Blog Update: Big Changes

Hey guys. Well, I still haven't given my thoughts on Gamescom as I've been busy as hell for the last few days as I started my junior year yesterday. There are also big changes coming to the blog within the next few weeks.

From the beginning a friend of mine and I were making plans on taking this blog and transforming it into its own website. Those plans are still underway but for the time being we are planning on sticking to this blog for reasons of our own.

Probably the biggest change is if you look to the right under the contributors tab. Tyler, the friend of mine who I've been making plans with and has been following this blog from the beginning, has been added as a co-author and you may see some of his work on here every now and then.

For this reason, the URL and title of the blog will be changing to more closely match the URL and title that we have in mind for the website once we get that off the ground.

NOTE: I'll be posting the new URL on the site before we change it so keep an eye open for that.


On top of this, we're planning on posting a weekly podcast starting within a week or two. Lots of changes and they're making me very excited so keep following the blog and let your friends know about it as well. Tell them to read and subscribe to the blog and keep on reading yourself.

If you have any suggestions for more changes over the next few weeks, let us know as we welcome input.

Retro Review Line-Up

Hey guys, I'm going to be putting up stuff about Gamescom starting tomorrow, but I want to give some updates about the blog first.

Alright the thing that I want to bring up is the retro review line-up that I've got set. I'm planning on doing a slew of cRPG reviews, five in total.

I'll be starting with both Fallout games then moving on to the Baldur's Gate series and it's expansion, and then Planetscape Torment.

I might get to the Diablo series later down the road but I thought I had a copy of the game but I unfortunately do not so I'll probably get to those later on.

These will take a while but I'm very excited about doing them.

Stupid Devil May Cry Retcon: Why is Dante Half-Angel?

WHY? WHY WHY WHY? Look, I have to say that while I haven't been the biggest fan of the changes that I've seen for the new DmC, I like to think that I've been reasonable in my criticisms and have chosen to wait for the game's release before making any final judgments.

But this was too much. Why is Dante, now a half-angel?

Because when you look at this badass, or his new redesign, the first you think is "Half-Angel".

For those of you who don't know what Devil May Cry is or the backstory, let me explain. Devil May Cry was an 3-D hack-n-slash beat-em-up developed by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya, who later went on to create the phenomenal Bayonetta. It was originally meant to be Resident Evil 4 (yeah try to figure that one that) but eventually became its own game which was released in 2001. Let's not suger-coat this, the game was fantastic and revolutionized the 3-D hack-n-slash beat-em-up. Without it, games like God of War, the 3-D Ninja Gaiden games, and even Bayonetta would not exist.

The game starred Dante who is the son of Sparda, a legendary demon who helped humanity drive back an invasion of demons. Sparda got it on with a human woman and Dante was born from that as a HALF-DEMON and HALF-HUMAN.

The second game in the series was a bitter disappointment. This was made up for with the outstanding Devil May Cry 3, the best and most difficult game in the series (seriously it is really hard), and one of the best games on the PS2. Devil May Cry 4 was good but pulled a Metal Gear Solid 2 on us by having a new playable character.

So that's the history of the series and a bit of Dante's backstory in nutshell. So back to the retcon at hand.

So what's wrong with this retcon? Well, let's go to Devil May Cry 3, which had the best story of the series. Part of what made the story engaging was the conflict that Dante has with his brother, Vergil. Vergil managed to be a very complex villain and the conflict between the two also represented the conflict inside of Dante.

What I mean is the conflict between his demon-half and his human-half. His brother embraces his demon side while Dante is still struggling. As the game goes on he finds a greater sense of purpose and further embraces his human side along with his desire to protect humanity the way that his demonic father did.

That's what made Devil May Cry 3's story so excellent. The conflict between Dante and Vergil was a great bit of symbolism for the conflict that Dante was having with himself and showing how he became the person he is in the original. Mix it with being an absolutely badass action game and you had one of the best games of last gen.

I want this game to be good. I'm not hating on it, I'm just really worried about it. The change of the look of the character is something that I could tolerate as long as it was a prequel to show how he came to look like he did by Devil May Cry 3 which is the first chronologically. But the change in backstory has me really annoyed and I just couldn't let it go.

I'll hold my breath until the game comes out but, I do not like that direction.

Mr. Freeze Gets a Trailer

Excited about Batman: Arkham City blah blah blah, yeah you've heard me talk about how amazing this game looks so let's get down to business.

