I recently just completed Mass effect 2 and boy was it AMAZING. Too bad us PS3 users had to wait almost a year for it to be released after Xbox360 but certainly it was worth the wait. Here's a rather belated review for those other slowpoke gamers like me :)


Plot

Mass effect 2 is the sequel to the first Mass effect game which centered around a human soldier (spectre) - Commander Shepard. Shepard was tasked with stopping the invasion of a race of parasitic species called the Reapers - intent on literally cleansing the universe of life as we know it. Shepard succeeded in stopping a Reaper in the first game before it was too late. The sequel sees us picking up the story where we left off. Shepard's ship was attack and he/she wasn't able to make it out by the time the ship blew up. An human sympathizer organization called Cerberus abducted Shepard and reconstructed the body under project "Lazarus". Shepard was brought back to life to lead another suicide mission against a new enemy.


Gameplay

ME2 is a shooter RPG which combines the best of two worlds. On one hand you have the classic Dragon Age/ Knights of the Old republic approach to text RPG. On the other, a labrynthian shoot out against swarming enemies. The text-based RPG is where this game truly shines. Shepard's decisions and choices determines the overall story of the game and the way other characters interact with him. For this alone, ME2 is worth playing a second time. Most players would go the safe route and try to balance between good  and evil decisions. But this usually prevents you from accessing certain conversation options. Building up your 'renegade' or 'the good guy' persona will allow you to choose whether to charm or to intimidate other characters into doing what you want them to do. And once in a while, it's always good to be the bad cop. The shooter element is sometimes too straight forward but the levels are shorter and not as draggy as Dragon Age where it could take forever to get done. It would be better to have better bosses though. Most levels end with the same type of bosses with very little challenges. I suppose in a universe filled with alien lifeforms, monstrous creatures would be a nice touch. Only a few levels contained eye-catching boss fights. The final boss itself was a little dissapointing too, being too easy. But surprisingly, this does not mask the best part of the game which is the exploration. You are literally playing in the entire galaxy and it is so overwhelmingly big. There are numerous side-quests, back stories, loyalty quests and mining minerals to be done.

Graphics

Graphic wise, the game excels in capturing the world in outer space. At times, the game feels like its very own sci-fi tv show, but stops short of being over indulgent or cliche. The game doesn't flow entirely without glitches and there are some. Characters feel stiff and they always talk to you standing up straight like mannequins. There's a certain lack of flair.

Sound

The acting is superb. Voice dubs are done perfectly and the music often accompanies the game rather than tries to usurp it. It's a perfect balance.

Overall

If you bought Final Fantasy 13 and thought to yourself "What the hell is this??" This game is your remedy. There's exploration, tons of characters, a story that works and best of all, towns... well, more like urban sprawls but who am i to complain?? This game is brilliant! You go Bioware! Show Square Enix how it's done.

I'm posting this so that in case somebody is looking for a solution to the Unifi PSN disconnection problem.

I recently installed unifi at my apartment and since I have cancelled my streamyx, was unable to get a stable connection to the Playstation Network. I would get disconnected every 5 minutes or so. and the error is often 8002AD3. A lot of searches on the internet proved that this has something to do with the internet connection itself and not the PSN network. Although connecting is not a problem and I was able to get Nat 2 and upnp, the disconnections were very annoying.

I tried a few solutions, using LAN connection, DMZ, port forwarding and nothing seems to work. That was until I stumbled upon a group of Unifi users who were discussing on ways to get around the unifi hardware. Apparently the dir-615 modem provided as standard by TM is not very good. Depending on the geographical area, your unifi connection might be stable enough to run the PSN. however, in my case, it wasn't.

So, A forumer on lowyat suggested a solution by bypassing the dir-615 as a bridge and using another router to do the pppoe and dhcp elements. You can find the guide here

http://unifi.athena.my/

enjoy!

Sorry for the title :D but if any one had watched the Kiwis podcast on Youtube, then you would know what I'm talking about hehe.

I haven't had time to focus on gaming the last few weeks due to a sudden spike in the number of teaching hours. So my gaming has been sporadic and uneventful. This is a game that i felt I had to get. I have always loved Grand Theft Auto and despite R* saying that RDR is not a western GTA. It certainly is. And to be fair, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It is not simply just another GTA game, however. It is western GTA. Cue coyote howls and banjo music, please.

You play as the typical anti-hero better known as John Marston, a gruff, rough and tumble gun slinger with an unexpected kind heart. But test his patience long enough and he'll turn on you like a cactus up your bum. As with many protagonists in Rockstar Games, John is a an easy character to like. Nico Belic is another example of this. They are not particularly chivalrous characters, but rather one who are thrown into the fray against their will. We like that indeed; best heroes are often made that way.

Why do I say its not such a bad thing that RDR is so GTA-like? Because as with GTA, you get to do a ton of things. Side quests and mini-games are endless and everywhere to be found.

The game is a little buggy for my liking though. My PS3 has the O button as its main selecting button but the game doesn't accommodate itself to this. It keeps confusing the X with O button and in some mini game like poker, it becomes almost impossible to play. There might be a patch later to fix this I assume. The horse rides can sometimes become very dull as there is nothing out there to see except long stretches of the wild plains. And to be honest after a while it becomes plain boring to see.

All in all, a good all round game with miles of longevity despite its minor bugs. Good story, likeable characters, and cool western action to boot.

Lately, I've been a little frustrated with video games not having enough of a satisfactory ending to warrant a job well done for finishing the game. Look at GOW3 for example. No real conclusion to the tale and instead of answering important questions, more questions arose. It is probably just a way for video game studios to make more money by allowing a premise for a potential sequel; despite it being the final chapter of bla bla bla..



Let's have look at Heavy Rain. This is a game that is designed to be narrative based and a strong plot is crucial to the success of this game. The gameplay is quite new to me and I approached it with much skepticism. The first 20 minutes or so were quite dull to be honest and I suppose it was designed to ensure that the gamer is completely familiar with the games' mechanics. As the story progressed, it became harder and harder to put down. Each 'episodes' in the game peels away layers in the story and also allow the player to bond closer to each of the four characters. I have to admit, for the first time, I was not annoyed by any one of them! Usually a troupe o characters would include one or two annoying ones that just really get on your nerves. But even Madison grew on me eventually; and I know what you're thinking; its not ONLY because of the shower scene.

I realized that you're not really playing this game. You're simply moving the narrative along. The game is so forgiving at times and allows you quite a fair amount of time to do mundane tasks, while at the same time drives you into panic mode in chase or escape scenes. Playing Norman Jaden is probably the closest you'll get to actually experiencing a video game feel in the entire game; with his hi-tech sunglasses and virtual investigation rooms.

But what I like about this game is how it ends. If you play it right, all the loose ends will eventually connect themselves and gave way to a satisfying ending. I may not be able to comment on the possibility of a bad ending; but I am sure it would just encourage players to replay the game until a satisfactory one occurs. A lot of games like GOW3 focuses too much on how a game starts - the big boss fights 5 minutes into the game, the grand scale of it all, etc., yet fail to end it well. I think a lot of developers should look at quanticdreams and say to themselves; maybe they should not build the expectation too high in the beginning, only to let everyone down in the end.

latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-activision-20100428,0,7344613.story

latimes.com
Call of Duty crew sues Activision
Ben Fritz

April 28, 2010