Dn5's video game of the week - "Fallout: New Vegas" (2010)

[DeletedUser8950]

Time to complete the triple post marathon

Platform: Xbox 360 arcade market and PC
Players: Single
Game type: First-person shooter to a degree (not a proper shooter, but the basic mechanics are similar enough), puzzle
Age ratings: ESRB: T, Pegi: 12, OFLC: M
My age rating: 12+
Average review score: 90
My rating: 9/10
My review: As far as I can remember, this is the first valve game I've featured. I'll have to rectify this soon.

What better time to review the original then after the release of the sequel (which I am, unfortunately, not yet in possesion of)? Portal is a first-person puzzle game, where you have a portal "gun" that shoots two portals: Orange and blue. The blue portal leads to the orange and visa-versa, as shown here. There are all kinds of great effects, like a speed increase as you continually enter portals.

This game is too easy at first, with a sudden sharp increase of dificulty towards the end. That said, the relative lack of dificulty doesn't diminsh the fun that can be had. The game has a good story, really brought to life by the dialouges of GLaDOS, the AI who gives you tips and hints along the way. There are all sorts of quirks in this game, such as cake. (Portal is the origin of the cake is the lie)

I have few complaints with the game. One is the lack of replayability. Two is the slightly outdated graphics upon release. Three is, as I already said, it is too easy for the better part of the story. That's probably about all I can say in negatives.

I am yet to play portal 2, but from what I've seen and heard, it captalizies on everything good about the first portal and then some. If you are yet to play the first portal at least, pick it up now. Great stuff.

Extra info: The weighted companion cube. Also, the only difference between still alive (360 arcade version) and the original are achievments and some extra challenge maps.)

 

[DeletedUser]

The cake is a lie indeed.
I still play it like crazy from time to time. Even though my room mates tell me "why are you playing that stupid game?" and I'm like sthu noobs!
But the game is very short and very easy.Portal 2 is much, much better, even though it may not be such a hit as Portal. I just finished it and it is extraordinary. Worth bought and played over and over and over and over(omg loop) and over again.
Oh if you want to have the Portal experience and a challange in the same time then try Portal Prelude. I dare you to finish it without looking at a walkthough a single time.


"Federal regulations require me to inform you that the next chamber is looking PRETTY good"

 

[DeletedUser]

Portal rulez. All I have to say about that.

 

[DeletedUser8950]

I'm thinking of starting this thread up again, are there any gamers who still read this board?

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Not me, but i'm a gamer and i have to say that the two best games ever are fall out 3 and skyrim.

 

[DeletedUser8950]

Not me, but i'm a gamer and i have to say that the two best games ever are fall out 3 and skyrim.

Great games, but not the best of all time imo. Didn't really innovate or change the way games are made.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

I'm up for you starting up this thread again. Just some games to put on the plate if you haven't done them. LoZ Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword (not necessarily great, but important for the direction of LoZ and had a couple of good ideas to it.) Also Monster Hunter Tri (or in fact, just any of the Monster Hunter games)

 

[DeletedUser8950]

I'm up for you starting up this thread again. Just some games to put on the plate if you haven't done them. LoZ Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword (not necessarily great, but important for the direction of LoZ and had a couple of good ideas to it.) Also Monster Hunter Tri (or in fact, just any of the Monster Hunter games)

Got to admit, I haven't played any Zelda games beyond a bit of twilight princess. Or monster hunter. This thread isn't just my soapbox, though. If you want to write a review for any of those titles and give a score yourself, you're welcome to for the next "game of the week." For now, I am going to post the new game of the week.
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Platform: Xbox and PC (but seriously, get the PC version)
Players: Single
Game type: CRPG
Age ratings: ESRB T PEGI 12+
My age rating: 12+
Average review score: 86
My rating: Vanilla- 8.5/10 TSLRCM -9.5/10
Additional notes: TSLRCM is a content that restores substantial amounts of cut content from the game. More on that in the review below
My review:
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Background
When the original Knights of the Old Republic was released to glowing praise and several game of the year awards in 2003, a new benchmark for CRPG's everywhere was set. People were eagerly awaiting Bioware to develop a sequel, however the studio was busy developing Jade Empire and conceptualising Mass Effect and Dragon Age, so instead recommended LucasArts hire Obsidian, a company newly formed from the ashes of former 90's behemoth Black Isle studios.

