Mass Effect 2--mixed feelings.

So, I've been trying to actually PLAY some of the games I own and what do you know...if you actually stick to a game, you'll eventually finish it! I had no idea.

I think that writing out my unfinished game lists really made me realize that, damn I buy way too many games and they are really good games and I have no life whatsoever, no job, I dont do housework...so why the hell do I never finish games?

What did I finish?
Mass Effect 2 and the DLC for Dungeon Siege 3.

So lets go with ME2 first...

I've talked about my initial dislike of ME2 before. Its not that it doesnt have a great story, or great characters its that they took an RPG and made it a third person shooter with some RPG elements tacked on. Yeah, I said it, I do not worship at the altar of ME2. I do worship at the Altar of Shepard and Garrus (insane crush on the freaky alien dude!).

I recognize that Mass Effect was a little... clunky and awkward in parts, but, I didnt mind a lot of the things people complained about.
For example, elevators. So many complaints about the long elevator rides masking loading time. I actually rather enjoyed the News Updates while you rode the elevator, they were informative and sometimes amusing, I kind of miss that. I don't know, I have nowhere to be so I dont mind load times, not to mention that being an RPG player I'm used to the dramatic pause and switch to battle screens and the post victory, dance, pose thing. Loading times, they are just part of the package.

Second, while the inventory could be a little cumbersome, I LIKED choosing my weapons and what power ups I would add to each. I liked shopping for new gear and I liked turning the crappy stuff into Omni-Gel. The whole streamed down, no more shopping, finding upgrades scattered around the world thing just didnt do it for me. Also.. WHY THE HELL DO I NO LONGER HAVE GRENADES!!!!!!!!!! I want my damn grenades back! I like throwing a grenade out and watching a whole lot of dudes ragdoll.

Also, I don't appreciate losing half my characters' powers. I playas a Vanguard. Its the space equivalent of Battle Mage and I like being a battle mage, I really liked being a space battle-mage, but now, 2 of my powers are gone and instead I have special ammo...wth?

I hate the "streamlined" upgrade screen, I have less choices, less powers and less control over character development. I don't consider this progress. (I feel the same way about the fact that I can't change anyone's outfit in Dragon Age 2...I liked laughing my ass off at the hideous mismatched armour I'd put on my characters and the ridiculous hats, but that's a rant for another day, like when i finish Dragon Age 2)


One thing I never thought I'd say after playing Mass Effect is... I miss the Mako. The Hammerhead controls like retarded ass. Yes, I know the Mako wasn't exactly the pinnacle of precision, but once I got the hang of it, it was kinda fun I especially liked climbing mountains with it, trying hard to flip it over and having it always land on its wheels, like a cat...also, I could run over stuff. Using the Hammerhead made me rethink how "cool" hovercraft would be.

Now, that I've bitched about the game, let me say that I did really like it, a lot. I mean it was REALLY good. Not he shooting bits that much, or the planet scanning bits, or the boring ass-Citadel parts but...wow..yeah.. man, I sound so negative don't I?
I assure you though, I loved the game. Or more accurately, I loved the story. The gameplay put me off but the story kept me going. Sure its got its share of cliches but what doesnt these days, its like originality is becoming extinct.

Picking up all the different members of your team, getting to know them, doing their loyalty missions, it was fabulous.  I found myself wasting time running around the Normandy talking to everyone often, personal favorites were talking to Zaeed, Kasumi and Joker.

Zaaed's Mercenary stories were a trip. Interesting, sometimes hilarious, usually really fucked up..good stuff.
Kasumi, she was just..so damn cute. I love the way she talks, I would have pegged her for a silent bitchy type but she's so bubbly.
And Joker, well its Seth Green, I love me some Seth Green. Every time I took a different team out on a mission I would come back and ask him about it because he always had something hilarious to say.

