E3 2015: EA Press Conference Impressions

Aside from recent releases like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Battlefield: Hardline, EA hasn't had the best few years.  Buggy launches, poor customer support and selling certain titles without being feature complete are a few examples of EA's sins over the past few years.  Last year's EA press conference didn't make things any better as they put on possibly the worst press conference I ever had the dishonour of watching.  There is no way that EA could put on two bad performances in a row, right?

Let us start with the good news, EA's press conference was better than last year's showing.  The bad news is that isn't saying much.  In all honesty, EA has a great lineup of games under their umbrella; they just can't seem to translate that quality to the stage.  When a conference with Mass Effect, Mirror's Edge and Star Wars almost puts you to sleep, there is something wrong.

The reason that EA had problems in translating quality to their stage performance was that they spent too much time telling instead of showing.  The actual game demos showed at the conference combined for a run time of maybe 20 minutes.  For a 90 minute press conference, that's unacceptable.  Also whoever thought splitting EA Sports into four excruciatingly boring and unnecessarily long segments to fill time should be fired along with the person who thought having an interview with soccer legend Pele was a good use of time.

Out of all the bad, there were a couple of diamonds in the rough.  Star Wars Battlefront had a phenomenal demo that expertly replicated the scale and grandeur of the Battle for Hoth from Empire Strikes Back.  In five minutes, DICE showed first and third-person perspectives, vehicle combat (which includes controlling AT-ATs) and playable hero characters all to a great amount of fanfare.  Other than Battlefront, the only other game to truly impress was Unravel, a puzzle platformer with unique mechanics revolving around yarn.  While I have a feeling Unravel will be a smaller title in EA's lineup, it has the potential of stacking up their with other great mascot platformers like LittleBigPlanet and Mario.

If it wasn't for Star Wars Battlefront and Unravel, EA's 2015 press conference would have served as a good time for a nap or a bathroom break.  EA seems to bark to the heavens that they understand their fans, but they are so out of touch that it's hilarious.  Gamers don't watch your E3 press conference to hear about your onslaught of yearly sports games, we want the Battlefronts, Mass Effects, Mirror's Edges and Unravels to be the focus of your show.  Until EA understands that fact, they will suffer the same negative reaction year-in and year-out.

Grade:  D+

Bravely Default Review

Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) have a long and illustrious history.  Among the most dominant forces in this genre was arguably Square Enix.  As the JRPG fell out of favour for the freedom of Western RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Mass Effect, Square Enix has had an incredibly tough time adapting with the times.  Recent entries in their long-running Final Fantasy series has tirelessly tired to modernize the JRPG genre to varying degrees of success.  Funny enough, the company's recent entry into the JRPG genre, Bravely Default, has captured the hearts and minds of gamers by going back to the basic storytelling and gameplay of early entries in the genre.

Bravely Default's premise is very similar to first few Final Fantasies.  You control the four Heroes of Light (Tiz, Agnes, Ringabell and Edea) as they purify four elemental crystals in order to save the world.  On their journey to purify the crystals, the Heroes of Light must combat the forces of the Duchy of Eternia and discover the truth behind the Crystal Orthodoxy.  On the surface, the story and the protagonists seem to fall under many classic JRPG tropes such as a heroes' hometown getting decimated and one of the heroes conveniently suffering from amnesia.  As the story advances, the depth and complexity of the huge cast of characters becomes evident.  The conflict between the Crystalism and Anti-Crystalism is not as black-and-white as the game originally makes it out to be.  Bravely Default offers a good amount of twists and turns to keep gamers interested.  While the story provides motivation to keep playing, it is not the most compelling feature of Bravely Default.

Bravely Default truly shines above other entries in the JRPG genre through its combat and job systems.  The combat is similar to other turn-based RPGs as the player and their opponents takes turns attacking, defending and using items.  The creative twist in Bravely Default's combat comes from the brave-default system.  Default acts like defending as it decreases damage taken, but also increases battle points (BP).  You use BP to brave, which allows a character to unleash multiple attacks in a single turn or spend on job-specific attacks and abilities.  Braving and defaulting is a risk-reward system that adds an extra layer of strategy to battles.  You can try to dispatch enemies in one turn by attacking multiple times, but you risk leaving your party vulnerable to multiple attacks if they survive your onslaught.  Managing when to brave or default can be the difference between life or death in Bravely Default.  The game's job system has clearly been inspired by the systems implemented in past Final Fantasy games.  Although the inspirations from other titles, Bravely Default's job system is much more approachable than other RPGs due to the improvements Square Enix and Silicon Studio has made.  Jobs level up independently of the character's actual level so changing jobs does not reset a character's overall level.  While characters can only be employed by one job at a time, you can equip the attacks and abilities from another job to use as well.  This feature allows for tons of customization as you can have a white mage that can cast black magic on top of healing spells or a knight that can imbue their blade with a spell fencer's sword magic.  Going along with the customizable jobs, you can equip any special attribute learned through levelling up jobs or those your friends have learned through the Ablink feature.  These two systems are only just one slice of the great suite of features that Bravely Default gives you to play with.  From the excellent StreetPass and online features like rebuilding the town of Norende with the people you StreetPass and connect with online or summoning friends to help in battle to the incredible ability to change encounter rates and game difficulty at anytime, Bravely Default offers tons of features to keep players satisfied.

With all the great features and systems Bravely Default has to offer, it has one critical blemish that almost derails the entire experience.  What easily could have been an excellent fifty to sixty hour experience receives some completely unnecessary padding that doubles the length of the game.  What makes this padding even worse is how tedious it is.  Instead of adding some worthwhile quests to elaborate on the story, you repeat the same exact tasks over and over again until the game deems it time to move on to the true final chapter.  After the second time repeating this process, the story stops advancing altogether until the true final chapter which makes a good twenty hours of the game feel like an absolute waste of time.  You can break from the tedium at anytime to complete the normal ending of Bravely Default, but that does not give much closure to the story of the game.  Funny enough, the normal ending of Bravely Default is more satisfying than the true ending of the game because it lacks the drastic difficulty spike the true ending has and it makes more sense than most of the plot points inserted into the true ending with little to no explanation whatsoever.  The true ending is not worth the time and effort needed to reach it.  In fact, trying to reach the true ending could compromise your enjoyment of Bravely Default as a whole.

Aside from the unnecessary padding, Bravely Default is a great game.  There are enough great features packed into this small 3DS cartridge to keep anyone satisfied for days, possibly months on end.  The one thing holding Bravely Default back from being the definitive RPG experience on the 3DS is the major misstep taken in the most crucial hours of the game.  Padding the game by a few hours is understandable, but by close to fifty plus hours cannot be easily reconciled.  While the padding may leave some upset and disappointed, Bravely Default's strengths more than make up for the underwhelming endgame.  For those looking for an old-school RPG with some excellent modern twists, Bravely Default is definitely a game worth picking up.

