Looking Ahead to E3 2012

This time next week will be one of the most exciting moments in video games to happen this year. Between June 5-7, E3 will be taking place in Los Angeles. Like most people, I will not be there. Instead I'll be paying attention to the various news outlets who will feed us numerous videos and articles prominently featuring important (and not so important) news to come from E3. What I wanted to do was pull a reverse-Mr. Caffeine and look ahead to what E3 more than likely has in store.

*Doodly Doodly Doop*

*Doodly Doodly Doop*

• Sony - After the *ahem* lackluster performance of the Vita, it will be no surprise that most of their press conference will revolve around selling their new handheld system. They will probably show more of the connectivity between the PS3 system and the Vita by showcasing games like Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (which was recently announced for the Vita as well as PS3) and a game we haven't really seen since last year's E3, Ruin (now titled Warriors Lair). Of course I'm sure they'll have PS3 games to show as well including God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, Dust 514, and LittleBigPlanet Karting. Wouldn't it be nice to see some Grand Theft Auto V footage here? If there's a conference to have it, I'm going to go with Sony. Those expecting a new system announcement...I'm guessing you'll need to hold your breath.

• Microsoft - I think Microsoft has sort of fallen under the radar for E3 this year since most people can really only name Halo 4 as something they will show. Alan Wake was rumored to have a sequel underway, so that's a possibility, along with Forza which seems to be a staple almost every year. It would be no surprise to have Kinect shown for a while with more application uses and games, but I think Microsoft will try and go with exclusive content for the main serving of content. Since the Resident Evil demo was a timed exclusive for the 360, I'm guessing there may be some gameplay footage shown at this conference. And of course, don't count them out of holding out exclusivity for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as well. New console here? Nope. Hold it just a little longer.

• Nintendo - Here's that new console you were wanting: the WiiU. Although most people were looking forward to it last year, there wasn't a whole lot to go off of. I would say we can expect to see a price for the system, to see the system itself, and perhaps...a name change. Mario and Pikmin have already been announced for WiiU so those should be seen, and remember that mention of Smash Brothers last year? Maybe a quick video of that will be shown as well. Then some name drops of games coming out for the system and finally the time period it'll be released. Maybe not an exact day, but I would say "Winter 2012". But before all of that, expect a lot of 3DS games, including ones mentioned last year. Luigi's Mansion seems like a no-brainer along with the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game, but I have a feeling there may also be a new Kirby game in the works and some sort of RPG shown at the conference as well.

• Ubisoft -  What do you honestly think? They have one of the biggest games coming out this year in Assassins Creed 3, so there is no doubt that it will come up for a lengthy amount of time during their press conference. The same with Far Cry 3 which was also shown last year and seems to be another of their core game they want to push. Rayman Legends has recently been announced and the predecessor had time devoted to it last year, so there's a good chance it'll be shown. They also announced Shootmania to be shown at E3, and it seems like something that would find it's way into their conference as well. The crux of their presentation will depend on if they have Mr. Caffeine do the hosting. Despite how terrible he was, I found enjoyment in all of his bombed jokes.

• EA - I would say EA should have a strong appearance at E3 this year. They have Madden 13 to show and all the various updates to the game that seem to be receiving some praise, Crysis 3 which was recently announced with lots of high-tech bow and arrow action, and Medal of Honor may make an appearance with Warfighter. Also, remember that ending of Mass Effect 3 that caused the Internet to implode with hatred? Well, I expect them to show hints of the "true" ending DLC that they said they would make on the fans behalf. With Katy Perry having some sort of The Sims involvement, maybe they'll even treat everyone to a performance by her as well! Oh yeah, and that new SimCity game that they plan to drop on PC's next year. You remember that game right?

Side notes of confirmations, rumors and speculations:

• Skyrim DLC: Dawnguard - It's already been announced and...that's about it. If they want to show gameplay of it (or anything else for that matter), there would be no better time than at E3.
• Epic & Unreal Engine 4 - Epic plans on revealing Unreal Engine 4 and minds will be melted. In so many words, that's what has been promised upon the showing.
• The Last Guardian - I said it last year, and I'll say it this year. Eventually I'll have to be right...right? But after Fumito Ueda's departure from Sony, it may speed up the process. But I didn't add it to Sony's press conference...just in case.
• Overkill & Valve - Earlier this week there was talk of a collaboration between the PAYDAY: The Heist and Left 4 Dead crews. While it may seem early, it would sure be nice to see what kind of collaboration is taking place exactly.
• Kingdom Hearts - Tetsuya Nomura may have put his foot in his mouth by saying Kingdom Hearts is due for another console game. Whether this an HD collection or Kingdom Hearts 3, he may want to do some calisthenics if nothing is mentioned shortly. He said we may know if we finish Dream Drop Distance (releasing in July), but that's soooo far away.
• Just Cause 3 (and 4?) - Well, since Just Cause 4 already has web domains in the works from recent news, that could mean Just Cause 3 is underway. That could mean an appearance next week at E3. Hopefully someone from Eidos parachutes it in.
• Half-Life Episode 3 - You can't have a rumors and speculations section without including this game. No real basis for it...but yeah.

