Dragon Age II Review - A heartbreaking misfire

There is no worse feeling a game can induce upon a poor, unsuspecting player than that of disappointment. Dragon Age II is guilty of this worst of gaming sins. It steps forward into the spotlight with a confident stride only to reveal hours later the moldy, rotting core lying within. Terrible games are easy to dismiss. Great games are easy to recommend. Those like Dragon Age II prove difficult, offering glimmers of hope bright enough to make me truly mourn the loss of what could have been. 

Dragon Age II is proof that even the best writer can have an off day.

Anyone coming into this game because of Bioware’s illustrious pedigree will find it curiously below par. Some of its shortcomings can be written off as bold attempts to do something different than the studio’s norm. They may not have worked, but perhaps they can at least be excused in the name of attempting the unexpected. Far less justifiable are those failures that come where this group of talented developers should be strongest; those that let its audience down precisely where it is expected to be at its best. 

To begin, let us examine the setting. A more generous mind could perhaps label Kirkwall as “intimate”. I think “small” is more accurate.

Click to read more ...

Best of the Decade: Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2

Platforms: Xbox 360, Windows

Release Date: January 26, 2010

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Bioware

Mass Effect was a terrifically ambitious experiment. Mixing RPG elements with other genres of gameplay has become commonplace, but with this epic title, Bioware approached the gameplay from the other direction, choosing to mix an action game into an RPG. The end result was imperfect, but fascinating on a number of levels. 

It wasn’t until early this year when the potential for the series truly became apparent. Mass Effect introduced many of the concepts its sequel would polish into a fine sheen, but Mass Effect 2 sold me on why this series could be one of the most important and influential the industry has seen. 

Click to read more ...

First Impressions - DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue (demo)

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue

PSN Demo

Release Date: September 21, 2010 (PSN); September 22, 2010 (XBLA)

Date of Play: September 21, 2010

• It is hard to shake the feeling that I am playing the exact same game as the first DeathSpank. The title menu is the same, the menu music is the same, and the animated intro isn’t the same but it’s close enough. The whole thing feels like a rehash. That’s not necessarily terrible, but I hope there’s something more here. 
• I wonder if your save carries over from the first or if they have some way of explaining why the mighty hero has randomly lost all of his cool shit and gone back to square one with his abilities. I won’t be able to tell without buying the full game, which I have not yet done, but I’m curious.
• Just as I make a comment about the game perhaps lacking new ideas, I actually begin to play and the first weapon I pick up is a gun. Hmm. Intriguing. Not sure if that’s good or bad yet.
• Come to think of it, the gun is just a retooling of the crossbow from the last game isn’t it? Never mind.
• Already there’s a little prick of an enemy who likes to shoot me and then run away forcing me to blast it with my gun/pea shooter. I hate enemies like that. So annoying.
• Unsurprising revelation: just like the first game, the dialog is the best part of this demo. I just hope it’s up to the quality of the writing of the first game. So far so good, though. I’ve already had a number of laughs. 
• Oh great. The game is already resorting to bathroom humor. This is a good sign. Yeah. 

Click to read more ...