The original Mass Effect was released just over two years ago. At the time it was praised for it’s excellent story, cohesive universe and impressive visuals though many felt the combat, the one-dimensional side missions and some technical problems stopped the game from reaching legendary status. Now in 2010 Bioware is back with Mass Effect 2 and has rectified almost all these issues.

Let’s start off with the combat. The first Mass Effect at times felt like the developers forced the third person shooter aspect into an RPG which left it feeling cumbersome, In this sequel Bioware have made many small changes that propel Mass Effect 2 into a truly great third person shooter, even without all the RPG elements.

There are several big changes to the combat but at the core of the refinement is the improved weapons handling. Each gun has it’s own distinct characteristics and bullets now actually feel like they are hitting their targets. Gone is the overheating system of the weapons from the original to be replaced by thermal clips which is essentially a glorified term for ammo, which you will have to find.

The way you control your squadmates is also massively improved. Press up on the d-pad and you can command both your squadmates to move to or attack the same location. Press either left or right on the d-pad and you can move each member individually and can also assign a power to this hotkey which can then be used instantly in a fight.

The enemies themselves have also been improved. They regularly find cover and there are much fewer instances of enemies running out in the open or getting stuck.

The mention of this is significant as the lack of bugs and technical problems is one of the best improvements Bioware has made. The problems with texture pop-in from the original have all but gone and the whole of the Mass Effect Universe feels much more polished.

The final criticism of the original Mass Effect was it’s poor side missions. Most consisted of simply driving the Mako to a base on an unexplored planet killing everyone inside and retrieving something. Mass Effect removes the Mako completely and instead focuses on some fully fleshed out stories with each taking between 10-30 minutes. Each feels very unique and there is virtually no ‘copy and paste’ design like the original.

Lets move on the the main story now. Mass Effect had a great story with some great characters and Mass Effect 2 builds upon the foundation laid by the first. You continue the story a couple of years after the first ended. If you import your character from the first game the choices you made in it will have consequences in Mass Effect 2.

Like before you must travel around the galaxy visiting various planets and completing missions. At almost every point in the game you’ll be given the choice of which missions to complete and it what order.

And choice is a very big part of Mass Effect 2. Like the first, Mass Effect 2 features hundreds of dialog scenes and you get to choose how they play out. You an be the big hero and choose the ‘paragon’ options, the anti-hero (which usually invloves threatening someone or violence) or somewhere in the middle. Your choices once again have profound consequences both in this game and in the final game in the trilogy, Mass Effect 3, which should be finished in 2012.

There are a few small problems with Mass Effect 2. The first in the mini games. There are essentially three types. The bypass mini game, usually used for opening doors and completed by matching symbols. The hacking mini game, used for hacking into terminals and data pads and complted by matching code segments and the probing mini game. This allows you to send probes onto unexplored planets to search for resources.

Now the problem with these isn’t that they are poorly designed (they do look nice and have some resemblance to the activities they are supposed to represent). The problem is that you will be spending an awful lot of time doing them. The probing in particular is bad. If you want to research all the upgrades you’ll need to spend at least a few hours just on the one minigame which is extremely repetitive and dull.

The mention of research brings us nicely to the final topic and another slight problem. The RPG elements. Bioware seems to have really toned down the amount of custimation of your character. There are very few armor upgrades and even less weapon upgrades. Even the amount powers you can upgrade when you level up have been scaled back. Whilst some would argue the new streamlined approach to this side of the game is good for people who do not traditionally like RPG’s, as a fan of most of Bioware’s previous games it left me a little disappointed.

Ultimately though these are small problems, especially in a game as huge and as polished as Mass Effect 2. There is so much to do in the game that even after the 25 hours of my first play through I felt there was much more I still have to see. Mass Effect 2 is ultimately one of Bioware’s best ever games and considering what has come before that is quite an accomplishment.

Score: 9.5/10

With Forza 3 Turn 10 have focused on two things, community and polish. Let’s start with the latter of those. Forza 3 is a tremendously polished game. From it’s sleek ‘car brochure’ inspired menu system to the way all the modes seamlessly integrate with one another. Once you get into a race you see all of the more than 400 cars perfectly modelled and everything runs at a rock solid 60fps.

The driving model is probably the most accurate ever seen on a console. Each car feels completely different to the last and changes in the tuning setups each affect cars as you would expect them to. The tracks themselves have received a noticeable upgrade in visual fidelity and some of the new fantasy tracks are beautiful to look at.

In terms of numbers Forza 3 has over 100 tracks (though many of these are alternate circuits of different racing environments), 405 cars and a staggeringly huge career mode with over 200 different events.

