 will, in fact, outsell Wii for September? There is a strong contingent who believe that the Wii sells solely based on price alone (I tend to think they’re wrong), but if that’s indeed the case then what we should see is a 360 powered leapfrog of the Wii, not just for this month but on an ongoing basis.

What’s it like in your area? Leave a comment and let us know!

FPS ‘AI’ all ‘A’ and no ‘I’…

Mike Kukuk — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:38:13 +0000

FPS games try to create “Artificial Intelligence” but, in general, do a very lousy job of faking the experience. Although F.E.A.R. goes farther than most, the main concept is still “creating the illusion of intelligence” (via sound cues) not by actually making an intelligence simulation.

HALO

Halo did a fair job of of getting a bit closer, as even a tiny insect will exhibit a reaction of fear when threatened. In order to better fake an ‘AI’, one would need to analyze (and exhibit) many ‘intellect-like’ behaviors, including audio cues for behavior when the AI gets in a ‘buggy’ loop and begins acting odd (such as a shell shocked repeating of some funny phrase to at least add humor when stuck in a movement loop). After all, humans can forgive some very odd behavior, if it makes us laugh.

Fear
During Halo, It felt very real to players for the grunts to chicken out and run away, and it was also very funny. Anybody taking a few bullets would not ‘just keep coming’ when they were obviously losing – they would run or at least take cover. Retreating when hurt is not an unusual behavior; although – typical AI avoids this by always pressing on and making a direct path to the player (thereby piling up bodies, stupidly). Consider even a ‘small’ intellect (such as a bug) has more to do during a standard day than most of us believe, as the search for food can be time consuming, and require some thinking outside the box for a creative solution, which FPS ‘AI’ has no method of delivering. ‘AI’ does not ask questions, or arrive at conclusions based upon possibilities, it does not generally even review a few options (such as turning over stones or leaves to find food). It is strictly “if this = then that” in a chain of procedure, which, after a small amount of time appears very predictable – especially in a fight. GRAW, anyone?

One would think someone trying to simulate an ‘AI’ would at minimum study various wasps & spiders and their predatory natures. Maybe I am fighting military units, but all in all – the predatory aspects are what we are taking about, along with defensive, military or not. An AI might flank me, but again, – it never felt like they outsmarted me – it always feels like they can ‘see me’ through virtual walls…. because of the way it happened. Most AI these days might even take cover, maybe scratch their butts – but they fail in too many areas; behaviors which most animals and insects exhibit. Wikipedia, BTW, defines the ‘testing of intelligence’ (birds) as ‘based on studying the responses to sensory stimuli.’

Inter-communication
Many animals have predatory calls. That is – communication between 2 or more creatures to confuse prey, and let each other know what they are up to. Typical FPS games make the mistake of generating information only for the players sake, which tends to dampen realism. Although informative, and helping in gameplay, Half-life 2 did go some distance with this, (Hunters) but they did not carry it as far as it might be, as typical FPS’s use this in varied (if very limited) respects, although, more to warn players that there is an enemy, rather than to identify an enemy with intellect, and create fear in the player, due to feeling hunted themselves.

Distraction
Certain predatory birds (for example) use teamwork while hunting in pairs; and they have been observed as using a “bait and switch” technique, where one bird will distract the prey while the other moves in for the kill. What is missing in typical FPS games is the feeling like (we) the player are the prey when we go up against many enemies. Specifically, there is simply no current method to challenge an army (or platoon) solo without being superhuman, which would imply (realistically speaking) massive superiority (like godhood) or even cheating. So, typically, we will still feel like we are superior and that we are the predator. We do not get smart enemies to fear or dread, we instead get hulking 900 hit (do it exactly right!) arcade action bosses left over from Robotron, or some other 80′s arcade game. The other offer is of course, the typical onslaught of ‘bots numbering in the thousands, to generate some form of victorious feelings on our part in a ‘close up fight’. Yet, at some point, we may even ask ourselves if, after some improved physics and graphics, “what has really changed – beyond the first person perspective?”

Basically – the focus of the typical FPS game is so narrowly aimed at the ‘quick action payoff’, that any genuine “AI” gets bypassed for the sake of ‘action.’ There are no real tactics necessary, as quick pacing forces players to funnel through corridor rat mazes “to get the cheese” makes quick deaths of what might have been smart AI – so, ‘why bother?’ In other words – we instead receive 10,000 ‘AI’ bots that are dumb as a rock in an steady onslaught, (which makes them seem difficult and challenging, i.e. – ‘smart’) instead of 20 tactical brains that made us really think our way through a fight, and even derive some benefit aside from a spastic wrist.