Up until doing this, I was kind of hesitant about E3. This year in general has felt somewhat underwhelming in video games other than an occassional few. The constant push-backs in release dates aren't helping at all with Bioshock: Infinite, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tomb Raider, etc now shipping in 2013 instead of 2012 have caused me to feel a sense of sadness from how big this year was going to be. In truth, this year still has potential for being a pretty amazing year. There's a lot of games lined up that we know about, but may not think about all the time. Then there's the ones that still haven't been announced. Add in the potential of the WiiU being released by the end of this year and 2012 doesn't look half bad. Sometimes it just takes a list to see that.

REVIEW: Binary Domain

Having been let down by the demo for Binary Domain, I was hesitant to play the game. While the mechanic of amputating various robot body parts with my bullets was fun, it was the recoil of the shooting that turned me off of the game in general. While I feel the recoil can be a bit much in the game that caused me to have some spastic shooting, Binary Domain excels in other areas that made this a game I had a hard time putting down.

Unlike most shooters, Binary Domain weaves a story that was both interesting and thought provoking. Set in the somewhat near future, you play as a two man wrecking crew brought into Tokyo, Japan to stop a robot manufacturer who has been charged with breaking "clause 21" of the New Geneva Convention. Along the way you meet up with some other members from the same organization that sent you to Tokyo and work together to bring in Yoji Amada, the man who broke clause 21.

You find out relatively early about Clause 21. It is to prevent robots from being manufactured who...in so many words...don't know they are robots. They are programmed with human emotions, human memories, human everything. These individuals are referred to as "Hollow Children". To them, they are not robots, they are humans. That is until half of their face gets blown off and they can see for themselves they are indeed robots. Some of the best cut scenes revolve around the realization of who these people really are or the people who never knew in the first place and the reaction they have of finding out this long time friend of theirs was never truly human.

It's not just the mystery of "who's a Hollow Child" that makes the story interesting, it's the discrimination that happens when they are found out. There's no talking it out, because people just flat out despise Hollow Children. And while I don't think the story makes it quite clear why everyone hates them so much, there's a level of paranoia that grows regarding potential spies in certain individuals. Regardless, I found the story much better than what most shooters provide, and if that's enough to drive you to play this, I would suggest Binary Domain. It doesn't hurt that although the characters can be a bit stereotypical, they are still fun characters and they each have different interactions with each other.

The gameplay itself isn't groundbreaking, nor is it potentially bad. I did find the shooting to be rather erratic where short bursts were better than long streams of gunfire, but perhaps that's more my method of shooting that is flawed opposed to the gameplay itself. The guns themselves have little uniqueness to them other than the standard "This one's a sniper rifle, this is a shotgun, etc" to them, but the main gun your character has includes an electric pulse shot that can cause bigger enemies to pause or remove barriers in your way. Since your main weapon is upgradable, I found it pointless to switch to other weapons other than the need to use them if I ran out of ammo, except for the occasional chain gun an enemy type will drop from time to time.

As the player, you are given an option of which teammates you want to have watch your back from mission to mission. While the interactions between them are different and can be humorous, I didn't really notice any gameplay difference although the game would make you think there is. Each character has a preferred weapon that they use, but I didn't notice any missions where some would be better than others or that they were even better than others when using them. Really, it didn't seem to matter which weapons they used, because they seemed to get the job done. Which isn't a knock against the game, because very rarely do the AI seem competent enough to tag along with you.

The game also has an option to use your headset and yell commands to your teammates on how you would like them to proceed in the combat. You can run through the various command issues in the pause menu that allows it to sync with your voice so it recognizes what you say when you say it. However, too often was I yelling something that it couldn't recognize even it was clear as day. I don't know of an easier way for me to yell "Move!" into the headset without it sounding like something else I must have already said. So needless to say, it is a cool inclusion, but felt lacking when it came to performance. Basic commands can be selected without the headset fortunately, so it's not a big setback. But if you would rather someone else run in and die in your place and weed out the enemies, it would be nice if screaming "FIRE!" at the top of your lungs would register with the game correctly.

