The secret weapon of the gaming industry!

The way I purchase games have changed radically in the last couple of years. Before e-shopping I went to the local gaming store and spent some of my hard earned money on the game of my desire. Normally I could only afford one game so I was completely dedicated to a single game.

The web made game shopping a lot cheaper and therefore it altered my gaming slightly. Instead of one game I could now buy two or three games each month. But the time I had to play a game didn’t increase the same way as my game collection. The consequence is a shelf full of games wanting to be played. My goal is to play every single game to the end, but that’s pretty hard when so many good games are released every single month.

Therefore I’ve decided that in order to get a decent return of investment of my game shopping the solution is to rent them. A Danish website GameScribe has just opened business where it’s possible to rent games for as long as you want for a small amount of money.

Phew… problem solved I thought.

But somehow the gaming industry has found out my little secret of renting instead of buying. And I think they are a bit pissed off because they lose some of my hard earned cash. The solution for their problem is that they have invented a weapon they plan on using on me! A weapon that will strike right in my heart and make me want to go back to buying games that can collect dust on my shelf.

And what kind of weapon could that be you might wonder?
You probably already know the answer….I’m talking about Special Edition!

I just love Special Edition…even games I wouldn’t normally consider buying…end up on my shelf if they come in a special package with books, soundtracks or avatar items.

Last addition to my Special Edition collection is Bioshock 2 Special Edition and I think it ranks as one of the best Special Edition I own.


Why? See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUVPK_z8vfk

Special Editions waiting to be brought are:

• Assassins Creed 2 Black Edition
• Alan Wake Special Edition

Damn you inventors of the Special Edition! 

I hate you but love you even more!

The art of not breaking the flow of a game

After I read my last post I wondered if I somehow played the game “wrong”?!

Let me explain. 

I’m that kind of gamer that wants to search every nook and cranny of a game if I’ve fallen in love with it. Mass Effect is one of those games, where I must do absolutely everything before I finish it. And in the pursuit of that goal there is a danger of spoiling the fun and flow of a game. 

I’ve never thought of it before, but when I wrote my post I could see that maybe that was the reason I somehow thought the storytelling was a bit of a treadmill. Maybe it was my own fault? I wanted to find all the companions, do all the side mission and upgrade all the weapons and that made me fall out of the natural flow of the game and it become more a “job” that me having fun and following the story of the game.

I’m not sure that I can change my play style cause I do find it immensely rewarding to know that I gotten all out of a game. But maybe I should save the “find and do all” for the second playthrough?

*spoiler alert*
I finished Mass Effect 2 last night. The ending was quiet satisfying and a great setup for the last and final chapter. I loved the way almost everyone in my crew had a part to play, that made the effort of finding them all worth the time it took. And they all survived so now I’m the proud owner of the “No one left behind” achievement :-) 

And the ending left me wondering if I would have had a different experience if I haven’t upgraded The Normandy SR-2? A thing I have to try out when I play for a second time with a renegade female infiltrator.

Mass Effect 2 versus Mass Effect 1

I've been playing Mass Effect 2 for the last week, and the game certainly deserves all the praise it got. The game mechanics work much better second time around, but what about the story?

The first chapter had all the ingredients of a classic sci-fi space opera and I was lost for many hours trying to fully understand the universe commander Shepard lived in. Bioware did a damn good job in making a truly believable setting for the game.

I replayed the first game again a couple of months ago to prepare myself for Mass Effect 2, so the universe was fresh in my mind when I took my first step on board Normandy SR-2.

I enjoyed Mass Effect 2 immensely, but after I've explored the universe 100% and got all the companions and done their loyalty mission, I can't help to think that the story is a bit of a let down. It roughly follows the same pattern. Do the "find companion" mission, talk to them when they are onboard the Normady, then the "loyalty" mission becomes available, do that and your good to go for the next companion and that's repeated eleven times. The mission themselves are different though and mostly are well done and gives you a good understanding of the companion and the main story arch is good and the side missions is fun...but there isn't enough of it to "break" the pattern and give you the illusion that the story could go anywhere.

Another thing that I miss is the small talk between your companion. In most mission they are silent and when they speak it doesn't really make you feel that they are alive. Dragon Age Origin did a much better job. Alistar and Morrigan being my favorites.

But I still have the suicide mission left to do, so that might change my view on the story and the middle part of a story is by nature difficult to pull off.

What ever happens after I've finish Mass Effect 2, the first and second part of the Mass Effect trilogy will always be some of my most treasured games. A true space opera game of this generation.