We've known for over a year that Mr. Freeze was going to play a part in Arkham City and we've known for over a year that he would be voiced by Maurice LaMarche who is most famous for voicing The Brain in Pinky and the Brain. After that we never really saw much from him again and most of the focus has been on Riddler, Joker, Catwoman, and The Penguin.

We've finally got a trailer and it's got my interest peaked. Given that the story for Arkham City is written by Paul Dini, the man who turned Mr. Freeze from stereotypical mad scientist to a tragic and sympathetic villain, I'm excited to see where he's going to go with this. Judging by the trailer though, it looks like any fight with Mr. Freeze is going to kick ass.

Metroid 25th Anniversary Tribute

Happy 25th anniversary Metroid and a happy 25th anniversary to Samus Aran. The franchise that topped my Top 10 Franchises list, beating out its more profitable Nintendo counterparts, Mario and Zelda, and beating out giants like Metal Gear and Mass Effect, turned 25 last week, on August 6.

From it's incredible gameplay to being the first franchise to have bona fide asskicker who was a woman, there is so much right about Metroid. And so I knew I had to do a tribute to my favorite franchise for this. I just recently did a Mass Effect tribute for my 100th post, so I want to do something a little different this time.

There are exactly 10 games in the Metroid franchise, not counting Metroid Prime Pinball. So I came up with the idea of ranking all 10 games from weakest to best. So let's get started at listing some of the best games of all time (though not all of them).

#10. Metroid: Other M

It's unfortunate that the most recent game in the series, was also it's biggest misstep. Gameplay and design-wise it was definitely weaker than the others. While some of the combat-system was great and I would like to see some implementation of it in the future, the design-choice of showing us where the items were was a big turn-off that annoyed the crap out of me as it took away all of the reward and made the game feel so much more linear. The puzzles weren't challenging either. The game became all about the combat which should be important but not the biggest focus.

But the biggest problem here was the story and execution of Samus' character. Nintendo decided to try to give her more personality, which I commend. I wanted to see her show emotion, but it was just bad execution. Poor dialogue and even if it hadn't been, the voice acting would have sealed it.

Jessica Martin, the voice of Samus in Other M, just sounds so bored and uninterested. If she was trying to go for a stoic character, there are better ways to do it and it certainly doesn't mean cutting off ALL emotion. What makes me really scratch my head is that the voice for Samus in the Prime series was Jennifer Hale. To be fair, she just did cries and grunts for when Samus got hit, but she's one of the best VAs in the industry. For a character this important, I'm very curious why they didn't get her back.

To be fair, Other M, has its moments. The fight against Ridley, despite being preceded by possibly the most controversial moment of the series, was in the end, as always, awesome. And as I said, I like some of the aspects of the combat system and would love to see some of them implemented with a less linear design style and a better execution of Samus as a character.

#9. Metroid Prime: Hunters

This game is in the spot that it is, because it serves no purpose. The Prime trilogy as a whole was kind of separate from the main arc but it had quite a few connections. This isn't even really connected to the Prime series, despite having the Prime name in its title.

The game's story takes place in between Prime and Prime 2 and doesn't connect them in anyway. At the end of the day, I don't think the story has been mentioned since. Maybe there was a reference to it in Metroid Prime 3, but I can't quite remember.

I think part of the reason for this is because the main focus was the multiplayer which goes against every thought I have about what a Metroid game should be. To be fair, the multiplayer was good and the controls worked pretty damn well, but Metroid works as singleplayer experience. The sense of isolation, exploration, and size of the world is why it works as a singleplayer series. This threw that out the window. It's become a poster-child for multiplayer detracting from singleplayer and if you play it, you can see why.

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Okay, enough bashing on games. The next 8 games on this list can all be considered to be among the best games of all time. I think the top 6 in this list are all among my Top 100 or 150. So even the #8 game is incredible.

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#8. Metroid

Some may call foul, me having the original so low, especially when there's one or two that many consider inferior that I haven't brought up yet. To begin, the only reason this is low on the list, is because it just hasn't aged as well as the others especially when compared to its remake Zero Mission and of course Super Metroid. Keep in mind what I said above though. This is still an amazing game and definitely worth playing.

This game really set the stage for everything and had an awesome feeling of atmosphere mixed with a sense of isolation and claustrophobia both at the same time. It's excellent 8-bit music helped enhance the atmosphere and gave the game a dark feeling that went against other Nintendo games at the time. Mario and Zelda both had a light-hearted feel whereas Metroid was dark and foreboding.