The enemy variation is something I also want to commend Binary Domain for pulling off so well. Although the main enemy type are green robot soldiers who will hide behind cover and shoot at you or aimlessly walk  from side to side without caring they've been shot, they mix it up enough to keep it interesting. They will attach these green robots to flying...well...canisters is the best way I can describe it where they will try to pick you off from the air. There's a big boy robot that will attack you with a chain gun that if you are in the open, you won't last long. There's some that prefer melee attacks and flip around like little ninjas, some that look like police robots that can take a bit more damage, and red ones that tend to be more up close and personal with their weapons. If those were not enough, you will definitely run into some that tower over you the size of buses or worse yet, buildings. Lock-On missiles, heavier firepower, better armor...these are the ones that have it all and can cause problems.

Regardless of which ones you run into, the fun comes into taking them out. This can lead to various strategies on how to defeat a horde of robots. It's a pleasure to hear the little ding and watch a robots head explode right before they turn around and start shooting other robots. This in turn causes those robots to take out that robot as well since they are deemed a threat also. Perhaps you like to cripple them by shooting out their legs and watch them scrape their way along the ground to grab a hold of you if they do reach you. Or just blow the arms off and force them to resort to a headbutt as their method of attack. Doesn't really matter which you choose because it never got boring destroying these robots.

I haven't touched the multiplayer as I was having a bit of trouble finding anyone to connect to, but I'm hoping it's more co-op campaign than any sort of death match or horde mode. This game would be a lot of fun with other people playing although it would lose out on the interaction between characters. But overall, there's not much I can say was absolutely horrible about this game. It was a pleasant surprise considering my negative outlook from the demo I didn't want to finish, and aside from some quick time events, rail shooting and sliding/jet craft riding sections, it was one of the better shooters I've played in recent memory.

Sadly, the game sold poorly. So there's little to no chance this game will receive a sequel although I would love to play another game like it. I think the game ends in a way where there's no need for a sequel, but I had a blast shooting the armor off robots and removing body parts from them. SEGA released a great, and vastly underrated and overlooked, game that more people should try out. Instead these players will continue to focus on the rehashing of mediocre Sonic games so they have something to call SEGA out on and ignore one of the best games that has been released this year. For shame.

Why I'm Stumped With Fez

There's a game that's going around, and I'm sure you all know it, named Fez. It's a game that after 4-5  years in the making has received a number of awards and discussion.  It was finally released to the masses after the controversy that was the creator of the game Phil Fish's "Japanese games suck" comment. Despite the long development time and the backlash he received after the comment, the game received very positive reviews.

But here's where I'm stuck...

The concept of the game sounds intriguing. A little 2D man who receives a little Fez hat that allows him to see a different dimension that he uses to solve puzzles to save his world. Many have commented on the music being amazing and the gameplay a little similar to the Paper Mario form of shifting perspectives. There is nothing that I just wrote that would keep me from wanting to play this game. However, the number of reviews on this game do. Below is a few things that I have noticed either said about the game, or not really discussed about it.

• This game can be a chore and frustrating, and not particularly in a good way. Not until after you see the first "ending" does it really open up to the absolute craziness that makes this game what it is.

• Most reviewers don't actually say this game is fun in any way shape or form. They comment about what this game turns into and the puzzle lunacy, but nowhere do they make the game sound fun or that they had any fun while playing it.

• How great it feels to go to the community and see them try to solve puzzles together because nobody seems to be able to do it themselves in game. This moment in gaming where so many people come together to find everything they can in it, and that it may never have been done on this scale before.

Now, I'm confused on why these have been praised where in other games they would be criticized. For example, the going to the community to solve puzzles. Anytime a puzzle game comes out, people always say how important it is to be able to figure them out by yourself. A good puzzle, as most will put it, will leave you scratching your head one minute. But as soon as you figure it out, you feel like a moron for not piecing it together sooner because it was so obvious. That doesn't seem to be the case with Fez. Instead, it is rewarded for being so difficult that you have to not only come to the game with a specific understanding of ideas and previous knowledge, but to go online to find answers that other people have answered.

Not only does this isolate people who may not have an Internet connection (which is something people bring up often when it comes to digital distribution talk), but it brings up the discussion on why sites like Gamefaqs can be scoffed at in one regard of receiving help, but receiving the same amount of help on the game's forum is okay.

My main problem with the puzzles and level of difficulty is the one that had the entire Fez community working in tandem, and that's the very last puzzle. With such a large number of people working on it, one puzzle should not have caused such a problem for them. But not only was it a problem, it was solved by brute force, not any specific methodology.  Nobody who has played Fez can find any sort of reasoning behind the answer to the last problem, nor are they sure it IS the last problem. And while some reviewers were amazed at this and didn't seem to have any issues, it contradicts the very statements they say about games like Portal about the feeling of success they receive when figuring it out. The best part about this puzzle is how the community came together to do it, and that I can understand.

So my question would then be, what about people who come in later? If one of the best things about Fez was the community interaction, what happens to players who play the game at a later date. That community interaction is moot, because the puzzles have already been solved. So one of the best parts about this game is suddenly diminished because being a part of the community to solve Fez's most mind-numbingly frustrating puzzle is gone. The answers have been found, and the game has become nothing more than a Gamefaqs solution away.

