When Batman Arkham Asylum came out in 2009, it blew me away. Admittedly I had very low hopes for the game. The fact that it fulfilled every bat-fuelled fantasy I had as a kid made it one of the best games I have ever played period. However, when details about the sequel started to leak out, I began to get a tad worried. Sure developers Rocksteady had delivered with style, but it seemed that they might be overdoing things with Arkham City. Open world design with side quests? Thats the exact opposite of what Arkham asylum was.

Well, looks like Rocksteady have this Batman thing down pat.  If you happen to be the sort that does not like long worded reviews, let me save you some time. Arkham City is the best super hero game out there.

It seems the developers really listened to all the complaints I had from the first game. They not only corrected them all (with one major exception) but also took everything I liked about Asylum and cranked the awesome factor by ten. The unreal engine has been reused but tweaked enough to give the game a bit more color. Mind you, Gotham never needed it; this is a city that’s never been the colorful type. Not much has changed in terms of presentation but where Asylum had very restricted level design; Arkham City is a different beast all together. After the tightly scripted opening, which was a surprising twist to begin with, the game lets you decide where to go and how to get there. But before I get to that, let me vaguely lay out the plot. Do not worry, there are no spoilers here.

The game begins with Gotham city’s mayor Quincy Sharp, cordoning a section of the city using some pretty deft political tricks. This section, called “Arkham City” has been presented as a solution to Arkham Asylum. All criminals are essentially let loose in this area and stripped of all rights. No one except a private security firm (Tyger) is allowed in or out. It does not take a Batman level detective to figure out that this is a really, really bad idea. Long story short, things start going to hell, it becomes apparent that someone called Dr Hugo Strange is manipulating Sharp but no one knows why or for what. To make things even more complicated, Strange knows Batman’s secret, i.e., he is Bruce Wayne.

The story plays out across different sections of the city which means the player will spend a lot of time going from point A to point B looking for clues and hunting down leads. It a good thing then, that travel is one of the highlights of the game. The grapple gun makes a return, as does gliding, but they have both been given an upgrade. Given the large distances, Batman can now “dive bomb” while gliding to build momentum before spreading his cape and taking off again. It’s a brilliant mechanic and do not be surprised if you spend the first few minutes just shuttling form one place to another just for the heck of it. The grapple can be used as before and if you are feeling lazy, there’s always a low flying Tyger helicopter around to hitch a ride on (as long as they don’t see you).

From the get go, it’s obvious that the game allows for a lot of freedom. This is not really as free form as GTA or Oblivion, Batman can’t break down every door and enter every building for example. He can however, decide to snoop on some suspicious characters and gather some intel before heading out to see the Penguin. Or he could beat it out of them. Or he could pick up a ringing payphone and be lead on a psychopath’s version of “Simon says”. Personally, I am glad that this isn’t a true free world experience. To me, it makes zero sense for Batman to enter abandoned apartments and rummage through drawers to find “loot”.

It does however; make sense for him to look for clues and forensic evidence using “detective view”. Unlike Asylum, where this was overpowered, in Arkham City, it is just about adequate. As a result, I did not find myself using it as the default view. You will use it frequently for sure and if anything, it drives home the fact that above all, Batman is a detective. It’s a subtle thing, but goes to show how well Rocksteady “gets” the character.

But the real star here is the combat. Asylum had nailed the combat to feel very “Batmanish”. Every move executed felt like something out of a comic. It was brutal, free flowing and blow your socks off awesome.

And it does not hold a candle to what Arkham City has to offer.

I won’t waste time by using fancy words here. The combat in Arkham city is the best I have seen in any third person action game. It is almost like Rocksteady used some techno magic to plug directly into my cerebral cortex and find out what it takes to make me feel like Batman. One can get through most fights with using a handful of basic moves but once you master the range of special moves and gadgets at your disposal, every battle transforms from a brawl to a carefully executed ballet of badassery. It’s the sort of thing that’s an absolute joy to play and just as fun to watch someone else play. Seriously, who ever came up with the combat system deserves a raise. One caveat though, to really get the most out of it, you are going to need either a gamepad or multi button mouse (I used the Razer Naga for my play through). Using a standard keyboard is fine and will more than suffice for getting through the game but some of the harder combos will need some pretty nifty finger yoga.

Strangely enough, in spite of everything that Batman has going for him, he is still extremely vulnerable. Regardless of all the ninja moves and techno gadgetry at his disposal, the game constantly reminds you that this is still a normal human being in a bat-suit. In many ways, this is definitely a harder game than Asylum. The number of bad guys is larger, there are more weapons in their hands and charging into the middle of a gun totting mob is suicide. That’s the beauty of it, it’s one thing to swoop down in the midst of a dozen unarmed goons and utterly destroy them, but give one of them a shotgun and it’s a completely different game. Attacks will have to be planned carefully and executed with precision. Again, very Batman. Just like in the first game, there is a “challenge mode” available outside of the campaign. Apart from giving some solid replay value, it can also let you hone your combat skills.

Another enticing extra is the option of playing as Catwoman. Though the main campaign is centered on Batman, there are bits where the player will take control of Selina “Catwoman” Kyle. Here, the play style switches a bit. Selina’s moves are more restricted than Bruce’s and she only has a handful of gadgets at her disposal. But what she lacks in physical strength, she makes up for with speed. And really, really bad puns. Expect some eye roll moments when she starts to speak. This is the only part where the writing felt weak. Thankfully, this does not happen often and even when it does, it is short lived. You can however, continue to play as Catwoman once the main story is finished. If nothing else, it’s a nice change of pace.

Sound production is of very high quality across the board. The voice work is spot on. Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy make repeat appearances as the voices of Joker and Batman respectively and I really liked Nolan North’s cockney twist on the Penguin. The music is suitably broody and once again, is very reminiscent of the movie “Dark Knight”. All epic wins in my book.

One thing that I faulted Asylum for was the terrible boss battles. Well ok, maybe terrible is too strong a word. “Unimaginative” would be more apt. That complaint has been addressed in Arkham City. Though I hasten to add here, people seem to be divided on this. Quite a few players still hate them. For what it’s worth, I certainly felt they were well executed. They are still not perfect but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The Mr Freeze battle in particular, is fantastic. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that its one of the highlights of the game.

This does bring me to one complaint that I do have. In their effort to give players more of everything, the devs might have overshot a little with the villains. Batman’s rouges gallery is the most interesting one in the world of comics by far. I have heard more than one case of how the reason Batman is so awesome is because of the kind of people he faces off against. Regardless of whether that is true or not, it does take time to develop a character within any story. This is particularly challenging when the medium used to tell that story is an interactive one like video games. I won’t give out a list here for fear of spoiling anything but suffice to say there are a few villains that make an appearance just for the heck of it. There is no good reason for them to exist within this particular story except to satiate fanboys like me. It is a small thing and ultimately does not affect gameplay in any way at all but does make the overall story seem just a tad rushed in places.

The second issue I have with the game, and this one really pisses me off, is how messed up the save system is. Just like Asylum, there is just one save slot that the game automatically saves to, ie, there is one master save file that gets constantly overwritten automatically. If ANYTHING goes wrong with it, you are pretty much boned and have to start all over again. The same applies if you want to go back to specific point and replay it. The only option is to start a new game from scratch. This is just unacceptable. Especially when you consider that the game is integrated with Games for windows live (GFWL), ie, the most hideous and broken thing to exist on the platform. It essentially makes it impossible for save games to be transferred between systems. So if you plan on playing across 2 systems or are in the midst of an OS/HDD upgrade, forget it.

Overall however, Arkham City is a damn near perfect game. Its a title created by and for Batman fans and it clearly shows. The story is excellent and well written, the combat is fantastic and it really does make you feel like Batman. If there is any higher praise, I can’t think of it. Now if you will excuse me, there’s a certain clown that has a date with my fist.

FINAL SCORE: 9.3/10

Ninjas.

I’m just going to let that word hang for moment. As a kid… alright dammit I admit, even as an adult, I can’t think of anything cooler. Except maybe cyber ninjas. But I digress. Total War: Shogun 2, makes it possible to recruit and command an ARMY of ninjas. That’s like, a whole army of nothing but pure awesomeness. This was one of the first goals I had going into the game. It took a while, but I finally had me an army of nothing but “shadow hugging-smoke bomb throwing- stab you in the face and disappear” dudes. Snickering with glee, I watched as an enemy force of mixed, cheaper and technically inferior (albeit numerically superior) troops wandered right into the path of my death dealers. With a mouse click, I unleashed hell.

And had my ass handed to me.

Let’s recap shall we? The Total War franchise has been a favorite of mine ever since the first Shogun came crashing into the RTS scene way back in 2000. With its mix of turn based grand strategy coupled with real time battles that allowed players to control massive armies in a glorious spectacle of virtual carnage, it quickly wowed the gaming community. Over time, developers Creative Assembly have taken the series from strength to strength. The historical settings have changed of course; Total War fans have waged wars across the Roman Empire, medieval Europe, colonial Americas and rubbed shoulders with Napoleon. For its latest release, Creative Assembly has come full circle to their roots and brings the messy era of 16^th century Japan back to glorious life. Its a bloody chapter in Japanese history, rife with political intrigue, religious unrest, bloody wars and yes, ninjas.

If you have never played any game in the series before because, you know, that rock you were living under was too hard to move, here’s the skinny:

Every total war title is essentially two games rolled into one. The first part is akin to the popular board game “Risk” where players look upon the entire map that covered all regions of the “world” available in the campaign. This is the grand strategy bit. Special emphasis on “grand”. The sheer number of things that go into one single turn can be mind boggling but extremely satisfying.