Garrus is my game crush so of course, anytime I got to talk to him, do his mission, whatever was just great to me.
Jacob was a little dry but after getting to know him, he grew on me. His loyalty mission was also incredibly interesting.
I was really surprised by how much I liked Mordin. His mission had some really deep, interesting conversation that made you think, and his Salarian hyperness was amusing...also..Him singing...AWESOME



Grunt was...very Krogan and I think his Loyalty mission gave me the most trouble aside from Thane's.
Thane, he was fascinating. Seriously. History, Theology, The Drell in general, I ended up romancing him and Garrus (I'm such a two timer) and while Garrus's romance was very touching, Thane's was by far the most emotional and insightful of the two, not to mention tragic (I might be biased because he started calling my character Siha and that's close to my name, Sihaya...but even without that, he was just awesome.)

Finally Legion. I found him fascinating and was a little dissapointed that there wasn't more there. I mean, after spending the whole first game and most of the second one fighting the Geth, getting to talk to him and learn more about them and what exactly the situation is and the effects of the events of the first game, so much to learn, so much to ask...and he can hack turrets, always a win in my book.

Those were the characters I liked...the dislike column is almost as long.

First of all I must bitch about the fact that useless wench Yeoman Chambers let my damn fish die! TWICE!!! Man she's useless.
Following the useless chick who's sole purpose seemed to be a breathing equivalent of the AOL "You've got mail!" voice would be Samara.
I dont have anything against her particularly, she's an interesting character but, I was just put off by the utter black & whiteness of the Justicar creed. I dont deal in absolutes.

following my mild distaste for Samara is a three way of hatorade.
Jack, Tali and Miranda. I can't begin to express my hatred, my unbridled hatred for these 3 bitches.

Jack is an insane, vulgar, foul-mouthed sociopath that was frankly unnecessary and didnt belong anywhere near this game. I only took her on her loyalty mission because I had to, aside from that I avoided her like the plague. Now, i'm not saying I'm not slightly psychotic or curse like a sailor, But good lord there was truly NOTHING appealing about her character. From her shaved head, all over tattoos and half-nakedness to her snotty attitude and vitriol, I thoroughly hated her. I couldnt even stand looking at her in the character lineup. Best $2 I ever spent were on the Alternate Appearance DLC so she'd put some damn clothes on!

Miranda...oh lord how I despised her superior bitch attitude and her ugly ass mannish face...Also..Why the hell did her already inappropriate outfit become downright ho-ish after her loyalty mission? Seriously, she went from the skin-tight constant focus on her ass white catsuit to a black pleather one with cutouts on her hips and thighs..WTF? Cause that's useful and appropriate in a fire-fight. Again..Alternate Appearance pack is my friend, I loved fugly-ing her up even more (not that that ugly face needed much help) in the DLC jumpsuit with the hideous sunglasses. She's another character I only took out on her Loyalty mission because I had no choice.
I will give Jack one up on her because she kept calling her "cheerleader"  and wanted to kick her ass. Her whole "I was bio-engineered to be perfect, I am so fucking awesome, stand in awe of me and Cerberus is great and the Illusive man is GOD" shtick got on my nerves. I took great pleasure in going against all of her opinions in the end game.
Then there's Tali..I begrudgingly admit that she was useful in a few fights towards the end of the game, but that's as much as you'll get out of me that is positive. Honestly, I've disliked not only this character but her entire race since the first game. If you ask me, the Quarians get what they deserve and I got tired of hearing her whining bullshit about how they are stuck in their stupid suits, on their stupid ships, in their damn migrant fleet and the bad bad icky Geth stole their planet. Fuck the Quarians! Truth of the matter is they were lazy assholes who created robots to use as slave labor so they could dick around. The Geth somehow evolved and became sentient and the Quarians reaction to the Geth wanting to live and not be slaves was to try and exterminate them. I would happily help the Geth blow up the migrant fleet if I could. bunch of self centered douchebags.

And for the record...Screw you too Illusive man also, you look stupid when you smoke!

Not being a bitch, ok, i can't say that with a straight face...Not being THAT big a bitch, I'm not gonna write spoilers, but I will say that the ending was incredibly interesting. I was glad they at least somewhat explained why the hell all this shit is going on. oh and final fight...Cake walk...getting there...not so much. Not hard per se but if you are going for the whole no one dies achievement, think carefully on each decision oh and when Joker asks you if you are ready to go at the Omega-4 relay...SAY YES! DO NOT WAIT

After all that (which was much longer than I was planning) I'll say that, I enjoyed the story and I've already pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of ME3. So, obviously, I've gotten over my nitpicks and character hate lol

I had planned on also writing about the Dungeon Siege DLC but, I need a little Break, I didnt expect this to be so long.

