Hey guys. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything but I've been playing a LOT of Mass Effect 3. The review will hopefully be up tomorrow or Wednesday, followed by two other posts, one about the ending and then a list of the best moments from the game.
But two pieces of news that I want to mention.
First up, the Mojang v. Bethesda lawsuit that Tyler and I had talked about so much on the podcast, is finally over and in a predictable way. The suit was over Mojang's upcoming game, Scrolls, which Bethesda stated infringed on their copyright because of their series The Elder Scrolls. It was dumb case that had no legs to support it. If it wasn't going to go Mojang's way, it was going to be a settlement.
The settlement gives the full licensing right of the Scrolls name to ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, and in turn they licensed the name to Mojang for their game Scrolls. They also will not make an Elder Scrolls competitor using the name. Both parties seemed pleased with the final settlement and hopefully we can now put this bullcrap behind us.
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Last month, I talked about how Diablo III was delayed once again. Originally supposed to come out in Q1 of 2012, it was pushed back to around to Q2 of 2012. We finally have a definitive release date for the title.
Diablo III now has a release date for most of the world on May 15th. In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico gamers will be able to download it digitally on that day and retail copies will become available on June 7th.
No word yet on how this effects the possible release date of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm or any other upcoming Blizzard products but it's good to know that Diablo III will finally get its release.
We are one day away from the release of Mass Effect 3, without a doubt, my most anticipated game of all-time. The first two games were spectacular and have told arguably my favorite story in video game and one of my all-time favorite sci-fi stories.
A remarkable universe, excellent dialogue, outstanding storytelling and absolutely superb voice acting have been the cornerstones that have made this series great and memorable. With luck those will continue into the final game of this incredible trilogy.
So what am I most looking forward to in this trilogy's finale? Well, it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing, so I've got a list of the things that I'm most looking forward to experiencing in Mass Effect 3. This is not a traditional list. Rather, it's a list of five things that I'm most curious in experiencing with no real order to them. So here we go. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ME1 AND ME2 BELOW!
#1. SOUNDTRACK
A bit of a different one than the others but something that I'm very excited to hear. The first Mass Effect had a brilliant sci-fi soundtrack with a good helping of techno and synth that added to the mood. While Mass Effect 2 still had a great soundtrack, it didn't quite have the same feel as the first game's.
This has apparently changed from the pieces that I've heard and they've been SPECTACULAR. The piece from a mission on Mars in particular, which I have below, has made me come to the conclusion that this has the potential to be the best soundtrack in the entire series. Please let me be right. It sounds so good.
#2. CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
The Mass Effect series has one of the finest cast of characters in all of gaming. Nearly all are complex and in-depth and their relationships with Commander Shepard have been one of the main draws of the series for me. As we come to the end of this trilogy, it's time to see where the relationships go.
I'm particularly interested in Shepard's relationship with the Virmire Survivor (Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko). Good friends and comrades in the first game Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan parted on a bitter note in Mass Effect 2, with Shepard reluctantly working with a terrorist organization. Recent videos still show quite a bit of tension between the two and it has me really curious as to where that will lead.
But other relationships also increase my anticipation. Will my Shepard get the happy ending with Liara that she's been hoping for? What role will Legion, Wrex, Mordin, Miranda, etc. play? I could go on for a while but I'm simply so excited to see the culmination of all of the character development we've so far. Almost there.
#3. WHAT IS THE ILLUSIVE MAN PLANNING?
What are you planning you magnificent bastard?
Quite possibly the most intriguing character in the entire series is the mysterious Illusive Man, head the pro-human terrorist organization, Cerberus. Martin Sheen was perfectly cast as the character, giving a perfect combination of sinisterness and charm. In Mass Effect 2, he gave, in my mind, the second best performance in the game, second only to Jennifer Hale as FemShep. In a series lauded for having some of the finest voice acting imaginable, that equates to a really, REALLY good performance.
Now, as we come to the end, one of my biggest questions is "What is he planning?" The Illusive Man, and by extension BioWare, have done a superb job of keeping his greater plans under wraps. I would not put anything past him. This is a man who, I feel, is capable of anything. If he's planning a massive Xanatos Gambit, he is fully capable of pulling it off.
#4. THE POLITICS
Will we finally be able to respond to the turian councilor's airquotes with our own airquotes?
Mass Effect is a very politically driven franchise. The series is just as much about political conflicts and power struggles as it is about the conflict with the Reapers. With an entire galaxy at war for its survival against an ancient enemy and many species attempting to take advantage of the chaos, I'm very curious to see the political climate that will be in Mass Effect 3.
So far we've got tensions between the salarians and krogan, humans and turians, a 300 year old conflict between the quarians and geth with the quarians wanting to break the ceasefire, a cold war brewing on something larger between humans and batarians, etc. There are so many possibilites here and it's making me salivate in anticipation. Can they possibly come together to fight a common enemy that has committed galactic genocide countless times? That is a big question and one that I can't wait to see the answer to.
