First Impression: Fable 2

I just picked up Fable 2 used. I ignored it last fall due to an onslaught on my gaming time by multiple titles, led by fallout 3. I realize now that I committed a grave injustice as this thing seems pretty awesome right now. 

The game art made me think the story and subject matter would be a little more kid oriented. I was wrong, there is prostitution, alcohol, condoms and marriage (now that is mature) including the option to have multiple husbands/wifes. Also seems like a quarter population of the villagers in the world is gay so there is something for everyone which ever way you swing. Having experienced the first 6 hours of gameplay it seems like the visuals would be a bit darker in nature. Don't get me wrong the visuals and art direction is great. It just seems more Zelda than Fallout. 

By all appearances so far it seems like the player decisions affect the game-world more so than any other game I have played. Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls do it relatively well, but it carries more weight here. I fully intended to play this game as evil as I could considering I finished Fallout 3 and Mass effect as a paragon. I couldn't do it though, it felt wrong, this was well reflected by the slow visual transformation of my character into a prick. I started over playing a good guy. Maybe I can be evil second time around.

More when I finish this gem.

Mass Effect 4/5

With Mass Effect 2 around the corner I decided to finally pick up the first Mass Effect game to see what the deal was. I originally planned to get a 360 for this game, but life distracted me and I got the system much later. Bioware has made some of my favorite games, including what I consider to be the best PC RPG out there: Baldurs Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn. Another Bioware creation is the Star Wars licensed Knights of the old Republic (KOTR), probably the best take of this universe in video game form.

Mass Effect seems like a spiritual sequel to KOTR. Bioware created it's own universe with unique races and history. The future is not so distant, but humanity has progressed at a great pace, especially after finding the Mass Relays that allow fast interstellar travel. The plot and setting are easily the best part of the game; the world is fleshed out, giving the player tons of optional background information on all the known alien races, space battles and space politics. The characters are splendidly voiced, my favourite being the villian Sauren, as performed by the great Fred Tatasciore. There is plenty to love in this game and it's a nice world to lose yourself in. Rather than gush over it, I'll focus on some of the design weaknesses that I hope will be absent in the sequel.

First problem from the beginning is the action. The game functions as a real time third person shooter pretty poorly. The enemy AI is uninspiring, and the combat tends to come down to run and gun, despite lots of character abilities that made me expect the combat to be more tactical. I would rather see a well implemented turn based strategic system like the one used in KOTR. The sequel will focus on the action aspect more, and from the looks of it the team is working hard to make it better, much better.

Second issues is the uninspired side quests and locations. I love the idea of exploring the universe and taking on space pirates or rescuing far of research installations. However the planets for all their difference in descriptions and topolgy are far too repetitive and barren. There are about 3 standard preset type of installations on every planet that consist of 4 or 5 rooms. That combined with the weak action left me wanting more. The main story and quests however do not suffer from this.

Last issue and one that actively drove me nuts was the vehicle control of the game. The Mako APC is your primary (and only) method of transportation when you drop on alien planets. The vehicle it self is a mean looking 6 wheeled off-road monster with guns. The vehicle's turret implies that it has good maneuverability and strafe runs will be possible. Sadly this is not the case. The left control stick is mapped to the vehicle control and the right stick turns the camera and turret direction. You can steer the vehicle towards left and right. However if you turn the turret the vehicle will start righting itself so forward goes towards the turret facing. This creates two control schemes that try to steer your vehicle. Pressing up on the stick acts as the accelerator and turning at the same time if you turned your turret. This makes strafing runs while driving in a straight line nearly impossible. When you turn the turret 90 right you essentially have to steer left on the vehicle to keep it going straight. This gets in the way of regular driving and really kills tense situations where you need to control your movement. I hope this gets fixed in the next game.

Despite my focus on things that bothered me, this is an amazing game from a company that I trust to deliver amazing rpg/adventure games. Now is a good time to pick this up in the bargain bin if you haven't tried it yet. It surely left me excited for the sequel.

Dead Space 4/5

Released in late 2008, Dead Space brings the horror genre to space. I approached the game with some reservation as I am slightly burned out from 1st and 3rd person shooters. What I didn't experience was one of the best and most immersive games in recent history. (It surpassed the Gears of War campaign in my eyes).