To quote Kasumi-- Come back later. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about.

Quickie

So...last night I was playing Gears 3 on Hardcore with my 7yr old son and my husband. we quit after failing the Anvil Gate mission too many times...you know, when half of you stay on the wall and the other half go out in the truck...
What does it say that the reason we quit was because my husband kept getting killed during the mission..not my 7yr old.
I know who I want on my side in a Vs. match lol


Also, I'm delaying my PS list til tomorrow, I'm a little tired today, plus, I wanna play the new Dungeon Siege DLC so I can hate on Lucas Montbarron some more.

Debating the DLC for Deus Ex..1200 pts..ouch....

Oh, started Alan Wake last night....I am so upset at how much I disliked it.
I read the novel before I bought it, I bought the Collector's edition and read all of it, got the Collector's edition guide with the added companion book ,read all that as well and loved it all.
Finally started the game and noticed a few things that totally killed it for me....

1. Alan Wake is a Douche...now, I already knew this from the book but, I guess, it was palpable because I wasn't straight up hearing him talk...Game starts..I wanna punch him in the head.

2. that lame healthbar-dot that tells you here to go thing..it just isnt working for me. I know some people love that whole minimalistic hud thing. F-that. While in real life I have an excellent sense of direction (no really, take me somewhere once and I can find it again on my own even 10yrs later) In games I become directionally impaired. I LIKE having a mini-map, an actual map, a breadcrumb trail, something besides a dot that rotates with me and gives me vertigo.

3. This is actually the BIG one...I feel like everyone is talking AT me, not TO me. Maybe its because they just start  rambling on without me doing anything except being within 20 ft from them. Maybe its because I really don't give a crap what they are saying....either way, I don't like it.

I WANT to like this game but...damn...its not making it easy.


So...not as "quick" as I expected this to be.
*about the title of this post....
I suck at titles and sometimes I have very little to say and just wanna say it without  spending more time thinking of a witty name, so..quick thoughts will all be "quickie's" it sounds cheap and dirty...I like cheap and dirty ;)

Happy Monday!

No, I don't actually feel that chipper, or have anything earth shattering to write but I thought it would be good to at least drop in here and say hello, get me in the habit of updating regularly.
So, I guess this will just be a short "what's up with me" type thing.
We got a dog over the weekend. Kinda cute, not very bright. Kids love it. He's an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix...and about the only thing "Australian shepherd"about him is one of his eyes is half brown, half blue.
We've named him Luke.
I finished Dungeon Siege 3 for the second time, this time as the mage, Reinhardt Manx. He is so epically broken its not even funny. Seriously his "Geometry of Annihilation" is like the big circle of doom. I never even mastered it and it could still easily decimate ranks. The downside is that he's incredibly obnoxious,constantly making stupid comments.
I finally ran out of shelf space for my games and had to move my PS3 games to another room. i'm kinda sad now, I miss them all being together in my room.
Bought a few new games...well old games, new for me.
let's see...
Picked up Metro 2033 for $5 on Steam
Lego Rock Band for the kids
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Tomb Raider Trilogy
and a couple of games just came in as well...
Just Dance Summer Party and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles The Crystal Bearers (damn that's a mouthful)

I think that's it for the moment. Next schedule game is Gears 3 on the 20th...Epic Edition WOOT!!!
Oh, I found that there's a Bioshock Prequel novel, I picked that up when I ordered Tomb Raider Legend. I'll let you know if that's any better than the Elder Scrolls fiasco.

For the rest of the year I'm gonna be on a short leash when it comes to game purchase because my pre-orders are a bit on the pricey side. I admit it...I've become a CE whore....it all started with Fallout:NV and Fable 3 and its getting worse...
Gears 3 Epic Edition, Uncharted 3 CE, Dark Souls CE, Mass Effect 3 CE....surprisingly I didnt pre-order the Skyrim CE. Well, not really surprising, it just doesn't look worth the $150. The statue of a dragon that comes with it looks like one of those incense burners you see at mall Kiosks. So I pre-ordered the regular edition and the game guide...Yes, I like game guides. I use them and collect them. Yes I know Gamefaqs.com can cover all my walkthrough needs but its just not the same as having a book to flip through, besides...its easier to bring the book into the can. Yeah, I went there.

