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DO you have what it takes to save the planet? Ready to be a hero? You may not be, but Commander Shepard is, in the swan song in Bioware’s amazing sci-fi role-playing trilogy, Mass Effect 3. We took a brief look at it last month in a preview, but now there’s no more guessing, anticipation, or camping out in front of your local store. It’s here. Is it as bad ass as you think? Luke Brown of Games Radar gives a constantly updating walk through of the game:
The Reapers have invaded and it is up to Commander Sheppard to gather the galaxy’s forces to stop them. With the massive branching storyline that encompasses the events and choices of the first two games and characters who may or may not have been vaporized by a nuclear bomb it may be intimidating going into the next game knowing the fate of the galaxy lies in your choices. Luckily, we’ve put together a handy walk through to guide you through the entire game.
Shepard is requested to meet with the Defense Committee about the Reaper threat. As the committee debates what to do about the incoming attack, the European front comes under siege. It is too late to prepare, as the Reapers have started their invasion. The communications with Europe are cut short, and the Reapers appear just outside the chamber window.
Objective 1: Rendezvous with the Normandy to escape.
Admiral Anderson and Shepard appear to be the only survivors of the blast that took out the chamber. Follow Admiral Anderson out the window, and across the outside of the structure.
As you make your way across the rooftops, you will encounter a small group of Husks. Take them out, and then proceed down the ladder with Anderson.
Once you drop down, a second small group of Husks will appear. You will have to take them out with melee attacks. After defeating them, a Reaper ship blasts the building Shepard is standing on, opening a way inside.
After entering, make your way to the door on the left. A Husk will pop out. Eliminate him, and then proceed through the door, and into the building.
A short cut scene will play, and Shepard and Anderson will find themselves in another part of the building. Pick up the ammo, and then follow Anderson out the window.
As you make your way across the destroyed building, a Reaper ship will destroy a Drednaught. The resulting explosion causes a shockwave that sends Shepard and Anderson careening down to the rubble below. There you will encounter two soldiers hiding from a group of Cannibals. Take them out.
To see more of Luke Brown’s walk through, see the whole thing at Games Radar here, and help Commander Shepard save the world.
In a brilliant commercial that is sure to bring a tear to every Cub fan’s eye (and a chuckle to the lips of every Sox fan in town), Playstation has given us a bona fide glimpse as to what a Cubs World Series would look like. I’m mean, this sucker seems, feels real. Sadly, this is likely as close as the (once) Lovable Losers will get to a title anytime before 2015. Ok, 2016. 2020?
Check it out:
Two of the most vaunted fighting game worlds are clashing together for the first time this year, in the game Street Fighter X Tekken (the X stands for cross). Two powerhouse franchises that have been around for 15 plus years. Powered by the Street Fighter 4 game engine, Tekken characters like Jin, Kuma, and Nina Willams enter the world of Ken, Ryu, Guile, and the rest of the world warriors looking for a fight. And thanks to this generation’s gaming systems, does not disappoint.
Oh, are you hooked now, and sweating with excitement, and anticipation? A little tight in the pants from what you see? Go to streetfighter.com for videos, news, and a break down of the game’s battle system. Get ready to bring it for the U.S. release on Tuesday, March 6th.
The time has come for Bioware to give gamers the demo they’ve been waiting for, Mass Effect 3. An action & role-playing game made by Bioware, the makers of Dragon Age, and published by the powerhouse Electronic Arts (think about the Madden series), the Mass Effect series prides itself on having over more than 1,000 possible combinations of actions and choices in the series that will affect the outcome as the trilogy of games progress closer to the end.
ME 3 opens with your customizable character Commander Shepard on trial for what happened in the last downloadable content pack (DLC) for Mass Effect 2 called “Arrival”. During these opening events in ME 3, a race called the “Reavers” which are feared throughout the Mass Effect universe attack Planet Earth, and you character and your team escape Earth knowing that they can’t fight the Reavers without help, so you’re on a quest to form an alliance with other races to help combat the Reaver threat and stop them once and for all, while those that want you on trial or dead nipping at your heels.