The second part is all about real time battles. This is where players get to command their armies/navies in massive areas or engage in siege warfare. Total War battles have always been visually spectacular with hundreds of units going at each other at once. The action here is hectic and will tax a players tactical prowess.

As far as presentation goes, visual fidelity has always been one of the franchise’s strong points. With Shogun 2, the devs have upped the ante. To be honest, there is nothing in the strategy genre, real time or otherwise, that comes even remotely close to this. The game is stunningly beautiful. Everything from the loading screen, to the tactical maps, right down to the level of detail on a single soldier’s armor is rendered exquisitely. Shogun 2 has an artistic style that permeates through every aspect of the game. Even the heavily Japanese accented English spoken by the advisers add to the atmosphere. Every battle commanded by a general starts with a rousing speech (another staple of the series). Only in this case, the speech is not translated from its original Japanese. It is subtitled of course, but the force of your katana wielding badass’s words comes through without losing anything in translation. The music only adds to this. The title score in particular, is one of my favorites. No doubt about it, with respect to presentation, there is now a new benchmark for strategy titles everywhere.  Expect your system to get a good workout.

In terms of game mechanics, not much has changed. Just like the older games, the overall goal here is to occupy key cities and control enough territory to secure your position as supreme leader (Shogun in this case). This is nothing like the usual “build your base, raise an army and rush em” strategy that most RTS games are like. If anything, it’s very similar to the “Civilization” series. Anyone with even a passing interest in turn based strategy will feel right at home here. It brings home the fact that managing an empire of any sort in real life must have been a logistical nightmare.

The sheer amount of information the game hits you with can be overwhelming at first but a little patience will go a long way. I daresay games like this cater well to a certain type of gamer, i.e., the one that likes to take his/her time. The ability to see things a few turns in advance is easy at first with a handful of cities but the more your empire grows, the more complicated things become. There is tremendous depth here if you are willing to learn the ins and outs. The fact that Shogun 2 has its own built in encyclopedia to help players should give you a good idea of how much there is do.

There are cities to develop, treaties to sign, trade routes to secure, assassinations to conduct and counter spying to initiate. Religion is a huge part of this, adopting Christianity for instance, may get you access to guns but pisses off the local populace resulting in revolts. It also makes you a hated enemy of every neighbor within range of a yari thrust. On the flip side, you could always use religion as a weapon by spreading your faith to those outside your borders. Do this long enough and the people will “see the light” and overthrow their rulers, making your job so much more easier. I have literally spent an hour on some turns although most will be resolved in a few minutes. Wars are expensive, maintaining a decent city is even more so and taxing your populace can only take you so far. Trade routes are things to be protected and diplomacy is key to victory. In short, this is where the meat of the game really is.

Even managing your family is a game in itself. The bloodline needs to be kept strong and protected. Enemy ninjas will undoubtedly be looking for ways to dispose of the player’s most promising heirs. Marriage is an excellent political tool and crafty individuals will quickly realize that having a bunch of women of marriageable age can be an excellent resource used to garner support from that nasty clan that’s got a military machine twice your size and is breathing down your neck. Like everything else though, this too can backfire, any rejected offer will lower your Daimyo’s honor which adversely affects the whole clan. Armies, generals and even family members of a Daimyo with poor honor can easily be bribed over to the enemies’ side.

Unlike the previous games, the map here is a lot smaller, this focused on Japan after all. So there is only so much land to fight over. It is still an epic campaign (expect 50 hrs plus at least) but this focus comes at a cost, since all the clans are Japanese and share the same cultural roots, there is not a lot to distinguish one form the other. Unlike Rome for example, where a Germanic barbarian horde functioned, looked and played completely different from a “civilized” nation like Carthage, there is little to distinguish the Shimazu clan from the Chosokabe. Sure one may train better archers and prefer the color green but that’s about it. In terms of variety Shogun 2 is found wanting against older games in its own franchise. This is not huge deal for someone new, but for old hands like me, it will seriously affect replay value.

When all the planning is done, when all the pieces are in place, it time to unsheathe your sword, get on your trusty steed and take to the field of battle. Regardless of good your political strategy is, war is inevitable. Thankfully, in Shogun 2 war is also a whole lot of fun.  And in this respect, it is the best game in the series. It’s hard to get a sense of how stunning the game looks via screenshots. One really has to see in engine in motion to appreciate just how good it is. Horses stomp the ground restlessly, no daichi samurai shrug and adjust their armor while the general waits, and all the while, birds fly overhead as cherry blossoms waft over the armies. My first few minutes were spent just admiring the astonishing level of detail.

Though it is viable to play out a battle in real time, there is an active pause system that allows one to pause the action at any time and queue up commands. This is a very handy feature as battles can be very chaotic affairs. If you are a control freak like me, you will probably end up using it every few seconds although this is admittedly, overkill.

The kind of units engaged in battle, their gear and level of experience, topography of the battlefield, skill of the generals and even the weather, all have a role to play. So it was no surprise to see my army of ninjas decimated by a force that was much more balanced. Speaking of which, combat and the way it plays out is a lot more believable this time around. Previous Total War games though always fun, were frequently capable of being unbalanced. Rome Total War especially, had me often best a force 3 times my size. Technically superior troops almost always trumped a larger inferior force. In Shogun, being out numbered is a serious handicap. Superior troops will still need numbers on their side and a large force of technologically inferior forces with competent leadership will usually win. Another notable difference is how devastating archers are. Heavy armor was an unusual sight during the Sengoku jidia period and as a result, a melee heavy force will need to move quickly to close the gap between it and any enemy ranged forces. Even cavalry can be decimated by a few accurate volleys. One thing that I did notice was that having the advantage of higher ground did not give much of a range bonus to archers. The fact that the opposite holds true for every game before this seems to suggest this may be a bug which may be patched out. That being said, the AI in Shogun 2 is the best I have seen in the franchise so far. Though not completely immune to stupidity, it usually presents a good challenge in most battles.

There is an “auto resolve” option for people who do not wish to bother with the real time aspect of the game though the results here tend to be hit and miss.

Two things have changed dramatically. First off, generals are a lot more hands on. There is direct control of how the player decides to improve them. This brings in a RPG flavor which I absolutely loved. Where they were little more than portraits and no personality in previous titles, here, I knew each one of my favorites my name. Suddenly, the idea of losing one in battle became a scary prospect. This is made even more interesting when you consider how their presence affects the outcome of an engagement. Depending on how they were leveled, generals get special abilities that can be used in the thick of a scrap. Having a competent general makes for some exciting “victory from the jaws of defeat” scenarios but this almost always involving putting him at risk. Make no mistake; losing a good general comes as huge strategic and personal loss.

Secondly, siege warfare has completely changed. Unlike the castles and fortresses of Europe that were designed to keep the enemy out at all costs, Japanese structures were built with the idea of funneling enemy troops into killing grounds. The theory was to make the idea of gaining every inch of ground a very costly affair. Defenders do have an advantage but only with comparable numbers on their side. Defensive or not, castles can be easily swarmed by a numerically superior force especially if they are quick. This is another example of where having a competent general makes all the difference.

What has not changed unfortunately is the boredom of naval battles. Though more refined from previous iterations, it still remains a weak spot in the Total War arsenal. Expect to use the “auto resolve” feature a lot with them.

Things have also been taken to a whole new level with multiplayer. Players now have a persistent avatar. Winning battles and gaining experience will unlock new abilities for your general and cosmetic upgrades. Match making seems to work for the most part but I have had some laggy games. No surprise given how few people play this in my part of the world. To be honest I have not spent enough time online to give an unbiased opinion but for what it’s worth, what little time I did spend was enjoyable.

At its core, Shogun 2 is a balancing act. All aspects of 16^th century Japan need to be catered to. It is a game that is easy to play, but hard to master. On default difficulty settings, Total War vets will likely tear through the campaign like a hot katana through sushi. Bump it up however, and its whole new game. I have been playing Rome Total War (still my favorite in the series) since its release in 2004 and have yet to beat it on the highest difficulty. Shogun 2 will undoubtedly pose the same challenge. But yes, the polish that comes with such a focused approach has come at the cost of variety in both number of units and type of factions. If you are new to the series, this is an excellent place to start. If you are a fan of the series, there is enough different here to make it seem fresh for at least another few months. And besides…..

Ninjas.

FINAL SCORE: 8.8/10

(This is a re-write of the Crysis 2 review which was supposed to be published on the 27th of April but ended up getting lost in internet limbo. The game since then has been updated to v 1.8 which brings a lot of tweaks to the multiplayer side of things. As such, my criticisms of the single player campaign still stand but multiplayer has certainly become a lot more enjoyable. The scores have been updated to reflect this.)

When Crysis first came out, it made the PC gaming community go nuts. The press around the game made it seem like it was the pinnacle of the FPS genre. The graphics were rig meltingly awesome, the world was a huge playground, the AI was usually competent and the Nano suit was just plain cool.

Too bad I hated it.

Well ok, maybe “hate” is too strong a word. At best it was “meh” imo. I should add here that I’m not much of an “open world” player. I like my shooters to have a tight scripted feel without being a strict corridor affair. Half life would be a good example. Regardless, even if I personally did not enjoy Crysis as much as the press did, I could still respect it for what it was, ie, a decent open world shooter that did give you a myriad of ways of making things go “boom”. It was in many ways, a landmark for the genre.

Why the sequel decided to piss all of that way then, is a true head scratcher. Sorry folks, if you are looking for a glowing review (at least for single player), you should probably stop reading right now. Crysis 2 is so generic it makes me want to take a boxed copy over to the developers, slam it on their heads and scream “WHYYYYYYY?!?!?!”