Oh yeah, my birthday is in 4 days, I'll be 34..which makes me a very sad panda (coincidentally wearing a panda shirt, but they aren't sad, just sneezing.). What this means is that I'm one step closer to the grave and the thought will probably depress me for about a week or so, then I'll get over it til next year. So, yeah, be prepared for doom and gloom.

Have I passed the borders of geekitude?

I was driving the kids to school this morning and since my CD player only works when it feels like it (very sad, can't listen to my blast from the past Mortal Kombat The Album) I was playing music on my phone. No, that isnt the geeky part. Lately I'm pretty much exclusively listening to Miracle of Sound. What is Miracle of Sound? Well, more of a who...Guy named Gavin Dunne that writes songs about games. Really really good, catchy songs about games. Honestly, his song Commander Shepard is the reason I went back to playing Mass Effect 2 after feeling pretty "meh" about it when i first started. My kids and I run around the house singing "You can fight like a Krogan or run like a leopard but you'll never be better than Commander Shepard" constantly. This morning's tune of choice was Necromorph Soup. So yeah, There I was in my car with my midlife crisis red (now pinkish) bangs jammin to a song about Dead Space. Yeah....I'm cool. Just to cement my awesome geekiness I was rockin this shirt:

Indeed, my closet has suddenly gotten an influx of completely dorky, yet awesome pop culture/game related t-shirts. I went from being a high heels and barely there skirt girl to a Raiden T-shirt wearing soccer mom that jams to songs about video games. WTH happened? But, I'm good with that. Though I'm pretty sure I've crossed that border, point of no return. I will never be one of the cool kids. I'm a game nerd.

Speaking of game nerds...I have to address my previous post.
My husband wanted it noted that he HATED with the fire of 10,000 suns being Lucas Montbarron in Dungeon Siege 3. Because well, to keep it simple and to the point, Lucas controls like rancid ass, can't take a hit and sounds like he needs the stick removed from his ass. Also, there was a hilarious glitch somewhere around the second town where during a conversation cutscene his head was on his body backwards. Guess he wanted to admire his ridiculous dual scarves. Yeah, what I thought was a pretentious cape at first was indeed 2 stupidly odd sarves hanging from the back of his armour. what purpose did these serve? Did his cape snag on a tree and rip and he was just too busy getting lost on the battlefield and running from enemies to fix it? Or is this the manly high fashion of Ehb? No idea, but they were lame.

Ok, now that that's been addressed...

Yesterday I spent the day checking my door every hour for Deus Ex. Sometime around 4:30 or so, when i was   about to burst a blood vessel and ready to junkpunch the UPS guy, my game was finally delivered. I squealed like a kid at Disney, almost broke a nail opening the box and ran off to fire the Xbox up. In preparation for my adventure I dressed my Avatar Like Adam Jensen...yeah, she's badass.

So after figuring out that for some reason I have 2 codes for the same DLC and skimming the manual because I was too impatient to read it all, I started the game. It was going well, probably because I wasnt doing anything but watching the intro cutscene with the occasional moment where I had to walk forward. Gave me a chance to admire the odd but cool fashion of 2027 and to get used to the fact that Jensen's voice doesnt' fit his character much (I got over it after a bit). Then as is wont to happen in games, all hell broke loose and I was off to the races, well more specifically to the labs to find out what the drama was. This is where I began to realize something...I REALLY suck at stealth.

I managed to die in the first few fights over a dozen times. Oh, but you know, I thought, He's still normal right now, no awesome shades that are attached to his face. Yeah, well, Shit happened, and now i finally had my cool shades and other new things like shiny black arms.WOOT! I'm gonna shoot and shank some bad guys now! That's what I thought. 