But what I'm most concerned about is the actual fun factor. Puzzle games can be fun. Again, Portal is the perfect example of that. So why can't I find many reviewers actually say this game is fun in any term of the word. I can respect the puzzles being hard. Phil Fish sounds like he's on a genius-level I'll never come close to and I am envious of that. The music is apparently amazing and every screenshot I see of the game looks remarkable. I heard the platforming itself is somewhat lacking, and the premise of the game sounds like something I would love. Yet why is it that every person that talks about this game sound like they were clubbed in the back of the head repeatedly while playing it? Being frustrated to the point of looking up answers is not fun. Neither is having to play through a chunk of the game until it picks up interest. Where the actual enjoyment of the game comes from is beyond me, but perhaps it's an elaborate puzzle where I have to decipher the true feelings of the game by picking out every third letter in words with two vowels or more and piecing the letters together backwards.

I'm not sure what to think of Fez. Since I am unable to play the game currently due to no X-Box in the house, all I have to go off of is the reviews and I'm completely baffled by what I'm hearing from them. But at the same time, if the game ever releases to the PS3, I know I'll get it just to see what the hubbub is about. Some people probably think I just don't "get" Fez and I won't until I play it, and that may be true. But I don't "get" how Fez could go against what people want in games but be given the scores that it has when other games would be rated lower due to the same things. So Phil Fish, if you are reading this (doubtful), I hope the game is released on PS3. I would love to be proven wrong and see what this game is about. And if possible, send me a cheat sheet. I've seen the ones people have made, and I don't know if I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Several months back I wrote a review for a game I wasn't expecting a whole lot from in the form of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. You can read my review HERE. I was in for a surprise by playing a game that may very well have knocked off Mario Kart as my favorite kart racing game.

So news breaks that the game will be followed up by a sequel in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed which continues to ape the formula of the most recent Mario Kart by having the karts "transform" into various other forms of transportation. Besides cars and motorcycles, they will morph into planes and boats which allows for a wider range of tracks that will span an even greater amount of SEGA games.

Already, there have been a couple more characters joining the fray including Gillius Thunderhead from Golden Axe and a Skies of Arcadia addition in Vyse. SEGA says there will be at least 20 tracks, with 16 of them being brand new ones such as a Panzer Dragoon inspired level. I personally look forward to more Samba de Amigo tracks as they were absolutely trippy in a fun drug-induced sort of way.

While most of it sounds like it will play the same way, there have been some minor tweaks that mostly play out in the various kart-styles that will affect how a player drifts and performs tricks while in the air. The other change that has been released is the All-Star move that usually occurs the further back in the pack a racer is that has them perform a character-specific action that usually demolishes other players and moves them up front quite quickly. Instead of the insane amount of rubber-banding that can occur from this, the All-Star move is now based on the number of tricks performed, stars gathered during a race, and successful drifting. These actions add to a meter that every racer has and once that meter is full, the All-Star move can be performed. So now anyone in the race has the chance to gain one, and not just those close to last. However, those that are further back will have more chances at getting the moves as the meter will charge faster for them.

So suffice it to say, I'm quite excited for this new game. The new kart transformations make me envision riding the waves with Ecco the Dolphin jumping beside me, driving in a car made of Bayonettas hair while the entire track is flipping end over end as it falls through the sky, driving through the House of the Dead, and simply something with Seaman in it. Don't know what, just more Seaman. Everyone loves Seaman.

As of right now, there's a tentative "late 2012" release date, but I'm sure we'll see more at E3.

Mass Effect 3: Massively Lazy?

Let me preface this by saying: This isn't a rant about the ending. It's not even a review. But as someone who finally finished the game, I came across a lot of moments and things that irritated the hell out of me. Not because they were necessarily awful, but just because they felt rushed. Instead of trying to make this trilogy end on a strong note and try to top Mass Effect 2, who some thought was one of the best games of all time, they decided to release a product that felt like they wrapped it up simply because they had to.

1. Poor Design

I didn't realize just how important quest logs can be. I guess I never thought about it, because I never ran into any real problems with them. Until Mass Effect 3 that is. While Mass Effect 2 made great strides of improvement from the original game, ME3 takes a step back in many areas, the quest log being one of them.

In Mass Effect 2, each quest would update itself with where you need to go, what you need to do, and when finished, who you need to talk to for that quest to be completed. No such luck with ME3. Instead, they give you a brief description about the quest at hand and no updates will be made until that quest is completed. Well, completed, or just made unavailable.