Where do I even begin? The game starts with a yawn worthy cinematic with a bunch of spec op guys doing their chest thumping routine. “Rah Rah bring it on blah blah”. This quickly launches into a scene that seems copy pasted from CoD4. Escape from a sinking vessel. Great.

This is followed by some other sleep inducing cut scenes which show the Statue of liberty on fire (Oooooh, never seen THAT before have we?) and the inevitable rescue by generic mystery man number 3417. I suppose the whole point of this exercise was to drive home the fact that the aliens from the first game have totally taken over. Fine. From this point on though, the story from the first game is effectively flushed down the toilet. Let me say this as clearly as possible: Apart from the nano suit that you quickly procure and a guest appearance by a character from the original Crysis there is absolutely no connection to the narrative of the first game. None. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing; I can totally live with the revamp of an existing plot if it makes any sense at all. Though the story does come together towards the end, chances are that most players would have long lost interest in it by then.

The aliens look completely different, none of the characters I meet seem to shed any light on wtf is going on and somehow, there is some kind of plague to content with. Oh, and for some damned reason, I’m a target of both the aliens AND humans. Crysis 2 went to extra ordinary lengths to confuse the hell out of me (plot wise) in the first 10 minutes.

Soon I’m out in the city looking upon a rather stunning urban landscape. Ill give Crysis 2 this: it does look pretty. Sunlight glints over shattered concrete, trees sway realistically and shadows play across everything. The engine is by far the game’s biggest strength. And perhaps the only thing of note. Oh btw, forget about tweaking your graphical settings beyond pre-defined options. Obviously it was too much to ask for even though its been a key feature on the PC for decades. That being said, you can still expect some stunning graphics even on a mid-range system.

It soon becomes apparent that the rest of the game is divided into mini levels giving the illusion of being in a huge expansive world. The key word here being “illusion”. The world is full of walls and not all of them are the visible kind. For all its bluster and media hype, Crysis 2 is just like your average shooter with some extra options thrown in. The devs refer to these as “action bubbles”, ie, small areas of freedom that are connected to each other within a huge world. I call them disappointment centers. It is nothing more than a design crutch and a flawed one at that. What they have effectively done is strip away the sense of wonder that was to be had in not knowing which way was the “right” way. There is no exploration here. I’m shaking my head even as I write this; Crytek excels in free world exploration. Look at Farcry 1. That was a great example of how to do exploration right. And this was a game the same people made 8 years ago! How could they get this aspect of it so wrong?

Oh but there’s more, not content with flat out locking me into these tiny areas, they actually felt the need to hold my hand throughout missions. The so called “tactical mode” is a joke. It essentially highlights the options I have available for completing an objective . I could see how highlighting foes and ammo caches can be helpful but do I really need to be told “Look! A ladder. You can climb this!!”? Oh right, I DO need to be told, because as I mentioned, the world of Crysis 2 isn’t really open at all. You can only climb ladders that the “tactical” visor tells you about. Sure, the other ladders look perfectly climbable, but unless a certain path was clearly highlighted for the player, it’s not an option at all. May as well give me a compass that points me in the right direction. Oh wait, there’s no need, the game highlights where to go anyway. Silly me.

There are even parts where the player will be prompted to press a key so as to not miss a pretty but pointless explosion. Or click the left and right mouse button alternatively to “crawl”. If you are thinking of Call of Duty right now, don’t worry, so am I. I don’t mind mechanics like that if they make sense for the game in question. CoD4 was nothing but a series of corridors glued together with cut scenes and quick time events. But they were executed brilliantly. They gelled and came together in a fantastic climax. In Crysis 2 they just plain suck. Level design, narration, gameplay, all suffer as a result.

Not content with diluting the core experience, Crytek also decided that it would be an excellent idea to slap on a ridiculous checkpoint save system. You know, so when those wall hopping aliens manage to get the drop on you, you can repeat the last 10 minutes of sneaking. Sigh. Speaking of which, expect to do a lot of that. Sneaking, that is. Unlike the first game, Crysis 2 does make stealth a less frustrating option. But there is only so many times one can play the “shoot and stealth behind wreckage” game before it gets tedious. And therein lies one of the biggest problems. There just isn’t enough variety in the battles. There is the occasional vehicle mission and mandatory boss to spice things up but by and large these are just tacked on fillers.

It would have helped if there was strong sense of narrative but there isn’t. Most of the time you are on your own. The only company you keep is the annoying voices in your ear piece telling you where to go and what to do. Who these people are and what their deal is remains a mystery to me even after finishing the game. The story is a loosely written mess that did little more than bore me. On the rare occasions that you do meet people, you will wish you were back on your own. Every person I came across was essentially a card board cutout with zero personality. And the voice acting does not help matters. Lines are delivered flatly with little or no emotion (with some exceptions). One small consolation is the music, which is surprisingly well done. The title score in particular is excellent. Overall, the sound in the game is of high quality. Gunshots sound just right, the aliens sound suitably otherworldly and metal crunches convincingly. Too bad it’s not enough to dull the pain of the biggest hurt of all.

You guessed it. The Nano suit. I honestly think Crytek should change the title of the game to “How to nerf a Nano suit”. The original Crysis made no bones about the fact that it was all about the suit. It was the real hero. The guy in it was just along for the ride. By all accounts, this worked just fine because the suit was truly awesome. In Crysis 2 however, it feels totally gimped. Super speed is little more than an average sprint and the super jump just, isn’t. It boggles the mind how the game has you jumping across buildings like a would be spider man only to be foiled by something as simple as this:

As for strength mode, granted, its immensely satisfying to grab a foe by the neck and send him flying into a wall, but why is it that the same “maximum strength” that can falcon kick cars across a street finds its nemesis in a wooden door? The fact that the suit can be “upgraded” does little to help in the beginning. Towards the end of the game, when the suit is tricked out, it does become a lot of fun. Its tragic that it takes too long.

The AI does a good job most of the time and had the suit actually been any good, it would have been truly wonderful to use its abilities to out jump and out run the competition. Unfortunately it’s just too easy to die in the first few hours. This effectively forced me to stealth my way through places I did not want to.

Everything I criticized the game for would have easily been forgotten had the Nano suit been implemented correctly. Unfortunately, it is easily the biggest disappointment in the whole game. And considering how Crysis 2 is essentially a long string of disappointments, that’s saying something.

The game does have its moments of brilliance now and then. But that only goes to remind the player of what a fantastic game it could have been. As it stands however, Crysis 2 has become (for me at least) the poster child for hype over substance.

I expected this sequel to address the complaints I had about its predecessor. What it ended up doing was take out everything that made Crysis fun in the first place and fill it with things that either have no place in a game like this, or just do not work. I hate to say this, because in many ways, Crysis was the PCs flagship title for FPSs. It is a game I desperately want to like. But the console bug has bitten it’s pretty little head right off. The gratuitous hand holding, pointless story, gimmicky mechanics and severely restricted world make it precisely the kind of game I have no interest in. And though I admit I enjoyed the last couple of hours immensely, it hard to forgive the initial hours of drudgery.

The multiplayer aspect of the game does redeem it somewhat. Going up against human opponents with their own upgrades to the Nano suit opens up new possibilities. Unfortunately, the ping I got playing from India made it difficult to give an unbiased opinion. I kept getting disconnected frequently which was annoying. Whether this was the game’s fault or just the initial server load, I cannot say. What precious little I did play was certainly enjoyable.

As is becoming the norm, the stats for multiplayer are persistent, ie, a player gains experience points which unlocks new ranks and bonuses. Crysis 2 also has a direct rip off of the kill streak rewards that Modern Warfare has made so famous. Although here, it isn’t as over powered. The tight level design actually works quite well in multiplayer where unleashing the suit’s powers becomes an act of sheer joy. The feeling of satisfaction I got from pulling of a powerful ground slam move to instantly kill three enemies from above is something to make one feel truly badass. It’s a pity the same sensation never came across even once in single player.

Rounds are hectic and short which make Crysis 2 perfect for thirty minute sessions. The single player may be an exercise in mediocrity but those looking for some human vs human action might find the game worth the money. Give the demo a go to see if it holds true for you.

Whether the multiplayer keeps me hooked for long still remains to be seen. But for the most part, it looks promising enough for a couple of months at least.

In closing I can only say that Crysis 2 is not a bad game. It’s just not nearly as good as it should have been. In an effort to cater to the console crowd, it has given up most of what made its predecessor special. Whichever way you look at it, the single player campaign is still a disappointment.

FINAL SCORE: 7.0/10 (Single Player campaign) 8.1/10 (Multiplayer)

Update: The game is now patched to version 1.8. The constant disconnects seem to have been fixed as have many minor bugs and crashes in the single player. The game runs stable now with nary a crash. There is a definite improvement in pings as well. It runs a lot smoother and as a result is more fun to play now.

I remember going on an awkward date once. It was with a lovely young lady I had known for a while and who I thought, knew me pretty well. But on that particular day, everything went wrong from the moment we said hello. I was dressed the way I always did when I was 18 (some would say even now) faded denims and biking boots etc., while she showed up like she was headed to the prom. I was in the mood for a pizza, while she was hoping for a more “fancy” experience. At one in the afternoon no less. As for our choice in movies, well…. you get the idea. All signs pointed to the date being a disaster and a major disappointment for both of us because remember, we had been friends for a few years.

At some point however, things began to change.

She started laughing at my jokes; I actually found myself willing to listen to her talk and as afternoon turned to evening, we realized that we were having a hell of a time. By the end of it, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Dragon Age 2 kept reminding of that day regularly.