What happened was this..I snuck behind some boxes, and he did the crouch dance...you know, where you forget what to press and he just crouches and stands up, crouches and stands up. Then I tried shooting, I shot the box I was hiding behind, bad camera angle. I shoot again, Jensen blindly shoots over the boxes, misses the bad guy and now i have 3 guys on my ass and I'm dead. Reload, try again. This time I sneak up behind guy A and knock him out, drag his body into a side alley like a good little stealth killer and sneak over to some other boxes (isnt it amazing how in games there are always chest high walls and boxes to hide behind, ALWAYS). I felt good, I felt sneaky. I pull out my sniper rifle, I peak out around cover I zoom in my rifle and...

Somehow the damn thing is staring at the box I'm behind, dammit! I try again and I see my target, right when I was about to pull the trigger he turns, sees me and 3 guys are on my ass again. To hell with this, Shotgun it is. 

I wont bore you with the sad sad details of my infiltration attempts, except to say that, I can't sneak worth a shit and this game makes it impossible to go in guns blazing, at least at the early point I'm at. after about 3 bullets I'm looking at the reload screen. Also, much like how if I sneakily kill someone in the middle of the wasteland with no one around to see me in New Vegas somehow everyone still knows, I knock a guy out with no one around and unless I HIDE his body somewhere, everyone knows, even though no one saw me or him or heard anything. WTF is up with that?

Now, don't get me wrong. I like the game. I love the rich deep, sexy palette of black and gold. I have no idea wtf is going on in the story, but its enough to pique my interest. Adam is suitably cool and I have a decent selection of guns to play with. But this is definitely a "mood game". Its like sex, not tonight, I have a headache. 

I had the same problem with Assassin's Creed 2. LOVE LOVE LOVE Ezio, love the game and the story...HATE walking at a snails pace in a group of people to avoid having the whole damn city chasing me. After a few hours, I just can't do it..I NEED to switch games and hack and slash or mow down a city with a machine gun.

So, today, I will go back to Mass Effect 2. Once I got past the whole "WTFOMGBBQ!!! indignation of not having an inventory and my Vanguard being decidedly gimped and took it more as 'Gears of War' with a deeper story, I'm having a good time. It helps that I can romance Garrus..I love me some Turians, hehe, I'm such a weird little lech.

After getting my ass handed to me on a black and gold platter repeatedly last night it will be nice to be a badass bitch kicking ass and not bothering to take down names. 

My only current problem with ME2 is a problem I have with most RPGs, and since I play mostly RPGs its a problem I have with most games. I talk to 3 people and suddenly I have 30 missions to do. Now I realize I have no time constraints in which to finish these missions, hell I dont HAVE to do the side missions if I dont feel like it but, you know, its an RPG, the point is to do EVERYTHING, get everything, see everything. So it gets a little overwhelming when I look at my journal and there's a billion things to do, and it seems for every 1 thing I do, that leads to 5 more things to do. But you know, I shouldn't bitch, having lots of good interesting missions to do is better than being bored and roaming the wastelands pointlessly (yes, I have revised my opinion of Fallout New Vegas, but I still reserve the right to bitch about it).

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Launch Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Hello cobweb filled Blog, I come in peace to write a short review

So, my current excuse for not writing a damn thing (I am Queen of the Procrastinators!) is that I've been playing games...no really I have. I swear. Seriously. Gaming....lots of it.
I've even managed to finish a game..GO ME!
Not only did I finish, I'm on my second playthrough.
What game you ask?
Dungeon Siege 3.
How was it you ask?
It was...frustratingly annoying when i started it, then it was great.
No, it wasnt the games fault, though it does have plenty of faults.
See, I first played a less than legit copy of it on PC, I was Katarina, the very hot, corset wearing, Angelina Jolie looking half-Lescanzi witch that fights with...Dual Shotguns and a Rifle...that later rapid fires like a machinegun, because what else would a witch use? r-i-i-i--g-g-h-t-t.
I was having a fine time shooting people and grabbing loot. So much fun I figured, "you know what would be great? Playing this co-op with my husband" So, I bought the 360 version  and told him about it and we fired that puppy up.
Yeah, that was such a BAD idea.