The gameplay was also quite revolutionary in Metroid, combining the platforming of Mario, with the item-hunting of Zelda, and the shooting from Konami's Contra. Also it was one of the first side-scrolling games that allowed you to go LEFT. Not that big of a deal now but that was crazy back in 1986. Unfortunately the lack of a crouch feature is a perfect example of how this game has not aged very well. Definitely recommended but don't expect the kind of greatness that we see later on this list.

#7. Metroid II: Return of Samus

An often overlooked game that I actually enjoy more than the original, Metroid II: Return of Samus is one of my favorite games for the original Game Boy. Technically it is lacking compared to the NES game but that was to be expected and taken for what it is, it's still an incredible game.

Storywise Metroid II is one of the most important entries in the series as it set the stage for Super Metroid, which is gaming at its absolute finest. The game really gave off a great Aliens vibe especially as we got to look at the life cycle of the metroids as we went through taking them, climaxing with a boss against the Queen Metroid and a great set-up for a sequel that would become gaming bliss, with the baby metroid being born.

Gameplay and design-wise, it's fairly linear compared to the original but it does it in a good way with the metroid counter. Everytime you kill a metroid, new areas are opened for you to continue progressing. The gave a nice sense of progression even if it wasn't very open. They also added a crouch to the controls making it much easier for the right reasons.

This is also the game where the Varia suit (the one to protect against heat) was given the big shoulder guards. Since it was black and white, they had too distinguish between the regular suit and the Varia suit, so they gave it big shoulder guards to make up for the lack of color.

#6. Metroid Fusion

From here, all of the games that I mention are REALLY good. Like among the greatest ever made. We start with the Game Boy Advance game, Metroid Fusion. Before Other M, this was the most story-driven Metroid game to date and in my mind it was much better executed. First of all, we didn't have a bored sounding voice actress and the writing for the story points was much better. It didn't come off making the character sound like she needed someone to support her which was a big problem with Other M.

Like Metroid II, this is much more linear game than many people were used to seeing. For this reason, and the fact that it was released on the same day as Metroid Prime, means that it often gets overlooked by casual fans of the series. The linearity works here because it doesn't feel too railroaded and it pulls off some great atmosphere with the SA-X, a copy of Samus which would be used to great affect in the later Prime games.

The music wasn't as high of quality as we expect from this series, especially when compared to the later Zero Mission on the same system. However, the sound effects are awesome and really make you feel like you've got some power in your hands. The end feels like they tried to recreate Super Metroid, but they did it in a unique way, by having a boss fight DURING the final countdown. The game has great tension, atmosphere, and awesome sound effects. It may be a little linear but it's an excellent entry.

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NOTE: The next three games on this list (3-5) were nearly impossible to choose between. They were all so excellent and close together in terms of quality that it was really difficult to rank them. I hope you appreciate the headaches and heartbreak it took to call one better or lesser than the other.

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#5. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

The weakest game in the Prime series (not including Hunters), yet also the most underrated of the trilogy. The only problem with this game was that it was too similar to the original and didn't shake much up. But at the end of the day it had the same excellent gameplay with a passable storyline and great level design and puzzles.

The game made use of the light/dark parallel dimensions that was first pioneered with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. And some disagree, but I thought it worked great here, and I really liked the dark world as the creatures there were so unlike the ones in the first Prime. It also made for some damn good puzzles that affected both worlds at the same time and I love that type of design. It also introduced Dark Samus, one of the coolest and most threatening enemies in the series. Mix in some great bosses and the use of the light/dark beams and you've got a winner.

One other thing to highlight: the difficulty. This was a tough game. The bosses and enemies are ruthless and this was a huge turnaround from the original Prime which was purposefully made easy in combat to not make players afraid to explore. Again this was criticized by critics, but I loved the difficulty. It made for a great challenge and I still defend this game against its detractors to this day. No one denies it's a great game, but it doesn't get the credit it deserves.

#4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

At the time of its release, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption had the greatest first-person controls ever put onto a console. This game showed the power that the Wiimote could have when it wasn't just used for shovelware crap that was sent to the bargain bins in two days. This was another game that took a more linear approach to its design but it was still incredible.

The reasons this game worked, despite its more linear design, was because of its excellent controls, outstanding setpiece moments, and that it took place on three planets to keep in that sense of progression and some semblance of open-world play. Being the conclusion of this nearly perfect trilogy also didn't hurt it in anyway. And of course the boss fight against Ridley was amazing. Fighting in freefall, inspired by the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog in Lord of the Rings, means it was simply awesome.

One of my favorite elements of the game involved seeing Samus' ship take a bigger role. Using it for bombing runs or as a portable save device was really cool. I also really liked the look at other bounty hunters. Yeah I know they had that in Metroid Prime: Hunters but there was a much better focus on them here and it was actually involved in the actual Prime story. Some dislike it because of its more action-feel but it's still amazing.

