Er, backlog killed... now it's regenerating. SOMEONE BRING ME FIRE.
Alright, since I got New Vegas, I've had several other games that I had to and did play. These titles consist of Alpha Protocol, Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Dark Sector(Neat little game for being free --- came with New Vegas), and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I have Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom running now, however. Dead Space 2 and Nier to join it soon. Maybe Mass Effect 2.
Alpha Protocol's charm lies in its presentation of choices, which are pretty abundant. Take for example, the conversation system. I've up to 4 options, if I recall correctly, which I can choose to determine the outcome of various missions and my relationship with various people, all through the power of speech. Admittedly, conversations in AP aren't as robust as New Vegas', but it still gets the job done, and better than most RPGs. It's also nice that each option generally have immediate effects, such as lowered or heightened reputation with those you converse with. Or y'know, end with the death of certain baddies. Story was full of those twists and tropes you'd come to expect from a spy fiction, but it was solid and well done, and I was successfully hooked by it, so kudos to you, Alpha Protocol. My gripe with this game lies in its polish, or lack of --- animations are stiff and choppy, and I've got textures blurring out haphazardly, amongst other visual faults. Props to the animator who did the faces though, because those were surprisingly well done. Now, as for flexibility of character builds, I had a bit of fun choosing which skills to spec in, as I'm not a fan of keeping myself balanced. Chose Recruit class, so I was gimped in the skill points department from the start. Made it out with max Pistol, CQC, and high Assault Rifle. At this point, I'm doubting whether you can make a character built solely on non-combat skills, which would've been a neat option. Seems they're railroading me into choosing combat skills, which kinda tans my hide. Starting a Veteran later who specializes in non-lethal gadgets, hacking, and other shit. No combat, including pew-pewing with a tranq gun.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was a gift from my ladyfriend --- she picked it from my giant list of games to purchase --- so I was obligated to play it even if I didn't like it; I liked it, and started the game roughly enthusiastically, so all is good. AC:B is a sandbox game, so it had to be set in a pretty large environment. Gone were the exclusive zones of past AC games, as AC:B is set in a giant map of Rome, each district seamlessly connected with each other. I had lots of fun exploring, mostly spending my time killing random passing guards. Missions were well structured and with reasonable bonus objectives, which have to be completed to obtain "100% Sync," which counts towards the Platinum trophy, I surmise. Set pieces were nice, animations were nice, etc. etc. My only gripe is the gameplay itself, or rather, one specific aspect of it. The combat was well done, I suppose, if your goal was to make it look pretty. However, like all the other AC games, I found myself having a much too easy time beating down several dozen guards at once. On the flip side, stealth aspects of the game were nice, and sneakily assassinating targets was always satisfying. Also satisfying is training your Recruits, who help you out in your missions by pouncing on whatever mook you point out, then fighting, if there are any mooks left. Alternatively, with at least 6 recruits, you can summon a storm of arrows to kill all guards visible. It doesn't help, however, that Recruits made combat unnecessarily simple. Story was okay, and filled with suspense and all that other snap, crackle, and pop you'd come to expect from a conspiracy plot. Didn't really care much for the characters though. Desmond gets a reward as the most bland character I've encountered this year. On a different note, AC:B has a multiplayer mode, which I heard was something "refreshingly new." Will check it out when I get my wireless router.
Bioshock was something I wanted to get for a long time, but couldn't because I wasn't keen on dedicating the funds to it. Then Gamestop gave me a deal that nabbed me both Bioshock 1 and 2, so I couldn't resist. Bioshock was indeed, an entertaining first person shooter --- generally, FPS leave me with feelings of indifference. I think what attracted me were the RPG elements, which is a pretty logical conclusion to come to: other FPSs I enjoyed include Fallout 3 and Borderlands, both of which also contain RPG elements --- or in the former's case, it WAS an RPG first and foremost. Bioshock had a satisfying story, and lived up to at least, some of its hype. I was already aware of the big twist before I started, but it was still a satisfying romp through Rapture. Gunfights were pretty conservative, but enhanced by the environments they took place in, in addition to the Plasmids you throw into the mix. What I really liked about Bioshock was that it was relatively free-roam, especially at the end. You're allowed to revisit places you've been to previously, whether it's to farm for supplies or otherwise --- take note of this. Now, Bioshock 2 placed you in the shoes of an Alpha series Big Daddy, which meant you're able to dual wield Plasmids and weapons You're much hardier than the protagonist for the first, which meant gunfights got larger because the developers decided to throw more minions at you to even the odds. Unlike the first's, the story in the second holds back on plot twist conventions, but still deals out a tale that's on par with the first's. Lamb successfully garnered my attention, whether this attention was hostile or not. Game loses points in the fact it doesn't let you go back to previously visited areas, so things are pretty one-way. There's multiplayer, which I haven't tried yet. Heard it bites.
Dark Sector was a bit of a sleeper hit with me; I didn't expect much from a game that was usually 10 dollars. Since I got it for free, I figured I might as well play it. It was your typical story-driven third person shooter, and pretty much forced you onto a singular path. Shootouts were a bit tedious in the beginning, and the gimmicky Glaive didn't help much to spice things up. Story was pretty cliche too, having you, an agent disposed by your own government, hunt down a crazy evil-doer who wants to unleash a virus onto the populace. What pleased me, however, was that somehow, I was having fun with this game later on. Once you get all of your powers and your armaments don't suck unreasonably, you'll be able to sit down and soak in Dark Sector's unadulterated, senseless entertainment. The game's not too deep, with meager amounts of customization and other options --- you're able to choose what weapons and upgrades they can have, and there are only a handful of guns usable --- but it's satisfying in its simplicity at the same time. And admittedly, the Glaive was pretty fun to play with. Boss fights were also a kick.
