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Showing posts with label shooter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shooter. Show all posts

Friday, March 8, 2013

Review: "Mass Effect 3: Citadel" (2013) "Even Shepard's Story Must Come To A End."


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The End Has Come, and What an Ending It Turned Out To Be.


After playing through the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, all I can say is thank you Bioware. The story of Commander Shepard is finally complete. Where the actual ending of the game failed to bring closure for a lot of fans, this was a near perfect way to say goodbye to Commander Shepard and friends.


The Citadel is about a conspiracy to kill Commander Shepard. It takes place in a new area of the wards, with a new enemy to give the Reapers, Collectors, and Cerberus a break in their mission to kill the Commander. Along with the new story content, the Citadel also gives you a casino to test your luck in, a battle arena to test you skills in, and a customizable apartment to test your home decorating skills in.


The best part about the Citadel isn’t the story, which admittedly is very good. It’s all the nods to the previous two entries in the series, and being able to see all your old friends, including Wrex! It is also laugh out loud funny, and Wrex is as good as ever.

It is a great change from the rest of the game, which is very grim and emotionally draining. During one section of the DLC, instead of just having two squad members with you, your whole team is fighting alongside you.

You only control two of them like usual, and the rest are split into two separate fire teams that go on separate paths from you, but it is a sight to behold. The bad guys never stand a chance. The friendship and comradery is really played up throughout the DLC as well.


Speaking of bad guys, the Citadel brings a new villain, and he is Shepard’s equal in every way. I was totally surprised when he the main baddie was revealed. The boss battle was much more satisfying than the final battle in Omega was.

Every variant of the new enemy is essentially the same as members of Cerberus just with a different color scheme.


The only downside to the Citadel was that while you do get two new weapons, you don’t get any new powers and a few squadmates were missing from action. Everyone outside Legion makes an appearance, but Miranda only shows up if you romanced her, and a few others, like Jack and Samara, only show up for the party, and are not able to join your squad for any missions. It was especially disappointing that Jack wasn’t able to join your squad because at one point Joker goes for help and when he comes back, he says he brought people that like to get shot at.



Our Honest View gives, "Mass Effect 3: Citadel" 5 out of 5. Overall it is more than I expected and even better than I dared hoped. Even though I personally am far from done with this trilogy, if this was the end, I would be happy and at peace. It has been one hell of a ride. I recommend saving this until just before the end, so everyone in your squad can be there for you to say goodbye to.

Mass Effect 3: Citadel is available for download now on Xbox, Playstation 3 and PC for $14.99.

By Adam Zimmerman
Replay Value: Extremely High (ENTIRE SERIES + DLC)

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Adam Zimmerman's Favorite Game Series! THE SHEP...Male and Female Sheps



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I have been playing video games for over 20 years. I started as a little kid playing Super Mario Bros. on the original NES. Over the years I have played hundreds, if not thousands, of different games, and the Mass Effect Series made me do something none of the others had ever done, feel genuine emotions.

Don’t get me wrong, games have made me excited, mad, happy, frustrated, etc., but only during my time with Mass Effect did I actually laugh out loud, have to try my hardest to hold back tears, or feel hatred toward a character. Even if it did nothing else, that alone would make me give my vote to Mass Effect for the greatest series in gaming.


I personally am the type of gamer who never plays through a game twice, even if there is stuff I missed the first time around. Even games that I consider to be in my top 5 all time, like the original Bioshock, never play through more than once. Mass Effect is a different story for me. I’ve played through the first one twice (soon to be 3 and 4), the second one I’ve played through somewhere around ten times, and the third one I’m about to start my third playthrough of.

Not to mention Bioware has always teased us during E3 and other conferences showing a live action trailers. Not the first to use this technique but the best. These trailers look so real and convey all the emotions of a Mass Effect game in under 2 minutes.

The games are experiences that I just can’t get enough of, and if you have never played any of them, then you’re missing out on some of the best on some of the best that gaming has to offer.
The simplest possibly explanation of the story of Mass Effect is that it is an epic intergalactic sci-fi adventure.

In the first game you are trying to stop an alien named Saren from taking over the universe. In the second game you are trying to figure out why the Collectors and Reapers are kidnapping thousands upon thousands of human colonists, and in the third and final entry you are fighting for the survival of all sentient beings in a war against the Reapers I don’t want to get too deep into the story however because my story won’t be the same as your story.


While both your and my stories would share major plot points, the details could be entirely different. Plenty of games have allowed player choices to effect the outcome of a game, but never before had the dozens upon dozens of decisions you make in each game carried over to the next. It’s amazing if you play through the entire series seeing the outcome of small decisions you made in the first game finally come to fruition 2 games later.


The series has evolved from its first entry back in 2007. While all 3 games fall into the action/rpg genre, the first Mass Effect was probably 70% rpg/30 shooter. Mass Effect 2 swung in the other direction playing 70% like a tactical shooter and 30% like an rpg before settling into the middle with Mass Effect 3.

For all three games you and your squad have a wide range of weapons and powers (sort of like magic in other games) at your disposal, and can pause the action at any time so you can tell your squad what you want them to do and more carefully pick your abilities and targets.


After the games have launched, Bioware has continued supporting the games by releasing several DLC’s for each. Each one adds several hours of gameplay, and adds to the already incredible story. The two that stand above the rest for me are the Lair of the Shadow Broker from Mass Effect 2, which reunites you with a teammate from ME1, and the Citadel from Mass Effect 3. Citadel is a trip down memory lane, and lets you get all of your living squadmates from all 3 games back together for one last time. There are also numerous nods to the previous games sprinkled throughout it.


Mass Effect 3 also saw the series first foray into multiplayer. For me it was a great success. It plays a lot like Gear of War Horde Mode, with 10 progressively harder levels before a final 2-minute survival 11th round. One of the things that makes the multiplayer so fun is that you can actually play as all the different alien races that until then had only been non playable.

