Those who listened in to our latest IVG Podcast would have known about a little contest we held to celebrate the release of Mass Effect 2. We asked listeners to name all the EA games that Nash and I mentioned throughout the podcast. We’ve picked six winners, one of whom will receive a copy of Mass Effect 2 for PC and an N7 T-shirt, while the remaining five winners will receive N7 T-shirts.
The following review does not contain any plot spoilers
By now it would be safe to assume that when it comes to RPGs, Bioware can’t do anything wrong. Last year, the RPG juggernaut delivered a near flawless old-school role-playing experience with Dragon Age: Origins. And now a couple of months later, they’re back with one of the most anticipated titles of the year - Mass Effect 2, a game that sits pretty much on the opposite end of the RPG spectrum when compared to Dragon Age: Origins. Bioware certainly has broken a lot of rules and created some new ones with Mass Effect 2. RPG purists may have some trouble adjusting to its bold new direction, but whichever way you look at it, the end result is probably one of the finest and most memorable gaming experiences you’ll have in a long time. If you’ve played the first game in the series and loved it, there really is no reason for you to read the rest of the review; just go buy the game and start playing it already. The more skeptical ones can read on.
Mass Effect 2 is a direct sequel to 2007’s Mass Effect and the second chapter of a planned trilogy. Despite featuring a brilliantly realised sci-fi universe, excellent writing and an epic story, the first game was marred by a few technical flaws, largely uninteresting combat, a cumbersome inventory system and repetitive side missions. Mass Effect 2, however, addresses all of those flaws while making some major changes to the standard RPG template. A lot of fans (including myself) had expressed concerns over the game inching closer to a shooter than an RPG after some of the early previews. Yes, the combat system has been revamped to resemble a shooter, “quests” have become “missions”, complete with a summary screen at the end and many of the RPG elements are redone and some are stripped off entirely. However, the game is still an RPG at heart and everything you loved about the first game is here, better than ever and everything you hated is nowhere to be found.
Boring!
There really isn’t a better (or nicer) way to sum up Dark Void. It’s a rare example in recent memory of a game which turned into a chore to finish. And when that happens, it pretty much defeats the whole idea behind gaming. You can very well imagine how boring a review for a boring game would be. What would be more interesting, however, is to try and re-construct the meeting between the developer and the publisher, where Dark Void got the green signal for full steam ahead. Before we begin though, it is important to clarify that while Dark Void is boring, as a game, it is technically adequate and playable. With that said, lets get cracking, shall we?
Resident Evil 5 is now a PS3 Platinum and Xbox 360 Classics title, which means that the game will now be priced at Rs 1,999 on both platforms. So if the original Rs 3,499 price tag was keeping you away, now’s the time to pick it up. Also look out for Resident Evil: Gold Edition in stores this March, and expect pricing to be lower than the standard Capcom price of Rs 3,499. The Gold Edition includes Resident Evil 5 as well as two new episodes - Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape.
Game Shop Retail Pvt. Ltd. has opened its first specialist games retail store - Games: The Shop, in Mumbai. Although it’s a division of E-Xpress Interactive, one of India’s leading game distributors, the store carries games from all publishers across PC, console and handheld platforms. The first store is located at R-City Mall in Ghatkoper West, Mumbai.
After the success of their first store, the company now plans to expand the brand through more stores in Mumbai and the rest of India. So for anyone hoping to get into games retail, now would be a good time to approach E-Xpress with a business plan to open a Games: The Shop store in your city.
Despite Splinter Cell Conviction being pushed back (again) from it’s February release date, there are still plenty of great games this month to make things harder on the wallet. First up is Bioshock 2, the sequel to one of the best games of 2007. Indian release date for Bioshock 2 is February 9 and it will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Sharing the same release date is one of the most anticipated games of the month - Dante’s Inferno.
Dante’s Inferno will be available in two versions on the PS3, with only the collector’s edition (Death Edition) available for Xbox 360. The Divine Edition (PS3 only), in addition to the game, includes a digital artbook, the game’s soundtrack, and a complete Longfellow translation of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, the poem the game is based on. The Death Edition is available on PS3 and Xbox 360 (check image below for contents) and it comes with special packaging and a host of collectibles and unlockables.
Fans of Assassins Creed 2 may be aware of the missing 12th and 13th sequences in the game. While leaving the game incomplete is bizarre and frustrating, Ubisoft’s official statement blamed shortage of time for the missing sequences, adding that they would be released as future DLC. Now, almost two months later, the first instalment or sequence 12, named The Battle of Forli, is out. So is it really worth the extra money?
The Battle of Forli picks up right after Ezio joins the Order of the Assassins. Remember Caterina Sforza, the flirtatious woman you met at the docks outside Forli just before leaving for Venice? Teaming up with Machiavelli, Ezio must protect Caterina and the town of Forli from an assault. The Orsi brothers are leading the attack and it is up to you to stop them. Things heat up even more when Ezio realises that the attack may have been a decoy set up by the Spaniard in order to get his hands on the Piece of Eden.
“Games are hobbies, not a profession,” mother yelled theatrically on hearing my ‘audacious’ plan of enrolling in a game design school as part of my education. This should have surprised me, but surprisingly, it didn’t. What actually astonished me was how little time it took to convince her that making games is a real business; a multi-billion dollar industry flourishing in all its glory.
As to what made my mother change her mind, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it was my innocent face pleading with her or maybe she likes her son being different from others. If I had to choose, I’d say that the times we are living in proved to be the biggest contributor to her decision. The global nature of today’s society ensures that everyone’s on the same page, albeit not literally. My mother must have researched on the internet or called up a student counsellor, which resulted in her realising that my audacious plan was not so audacious after all.
War is AWESOME! Don’t give me that look; you know it’s true. As a video gamer, we know that better than anyone else. Sure there are games like Armed Assault and Operation Flashpoint, which try to show that the battlefield is a brutal and unforgiving place, but thanks to the efforts of games like Call of Duty and Army of Two, we know the truth. War is awesome. You get to kill foreigners (preferably of a different skin colour or at least of a different ethnicity) with tons of cool weapons, you get to go to all of these picturesque locations (and blow them up) and you get to watch huge explosions as the laws of nature bend to slow down time so you can fully appreciate them. There is the slight inconvenience of getting shot, but if you hide behind a table or a rock, your body regenerates and heals itself. What’s not to like about war?
Yes, in case it isn’t obvious, Army of Two: The 40th Day is from the school of stupid when it comes to war. And it seems to be aware of it and remains blissfully uncaring. I guess the developers realised that it isn’t possible to yank the subtlety chain after you have destroyed the entire city of Shanghai in the opening cutscene and decided to just roll with it from there on. And it works, in a way. So we have the two protagonists - Salem and Rios (whose names I had to Google to find out even after finishing the game twice. Yes, the writing and characters are that forgettable), who land in Shanghai on some sort of a mission and some bad guys just happen to start bombing the hell out of the city soon after that. And that’s pretty much it.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which includes the two expansions to GTA4, will release in India for PS3 and PC on March 30, along with the worldwide release. The two episodes - The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony – will be available on one disc and, unlike the downloadable versions, will not require you to own a copy of GTA4 to play.
Episodes from Liberty City is already available on Xbox 360 at Rs 1,999, so expect the PS3 version to be priced the same. And considering that the PC version of GTA4 is priced at Rs 499, it would be very surprising if the episodes are priced higher. The two episodes are detached from the story of GTA4 and the main characters in both episodes are also different, although Niko, as well as other characters from GTA4, do make appearances. So in essence, these are two new games altogether, and even if you haven’t played GTA4, you can play and enjoy these episodes without missing anything.
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