Looking Past the Surface: The Pros & Cons of CG Trailers

The biggest news to come out of this past week was the announcement of Batman: Arkham Knight.  As the final Batman game in Rocksteady's trilogy, Arkham Knight is being hyped to be more expansive and epic than the previous two entries in the series (one of them being easily the best superhero game of all-time).  Scheduled to release this October, WB Games decided to release a trailer for the game.  Considering the game is less than year away, it would have been nice to see how exactly Arkham Knight would run on the next generation systems with a gameplay trailer.  What we got was a computer-generated (CG) trailer that did a decent job of showing what the game would be about, but did little to impress this writer.  In fact, this trailer got me thinking about the video game industry's love of pre-rendered CG trailers.  There are pros and cons to CG trailers which I would like to discuss in this article.  Personally, I lean more towards the con side of this debate, but I can see the pluses of CG trailers as well.

As the video game industry has evolved, trailers have been given much more prominence than in the past.  Video game trailers are so prominent nowadays that websites dedicate obscene amounts of time dissecting each frame and highlight every big trailers on the front page.  There is even a website which focuses solely on highlighting game trailers in GameTrailers.  With a lot more importance put on game trailers nowadays, game publishers want their trailers to be the best even if the game is not ready to be shown yet.  These publishers employ animation houses to make a trailer that best captures the ideas of the game.  When the game is early development, a CG trailer works as an appetizing teaser for gamers.  It gets gamers excited for the upcoming game as they see all the grand possibilities which they can eventually play.  These trailers work as a great way of eliciting gamers to pre-order the game well in advance.   As a money making machine, CG trailers serve their purpose well.  Another pro of CG trailers is the quality as most of them can easily rival that of Hollywood's best.  The quality of these trailers can produce great amount of hype no matter the actually quality of the game.  The CG trailer for Dead Island is an excellent example of this type of situation.  It easily produced enough hype to put Dead Island as one of the most sought after games of 2011.  CG trailers are a very profitable business for game developers and serve as a form of entertainment for gamers.  They will definitely be the norm of the video game industry well into the future.

While there are plenty of pluses to the use of CG trailers, they are not all that they seem to be.  With CG trailers, the quality can serve as a double-edged sword which many a game have fallen to.  Sometimes, the CG trailer is too good that it overshadows the quality of the game when it finally releases.  Dead Island fell into that trap as the game was marred with numerous glitches, some that even halted gamer's progress indefinitely.  Another example is Killzone 2.  The infamous trailer shown at E3 2005 had such amazing graphical fidelity that Guerilla's game could never achieve those great heights.  The expectations brought on from Killzone 2's first trailer caused many gamers to feel betrayed by Sony and Guerilla Games.  As these CG trailers are created by animation houses outside of the actual developers, it is easy for these trailers to include certain aspects such as supposed mechanics or weapons that are not even in the main game.  This mixed messaging can deceive gamers into believing that exactly what they see in the CG trailer will be in the actual game and most of the time that is not true.  As much as CG trailers can help boost the hype and possibly sales of the game, they can be just as damaging if games rely too much on them.  As game graphics continue to advance, an argument can be made that in-engine graphics can be used without hurting the quality of video game trailers.  Already there have been many games that use in-engine graphics for their trailers to great success.  Every trailer for Grand Theft Auto V including the very first one from 2011 was produced with in-engine graphics.  Mass Effect 2 and 3 used in-game graphics for both of their launch trailers and produced some of the best video game trailers in years.  The Mass Effect 2 launch trailer was the sole reason I hunted down a Collector's Edition of the game the weekend after launch.  Using in-engine graphics for trailers might not always be a possibility especially earlier in development, but they can alleviate some of the trappings of relying on CG trailers to convey the concept of the game.

 Although this writer would love to see in-engine gameplay trailers become the norm, CG trailers are not going anywhere.  In the early years of this new console generation, CG trailers will become more prominent as publishers build hype for games that are years away from completion.  As CG trailers become more prominent, gamers need to become more critical of these trailers rather than taking them at surface value.  Gamers need to stop blindly getting excited for a game because it had a great CG trailer.  Instead, they need to start taking them as they are, just proofs of concept, and waiting on gameplay footage, previews and possibly demos before making a definitive decision on how these CG trailers represent the game they are promoting.

The Seventh Generation: Essential Games

What makes a game essential?  Is it the cutting-edge graphics, the gigantic scope, the innovative gameplay or the masterful mechanics?  An essential game may include one or more of these aspects, but having these aspects does not automatically make a game essential.  In this writer's honest opinion, an essential game is not the highest rated or most popular game out on the market.  An essential game is one that NEEDS to be experienced by everyone who plays video games.

There were a ton of great games from this past generation.  To boil all those great games down to a list of nine essential games is an incredibly hard and daunting process.  This writer took a lot of time and care in putting together a list that encompassed the experiences that defined the seventh console generation from the largest blockbusters to the smallest experiments.  There may be some omissions such as BioShock, Grand Theft Auto IV or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but this writer has not played enough of these games to even form an opinion on them much less name them an essential game of this past generation.  Without further ado, let us dive into the final entry of The Seventh Generation, the essential games of the last console generation.

Portal
Originally bundled with Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 in The Orange Box, it looked like Portal would be overshadowed by Valve's heavyweights.  Fortunately, Portal was never overshadowed.  The game's expertly crafted humour, perfectly developed villain and incredibly unique puzzle mechanics made Portal an instant classic.  Portal has the player take control of a test subject at the Aperture Science Enrichment Center.  Equipped with only the Portal Gun, the player is tasked with completing a gauntlet of test chambers which grow more difficult and dangerous as the player advances.  Throughout these chambers, the player is constantly berated by a computer AI known as GLaDOS.  While GLaDOS is the antagonist of Portal, she spouts the funniest and most memorable lines of the game.  Even though Portal can be beaten within a few hours, you grow to love the characters, the enemies, the dialogue, the Portal Gun, the level design and the puzzles.  If it was not for this little game stuck on The Orange Box, gamers would have never learned to think with portals.

Rock Band
At one point or another, everybody has wanted to be a rock star.  The dream of singing your heart out, shredding the strings on a guitar or smacking a set of drums in front of a sea of thousands is one that many imagine, but few actually live.  Many games have tried to emulate the thrill of being a rock star, but only a handful have succeeded in fulfilling this childhood dream.  Rock Band is among the pinnacle of these games.  Using the plastic instruments that come packaged with the game, one can emulate being in a band with friends and family or play the guitar, drums or sing solo.  With the focus on local multiplayer, Rock Band quickly became the most popular party game of this generation because of its excellent accessibility.  While sequels and future rhythm games made improvements on the original, nothing will ever beat the euphoric thrill of getting three to four people together to play in Rock Band.  Rock Band brought the rhythm genre to its greatest peak and no other rhythm game has been able to recreate the magic this game created.