The game places you in the role of Isaak the engineer. You arrive with a small team on a repair ship after receiving a distress call from the large mining ship the Ishimura. Your role is to figure what happened on board the ship and to repair the various systems that are vital to your survival, while surviving the new residents that have infected it. The setting and atmosphere are reminiscent of the 1997 movie Event Horizon.

Technically the game looks great; crisp textures, detailed models. This would mean little without great design, and that's something the game is certainly not lacking. The Ishimura's interior is not limited to dark tight corridors (not that it lacks those), the ship is huge and houses over one thousand crew, it's essentially a small town complete with a tram system. You'll see working engine rooms, communication chambers, loading bays, a huge command deck and even a hydroponics facility. Many of the environments are used as game play elements. For example you'll have to make your way past the engine room while the engines are firing in succession. Another important detail is the lighting, it flickers and dances as the light sources move, making your flinch as you sometimes see your own shadow moving in your peripherals. At times you'll be making your away in zero gravity chambers or on the outside hull of the ship.

Sound is as good as i ever heard. Every part of the ship has great ambient sound of far of machinery and computer systems. I played this with a 5.1 surround sound system and constantly had to turn my on screen character as I heard noises all around me. Sometimes it's far of echoes of pipes falling in hangar bays, heavy footsteps in walkways above you, or minimal whispers you hear as Isaak begins to loose his sanity. The doesn't just elevate the creepy atmosphere, it serves a function as important as the visuals. This is the type of game that surround sound systems were made for.

The story is interesting and has some interesting nuances and twists. The experience can be greatly enhanced by watching the animated movie Dead Space: Downfall. It tells the story of the Ishimura before the events in the game. It's a very well executed tie in that stands strong on it's own.

Available on Xbox360 and PS3.

Street Fighter IV 5/5

Let me start by saying I don't like fighting games. (Insert long dramatic pause).

These games are often:

• boring to play against CPU opponents
• have overcomplicated controls and
  
• are usually dominated by a single player in a group of friends (especially when you are 30)

However, Capcom has managed to do something amazing here, and has brought me back into the fighting fold. They revitalized a dying, or rather dead genre of gaming. Fighters of the 2D variety was until recently a relic of the 90's; the stage was overtaken by games such as Tekken and Soul Calibur. The old 2D games couldn't compete with the amazing visuals plus the smooth and intricate animations of the new 3D generation. Although I was initially enthralled by these new generation of games, I found the long intricate combos and animations took away a lot of control from the player, and complicated the game to a point where for anyone but the master gamers, button mashing was the only way to play.

Street Fighter IV changes this - the controls are easy to pick up and intuitive. This was evidenced by my wife: after one day, she was throwing fireballs and the occasional Ultra Combo. However, this does not mean the game is simple. While the rules and controls are intuitive, at the highest level the game is as tense as a game of chess. In my online experiences, the toughest opponents would jump in and out, probing my defenses but not exposing themselves to hard counterattacks. I had some truly amazing moments playing online, with the most interesting games against opponents with iron clad defenses, trying to coax them into making that single mistake that will open them up to a well timed combo.

The action takes place on a 2D plane much like the classic Street Fighter 2. The game world and characters are however rendered in 3D. The camera does very slight perspective shifts when jumping or moving from side to side, but does not interfere with gameplay. Some Ultra combos will dramatically tear the camera out of place and have it follow the unblockable action that follows, but it snaps right back in, the player never worries about playing in a 3D world. The decision to make this game essentially on a 2D plane vs. 3D is what elevates it to what it is.

The online play is smooth; even with medium quality connections to opponents, I have not noticed any lag (playing the Xbox360 version). Rather than look for online opponents, I simply play the arcade mode and turn on the fight request feature that lets anyone on Xbox live (similar system is in place on the PS3) challange me, much like in an actual arcade. It's the equivalent of someone walking up to an arcade machine and throwing in a quarter. Fighters get boring quickly if you play against computer controlled opponents. The online connectivity provides access to an infinite supply of human opponents to challenge you. No longer do you worry about finding a friend that will have time to play, never mind a matching skill level.

The reason I gave this game 5/5 is that I see it standing as a beacon other games will try to replicate for a long time to come. The combination of a deep, yet accessible 2D fighter with amazing online play makes this one of the best competitive games of any genre.

I can be found online under the handle ArcaneDigital.