Mass Effect 2 has a slew of great DLC, but Kasumi’s Stolen Memory is probably the shortest of them all. The DLC has two short parts to it. The first is you trying to find Kasumi, which doesn’t really make you feel so much, and the second is sneaking into Hock’s safe to find Kasumi’s stolen gray box, but it all seems pointless in the end.
There’s a good boss fight at the end, and it gets pretty intense, plus you can pick up a new weapon as well as some other things like credits, salvaged parts, etc. It’s your typical standard ME2 affair, and there are no gameplay changes, of course. Kasumi is a great character, and her stealth abilities really shine in combat, and she can get you out of trouble in a pinch. She’s a very mysterious character and has a lot of sarcasm to her, so she’s great to listen to and has an interesting past.
I would have liked to see more than just a little infiltration mission since there’s so much potential with her, and hopefully we’ll see her in Mass Effect 3. The whole DLC can be beaten in just one sitting, so you might feel like your $4 was wasted, so this isn’t the ME2 DLC available. It’s great for hardcore ME fans, but casual players of the game should pick this one up.
Oh, Peter Molyneux, you’re such a tease. You always make these simple ideas seem so grand and innovative, yet when we play with them, they don’t seem so. Why does Mr. Molyneux do this? No one may ever know, but it’s probably best for him to keep striving to make his games better, but Fable III isn’t an amazing game at all; it’s just a good game.
Let’s start with the story. Fable II had an awesome and memorable story, but Fable III tends to fall on a mediocre and typical one. You have to gather allies throughout the land of Albion to rise against your evil brother, but really, there’s a stronger force at hand (I won’t say for spoilers). The whole story is generic, the characters aren’t too memorable (except Reaver!), and following a nameless hero is getting old. Other than that, it’s decent and has a couple of twists, but it just treads on without doing much new to the series.
Secondly, the combat that Lionhead keeps changing with every game is very simple, yet there’s a uniqueness to it. Each attack is mapped to one button: firearm, melee, and magic. It’s a mixed bag as to which you should use since magic is the deepest of the three. You can equip a different magic gauntlet to each hand and mix attacks, and there are 15 combinations in total. Holding down B will allow you to charge it for an area attack, but they made this weird control scheme where you have to press the analog stick toward the enemy to make anything go that way. This is annoying when using your gun because while you reload, you are walking toward your enemy, so you have to stop pressing forward while you reload. There are some pretty gruesome fatality kills, but otherwise, combat is a bit awkward and simple. On another note, the enemies just swarm on you and don’t really do much else and can lead to cheap deaths (mainly the Balverines), and there isn’t a huge variety of them. Hobbes, humans, Balverines, wolves (early on only), Hollow Men, pretty much every enemy from Fable II, and not many new additions.
As you kill things or do things in the game, you can turn them good or evil, and each weapon has three different criteria to make it a truly heroic or evil weapon. This will also make it more powerful, but leveling up 50 legendary weapons? Fable III is full of unnecessary mundane things that only the hardest of hardcores will ever complete. The whole good and evil are used well here during the second half of the game when you become ruler. You decide the fate of people, cities, and other things to add money to your treasury (why you do this will spoil the story). It does make you feel powerful and is probably the best part of the story.
The game features something very unique, and that’s your central hub. You can press the start button anytime, and you will go to a hub with your map and everything else you need, such as changing weapons, clothing, makeup, the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, the Xbox LIVE co-op, the achievement wall, your treasury, etc. It’s very intuitive and unique (and there’s no loading!). On the map, you can fast travel to any city, and all gnomes, keys, and quests are marked so you can keep track of them. You can also buy real estate on the map instead of wandering around everywhere and doing it on foot.
Secondly, Fable is all about exploring, and there is more exploring than there are main quests. There are a ton of side quests, such as finding 50 gnomes, keys, and 30 Aurorian flowers. These are for opening silver chests and just getting achievements, but you will need the strategy guide or some online guide because, boy, it is frustrating to find these things. You can find dive spots, dig spots, and books as well, but it seems endless and doesn’t really pay off achievement-wise (except for the books).
Another (almost) useless thing that has stuck around is relationships and expressions. Peter insists that these things are unique and innovative, but they really don’t do anything except make it feel like something from The Sims. Expressions can be used to raise the level of like or hate. Go high enough, and you can propose to someone. You can also have sex with people and catch STDs, but this only feels like it’s for laughs more than anything useful. Another feature Molyneux pushed was the hand-holding idea. This is not as great as he claims and is useless (and in disguise) as an AI pathfinding replacer. You only really use it to guide people around during certain quests, so don’t get too excited about this.