Mass Effect
The Mass Effect trilogy as a whole encompasses the three greatest games of this past generation.  Perfectly blending the combat of a third-person action game with the complex systems of a RPG and single-handedly revolutionizing the art of storytelling in this medium as one's decisions followed them throughout each game in the series, the Mass Effect trilogy is an astonishing feat of artistry.  As great as all three Mass Effect games are, this writer can only choose one for this list--the original Mass Effect.  The sole reason this writer bought a Xbox 360, the original Mass Effect is unlike any game before it.  You are given the freedom to create whatever Shepard you desire.  Male or female, good or evil, tactically savvy or guns blazing, the player's Shepard is not just their avatar, it is an extension of themselves.  From the heart-racing thrill of threatening a journalist on the Citadel to the heart-wrenching indecision of choosing the fate of a crew mate, an entire fleet of soldiers or a small group of Council delegates, Mass Effect is never afraid in giving players decisions no matter their difficulty.  If there is one RPG that you play from this past generation, make it BioWare's sci-fi masterpiece Mass Effect.

Super Mario Galaxy
Just like Super Mario 64 defined the 3D platformer during the fifth console generation, Super Mario Galaxy defined the future of this genre.  No longer restricted by flat surfaces, Mario traversed a number of spherical planetoids on his way to retrieve all the missing stars.  Playing around with gravity in interesting ways, Galaxy provided new ways to maneuver around a three dimensional space.  The motion capabilities of the Wii remote are expertly used to ease jumping, interact with objects in the environment and control Mario on different rides such as a ball or a manta ray.  Super Mario Galaxy is the premier platforming game of this generation and it should not be skipped over by any gamer.

Uncharted 2:  Among Thieves
This writer considers Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception to be the best entry in Naught Dog's venerable series.  Although if it was not for the excellence of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, there would be no third entry in the Uncharted series.  That is the reason Among Thieves makes this list over Drake's Deception.  Uncharted 2 launched Nathan Drake and Naughty Dog into superstardom.  It is an exhilarating roller coaster ride from beginning to end with some unbelievable set pieces like battling mercenaries in a collapsing building or traversing a moving train as a helicopter guns Drake down.  Aside from the Hollywood blockbuster-like moments, Uncharted 2 has a solid base of third-person shooting, visceral hand-to-hand combat and parkour-like platforming.  Uncharted 2: Among Thieves single-handedly created a juggernaut franchise for Sony this past generation and going forward into the future.

Batman:  Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City is the ultimate superhero and ultimate Batman game.  Arkham City is a fully realized world where the player is given the skills and abilities to explore every nook and cranny, fight waves of convicts, tackle story missions or collect hundreds of creatively hidden collectables.  One can easily lose tons of hours just playing around in Arkham City's open world.  Any gamer no matter if they are hardcore fans of the Dark Knight or know nothing about the Caped Crusader will enjoy the amazing experience Arkham City offers.  It puts you in the shoes of a superhero like no other game has ever done before and few could possibly do after.  Batman: Arkham City is the best licensed game of this generation and arguably of all-time.

The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
Unlike Twilight Princess, which launched with the Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is built from the ground up for the Nintendo's motion-based console.  In short, Skyward Sword stands as the pinnacle of the Wii’s library, an example why high definition graphics do not make games better and why motion controls are not just a gimmick.  Skyward Sword offers one-to-one swordplay like no game has ever achieved before or since, an excellent array of items with intuitive motion controls from old favourites like the bombs to new choices such as the beetle, mind-bending puzzles, beautifully constructed dungeons and a wonderfully orchestrated soundtrack (a first for the Zelda series).  Arguably the greatest game of this generation, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword stands as the embodiment of the pure fun and emotion brought forth by Nintendo's mission with the Wii. 

Journey
Journey is one of the most unique experiences of this past generation.  There are no tutorials, no real instructions.  You are just dropped into a seemingly barren desert with this profile of a mountain in the distance.  The controls are simple yet incredibly intuitive, the graphics and art are just jaw dropping, the music is beautiful and the puzzles, while simple, are very charming and engaging.  Journey is a soothing and relaxing experience that can easily be finished in one sitting, which makes the game easy to replay again and again.  This writer cannot stress how amazing of an experience this game is.  Journey is a game that cannot be captured in words or through video.  Journey is a game that must be experienced to understand its greatness.

The Walking Dead
Unlike any experience in this medium, The Walking Dead transcends the title of being a mere licensed game.  Fans of this property or not, The Walking Dead is an emotional tale that anyone will easily be drawn into.  The Walking Dead will make you laugh, cry, scared, disgusted, shocked, surprised, intrigued and every emotion in between.  When everything is said and done, you will be amazed at how much you care about each and every character you meet and interact with in this game and contemplate on what could have been if you made different decisions.  The Walking Dead is hands down the benchmark for modern adventure games and should be experienced by all gamers mature enough to play it.

The Seventh Generation: Xbox 360

The second console to look back on is the first one out of the gate this past generation, the Xbox 360.  Microsoft stepped into the video game industry with the original Xbox, but the Xbox 360 was when Microsoft made their foothold in the market.  Launching a full year ahead of the PS3 and the Wii really helped the Xbox 360 establish itself as the must-have console for the early years of this past generation.  While the PS3 had problems with making the system easily accessible for programmers and the Wii was too concerned with the casual gaming audience, the Xbox 360 had the premier online service in Xbox Live, a prospering selection of downloadable games through Xbox Live Arcade and a good number of first and third party exclusives.  The more successful the Xbox 360 became, the more Microsoft tampered with this winning formula.  The later years of the Xbox 360 saw so many shifts in focus that have gone onto hurt this console and company's standing in various ways.

The Xbox 360 made some significant improvements over its predecessor.  Apart from enhanced processing power and improved online services, Microsoft completely reworked the controller for the 360.  While the original Xbox controller was cumbersome and uncomfortable to use, the 360 controller fit perfectly to the contours of a person's hands.  The 360 controller was so well received by gamers that it is considered among the best video game controllers of all-time.  Through Xbox Live Arcade, the 360 brought forth a new avenue to access games.  No longer did one have to go to their local video game store to pick up the latest game, there were hundreds of games, demos, downloadable expansions and extra content available to download from the system's marketplace menu.  All one needed to access all this content was an internet connection.  Xbox Live Arcade also gave independent game developers a chance to easily release games on consoles.  While these indy developers needed the support of Microsoft or a third-party publisher to get their games on this service, Xbox Live Arcade did offer an affordable way to create console games.  Some of the best games for the 360 such as Braid, Limbo, Shadow Complex and Trials were released through Xbox Live Arcade.  Speaking of games, the Xbox 360 saw the release of some generation defining games like Gears of War, Mass Effect, BioShock, Fight Night Round 3 and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion before landing on other platforms.