#3. Metroid: Zero Mission

The superior remake of the original Metroid and one of the best games on the Game Boy Advance. This game has the advantage of coming out after many of the plot points that weren't thought up until after the original Metroid came out, such as Samus' relationship with the Chozo. Therefore it gives a story that highlights those plot points in a really cool way. It's not just a graphical update, it's a new game.

First off the game incorporated a few of the newer power-ups that weren't in the original such as the Power Bombs and Power Grip. The game generally kept the same layouts and maps from the original but had some new areas that were not in the original. Kraid and Ridley were also redesigned. In the original they were about the size of Samus which was not true in the sequels. This time they scaled them up to their intended size. The music remixes are all excellent.

The big thing here though was a whole new section of the game AFTER defeating Mother Brain where Samus' ship is shot down as she's leaving Zebes. It throws stealth into the mix and has you collect a new power suit and new weapon, the plasma beam. After that you go on a rampage, slaughtering every space pirate. Seriously, you will be nearly unstoppable. Until you meet Mecha-Ridley. This part of the game is the reason to play it even if you've played the original. It's a cool new section that adds to Samus' past and her character without too much melodrama.

#2. Metroid Prime

I've never seen a bigger turnaround in opinion then with Metroid Prime. If you were to look at forums before this game came out, you would've thought this was going to be the worst game ever. Now it's often listed as one of the finest achievements in medium's history and with good reason. The First-Person POV did nothing to take away from the Metroid despite what people said it was going to do and we got sublime level design mixed with kickass boss fights.

The opening of this game showed exactly why it was going to be awesome with a great intro into what was going on while onboard a space pirate frigate. It kept mystery which enhanced the atmosphere later. As I said before, the sublime level design made the game work perfectly from a first-person point-of-view and absolutely beautiful scenery and equally beautiful soundtrack made it feast for both the eyes and ears.

Boss fights were also incredible with stand-outs being the ones agains the Omega Pirate Boss and Metroid Prime itself. But as always, in a game with Ridley, he steals the show as the most awesome and memorable boss fight of the game. Him flying over dropping firebombs on you as you try to shoot him out of the sky and when he finally does come down, he shows himself to be a total badass and if you're not careful and kick your ass across the entire platform.

A masterpiece of gaming and a brilliant example of why we should not judge a book by its cover.

#1. Super Metroid

Yeah, you guys ALL saw this coming. While Metroid Prime is a very heavy contender for the top spot, I've got to give it to arguably the greatest game in history: Super Metroid. This is a game that earns its title of SUPER. I gave an entire review on it and stated there that it's nearly flawless with just a few tiny hitches in the gameplay that really don't hurt anything in the grand scheme of things.

Like Metroid Prime, Super Metroid has sublime level design and incredible areas to use each and every power-up that you can find in the game. They all work great and the power you feel with every new power-up you get is part of what makes this game such a masterpiece. Out of all the games in the series, this is the one that made me feel the most powerful by the end, even before the last boss fight which makes you feel even more powerful.

This game told a story without much dialogue or putting an enormous amount of emphasis on it and that's one of the reasons it works so well. There are games that are better with dialogue and with a lot of emphasis on the story like Mass Effect or Metal Gear. This isn't one of those and when a big story moment does happen, you'll know it and love it. Look no further than the final boss fight. Oh dear god the boss fights.

This game has some of the best boss fights ever. The fight against the 2 1/2 screen tall Kraid, for back in 1994, was unreal and still looks awesome today. The fight against Crocomire was also very thoughtful and unique. Of course, Ridley was awesome and made for a really challenging fight. But, the best fight was the last boss fight against Mother Brain. Arguably the best boss fight in the series, when you though you beat her and she rose out like a demon from hell...dear lord.

This game is classic and it's the epitome of what makes Metroid such an incredible franchise. It's gone on for 25 years, giving us almost nothing but greatness from the beginning. Here's hoping for 25 more years of greatness from this series and 25 more years with the most badass bounty hunter ever and first lady of gaming: Samus Aran.

Rage is Big and Has John Goodman, Diablo 3 DRM, Team Bondi Sells Assets, and Tomb Raider QTEs

Well, Metroid tribute coming later but for now some news.

