A Look Back At: Mass Effect 2

This is the first in the 'A Look Back At' feature series. Somewhere between a short review and a retrospective, I'll be giving a more critical analysis of games gone by.

It's 2183. A rogue Spectre is on the loose, and he's pretty taken by the idea of universe domination. His name is Saren and he's not such a nice guy. Indoctrinated by the Reaper known as Sovereign and used as a puppet for its own plans, Saren is public enemy number one.
This is, of course, the general premise of 2007's Mass Effect.

As is well documented, it was pretty impressive. It surprised at every turn, and it was very involving too, with the new and improved innovation of dialogue choices which also allowed the player to direct the more minor parts of the plot - something never properly explored in the past.

In the build-up to the release of Mass Effect 2, Bioware slowly began to roll back the covers on its blockbuster sequel. Refined combat system. New party members. Shiny weapons. 
Carried over to Mass Effect 2 were the dialogue options, and this time the implementation of player-dictated storyline was taken to new levels. The finale of the game was completely open. Shepard could die. Your squad could die. Shepard might survive. There were a plethora of variables which would ultimately affect the last thing you see before the end credits begin to roll, entirely under control of the player.

There was always a niggling fear - in the back of our minds, at least - that perhaps, by deviating from the structure of the original title, Mass Effect 2 might just be a totally different game than we were expecting. We weren't let down in that respect. It still felt, fundamentally, like Mass Effect in every way. No, we were let down by Mass Effect 2 in an entirely different department.

The Gears of War-esque cover system, the improved shooting mechanics and the new levels are all undeniably brilliant. Even on their own, they stand head and shoulders above most other games released in the past year. It is a Bioware title, though, and it's what we've come to expect.

Except it's not. 

You see, as clever and affecting as the endgame in Mass Effect 2 is, you really can see it coming from a mile off. A mile off meaning it's right on the back of the box. The story - save for the start and end of the game – is lacking. Simply put, in Mass Effect 2, there's too much freedom offered to the player in the mission routine of recruit, loyalise and repeat; more specifically in the way these missions can be undertaken in any order - or not at all.

So much so that to weave in a story between these missions would be damn difficult for Bioware. The plot development we do get comes in the form of intermissions every so often from The Illusive Man. There are no big twists, no big reveals. The story during the main bulk of the campaign is pretty much non-existent. Apart from the brief sidesteps from the main routine – boarding a derelict reaper springs to mind – it is painfully uninspired.

There's no doubting, as mentioned above, that Mass Effect 2 is a brilliant game. It just seems that maybe this time, in aiming for the spectacular, Bioware neglected to give as much attention to the core element of any RPG – its story. It simply doesn't quite manage to juggle everything at once.

More than anything, it's a testament to how well the original Mass Effect was structured and written. So maybe there was nothing quite as brilliant as the climax and subsequent denouement of its sequel, and there are many welcome additions and refinements brought to the table by Mass Effect 2. But in a genre where the creation and development of the universe in which the game takes place is of very high importance, we can't help but feel that Mass Effect 2 isn't, as a complete package, on a par with its predecessor.

Sony’s Move: who is it actually for?

In a move which surprised absolutely no-one, Sony kicked off GDC yesterday by officially revealing their brand new controller. It's called the Move, and it's also strikingly (suspiciously) similar to the Wii remote. So much so that it's not exactly clear who or what Sony's target market actually is.

Since the Wii is only ever regarded as a success - commercially at least - amongst more casual gamers (case in point: Dead Space Exraction), it's a strange move by Sony to release what's essentially a copy – only with better looks and more precision. One of the main attractions of the Wii is the affordable price point, and with Sony reporting that the Move is going to launch at 'under $100' (read: $99) as a mere add-on for the existing Playstation 3, it seems a lot to ask for a little extra sparkle in comparison to its competitor.

It's simply not reasonable to expect that casual gamers will choose to pay the premium price, even less acknowledge the difference between the two. And this is where Sony needs to tread especially carefully: Move needs to do what the Wii didn't - appeal to hardcore gamers without being a gimmick or a hindrance.

Sony has already demonstrated Move in action with SOCOM 4. It was particularly unimpressive; especially considering the guy playing was just sitting in a chair as you would with a controller. It would seem pretty unrealistic to assume that anyone would choose to point a controller at the screen rather than enjoy the accuracy of the thumbsticks, especially in the competitive environment that is the online shooter.

Ultimately, Move is going to need a lot of thought, but it also needs to tell core gamers exactly why it is worthy of their notes. Otherwise, it simply won't compete. We're waiting, Sony.

Review: Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

Back in 2006, developer Bethesda released its fantasy RPG Oblivion to critical acclaim. Accordingly, when the news that Bethesda had acquired the license to the Fallout series, the industry was rife with speculation surrounding the direction in which Bethesda would take the series.

Now it's out in the wild, we know. On the surface, Fallout 3 is essentially Oblivion with guns, a lot of big bombs and a not-so-lush new game world. Utilising both the story and premise of Interplay's point and click adventures Fallout 1 and 2, combined with the fine base of the aforementioned Oblivion, at a first glance Fallout 3 appears as something of a sidestep in the genre. For despite the huge expanse available to roam at will and the reams of new dialogue, every step of the way there's a striking resemblance to its spiritual predecessor. So, if you didn't connect in any way with Oblivion, you might do better looking elsewhere.