Here ends this short little review.
Alpha Protocol's charm lies in its presentation of choices, which are pretty abundant. Take for example, the conversation system. I've up to 4 options, if I recall correctly, which I can choose to determine the outcome of various missions and my relationship with various people, all through the power of speech. Admittedly, conversations in AP aren't as robust as New Vegas', but it still gets the job done, and better than most RPGs. It's also nice that each option generally have immediate effects, such as lowered or heightened reputation with those you converse with. Or y'know, end with the death of certain baddies. Story was full of those twists and tropes you'd come to expect from a spy fiction, but it was solid and well done, and I was successfully hooked by it, so kudos to you, Alpha Protocol. My gripe with this game lies in its polish, or lack of --- animations are stiff and choppy, and I've got textures blurring out haphazardly, amongst other visual faults. Props to the animator who did the faces though, because those were surprisingly well done. Now, as for flexibility of character builds, I had a bit of fun choosing which skills to spec in, as I'm not a fan of keeping myself balanced. Chose Recruit class, so I was gimped in the skill points department from the start. Made it out with max Pistol, CQC, and high Assault Rifle. At this point, I'm doubting whether you can make a character built solely on non-combat skills, which would've been a neat option. Seems they're railroading me into choosing combat skills, which kinda tans my hide. Starting a Veteran later who specializes in non-lethal gadgets, hacking, and other shit. No combat, including pew-pewing with a tranq gun.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was a gift from my ladyfriend --- she picked it from my giant list of games to purchase --- so I was obligated to play it even if I didn't like it; I liked it, and started the game roughly enthusiastically, so all is good. AC:B is a sandbox game, so it had to be set in a pretty large environment. Gone were the exclusive zones of past AC games, as AC:B is set in a giant map of Rome, each district seamlessly connected with each other. I had lots of fun exploring, mostly spending my time killing random passing guards. Missions were well structured and with reasonable bonus objectives, which have to be completed to obtain "100% Sync," which counts towards the Platinum trophy, I surmise. Set pieces were nice, animations were nice, etc. etc. My only gripe is the gameplay itself, or rather, one specific aspect of it. The combat was well done, I suppose, if your goal was to make it look pretty. However, like all the other AC games, I found myself having a much too easy time beating down several dozen guards at once. On the flip side, stealth aspects of the game were nice, and sneakily assassinating targets was always satisfying. Also satisfying is training your Recruits, who help you out in your missions by pouncing on whatever mook you point out, then fighting, if there are any mooks left. Alternatively, with at least 6 recruits, you can summon a storm of arrows to kill all guards visible. It doesn't help, however, that Recruits made combat unnecessarily simple. Story was okay, and filled with suspense and all that other snap, crackle, and pop you'd come to expect from a conspiracy plot. Didn't really care much for the characters though. Desmond gets a reward as the most bland character I've encountered this year. On a different note, AC:B has a multiplayer mode, which I heard was something "refreshingly new." Will check it out when I get my wireless router.
Bioshock was something I wanted to get for a long time, but couldn't because I wasn't keen on dedicating the funds to it. Then Gamestop gave me a deal that nabbed me both Bioshock 1 and 2, so I couldn't resist. Bioshock was indeed, an entertaining first person shooter --- generally, FPS leave me with feelings of indifference. I think what attracted me were the RPG elements, which is a pretty logical conclusion to come to: other FPSs I enjoyed include Fallout 3 and Borderlands, both of which also contain RPG elements --- or in the former's case, it WAS an RPG first and foremost. Bioshock had a satisfying story, and lived up to at least, some of its hype. I was already aware of the big twist before I started, but it was still a satisfying romp through Rapture. Gunfights were pretty conservative, but enhanced by the environments they took place in, in addition to the Plasmids you throw into the mix. What I really liked about Bioshock was that it was relatively free-roam, especially at the end. You're allowed to revisit places you've been to previously, whether it's to farm for supplies or otherwise --- take note of this. Now, Bioshock 2 placed you in the shoes of an Alpha series Big Daddy, which meant you're able to dual wield Plasmids and weapons You're much hardier than the protagonist for the first, which meant gunfights got larger because the developers decided to throw more minions at you to even the odds. Unlike the first's, the story in the second holds back on plot twist conventions, but still deals out a tale that's on par with the first's. Lamb successfully garnered my attention, whether this attention was hostile or not. Game loses points in the fact it doesn't let you go back to previously visited areas, so things are pretty one-way. There's multiplayer, which I haven't tried yet. Heard it bites.
Dark Sector was a bit of a sleeper hit with me; I didn't expect much from a game that was usually 10 dollars. Since I got it for free, I figured I might as well play it. It was your typical story-driven third person shooter, and pretty much forced you onto a singular path. Shootouts were a bit tedious in the beginning, and the gimmicky Glaive didn't help much to spice things up. Story was pretty cliche too, having you, an agent disposed by your own government, hunt down a crazy evil-doer who wants to unleash a virus onto the populace. What pleased me, however, was that somehow, I was having fun with this game later on. Once you get all of your powers and your armaments don't suck unreasonably, you'll be able to sit down and soak in Dark Sector's unadulterated, senseless entertainment. The game's not too deep, with meager amounts of customization and other options --- you're able to choose what weapons and upgrades they can have, and there are only a handful of guns usable --- but it's satisfying in its simplicity at the same time. And admittedly, the Glaive was pretty fun to play with. Boss fights were also a kick.
Here ends this short little review.