Rage is big, and I mean BIG. According to reports that I've read, if you install the game on your 360, it will take up 22 GB. It also comes with two discs, whereas on the PS3 due to Blu-Ray it only comes on one. To put in perspective the size of that, I've got Mass Effect 2, both discs, installed on my 360 hard-drive and that with ALL of downloadable content mixed in plus a lot of playthroughs STILL only takes up 17 GB. We have a game with no DLC yet released that takes up 22. It looks really fun though I'm still holding back with Dark Souls and Batman: Arkham City coming out that month.

Also a trailer was released recently that had a familiar voice: John Goodman. Yes, John Goodman. Checking the internet, I found a forum post that listed this as a rumor back in March, though like Talia in Arkham City, journalists are talking like this is new. For all I know maybe it is, as I haven't kept as close of a watch on Rage as Arkham City. Maybe that was just a rumor that's been confirmed. It has for me at least.

I still have yet to see if it's going to be jolly Goodman or "Coen Brothers'" Goodman aka psychopath Goodman. It appears that it might be some kind of combination as he's voicing the leader of a village yet blows off of a mutant in the trailer, though to be fair who wouldn't be at that point. Oh and I also hear Paul Eiding aka Colonel Campbell in Metal Gear Solid and Steve Blum who I've mentioned a lot. I could swear I know the voice actress who says "Our group is small but dedicated" but I can't put my finger on it.

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Diablo III is going to be a big release. It's an entry in well-respected franchise and is of course developed by Blizzard, one of the greatest developers in the industry. However, a recent DRM announcement has caused some controversy. The absolutely despised DRM that Blizzard announced was also used for the PC version of Assassin's Creed II, which is why many PC players hated the game, and it takes something very special to hate Assassin's Creed II.

What the DRM does is that it makes it impossible to play the game without being connected to the internet. This means that if you're not connected to internet, you can't play. If your internet cuts, the game will stop. Ubisoft did it for Assassin's Creed II to prevent the piracy that afflicted the original. I'm assuming that Blizzard has similar reasons behind this but I think there are better ways of doing this. Some people just don't have strong internet connections which could make for some VERY annoyed and pissed off people.

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My lord, what a fall from grace Team Bondi has gone through. The developer was behind one of the biggest games of 2011, it was really hyped, sold well, and received critical acclaim. Then accusations of harsh treatment of employees came out, not giving credit to no-longer present workers, Rockstar refused to work with them again, and now they're selling their assets.

Cole Phelps opens the trunk to find Team Bondi

It's really been shocking to see just how big of a nosedive the company took. A mere three months ago, they were practically on top of the world with a game that had been in development hell for over a half a decade finally getting released and positively received. Now, they're practically in the gutter. They've sold all of their assets and IPs to KMM, who apparently bought them out. Rockstar still owns to rights to LA Noire so the PC version will still be coming unaffected.

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Many critics praised the E3 demo of Tomb Raider. I was not one of them. I praised the trailer but not the demo which is what counted. I was highly turned off by the plethora of quick-time events I saw. Don't get me wrong, limited QTEs are fine and done right, they can be downright badass or emotional without taking away your immersions (Mass Effect 2's interrupts are a perfect example).

Crystal Dynamics must have seen more complaints like mine and have responded by saying that they are not the "primary tool" in the gameplay department. The game will, according to them, rely on traditional Tomb Raider-style gameplay while at the same time, stay true to the concept of this being a reboot.

I like to hear that, but I have to see it and that's the problem. Obviously there's still a lot of time before the game comes out but that E3 was a big time to show me revamped gameplay that still stayed true to the Tomb Raider fashion. I didn't see it. Storywise, I really like where it's going and that's a big thing for me. But I need more before I turn my opinion around on this. Show me Crystal Dynamics, don't just tell me.

100th Post: Mass Effect Tribute

Well guys, my 100th blog post. I decided to do something special for this one. I've made it no secret that I LOVE the Mass Effect franchise. Hell, it's probably been mentioned on this blog more than any other franchise. Despite only being around for four years, it made the #3 spot on my Top 10 Franchises list, beating franchises that have been around for over two decades and only being beaten by Metroid and Metal Gear.

The iconic and badass symbol of the franchise, N7 carries a lot of meaning for me.

BioWare has simply crafted one of the most effective and emotionally involved sci-fi stories ever written, with a wonderful cast of complex and identifiable characters and some of the best voice acting ever recorded mixed with good gameplay that's looking to become phenomenal for the final entry.

So, for this 100th blog post, I've decided to basically kiss this series' ass big time with this blogpost compiling all the great things about this series, accessible both to people who have never played it before (though some SPOILERS but I'll try to keep them at a minimum) and those who have played it to reflect on this wonderful sci-fi universe. With the end of the trilogy coming in March, Mass Effect 3 is probably my all-time most anticipated game and here the reasons why I'm so excited to finish the remarkable series.