The multiplayer also ties into the single player campaign. All the original maps were also mission locations in the campaign. Bioware has been great to their fans as well, putting out multiple multiplayer's DLC’s all for free.


Any look back at the Mass Effect series wouldn’t be complete without talking about the ending. Opinions vary widely from it being great to an absolute travesty. I fall somewhere between those extremes. However, this is a case where it’s not about the destination, but the journey. Bioware did release an extended ending that addressed many of the problems with the way they originally ended it though. They didn’t change the ending, just added to it.


In the end, no series is perfect. But between the emotional highs and lows, extremely high quality gameplay, impressive graphics, and arguably the best story telling in all of gaming, the Mass Effect series stands atop my list of greatest video game series of all time.

Future:

Mass Effect a year later has one more DLC which is still being played through. They've saved the best for last earning it's one individual review. 
Also Bioware has confirmed Mass Effect 4 giving us a whole new gaming engine to play on Oculus Rift. Also confirmed is that Shepard's story is over, he like Nolan's Batman is a trilogy so now, we'll have a completely new story to play through and get emotional over. This seems fitting that one of the best gaming series ever should do the classic reboot that most are doing these days. Tentative release date stands at 2014.



By: Adam Zimmerman
Replay Value: Extremely High (For All 3 Games)

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Review: "Halo 4" (2012) "343 Shoots The Competiton"

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Our very first Microsoft review! And a very special one at that!

Honestly I have to say I was never a big fan of the halo franchise, yes I have played most of them. The multiplayer could never keep my interested for to long and the story never caught me like it did with everyone else but, Halo 4 I can say has to be one of my top 5 games of 2012. 343 brings a beautifully crafted masterpiece to your home, with its over the top and well balanced multiplayer, gorgeous and engrossing campaign and the episodic greatness of Spartan ops, 343 proved that they were over qualified for the job and made a game that will keep you hanging around for more even after the ending credits.

Almost everyone knows the story of Halo, so I wont spend too much time on it. Your master chief, a badass Spartan and with your trusty A.I Cortana nothing can stand in your way. Halo 4 takes place 4 years after the events of Halo 3, you find master chief frozen on the Dawn where you are woken by Cortana, who sense there is something wrong and she’s right. The dawn is being pulled into the alien world Requiem, at the same time the Dawn is being invaded by the covenant. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg for Cortana and Chief, its been 7 years since Cortana has been in service which means she is starting to over think things (like most women), a condition A.I.s  called rampant. This is a story between John and Cortana, there bond that makes them one of the most deadly duo’s in the universe. With new Promethean enemies, the forerunners, and the covenant this is one of chiefs most action packed adventures to date.

When you first start up the campaign you welcomed with beautiful CG cut scenes. From he moment your unthawed, the world of Halo hits you with If you’re looking for something to make you jaw hit the floor look no further, Halo 4 has I have to say some of the best graphics for this console generation. From the moment Master Chief is unthawed to the last bullet shot in the campaign, the graphics make my 32” tv look like a painting Picasso painted. Your eyes aren’t the only things that are that is going to be happy, your ears will have a blast as well. Neil Davidge did a superb job with the music and sound, I use my turtle beaches any chance I get. From every gun to every enemy the sounds are unique and make you fell like your there. 

The real meat and potatoes for me is the multiplayer, which honestly I spent most of my 32 hours of halo with until I was assigned this review. 343 incorporated a new leveling system which, ala CoD, the more xp you get, the more you level up and the more you unlock things such as fancy armor pieces to deck your Spartan in. But it doesn’t stop there, gaining xp lets you change you load out for different tactics and game types. Getting to level 5 lets you customizer your load out to tailor your game play needs, unlocking new armor abilities which 343 added several new ones, Promethean vision which lets you see through walls to pinpoint you enemy, Thruster pack which gives you a boost in any direction for quick get away from enemy fire. Some of the classics are back like Jetpack and hologram. Tactical packages that help your Spartan with things like mobility, which gives you unlimited sprinting and firepower, which allows you to equip a primary weapon in the secondary slot. Support upgrades are just that, things like Dexterity, which speeds up your reload time and ammo that gives you twice as much ammo to start with at the beginning of the match.

When it comes to the multiplayer, UNSC Infinity that houses a ton of Spartans that train constantly for the covenant invasion. Onboard of the infinity you have 4 modes war games, Spartan ops, forge and theater.

War Games is where you will find your basic RvB classics such as Infinity slayer and big team slayer. There are some new playlist to keep you occupied, Dominion being a tertris clones throws in some thing to keep it fresh like being able to build turrets and fortify your base. 10 playlist and more coming form 343 will make sure your nothing going to take Halo out of your system for awhile.

Spartan Ops is 343’s new co-op mode that takes place after 6 months after the events of the main campaign. 343 is doing something that most studios should do to try to keep consumers from trading there games in, they have been and will continue to support Spartan ops for 5 season with 10 episodes each season, each week a new episode will be available to download for free of charge. Getting 3 of your friends together to lay waste to some baddies is always fun and the story on its own is good enough to keep you coming back to finish each episode. An even bigger plus you gain a huge chunk of xp from playing co-op online on legendary difficulty, which is great if you want to take a break from Wargames but still gain xp and play online. Forge is what it was in Halo 3, which is a map builder that you but with more add features.

Greatest Review’s gives “Halo 4” (2012) 5 stars out of 5. I honestly can’t think of to much that is wrong with this games. Everything 343 did with the Halo franchise will go down in history, not as being a great game, but by not messing up a beloved franchise, if anything they gained one new fan.

Replay value: Moderately High
t;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>By: Nevill Adeyeye

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