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.

Finale 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)

I finished Dragon Age Origins last night. I should say that I finished playing Dragon Age Origins last night but I won’t. Why? Well, in the 75 hours that I have spent with it, I have been accused of regicide, been an instrument of vengeance, been hit on by a bisexual elf, made deals with werewolves, robbed some snobbish nobles, befriended a golem,  concocted deadly poisons, lost myself in a world ripe with adventure and yes, saved the world. And of course, I’ve killed Dragons. Big ones. With a sword. In essence, I haven’t played Dragon Age as much as I’ve experienced it. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, I have loved every minute of it.

A few days ago I mentioned in my first impressions that I really wasn’t expecting the game to live up to all the hype. This is one of those rare moments where I am glad to be proved wrong. Marketing mis-steps aside, it is ironic that I agree with Mr Manson. This, ladies and gentlemen, IS indeed the shit (sorry).

To start with, the player’s choice of race and background is going to ensure a unique perspective throughout the story. Even though the character selection screen may seem limited, (you can only choose between Human, Elf or Dwarf) with only certain classes available to each (Dwarves can’t become mages for example) in actual experience, this gives the player a tailor-made experience. So, if you choose to play as a Dwarven noble, the first hour or so of the game is going to be completely different from say, a Dalish Elf. Though all such “origins” will eventually conjoin to follow a common story arc, the first taste of the game will do enough to introduce you to not just the lore and history of Ferelden but your own place in it. As a noble and a Dwarven one at that, the world will see you differently. The people you meet will treat you differently. You may also find that some of the decisions you make early in the game, characters you have wronged for example, come back and haunt you much later. It might be easy to dismiss this as a mere gimmick, but as any RPG veteran will tell you, it makes the story a lot more personal. And that’s what makes this game stand apart; almost everything that happens in it is personal. In terms of cosmetic character customization, there is a fair bit you can do to alter the facial features of your protagonist. Though, if you want to create a beefy elf, you are out of luck (the tool alters faces only). You can download the character creator for free from here. With regards to character classes, the game has the 3 fantasy staples (warrior, mage and rouge) each of which has access to 4 individual specializations. As expected, the skill system is deep and satisfying with the possibility of creating some truly powerful characters (especially mages).

(You can click on the images for full-resolution screen-shots.)

As far as presentation goes, the Eclipse engine does an acceptable job but it does look dated. The player can switch between a  “3^rd person” view to a more traditional isometric one by using the scroll button. The textures aren’t really as clear as I would have liked (which is apparent in 3^rd person) but, to be honest, I didn’t even notice it after a while. The one thing that I did notice was the lip-syncing in cut scenes (and there are a lot of those btw) just didn’t seem right. Add to that the fact that your character never speaks during any of them and it makes one wonder why that is. Whatever the reason, it does affect the immersion a little. What does look cool however is combat. Every battle looks choreographed, the animation is spot on and spell effects make for some good visuals. Plus, every time a character pulls off a critical to finish an opponent or brings down a particularly tough boss, the camera goes into slow motion to show off an awesome finishing move. It’s always a “Whoa!” moment when this happens.

Speaking of which, I must stress that regardless of what you may have heard or read in forums, the combat is NOT hard. It is certainly challenging and is frequently very unforgiving to those who go rushing in willy nilly. Calling the combat in Dragon Age hard is like saying chess is difficult. It may be difficult to master, but, not difficult to play. Tactics and positioning are everything here, more so during the earlier levels. The fact that most spells have friendly fire on in normal difficulty makes it imperative to have your team position itself strategically. Make full use of terrain and draw enemies into choke points when you can. Using poisons to coat your weapons and the occasional grenade or trap works wonders too. Basically, stop pretending this is Diablo and you will be fine. If the friendly fire bit annoys you, feel free to change the difficulty to easy at anytime during the game. Also, pressing the space key will put the game in “active pause” so that you may give your party commands that they will carry out in real time once you unpause. A control freak like me will probably use the space button for every move and tell each of your party (limited to a max number of 4) what to do every second but, it’s not necessary by any means. The game allows you to script the AI of party members to a ridiculous degree which will do away with the need for such babysitting. So if you want your healer to heal your front line warriors when they get to 25% of their health, you can program it. It is a simple system and it works (most of the time).

The one thing that did bother me was the inventory management. Or rather, the lack there of. Like Mass Effect, Dragon Age uses a common party inventory so you don’t have to worry about the carrying capacity of individual party members. However, inventory space is limited (you can upgrade this by purchasing “backpacks”). The complete absence of pouches or bags for potions and jewels is a pain. Considering how games that came out 10 years ago incorporated something this basic, the lack of this in Dragon Age makes no sense. The loot is nothing to get excited about either, which is a tad disappointing. It’s not that the gear is bad; it’s just that no weapon in the game made me feel like I had something really powerful.  99% of what you pick up will be going straight to a merchant.

