Mass Effect 3 Review

LOVED IT: Truly gripping story that’s influenced by your decisions past and present, levels have grown in scope, more varied enemies enhance combat

HATED IT: Unresponsive cover system, graphical glitches

GRAB IT IF: There are no ifs . . . a must-own

Earth has been decimated, and the rest of the Milky Way is crumbling. The human military is fractured and other alien races are squabbling as the near-omnipotent robo-beings known as the Reapers erase the galaxy.

But for a moment, none of it matters. A crewmember is talking to Commander Shepard about the loss of a gay partner. And Shepard listens.

And in this instant, you understand the true depth of Mass Effect 3. The epic coda to Bioware’s space video game trilogy aspires to be more than a mere game. With galactic war as its backdrop, ME3 aims to be equal parts game and film and social commentary. The result is a thoroughly immersive experience, one of the most transcendent games in recent memory.

The story picks up several months after the events of Mass Effect 2, when Shepard led a suicide mission against the near-omnipotent Reapers.

It begins as The Reapers finally arrive — and the Milky Way is thrown into chaos.

The tale differs greatly from the stories in the trilogy’s first two games. The previous two games set a narrative in motion and then afforded you great freedom, but ME3 maintains more focus and momentum.

Cutscenes and cinematic camera angles are more prevalent, lending context and drama to every mission. Conversations contain fewer explanations of lore; series newbies (who are better off playing MEs 1 and 2 first) should spend plenty of time reading up on history in the game’s handy Codexes.

For newbies and vets alike, the tension is palpable. Gone is the leisurely (and mundane) task of “scanning” planets for resources, replaced by a scan of a solar system that could easily attract Reaper attention. You’ll keep track of “war assets” and “galactic readiness” in your spaceship, the Normandy, as you desperately prep the Milky Way for a last stand.

A series of combat tweaks also make battles feel more daunting. At default difficulty, enemies move swiftly and aggressively, flushing you from cover and setting up dangerous turrets and shields. For two games, bad guys were fodder for your biotic attacks; now, they are formidable.

That strength makes ME3′s battle weaknesses more evident. The camera routinely loses perspective and is utterly useless in close-quarters combat, neutering your new heavy melee attack. And cover glitches abound; at times, Shepard simply won’t crouch behind seemingly flawless cover. Gears of War 3 this is not.

At least you and your team are better prepared for battle. ME3 revives the weapon customization aspects of the original game, allowing for more powerful guns, and it improves character progression, adding greater detail to level-ups.

Even more impressive is the Kinect integration on the Xbox 360 (choose 360 over PC and PlayStation 3 if you can). Instead of choosing powers from a rotary wheel (and halting the action), you can call out commands to your allies, yelling such things as “Warp!” or “Incinerate!” There’s a momentary lag between yell and action, but it’s as much flaw as touch of realism; if you yelled to a friend to chuck a grenade do you REALLY think he’d do it instantly?

Overall, ME3′s mechanics make the battle for survival inch closer to reality, and the familiar cast of characters finishes the immersion. Some make careful cameos and others stick around throughout, but overall, Bioware uses your comfort level with the galaxy’s personalities to great effect, forcing you to team with an old political enemy and take sides for (or against) a brazen friend as you try to broker a galactic alliance.

It is in these instances that Mass Effect 3 truly challenges the gamer’s own ideas. As with the previous two games, you will make several large decisions that obviously loom over the final story, but things have evolved, too. In smaller moments, ME3 forces you to react to homosexuality, to ponder whether youth should be sent to battle, to figure out how far is too far to gain a powerful ally.

Such small decisions allow Bioware to broach real social issues in an indirect way that never feels forced. In one breath, you touch on something in today’s society; in the next, you ponder something inherently more sci-fi: A.I.-human romance. This is the galaxy, and these are just the gray calls that Shepard must make.