With that said, you will be given the option to import your saves from Mass Effect 1 & 2, which is where the possibilities come into play. Not having any prior save files will not be an issue if Mass Effect 3 is your first installment, or you’ve done something foolish, like delete your saves, or NOT transfer to your new hard drive like a good boy. Mass Effect 3 will have 4 game modes, 3 of them are single player and consist of:
- RPG where you choose your dialogue responses, with normal game difficulty, and detailed leveling up characters, weapons, and abilities.
- Action, which has automated dialogue replies and normal game difficulty
- Story with dialogue responses you choose, and easy game difficulty.
The multiplayer co-op will let you play with up to 3 other players in separate, original missions where you and your friend’s actions can affect all of your single player campaigns.
The Mass Effect 3 demo is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network, and the game launches in the U.S. on March 6th, 2012 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows.
Comicbookjockey is a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, always has on headphones, talks about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. Too see and hear more:
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Mobile gaming has become its own defined genre within the last year, with iOS and Android updating constantly, and their respective app stores becoming one of the most popular features for both. A nice stand out mobile game is Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time. You control the protagonist, a janitor who moon lights as a zombie slayer that holds his ground against waves of the undead in various places, such as barns, castles, and stores. Keeping the brain-eaters from clawing their way into the building you’re in, there’s also another dynamic to the game play where you have to constantly mop up the gibs and goo that the zombies leave behind (you ARE a janitor, after all).
Developer Xoobis has done an excellent job utilizing the iPhone’s multi-touch capabilities but not without issue, that the developer can’t be faulted for. The touch screen can barely handle all of the interactions of a player tapping a window to board it up, a zombie to shoot it, or a turret to repair it. With so many ways and means of zombie dismemberment and clean up the fun and replay value doesn’t burn out anytime soon. Tell your friends it has style and qualities reminiscent of Call of Duty’s zombie survival maps with a sprinkle of Plants vs. Zombies. You’ll enjoy the madness of keeping the rooms clean where you’re blowing the walking dead to oblivion and curse the limitations of the iPhone’s multi-touch ability, making what feels like a soon to be strong demand for it on the iPad, or portable gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS, or the Sony PSP or Vita.
Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time is available in the App Store on sale for .99 cents for its launch (regular price will be $2.99)
Are you a Star Wars geek? Do you feel you can never find the droids that you’re looking for? Are you Cocky enough to fool people into believing that a measurement of distance is a measurement of speed? Listen to what Bioware, label of Electronic Arts, and provider of the Mass Effect series has in store for you.
The massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) Star Wars: The Old Republic is upon us, And it’s been watched and followed by the gaming industry since its announcement, and the following promotional videos, trailers, and sample play throughout trade shows this last year.
A story, and universe thousands of years before the films that popularized the series, The Old Republic is a story heavy MMORPG that gives you a wide berth when it comes to customization. Deep, detailed quests, flowing combat, and choices to make as your character that are spread well through the Universe. Join the Galactic Empire, or the feared Sith, becoming a Knight, or Consular for the Jedi order, or an Inquisitor, or Warrior for the Sith Lords, which have abilities of the force within varying detail, and degrees.
Other classes consist of Smuggler, Trooper, Hunter, or an Imperial Agent. If you were one of the pre-order people, you got early access that began 12/13 at 6am CST. For those that have not, your access to the servers goes live on 12/20. The early access is a two-fold exercise: allowing those pre-order goons to get the jump on everyone else, and also to weed out bugs to make the official day one launch as smooth as possible.
Beta testers have garnered more than 78,000 groups, or “guilds”, showing that there a lot of people out that there that have a lot of time to themselves, and/or dedication. (Despite popular belief, we do not ALL sit in front of our computers nude. We do wear socks if there is a draft).
If you want to be a part of The Old Republic, your first 30 days online are free, after that, you need to shell out those credits. Ranges from $12.99 a month USD to $14.99 a month USD depending on how many months of service you purchase at a time. May the force be with you, especially after a hearty burrito.
A series that never fails to excite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is out, and everywhere.