The first Dragon Age (DA) was an RPG epic. A throwback to the old school days of gaming where it was all about being a hero and saving the world. About exploring a huge world and meeting a host of interesting characters. Oh and killing pants pissingly huge dragons. It was also more than a 100 hours long and a title that belonged to the PC by its very nature. Needless to say, I loved it.

The sequel however, changes so much, that, at first, I wondered why Bioware kept the name Dragon Age at all. Yes, the game is still set in Ferelden, the same land featured in DA and yes, it’s still about using your party of four to decimate legions of bad guys. But the focus has changed. You can’t really create your own character and choose his/her origin. No, you are Hawke. Like Commander Shepard in Mass Effect (ME), you are a badass. You just don’t know it yet. Choose a first name if you want, it doesn’t really matter. No one is going to refer to it anyway. Don’t be surprised if even YOU forget. The presentation is what matters. No wait, let me rephrase that. Presentation is what the developers want you to care about. And that’s where the alarm bells began. The intro to the game is essentially a series of cut scenes wrapped around a threadbare tutorial. The story is presented as series of flashbacks. One of your friends is being interrogated by a member of the Chantry (the game’s version of the Church) in order to figure out what Hawke did and why. It’s not the most original plot device but works well enough. What it does is divide the game into slices of three years. Since the story is spread over a decade, the choices made in each of these slices have consequences in the following ones.

The first DA was about your character being swept by events larger than him/her. You could get lost in the sheer size of the continent you inhabited. But for all its epic scale, the game never really did much with its lore. DA2 on the other hand, suffers from the opposite. Your adventures are limited to a single city and its various sections (with occasional forays outside). It relies heavily on the lore of the world and gives its various factions a strong sense of character. It also tries to make the game about YOU more than anything else. You are not saving the world, just your part of it. And you do it in the most dramatic way possible.

The problem is, the first few hours of the game are very weak in terms of emotional involvement. It felt like the initial hours of an MMO. Follow the arrow on the radar, talk to the man with the sign over his head, listen to him moan about something in a cut scene, go solve his problem. It’s almost symbolic how the game literally sees you sold as a slave right at the beginning. It doesn’t help that your team at this point comprises of a dull sibling and a warrior that’s drier than a heat rash in Delhi. I won’t lie; almost the entire first chapter (about 3 hours for me) was extremely disappointing.

Soon however, the shackles are literally and figuratively broken. It almost as if the developers realized this isn’t Mass Effect and should be treated as its own game. And boy does it recover. The companions you pick up are suddenly interesting. The banter between them actually surpasses those of games like Baldur’s Gate. And that’s not something I say lightly. The interactions between them are a joy to behold and the conversation wheel taken from ME gives you an additional choice. Instead of “positive” and “negative” one can also choose the “wise ass” option. Brilliant. One small complaint however, the wheel only gives the option of what “stance” to take, so in some cases, Hawke ends up saying something you certainly did NOT want him to say. If nothing else, the result of this can be quite hilarious. In one instance, it ended up making my genuine attempt at comforting a friend turn into consent to a gay relationship. Whoa!

The quests themselves become a lot more involving and I frequently found myself having to pace around in my room to decide what to do. Some of the choices presented in the game are deliciously grey. Some of the supposed “right” decisions I made, helping a friend for instance, came back to bite me in the ass. Bite me HARD. The quality of writing is much better than that of the original and it clearly shows.

Also improved is the skill system. The depth here is surprisingly good. It completely blows DA out of the water. The alternatives presented are excellent and one could play the same class across three playthroughs yet have a different experience each time. The visuals complement the skill tree perfectly. A back stab isn’t about running behind someone and initiating a boring stab move. No, in DA2, the rouge throws a smoke bomb at his feet and disappears only to materialize behind his victim to literally tear him apart.

The tactical camera from the first game is history, but the good news is that the close up camera isn’t as bad you think. The battles are bloody and gorgeous. That’s right; they look bloody gorgeous (sorry). Having the camera positioned the way it is simply ensures you don’t miss the visuals. Speaking of which, the engine is still the hideous one that was used in DA, only this time around there is a lot of polish to it and ends up looking rather good. If you have a beefy GPU, you can install an additional 1 GB of high res textures which will make it look even better. Grab the texture pack here.

I cannot stress this enough, the combat is spectacular. It retains all of the tactical depth of the original and adds to it in most places. Pausing to issue orders is an absolute must even on “normal” difficulty. Pushing it up to “hard” makes it decidedly tougher primarily due to friendly fire from the more powerful spells. DA veterans will have no problem getting back into it (I would actually recommend “hard” to vets). One of the biggest delights is pulling off a “cross-class combo”. So if a warrior’s special attack “staggers” a target, the rouge’s backstab will do 200% damage. Or a mage’s “freeze” spell could make targets “brittle” which can make them shatter with a powerful blow. Expect to be taxed with some of the boss battles too. Killing a dragon should always be an epic feat. The boss battles were the only times I missed the old tactical view. Switching between characters becomes a hassle without it.

The characters are well voiced and I must admit, having Hawke talk back does make a huge difference to the feel of the game. A mute protagonist like the one in the original just doesn’t cut it anymore. Gordon Freeman is the only exception. The well written script is put to good use by Hawke’s companions as well. It’s particularly refreshing to see an elf with a Welsh accent. We need more of those.

It’s not to say that it’s all sunshine and roses however. As I mentioned earlier, since the entirety of the game takes place in a handful of places, you will end up going to certain areas multiple times. Hawke is the hero of the city of Kirkwall. Not the continent of Ferelden. That’s all well and good, but if the said area has not changed even an iota, it becomes repetitive. But what shocked me the most was how some of the places that are supposed to be different areas (not connected in any way what so ever), end up looking exactly the same. And I do mean EXACTLY. Even the loot boxes are in the same spot. It’s a blatant copy-paste job that one does not expect from a developer of Bioware’s stature. Bad Bioware!

The inventory system has been simplified thank goodness but, any armor found is restricted to Hawke. Companions come with their own threads that improve as they gain levels. This one had me scratching my head. Part of the charm of an RPG is being able to customize everyone in my party the way I want. Not being able to do this in 2011 is stupid. At least the gear they get is pretty decent. In some cases, depending on how you treat them, they get a huge boost to their stats and equipment. Speaking of companions, I preferred the idea of having a common “camp” in the first game. It was easier to gear everyone up and talk to them if you wanted. In DA2, every companion has his or her own home which leads to needless shuffling from one spot to another. Especially considering you HAVE to talk to them in their own residence. It sometimes breaks immersion when the party member you have been adventuring with for the last few quests says something moronic like “Oh, I didn’t think you would visit”. Erm…. I didn’t leave your side for the last three days mate but, whatever.

I can’t really tell you at what point I started enjoying it as much as I did, somewhere midway through the second chapter I guess. But it quickly became the sort of game where I lost track of time. Suddenly the half hour session I had promised myself stretched itself way past 1 AM. Ferelden is still a good place to adventure in. And the city of Kirkwall has enough to keep you engaged for 40 hours or so. From looking like a Mass Effect wannabe, it flowers into something between the original DA and ME2. It is a refreshing take on something familiar that is different enough to be valued on its own merits. There are some aspects that could be better but even the worst parts of it do nothing more than annoy for a while. If anything, I can’t wait to go through the game a second time.

In the end, just like that evening I had so long ago; it turned out to be a lot of fun.

FINAL SCORE: 8.6/10

James Bond has a lot to answer for. Every guy that ever watches him would give his right arm (or at least a pinky) to be in his shoes even for a day. Thank goodness for games then, which let us live out that ridiculous fantasy without the downside of possible dismemberment.

Que Alpha Protocol.

Obsidian has had a history of crafting some excellent RPGs and I must confess I have been a little partial to their offering. On the flip side, they also have a history of buggy releases. Regardless of how good their stories and characters tend to be, I have yet to pick up a single title that was playable on day one. AP has been out for a while. And from all the early reviews I had read, it seemed that the unfortunate trend is set to continue. That’s part of the reason why I resisted the temptation to buy and review it early. I was waiting for the inevitable patches to fix the game.

To be honest, I find it hard to be completely impartial with this review. Mainly because playing it across two different rigs felt like playing two different games altogether. On a lower end laptop (which was still well over minimum spec) it was frustrating. On a mid range desktop with a decent 3d card, it was a lot more enjoyable.

So let’s do away with the bad news shall we? The engine is bloody awful. Not only is it a resource hog, it does absolutely nothing to justify it being one. The color palette is uninspiring at best, with a weird fixation for brown and blue. The load times are dreadfully long and the lip syncing is unconvincing in most places. Textures are outdated with certain parts feeling like it was out of a PS2. I hasten to add here that most of the technical issues I had were noticed only on the laptop.

The camera is an absolute pain. This is a title that was clearly designed with consoles in mind and does absolutely nothing to make it enjoyable on the PC. The whole game suffers as a result of being gimped and severely so. For instance, there is a sensitivity slider for the mouse but not one for controlling camera speed. Therefore, a setting that works for one simply does not for the other. If it wasn’t for the fact that my mouse had variable DPI settings, I doubt I would have been able to play through it.

The controls can be customized (whew) but still does not help the fact that combat is not intuitive. It just does not feel right. Weapons are hard to aim (again, more so on lower end hardware), regardless of how much you fiddle with the sensitivity. Combat overall felt like something out of a console based 3rd person brawler. It employs a cover system that’s become common but implements it poorly. Shotguns have the same range as rifles which have the same range as bloody pistols. And as for SMGs, I have never come across anything as hard to control. It’s as if the developers wanted to punish you for firing one. It just makes no sense. The weapons have no sense of “weight” to them at all. Melee is a bit more forgiving, and dare I say, fun. But considering how it becomes useless during boss battles (more on this later) it’s a bit of a letdown.