Dragon Age does a wonderful job of making the land of Ferelden seem like a living breathing thing. This is a world with a lot of history, deep lore and is rife with political intrigue. It also takes some standard fantasy staples and turns them on their head. So Elves are essentially a slave race and seen as second class citizens. And lo and behold, Dwarves don’t speak like drunken Scots. The characters you team up with and encounter are voiced (with some notable exceptions) to perfection and the dialogues show a high quality of writing. I frequently found myself wishing that I could have more people in my party not because I needed them, but because I longed for their company and witty banter. Not since Baldur’s Gate 2 have I felt like this in any game. Which is just as well, because without these little touches, a game this long would be very boring.

Like other Bioware titles before this (Mass Effect, KOTOR etc), Dragon Age also utilizes an “influence” system to decided how party members feel toward you. It’s pretty much a given that acting as a “do-gooder” will piss some members off. Being a heartless bastard will irk others. Managing your party members’ influence is a game in itself. Do this right and not only will your companions enjoy some stat boosts, they will also trust you enough to unlock some character specific quests. Ignore or anger them too much and you might find yourself being ditched. The possibility of romance also exists if you play your cards right.

Tolkien’s influences are apparent throughout Ferelden. There are more than a few instances where I said “that looks like something I saw in the Lord of the Rings”. The music is also suitably epic and adds tremendously to the atmosphere. The story in itself does not break any new ground. It’s the typical “everything is coming to an end and you must save the world” scenario but, there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.

Bioware have employed an interesting method of community building. The game takes automatic takes screen-shots during play and uploads them on an online album/scrapbook that you can share with like-minded folk. The same applies to any achievements you unlock. Great if you are into that sort of thing I suppose. You do have to log into Bioware’s servers for this to happen though. In fact, if you have any DLC at all you will have to log in at least once before you start playing every time. (I personally find DRM of this kind annoying but will not allow it to affect the way I review a game). Looking at how successful the original Neverwinter Nights (an earlier Bioware title) community was at releasing fan created content, I can only salivate at what we have to look forward to in the next few months. The modding scene is going to explode with this one. Not that you will need to lengthen your stay in Ferelden right away, make no mistake, this is a deliciously long game. You can easily expect to get a 100 hours plus worth of gaming if you take your time with the campaign.

I knew this was going to be a rock solid RPG like every other title Bioware has crafted but, I certainly wasn’t expecting something to raise the bar for every other game of this genre. Well, that’s exactly what has been delivered folks. The bar has been raised and it has been raised HIGH. Some minor faults notwithstanding, this is going to be the standard that every RPG of this type is going to be judged by.

FINAL SCORE: 9.4 / 10

Games based on movie / comic licenses usually suck. It’s true that now and again, one title may break that unfortunate rule but, that’s because the developer took the setting/time period/world of a particular intellectual property and made it its own. If you have played any of Bioware’s RPGs set in the Star Wars universe you know exactly what I mean.

My hopes for Batman then were damn near zero. Think about it, all the pre Christian Bale movies were cringingly terrible. I mean George Clooney and Micheal Keaton as Batman?! WTF?! Even my very limited time with Batman games on certain consoles was extremely disappointing.  Even though I had been following the development of Arkham Asylum, the fact that it was essentially a console title being ported over to the PC had more than tempered my enthusiasm. It seemed like mediocrity is all I had to look forward to.

Boy was I wrong. To put it in very simple words, this is not only the best Batman game in existence anywhere on any platform; it is hands down one of the best games I have EVER played in my 20 years of gaming. Every single part of this masterpiece shows that it was designed and programmed by people who both respect and love the source material. Understand this: Arkham Asylum isn’t a comic book or movie story that been adapted to a game. It was obviously written and created with the sole aim of using the game as a fitting medium to make the player feel like he was the Dark Knight himself.

Without giving too much of the plot away, let’s just say that the story revolves around Batman’s nemesis (The Joker) taking over Arkham Asylum and trapping Batman. Essentially a hospital/prison for the criminally insane, Arkham is home to Gotham city’s worst nightmares. There couldn’t be a better setting for a game like this. From a design perspective, it’s easy to see why this is the case. It would have been downright silly to have the game set in say, the heart of a metropolis like Gotham and then give the player the “illusion” of being in a free form world by granting access to only certain buildings (something every GTA games has been guilty of). Every minute of the game is set on the fictional island that Arkham is located on. Different levels will have you getting to different parts of the madhouse. In many cases, the player will be required to back track and revisit old locations. The surprising thing is that it never feels boring because even though technically, you are going to a level you have already been to, you often need to take a different route or employ different methods to get there. Also, you will frequently unlock different parts within a level that you previously did not have access to. This is a direct result of Batman getting his hands on newer gadgets as the game progresses. Far from being a tacky gimmick, this works very well as it genuinely keeps the setting and indeed the game itself, from getting stale. Not that the story with its twists and turns wont manage to do that.