LucasArts decided to go with Bioware's recommendation, however the ensuing development cycle was a mess, with Obsidian forced to develop a game over 30 hours in length in time for Christmas 2004, with the release date moved forwards mid-way through development.

The good
It is amazing Kotor 2 ended up as such a quality product on release considering the troubled history of the game. The game made small but notable improvements from the original in terms of gameplay; the ability to switch weapons was added, several new force powers were added, a much more indepth crafting system was developed, new items were added, new animations were added and even the lacklustre swoop racing of the first was overhauled. The combat itself plays mostly the same as the first, with the game appearing real-time whilst it is actually turn based. Nevertheless, I feel if you can cross over the graphical bridge from 2012/3 games, the combat is unlikely to put you off this game.

The gameplay was only one factor in the success of the original KOTOR, however. The colourful characters and depth of story also earned much of the games praise, and Obsidian had a tough challenge ahead of them if they were to best the storytelling of the previous game. In my opinion, Obsidian were well up to this challenge. KOTOR 2 is arguably one of the strongest stories in the history of the video game industry. Taking a darker path then the original, you play as a former Jedi trying to come to terms with their past whilst hunted by the Sith who now dominate the galaxy. Exiled by the near-extinct Jedi order, you choose to hunt the masters who exiled you down, whether to join with them against the Sith or gain revenge.

The plot itself poses several questions about the force and its use which are largely neglected by other pieces of Star Wars media. By the end of the game, you will challenge whether your attempts to help people actually make their problems worse, and this is done in huge part to the strength of Kreia, one of the games main characters, who I have pictured below. An unassuming old woman who takes you under her wing, Kreia is generally considered one of the greatest characters in the video game industry. Voiced by a Shakespearean actress, nearly everything this character says is quotable. Seriously, I'd post more examples but I don't want to spoil.

The rest of the NPC's who accompany you are hit and miss, with the brilliantly sardonic Atton Rand, humorous HK-47 and quick-thinking Mira balanced out by the coma-indusing Disciple, underdeveloped Bao-Dur and underwhelming Visas Marr. Still, I'd say the squad is overall strong, and most of the failings in their characters are due to rushed development. One way these characters are superior to those of the original is that the new influence system this game introduced, later seen in Alpha Protocol and the Dragon Age games, made your companions respond to you differently based on how you treated them throughout the course of the game. Moreover, I'd argue the game has a stronger set of villains than the cartoony caricatures of the original, though the "main" villain is underdeveloped.

Also a quick shout out to the great score for the game. Perfectly fits the darker mood of the game.

The bad

Though I have many positives to say about the game, I must leave some space for my few complaints. Namely, the game is clearly unfinished. The fates of some characters are unresolved, several plot points lead nowhere, and the ending to the game fails to resolve most of the issues in the game. This is largely due to the rushed schedule I mentioned earlier.

The rushed deadline also resulted in a slew of bugs and some iffy (at the time) graphics for the backgrounds, though the characters models are improved from Kotor 1-particularly the presets for the player to chose from at the start.

The game also suffers from the same repetitive animations as the original, though this is partially due to limitations at the time.

I'd argue that the vanilla version of the game is well worth your time, however you will be frustrated by the bugs and unresolved plot points. Therefore, I am here to recommend you get this game on PC with the excellent restored content mod. This mod fixes the ending of the game as best as possible using VO and assets Obsidian ran out of time to implement. The fate of one character is still unresolved, however hours of content are pit back into the game through this. Over 500 bugs are also fixed.

Overall verdict (also a TL;DR)
A great plotline and memorable characters built upon the fascinating universe of Old Star Wars and solid gameplay mechanics introduced in the original KOTOR makes KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords a must have for every gamer, even if you hate Star Wars, but only on PC. The restored content mod fixes the majority of my issues with the game, and there is little I can find to fault with the game with said mod installed. In addition, there is still a rich modding community for this game on PC.

If you haven't played the game, get it. If you have played it but without TSLRCM, play it with that installed. That a KOTOR III has not been developed is up there with Battlefront III's cancellation and the lack of a Half-life 3 imo.

Note:The game does not work well/at all on windows vista, and does not play in widescreen in windows 7 (though this did not stop me).
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Some of the games I plan to review over the coming weeks:
-Deus Ex
-Mass Effect 3
-Journey
-Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
-Baldur's gate

 

[DeletedUser34315]

I haven't played them, but I've heard good things of KOTOR, and KOTOR 2.