#5. HOW DO WE STOP THE REAPERS?
The Reapers are a terrifying force and antagonistic group. They're basically mechanical Cthulhu. Unimaginably powerful, ancient, sentient starships that have committed systematic galactic genocide every 50,000 years for at least 37 million years, and I'd bet everything that they've been doing it far longer. And that's already over 700 civilizations wiped out.
The Reapers are among the most powerful antagonists I've ever seen. How powerful are they? Well at the end of the first game, it took around 40 ships to destroy ONE Reaper, around two fleets. And while it appears that Sovereign was an exceptionally powerful Reaper and most are not that powerful, even the weakest ones take a massive amount of punishment to even dent.
So the question is, how are they going to be stopped. It's obvious that right now, they are not going to be beaten in a straight-up fight. From what I've heard, Mass Effect 3 will revolve around Shepard both building up galactic forces and look for ANYTHING that might offer some hope.
This leads into another question: what are they and where did they come from? Part of what has made them so terrifying (not counting the mind rape that is indoctrination, what they do to those they don't kill, etc.) is that we know barely anything about them. As Sovereign said, "[We] are beyond your comprehension." We got limited answers in the second game but they still remain an enigmatic force and are all the more terrifying because of it.
All I know, is I cannot wait to stick it to them and I hope you all are as well. The Reaper invasion will begin tomorrow when Mass Effect 3 finally hits stores. So get your Shepards ready and get set to kick some Reaper ass.
Metal Gear. Those two words represent one of the most respected and widely acclaimed franchises in all of gaming. If you look up professional lists of the 10 best gaming franchises, Metal Gear is likely to be there. Hell, it's my #2 following only Metroid and Mass Effect trailing behind it.
What makes the series so great? While it wasn't the first stealth franchise, it did popularize stealth in video games. It's got an incredibly in-depth and complex story, some would argue overly so. It's characters are beyond memorable and iconic, from Solid Snake and Big Boss to Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot. There is arguably no series better for boss fights than this one. I made a Top 20 list of the best boss fights from this series and there's a reason it had to be 20.
Despite not having the best dialogue, the voice acting is consistently excellent. Cutscenes go on a little long but they still succeed in telling a compelling storyline and drawing out emotion from players. It's fourth-wall breaking humor is always enjoyable and its excellent mix of patient stealth and awesome action is the perfect balance.
I've been planning on doing a retrospective of this series for a while and if I haven't conveyed my love for this series enough, this should hopefully sell it. It may take a little while, especially with Mass Effect 3 two days away but I hope that this provides a great look back at one of the all-time greats or serve as a gateway for those who have never played it before.
So keep your eyes open as starting soon, I'll be looking at the series in the order they released in. Only the canon games though. Only one thing to say, "Metal Gear?!?"
We are four days away from the release of Mass Effect 3 and with any release, a launch trailer has been released. It does what I expect Mass Effect to do and love it for. A good combination of drama and action. Not much to say beyond that so here it is.
Open with one of Clint Mansell's pieces for the game, and we can also see that the Destiny Ascension is coming back. Geth and Quarians fighting, turian ships fighting Reapers, the Illusive Man threatening Shepard, and Banshees still creeping me the frack out, a lot happened in this trailer.
But it was the ominous and quiet phrase that Liara said at the end amid just an enormous amount of destruction that sold this trailer for me, "This is it, isn't it?" Yes Liara, in more ways than one. This is going to be a great journey.
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I probably really haven't stated enough that I really dislike the practice of once per year releases. Not just because it will likely affect the quality of the game but because it takes all of the suspense and excitement out of waiting for a new release and official announcements.
Such has become the case of the Assassin's Creed series. That said, the fact that we're finally moving away from Ezio definitely gives a bit more excitement to see what's cooking in ACIII. And we've got some news on that front. The details of this are coming from CVG by the way.
The new setting for Assassin's Creed III will be in colonial America. It will take place over a 30 year period from 1753 to 1783. You will play as Connor, the son of an Englishman and a Native American woman. Like 2, it will start before he becomes an assassin and will go over his childhood. Some complained that this made the beginning of Assassin's Creed II slow and boring but I disagree. It did a great job of establishing Ezio's character and making me care about him and see his motivations, a huge turn from Altair.
Here's our first look at Connor:
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Finally, Bioshock Infinite is another huge release for 2012 and it appears that we finally have a release date.
Bioshock Infinite currently has a release date set for October 16, 2012. Very excited to see the final product. The first was awesome even if it didn't quite hit the same level as System Shock 2. The second was good but nowhere near the level I expected.
With Ken Levine back on, this should be a great ride.