STORY (some spoilers but kept to a minimum)

Obviously, being BioWare, story is a big part of this game and most of my love for this series stems from the different story elements. BioWare has truly crafted an excellent tale so far and part of the reason I'm so excited for Mass Effect 3 is to see how it all comes to an end.

The first game begins with Commander Shepard, a decorated soldier who is the XO on the SSV Normandy, the most advanced ship in the Human Navy (or the Alliance Navy). S/he is a candidate to become the first human Spectre, an elite force of soldiers who answer only to the Citadel Council (governing body of alien species), which humans are trying to become members of.

On a mission to find a relic of an ancient and extinct species called the Protheans (species credited with creating mass relays for instant ship transport and the Citadel, the political and cultural hub of the galaxy), Shepard has images burned into his/her head of a galactic holocaust perpetuated by an ancient race of machines known as the Reapers and s/he makes it his/her mission to stop this holocaust from happening.

Mass relays allow for near instant transport to a certain location in the galaxy.

In the background is the Citadel, the cultural and political hub of the galaxy. In the foreground is the Normandy, one of the coolest starships in sci-fi history.

Standing in Shepard's way is a turian Spectre named Saren Arterius, who is trying to bring the Reapers back, the reasons for this being one of the mysteries of the first game. He is backed by a powerful asari matriarch named Benezia and a legion of an AI race called the geth who worship the Reapers as gods. The game, with its mystery, pulls off quite a few excellent twists that end with an incredible conclusion which left things open for future games.

The rogue turian spectre, Saren, and his army of geth stand in Shepard's way, attempting to bring the Reapers back.

Asari matriarch Benezia aids Saren in attempting to bring back the Reapers for unknown reasons that become clear later.

The story's brilliance comes from the mystery behind what exactly the Reapers are, how they achieve their goal, their connection to the mass relays and the Citadel and also for setting up the difficult battle that Commander Shepard (the player character) has in the upcoming games, showing just how relentlessly and terrifyingly powerful the Reapers are.

The second game, many felt, was lacking in story in comparison to the first game and I can understand those complaints, but I don't necessarily agree with them. Mass Effect 2 is the second in the trilogy and therefore was going to be more set-up for the third game. Therefore it focuses more on characters and setting-up plot points for the final entry of the series than in expanding too much on the main arc. We also saw this in The Empire Strikes Back and look how well that turned out in the long run.

The game sees humans being abducted by a race called the Collectors. A pro-human terrorist organization called Cerberus, led by the Illusive Man, recruits Shepard to stop them and find their connection to the Reapers. The game pulls off some twists but still lacks the mystery of the original but the plot points it sets up made it so that the wait for 3 would be very difficult.

The Illusive Man, leader of the powerful pro-human terrorist organization called Cerberus, enters an uneasy alliance with Commander Shepard.

The game also goes over quite a few themes with its sci-fi universe with my favorite being its exploration of humanity through AI. Battlestar Galactica executed this theme better than probably any other piece of sci-fi ever created but Mass Effect 2 still had an excellent look at it and also a unique one, looking less at the similarities and more at the differences between AIs and organic races.

At the end of the day, Mass Effect uses a lot of traditional cliches that we expect from the sci-fi genre but it uses them in a self-aware way, making it feel more like an homage than a rip-off. The thought of fighting an ancient evil is not new to video games in the least. But Mass Effect (with a few exceptions) pulls it off with such excellent writing and pacing that it works like a charm.

The Reapers feel like a nearly unstoppable force that have been committing galactic genocide for millions of years also having an air of terrifying mystery about them. It at times feels like HP Lovecraft (arguably the god of fictional horror) mixed with Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Babylon 5. At the end of the day, the story succeeds because of excellent writing and remarkable characters.

CHARACTERS

The Mass Effect series has been constantly praised for its incredible cast of characters, particularly the squad members. They're complex, likable, have a lot of depth, and just make the experiences so much more fulfilling. I could go on and on about the great characters in the series but I'll try to limit myself somewhat. I'll also refrain from talking about Commander Shepard as s/he's an escapist character built by the player.

There are of course the three characters who have been squad members in both games and whose loyalties to Commander Shepard have never been shaken. First, Garrus Vakarian, renegade cop and a member of the turian species who looks to Shepard for guidance in morally gray situations.

Garrus, otherwise known by fans as Space Batman, often struggles with doing the right thing. But he is always awesome.