 

[DeletedUser8950]

Hey, I'm going to add a new game of the week in a few days time, however I got a rep point saying I "should review Dwarf Fortress." I've heard it's hard, but am yet to play it. So, mysterious repper, if you have played it you are welcome to review it!

On that note, Zemelci would you like to review one of those games you suggested?

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Yeah sure, I'll do a review this week and get it up by this weekend.

EDIT: Apologies one and all, I haven't had much free time recently. I'll try and get it done over the bank Holiday weekend

 

[DeletedUser8950]

Ok then, Zelda will be next week. For now, I have a new game.
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Platform: Xbox, PS3 and PC
Players: Single
Game type: Action-RPG
Age ratings: ESRB M PEGI 18+ BBFC 15+
My age rating: 15+
Average review score: 93
My rating: Vanilla- 8.5/10 Extended Cut -8.75/10
Additional notes:
-> Massive ending controversy resulted in a free DLC called the extended cut which addressed fan concerns.
-> Marketing featured femshep for first time. Well done Bioware
-> Features a multi-player component.

My review:



The Good
Well, it's no secret that I am a huge Bioware fan, particularly of the Mass Effect games; I would rank Mass Effect 2 up there with Deus Ex and Half-life 2 as my favourite game of all time. So I had pretty high expectations for Bioware with Mass Effect 3. Did they deliver, though?

I would say in most cases, Bioware did deliver. Though the plot begins weakly, there is a strong enough premise to explain why you are going from A-B, with loads of great individual plot arcs carrying the wider plotline. One of the main problems people have is that choice and consequence isn't done properly, but I'd argue it is done fine for the most part until the ending sucker-punches you. Particular highlights include Rannoch and espeicially Tuchanka, with both taking your choices into account well. Those who think the choices are meaningless should try doing a default playthrough; the plot is mostly the same, but the way you experience it is a lot different. The main strength of Bioware games has always not been the plotlines, but the characters.



The many way your plot can vary is who is actually alive in your playthrough, both in and outside of your squad. In some cases, this has no impact (the council), but in others the fate of whole species can be decided based on who survived the previous two games (Rannoch and arguably Tuchanka). The game was never going to be able to feature the whole Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 squad, but at least most of the ones not in the squad get pretty good cameos. Notable examples would be Mordin, Wrex and Legion. The decision to make a certain previous character a squadmate is a waste of a slot, but the new recruit James Vega (voiced by Freddie Prinz jr) is a fun addition to the squad, certainly a better effort at a leading male than Kaidan or Jacob. He has some great banter with fellow newcomer Steve Cortez and old-timer Garrus, which brings me to my next point...


The characters and universe feel a lot more alive in the game. Whereas before your squad did not interact at all outside of missions, here you frequently see the squad engaging in banter on and off the ship, which you can take part in as well. Speaking of offshore, unfortunately the only hub in ME3 is the Citadel. Makes sense given the whole "galactic war" deal, but I'd still have appreciated another hub. That said, the Citadel is still not as vast as in ME1, but feels far less sterile, with a set of interesting ambient dialouges and quests. Also, there are new situations where you can weigh in on arguments you overhear, which is kind of neat.


The gameplay is improved. Whilst ME2 made huge leaps from ME1 in gameplay, Bioware were perhaps a bit over-zealous in cutting back some of the RPG mechanics. Where appropriate, ME3 has restored some of these, though these mechanics are far better implemented than in ME1. For example, you can now level powers up further, however powers now branch mid-way through their development, allowing a much more customized Shepard. Weapon customization is back, but again is superior to than the ME1 version. The modifications are better balanced, and also bring aesthetic changes to the weapons.



The sound design is excellent, with the weapons sounding far more varied than in ME2; this is in no small part due to the collaboration with DICE in this aspect. The soundtrack is also brilliant. Though lacking the genius Jack Wall, Sam Hulick and co were more then ready to meet the challenge of scoring ME3, with the brilliant leaving earth theme also contributed by Clint "Lux aaeterna" Mansell.


Finally, the addition of multi-player adds a whole new dimension of replayability. Always upset you could never play as a Krogan, a Turian, or even a Volus? Now with the multi-player, you can play as a set of races across the Mass Effect universe. I was pretty sceptical when multi-player was announced, but I was wrong. The multi-player was great fun, and I have played quite a bit with my friends. Plus, the MP improved massively since launch, with a series of FREE DLC's. Yep, an EA game with free DLC. The additions from these DLC's include new characters, new difficulties, new enemies, new objectives, new weapons and a challenge system.