Lastly, the game features a new way to acquire levels, expressions, jobs, and other items through The Road to Rule. As you complete sections of the game, you can purchase chests using guild seals that you get from defeating enemies or completing quests. This is an interesting way of upgrading, but you wouldn’t miss it if it were gone. Secondly, the same goes for those stupid jobs that you can do to make money. After you try each one, you’ll be done because it’s mundane, and you don’t earn as much gold after you buy up a lot of property.
Overall, Fable III tries too hard instead of starting anew. The game looks the same as Fable II, and in turn, it looks outdated with muddy textures and some low-resolution models, and the only thing that looks good are far-off vistas. The game also has a lot of British humor and may not suit everyone, but the voice acting is pretty good. With only a few side quests being memorable, a generic story, and some useless, overhyped features, Fable III is disappointing, but not as much as you’d think. If you liked Fable II, you’ll love this, but haters will still hate it.
Fallout 3 was a phenomenon like no other. With such care and time spent on a license that completely reimagines it, it is daunting, but Bethesda pulled it off. With its haunting and eerie atmosphere, huge selection of lore-friendly weapons, excellent story, dialog, and character design, Fallout 3 became an instant classic of the last decade. New Vegas continues this tradition, but Obsidian (the original developers of Fallout 1 and 2) is on one board and has changed the game slightly, which will either piss fans off or please them.
New Vegas starts out with you being buried alive after being shot. You are a courier, but a robot named Victor digs you out, and Doc Mitchell patches you together. As you come to him, he talks to you as you select your character design and special, just like in Fallout 3. While it’s not as memorable as Fallout 3’s baby scene during this setup, it works just fine. As you step out into the Mojave Wasteland, your eyes adjust to the light, and you’re set loose in Goodsprings, which is New Vegas’s equivalent of Megaton. You meet Sunny Smiles, and she shows you the ropes of the shooting part of the game, and from there you’re on your own.
The first thing you will notice is that the engine has had a slight upgrade, but not by much. The game still uses the Oblivion engine from Fallout 3, so it’s obvious Obsidian is playing it kind of safe. The game is also full of desert wasteland, and Obsidian did the impossible by making a desert feel fun to play in and not deserted, empty, and boring to look at. Of course, like in Fallout 3, you headed toward the DC Metro area. In New Vegas, you’re heading to the Vegas Strip to meet Mr. House, who can help you figure out what exactly happened to you.
In the meantime, there are rival factions battling it out, mainly the New California Republic and the Caesar’s Legion. The NCR wants to order in the Mojave and wants to take over the Strip, but Caesar’s Legion wants to enslave everyone. There are other smaller factions that you must decide what to do with, and each one has tons of missions that will ultimately determine how easy the end of the game is. Speaking of missions, that’s one thing you will notice. There are tons and tons of them, but the game is missing the epic set pieces that Fallout 3 had. Instead, it’s just quest after quest, but they are all designed brilliantly, and no one is ever the same.
New Vegas still has the VATS (Vault-Tec Automated Targeting System) system, but nothing about it has been changing. There is a new first-person iron sights view, so with this, you will rarely use VATS now. This helps make the action faster and speeds things along. Everything else from Fallout 3 is here, but a major addition is modding your weapons. You can find or buy things like clip extenders, silencers, and scopes to add to your weapons. Additionally, you can also break down ammo and create new ones, as well as make aid items from items found throughout the wasteland and cook them. These new additions are minimal, and some people may not even use them, but that’s ok. There are a ton of new weapons and enemies, and everything you expected from Fallout 3 is here.
New Vegas also has amazing dialog, characters, and quests, and there is a ton of it. There are quite a few companions to have to tag along with, and there seems to be an infinite amount of spoken dialog. Player choices still play a huge role in the game, so don’t think those are gone. The biggest feat for New Vegas is that it, yet again, portrays a believable, enrapturing world and feels every part as amazing as the Capital Wasteland. There are a lot of Easter eggs and tidbits for fans of the classic 90’s Fallout games too. New Vegas is just an amazing and engrossing game that you can’t get yourself sucked out of. The addition of gambling is a good example of something that can be done at any casino and can be a lot of fun.