Second, Tali'Zorah vas Neema, a member of the quarian species who were driven off their homeworld by the geth, AI that they created (Battlestar Galactica anyone?) and forms a strong relationship with Shepard over the course of the two games. One of the reasons I enjoy playing as Female Shepard is because of the sisterly bond that seems to be there, with FemShep acting as the older sister, which I really like the thought of storywise.

We may never know what Tali looks like under the helmet, but her personality has made her a fan favorite.

Both of these characters really grow through the timespan of the two games giving a real sense of development that makes them feel like real people (figuratively speaking) and makes them characters that you really come to care about.

But the last of the three, and probably the most loyal to Commander Shepard, is Dr. Liara T'Soni. Of all the characters in this very character-driven story, her arc and development over the course of the two games, has felt the most dynamic, emotional, and real. Many called character derailment in Mass Effect 2...at least until the Lair of the Shadow Broker expansion was released and then everything about her transformation from quiet and shy archaeologist to ruthless and vengeful information broker made perfect sense. With that, Liara has earned her place as one of my favorite characters in video games.

Liara T'Soni goes through the strongest character arc of the series and is one of my favorite video game characters.

Other fan favorites include the cynical krogan, Urdnot Wrex, who will still surprise any new players with the amount of depth as he shows that he's far more sophisticated than he looks. Thane Krios, a deeply religious assassin attempting to atone for his sins before he dies by ONLY killing truly horrible people; Mordin Solus, a doctor who enhanced a sterility plague and while he still believes it was right has trouble sleeping at night; and a few other characters that I won't mention for spoiler reasons.

Urdnot Wrex shows far more sophistication than you'd ever expect from a warrior lizard and can be a powerful ally for Shepard.

Thane Krios: skilled and deeply religious assassin attempting to atone before his death.

"Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients. Sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps." That's Mordin in a nutshell.

And of course I'm just scratching the surface here. With one or two exceptions, just about every character in the series that has plot relevance has an incredible amount of depth to them. It's important to talk to every character because they are hardly ever what they seem to be.

VOICE ACTING

Have I mentioned before how excellent the voice acting in this series is? I believe I have. But I'm going to do it again with more shout-outs to the different voice actors and actresses because it is freaking good.

First let's go to the voice actress and performance that I always love to praise: Jennifer Hale as Female Shepard. There's a reason I love playing as Female Shepard and that's primarily because of Hale's voice acting. The amount of dialogue and emotions she has to work with is simply mind-boggling and that she's able to nail nearly all of her lines (a few misses but that's to be expected) is incredible and she continues to prove why she's one of the most respected VAs in the industry. She's given probably my favorite performances of the two games and with BioWare giving Shepard more emotion in Mass Effect 3, I can't wait to see how she delivers this time.

Jennifer Hale nails the role of Commander Shepard, giving one of the most consistently excellent performances of the series.

But of course, one person can't carry an entire cast and I've already mentioned the plethora of sci-fi actors that are involved in the series. We've got Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Chuck (not really sci-fi but there's a connection with another voice in the series) as quarian marine Kal'Reegar, Claudia Black from Farscape and Stargate as quarian admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation (also Demona from Gargoyles) who was excellent as Matriarch Benezia, Michael Dorn (also from TNG) as krogan warlord Gatatog Uvenk, Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica as Captain Bailey, and Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix as Aria T'Loak.

With a few exceptions most of these are minor characters but they all do their job very well. Most of these characters also seem to have much bigger parts foreshadowed. Shala'Raan, Kal'Reegar, Captain Bailey, and Aria T'Loak all look like they'll have a stake in the storyline of Mass Effect 3 which has me very excited to hear their voice actors back. There's also Tricia Helfer who was Number Six in Battlestar Galactica voicing EDI. And the undeniably badass voices of Keith David (The Thing, Gargoyles) as Captain Anderson and Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens) as Admiral Hackett come in as reasonable authority figures, a rarity in Mass Effect.

Yvonne Strahovski from Chuck (told you I'd mention it again) also does an excellent job as Cerberus operative Miranda Lawson with BioWare even using her face with black hair (though they kind f'ed up the facial capture).

There's Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man. When I first heard Martin Sheen was involved, I was surprised and skeptical, not for lack of skill but a lot of times actors of his caliber are misused in video games or don't put their heart into it. However, he delivers a brilliant performance bringing his undeniable charm and likability to the table making the leader of a terrorist organization into a character that will have you constantly wondering whether he's trustworthy. And with his character set for Mass Effect 3, I can't wait to hear him again.