That's right, in another irritating note to the poor quest design, there are key moments in the game where the quests you have in your log will suddenly be unobtainable. It won't let you know that, it'll just keep the quest in your log. It also will continue to show the person you need to speak to on the map, even though that person may no longer be there. If they are there, they may no longer need that quest. None of this is really explained particularly well, and it can be frustrating that you decide to finish up your quests at the Citadel, get pulled into a story event, then realize that the quests can no longer be turned in. Thanks for the heads up, especially since I was fortunate to remember I grabbed the item from the quest since it doesn't seem to update in the log. Oh well...

2. Barebones Multiplayer

It's bad enough that Bioware went back on their word about the multiplayer not playing a part in the single player campaign, but it felt like they just threw the multiplayer in there as a bullet point on the back of the box. The multiplayer is competent, but it's just not particularly new or interesting. It's a horde mode. 11 waves of enemies, some waves more difficult than others, and you have to survive until the end. Nothing other games haven't crafted just as well, if not better.

While I feel the different classes do add to the multiplayer a bit, the transaction model of getting new characters and weapons can be frustrating since there's no guarantee you'll get anything particularly worthwhile. After spending almost $20 on new packs, I had some more medi-gel to use, one extra character, and one new weapon. Other items I did gain, but unfortunately, some were items that once you use them, you lose them. I don't like spending money on something I will get for one match. While they do tell you it is for one match only, you may not really understand what that means until you go back to try and equip it the second time. Like some other parts of ME3, it just isn't explained particularly well. You don't have to buy the packs with real money and can instead use credits you gain from winning levels, the same still applies. You don't know for sure what you get, and that can be frustrating. To me, it feels like they were trying to get an easy way out of actually developing a decent leveling mechanic and reward system. It's not particularly good in this regard.

3. N7 Missions

The N7 missions are probably one of the best examples of what can be the downsides of Mass Effect 3. Instead of intricately made levels, the player is dropped into a small map area where they need to either type on some keyboards or gather a few items before the mission is over. To make this more exciting, they throw in a lot of enemies to fight. Unfortunately, it doesn't change the fact that these missions are garbage. They are boring and add nothing to the game other than time spent in it. They are quick little missions that were thrown in just to give the player something extra to do. I'm still trying to figure out if they threw these in the main game because they already made them for multiplayer, or if they didn't want to make any more multiplayer maps so they used them for that as well.

I'll go ahead and discuss the From Ashes DLC here as well since the mission itself was basically an N7 mission. I don't particularly mind that the Prothean character was on the disc. Fine, whatever. Do what you want Bioware. My main problem is that if the only thing they added as DLC was the mission itself (or that's what I've come to understand), then $10 went to fund a quick 10-20 minute mission with a few cool cutscenes that was, for the most part, one of the worst missions I've played in the entire Mass Effect series. I would not be surprised if they had most of the Prothean things in the game, but were rushed to put the game out, and didn't have the mission itself done. So instead of actually finishing it, they decided to try and hide the Prothean viewpoint to the game although it felt like it was meant to be in the game originally. That aside, you do get a game-breaking weapon in the mission and the character itself is pretty awesome.

4. Import Problems

By now, the issue with importing faces has made its rounds around the Internet. One of the most important features of the Mass Effect series has been being able to import the character from the previous game so that connection with your character is still there.

Well, sorry for those of you who played both ME and ME2, because thanks to the coding being different, ME3 may not be able to read your characters face. Bioware was aware of this issue apparently as they were able to make an error message regarding this problem, but didn't actually think it was worth fixing at the time. Instead, a patch will be coming out shortly to fix this problem.

But that's not the only problem one could have if importing a character. Another I've heard about involves the relationship involvement of characters. If you decide that you want to play as a female character and romance a man in ME3, you are limited greatly based on past decisions. For example, the following are males you can romance in ME3 if you are a female:

•  Garrus
• Kaidan

That's right, two male characters. Thane and Jacob will spend time with you, but their relationship will come to a close in ME3. However, if you Kaidan or Garrus are dead based on the previous two games, you clearly won't get to romance them. Or, if Garrus is alive, you must have had to romance him in ME2, otherwise, you have no shot with him either. So unless Kaidan is alive or you have already given Garrus some lovin, you are left with some lesbian romances. That's great and all, but considering other characters in the game (does James Vega get no love?), it seems short sighted that a female Shepherd may not have anyone to love in ME3 unless she doesn't mind the same sex.









5. Tali

I love Tali. She was so sweet and smart and she was my perfect mate in ME2. I was so glad to know that I would get a chance to see her in ME3. I mean...reaaaally see her.



But why would I want to see her? What would I expect her to look like? I don't think it would really matter as it would probably disappoint me regardless. However, what they decided to do, was worse than anything they could have possibly done. Instead of taking the time to find a perfect face for her and craft it for the game as a big reveal if you decided to romance her...you get a still frame picture.



