Day 6 takes me to a very plot rich world. I do one main plot and one secondary plot. There is lots of combat in this session and it remains fun and challenging enough to be engaging without becoming overwhelming. There’s also quite a bit of plot. Some of it is a bit hokey, but some of it has interesting conflict and there are a lot of stuff from Mass Effect 1 popping up in surprising ways . Overall, except for the planet mining grind, the game is remaining pretty good. Spoilers within.
Mass Effect 2 Day#5: Stories of the Normandy
Day 5 really shows this game off. The fights are generally challenging and quite fun. There are a few nice set pieces that make for interesting levels. Also, the writing totally lives up to Bioware hype this session. The main plot has a bit of a formula, but the characters are quite good and I feel like I have a good amount of control over the direction of the story. Kudos to the game for bringing its writing A game. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 4, 2010
Mass Effect 2 Day#4: Old Faces and New Teammates
Day 4 is more team-building and introduces some interesting characters. I enjoy the fighting and it stays enjoyable, but this session has a lot of talking. I complete a few quests and find out quite a bit more about the universe as I revisit old characters for ME1. My fears about the Paragon stuff is a little eased, and there are some small interesting scenes where my decision making seems significant. Overall, it’s going well. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 2, 2010
Zelda Spirit Track Day#1 and 2: Story Like a Freight Train
Needing something to do on my multi-part trip to Copenhagen, I fired up my DSi and started the latest Zelda. Here are the first two “days” (i.e. play sessions) of that game. I mean, it’s Zelda — you kind of know what to expect here. The story at the beginning is WAY too long given that I’ve played like 8 of these by now. They resuscitate a lot of mechanics from Phantom Hourglass but with a few twists, and there is a total pain-in-the-ass new mechanic that uses the microphone. But overall it’s Zelda, this time with trains, and thus it’s reliably fun. Spoilers (I guess?) within.
Posted in Core.
– March 1, 2010
Mass Effect 2 Day#3: The Omega Effect
This day I get out of the intro and into the story proper with a mission on my first real planet. I get a bunch more conversation, although I’m finding the Paragon and Renegade stuff disturbingly easy and blurry. The plot stays pretty strong although there are moments of confusion in what I’m doing. The game is still quite good, but I hope that the Paragon/Renegade stuff hasn’t been dumbed downed even more than it was in the previous game. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– February 25, 2010
Mass Effect 2 Day#1 and 2: Back from the Dead
Actually in Copenhagen as I write this, but I did start Mass Effect 2 before I left (Day 1 was a palette cleanse immediately after MW2 and thus two days in this post) and have a spare second right now as I struggle with jetlag. I like Mass Effect 1, although it was not without its problems. The beginning of Mass Effect 2 starts on the right foot, and I’m interested in it as soon as it starts. Some troubling indicators that I’m keeping an eye on, but the story starts decently well and the game has the right energy to keep me playing. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– February 20, 2010
Modern Warfare 2 Story Mode: Final Smack
The story mode in Modern Warfare 2 is a perfect example of how games want to mimic films, and proves exactly why they shouldn’t. They try quite hard to make some good scenes, and they actually show talent in the composition of shots and even in some of the mechanics. But the truly moronic plot and the deep lack of agency put all of that to waste, and make the entire experience a laughable failure. Just go straight to other modes. This mode is just an exercise in disappointment. More info within.
– February 15, 2010
Modern Warfare 2 Finale: War? What is it good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
My final session of Modern Warfare 2 story mode was quite short. It continues the same wannabe movie style of the rest of the story mode, and it sucks about as much. The game has some good FPS mechanics, but they are simply not in play in the story mode, and the ending is perhaps the most extreme departure. I’m come back to the game to check out the special ops stuff, but I’m done for now.
Posted in Hardcore.
– February 14, 2010
Modern Warfare 2 Day#4: The Theater of War
Day 4 teaches me what I don’t like about this game in general. It’s all staged. They deprive me of agency to set the scenes they want to set. This is the classic mistake of interactive narrative, and they do it about as wrongly as I have ever seen. Some fun gameplay and more dumb, dumb narrative, but ultimately this game is too stilted to be engaging. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– February 12, 2010
Modern Warfare 2 Day#3: Join the Army, See the World
Day 3 on Modern Warfare shows an improvement in gameplay, with firefights that I think I actually do have to fight in and admittedly beautiful graphics. The narrative, on the other hand, remains just as completely idiotic as it has been so far. It’s a better session today, and the combat is clearly showing that it could be fun in other contexts, but there are still moments of pure stupidity and absolute frustration. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– February 11, 2010