Perhaps the most comparable moment between the games is that in which the player leaves their respective start-point for the first time. In Oblivion it's the Imperial Sewers; this time around, it's Vault 101 - a hiding spot in which you have been taking refuge from the raging nuclear destruction which has been taking place for your entire life.
The two games start in a remarkably similar way. Lucky then, that even the second take is bloody brilliant.

Once you're past forging your character with the wealth of customisation options and the introductory elements of the story, you're thrust into the open - free to set off in whatever direction you please. The wasteland is a picture of flawed beauty. There are beautiful vistas in nearly all directions when traversing the plains - huge draw distances and some stunning skyboxes manage to make the decimated Washington enticing, even inviting.

The game is also supplied with some excellent audio - each gun has its own recognisable thunk, and there's some blood-curdling sounds accompanying bullets to flesh. Since Oblivion, the cast of voice actors has been expanded such that the issue of the same voices being discernible time and time again stands no longer.

With the sum of these elements, Fallout 3 is a playground for you to delve into. Even aside from the main story quests, there are dozens and dozens of areas and situations to be stumbled upon.

Wandering upon the plains with no specific direction or plans, we stumbled across a town populated by... well, cannibals. It was only after some dialogue and further investigating that we discovered so, and took it upon ourselves to rid the place of the culprits with bullets to each respective brain.
The beauty here lies in that this wasn't a proper mission, or even a designated side quest. If we wanted to, we might've left the town untouched. We might not have even stumbled across the town at all on another occasion.

Within lies the fact that essentially every player of the game will have a different experience. It would probably be impossible to find someone who has experienced the same things that you have during your time on the wastes.

Fundamentally, the base of the game is not so different from Oblivion. The same efficient control scheme has been carried over. The inventory and quest book, now fused into the Pip-Boy 3000 bound to your wrist, remain unchanged save for a few additions such as the new health status screen which allows you to heal individual parts of your character's body, since any damage inflicted is specific to different limbs.

An interesting feature of the game is the Karma system. Such systems have been popping up in RPGs for a while now, and Fallout 3 possesses one of the best we've seen. It recognises your actions as either good or bad - offering clean water (or not) to the homeless, for example - and adjusts your character's future accordingly, ultimately affecting how the game will end. From a technical standpoint, it's a masterful feat. Since practically everything, situationally, can change - such as characters dying and even towns being wiped off the map - the world is as dynamic as we've ever seen in a video game. NPCs will react differently depending on your past actions and decisions, resulting in a different experience every time you play.

The core gameplay is perhaps a little lacking. You'll find that the guns are missing the precision and control of the Call of Dutys and Halos of this world, with bullets often flying off at random angles, and the control sensitivity isn't exactly perfect no matter how you tailor the settings in the menus. And since most of your time spent trekking over the wasteland will involve shooting a ton of enemies - which incidentally are incredibly detailed and often unique owing to the huge number of outfit combinations - combat is pretty fundamental to the game.

Luckily, there's a saving grace here. It's called VATs, and it's essentially a pause button. Whilst in the VATs screen, you can pick individual body parts of your enemies to aim for. What makes this so well balanced with the real-time combat is that it's contextual: if you're far away your chance of hitting, as you would expect, is markably lower than if you were say, 5 feet away. And as it's of limited use, you'll be required to flick in and out of VATs, making for an extremely tactical combat system. Risk your bullets with a low hit chance, or take them on in real-time and trust your own hands? In a world where supplies and ammo are scarce, there's a lot of decisions to be made.

And it's the adventures to be found in situations such as finding that ammo in the first place that endear the Fallout 3 world to us. You could raid a supermarket, negotiate a trade or stumble across some other wanderers from whom you could steal some supplies. It's this depth in choice, the lack of structure and the sheer open-endedness of the game that draws you in, and it holds on even stronger than it grabs you. Simply, you could easily while away a hundred hours of your life in Fallout 3. The scale is colossal. If you wanted to complete everything on offer here, well... you probably couldn't. Much like a certain Bethesda game from four years ago, Fallout 3 is a title that sits comfortably amongst the most stellar of RPGs of the generation.

9/10

F1 2010 details begin to trickle out, release date set

Formula 1 fans have been treated to some juicy new information regarding Codemasters' take on the world's most glamorous motorsport. A press release today confirmed the speculated September release date for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, as well as releasing a couple of screenshots into the wild, which you can see below.

Also confirmed were the expected career, championship and multiplayer modes.

F1 2010 marks the first time that a Formula 1 game will appear on the Xbox 360, after all previous outings since 2001 were tied down with Sony, whose last release was Studio Liverpool's Formula One: Championship Edition in 2006.

It will, of course, feature all the official tracks, cars and drivers.

Codemasters F1 2010 Press Release

Knuckling Down

So this is it; I've decided to bite the bullet and begin. For me, this is going to serve mostly as a portfolio of my work, just somewhere I can keep everything all in once place where it's readily available to grab whenever the need arises. Video games, by the way, is what the main focus of this blog shall be - but don't be surprised to see other miscellaneous topics popping up here and there.

Reading this, you must have done some fair digging, since this isn't something I'm doing in the interests of going public. Don't shut the door on the way out just yet, though; if on the off chance you like my work, don't be put off hanging around or getting in contact. It's nice to have an audience.

I'm going to try and get some sort of format for this place, so I can gradually build up the level of content here.

This isn't a news blog, by the way. Any new posts are just a demonstration of skills for the portfolio or, more likely, a byproduct of boredom. I'm really more about proper writing than racing to report breaking news the fastest.

It looks like I best get going.