Okay, that's alright. This could still turn out okay. I mean, it's more thrown in there just to get fans off their back, but whatever. Perhaps they still put some thought into what she would look like. Maybe they crafted every line and mole her face would have considering how important this would be for fans, right?



*sigh* Nope. Apparently someone fell in love with a stock photo they found while searching Google for "pretty faces" or something, and thought it would work. No Bioware. It doesn't. If you weren't going to put an ounce of thought into what Tali would look like, just keep it a mystery. You'll probably still get some hate from the fans, but it would be better than just flipping them the bird this way. Hell, I probably would have at least got a laugh if it was a stock photo of Predator.



And I refuse to be the person to spoil what her face looks like. I'll let you look it up and get disappointed for yourself.









6. Flying around the galaxy



Another good example of ME3 stripping something out of ME2 would be when you travel to different planets in the galaxy. In the previous game, you could go to every planet and there would always be something there to scan and gain from it. In ME3, you can still look at every planet, but not every planet will allow you to scan it. Instead you set off a beacon in random parts of the system to see if there's a planet the EDI detects with an anomaly. There's no real reason to do it in this game whereas in ME2 you did, but they could have kept that feature from ME2 and condensed it to a smaller version instead of replacing it with what they did. A bad game of tag with the Reapers.



So there are specific systems that get invaded with the Reapers. When you search for anomalies by using a beacon, the Reapers become aware of your presence in the system. After so many times, they chase you down. This should be a moment of dread where everything that goes wrong possibly could and you just get demolished. Well, what happens...is much less drastic. Game over screen. No real punishment, nothing to really defend yourself with if you can't escape in time. Just load it back up and go right back in since it saves when you travel there. An almost pointless inclusion into the game that does nothing but rush you to get your quests done.



What I had hoped they did would be to do what they did in ME2 where you beef up the Normandy with weapons and shields. Then if you do engage with the Reapers, you may have a quick action cutscene or something to add to the conflict that gives some sort of reason for them to be there other than annoyance. But they didn't, so I will continue to gather my war assets that I barely understand and risk being gobbled up into a game over screen before restarting and knowing exactly where I need to go when I reload.









7. Story "huh?" moments



I'm not particularly sure if these would fall under glitches or not, but there were some questionable things that happened in my game of Mass Effect 3. The first thing I'll point out is this ultimate weapon to destroy the Reapers. Not only was one of the components one of the most obvious things in the series, but to think that in such a small amount of time, this weapon could be constructed seemed kind of weird. Especially since every system was being invaded by Reapers basically but this weapon was well hidden. I'll even somewhat ignore the idea that other races such as the Protheans knew of this ahead of time and still couldn't construct it in time, even with the item that was needed the most...although they apparently guarded it....but didn't bother to grab before they were destroyed.



I also had sex with a ghost. No lie, I banged a dead woman. I know necrophilia is frowned upon now, but according to what my Shepherd did, it's something that's not so crazy in the future. So I told you that I romanced Tali. Well, she later died in a mission. Her name was written on the board in the ship, I was distraught over it, and expected to see Ashley walk in or cry over a picture frame. Instead, Tali walked in as if nothing had happened, and we proceeded to get dirty under the sheets. After having the last pointless and horrible dream sequence, we had some pillow talk and went on with our lives. Well, I did. She went back to being dead. There will never be a greater one night stand.



Another thing that stood out for me, and the last one I'll bring up, was the final mission. I had two people with me, one of which was Garrus. Everything went to hell, and we charged to the final showdown. Big mistake. Everyone appeared to die. Instead, Garrus remained alive. Not only alive, but in space. I don't know how, but why the hell didn't Garrus inform me of this amazing teleportation ability he suddenly had? It would have saved a lot of load times on the Citadel if I could just teleport to the Normandy the way he did. So I finished the game by myself instead of having my companions with me, because they decided to ditch me and show up with Joker instead of sticking with me until the end. I'm just not sure HOW they did it...



Basically the point I wanted to get across was, how well did they think this through? As much thought that went into this series, they left some pretty obvious things in this finale that they just made. Things that doesn't take much thought, and perhaps, I'm the idiot here. Maybe it was explained in a throw away line or perhaps I blinked during a sequence, but the way some things just played out felt odd, out of place, and made no lick of sense.









8. The End



I lied. I'm sorry, but the end has to be discussed a bit. I wish I could go on a tirade about how it was one of the worst endings ever and Bioware should be ashamed of it...but I'm not. I didn't think it was particularly bad, just...lazy. I don't know of a better way to explain it. There were some big choices in this series, and it should have ended with the BIGGEST. Instead, it ended the way it did. There were multiple ways to make the game end, but there weren't that many differences between them.



