Mass Effect 3 Demo - Impressions

Warning - Very minor spoilers included in this post. Nothing that would ruin the experience for you but don't say I didn't warn you.

February 14^th has long been the day for star-crossed lovers all over the world. This Valentine’s Day however, will be held in our hearts as the day Mass Effect lovers got a little recognition with one of the sweetest gifts of all. A simple card or heart-shaped box of chocolates certainly isn’t Bioware’s style though, and instead of any of that clichéd nonsense, they’ve delivered us something many have been anticipating for over a year now: a demo of Mass Effect 3.

An anxious period of download was followed by a start-screen dominated by a war-ravaged Earth; a gloomy foreshadowing of the Reaper invasion yet to come. Following this you are presented with a feature new to the Mass Effect series; game modes. The choice of three distinct game modes is offered: ‘Action’ – An action-adventure inspired affair, in which you play as default Shepard with the conversations playing as cut-scenes – ‘Roleplaying’ – The traditional Mass Effect experience we know and love – and ‘Story’ – An easier version of the ‘Roleplaying’ mode. Being a veteran of the series I opted for ‘Roleplaying’ and then it was on to the character customisation menu.

Character customisation has never been one of Mass Effect’s strong points and little has changed since the first two iterations. Bioware clearly has an idea of what Commander Shepard is supposed to look like and your ability to differentiate from that is limited. Thankfully, I was still able to equip my Shepard with his trademark handlebar moustache; so he was more than prepared to vanquish the Reapers in style. All classes are available to play with in the demo so I elected to go with Infiltrator, just as my previous Shepard’s before him, and then, the action began.

The first half of the demo takes place on a fearful Earth preparing for a Reaper invasion. Commander Shepard has been relieved from duty and is being held in an Alliance detention facility. Human colonies are going dark throughout Alliance space and High Command is faced with the grim realisation that the Reapers are approaching. Shepard and Admiral Anderson are called before the Alliance and before you can say ‘hold the line’ the Reapers descend and interrupt the meeting with a high-powered laser, forcing Anderson and Shepard to flee, and the gameplay to commence.

The movement is very similar to Mass Effect 2 but is dusted with subtle tweaks to help the flow of gameplay. Arrows now appear over vaultable cover and the sprint function feels a lot faster and more responsive than the two previous titles. Levels are also a lot easier to navigate, meaning the excitement is never compromised by an occasional wrong-turn or misjudged sprint.

The main emotional focus in the first half of the demo is an un-named child, first seen from the window of Shepard’s cell innocently playing in their garden. Later that child is met again with Shepard offering the boy help to escape, fearing his life; the child refuses, and crawls off through the air vent he’d claimed as his hiding place. The young lad is seen once more as Shepard escapes earth on the Normandy. The boy clambers clumsily onto an evacuation ship after seeing up-close the horror of a Reaper invasion, just as the ship attempts its escape, a Reaper blast cuts down the vessel and sends it rocketing to the ground in a maelstrom of fire, the chance of any of its passengers surviving is nought. Whereas in other games, a child’s death would be a kind of ‘shock-moment’, in Mass Effect 3 it comes off as genuinely emotional and proves, unquestionably, that Bioware still know how to craft a compelling narrative.

The second half of the demo takes place further on in the game. Shepard, Wrex, Liara and Garrus are headed to the Salarian home-world to extract a fertile Krogan female. Cerberus, getting wind of this, launch a full-scale assault on the facility. This is where the improved combat mechanics really start to shine through. The combat feels infinitely more satisfying than it did in Mass Effect 2 and Bioware have ironed out the creases to a point where Mass Effect 3 could stand up as a great game based purely on its gun-play. Crosses appear on your reticule to signify an accurate shot, ducking in and out of cover feels easier, the radial weapons and skills menu works as well as ever, and the wide variety of enemies will lead you into making many tactical decisions. The Cerberus Engineer for instance, deploys heavy turrets that are far too powerful to be assaulted head-on, so a flanking/biotic manoeuvre is possibly your best bet. Following a few hard fought battles your Shepard will level up, allowing us some hands-on time with Mass Effect 3’s 

leveling system.

The levelling in Mass Effect 3 is similar to Mass Effect 2, but has been streamlined to become more accessible to new players. Every level you earn skill points which are then spent on refining your specific abilities. As an Infiltrator I invested a lot of points in the new ‘sticky grenade’ ability; suddenly those turrets weren’t so menacing. Unlike Mass Effect 2, it’s now a lot clearer how your skill points are being spent. Every ability has a full inventory screen when selected and feels a lot easier to use than both the previous games before it. Meaning new players shouldn’t be intimidated by an ominous levelling system.