Campaign
The one player campaign for Modern Warfare 3 is surprisingly short, what with the history of the series. I finished it in a cumulative total of 5 hours, 38 minutes on hardened. Results, of course, may vary, but this general amount of time seems to be the standard for most.
Campaign mode starts off exactly where Modern Warfare 2 left off: Captain Price and Captain “Soap” MacTavish are being evacuated from the scene of the epic battle with the rogue General Shepard by their friend, Nikolai. It continues from there into a full scale World War 3, with some of the levels and scenarios in act 1 varying from a battle to take back New York City from occupying Russian forces, to a tactical battle on an airplane with an attempt to kidnap the President of the Russian Federation.
The set pieces and pacing of the action through the game are on par with a Michael Bay production. There are some very shocking, and touching moments in the campaign, and there’s a fair share of ‘holy shit’ scenes as well. It’s a short campaign, and yet the yet the story is refined and cohesive, and the globetrotting missions in this game come together well. This is all in sharp contrast to the general consensus of the last game in the series that held a very scattered story that disappointed many.
This particular series is being treated as a trilogy, with the story wrapping up, and wrapping up well by the end of the game. Even on the harder levels of difficulty, if one intelligently uses cover and the pop in/out aiming system, you’ll be able to blast foreign faces off with fast, fluid movement.
Special ops/Survival
Back from the past is the very popular special ops mode, where you can play in various maps from the campaign by yourself, or with a buddy to complete varying tasks and goals. There’s a great addition, too: online matches. Yes, spec ops online. You can search online to play with someone else to fight in special ops missions, ranging from quietly helping French Resistance fighters get to a rendezvous point, to collecting chemical weapon samples while wearing a near-impenetrable armor suit, to reigning fire from above in an AC-130 while your partner moves on the ground.
Survival is new to the series, and very welcome. Either solo, with a friend, or someone matched online, you battle endless waves of enemies, attack dogs, and helicopters, earning money after each wave to spend on weapons, attachments, equipment, and air/ground support. Once you start spec Ops or survival, it’s hard to put down (I won’t lie: This game had me ruing bathroom breaks. Oh how I long for the day when they sell these games with catheters! Why are they missing this important co-branding and upsell opportunity?!)
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is what the Call of Duty series is famous for. The bones are the same, but the muscle, and some of the skin has been changed.
The significant differences are being able to level-up your weapons, unlocking camp, attachments, and “proficiencies”, which are abilities tied to the specific weapon such as “kick”, which reduces recoil, or “impact”, which gives bullets out of the said weapon greater penetration. All weapon unlocks in this game are tied to leveling up each weapon, which gives you greater choice, and more decisions in what weapons you want to focus on using.
The killstreak system is now called “Strike Packages” which have 3 categories: assault, support, and specialist. Assault consists of attack-based killstreaks, like predator missiles, attack choppers, and donning a juggernaut suit with riot gear that makes you take at least 10 times the damage you normally could, along with a riot shield with a hole for your gun.
The Support class is for those who want to be a team player, with killstreaks like ballistic vests, UAV support, anti-aircraft missile turrets, and stealth bomber runs, where your opposing team won’t even see it coming.
Specialist package is nothing but perks that add on to what your currently using in your load out, with the potential to have 6 perks going at anytime, provided you keep your killstreak going. The important part of these is that assault and specialist, the kill counter resets when you die. Support class, the kills accumulate throughout the match, which makes it a great class to go with for those who aren’t death machines at Call of Duty, or those that believe in the team dynamic. Assault and specialist are more for the less team-oriented players, with assault having the most hard-hitting out of the 3.
80 levels of XP await you in multiplayer before the famed prestige levels, which also unlocks an additional strike package, veteran.
The value you get for your money in this series wrap-up is solid. A 6 hour campaign, a LOT of different ways to play multiplayer, 20 Special Ops missions, which you can earn up to 3 stars each for, and never-ending onslaughts of enemies care of Survival mode, either alone or with someone else. If you’re a fan of the series, or first-person shooters, give it a whirl. It’s as easy as 1,2,3.