Graphics wise, this is the best use of the Unreal engine seen to date although the weird “sheen” inherent to character models in the engine still persists. The dark look fits the game like a glove and the color pallete is perfect for the gothic feel the island has. Physx is supported in the game and if you are fortunate enough to have a machine that can max this feature out, you are in for a real treat. As it stands however, it’s hardly something you will miss if it isn’t enabled.

The music seems heavily inspired from the last Batman movie which is good news. The general tone is rather “broody” and reflects the high production values of the title. The voice acting is, well, perfect. The Joker in particular, stands out. And bringing in Kevin Conroy to voice Batman? Let’s just call that an epic win and save ourselves some time.

But all that pales in comparison to the real meat of the game which is of course, the jaw-droppingly awesome combat. As simple as the control scheme is (you only need the left and right click for majority of battles), devote the time to master various combos and it will quite simply, blow your mind. Make no mistake however, as badass as batman is, rushing a room full of gun toting thugs is still suicide. Some key levels will actually require that you take out threats whilst remaining unseen. Luckily, Batman has more than enough in way of moves, gadgets and sheer awesomeness to even out the odds. Mid combat batarangs? Check. Mid combo grapple? Check. Use of cape to stun foes? Check. And of course the “ ZOMG I actually did that !!” inverted takedown? Sweet lord, check, check, check. If you do find yourself struggle with the combat aspect of the game, the thoughtfully provided “challenge mode” will help you hone your skills to bring a whole world of hurt on the psychos. Think of it as a virtual dojo where you can spend endless hours combating waves of foes or replaying your favorite levels even after you have beat the campaign. You can even see how your skills stack up against fellow Bat fans via the games for windows leader boards. I would actually recommend spending some time getting the combat right as pulling of decent moves will get you much needed experience points that you can trade for upgrades. This will help to tailor the gameplay to your liking. So for example, if you would rather upgrade your gadgets rather than improve your direct fighting skills, you can. This brings in a slight RPG flavor to the table as well as adding to replay value.

Preparation is vital in many levels. As is detective work. This is where the much talked about “detective mode” comes into play. At the push of a button, the player’s perspective switches to a kind of x ray vision that will allow Batman to see through walls and isolate the most dangerous threats. It is also pretty much essential for solving many of the Riddler’s “riddles” (more on this later) as well as searching for forensic evidence and clues.

Finally, there’s the “riddles”. This one is hard to judge really as it’s such a personal choice. Does the story really necessitate me running over the island looking in every nook and cranny just to collect randomly placed “trophies”?  Umm, no. But getting them does net you precious experience as well as unlock different challenges etc. I personally did not spend anytime collecting any of them during my first walk-through and it did not make any difference. You can however, choose to chase after them once you complete the campaign. It’s really up to you.

All this praise would have you believe this is a “perfect” game. Unfortunately, there are some niggling things that keeps even a rabid fanboy like me from saying that. These issues do mar an otherwise perfect experience. For starters, there’s the repetitive character models. It’s hard to see why a game with so much attention to detail let this one slip. It seems that when inmates at Arkham aren’t stabbing each other with spoons, all they do is work out and pump steroids. Almost all the thugs look the same. And I mean exactly the same. There is hardly any visual distinction between them at all. Disappointing really.  Then there is the relatively generic boss battles. They are not bad but don’t stand out they way the rest of the game does. Also, though the save system is frequent enough to not be painful, there is no way to select specific save slots. So, if you want to replay say, a particular boss battle again, too bad. You can’t. Not unless you start a new game from scratch. Eh? And just imagine if something goes wrong with the save file and it gets corrupted. Well, now your are screwed. For this reason I recommend making regular manual back ups of the same.  Lastly, and this one is a real fail, you cannot tweak the control scheme in anyway. WHAT? Don’t get me wrong, the keyboard and mouse controls work like a dream but not giving the player the option of reconfiguring the key bindings to personal preference is just plain dumb. This is a PC title dammit!

None of this however, changes the fact that this is one terrific game. Worthy of your time and money, regardless of whether you are a Batman fan or not. Ultimately, the best  thing I can say about it is that is just feels like Batman. That should seal the deal for most of us.

FINAL SCORE 9.2/10