The Xbox 360 was overwhelmingly successful with the core gamer audience despite the hardware problems.  There are always problems with technology, but the 360's problems like the infamous Red Ring of Death and the far too common ring scratches were widespread problems.  Although some people like this writer have never experienced such hardware failures, not everyone was that lucky.  Many people went through a good number of Xbox 360s in the last generation.  During this generation, Microsoft constantly improved the Xbox 360 hardware to avoid these hardware problems in later Xbox 360 hardware.  While the hardware improved over time, the 360's standing did not.  From 2009 onwards, Microsoft shifted the 360's focus from  the defined core gamer audience to a much broader all-encompassing audience.  Microsoft moved away from developing first-party software and pushing support for indy developers to creating new peripherals and fostering greater relations with third-party publishers.  The lack of first-party support and worthwhile exclusives pushed gamers away because there was nothing to differentiate the Xbox 360 from the PS3.  The onslaught of casual games brought on by the Kinect, Microsoft's answer to the Wii's motion controls, did not help matters either.  It did bring in the casual audience, but it also alienated a good portion of the 360's primary audience.  Microsoft's SmartGlass and multimedia initiatives made it even more evident that this company had no clue about what to do with the 360's success.

The Xbox 360 has definitely had its ups and downs.  The 360 started out as the dominant console of this generation in the eyes of gamers, but completely fell flat on its face in the past few years due to Microsoft's lack of focus.  The Kinect and SmartGlass were sadly glorified prototypes that did more to hurt the 360 than extend its life.  Although these mistakes, the 360 offers a great selection of games from the Triple A blockbusters to the independent darlings.  In the end, the Xbox 360 is hands down Microsoft's best console to date.

Year in Review 2012: Game of the Year

When I thought of doing this set of Year in Review articles, I did not think it would have taken me this long to complete it all.  It seems work, school and life just gets in the way.  One great result from this set of articles taking so long has been that I have gotten back into the swing of things.  It has gotten to the point that I have deemed Sunday evenings as my time to sit back and just write.  So I am hoping posts will be much more frequent this school term.  Hopefully once a week, but things might change middle to late February when I start my annual Road to WrestleMania series of posts on my wrestling blog.

Some may have noticed that while I did list my Top Games of 2012 last week, there was no game specified as Game of the Year.  Was there no games in 2012 that were worthy enough to garner this prestigious award?  Did I just missed out on what could have easily been my favourite game of 2012?  If you have been following this blog for a while now, you know the answers to both of these questions, which is no.  Out of all the great games I have listed over the past few articles, there is one game that made 2012 for yours truly.  The one game that I booked the day off work to play when it launched, the one game that I could not stop talking about for the first few months of 2012, the one game that I dedicated an entire week of blog posts to.  My Game of the Year for 2012 is none other than Mass Effect 3.

In Mass Effect 3, your main goal is to amass an intergalactic army to take on the Reapers and take back Earth.  With the stakes set incredibly high, you take your Commander Shepard (either new or imported from the previous games) through easily the strongest story in the entire trilogy.  The story twists and turns as you make some of the toughest choices in the series.  Choices so immense that they can determine the fate of entire civilizations.  Mass Effect 3's story you make you think, reflect, laugh, cry, smile and hate.  It is very easy to get emotionally attached to these characters and thinking about all the possible outcomes of your one decision will circle in your head for days.  The entire Mass Effect trilogy has been an experience like no other in the video game industry.  Seeing my Shepard evolve and my decisions reverberate throughout the annals of these games has been spectacular.  Mass Effect 3 serves as an excellent finale to this grand trilogy of games.

No matter all the supposed controversy with the ending that many jaded gamers got so hung up (an ending that I had no problem with), Mass Effect 3 is the one game that I had the most fun with in 2012. Be it spending 30+ hours completing all the side and story missions, slaying waves of enemies in multi-player in order to boost my Galactic Readiness Rating or continuing the story through some of the DLC released later in the year, BioWare's finale to their epic space opera was the only game that captivated me this much.  In my opinion, Mass Effect is my favourite game of 2012 bar none.  Agree or disagree with me, I hope you all enjoyed these Year in Review articles and would like to hear your favourite games of 2012.

On the Download: August 26-September 1

Well it is the last weekly edition of On the Download for a while.  It has been a lot of fun to put the spotlight on all these unique and incredibly interesting downloadable titles that release weekly and even daily for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, iDevices and PC.  Downloadable games have made their mark in the video game industry these past few years by standing toe-to-toe with even the biggest of triple A console or PC titles.  Some of the most innovative and inventive experiences in video games today come from these smaller downloadable titles.  I have really enjoyed writing On the Download on a regular basis and giving a spotlight to these games that many gamers overlook.  It has been one of my favourite weekly posts to write here on Silver Bit and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Now that I am done with the little farewell for now speech, let us get down to business.  Got a packed week of downloadable games to talk about.  Two games I want to talk about quickly here in the intro and the other two I will get into more detail below.  First, this week Telltale Games released the third episode in their Walking Dead adventure series called The Long Road Ahead.  Decisions from the earlier episodes affect the events of The Long Road Ahead and pave a way for new long-lasting decisions that will affect future episodes in the series.  The third episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead game is available on PSN, XBLA and PC for 5 dollars.  The second game I want to mention here is the iOS port of Bastion.  Coming completely out of right field, Supergiant Games announced the game earlier in the week only to release it for iOS this past Thursday.  Easily one of the best downloadable games of 2011 has been re-imagined to work on the iPad.  Bastion only works on iPad 2 or higher and costs 5 dollars.  If you missed out on this remarkable game last year and own one of the newer iPad models, Bastion is a no-brainer.  Download it right now!  It is that good.