Comicbookjockey’s rating: 3 out of 5
By Q101.com Blogga, Comicbookjockey, a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, and enjoys hot sauce, talking about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. To see and hear more:
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It’s a frustrating time for Nintendo fans, as some of their decisions, and direction as of late has been..different. Their current generation of gaming consoles in their base forms are a huge success. The Wii and the DS have fulfilled their hype from the beginning, with more than a few of their characters being stuck in the arm with the needle of awesome, games like Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Zelda, etc. Yet now, we have several avenues of WTF that they are going down.
3DS Away!
In February of this year, Nintendo put out the 3DS. It’s a DS, and the first piece of technology available to the consumer with stereoscopic 3-dimensional display capabilities, which means you don’t wear glasses to experience the 3D images, and movement. Games like Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Pilotwings take full advantage of this feature, and got a lot of people talking about the continuing possibilities of this little wonder. Having Wi-Fi, a 3D camera setup for your own 3D photos, and a virtual game store that is a handheld version of the Wii’s virtual console store. It was released with a lot of press, but it wasn’t enough for the initial sales numbers that were not as high as expected or for the cascading drop thereafter. But wait!! Here comes a solution!
Huh?
Five months after the release of the 3DS at the end of July this year, Nintendo decided to lower the price of the handheld system. From $249.99 USD, to $169.99 USD. Welcome price drop to new customers, vomit-inducing rage and frustration for the ones that have already bought it. Enter the ambassador program.
The program was a way for Nintendo to say sorry to those who had already bought the system before the price drop, with a list of impressive retro games that were downloadable through the E-shop. Price dropping the system was a quick fix, garnering 185,000 units sold in the 19 day period after the drop, but again just isn’t enough. The gap between shipped, and sold DS Lites, against 3DS units, is emo pony depressing.
In a press conference prior to the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo announced an expansion slide pad for the unit:
Yes, it looks terrible. Although it is a hardly felt attachment weight wise, it does make the handheld significantly larger, and the slide pad requires its own AAA battery. The stick is identical to the left pad that players are used to, and while the slide expansion covers the 3DS triggers, the pad has 2 of its own. While an ugly, bulky extension, upcoming games that will be compatible with (but not requiring the pad) will be some heavyweight titles, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and Resident Evil: Revelations.
Rumors also swirl rampant of Nintendo releasing yet another 3DS unit, with the 2nd stick built into it.
It feels like Nintendo has stopped caring about the design of their hardware, and are throwing additions on after the fact. While this is a good marketing ploy, it can’t be good for the customer base, losing respect for the company that they’ve so valiantly followed, and has been swarmingly popular in this country for 20 plus years.
The DS Lite is one of their greatest handheld successes, but in an industry of increasing pressure to incorporate the newest and most exciting trending technology, has Nintendo slipped, trying to keep pace with the technology that Sony and Microsoft market?
Comicbookjockey is a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, and enjoys hot sauce, talking about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. Too see and hear more:
With Christmas charging hard fast, Q101.com Blogga Comicbookjockey looks back, lovingly, on the days of yore in gaming.
I love nostalgia. There are so many things out there that can make you think of, or feel something you haven’t in years. A chilly winter’s day comes to mind for an example, or maybe a fresh rainfall. Everybody has something that reminds them of a “better time.”
For me, my “triggers” are video games, but not just any. Don’t get me wrong, I love games, and gaming, and my Xbox, and embarrassing people online playing Halo, or Modern Warfare. But my heart belongs with old school: the classics, retro games. I grew up during the days of the NES, Sega Master System, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and the like. Systems like this were such amazing pieces of machinery when I, along with a lot of you, was kids. My first system was the NES. My mom used to drag me to a laundromat by our apartment when I was 5 that had the a-typical claw machine, a few Atari game cabinets, and Super Mario Bros. I was so obsessed with that game, I would drop quarters, and play for the entire two or three hour time span we were there. I was undeterred that for months I was unable to get past world 6-2 (curse you, pits!). Yes, I remember it: standing in front of that cabinet was a defining moment of my life, even if it has, in reality, just started. And when I found discovered that there was a home game system I could play Super Mario Bros. on? I blew my stack!