Once Wrex and his new paramour are united the demo draws to a close and I’m certain you’ll hungry for more. Mass Effect 3 is shaping up to be an excellent conclusion to the series that should do fans expectations justice. Pack your Assault Rifle and N7 Armour, as when March finally comes, you’ll be in for one hell of a ride.

2500 Cheeses Roll Down a Hill in Skyrim

Have you ever heard of the Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling Festival? For those who haven't, essentially, on the spring bank holiday cheese chasing enthusiasts descend on Coopers Hill, Gloucester. All in the name of watching a wheel of cheese fly down a hill, with a competitor inevitably tumbling a few meters behind it.

It all sounds like awful good fun but for some, Gloucester can be a few too many miles away, even if you do get to hurl yourself off a mountain pursuing dairy products. Thankfully, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim more than lives up to it's 'go anywhere do anything' claims and thanks to Youtube user STuKKie86, Skyrim owners can now commemorate the Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling Festival their own way. At home, comfortably sitting in a chair without broken bones and a face full of double gloucester.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The boots were troubling his feet again. Walking through the snow-capped peaks and windswept forests of the unforgiving North was starting to take it's toll on the crude boots fashioned hastily from melted down chamber-pots. Thankfully, the accumulated shit of a thousand polar bears was latched to them now, so any stench left over from their past life pressed up against some Helgen lord's arse had long since been masked. He'd been running for a good few miles now, and after a fire breathing death-lizard interrupts your execution it's easy to think you've seen everything. That is, until your first rest-stop in a day and a half is interrupted by a half-naked Argonian chasing his armor down a hillside.

In their tongue he is Mudvakiin, Mudcrab born!

I know the preceding paragraph may seem like an extract from an Elder Scrolls fanboy's manuscript, but it does have some relevance, I promise. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a game to lose yourself in. Stories will be forged to regale to your friends over meat and mead and characters will become almost an extension of yourself, much like my character and his shit covered toilet boots. Anyone whose read this blog before will know my stance on fleshing out the backstory of your characters. In Skyrim though, I found myself getting engaged in my friends characters too, listening with enthusiasm to tales of my friends half-naked Argonian chasing his armor down a hillside.

From a reviewers standpoint, trying to make a professional judgement on every facet of Skyrim seems like a fools errand. With its grandiose nature the experiences of one might differ vastly from the other. For example, I spent a great deal of my first few hours with Skyrim tackling the College of Winterhold quests, but you might have signed up with the thieves guild, perhaps taken a sight-seeing tour of Solitude, or maybe just collected all the cheese you could find to pull an amusing prank on your live-in companion. This is true fantasy epic with the word 'epic' underlined, highlighted and written in 50 foot capitals. The scope is huge and a whole world awaits you.

Awwh, Isn't it pretty?

The world itself is undeniably pretty. One moment you'll be dodging the flames of an encircling dragon and the next you'll be surveying a stunning vista from the peak of a frozen mountain top. Many times I found myself simply taking in the view, watching the giants herd their mammoths or scoping out the best way to raid that bandit fortress. Despite the odd invisible wall or high-gradient slope everywhere you can see you can get to. Some sandboxes may present an illusion of an open-world with invisible barriers that push you through a linear story, but with Skyrim the world is your Mudcrab.

With the latest installment of The Elder Scrolls it seems that Bethesda have taken a few complaints leveled at it's previous iteration (Oblivion) and made a real effort to iron out the creases. One of the main complaints was the leveling system. In Oblivion your surroundings leveled with you, creating a somewhat farcical world where extremely well funded bandits were kitted-out with the best weapons and armor and the city guards, with a whole empire to fund them, are still insistent on using that crappy butter-knife that I was leaving to rust in a blood strewn dungeon seven levels ago.

Now that's astrology I can get behind

This time around however, your character levels on a strictly 'how you like to play' basis. Gone are the days of picking a class and sticking to it, instead, the skills you use frequently are the ones you'll level, resulting in a character fitting perfectly to your own personal play-style. Skyrim also employs a perk system allowing for a greater deal of customisation. Say you like to loose an arrow or two but can't quite hit your target? No matter, a perk that allows you to slow time whilst aiming (a perk I like to call 'Arrow Time') will sort those stray shots right out. Which of these skills you level and which of these perks you choose is completely up to you, but it's almost inevitable that with an hour you'll have a 100 Smithing, armor made from dead dragons is just far too tempting.