Martin Sheen brings his undeniable charm and likability to the Illusive Man, leader of the powerful terrorist group Cerberus.

There's also Seth Green as Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the pilot of the Normandy who can make ALMOST any situation hilarious. He was kind of a background character in the original but BioWare made him a much bigger character in 2 and Green does an excellent job throughout. His frequent spats with EDI are always good for a laugh. He can also do more serious situations as well and becomes really somber at the right moments showing Green's strength not just as a comedian but a voice actor all-around.

Seth Green, the co-creator of Robot Chicken, voices Joker and delivers some of the funniest moments of the series.

And of course, there are the non-celebrity voice actors (and non-playable characters) who almost all deliver excellent performances across the board. Brandon Keener as Garrus Vakarian, Liz Sroka as Tali'Zorah, Ali Hillis as Liara T'Soni, Steve Blum as Grunt, and many others. It's simply one of the finest casts imaginable.

UNIVERSE

Of all the video game universes I've seen (and I've seen a lot), Mass Effect might have the deepest and most well-constructed universe in video games. In two games, BioWare has managed to create a universe that quite a few have said is up there with Star Wars and Star Trek. Part of this is helped with the Codex, an in-game encyclopedia that gives explanations for EVERYTHING!

Seriously, the codex doesn't just give the basic information, it gives the tiniest details possible, like the diets, cultures and even religious practices of aliens species, the way all of the technology works, etc. It's really a wonder to read through it and realize that somebody had to think all of this stuff out, and the fact that they try to keep the series pretty grounded for a space opera, makes it even more impressive. They REALLY did their research.

The politics of the Citadel Council and their interaction with humanity, the newcomer of the galaxy, is part of what made the first game so memorable. They were complex and made for some riveting storytelling which showed the tensions between the governing body of galactic society and the ambitious human society.

The Citadel Council is represented by the three most powerful species of the galaxy. From L-R: Turian, Asari, and Salarian. The tensions between them and the ambitious newcomer, humanity, are brilliantly displayed

Throw in the Spectres, the sword of the Council so to speak, who answer only to the Council. This gives some great subtext about vigilantism, however in this case the vigilantism is government-sanctioned creating an interesting paradox. Shepard, being the first human Spectre, is above any law which is a great way to put the moral choices of the game in play.

While Mass Effect 1 dealt with the politics of the galaxy, Mass Effect 2 dealt with the cultures of the galaxy. It really went in-depth into species by allowing us to see them and hear from them. Sure we got to talk with krogan and a quarian in the last game but we didn't get much beyond that and not many differing opinions from other members of the species. Mass Effect 2 changed that, allowing us to see them in their natural environments and have meaningful conversations with other members of the species.

All of the alien species are fascinating in their own ways and break many of the stereotypes that would be associated with them, or at least a few characters break species stereotypes.

The quarian politics in particular were fascinating. The quarian admirals (basically politicians) were all genuinely well-meaning but all had differing opinions, with some believing in attempting peace with geth and others believing in all-out war and opinions in-between. The politicians were all deceptive, under-handed, and cruelly manipulative, but you could sense that all of them felt they were that for the right reasons. The fact that they're all so bitterly divided and that they're a race of nomads is part of the reason for their deception and underhanded tactics. Seeing where they go in Mass Effect 3 is one of the main draws for me in the story.

Quarian politics are deceptive, underhanded, divided, and one of the most fascinating parts of the Mass Effect universe.

Going to the krogan homeworld was also one of the high points of Mass Effect 2, seeing the consequences of them being a warrior race. A totally nuked out homeworld (self-inflicted) and they are struggling to survive due to the genophage, a sterility plague that causes only 1/1000 pregnancies to be viable, inflicted on them in a war that they had with the council species around 1000 years ago. This has in many ways, made them even more barbaric as they constantly struggle to survive and keep the species going making for an excellent deconstruction of the warrior culture that we see in sci-fi.

In the end, the Mass Effect universe is so multi-layered and well-built that it's truly a wonder. It's one of the biggest draws of the series, as there's never been a universe in video games (or almost anywhere else) with quite as much thought put into it.

CONCLUSION

With Mass Effect 3 just seven months away, I'm probably more excited than I've ever been for a game. With one or two exceptions, everything that I've seen from it looks very promising and it appears that it is going to be an absolutely incredible conclusion to this wonderful series. I hope this post has explained, in detail, all of the reasons why this series has had such an incredible impact on me. For those of you who have never played the series, go find the first now, import that save to Mass Effect 2, and get ready for Mass Effect 3 on March 6.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with me for 100 posts.