First off, if you know even a little about me you know i have a smart mouth and zero patience. Compound that with having one of the WORST (won't bog you down with the details, if you know me well, you know my drama) summers in my entire life (and I've been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Methuselah was in my Algebra class) and what you've got is one mean, loud, out of patience, non-stop, cursing bitch with a desire to inflict bodily harm. In this mindset I began playing Dungeon Siege 3 with my husband.

While he games on occasion, he isnt exactly a gamer, seriously, the xmb confuses him. I on the other hand have spent more time than I should glued to my TV.  Recipe for disaster right there.
We start the game and I again choose Katarina, my hoochie Jolie witch with the guns. I recommend to him the Archon Anjali, I mean, she fights with a spear in human form and then turns into a grey floating bad ass with fire for hair shooting fireballs at people. Insta-win.
But, my husband, he's the traditional sort when it comes to games. Dork in a big suit of armour and a big sword and shield seemed a good idea to him. So, Lucas Montbarron was his choice...BTW halfway through the game I wanted to punch Lucas in his smug, posh, rich boy British mouth, but I digress.

With characters chosen and the villain's name (Jeyne Kassinder) being repeated so many damn times in the intro it would have made a drinking game to make any alcoholic proud. We set out to right wrongs...and die...a lot....every 5 minutes...every damn fight...constantly and annoyingly. I proceeded to unleash a barrage of cursing to make any sailor proud and my husband declared the game sucked. We toughed it out for a while and then quit, never to touch the game again.

But, you know, after a few days, you calm down, the full moon passes, murderous rage subsides and we decide to try again. By now he had read that Lucas Montbarron is not only an annoying twit, but also a crap character to play as. I suggest yet again that he try Anjali the hot Archon (pun soooo intended). But, no, Lucas it was, again.

Better informed we set out to level up and get coin for better gear before confronting hordes of undead. This time, we actually started having fun. We also started noticing the details of the game...and how much they suck.

You see, couch co-op, is half ass co-op.

Player 2 isnt so much your teammate as they are your sidekick, not as bad as playing Resistance with someone but, still, not a partnership of equals. First off, you dont exactly start together, after the intro and all that yapping the second player joins your game. Its a drop in, drop out, type deal where they can leave and come back at any time.
Player 2 cannot select the mission you will do, but, thats nothing, I mean that's standard in many games, Borderlands for example. After all can you imagine the drama of both of you constantly changing the map marker to what you felt like doing. you'd get nowhere (at least that's what would happen in my house)
But wait, there's more. Player 2 can't save the game, that was a big one for us. Its kind of annoying to be right there at a save point and not be able to do anything while the other person walks into a tree or a rock or something.
I will say the dialogue approach for a co-op game was interesting. Player one always does all the talking and makes dialogue choices, but player 2 can "vote"  for a reply. Player 1 can then either go with player 2's suggestion or ignore them completely. If you like achievements its a win either way. You get an achievement for agreeing a certain amount of times and also for disagreeing a certain amount of times.

Once we got past our sucky character issues and our player 2 is a second class citizen issue, we had a pretty good time. The story isnt earth shattering, but its interesting enough to make you carry on til the end. The plot twist was...well...never really explained all that well, and also, not much of a twist. As we progresses it became one of those things where it seems every single boss we fought turned out to just be misunderstood afterwards. I felt like they should have added another dialogue option to the effect of "sorry I kicked your ass dude, maybe next time we should maybe dialogue before busting out the guns and swords"

Wow, looking back, maybe this game isnt that great, so why am I playing it again? Because couch co-op is hard to find these days. Also, because this time I chose the obnoxious mage and he is SO broken, its awesome.
Oh and this time, he finally listened to me and chose Anjali.

So basically, Dungeon Siege 3 is ok, i've played better and worse, worth the $40 I paid. Some little annoyances here and there and unbalanced characters but, its a good time waster.

Since I'm starving and I've already written so much, I'll leave the rest for later. I'll just throw out there that I'm in the middle of Mass Effect 2, started Sacred 2, Torchlight and a few XBLA games and am waiting for UPS to deliver Deus Ex Augmented Edition today. I've played a few other games here and there but those are the ones I'm dedicating most of my time to.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Dungeon Siege III - Co-Op Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360