The Bad
However, I can't just focus on the positives. There are three main issues that stop me from giving Mass Effect 3 the 9+ score I want to: Ineffectual implementation of Cerberus and Harbinger in the plotline, overuse of autodialogue, and the now infamous ending.


Cerberus and Harbinger are actually probably the smallest issues of these. I was mostly fine with the deal Cerberus get, but I didn't like the introduction of the assassin Kai Leng, who is just a cliched and awful character. Without spoiling, I was also disappointed that you cannot side with Cerberus at any point, even late on in the plot. As for Harbinger, for some reason he just does not feature in the plot. He has a brief appearance, but it is simply bad writing for the leader of the reapers, as established in Mass Effect 2 and its Arrival DLC, to be excluded from the plotline so heavily. He was never as badass as Sovereign, sure, but it boggles the mind as to why they cut him completely.



My next gripe is autodialogue. There had always been some autodialouge in bioware games, they just usually disguised it with an illusion of choice (as anybody who has replayed the first Mass Effect will realise). However, here Bioware make no such illusions. I am actually cool with autodialogue in some cases, for example Shepard saying something you would not expect to change depending on his personality such as "Joker, get to the extraction zone" or similar mission-type things. My problem, though, is that occasionally the autodialogue goes beyond this. I generally could role-play as a Paragade-style Shepard as I wished, but there are a few instances where my character was rail-roaded against my will into things my Shepard would not say. Combined with the omission of the neutral option in dialogue, this is a disappointment.

The Ugly
The ending was a steaming turd in the original game, mainly as it was written only by the producer and lead writer of the game, with no peer review (unlike the rest of the game). It shows, with a mess of writing ignoring the main narrative themes and strengths of the past two games in favour of a new ham-fisted theme introduced in the last 10 minutes. Your choices also play no impact at all in the endings, apart from deciding which endings are available, depending on how many "war assets" you have. The problem is, this is not really an impact of your choice, as most competent players will get enough war assets to access all endings. There is no difference in the endings between 4000 and 8000 war assets. I'd argue the grimdark tone of the endings is also a bit too far; sacrifice was certainly needed, but not to the levels imposed on the player. And one of the endings is wholly repulsive on a moral level, and shows a complete failure to understand the concept of evolution. Whole plot points are also not tied up.



With the extended cut DLC mentioned, many of these issues are addressed. Plot points are resolved, you get shown a set of slides showing the impact of choices made throughout the game, and the grim-darkness is reduced a little. The ending is still not up to the quality of the rest of the game, or series, but the DLC does make it more bearable.


The Verdict
A strong action-RPG that is a worthy addition to the Mass Effect series, but fails to quite replicate the heights of Mass Effect 1. People focus too much on the ending, as if this nullifies all the great things in this game, but at the same time it is wrong to assume the ending is the only fault. Still, this game solidified my faith in Bioware after the fun but flawed DA2 and character-butchering TORtanic.

 

[DeletedUser8950]

Still no word from Zem on his Zelda review. Let's hope that doesn't go the way of Duke Nukem Forever.:laugh:

Also, mysterious Dwarf Fortress repper, I do not have the time to play any new games atm, so I am reviewing games I played earlier on. Maybe when I get more time, I will look into Dwarf Fortress.

Anyways, with no sign of Zem's review, methinks it is time for a new GOTW.
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Platform: Xbox, PS3 and PC
Players: Single
Game type: RPG
Age ratings: ESRB M PEGI 18+ BBFC 18+
My age rating: 18+
Average review score: 86-91 (depending on platform, with PC higher than the other two)
My rating: Vanilla- 7.75/10
Additional notes:
-> Lots of DLC's, most of which are average
-> An expansion pack I thought was equally average

My review:

Background
Back-to-back Bioware reviews should make it clear (alongside the fact I've said as much several times) that I am a loyal Bioware fan. Dragon Age: Origins had been in development for years leading up to its release, and was heavily hyped as a "spiritual successor" to the Baldur's Gate series. Released soon after Mass Effect 2, which is one of the most acclaimed games of all time, DA: O had a lot to live up to, especially as Bioware had not done a game in a western fantasy setting for some time. In most cases, they managed to deliver, but there were some significant and persistent flaws that make this game fall just short of greatness.

The Good
No review of this game would be complete without addressing the titular feature: the origin stories. These are a great and engaging way to decide the background of your character, with the first few hours of gameplay allowing you to play as your protagonist before he gets caught up in the events of the main plot. These stories change entirely depending on the race and background you chose, which adds a lot of incentive to replay the game as different classes.