And the characters. Ah yes, the characters. When the game first started, it seemed like this was something Obsidian nailed. The NPCs were well voiced and infused with personality. The protagonist, the smart mouthed Mike Thorton, is instantly likable. But soon enough, I ran into her:

At this point I realized what the problem with this game really is.

It’s trying too damn hard.

Somewhere during the development process, the developers decided (or were told to) cater to everyone. And I do mean everyone. If you are a hardcore RPG player that thrives on making hard choices, you are covered. AP has them in spades. Want action? Here you go. The ability to execute someone midway through a conversation? No problem. A shooter mechanic with a cover system? Step right up son. How about some wacky anime / JRPG villains? Oh yes sire. I’m surprised Mario didn’t show up halfway through a gunfight.

It’s not that all these elements cannot come together well, but if even one of them isn’t done right, it just mars the entire experience. At its heart, AP is very much a typical Obsidian RPG. And this is where the good new begins. It does have a decent story, in many ways it’s speaks to what is happening in the world around us today. Big corporations in bed with demagogues, political assassinations, religious extremism and all that good stuff. Its well written, and presented well. The subject matter is actually quite serious which is why the wacky bosses that show up seem so jarring. Missions in the game are divided into sub-missions that the player has the freedom to approach in any order providing a certain degree of freedom.

The characters you come across during your globetrotting adventures are well voiced and believable (except for the crazy over the top JRPG ones). The conversations are not your typical “choose a line from the three presented”. No, the player just chooses a stance and the conversation plays out accordingly. You will have to be quick too, the game will only allow a few seconds for you to choose. This brings a refreshing sense of urgency to what is admittedly a dated mechanic. I would go far enough to say this might actually be the standard for all RPGs from now on. NPCs have fully fleshed out personalities (albeit stereotypical ones) and long memories. What you say and more importantly, how you say it matters. A seemingly innocent attempt at humor can have serious repercussions. Said repercussions range from not getting precious stat bonuses during missions to completely cutting off certain quest lines and even turning foes into allies and vice versa. Its moments like those that had me hooked to the game. This is certainly not the kind of title for people that do not like long lines of dialogue. On the other hand, if you enjoy engaging NPC’s in banter, you will love the well written script and excellent voice-overs. Thorton’s quick witted comebacks are definitely one of the highlights.

As fiddly as combat is, the skill system does make it more tolerable. At higher levels some of them end up making a mockery of most battles. For instance, unlocking “Shadow operative” in the stealth line makes you invisible for a certain amount of time. So you can go crazy while performing instant kill moves for 10 seconds. In broad daylight. With bad guys in full view of each other. There really is no sense of balance to the skill tree at all, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun. The same battle scenario that left me frustrated during early levels had me feeling like a bad ass once I had some experience points under my belt .The exception is boss battles. In these cases, melee is almost out of the question unless Thorton has a lot of points invested in it (and even then its a challenge). Experience is awarded for the number of objectives accomplished rather than how many bodies you left in your wake. How you accomplish them is up to you. Stealth is certainly one way to go. Setting traps to get the drop on your enemies is another one. And yes, taking the front door with all guns blazing is also an option.

The “floaty” feel of combat is a hard pill for PC vets to swallow but it does get better as the game goes along. As for AI, there isn’t any. You can take out targets silently within two feet of each other without fear of blowing your cover. And there isn’t any need to hide any bodies because they conveniently disappear after a few seconds. In fact, in some cases, enemies will actually walk over the corpses of their buddies without care as long as they didn’t actually “see” the attack that killed them.

There is an impressive arsenal at Thorton’s disposal and missions will allow you to get cash that can be used to buy better gear and upgrades from the black market. How you treat people will also decide what prices you pay. Carrying capacity is limited, so it pays to specialize in certain kinds of equipment to make the most of what you have. The black market can also be used to purchase additional intelligence for upcoming missions. These can make some missions relatively easier (by providing security loopholes) or provide extra objectives etc.

There will be plenty of opportunities to gather intel / additional ammo by unlocking doors or hacking into computers in a mission. As is becoming the norm now, these trigger mini games that the player must beat to be successful. This is another area where the games console roots become all too apparent. I personally find these annoying but you can use an EMP grenade to skip them. Seriously though, I really wish developers would get over the urge to shoe horn stuff like this. It’s repetitive and adds nothing to the experience apart from tedium.

The time spent between missions can be used to read up on dossiers on your PDA. Not only does this give you an insight into the organizations and people you encounter, in some cases it can give you an advantage by way of bonuses in combat.

Alpha Protocol is a flawed gem. It bristles with promise but its console centric development prevents it from delivering. It has an original setting with a good plot and the core experience makes you feel like you are dictating the course of the story rather being led down a set corridor. So much so that I immediately went for a second play-through of the 16 hour campaign. Even a third time is not entirely out of the question.
With a little more polish and some serious optimization for the PC this would have been a contender for Mass Effect’s throne. As it stands, it’s a shadow of the game that it should have been. Here’s hoping for a worthy sequel.

FINAL SCORE: 7.2/10

(Until recently, the game was not available to the Indian market via normal channels. Steam still does not offer it in this part of the world and you can pretty much forget retail. Gamersgate is the online vendor I used to buy it. The discount had it pegged at 5 Euros (approx Rs 300). At that price, Alpha Protocol is a must buy. I believe the standard price is around 20 Euros. Expect the same kind of offer to be up around Christmas time.)

Anything predictable is essentially boring.

At first glance, the above statement should be unconditionally true. However, if that was the case then a rollercoaster would be the most boring thing on earth. Think about it, you can see where the twists and turns are even before you get on. Even while you are standing in line, you can see how high it goes and where and how it will speed up. They are by design, utterly predictable.

And anything but boring.

When I first heard that Treyarch would be working on the latest Call of Duty (CoD) title, I was honestly disappointed. Their last two attempts were hardly exciting, and the way publisher Activision had decided to treat the PC community with Modern Warfare 2 (the last game in the CoD series) left me positively fuming. In short, my expectations from Black Ops were strictly limited. All I was looking forward to was dedicated servers with some enhancements to the multiplayer design that exists within Modern Warfare 1 (which is still one of my favorite games). I was prepared to be disappointed by the single player campaign because, I’ve been on rides like these before and they are pretty much one trick ponies. Besides, it’s Treyarch!

I don’t usually say this, but “Man oh man am I glad that I was wrong!”

Call of Duty Black Ops is not just Treyarch’s finest moment; it is also the new benchmark for the CoD franchise if not FPSs of this type in general. And even though the campaign lasted only about 5.5 hours, it felt like a whole lot more purely because there was so much content in it.

Right off the bat, the story has the player’s attention. The game starts with the Alex Mason, the main protagonist, strapped to a chair in an interrogation chamber. His memory is spotty and the games missions are essentially flashbacks with Mason jumping timelines between the 1960s to 70s. It’s not the most original plot device but the developers pulled it off beautifully. The story, which seems messy and disconnected at first, slowly comes together like a jigsaw puzzle. As Alex remembers more, the missing pieces fall into place. The tension never lets up as it becomes clear that Mr Mason holds in his mind, the key to preventing World War 3. Only trouble is, the clock is ticking and Alex is quite possibly insane.

Having his memory fractured is also a convenient way for the game to jump from one location to another without having to “build up” anything in terms of narrative. As a result, Black Ops will take you to a variety of geographical locations. Jungles, prisons, neon lit cities, underwater bases, frozen wastelands, underground tunnels, it’s all here. I actually had a hard time believing that this is an engine that’s five years old. The game looks gorgeous and colorful, which is a welcome change from the dull grey/brown/green montage the series had stubbornly stuck to.

The story also plays constant homage to Hollywood’s portrayal of the Vietnam conflict. Movies like Apocalypse now, Deer hunter, Platoon, Full metal jacket are obvious references. Even the soundtrack features the sort of music one would find in said films. Add to the mix a moody and cinematic original score and you have a pretty heady cocktail that perfectly complements the well voiced cast.

The AI does not break any IQ records but is competent enough to provide a challenge. However, as with any shooter of this type, the game does have its share of “WTF, who the hell shot me” moments. It did run stable as a rock on my desktop, with no crashes or slow downs even when I was taking constant screenshots and recording videos. This is in sharp contrast to what I have read in official forums. Many people seem to be having a whole host of issues. I did test the game on my laptop, which has hardware that barely meets the minimum requirements and encountered no problems.

It is important to stress here that that the single player campaign is not trying to do anything new. It is very much a tightly scripted experience with no “choices” of any kind. No multiple pathways or moral decisions. In many ways, the fact that the game starts with the player strapped into a straightjacket sets the tone for the whole game. Make no mistake, this is exactly the kind of game that frequently takes control away from the player to trigger a scripted event or show you a cut scene. And trust me; there is plenty of both in the single player. What sets it apart is how well it’s presented and how wonderfully it meshes with the story. The set pieces are thrilling and though most of the action is on foot, the occasional vehicle missions keep things interesting. And in one particular instance, annoying. This is not the FPS genre’s second coming by any means but it is a refinement of a proven formula, i.e., lots of guns + lots of bad guys + lots of adrenaline +lots and LOTS of explosions = FUN. Just be aware of the fact that this is more of a ride than an interactive experience. If you are the kind of player that likes wide open spaces and emergent, unscripted gameplay, you will most probably be disappointed. On the other hand, if you are the kind that prefers a rollercoaster over a safari, you are in for a treat.