For a while there it looked like Rock Band and much of the rhythm game genre was dead, thanks to an over saturation of Rock Band and Guitar Hero games from EA and Activision.  With games like Audiosurf and Symphony trying to revitalize this genre through the downloadable game space, Harmonix has decided to bring Rock Band to the downloadable space with Rock Band Blitz.  Unlike the core Rock Band games for console, Rock Band Blitz does not use special peripherals to play the game. In Rock Band Blitz, you will use the regular controller to switch between each instrument lane and match notes in one of the game's 25 songs, which is very similar to Harmonix's older rhythm games such as Frequency and Amplitude.  Rock Band Blitz offer the same Rock Band gameplay, now all just for single-player.  Without much of a campaign, the main drive to play Rock Band Blitz is due to the online leaderboards,which tracks your top scores on each song.  In addition to the 25 songs that come with Rock Band Blitz, gamers are able to import any song they have for Rock Band 3.  Rock Band Blitz is now available for PSN and XBLA for 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Mass Effect is a huge series with one of the most expansive universes in video game history.  To extend the life of their RPG epic and provide more insight into the rich mythology of this universe, BioWare has developed the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.  The Leviathan DLC takes place before the final mission on Earth and dives into the dark history of the Reapers.  Commander Shepard hears reports of something lurking in the dark corners of space.  That something being powerful enough to single-handedly slay a Reaper.  What is this powerful being, this leviathan of sorts and is it friend or foe?  It is up to Shepard and his crew of the Normandy to find that out.  Leviathan expands on the events of Mass Effect 3 and provides new characters to interact with, new pieces of information on the mythology to chew on and new weapons and upgrades to play with.  For those not ignorant enough to abandon Mass Effect 3 because of the polarizing ending and want to dive back into this incredible game, you can pick Leviathan for PC, PSN and XLBA for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

Favourite Games of 2012 So Far

During the summer months, there are not a lot of big games that come out.  While there is a steady stream of great downloadable games that come out in the summer, not many big retail games come out in the summer as they stick to the overcrowded winter and spring seasons.  With this evident drought of games, there are some weeks when yours truly has to think of different things to write about when no actual games release said week.  This week I decided to look back on the my favourite games of 2012 so far.  The games will be listed in order of their release not how much I like them and I am only including games that I have either beaten or have played a considerable amount of.  I hope that everybody enjoys this list and maybe finds a game in this list that they may have overlooked.

Run Roo Run
There is no other iOS game that I have found released this year that is better than Run Roo Run.  Charming graphics, simplistic yet intuitive controls, satisfying gameplay and a plethora of levels that test both your mind and reflexes, Run Roo Run is the complete package for only one or two dollars depending whether you get it for the iPhone or iPad respectively.  5th Cell's first game for iOS is a game that no iDevice owner should miss.

Mass Effect 3
If you have been following this blog for a while now, you would know I full how much I love the Mass Effect series and in turn Mass Effect 3.  While some jaded people got hung up over all the supposed controversy with the ending and the Day One DLC, I found Mass Effect 3 to be an incredible game experience that serves as a worthy finale to this grand video game trilogy.  Mass Effect 3 is a game not to be missed this year as it is quite possibly the best game of 2012 and the best RPG from this side of the world.

Journey
Journey is easily one of the most unique experiences I had playing a game this year.  There are no tutorials, no real instructions.  You are just dropped into a seemingly baren desert with this profile of a mountain in the distance.  The controls are simple yet incredibly intuitive, the graphics and art are just jaw dropping, the music is beautiful and the puzzles, while simple, are very charming and engaging.  Journey is a soothing and relaxing experience that can be finished in one sitting.  If you missed out on downloading this gem for the PSN, you can pick up the Journey Collector's Edition that comes out at the end of August.

Kid Icarus: Uprising
Nintendo may have took 20 years to release a new Kid Icarus game, but Uprising makes the time fans waited well worth it.  Kid Icarus: Uprising is a labour of love from Masahiro Sakurai and Project Sora that brings Pit to the 21st century in style.  While the controls can get in the way from time to time, the fast-paced action, witty fourth wall breaking banter, exciting story and fun multi-player experience sure make up for it.  Kid Icarus: Uprising is easily the best 3DS game of 2012 so far that 3DS should not miss.

Xenoblade Chronicles
One of the last great games for the Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles is a grand RPG adventure from Nintendo and Monolith Soft.  Xenoblade Chronicles has an incredibly gripping story, fun real-time combat and an enormous world to explore with a huge amount of side quests to keep you occupied.  I have played at least 25 to 30 hours and I barely scratched the surface of all the content in this Wii RPG.  For a system that has been starving for RPGs, Xenoblade Chronicles stands tall as the pinnacle of RPGs on the Wii and for Japanese RPGs in this console generation.

On the Download: June 24-30 Part 2

On the Download continues with a look at the console and PC downloadable games released this week.  I will get to the meat and potatoes of this post, I would like to highlight two other downloadable games/DLC.

First, the second episode of Telltale Games Walking Dead adventure game was released this week for XBLA, PSN and Steam.  The second episode, called Starved for Help, continues the story from where the first episode, A New Day, left off.  You are able to find Starved for Help as an individual download for 5 dollars on XBLA or PSN or you can pick up the Season Pass and get the entire series when each subsequent episode is released.

Next piece of business is a piece of free DLC for Mass Effect 3.  When the game came out in March, there was a lot of backlash around the game's ending.  While I did personally enjoy the original open-ended ending, it did bring up a lot of questions that got most fans that could not connect the dots themselves angry.  This Tuesday, BioWare released the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC.  The Extended Cut DLC does not change the ending of the game, it adds more scenes to the final 30 minutes of the game in order to help gamers get a better understanding of the Mass Effect 3's ending.  By better understanding, I mean BioWare basically lays out every single little detail for those gamers who could not do it themselves.  Hopefully this DLC does satisfy some of the haters, but no matter what BioWare does there will always be a core group of gamers that will hate the ending of Mass Effect 3 no matter what.  If you have Mass Effect 3, download the Extended Cut DLC as it is absolutely free and gives a better understanding of the game's ending.

The next piece of DLC I am going to talk about is for the biggest RPG of 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  The first big expansion to the world of Skyrim is called Dawnguard.  In Dawnguard, the vampire lord Harkon has returned.  Harkon seeks the power of the Elder Scrolls in order to accomplish his goal of blanketting Tamriel in eternal darkness by blocking out the sun.  As the hero of Skyrim, you must choose between joining Harkon in his dark goal or the collective of vampire hunters known as the Dawnguard in stopping Harkon and his vampires.  Which faction you choose to join will affect the perks you receive, your homebase (Castle Volkihar for the vampires and Fort Dawnguard for the vampire hunters) and some other bonuses exclusive to each faction such as being able to transform into a vampire lord or hiring Armoured Trolls.  Dawnguard also adds new combat options and weapons such as the crossbow and mounted combat, new shouts, new quests, new skill trees, new dragons and other enemies and the ability to alter your appearance at anytime for a price of 1000 septim.  At the moment, Dawnguard is only available on XBLA for 1600 Microsoft points because Microsoft paid Bethesda for timed exclusivity for the DLC.  Dawnguard should be coming to PSN and PC sometime in the near future.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On a Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness has been on a long hiatus.  The first two episodes in this episodic series were created by Hothead Games, but in 2010 the developer discontinued production on future episodes to focus on DeathSpank.  Back in late 2011, Zeboyd Games, the makers of indie RPG hits Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII, announced they would pick up where Hothead Games left off and make the third episode in this series.  The most striking difference between Episode 3 and the first two episodes of Penny Arcade Adventures is the 16-bit inspired graphics that are very similar to RPGs from the SNES.  Episode 3 is completely inspired by RPGs from the SNES era as the combat and presentation are very similar to past RPGs mixed with modern design sensibilities.  Episode 3 is suppose to last 8 to 12 hours with more content to be added with free updates.  Currently Penny Arcade's On a Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 is only available for PC through Steam, but it will will be released for XBLA, Mac, Android and iOS at later dates.  If you do have Steam, you can pick it up for 5 dollars and buy it before July 2 to get Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII for free.  Three indie RPGs for 5 dollars that is a great deal.