I have only completed one playthrough of the game, as a city elf, but I also started a playthrough as a mage, so I've only played two of the origin stories. I did, however, think both these stories were interesting and a good way to introduce the player to all the intricacies of the world of dragon age. The elf playthrougth definitely highlights the injustices elves endure, for example, and the magi playthrough teaches the ins and outs of magic, too. Your origin also affects how other people reference you, and is generally pretty neat. Think Elder Scrolls race customization, but better.
When you finish the origin story, you get dragged into a super-secret organisation, as in a few other Bioware games (Jedi, Spirit Monks, Spectres). The problem I had with this, though, is that the organization is creepy. Like, murders people for trying to opt-out creepy, yet you are forced into this and all options criticizing the organization (Grey Wardens) make you come across negatively. I thought this could have been handled better.

As for the plotline itself, it starts great with the origin story and Battle of Ostagar, but it becomes a bit formulaic and slow during the middle. Despite this, there are still lots of interesting bits during the core of the game, and the plot really picks up again by the end. There are also a lot of decisions, which have a noticeable impact on gameplay by the end of the game.

The universe of Dragon Age itself is also good, but not that inventive. Elves, Dwarves, magic, orc substitute etc. The main thing I enjoyed from it was the idea of magic being illegal and controlled. Not entirely original, but few things are, and it's still novel compared to most fantasy universes. The Dragon Age Setting (fun fact: the world is actually called Thedas) is darker then most fantasy settings, which is also perhaps a nice change.

The characters in this universe are not as strong, imo, as in some other Bioware titles, however there are a few great characters. For example, Alistar, Morrigan, Loghain and Flemeth. Some duds like Oghren, but mostly the party and other major characters are quite well done. The voice cast is also pretty impressive, with the cast including Cladia Black, Tim Curry, Steve Blum, Kate Mulgrew and Robin Atkin Downes. Nobody as big as Martin Sheen or Keith David in Mass Effect, but still a talented lot. And of course, the late Robin Sachs. ;_;7

Also, whilst I did not play the game on PC, it has a toolkit. I believe it is the last Bio game to do so.


The Bad
Whilst my opinion of the game is mostly positive, I feel I should mention a few bad, or perhaps more accurately, "lukewarm" aspects of the game here.

For one, I was disappointed with the levels of combat in this game. Waaaay too much, particularly considering the combat is just not very interesting. This is worsened by the uninspired environments for much of the combat; one of my friends once said that the gameplay is 90% killing people in dark and cramped rooms. I am inclined to agree, and did something I rarely do when gaming, setting the game to "easy" halfway through so I could get through.

Also, whilst the game is certainly mature compared to other Bioware titles, I think at times the writers and developers didn't fully grasp what this term actually meant. Having a brothel in your game, some swearing, and covering everything in copious amounts of blood does not make your game mature. I think the marketing and game itself sometimes focused too much on these aspects instead of actual dilemmas you'd expect from a mature RPG, like the Connor situation.

I'd also like to mention the soundtrack. Hardly bad, but there are only a couple of tracks I really enjoyed. I feel Inon Zur can do better, which I feel he did manage with Dragon Age II.

The Ugly
The aesthetic style of the game sucks. It's like they draped everything in layers of brown, with an already rather derivative style worsened by the limited colour palette. The devs even said they were told to just emulate other fantasy art styles, which is really rather depressing. This is only worsened by the limited graphical capabilities of the eclipse engine used to develop the game, particularly on xbox.

The items in the game are also meh. There aren't many armour and weapon models, and it doesn't help that most these look ugly.

The levels are also not really that good, imo. Orzammar is derivative and dull. The deep roads are coma-inducing. The fade is a hideous mess of brown that looks as uninspired as a rusted nail. There are some kind of cool locations, like Ostagar and the Circle Tower, but too much of the games locations just fail to impress. The hubs were the main offender in this regard, with none of them appealing much to me.

The Verdict
A good RPG that does a lot right, providing the usual Bioware quality in terms of story and characters. That said, combat of average quality and dense quantity makes the game drag, which is worsened by a drab visual style and, at times, a universe that feels a bit too "safe," without trying to stand out from your standard Tolkien fantasy. The diverging storyline, appealing characters and great Origin Stories certainly make this worth at least two playthroughs, but the sheer volume of the game makes this difficult when the gameplay is so average.