All these calls – both the large and obvious and the small and seemingly insignificant – have a bearing on the way the game plays out. The Mass Effect series has long been about decisions, and this third game is a culmination of all the calls you’ve made, whether romantic or diplomatic or murderous.

It is the culmination of a storied interstellar war. And it comes to a fitting end: The ending that you have created.

Alienware X51 launched

Dell’s Alienware brand is one that targets gamers, and I for one, am extremely glad that Dell did not water down the Alienware brand after they acquired it many years back. Alienware continued to maintain their own range of high powered, high quality gaming PCs, although those tend to veer towards the bulky side. It would be very rare for someone to lug their Alienware machines to another’s house for a LAN party – but all of that might eventually change as of today, thanks to the release of the Alienware X51.

This is the company’s smallest gaming desktop to date, but do not let its small size fool you. Capable of high performance capability, the Alienware X51 was specially designed to deliver an exhilarating 1080p high definition and 3D gaming experience, cramming in high class performance in a smaller chassis design that will be able to look perfect in just about any room (except maybe for being in the kitchen).

The Alienware X51 boasts a dual-orientation chassis that supports 7.1 surround-sound audio, in addition to an optional Blu-Ray disc drive just in case you want to enjoy your collection of Blu-ray discs on this instead of on your PS3 or dedicated Blu-ray player. Running on Intel’s second generation Core i processors, the X51 will also be equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GT or optional GTX class graphics cards, Wireless-N technology for easy Internet access, HDMI 1.4 for connecting to 3D TVs and watching 3D Blu-ray movies, a couple of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio and GDDR5 graphics memory.

Even the entry-level configuration is something that will drop your jaws – we are looking at a Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 graphics, and a 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive, enabling it to yield an average 34 frames per second in Battlefield 3 – at high settings, and in a resolution of 1080p. Is that jaw dropping or what? To top it all off, the starting price of $699 is definitely a deal clincher for many, I believe. Will you be getting the Alienware X51 as your primary gaming rig now?

MLB 12 The Show Video Game Update

Video game baseball is about to get a little – check that: a heckuva lot – more realistic. And it has Sony’s PS Move to thank for it.

For years, gamers have spent inning after inning perfecting their timing, learning to pick out pitches, then jamming on a button to hit fastball into right field seats.

But in “MLB 12: The Show,” everyone will have another incredibly enticing option. The Move controller, that horrible magic wand of a gadget that’s been collecting dust on many a shelf for the last few months, can now serve as a baseball bat, meaning you can take every at-bat in every inning of your 162-game franchise.

The System Update checked the game out on Wednesday, and we came away impressed. Sure, we played the Move-enabled Home Run Derby in “MLB 11: The Show,” but could developer SCEA San Diego take that element to the next level?

It does, featuring the fluid hitting throughout the game. The Move handles responsively as a baseball bat, and there’s nothing more engaging than hammering a CC Sabathia slider into the cheap seats.

Sony’s Move can differentiate various swings, and it does it with relative accuracy. If you pull your shoulder back and “load,” it reads that as a power swing, and if you attempt to check your swing, the game can read that, too. It’s all instantly immersive, and it easily adds tremendous drama to each and every at-bat.

It’s also incredibly difficult. I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly headed for next year’s MLB Draft, and if not for pitch-guessing and quick button-pressing reflexes, my virtual Albert Pujols would never smack a single home run, so the idea of stepping into the batter’s box against a pixelated Jared Weaver is not a pleasant thought. You don’t have much time to recognize pitches in this game, and while each and every at-bat is exhilarating in its realism, it’s also frustrating once you realize that you’re, well, not anywhere close to MLB-ready.

SCEA San Diego realizes this, though, and they’ll do their best to help you along. Miss a fat fastball, and the game tells you if your timing was too early or too late, if your swing was on track to connect with the ball, and the like. It all helps you along, and, in theory, it will eventually help you hone your timing.