Mass Effect 3 Review

Nowadays it seems that every popular game franchise makes it to a third game.  Few go onto outshine their predecessors.  Well the final act in BioWare’s sci-fi trilogy Mass Effect 3 has arrived and may I dare say it is the best entry in the series and quite possibly frontrunner for my 2012 Game of the Year.  Mass Effect 3 refines all the mechanics from the previous two games in the series to perfectly blend the combat of a third-person shooter with the character building and storytelling of a RPG.

Your sole purpose in Mass Effect 3 is to take back Earth, the human home world which was invaded by the Reapers during the game’s stunning opening.  Every mission you complete, every decision you make, every asset you find from scanning planets contribute to building your army to take on the Reapers in the final mission.  It makes every mission, story or side, mean something to the game’s end result.  You feel the need to explore every corner of the Mass Effect universe taking in everything it has to offer.  Mass Effect 3’s story is among the strongest in the series as it twists and turns and offers choices that make you think, make you cry and make you furious.  You will get emotionally attached to these characters and thinking about the other possible outcomes will circle in your head for days.

While the decisions and story are what you will cling onto, the superb combat keeps you engaged in the game’s various missions.  Just like in the story, there are many different ways of approaching combat.  You are able to run and gun bouncing from different pieces of cover to avoid enemy fire or you can be more strategic, use different biotic, tech or combat powers to take down enemies or use a combination of those approaches.  You can also add upgrades to your weapons at workbenches throughout the game and switch your armour to improve different stats.  The missions in Mass Effect 3 are great.  Some standout over others, but each one offers a lot of variety, which keeps things from getting tedious and repetitive like in other games.  Mass Effect 3’s art direction is absolutely stunning as it brings each locale to life from the wastelands of Tuchanka to the slick, metallic innards of a Geth Dreadnought.  The biggest feature added with Mass Effect 3 is the online co-op multi-player.  While I am not a fan of the multi-player being online only, it is very fun addition to the series.  Mass Effect 3’s multi-player pulls from the game’s great combat to create a fun co-operative experience much like Gears of War’s Horde Mode, but with much more strategy needed to last all 11 waves.  Personally there are a few games that I enjoy playing online, Mass Effect 3 is one of them.

No game is perfect.  Even the best have a couple little blemishes.  In Mass Effect 3’s case, it comes in the way of graphical glitches that happen every once in a while.  It ranges from pop-in to talking to invisible characters.  It can be annoying, but it does not happen enough to consider these glitches as a big problem.  With a game as big as Mass Effect 3, the developers cannot catch every little thing.

At the end of the day no matter all the controversy surrounding it, Mass Effect 3 is one of the best RPGs of this console generation.  Mass Effect 3 improves on the shortcomings of its predecessors and creates an experience unlike any other game out there, a full-on RPG with a real-time combat system of a third person shooter.  It is a game well-worth its 60 dollar price point and the 30+ hours you will spend playing it.  It is Mass Effect 3, quite possibly the best game of 2012 and the best RPG from this side of the world.

Hump Day Video: Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory

Ever since I got home from work tonight, I could not think of a piece of video game music to highlight in this week's edition of Hump Day Music.  Since last Friday, I have been playing a lot of Kid Icarus: Uprising, which I have been enjoying a lot.  I was thinking about picking a track to highlight, but nothing has caught my ear yet.  Maybe next week I will have a track from Kid Icarus to share, but this week I have a video to share.  Just a kind warning to those who have not finished Mass Effect 3, there will be spoilers.  Read and watch on at your own discretion.

While looking through my Facebook News Feed, I saw my friend and fellow Mass Effect fan share a 21-minute video on the Indoctrination Theory.  The Indoctrination Theory is a theory about the controversial ending(s) to Mass Effect 3.  It says that from the moment Shepard seemingly gets blasted by Harbinger's laser and the screen goes white, Shepard is caught in an illusion induced by Harbinger to trick Shepard, and ultimately the player, to give into the Reaper's Indoctrination.  While I enjoyed my ending to Mass Effect 3 (the Synthesis ending) much more than the majority of people, I did think there were a few things off.  That there was more to this ending that first meets the eye.  That I would have to experience the Control and Destroy endings before I truly get the full picture on what the ending was all about.  I still need to go back and play through the ending again and experience everything with a fresh pair of eyes.  I have taken a look at quite a few videos on the Indoctrination Theory and I have become a believer of this theory.  We will not know for sure what BioWare intended with the ending until April when Ray Myzyka said BioWare will address what is next for Mass Effect 3.  Right now, this video I am sharing with you today does it's best to bring to light what might possibly happened during the ending of Mass Effect 3.  If you have not completed the game, I again warn you that there are huge spoilers in this video.  Hope you all enjoy.

Mass Effect: Infiltrator Review

The biggest game release of the month and possibly the first quarter of 2012 was Mass Effect 3.  To coincide with the release of BioWare’s science fiction epic, EA released Mass Effect:  Infiltrator for the iOS. As a companion game to Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect: Infiltrator serves as a portable Mass Effect fix for fans of the series.

Mass Effect:  Infiltrator is a side-story in the expansive narrative of the Mass Effect universe.  You play as Randall Enzo.  Randall is employed by Cerberus, a pro-human organization in the Mass Effect universe, to hunt down and capture aliens for experiments at a secret Cerberus facility.  When the Director of the facility goes too far and starts performing experiments on other Cerberus employees, Randall vows to bring down Cerberus.  

Developed by IronMonkey Studio, the team behind the critically acclaimed Dead Space iOS game, Infiltrator is unlike the console entries in the Mass Effect series.  Instead of a RPG, Mass Effect:  Infiltrator is a cover-based shooter.  Infiltrator implores a control scheme that works to the strengths of Apple’s iDevices.   You move Randall with your left thumb and control the camera with your right thumb.  You shoot at enemies by pressing on a blue reticle over them and can switch between different weapons and biotic powers on the fly.  These controls are both easy to use and allow players to fluidly chain together kills.  After each battle, you gain credits and can collect intel from fallen enemies.  You can use credits to buy new weapons, abilities, biotic powers and armour or upgrade the weapons, abilities, biotic powers and armour you already have.  You can use the intel to boost your Galactic Readiness Rating, which affects Mass Effect 3’s ending, or trade it in for credits.  Other than the fluid controls and combat, Mass Effect:  Infiltrator’s strength is its incredibly fluid frame rate.  The game only crashed once or twice and that was my fault as I had over a dozen apps running in the background. 