The career mode has also undertaken a nice evolution. There is still the massive event list which you can go into at any time and pick whichever you want, but Turn 10 have included the new ‘Season Play’ mode which gives newcomers a little more direction and stops them being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content available.

When playing season mode you are given the choice of three events to play. Each is picked by the game from the event list but you can choose whether you want to race with your current car, whether you want to race in a new car or if you want to see new tracks. This is just one of the features that streamlines the whole experience for the newcomer.

Also included is the ‘auto upgrade’ which will automatically upgrade your car to be competitive in the current event. Purists can still upgrade any component manually of course with over 50% more options than Forza 2.

In terms of the driving, two main features have been added to help casual racing fans adjust the realism Forza 3 offers. The first is auto-brake which does exactly as it says, allowing you essentially to just hold the accelerator and turn. The second (and the more controversial) is the addition of gameplay rewind.

Gameplay rewind allows you to rewind back through the race to any point at any time and with no limits. For certain aspects this is a great feature. Rookie drivers won’t get frustrated at having to constantly restart races and experienced drivers can repeat section of the course over more easily to perfect them.

However, with the no limits approach and in particular the no consequence philosophy, the single player mode of Forza 3 has virtually no tension when racing. There is no price to be paid for making mistakes and this results in even the most challenging becoming far too easy i’d rather play video poker. I repeatedly found myself not paying much attention in the endurance races as if I made a mistake I’d just rewind five seconds an continue. The solution for Turn 10 is extremely obvious, they could have either made rewind an optional assist with a credit bonus at the end of each race, or they could have awarded a ‘platinum medal’ (you recieve a gold medal for winning) for winning an event without using rewind.

Multiplayer has no such problems as rewinding is not allowed. Gone are the player hosted rooms of Forza 2 (you can still setup custom games with your friends though) and are replaced with a playlist system. You pick a style of racing (circuit, drag etc.) and a car class and it matches you with other players. This makes it extremely fast and easy to find a game and with the trueskill system, you should automatically avoid racing with people far beyond your skill level like in previoud Forza games.

Community was a big aspect of Forza 2 with people producing miracles with the livery editor. This time Turn 10 has gone all out to support this community with some brilliant features. The biggest is the new storefront system. This allows you to browse through and purchase everyone’s designs, tuning setups, decals, replays and photos. It is both intuitive and extremely useful with the best stuff rising to the top and easy to spot.

For the designers, the improved livery editor will allow even more stunning designs to be made. You will still need massive amounts of skill to turn the shapes you are given into a work of art but it’s easy enough for anyone to add racing stripes or make a simple pattern. The vinyl shapes editor allows you to create designs on a grid without a car. These can then be sols seperately and buyers can paint them on there own cars. There are already massive amounts of logos and videogame characters for you to buy and it will be great to see how the storefront evolves.

Forza Motorsport 3 is an extremely polished game. Almost all it’s new features enhance the experience and the way it all centers around the community is a great achievement. The racing itself is probably the most accurate ever seen on a console and there is enough content and enough additional features to keep you playing this for a long, long time. And the cars make you wish you’ve won in several us online casinos just to have one of them.

Score: 9.5/10

Naughty Dog is probably best known for it’s iconic Crash Bandicoot series on the original Playstation. However, in recent years they have become one of the leaders of PS3′s new look first party lineup and the original Uncharted was one of the centerpieces of this. That game featured great visuals, solid play mechanics, an interesting plot and likeable characters. Two years later Uncharted is back with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and it’s fair to say that Naughty Dog has taken every aspect of the original, improved, refined and added new features to make one of the best games of the current console generation.

As soon as you start the game you are greeted with quite simply the best looking visuals ever seen on a console. The art direction alone is absolutely incredible, but combined with the extremely impressive technology that never seems to falter, Uncharted 2 impresses on every level in every single one of it’s huge environments. The characters themselves are impressive too, they look incredible in the cutscenes and the animation is scarily realistic.

The single player campaign itself is pretty lengthy, taking around 11 hours on the normal difficulty setting. You once again play Drake as he searches for ancient treasures and attempts to save the world from an evil dictator who is trying to revive ancient technology. Other characters from the original also return but I won’t spoil them.

There are also new members of the cast including new love interest Chloe. Her dialogue is a little clichéd at times but overall she is a welcome addition to the impressive cast of characters. Also noteworthy is the brilliant voice acting, each cutscene and even the dialogue in the levels themselves is very well acted

For those who never played the original, the gameplay in Uncharted takes a lot of inspiration from the Tomb Raider series. It combines Gears of War style shooting and cover mechanics with some platforming and puzzle solving. One of Uncharted 2′s greatest strengths is it’s pacing and the way it never makes a section last too long or throws you into repetitive sequences. It divides the game up almost perfectly between each of it’s three main playing styles and keeps you hooked throughout.