Timing is of the essence, too. Foul balls happen with great frequency because by the time you recognize a pitch – and figure out where it’s going – it’s right on you, and, like an aging MLB veteran, you’re swinging defensively to just keep your at-bat alive.

But the final game will include a bit more margin for error than, say, Derek Jeter vs. David Price. Devs told me that there would be serious difficulty tweaks before the game ships. SCEA San Diego realizes that few couch potato gamers sport Griffey-sweet swings, so simpler difficulties will provide a greater margin for error. Expect a rookie difficulty that has a huge sweet spot and lets you drive the ball as long as your timing is adequate.

Pitch-guessing will not disappear, either. You will still be able to get what one dev called “contact bonuses” and “contract deductions” by guessing pitches, but don’t be surprised if you forget all about that once you fall into the regular rhythm of hitting.

At the moment, though, fielding and pitching leave much to be desired. It’s admirable – necessary, actually – that Sony remaps both features for Move usage, because it keeps the Move in your hands and keeps you immersed. But throwing to bases involves a rather foreign point-at-the-base interface that seems like it belongs in the next “Dance Dance Revolution.” Pitching, meanwhile, is still partly button-driven, so don’t expect to be getting into your windup and tossing your Move at the big screen.

“The Show 12’s” Move functionality could certainly use a few tweaks, but from what we’ve seen, it’s no gimmick. Instead, it’s a far more natural way to play the game, and it’s fluid enough to bigtime baseball fans with only a casual interest in video games. Think about it: It’s light years easier to pick up a Move and hit than it is to choose your swing style and guess pitches and do all the other insanity that now proliferates in baseball video games.

It also highlights one of the few uses in which the Move is superior to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect. For all its no-hands potential and amazing motion-sensing capabilities, I have yet to find a baseball video game that plays well with the Kinect. I need – nay, want – a baseball bat in my hands when I get ready to hit, and the Move is the perfect size and weight to function as imaginary lumber.

It’s realistic, and it seems like incredible fun.

If, of course, it’s not too hard.

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR . . . GIFT GUIDES

Christmas shopping for video games isn’t easy, and the System Update knows that well. That’s exactly why, starting on Monday, we’ll provide you with a series of gift guides, stepping you through the best, worst, even quirkiest gaming selections in a variety of different categories. Just because we’re nice like that. So make sure to check back next week, so we can help you with your shopping.

CONTEST: READY TO STEP INTO “RAAM’S SHADOW”?

Yes, “Gears of War 3” had a great ending. But no, it’s not all over. On Tuesday, Microsoft will release “RAAM’s Shadow,” the second DLC for the landmark Xbox 360 game. The DLC promises to tell an entirely new three-chapter tale, and – even better – it will let gamers step into the shoes of Locust General RAAM, the final boss from the original game.

Best part? We’re going to help hook you up with the DLC, and the rest of Microsoft’s “Gears 3” Season Pass. That means you get “RAAM’s Shadow” as well as the already-released Horde Command pack, and two other future “Gears 3” DLCs.

To win, just retweet this week’s System Update and put @ebenezersamuel somewhere in the tweet. Feel free to rave about the System Update in your tweet, too. You’ll be giving us a little bit of publicity, you’ll tell everyone how much you love us, and best of all, you’ll be entered to win one of three Season Pass codes, courtesy of our friends at Microsoft.

Happy tweeting!

TURBO BOOST

All that “MLB 12: The Show” goodness, and here’s one more thing to get you excited: You’ll be able to save a game on your PlayStation 3, then continue it on the go on your PS Vita. If, that is, you can get ahold of a Vita when it’s released in late February . . . Speaking of the Vita, Sony refuted those nasty rumors that you can only store one PS account on your Vita. PS accounts will be locked to your memory cards, not your Vita unit itself. And yes, that sound you hear is every prospective Vita owner heaving a sigh of relief . . . The iPad version of EA’s “Dead Space” is currently 50% off on iTunes. Grab it, before it’s too late . . . Even better deal? The Android version of “Age of Zombies” will run you all of 10 cents on Saturday . . .