That's what is so disappointing to me about the ending. The choice just didn't seem important. The series itself became what it did because of how the choices played out, and this one...didn't really matter. And it's really hard to describe it without spoiling it. But it's sad to know that the game ends with a whimper. It also ends too neatly considering the scope of the game. I may as well have finished the game by pressing a button. That's how uneventful, uninspired, and lame the ending is.



The only thing worse than the ending are the people going crazy about it demanding Bioware to release a better one.















But really, the game itself is great. I would recommend it to everyone and despite how I feel they took the easy route on many parts of the game, it is still quite an amazing experience especially if you played the first two games as well. It could have used some polish, could have used some extra time, and would have benefited greatly had they put more effort into improving parts of the game. But if there was a way to finish off one of the greatest game franchises of all time, there were worse ways to do it. But there were also better ways. But I don't regret playing the game one bit.

I am gamer, soon to be father

In December, we received some amazing news that we had been hoping to hear for over a year. The wife and I are expecting our first child. It was somewhat unexpected. We had been having problems conceiving, and was told by the doctor that tests may have been needed. So when the wife was late (again), we didn't think anything of it. Three months later, it still feels surreal and dreamlike. I'm going to be a father come August 4th. Poor kid.

The worries flood my mind. Will I be a good father? Will I be able to take care of not only the wife and myself, but this new addition? Will I get sick or pass out in the delivery room due to anything I may see while in there? And the one that gamers like us may ask, although it's the least important, how will it effect our gaming habits?

Is it trivial? Sure it is. But gaming is more to me than a hobby or something I do when I'm bored. It was an escape. A way to get my mind off a stressful day or to divert my attention from troubles in the real world. It has always been like that for me. I never had high self-esteem growing up and never really wanted to be around my friends. Gaming was my friend. It was there when my parents were downstairs screaming at my brother about the trouble he was in yet again or when I was lonely at home because I didn't have a date like my other friends. When I hated everything about my life, video games was there for me in a sad, pathetic, god-I-have-nothing-else-in-my-life way.

While my life has gotten better (HEY! I'M NOT LONELY ANYMORE!), I still have my down days. I have days where running around slashing people with a sword or jumping over pits of spikes is the world I want to live in at the moment. Why the hell do I want to worry about bills and my job all the time? Being an adult sucks. I still have bouts of depression I need to overcome, even with the support of my lovely wife. Gaming is that extra help for me. And with a baby on the way, I might finally lose a chunk of that help.

So the question I keep asking myself, am I ready to give up something that has always been a big part of my life for something that will eventually become one of the two biggest things in my life? And the answer is...maybe I won't have to. Sure I'll lose time to do so. I don't expect my wife to do everything for the baby so I can spend time running around the American Revolution in a white hood. That's a divorce waiting to happen. But I have to do something I've always been terrible at, and that's managing my time wisely. If I know something needs to be done, I have to get off my fat ass to do it. Don't rush the baby to sleep so I can sit in front of the tv and play the next iteration of the Playstation or Xbox. The baby will eventually nap. I can stay up late or wake up early to play games if need be. It's time for me to be a father, as many of you are or will become. And judging from the site you are on, I'm sure you found a way to make it work or will find a way to make it work. I will too.

And who knows, I may even be able to make a future gamer out of this kid.


So to those of you gamers with children, how did you notice your gaming habits change? What sacrifices did you have to make? What wise words can you share with me to help calm my soul about being a gaming father?

No Sweat Off My Backlog

There's a looming dread that we as gamers have when we buy games. The nagging question we pose to ourselves every time we fork over money to experience another fantasy world we can run around in. No, it's not "Can I eat cheetos without getting any of them on my controller as I shoot people in the face?". No. The question we ask ourselves is, "Will I ever get around to playing this".


And it's a fair question to ask. There's only so much time in a day to commit to our hobbies and enjoy ourselves especially if we work a 8-5 job, have a family who needs attention as well, the preparation and consumption of food to live, and trying to get enough sleep to do it all over again day in and day out. We aren't all fortunate enough to be game reviewers who get to live the life we all dream of. Sitting in our underwear (if it's washed) for hours at a time playing video games and getting paid to do it with occasional trips to the store to fill up on Pepsi and Slim Jims.


So since we all don't get to live that life of luxury, we may have an ever-growing stack of games that soon rivals the minutes spent playing video games a week. I see people ask the best way to minimize this stack and this post is my attempt to utilize my amazing intellect to inform you of how to ease this dilemma. It may result in sacrifice and sadness. But in the end it will be worth it.


Duke Nukem For Never

Stop kidding yourself. You are never going to get around to play that copy of Dark Sector that you have been holding out on since release day. I don't care how eager you are to pop that game in, if you haven't done it by now, there's a chance you never will. The only way you will ever play that game is if society collapsed and the only things you had were a X-Box and Dark Sector. And even then, you would be trying to find an internet connection to download games.