I sold my mom and dad on getting it for me for Christmas, by telling them $200 for the system would be cheaper than giving me 3 dollars in quarters once a week when we went to do laundry (Yea, I know the math. The point is I wanted it.) That was the beginning. A few years later, along came Super Mario Bros. 3, which, of course, is still to this day one of the best selling games of all time. It blew kids and game experts of the time out of the water. There was a magazine called Nintendo Power that every kid with an NES had a subscription to it seemed. We thought nothing of running up our parents’ phone bills, calling the hotline for tips and tricks in those heady days. It was a great time to be a kid, and to be into video games. And, to think there was more to come. Much more. It boggles the mind!
By the time Mario 3 came out, we were drooling on ourselves by the release of the Sega Genesis, which was considered the start of the “next generation” of games. Due to my extremely spoiled nature as a young child, I had a Sega Genesis given to me for Christmas in 1990. It was bundled with Sonic the Hedgehog. AMAZING. I couldn’t stop playing it. The sense of speed in the game, the battles of the spiky blue speedster against the rotund Dr. Robotnik….the ecstasy of having to stay home from school “sick”, only to, with a “heavy heart”, play games all day! In 1991, The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, arguably one of the greatest systems that were ever released, ignited a brutal battle between Nintendo and Sega. Both were Japanese companies at their core at the time, yet they also had U.S. extensions: Nintendo of America and Sega of America. Do you, like me, recall the commercials they rolled out mocking each other? The same games being released on both consoles? That caused madness in the industry, and just as much insanity with people practically mauling each other. Wild tales swirled about regularly of parents getting into fights (my mom did on 2 separate occasions for games I wanted).
The SNES was the system that put out the legends, and was the beginning for role playing games. The SNES eventually started using “mode 7”, which was the technology to flatten, spin, and make polygons, simulated 3-dimensional scenes, and graphics. It was revolutionary. Super Mario World, F-Zero, Pilotwings. To this day, a decent amount of the SNES library can still hold its own today. After that, came the Turbo-Grafix 16, the Sega CD, and attempt to go after the Super Nintendo, as the SNES could produce, maintain, and had a pallet of colors at least double that of the Sega Genesis. The next generation, came the Sony Playstation. The Nintendo 64, and my personally favorite system ever, the Sega Dreamcast. Then you had another generation, with the original Xbox, and the Playstation 2, and the Nintendo GameCube. And, we all know where we are at now, with the 360, Playstation 3, and the Nintendo Wii.
I love it all, but none of this will ever hold a candle to the excitement, and the better times of when I was younger; not a care in the world, spending time at school with friends talking about games, and sharing, and showing each other how to get past the most impossible parts of games. It was a world and a culture more so than it is today. The games today look amazing, and there were a lot of times where the advances in technology just left us wanting when you go back and play games from 10, 15 years ago. Like I said at the beginning, everyone’s got something they do, or experience that makes them think of, and feel that jump backwards in time, where your stomach floats, and you feel so happy and smile, that you’re almost embarrassed. This is mine: My parents yelled at me for being glued to my little world in my room, with all my game systems, for hours on end. Note: Don’t chastise your kids for loving video games or anything in general. Without video games, I would have never had an appreciation or the skill in art that I do, never would have gotten into comic books, science fiction, etc. Video games, no matter what age you are, are the gateway to so much more. To this day, there are people out there that give games a bad rap, and chastise people for playing them, or buying them for their kids. It has nothing to do with moral compass, or any of the things you hear from those pissy people trying to make themselves famous, by complaining about something they’ve never even tried. You’re allowed your opinion, just like I am allowed mine. And now, with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says states making laws limiting the age someone can buy a game based on content, there’s going to be more of them out there.
But that should have happened a long time ago. The state, and certainly not a retail store, is there to parent your child. That’s your job. Teach your kids the importance of differentiating fantasy from reality. If they like games, don’t let them miss out on something amazing, because of some violence. It’s a different time, and world to be a kid now, but everyone should have a chance to see if the next disc they put in the tray will be the one they go back to in 15 years for a smile.
By Q101.com Blogga “Comicbookjockey“, a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, and enjoys hot sauce, talking about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. Too see and hear more: The Twitters, The Website,The Blog, The Email
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