The game does have a few flaws, such as the copious amount of bugs, the characters looking ugly still, and the fact that it feels kind of dated. While the engine is solid and works for this game, it just needs a huge overhaul for Fallout 4, but die-hard fans will appreciate the familiarity. On a side note (that doesn’t affect the score), the game has a huge moderator community. Within the first week of being out, there were over 1,000 mods. While most of them are junk, there are some amazing mods that you must have that will make you not want to play the game without them. Character mods to make them look better, sexier, clothing add-ons, quests, weapons, you name it. I can’t play the game without these amazing mods, but for people who don’t care, New Vegas is a great game.
On an end note, New Vegas really sticks true to the RPG genre with tons of perks, a level 30 cap, and somehow makes item sorting fun. Pulling up your Pip-Boy to check your map, fast-traveling to discovered locations, or finding little-hidden gems and secrets in the nooks and crannies of the world is satisfying. Before you know it, 8+ hours will pass, and you’ll go to bed with a smile on your face, knowing that the Mojave Wasteland is safe with you around. Or is it?
Collector’s Edition: If you want to pony up another $30, you can get a beautiful and well-put-together special edition. The biggest attraction is the real poker chips from each faction of the game, plus the 200 platinum chips. The playing cards are beautifully drawn, and each card features a character on the back with a bio. The quality is amazing. You also get the comic book and making-of DVD. Is it worth it? Hell yes.
Game of the Year is one of the hardest decisions because so many games are created every year. But to come out on top the game must be excellent in its genre (usually re-define it) and have great production values, and not feel repetitive, and usually, it changes the way we think about games.
What sets Red Dead apart from all of these other excellent games is how authentic its world is. It feels so real and feels just like the wild west. With excellent voice acting, a huge open world to explore, lots of missions, and it’s just the subtle details that make it a winner. Hunting, gambling, horseback riding, even down to the drinks, attitudes of the people, clothing, accents, it just all adds up to something spectacular and really shows what a game can do. It’s Red Dead’s subtle details that truly make this game shine over the others.
RPG’s most important element is the story. This is what sets RPGs apart from other genres. The games also must have excellent lovable characters and good combat whether it’s turned based or real-time. RPGs also tend to be very long, but they are getting a bad rap in Japan due to never changing their formula.
While New Vegas isn’t as good as Fallout 3 just the sheer vastness of the wasteland, the memorable characters, and the deep amount of content the game provides. There are a seemingly endless amount of quests, and the game has excellent dungeons, great shooting mechanics, and the mod community for the PC version is enormous, and New Vegas wins because the game lasts beyond the box, and it stays true to RPG standards: Leveling up by killing, completing quests, and tons of loot.
Graphics aren’t the most important part of a game, but they are essential in helping deliver every aspect. A lot of games try to push consoles to their limits with higher resolutions, more detailed textures, better lighting, physics, and even just about every other thing that games need to do to look pretty.
What sets God of War apart from other games besides its gruesome violence, and epic boss fights? Its graphics. It pushes shaders, memory, and makes processors sweat with its luscious huge vistas, multi-screened bosses, and stunning detail in every character. In 1080p on an HDTV, nothing can hold a candle to anything graphics wise.
DLC has only become important in this new generation and can really extend the longevity of game months beyond its release date. Good DLC consists of keeping true to the original game, adding solid content, and making the player feel satisfied with the money they spent.
Undead Nightmare (Red Dead Redemption)
Yeah, yeah it’s zombies, but in Red Dead? It’s perfect! The DLC even packs in a great story and is tons of fun to run around on horseback shooting zombies. The co-op multiplasdfasdfayer is also a hoot, but it’s the fluidity of the DLC and the perfect match that pits it over the others that just feels like chapters or extra missions.
Stories are probably the most important part of a game, and a good story tends to be original, full of plot twists, good characters, and great dialog to go with it. Video games have set the standard for fantasy stories and are probably video gaming’s greatest achievement.
Alan Wake has a story like no other with a rich, deep, and complex (yet easy to follow) story that is ripped straight out of the best horror novels. The way Alan Wake unfolds, and the story is told with plot twists, and loops that keep on coming you just keep on playing just to find out what happens with Alan! This is exactly how a game story should roll out, and other games have big shoes to fill.
Voice acting is essential in a game to make characters sound believable and give them character. Good voice acting is just like a good movie, so it shouldn’t sound scripted or just plain terrible.
Red Dead may not have strange alien characters, but the voice acting is so authentic that you really get attached to these characters without awkward moments, or sometimes scripted sounded segments. The voice actors Rockstar chose really sound like these characters and put so much passion and effort into them that the whole game really just sounds like a movie.
thebinarymessiah.com 
Try multiplayer. A lot of fun !