That being said, the real draw for fans was always going to be the multiplayer. And here, Treyarch quite simply, has outdone Infinity Ward (developers of the Modern Warfare series) by a long shot. In every sense, this is the game that Modern Warfare 2 should have been.

To anyone unfamiliar with the series, the multiplayer involves creating a profile that is persistent, ie, much like an mmo, the profile you create will gain experience. This experience will be needed for gaining “ranks” or levels that unlock better gear and skills (called “perks”). New to the mix is the idea of “CoD points”, essentially in-game currency, that can be used to purchase weapon attachments, equipment and cosmetic options. The inclusion of CoD points adds another dimension to the multiplayer experience. Not only does it provide an added incentive to keep playing, it also does away with a lot of the grind that was traditionally required to tweak your load outs. The amount of cosmetic customization is impressive, even your weapons can be personalized to a ridiculous degree.

Weapons for the most part, seem balanced enough and “killstreaks” (one shot items that are earned whilst ingame) have lost most of their punch. The latter may seem like a buzz kill for some but I personally welcome the change. It makes the idea of one player utterly dominating the map a lot less likely as any killstreak award can be effectively countered. The official player cap is 18, which is perfect for the size of maps on offer. Speaking of which, level design for the maps is excellent for the most part. The number of players can be bumped up to 24 on “unranked” servers but these will not grant any experience points and hence not help towards rank progression. Adding to the mix, are some new game modes, i.e., wager matches. Limited to 6 players, no more no less, per match, it allows player to essentially “bet” their hard earned CoD points on the outcome. These are different from the traditional game modes seen in shooters today. Going into detail about them would require a separate review so instead I shall let the folks at gamesradar fill you in if you want more information.

The one thing I did miss was lack of co-op missions. Seeing as how popular these were in MW2, their absence here is disappointing. As a consolation, the old “Zombie mode” from Treyarch’s last release has made it back. It doesn’t hold a candle to zombie killers like L4D but any chance to kill hordes of the undead as JFK and Fidel Castro is clearly something to be tried.
All in all, Black Ops is a fantastic game. The single player is nothing new, but still entertaining enough and the multiplayer is everything I had hoped for.

FINAL SCORE: 8.7/10 (Single Player campaign) 9.5/10 (Multiplayer)

UPDATE: At the time of publishing this, the game has been patched twice. The forums are still full of people complaining about how “broken” the game is but I haven’t run across anything game breaking throughout my 20+ hours with the game. I did lose some experience on three occasions when the database saving my progress did not update properly. The last patch seems to have fixed this. The only trouble I now have is that of lag. Seeing as how there are no servers anywhere near India, this is pretty much expected. To put things in perspective, Bad Company 2 has been out for 9 months, the pings I get with it are in the same range (185 – 250).

Sam Fisher is back. And he is really, really mad.

To anyone that had played the older Splinter Cell games, this would be reason enough to celebrate. Except for one little detail. This time around, ol Sam is up against a foe that renders him helpless. This time, the enemy is so abhorrently vile that even a hard ass like him can do little but look skywards and scream a litany of curses that would make a sailor go crying home to his mommy. I am of course, referring to publisher Ubisoft and its implementation of what must be the worst DRM ever conceived. I ranted about this in detail earlier but it bears repeating. This thing is obtrusive, insulting, horrendous and just plain wrong.  Before getting into the review of the game proper, I must get this out of the way. Splinter Cell : Conviction has the sort of DRM that can render the game unplayable. The only time I could play through it was at night when my ISP wasn’t as “busy”. For some reason, Ubisoft thinks that looking at this every 40 seconds (I am not exaggerating) is fun:

So there. It seems Ubi has learned nothing from the Assassin’s Creed 2 backlash. For the record, I tried playing the game across 3 systems and 2 separate internet connections (both Airtel broadband) and the result was the same. It was impossible to play during the day. Period.

So, if you are ok with this and STILL want to know more about the game itself, read on.

Sam Fisher (the hero of the Splinter Cell franchise) is nothing if not a modern day ninja. As an operative for Third Echelon, he has access to the kind of weaponry and gadgets that would make James Bond jealous. He’s acrobatic, athletic, has more close quarter moves than Steven Segal and can snap necks like twigs. Hell, slap a cape on him and he could serve as a replacement for Batman.

However, the Splinter Cell series has always been about stealth above everything else. Gizmos and bad assery aside, an ideal mission would have Sam going deep inside enemy territory, get the job done and then get the hell out without anyone even knowing he was there. It’s here that Conviction takes the franchise in a new direction. Yes, you still have to stay in the shadows but, this time Sam is out for blood. It’s no longer about remaining unseen to hack a computer. It’s about remaining unseen till the time you decide to unleash hell. Sam is not an undercover operative but a panther stalking its prey. This might upset die hard Splinter Cell enthusiasts but does make for much more action oriented style of play. It’s interesting that most of those who came down hard on this change would not be bothered if the game lost its “Splinter Cell” tag. It is also important to note that most of the stealth is centered around finding cover, i.e., sticking close to objects a la “Gears of War”. To those of you who are rolling their eyes at the words “action oriented”, fear not, stealth is still of vital import. Going in guns blazing will get you killed almost every time. If you are still unconvinced, take comfort in the fact that there are parts where being seen means an instant mission fail.

Conviction does a passable job with its story. It’s typical of the franchise, i.e., conspiracy, technological doomsday and back stabbings aplenty. Don’t expect anything that stands up to close scrutiny however. Where the game shines is in its presentation. Conviction nailed this one. Gone are the old load out screens and mission briefings. This time, there is nothing to take you out of the action. Objectives are projected onto the scenery in a visually pleasing way complete with occasional flashbacks. It’s something that’s never been done before and is undoubtedly cool. Even the trusty old “light meter” is gone. Now, if Fisher is hidden, the game switches to black and white (except for targets and important environmental objects). The engine is pretty and the moody lighting adds to the overall somber feel of the story. Lip syncing could have been better but this is a small gripe. The soundtrack is superb and adds a whole new layer to the tension prevalent in the game. Voice work is excellent and Michael Ironside as Fisher is awesome as ever. Production levels for the game are obviously very high.

The controls for the most part are smooth and adapt well to a mouse and keyboard set up. The only thing that annoyed me a little was the fact that since almost all object interaction takes place with the space bar; the player needs to be very mindful of where Sam is looking. I frequently found myself opening a door instead of “peeking under” as I wanted to.

Sam is just as agile as ever, his repertoire of moves is now complemented with the ability to trigger “executions”. Essentially, mini quicktime events that when triggered by the player, result in instant kills. Players earn “execution points” whenever they take out an enemy with a stealthy melee attack. These points can then be used to “mark targets” (to a maximum of 4 depending on equipment) for instant headshots with the press of a button. This comes in very handy when you have a few machine-gun toting bad guys behind a door you absolutely must go through. It might seem like a gimmick but is pretty much essential as it is virtually impossible to go through most missions without leaving at least a few corpses behind. Plus, it looks cool as hell. As I mentioned earlier, stealth is important and a carefully timed execution can mean the difference between a text book mission and having every alarm in the joint go off. Especially when you consider that bodies can’t be carried anymore (WTF?!).

In the event you are seen, you still have a chance of evasion. The game will show a ghost image of your last known position that enemies will approach. This can actually be used as an effective baiting technique for more aggressive players. The AI is surprisingly competent and goons will often try to flank you and gain some sort of tactical advantage in combat. That being said, they can act as lobotomized morons on occasion. One thing that began to get old real quick was their constant chatter. Listening to repetitive sound clips is not exactly immersive. I actually ended up killing a few of these potty mouths just to shut them the hell up.

Unlike the earlier versions, you can’t interrogate anyone you want. Close quarter take downs will result in either instant kills or using someone as a human shield. The interrogation is reserved only for key NPCs that you will end up beating the crap out of. Objects can be used to interrogate people, usually by bashing their heads into them. It’s something similar to what was seen in the “Punisher” title a few years ago only, less gory. My only complaint here was that none of the interrogations were as visually shocking as the first one you carry out in this game. This seems like a missed opportunity.

Level design is good. With the whole game being set in urban environments, I was a little concerned that different levels will end up looking repetitive. Thankfully this is not the case as Conviction takes the player across varied urban themes. Industrial warehouses, hi-tech buildings, war torn areas, commercial offices, amusement parks, even daylight city areas and more are covered. Add to this the multiple ways in which Sam can approach objectives and you have good incentive to go replay most levels and try different things. This is a good thing as the main single player campaign only lasts about 5-6 hours.

The game meshes the single player achievements nicely with a point system that carries over its rewards into the multiplayer side of things. The player earns points for many actions in the game, taking down targets with executions for example. These points can then be used to upgrade weapons and equipment in the single player campaign. The upgrades will then be available in multiplayer. So if you really like that fully upgraded MP5, you can use it in multiplayer.

Sadly, useless matchmaking and pointless DRM prevented me from sampling any of the multiplayer action. Whatever I have heard about this on the console side of things promises to be enjoyable but the complete omission of text or voice chat is unforgivable.  It becomes even harder to take when you consider that this only applies to the PC version. It’s a pity because I was looking forward to the co-op campaign more than anything. As it stands, however, I have been unable to connect with anyone online. Even if I do, I see little point in teaming up with someone I can’t even communicate with. I will try convincing one of my buddies to give this a shot on LAN and report back if this changes.