Atari Arcade for iPad Review

By now you may have seen ThinkGeek’s iCade, the cabinet that transforms your iPad into a legitimate arcade. Well, Discovery Bay Games has just produced a new take on the “iPad Arcade”. The Atari Arcade for iPad 1 and iPad 2 is not an entire cabinet, but rather a more practical and affordable arcade board for iPad to pop into. It features a joystick, four arcade buttons, and a clean retro design. Download Atari’s Greatest Hits app and you can enjoy all of the classics like Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command.

The Atari Arcade for iPad is passive and doesn’t require it’s own power source; it’s powered by iPad. The only downside to this is that it uses a little extra iPad battery and there’s no way to charge iPad while it’s attached. Just like the classic arcades, there’s a nice sized joy stick and four big buttons with good spring back action. There’s a regular 30-pin connector for iPad to dock into. On both sides is a slide lock to secure iPad into place. While the Atari Arcade would be best played on a flat surface, it’s portable and light enough to play it on your lap, or even your stomach if you’re laying down. There are rubber grips on the bottom so it won’t slide around a surface during intense game play.

The Atari Arcade relies on the Atari Greatest Hits app. Outside of this app, the joystick and buttons don’t do anything. The Greatest Hits apps brings you 100 classic Atari games, with Mission Command for free. All 100 games costs $14.99, or you can buy any of the 25 game packs for $1.00.

The arcade games include: Asteroids, Battlezone, Black Widow, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Liberator, Lunar Lander, Major Havoc, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong, Red Baron, Space Duel, Super Breakout, Tempest, Warlords. Then there is also all sorts of Atari 2600 games like Backgammon, BlackJack, Bowling, Casino, Codebreaker, Golf, Gravitar, Hangman, Home Run, Math Gran Prix, Chess, Pinball, and more.

Angry Birds gets new bird

Angry Birds fans have a reason to get super excited. Andrew Stalbow of Rovio has confirmed that a new bird is coming in the October update of Angry Bird Seasons. A mysterious new bird stirs a lot of anticipation amongst all. We wonder what it will look like, what will it to. The game has been providing hints to users in recent updates and ancillary products and he built on this a little. He showed a small, duckling-like yellow bird in the corner, which may be the new bird. Are you ready to include a new bird in the family? I’m eagerly waiting!

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Review

The Force is strong with “LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.”

The popular series of LEGO games, which stumbled its way recently through the overly complicated “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4,” has restored its former glory by returning to the franchise that started it all.

Improved graphics and animation show that Traveller’s Tales has learned to refine their efforts. The game play is also greatly enhanced, and the co-op is given new life by taking full advantage of the split-screen interaction.

It has been two years since the last “LEGO Star Wars” game, and that was really just an enhanced version of the two previous releases from years past. So it was great fun to be back in the galaxy far, far away.

The LEGO games have become much more elaborate since those first few games. Traveller’s Tales hit its stride with “LEGO Batman,” but seemed to be trying too hard to add too much by the time it got to “LEGO Indiana Jones 2.”

“LEGO Harry Potter” took the controls even further, adding layers to the character’s abilities which felt like it was weighing the game down more than enhancing it.

“LEGO Star Wars III,” however, appears to have struck a balance that eluded those previous games.

The approach to the different levels harkens back to the simplicity found in the original LEGO games, with a more central hub that allows players to explore a little but not get bogged down in minor objectives or treasure hunts.

The missions follow the first two seasons of the excellent “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” animated series. The characters have been slightly redesigned to fit the show’s stylistic look, and the game introduces a few new moves, such as lightsaber throw, which works similar to the batarang in “LEGO Batman.”

While this outing is generally focused on “The Clone Wars,” players can reenact several battles from the original films, a new feature in the LEGO games that allows players to control whole armies and view sweeping battlefields.