If you haven't guessed already I love this game. I've logged countless hours trudging through caves, dungeons and dragon lairs and the inner fanboy in me is screaming to give this game a perfect score, but in all good conciseness I can't, as The Elder Scrolls: V is far from perfect. The game relishes in immersion but all to often a minor bug or oversight will bring you right out of the experience. The voice pool for NPC's is far too low and the renowned Bethesda bugs are out in force and it all smacks a bit of corner-cutting.

Although, these are all just minor flecks of peeling paint on an otherwise pristine masterpiece. A shoe-in for game of the year and one of the best games I (and I'm sure a lot of others) have ever played. In other words a perfect gift for the holiday season, especially if you don't want to see its recipient for a while. But be forewarned, when you do see them again they won't shut up about their half-naked lizard man or their shit covered boots.

Developer: Bethesda

Verdict: 9/10

Want it? Get it here

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No Block Left Unturned

Do you like Minecraft? Do you want it on your Xbox 360 but can't be bothered to wait for the XBLA port? Then I have you covered you strange and impatient person you.

Check out the article here: I Came to Dig

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Bodycount - First Impressions.

'By no means does this demo portray the graphics, gameplay or quality of the finished product'

The rather perplexing sentence inscribed on the opening title screen of Bodycount whose demo was released recently. I'm sure this is just some tacked-on legal thing, but whenever I see it I can't help but think: "Um Codemasters? If that sentence really is the case then couldn't you have released something that had nothing to do with Bodycount?  Like a banana with a logo on the side of it or something? Eating it probably would have been more fun than the Bodycount demo.

More destruction was really needed.

Some people may be growing a bit tired of the FPS genre in recent times, believing a certain air of stagnation seems to be hovering over the major franchises as everyone tries to emulate whats popular. Personally I don't think this is entirely true as there is some innovation out there and to give Bodycount it's due it is trying something slightly different, but where it excels in theory it falls flat on it's arse in execution.

You start the demo with somebody who sounds eerily like Cortana from the Halo series bellowing in your ear-hole about some warlord you've got to track down. Then you're set loose and immediately you notice my first, and possibly most irritating gripe. When iron-sight aiming you can't move, you can only sway left and right like a bullet-ridden daisy in a light breeze. Who in the name of god thought that would be a good idea in a fast paced shooter? Naturally this led to death time and time again as I tried to break that awful habit of aiming my weapon.

TOWERING INFERNO! just imagine it.

Secondly, the game employs a multi-kill system as a means of granting you rewards and resupplies. Sounds good, but it manifests itself as nothing more than a number in the top left of the screen. Hardly befitting, what it really needs is a deep Brian Blessed style voice booming "EXPLOSIVE OCTOKILL!" followed by an impromptu fireworks display and kick-ass guitar solo. With nothing more than a number to reward me the destruction feels like a bit of a letdown.

The graphics are also in need of a bit of a perk up, as well as the clunky movement controls. A fun game is in there somewhere desperately trying to poke it's head through. If Codemasters takes the criticisms it's received onboard this could be one to watch. If they manage to get Brian Blessed onboard this might be one to watch for GOTY.

Publisher: Codemasters

Want it? Get the demo on XBLA. 


     

Singularity

*250 word review submitted for Xbox 360 Gamer Magazines review section. Future reviews will be rather more detailed.*

The TMD aging process.

The first thing you’re bound to notice as you drudge through the abandoned hallways of research facility ‘Katorga 12’ is the odd sense of familiarity that grips you around 10 minutes in to the game. By the time you’ve reached the hour mark you start to wonder whether ‘Katorga 12’ was really intended to research the effects of newly discovered mineral ‘E99’ or was it investigating the effects of rehashed FPS mechanics on impatient gamers. The Cold War paranoia of Call of Duty, the vent crawling of Half Life, the audio logs and general atmosphere of Bioshock is all here and despite its slight unoriginality it does make for an enjoyable experience.

The weapons are your standard assault rifle, pistol, shotgun etc. which are all fun to use but Singularity’s main innovation is the ‘Time Manipulation Device’ or TMD. With it you can age enemies and objects, or reinvigorate destroyed objects, that are rife with E99 energy. Watching stairs and archways decay and rebuild before your eyes is very intriguing and the TMD does make for some fun (though often overused) puzzles. All men are created equal but those with time manipulating wrist watches are obviously more equal than others.

The story revolves around the time travelling exploits of US Air Force Pilot, Nate Renko, who is dropped into ‘Katorga 12’ following a downed American satellite. The often very engaging story that unfolds coupled with the fun mechanics make this a very worthwhile pick up, especially for its current low price.


Despite its slight unoriginality it’s very easy to become gripped by its story and is definitely worth the £10-15 asking price.


Verdict: 3/5

Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer:  Raven Software

Want it? Get it here.