The action sequences also are stunning, from the much loved ‘running from a helicopter’ sequence that was shown at E3 to probably the best train sequence ever seen in a game, Uncharted 2 delivers what is ultimately the best single player experience so far this console generation.

Once you have finished the single player campaign you then have the new multiplayer modes that you may have already been playing in the recent demo. Unlike so many shooters these days, Uncharted 2′s multiplayer doesn’t feel like an afterthought. The play mechanics make for a genuinely fun and competitive shooter. Each of the modes play well and with regular playlist updates and a Call of Duty-esque upgrade system the multiplayer modes should keep you coming back for more. Whether it can keep your attention once the multiplayer heavy hitters come out later this year though is another question.

The final mode is the online co-op play. Up to three players can fight together through a few different levels made specifically for co-op. They are great fun but there aren’t many but hopefully Naughty Dog has some more planned as DLC.

Overall then Uncharted 2 is quite simply a must buy. From the stunning opening sequence to the end credits it delivers one of the most polished, entertaining and most fun experiences ever created on a console.

Score: 10/10

Press Release:

He shall appear from a far eastern land across the sea, a young man who has yet to know his potential… And he’ll be driving a badass motorcycle.

Ryo Hazuki, star of the Shenmue series returns in his first playable appearance since Shenmue 2 to join the ranks of the SEGA All-Stars as part of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.

Ryo, protagonist of the Shenmue series and one of the most requested SEGA character to make an appearance in All-Stars Racing will be riding his borrowed motorcycle around classic SEGA themed race tracks. And when a motorcycle just can’t cut it, Ryo unleashes his All-Star move and is able to swap vehicles to his iconic forklift truck to charge and barge opponents out of the way!

The Shenmue series, the story of a son’s quest for vengeance, began life in 1999 as the killer-app for the SEGA Dreamcast. Originally developed by the legendary Yu Suzuki for SEGA, Ryo has yet to gain his revenge but he’s certainly no stranger to motorcycle racing and is sure to make a formidable adversary for Sonic, AiAi, Dr. Eggman and the other All-Stars.

The latest in the long running King of Fighters series is here and features full HD hand drawn graphics. Needless say SNK have done an amazing job with the character sprites and backgrounds and the whole thing looks stunning in motion.

Whilst the previous few entries in the King of Fighters series have focused on adding more and more features and gameplay systems, King of Fighters XII goes back to basics, focusing on a small core set of systems that are well balanced.

For those more akin to the Street Fighter series, King of Fighters is a team-based 3-on-3 2D fighter. Essentially, when you are knocked out, instead of being able to fight the next round the next character from your team comes into the battle.

The main additions to the gameplay are the critical counter system and the guard attack system, both integrate well with the superbly smooth action and are of great use once you master them.

Unfortunately, the move to HD has severely limited the amount of content in King of Fighters XII. Whilst everything looks amazing, the roster has been severely reduced and the single player modes are lacklustre at best. It doesn’t help that the online play is nearly unplayable bar and bar a few exceptions almost every game has been extremely laggy.

The main arcade mode has no story and essentially serves as a time attack mode. The achievements/trophies also are not exactly inspired with just standard “win x number of times” and “beat arcade mode in under x minutes” achievements, King of Fighters does little to make you want to continue playing.

The lack of content is a real shame as the game itself is probably the smoothest King of Fighters to date and feels great to play. If you are a fan of the franchise or fighting games in general then it’s still certainly still worth picking up but for the casual fan there are much better value games on the market.

Score: 7.0/10

As one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world, the expectation is always high for any new Halo. When ODST was first announced Bungie attempted to lower expectations by saying it was more like an expansion pack and would cost less than full price. As time has gone on it seems Bungie got more and more confident with the amount of content in ODST and Microsoft decided to make it a full price game. So is ODST worth paying full price for?

The game features a four to five hour campaign mode which may seem rather short and it is. However, this is also easily the most consistent campaign out of all the Halo games, there isn’t a single bad level. You have all your standard Halo levels in there; the warthog level, the tank level, the banshee level as well as the best on foot shooting sections out of any Halo game. Each encounter seems perfectly balanced and the infamous ’30 seconds of fun’ Bungie is known for remains and is as good as ever.