Boss battles have also been made more elaborate, with characters being given the chance to make more elaborate moves. Defeating these enemies is also more complicated, thus giving the game a complexity the previous LEGO Star Wars games often lacked.

But where “LEGO Star Wars III” really shines is in its co-op. Teams can not only work together, but also complete different aspects of the missions and be in separate areas all together. One player may be slicing-and-dicing his way through a horde of battle droids, while another is flying a star fighter against Separatist ships.

Not all is perfect. The flight sequences are fairly limited, and while the nonsensical cut scenes with mumbling characters were once quite funny, these bits of humor have begun to wear thin and try to expound too much story. Let them talk, already!

Still, the LEGO games haven’t felt this fun and refreshing in years.

MLB 11: The Show Review

PROS: Home Run Derby is fantastic, online play and Road to the Show both see subtle but good improvements, already-good visuals have gotten a once-over.

CONS: Many of the differences are hardly noticeable, new analog controls don’t stand out.

The most groundbreaking change to this year’s edition of Sony’s acclaimed “MLB: The Show” series lies in one of the game’s ancillary modes, the Home Run Derby. You can now use the Move to play through a hyper-realistic derby, smacking homers as easily as Albert Pujols in a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

It’s a slight shame that you can only use the Move in the Derby, but that’s the one downfall of “MLB 11: The Show.” As always, Sony’s PlayStation-exclusive baseball videogame is a fine experience, but for a second straight year, it plays things safe. It still slides home with a fine effort, but the folks at SCEA San Diego could have taken a few more risks.

That’s not to say that this game is a mere roster update, because “The Show” fine tunes most of last year’s weaknesses and tweaks a couple other things. Online play is no longer plagued by the slight lag that affected last year’s game, and you can now team up with a friend in co-op play. Last year’s ultra-tough AI has been turned down slightly be default, making games a bit fairer and more realistic.

Those two adjustments make the simple joys of “MLB 11″ that much easier to appreciate. The visuals, always a strength of the series, are now that much more realistic. The stadiums dazzle, and player faces look tremendously realistic. All the top guys – and even some of the lesser lights – are instantly recognizable, although you still get the occasional generic player here and there.

Franchise mode and Road to the Show are both back, too, and Road to the Show is as fun as it’s ever been. As usual, you’ll take a player from the start of his minor league career to Major League stardom, but there’s now a pronounced talent difference at each level. Single-A pitchers are far easier to hit than Triple-A hurlers, and Major Leaguers pitch far more intricately. It’s a subtle changeup that brings far more realism to an already solid mode.

Another subtle change in Road to the Show: Player progression is more nuanced. No longer are you scored for either hitting – or not hitting – the ball in training mode. Suddenly, good outs can now earn you points in drills, and simply having the patience to work counts is now worth something.

Once you hit the field, controls are as tight as ever. Hitting and pitching both follow the same templates as they always have, but now, you can also select analog controls. The pitching interface feels good, but the hitting interface, which involves pushing down on the stick to step into a pitch and pushing up to hit it, seems a bit simplistic and fails to replicate the drama of an actual at-bat. Essentially, it’s “The Show’s” take on the “MLB 2k” series’ hitting formula, but it pales in comparison to the in-depth, nuanced button-pressing mode that “The Show” does so well. It’s a good thing you can still stick with the default controls.

Really, it’s a bit of a letdown that Move interactivity from the Home Run Derby isn’t integrated into the main game, because this is where SCEA San Diego’s work really stands out. Hitting is perfectly replicated in this mode, and the Move does an excellent sense of tracking when and how you are swinging. It feels natural and fun, and you’ll find yourself gravitating to the Derby – once a secondary afterthought of a mode – far more often this year. “MLB 11″ took a chance here, and it really pays off.

Maybe they’ll take a few more next year, too.