The campaign will take about 6 hours as you complete all 9 levels in the game, which includes two boss fights.  For those looking to get the best rating at each checkpoint or to boost their Galactic Readiness Rating, Infiltrator offers tons of replay value as you find new more efficient ways to dispatch enemies.  If you are not into that stuff, Infiltrator will not hold you long after completing the campaign even with the New Game+ option.  Infiltrator is great to play in short bursts while waiting for the bus or sitting in the back seat of the car, but will get very repetitive if you play for hours at a time.  When the battles get a little too hectic or up-close and personal, the controls can sometimes get in the way of making fast precise decisions, which can get a little frustrating when the controls get in the way of dispatching a lethal shotgun-wielding krogan.  While the stories in iOS games are never that strong, you expect a little more from a game set in the narrative-heavy universe of Mass Effect.  Other than a look into the atrocities that Cerberus commits, Infiltrator’s story does not add much to the Mass Effect universe as a whole.  Also the paragon and renegade decisions in the game are completely pointless as they don’t do anything to affect the game’s story like in the main entries in the series.

For 7 dollars, Mass Effect:  Infiltrator might be a steep price for those not already invested in the Mass Effect universe.  For those that can look past the price point, Mass Effect:  Infiltrator is a good iOS game that offers a great control scheme which perfectly works around the limitations of the iOS’ touch controls, a fluid frame rate and a good amount of replay value.  While not a must-own for iDevice owners, Mass Effect:  Infiltrator is a good time sink for those looking for a solid third-person shooter for their iDevice.

I Heart Mass Effect

Since it released this past Tuesday, most of my time gaming has been dedicated to one game, Mass Effect 3.  The several hours I have spent playing both Mass Effect 1 and 2, reading the comics and reading one of the many books have all lead up to this one game and so far it is delivering in spades.  To close out this Mass Effect-filled week here on Silver Bit, I want to share why I love this series, why I am so enamored with this universe.

Ever since it released back in November of 2007, I have heard great things about the first Mass Effect game.  IGN even went as far to say it was the best game for the Xbox 360.  So when my brothers and I pooled together our money to buy a Xbox 360 during the summer of 2009, one of the very first games I bought was Mass Effect.  I played through Mass Effect quite a bit, but I did not really start plowing through it until a month before Mass Effect 2 released.  The gameplay was a great balance between the strategy of a RPG and real-time action of a third-person shooter.  What really got me was the story and how you could shape the story through your dialogue choices.  From choosing between Kaiden or Ashley to letting the Council live or die, the choices really personalized your playthrough.  You could even talk Saren into committing suicide and avoid the first part of his boss battle if your charm or intimidate is high enough, which I find incredible.  Also Mass Effect has one of the best final level I have ever played.  Throughout the two long hours it took to finish it, it was one exhilarating roller coaster ride fighting Geth on the Citadel.  Immediately after that I went right into playing Mass Effect 2 considering that I finished Mass Effect the day I bought the second game.  After watching the excellent launch trailer, I hunted down a Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 2 the weekend after the game released.  Luckily I found on at my local Wal-Mart because it made for a great early birthday present as I was in school and low on disposable income.  Imported my Shepard from the first game and watched the magic begin.  From the moment the Normandy was shot down by the Collector's to finding out the Collector's were indoctrinated Protheans to the final suicide mission, Mass Effect 2 was everything I loved about the first game.  It was an improvement on what I already considered gaming perfection.  The action, story and interactive dialogue were all phenomenal and it made me really care for my entire crew from my squad mates to Dr. Chakwas and Joker.  I still get sad over losing Garrus in the final suicide mission and in all honestly Mordin singing Gilbert and Sullivan is one of favourite moments in the entire series.  My love for Mass Effect comes from the fact that this game feels like an interactive science fiction novel where I am writing the story.  I have a personal connection with the game and with all the characters involved because I am the one choosing what my Shepard says, what my Shepard does.  The actions I ultimately do define who he/she is, who he/she loves and what people think of my Shepard.  My actions also have consequences that go onto affect other parts of the game and possibly even the subsequent games in the series.  No game series has done something this ambitious before and there will be no game that will ever re-create.

I was not alive to experience Star Wars, arguably the greatest piece of science fiction ever, when it first released in theatres and just caught the hearts and minds of my parent's generation.  Well to me Mass Effect is the piece of science fiction that has caught my heart and mind the same way George Lucas' sci-fi classic did to my parent's generation over 30 years ago.  I could go on and on about it everything I love about this series, but it would take too long.  Simply I love Mass Effect.  I revel in the small touching moments between your crew.  I am blown away the incredible set pieces.  I geek out when BioWare alludes to a character or event from the expanded universe.  Mass Effect is the greatest game series of this console generation in my humble opinion and I do not care what anybody says.

On the Download: Mass Effect: Infiltrator

Need to a little catch-up today.  Will be putting up two posts today.  On the Download right now and a special look at the Mass Effect series much later tonight.  So without further ado, let us get into this week's On the Download.

The biggest game to release this week was BioWare's final entry in their Mass Effect series, Mass Effect 3. Coinciding with the release of BioWare's epic sci-fi RPG, EA released Mass Effect: Infiltrator, a side story in the Mass Effect universe, for the iOS.  Mass Effect: Infiltrator follows Randall Enzo, a veteran Cerberus agent who captures aliens for experiments at a secret Cerberus facility.  When the Director of the facility goes to far, Randall vows to bring down Cerberus.  Mass Effect: Infiltrator is made by IronMonkey Studios, the developers of the critically acclaimed Dead Space game for iOS, so it is much similar to that game than the Mass Effect games for the console.  Mass Effect: Infiltrator is a cover-based shooter.  You move Randall with your left thumb and control the camera with your right thumb.  You shoot at enemies by pressing on a blue reticle over them and can switch between different weapons and biotic powers on the fly.  After each battle, you gain credits and can collect intel.  You can use credits to buy new weapons, abilities, biotic powers or armour and also upgrade everything listed above.  You can use the intel to boost your Galactic Readiness Rating, which plays into Mass Effect 3, or trade it in for credits.