All said and done, I enjoyed the time I spent with Conviction. The single player was short but fun. If it wasn’t for the fact that as of now, the multiplayer is just not playable, this would be well worth the money (DRM will not affect my score). As it stands, it’s merely good. A bit more polish and this would have been truly spectacular.

Sorry Sam ol buddy, sometimes even victory can taste like ashes.

Final score : 8.2/10

Pay attention, if you will, to the following lines of dialogue from the single player campaign of Battlefield Bad Company 2 (BC2 from here on):

Sweetwater (Yes that’s his name): “If this were a snowmobile race I’d take you down!”

Haggard (Again, that’s his name): “It’s not a snowmobile. Snowmobiles are for sissies!”

That should make things crystal clear to everyone that from the outset, BC2 is pitting itself as THE rival to the Modern Warfare (MW) series. Ever since Infinity Ward decided to give PC Gamers the finger with MW2, the community has been looking at EA/Dice for revenge. So have they succeeded? Well… the answer is a clear, albeit reserved, yes.

To the uninitiated, this is the lowdown: You play as Preston Marlowe, one of 4 characters from Bad Company, a bunch of hardass grunts with a penchant for getting in way over their heads. The single player campaign takes you through a silly story about a super weapon falling into the hands of the Russians. And the Russians (surprise, surprise) are hell bent on invading, well, pretty much any place that isn’t Russia. Let’s just say the story is passable, i.e., not as bat shit crazy as MW2. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to go to different places, meet different people and then proceed to blow em up sky high. That’s good because stuff blows up real pretty in BC2. Before playing the game I had dismissed the hullabaloo around the “destructible environment” feature as mere hype. Playing through it, however, it became apparent that it truly does add a whole new facet to the standard FPS dynamic. Sure, you can hide behind a wall to regain your health whilst in cover (the dumb AI doesn’t really know what “flank” means) but you can bet your bullet riddled ass that the wall won’t be there for long. There is no dearth of explosions in this game. Adding to the visuals is the ZOMG level of sound design. The devs did nail this one. I will not hesitate to say that this is the best use of sound I have seen in any shooter till date. Bullets whizz by, vehicles rumble ominously, explosions distort hearing and it’s hard not to get immersed. Hell, there were more than a couple of times I poked my head out to deliberately get hit by rockets. Yes, it’s THAT good. Where the game falters though, is the sheer predictability. There are some surprises throughout the 10 hr campaign but none enough to blow your socks off. The voice acting is good; unfortunately the script is straight out of a B grade Hollywood action flick. I almost feel guilty for enjoying it as much as I did. The humor in the game works sometimes. And when it does, it’s genuinely funny. Other times it will make you roll your eyes. The dialogues do an OK job of adding some personality to your motley crew, whether you like that personality, is, strictly a matter of personal preference. Mission variety is adequate enough but nothing we haven’t seen before. There were some annoying instances where certain scripted events would not trigger when they were supposed to, but these were rare. The game ran stable for me, but my 3 yr old rig did struggle with the graphical goodness on offer. Switching graphics to low made everything look like crap but it ran fine after that. Can’t fault the game for this however, my usual test system is long due for an upgrade.

All in all, the single player campaign is above average, certainly enjoyable but, there are some annoyances that mar the experience. Hardcore FPS vets have every right to complain about not seeing anything new, but the more casual amongst us will still be entertained immensely.

The real deal however is the multiplayer. And this is where things get a little tricky. The internet was rife with complaints of connectivity problems and Punkbuster (man how I HATE that thing) issues. My personal take is that any multiplayer game is bound to run into teething problems the first few weeks and by all reports, Dice has had a rocky launch. Regardless of how much we want this to be a trouble free part of the PC experience, it never really is. I did have a hard time connecting to any games, (before the patch), mainly because servers were always full. And yes, the mess that is Punkbuster (seriously, why does the damn thing even exist?) did boot me out for no reason a number of times. The server browser is pretty basic as well, I would have liked to see a lot more filters. Add to that a few random crashes that and well… you get the idea. However, when I did play online, it was hands down, the best squad based online shooter experience I have had since UT2004’s Bomber Run. Weapons feel meaty and solid, lining up shots is a skill that’s hard to master, the vehicles are a blast and every kill feels satisfyingly hard earned. The learning curve is a little steep, especially with the vehicles, but the massive battlefields with multiple ways of approaching an objective make it thoroughly enjoyable. The destructible environment makes camping hard to do (as it should be) and the game forces you to play as a team. Each of the 4 classes (Assault, Medic, Recon and Engineer) have their strengths and weaknesses and it’s a sure bet that a new player will settle on a favorite pretty soon depending on his/her style. Though would be Rambos can go solo (Recon excels in this imo), a quick look online will show you that the teams that do well consistently are the ones that play as a unit, with all classes playing their part. The top of the leader boards are full of players that did not necessarily get the highest kills, but the ones who helped their teams the most, i.e., by healing, repairing, assisting squad mates and taking out key targets. Level design is solid, with different maps catering to different classes and approaches (there are a couple of unbalanced maps however). The action never lets up and constant leveling up in “Rank” and frequent unlocks for weapons and equipment will keep things fresh for a long time.

One thing I will call out Dice on is the complete lack of a tutorial for the multiplayer. Most people will end up being frustrated with it purely because they will treat this as your average run of the mill shooter, which it most definitely is not. If you are looking for a good guide for beginners, you can find it here. Oh, and even though dedicated servers are available, LAN play is out… sort of.  If you want a friends only game, you will have to enable a password on one of those.

Having a building you were sniping from crumble around you, feeling the rumble of a tank that did it and hearing yourself yelling “MEDIIIIC!!” before being pulped by a mortar attack is something you have to experience to believe. I once saw a squad mate head-shot a pilot that was eating us for lunch, the chopper he was in crashed into our objective destroying it completely. Just like that, we won the round. I can’t think of any other game I have played where I witnessed anything half as cool.  Bottom-line, the multiplayer is awesome.

Unless you were looking forward to BC2 purely for the single player experience, there is no reason to complain. The connectivity issues and random crashes will get resolved in time (the game has already been patched once resolving many of the connectivity issues). If you ever miss your childhood days of playing “Army” in the backyard, run to your nearest retailer and buy this game.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10 (Single Player campaign) 9.3/10 (Multiplayer)

If you really think about it, the whole sci-fi and fantasy thing is silly. I mean, we know there are no elves. We know there are no death stars or Jedis, yet we get sucked into worlds that are home to these imaginary beings with their impossible characters and ridiculous plots. Lemme see, the world is about to end, someone’s gotta save it… again. Yeah, didn’t see that one coming. The true triumph of any such world or the creators that craft them then, lies in this: you want to believe that they exist.

When my 30 hour campaign with Mass Effect 2 was over, I felt genuinely disappointed about coming back to reality. What fun is it living in a world where there aren’t any flying cars, pulse rifles or Krogans? If that isn’t a testament to how good Bioware’s latest offering is, I don’t know what is.

The sequel to Mass Effect 1 is a refinement and improvement in almost every department. To the ones that never played the prequel (and you really should), the story ended with the hero, Commander Shepard (that’s you) and his crew aboard the star ship “Normandy”, saving the galaxy from these nasty things called “Reapers” (I am deliberately being  vague here).  Though one of these Reapers was defeated, they still had remnants of an army scattered in space. Mass Effect 2 begins with Shepard and his crew looking for said remnants.

The screenshots and gameplay videos will probably have you believe this is more of an action game rather than a pure RPG like Bioware’s own Dragon Age. In a way this is true. The combat is hectic and plays more like a third person shooter a la Gears of War. But make no mistake; this is an RPG through and through. This is a beautifully realised world with interesting races, deep history and characters you can genuinely connect with. And explosions. Lots of explosions. Which brings me to a word that I will be using a lot throughout this review: cinematic. ME2 is very, very cinematic. No other game has employed digital actors as effectively as this has. Right from the spectacular opening sequence, the player knows he’s in for a treat.

That being said, I must make one thing very clear at the onset, this is not a game where the player goes around exploring the world per se. Not that you can’t do it, because you can… well, sort of (more on this later).  Just don’t expect an epic 100+ hour romp like Dragon Age. The onus here is on delivering a tight, story driven experience. And in this, ME2 excels beyond anything I have played in a very long time. As far as the game mechanics go, there’s the usual quests, dialogues and conversation options etc that one would expect from any standard RPG. What sets it apart is the sheer amount of detail. The voice acting is spectacular; every planet you go to has a different look and feel to it (unlike the prequel where every place looked the same), the story is darker, the characters develop beautifully and there are thankfully no vehicle missions to bring things down.

I’m still surprised at how such an action-centric game managed to come across as a genuine RPG. The focus on combat might make some believe that the role playing aspect must be toned down but thankfully this is not the case. Sure, the complete absence of inventory management may come as a shock to many (me included) but once you realize that it does not take anything away from the experience, you see the logic behind it. The player rarely picks up weapons or gear during missions. You do however, pick up cash, hack PDAs and security systems (via a couple of neat mini games shown in the pic below) and scan enemy weapons for “schematics” that can be used to research upgrades/prototypes onboard the Normandy. There’s is a catch however. Said upgrades or research can only happen if you have enough of certain “resources”. Resources that the player needs to gather by scanning various planets in the galaxy. This involves another mini game which is fine the first few times but quickly becomes tedious. Unfortunately, this is the weakest part of the whole ME2 experience. What makes it so lame is the amount of scanning a player will have to do to get all the good upgrades. Think hours. Yeah, like I said, lame. To be fair, you don’t HAVE to get all the upgrades provided, but, not doing so will have some pretty severe repercussions, the least of which will be to make combat harder.