MLB 2k11 Review

Major League Baseball 2K11 Review: Most people love hitting homeruns, cranking out that runner-advancing single, making incredible plays in the field and every other aspect of baseball in video games more than they enjoy pitching. Yes, you have to do it, and you have to learn to do it well, but it is just … blah! And I know I speak for the majority of sports gamers when I say that. That is why I was amazed that MLB 2K11, also going by the names Major League Baseball 2K11, Major League Baseball 2011, and 2K Sports Major League Baseball 2011, actually had me dying to pitch because of the unique pitching mechanics that are involved in this new game.

Pitching just hasn’t changed very much the last few years. Game developers know that the vast majority of gamers much prefer offense to defense, so they make pitching easier to hit, and ramp up players’ offensive prowess. But serious game developers like Visual Concepts believe in providing reality to the games they make. Yes, 500 foot homers are nice, but 5 a game is really stretching it. Enter MLB 2K11, due to hit the street on March 8.

Usually, all baseball games have three elements in pitching. You choose the type of pitch, the target area, and then press a button when the pitching gauge gets where you want it. That’s it, and that is so unrealistic it is a joke. It is amazing it has taken so many developers and so many years to come up with a new pitching system, but Visual Concepts was brave enough to do just that.

What you do to pitch in MLB 2K11 is use your control stick to enact a windup motion and pitch just like a real baseball player would. It helps if you have ever played baseball before, but if not, the system still feels natural and you pick it up quickly. Throwing a heater? Pull straight back, and then thrust forward quickly and you are slinging a fastball. Want to follow that up with a baffling curve? You perform a swinging move around the bottom of an onscreen circle (circle, curve, get it?), and you want to try and time your delivery as soon as the circle, which fills as you go through your windup, fills completely.

Don’t get me wrong, this game is not all pitching. There is plenty of offense, and play-making galore, but the pitching feature is truly enjoyable. Does this feature all by itself convince you to enjoy pitching more and set this baseball game apart from the competition? Actually, it does, and come March 8th, you can see for yourself.

Regardless of which gaming system gets your blood pumping, you’ll be able to enjoy Major League Baseball 2K11, which is available for the PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and your PC.

Marvel Versus Fighting Pad

PDP, a company known for all kinds of gaming gear, has unveiled the Marvel Versus Fighting Pad. It’s a wired joypad with micro-switches for the thumb stick and six front-facing buttons. Hopefully it will improve your game.

It will be available on February 14 for $40. They only have an Xbox 360 model planned right now, but if it sells well, they will be offering a PS3 version. That artwork you see is an actual panel from a Marvel comic.

Black Ops First Strike Map Pack Released

Do you like shooting people in the face across rich environments in the best-selling XBox 360 game of all time? Today is not a lucky day – it’s the luckiest day.

Call of Duty is a phenomenon that can’t be matched on any console – with sales in the millions of copies, and revenue that matches most major motion pictures. Seriously, any movie Tom Cruise has been in for the last decade or so has been outgrossed by Call of Duty – 5.6 million copies sold in the US alone, 1.4 million copies in the UK. If there were an army consisting of nothing but Call of Duty players, it’d be able to take over any country, easily. In between the wheezing, grabbing for inhalers, and awful social skills.

But the first map pack for Black Ops was released yesterday, giving players something to be happy about. Included were the maps Kowloon, Stadium, Discovery, and Berlin Wall. I will now review the maps based off of what was overheard last night when I was playing them.

Kowloon – “Oh, man, you can zipline.” *moments later, after being stuck with an explosive arrow* “RIGHT TO YOUR DEATH.”

“Jumping from roof to roof? Are we chimneysweeps?”

“I’M ANGRY SANTA.”

Stadium – (after a 203-50 blowout in domination) “Good thing their chopper is on the way.”

“Is this like Munich?” “Yes. With more Jews.”

“Shooting hockey players would almost be better than this.”

Discovery – “This is by far the best map.”

Berlin Wall – “The video made this look waaaaay more interesting.”

The map pack is available for around 15 dollars, and makes Black Ops even more playable. Enjoy!

Next Page »