Getting rid of games you haven't played yet is a difficult thing to do. I'm holding out on my copies of Heavy Rain, Two Worlds II and God of War III in hopes I'm going to get around and play them. I'm not. I know I'm not. But the hope still shines. The problem is, there are games continuing to come out that I'm going to buy and will play before I ever see the opening credits to these games. Take a look at the backlog and ask yourself, "Am I ever going to play this?".

And there are two good reasons you should ask this. The first is: How long have you had it? Let's face it, the longer you have a game, the less appealing it is to go back to it. Newer games are coming out, and staying on top of those are top priority. Then there is also the second reason: They may not hold up. While older games may have a nice artstyle and simple gameplay that holds up over time, the newer generation of games don't do so well. The realistic graphics tend to look more like garbage the further you get away from it's release date, the controls get worse as developers find better ways to implement them in games year after year, and there's a chance that the most interesting story devices in the game have already been spoiled to you since spoilers are rampant on the internet.

While there are games that are clearly classics you should hold out on, don't worry about saving every single game. Not every game is going to be a Portal or Shadows of the Colossus. Do a little research on some games you are unsure of, and if they don't seem worth it, trade them off. Homefront is not going to be a classic game 5 years from now. No use in holding on to it.


Single Sitting Single Player Session

Another way to plow through the backlog is to find games that are relatively short. So for example, let's say you hated my advice from the previous point and you just have to get balls deep in Homefront. I mean why wouldn't you? It was...well...you just want to see what all that marketing went into. The good thing about Homefront is that the single player campaign is relatively short. If I remember right, 4-6 hours was the mark most people finished the single player game in. Fantastic, especially if multiplayer isn't your thing.

Find games with short playthroughs and finish them up. It's an easy way to knock out some of those cases in your backlog if you can figure out which one's don't take that long to beat. Skyrim is a no-no when it comes to backlog cleaning, but if you want to get that copy of Arkham Asylum off your shelf, it's an easy game to finish in one or two sittings unless you want to torture yourself with the challenge mode. Just be realistic in what you know you will sit down and play for hours on end. The Dragon Age's, Fallouts, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effects...don't bother. Save them for last. Knock out the quick and easy games and be done with them.


Take a Break With Multiplayer

Multiplayer games are tricky. It's more for quick experiences and they should normally improve with every iteration of the game. I doubt there's a lot of people playing Call of Duty 3 when they have Black Ops or Modern Warfare 3 on their shelf. But it's a case by case experience as people enjoy certain maps or layouts or they may not like new features the games have, so it's difficult to really say get rid of any old games that are multiplayer driven.

So keep them. It's against this blog post in a way since I'm trying to give you ideas to lighten the load, but don't play Battlefield or Call of Duty religiously. Use them as nice transitions between games. Once you finish a single player game, give yourself some time between games by playing some multiplayer matches so you can get through some of those games. Instead of jumping headfirst into them, you may realize the next time you go back to it that you don't really enjoy it as much as the first time and you don't need it anymore. Then get rid of it. If you find yourself putting in one particular multiplayer game more than another, keep the one you like and get rid of the one you don't. And if you find that you don't really have a lot of people playing that multiplayer game with you and all of them are on a different one, go with where your friends are. Multiplayer games are always more fun with friends.


Don 't Be Brash, Save Your Cash

Stay away from the Cheap Ass Gamer video game deal forums. Trust me, it's hard to do. I can have $5 in my account, but as soon as I see a Amazon warehouse deal, I'm tempted to spend the rest of that $5. Remember, you came into this predicament by spending money. SO STOP IT! Don't allow the great deals to cloud your judgement and cause you to pull out your credit card and spend $15 on Rage.

Video game deals are not that hard to come by. While it may be torture, simply wait. Most games will drop to incredibly low prices, and by the time you get around to playing them, they'll be cheaper than when you originally bought them. If you don't have the willpower to stay away from the deal forums, double check to see if it's dropped in price before. Some games will drop for a limited time, and when they do, it's almost a guarantee they'll drop to that price again if not lower. Not to mention there are plenty of places to find deals. Black Friday is always a nice time for cheaper games, Gamefly has pre-owned game sales once in a while, Best Buy deal of the days, Warehouse Deals...just keep an eye on everything. But don't get trigger happy with the wallet. Keep an open mind to the possibility of lower prices and talk yourself out of it by going "It can get cheaper...".



So that's a few things I try to do to keep my game collection limited. Some may roll their eyes and think I'm foolish, but it works. It's not perfect, as I have plenty of downloadable games in my collection I haven't touched along with a few disc games that are still in shrink wrap. But it does help.

But if all else fails, you can open up a rival trade-in store.