Speaking of which, combat is where Bioware removed all stops. Once you look past the whole “inspired by Gears of War” thing, i.e., the cover system and automatic health regen etc., the tactical depth becomes apparent. Character animations are fluid and natural, deployment of party members is important and usage of powers is critical. Although you could technically shoot your way through most fights without really having to bother with biotic powers, at least on normal difficulty, the real fun begins when you let loose with everything you have. Those of us that like to take advantage of every tactical opportunity will use the “active pause” feature to devastating effect. Like anything else in the game, it looks wonderfully cinematic.  You can take a look at the sample video below to get an idea of how slick it all is (mind you, I deliberately slowed things down so that the viewer gets to see what power I’m going to fire up. Real time battles would be much quicker with hotkeys and not much pausing.)

One unique thing the developers did was to give players the option of carrying over their character from the first game.  The actions you took as Commander Shepard in ME1 will have consequences in ME2. For instance, if you treated a certain NPC badly in the first game, he will remember once you encounter him again. This is more than a mere gimmick as it adds to the atmosphere and persistence of not just your adventure but the world itself. Not to mention, it will decide how certain quests play out, or if you have access to them at all. The beauty of it is that even if you import a previous character, you do have the option of changing his/her looks and class. How this happens will not be discussed as it would be a HUGE spoiler. Let’s just say it’s something you haven’t seen before.

Creating a new character is no less fun. The customisation options are robust and can help you create a unique looking Shepard complete with personal background and history. One small complaint I did have was the limited skills you have access to (take a look at the last screenshot).  A deeper skill pool would have been welcome. Also, there is no option of customizing the gear of your teammates beyond choosing weapons and skills. This could well be a moot point as most of the time the camera is centred on you anyway.

Doing justice to the darker story (ME2 has already had its share of “The empire strikes back” comparisons) is the way dialogue options refrain from being purely a choice between “good” “bad” “neutral”. Strictly speaking there is no “evil” path here. Shepard is out to save the galaxy after all. The much talked about Paragon/Renegade options should really be labelled Lawful/Badass. Taking the supposed “evil” path and acting like a ruthless bastard has never been so much fun. Adding to the cinematic (there’s that word again) feel is how you can interrupt cut scenes to perform Paragon/Renegade actions. This is another first and one that is a whole lot of fun.

The game makes good use of the Unreal 3.5 engine. As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of variety in how different areas look. With regards to level design, the space you can “explore” is fairly limited. Although, I must say, it feels a lot larger than it is. Mass Effect has never been about exploration anyway. Getting lost in an alien wilderness looking for random loot would be a huge deviation from the whole cinematic thing. The only reason most people would shuttle between planets is to either continue the story or look for those damn resources. The game makes no apologies for being focused on what it’s out to deliver and is all the richer for it.

No review of ME2 would be complete without giving due attention to the awesome cast of NPCs that make up your squad. I’ve mentioned before how Bioware pretty much define the bar when it comes to infusing character into NPCs. This game is no exception. Every team mate you have is voiced to perfection; the time you spend getting to know them better will pay off via getting side quests specific to each member of your team. Hell, even the damn ship has a personality! It’s safe to say that by the end of the game, most people will know the Normandy and its crew inside out.

Minor complaints notwithstanding, the only reason I would ask people not to plunge right into ME 2 is if they missed the prequel. This is one title that is so much more than the sum of its parts. And when you consider just how good each individual part is, that’s saying something.

Mass Effect 2 is more than just a game. It is a statement of how far the medium has evolved and what it is capable of.

FINAL SCORE: 9.1/10

It is a little known fact that 95.2% of all males above the age of 13 absolutely WANT a zombie apocalypse *. Why? Well, to our testosterone-flooded, Romero-fueled, eternally adolescent minds, it would be fun. And each of us, to a man, is convinced that while the rest of the human populace would be snack food, we would be murderously awesome. What the Left 4 Dead series has proved however, is that we would all totally suck.

It would still be fun though.

If you are unfamiliar with Valve’s co-op shooter Left 4 Dead (L4D) here’s the low-down: A mysterious infection has turned most of the world into a zombie-infested hell hole. All major cities have been evacuated and you (along with 3 other unlucky survivors) have been left behind. Your job then, is to get to designated “safe rooms” en route to some sort of rescue vehicle. There is no plot to speak of and none is required. This game is all about grouping up with like-minded zombie haters with twitchy trigger fingers to leave a trail of guts in your wake. Keep in mind that it isn’t a simple shooting gallery. The zombies aren’t merely shambling undead targets hungry for bullets. They are the fast running types akin to the ones seen in the classic zombie flick “28 days later”. Though not much of a threat in small groups, they can quickly overwhelm your group of survivors when attacking in swarms. Then there are the “special infected”, the zombies with special powers that will make your run to safety a lot more complicated. This turned the game into a very tense, tactics based adrenaline rush.

The original Left 4 Dead was a runaway hit with both consumers and critics alike (Metacritic gave it a score of 89). Not only was the co-op play an absolute blast, the real thrill was in the much loved “versus mode” where 4 human players played the part of the survivors while 4 opponents took over the role of the “special infected”. This game created more “water cooler” moments than other game I can think of.

Though L4D2 is a sequel, it’s much more than old wine in a new bottle. The mechanics are still the same. The idea is still to get yourselves rescued if you are the survivors. As zombies, it’s to ensure they never make it. What makes it different is how Valve has used the lessons learned from the first game to make this one an even more compelling experience. There are more guns, melee weapons (including a laugh riot inducing chainsaw that was surprisingly absent in the first game), more equipment to lend you a hand and of course, new special infected to even out the odds.

Visually, the game still uses the Source engine which, for something so old, still manages to look good. Unlike the original, most of the levels here are set in daylight and although might not look as spooky as the night time levels of the original, they do spring up some nasty surprises. There are five campaign maps, each with its own distinct feel. Valve have truly outdone themselves with the quality of level design. Each map presents unique challenges and requires different approaches to make it to safety. In one instance, the weather can change bringing in a new dynamic to tactics employed, e.g. rain might make it impossible to see beyond a few feet. The game certainly is a lot more visceral and gorier than the prequel. Limbs fly all over the place, bullets do very obvious damage and buckets of blood stain the surroundings after any protracted battle. And this only increases when you start using melee weapons.

Fun as the melee aspect is, it does have a strategic role. This becomes more apparent when you realize how quickly you can run out of ammo. Nothing holds off a horde in a choke point like a chainsaw does. In some cases, zombies show up in gear that renders them fire proof or bullet resistant. A katana can come in real handy then. Keep in mind though, getting up close and personal also means putting yourself in more danger.

The new guns include a silenced sub machine gun, AK-47, military sniper rifle, combat shotgun, magnum pistol and a grenade launcher. Unfortunately, my hopes for a flame thrower were dashed. The newly introduced “incendiary ammo” does set zombies alight though. I guess that will have to do.

Speaking of danger, the new special infected are a dangerous lot indeed. The Spitter, as the name suggests, spits out gobs of toxic goo to either directly damage you or render a patch of ground impassable. The Charger slams into a group like a rhino, throwing people back while carrying one unfortunate victim to be pounded into pulp. The Jockey (my personal fave), is a puny runt with a crazy laugh that jumps on top of a player taking control of his movement to steer him directly into harms way. Devious and funny as hell. Add these to the original special infected from the prequel and you realize just how important playing as a team is.

Even though you could jump into a single player game if you want (the game will give you 3 AI companions to complete your team), on normal difficulty you might find the lack of actual human beings rather frustrating. The AI does a passable job at best but you will find yourself flying into a nerd rage on occasion due to their stupefying actions. Actions such as this one. I can’t knock the game too much for this as it has been designed to be played along with real people.

While we are on the subject of AI, I should mention that the series uses an “AI Director”. Basically, it adjusts the difficulty of a campaign on the fly. So if you are constantly running out of ammo, the director will drop in extra ammo stashes. On the flip side, if you seem to be rushing through a level without much trouble, it will hit you with more special infected and take away any spare med kits etc. This keeps the game balanced and usually works like a charm. It also ensures that no two play-throughs unravel the same way.

The real meat of the game, however, is versus mode. Playing as the zombies is a real blast and even though I’ve been playing the original for almost a year, it never gets old. As mentioned in my preview of the demo, the new special infected were designed purely to counteract cheap tactics like closet camping or huddling in a corner. The emphasis now is to be constantly on the move. Coordination between players is EVERYTHING.

For those of you that are just looking for a quick game, the newly introduced “Scavenge” mode will be right up your alley. The aim here is to (as the survivors) collect gas cans spread around the map to fuel a generator. Each refill adds time to a countdown clock. The zombies obviously, will try to thwart that. The team will switch sides at the end of a round. The first team to win three rounds wins the game. Since this isn’t a long drawn campaign map, games usually last about 30 minutes.

The game did not crash during my time with it but I did find myself getting “stuck” on two separate occasions. In both these cases, I had been thrown by a Charger into a part of the map that normally could not be accessed. I’m certain errors like these are rare and given Valve’s proven track record of constantly updating their games, I would not worry about it.

To sum it up, L4D2 is not just a sequel, but, a refinement of everything L4D itself was. It’s more fast paced, tense, unpredictable and ultimately, a lot more fun to play. The thrill of finding yourself and your near dead friends in the middle of a sea of corpses, constantly shooting into never ending waves of zombies while waiting for rescue is something that has to be experienced to be believed. If you are into co-op action of any sort, you simply can’t afford to miss this game.

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

(*In case you are wondering, I totally made that up)