ODST uses pretty much the same engine as Halo 3. Technically, it is starting to show it’s age a bit, particularly the aliasing problems. Luckily Bungie’s art still shines through and there are some genuinely good looking areas in the game, I guess we’ll have to wait for Halo: Reach for the engine upgrade. The music also is very ‘Halo’. That’s by no means a bad thing though as it fits perfectly with the mood of the game.

Unlike previous Halo games you do not play as the Master Chief. Instead you take the role of various ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers). The game takes place towards the end of Halo 2 in the Halo timeline and if you are a fan of the series it will answer some questions you have about what happened between the two games. However ODST also tells it own story, I won’t give away the plot but it was nice to expereince a more personal story instead of the usual epic ‘world changing’ storylines from past games.

Also new is the Hub world. Once you drop into New Mombasa at the start of the game you are given control of the ‘Rookie’ in this hub world. This is essentially just a portal to each of the missions that ties them together. You follow the arrow on your compass to reach various artifacts around the city (a broken sniper, a helmet etc.) and this triggers each mission where you take the role of one of your ODST comrades.

Playing as an ODST is not much different to playing as the Master Chief. The main differences are you have no shields (though you have the near identical ‘stamina’), you have health which must be healed by med packs adn you can’t dual wield or hijack vehicles. In truth, none of this really impacts much on the gameplay with ODST feeling pretty much the same as it’s predeccesors.

Once you have completed the campaign you can play the new Firefight mode. This is another mode similar to ‘Horde’ in Gears of War where you face ever increasing waves of enemies. You can play this mode (and the main campaign) online with up to three friends. The mode is great fun though it’s a real shame there is no match making so unless you have friends with the game or can organise matches with people you’ll be stuck playing it on your own.

The final part of ODST is included on the second disc. This is the full Halo 3 multiplayer mode including all the original maps, all the map packs and three new exclusive maps. If you like Halo multiplayer this is the definitive package (and also saves some hard drive space).

Overall ODST ends up being a great package. It features arguably the best campaign of the series (even if it is short) with one of the most interesting plots. Has the great new firefight mode and includes the full Halo 3 multiplayer mode. If you are a fan of Halo you probably already own this and whilst ODST doesn’t bring anything that will convert non-fans, everyone else should seriously consider purchasing it.

Score: 9.0/10

Backstory:
Okay, so we all know after Crackdown 1 we defeated all 3 of the gangs, and we were congratulated. “Peace at Last” it said. It couldn’t have been more wrong. As the Agency took over, things went to hell. A new zombie-like virus had broken out in parts of the city, and the Agency was doing a poor job at covering it up. People found out, got sick of the Agency’s bullshit, and revolted. The civilian gang called themselves the Cell, and soon after the revolted, they destroyed the agent program, almost completely crippling the Agency. But now, they’ve fixed it, and it’s time you take the city back in a 3 way war.

-Dynamic Civilian Events (Example: A man trying to sell something in the day, getting marauded in the night. And the Agency will put up signs saying “play dead when you see an Infected”. Lulz ensue.)

-Support Points are gone, Agents can now call in for ammo and supplies anytime and anywhere.

-The game looks much more detailed and grittier, but still keeps the “cartoony” look we all love so very much.

-Vehicles like Trucks or Buses have room for a mounted turret, which makes them great for getting around in Co-Op.

-More variations in weapons, meaning people have more to choose from than just the homing rocket launcher.

-Most of the civilian cars in the game are the same, but reskinned and armed with armor and weapons to survive in the new hazards of city life.

-The Cell (a gang) is composed of ordinary citizens just wanting to reclaim the city from your team (the good guys). You take them out, and reclaim their turn for the Agency.

-More instances where Co-Op play is prudent.

-The city hasn’t changed in architect, all the roads are the same. Some buildings have been demolished and other small things, but over all it’s the same city.

-You’ll obtain skill orbs by using abilities relevant to your character.

-Four player Co-Op

-16 player Competitive Multiplayer. Tons of fun. Players collect special weapons, bonuses, and gadgets. Progression system like CoD4.

-Melee attacks are much more varied a fluid.

-Key to the City DLC is a go!

-The freaks evolve over time, making them MUCH more fearsome as the game progresses.

-All repetitiveness is completely removed. And less shitty boss battles.

-Doing missions in the day or night has a huge effect. At night, the freaks come out to play.

-City decays over time from the infection.

-New Agency helicopter and other vehicles. All old Agency vehicles returning.

-A lot more weapon variety. New powerful shotgun, Rail Gun, and sticky grenades.

-More precise targeting system. Skill is rewarded.

-Much more defining detail in all aspects of the game.

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