Since Tuesday, I have been bouncing back and forth between Mass Effect 3 and Infiltrator.  It is amazing that by playing Infiltrator I can influence Mass Effect 3 on the Xbox 360.  So far I have been very impressed with Mass Effect: Infiltrator.  It perfectly creates a third-person cover-based shooter around the limitations of the iDevice's touch controls.  Also it runs beautifully.  In the few hours I played it, it only crashed once.  Sometimes the controls get in the way of making fast precise decisions when battles get too hectic and up-close and personal, but it never got to the point of frustration.  Overall, I am enjoying my time with Mass Effect: Infiltrator and hopefully will have a review of it up in the coming weeks.  If your a Mass Effect fan and have an iDevice, make sure to pick this game up it is worth the 7 dollar price tag.

Hump Day Music: Leaving Earth

Sorry, I did not put this post up after work last night.  I got home and decided to play some Mass Effect 3.  The next thing I remember is it being 2 o'clock in the morning and I really needed to get some sleep.  It is incredible how Mass Effect 3 can just draw a person like me in for hours at a time.  I got the Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 3 on Tuesday.  Included among the art book, the special edition comic, the lithograph and N7 patch is a download for Mass Effect 3's official soundtrack.  After having to wrestle with BioWare's social site to confirm that I indeed owned the Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 3, I downloaded the beautifully orchestrated soundtrack for this epic RPG.  I have not gotten a chance to listen to the entire soundtrack yet, but the tracks I listened to are phenomenal pieces of music.

Out of all the tracks I have listened to so far, my favourite is Leaving Earth.  This beautiful track plays when Commander Shepard and the Normandy leave Earth during the Reaper invasion.  As the Normady pulls away from the Vancouver dock, Shepard watches as the child tried the help broad a crusier, which upon take-off is blown out of the sky by a Reaper.  Right there we see sadness on Shepard's face as he cannot do anything to save that innocent child and innocent population of his home, Earth from the Reapers.  It is a tragic piece that uses the piano to really hit that sombre feeling and the huge tuba blasts to emphasize the Reaper's laser blasts.  Still keeping the sombre tone, the ending of the track embues hope as it the volume rises for a bit then fades out for the end of the track.  Leaving Earth is just one example how the developer's at BioWare expertly use music to engross the player in the story and heighten their emotions.  Honestly hearing this track play while watching the corresponding scene, it was hard not to feel sad and a little useless as there is nothing at this point and time that we can do to save Earth.

Launch Station: Mass Effect 3

Here we are close to seven years since BioWare announced they were planning a trilogy of RPGs for the Xbox 360.  An announcement that was extremely ricky considering nobody knew how the game would turn out and that planned gaming trilogies such as Advent Rising plummeted before even reaching the second game.  This day is a testament to incredible men and women who work at BioWare be it in their Edmonton, Montreal or Austin studio who over the past seven years took one unique intellectual property and made it one of if not the greatest stories told in this medium that we love.  From the first time we stepped foot on Eden Prime to choosing to save either Kaiden or Ashley to all the crew mates that we may have lost in the suicide mission on the Collector's Ship to our inevitable final stand against the Reapers, it will be our personal story as our personal Commander Shepard.  There has never been a game that has done this before and there will never be a game that will ever re-create it.  Come this day, March 6th, 2012, we do not just end the fictional character Commander Shepard's journey, we end for some their five year journey with these characters and this universe.  It is the day the Earth will fall and we will fight to take it back.  It is the day the greatest trilogy in gaming comes to an end.

Mass Effect 3 is the culmination of all the storylines and decisions players have made in the two preceding games.  You play as Commander Shepard, the captain of the Normandy and the first human Spectre.  Beginning immediately after the events of Mass Effect 2's Arrival DLC, Shepard has been stripped of his rank and awaiting trial on Earth.  During Shepard's trial, the Reapers, an all-powerful race of machines that's sole purpose is to wipe all sentient life off of the face of the galaxy every million years or so, invade Earth.  Caught in all the turmoil, Sheppard flees Earth in order to seek the support of all the alien civilizations in the universe to make a final stand to take back the human home world.  BioWare has added three ways to play the story, Action mode (more focused on the combat than story and RPG elements), Story mode (emphasizes story over combat and RPG elements) and RPG mode (the regular way of playing Mass Effect).  These three ways opens up the series to more gamers than just RPG fans.  For Mass Effect 3, BioWare has put an emphasis on improving the third-person combat.  There are more options for moving around the battlefield as you can easily move through cover, climb ladders, jump over gaps, sprint for short periods of time and evade enemy fire by rolling.  The edition of the omni-blade for a devastating melee attack allows you to get up close and personal with your enemies.  For the first time in the Mass Effect series, a Mass Effect game features multi-player.  This co-op multi-player is called Galaxy at War and affects your Galactic Readiness Rating, which will affect the ending of the single-player game.  The co-op multiplayer is wave defense much like Gear's of War's Horde mode with a few additions. You and up to three others have to survive 10 waves against increasingly difficult computer-controlled enemies.  During certain waves, you have to complete a special task in order to collect credits that can be used to buy other races, weapons and powers.  At the end of 10 waves, you must defend the extraction point needed to win the complete your mission.  No matter if you win or lose, you gain experience to level up your character and all the credits earned during the mission.  The multi-player is sadly online only so you cannot play split-screen with a buddy.  For Kinect owners, Mass Effect 3 allows you to issue voice commands and pick dialogue choices by reciting your line of choice.

If you have been following this blog for the last few months then you know how excited I am for Mass Effect 3.  It is my favourite franchise of this console generation and I would go as far to say it is one of the greatest pieces of Science Fiction of this generation.  My Tuesday will be dominated in my Shepard's  quest to take back Earth and indulging in all the goodness packed in the Collector's Edition of the game. If you are a hardcore gamer, I cannot recommend this game and franchise enough.  Go out pick up Mass Effect 3 and show the world that gaming is not just about shooters and sports games.

First Byte: Mass Effect 3

Over a month ago, I put up a what will become a recurring article that went by the tentative name of Demo Impressions.  Looking for the audience to help me out with coming up with the final name for demo impressions articles, I got only two suggestions both from my good friend Kent Power.  As you can see by the title at the top of the screen, the new permanent title of this recurring article is First Byte.  Considering that we are just days away from the release of Mass Effect 3, today I will be giving you guys my impression on the single and multi-player demo that has been out for the past few weeks.

Mass Effect 3 is the final chapter in BioWare's trilogy following Commander Shepard's fight against an all-powerful race of machines known as the Reapers, whose only goal is to wipe all sentient life off the face of the universe every millions of years.  The single-player demo for Mass Effect 3 picks up right at the end of Mass Effect 2's Arrival DLC.  Shepard has been stripped of his rank and is waiting trial on Earth while the Reapers creep ever closer to the human home world.  You are brought to the head of the Human Alliance by Admiral Anderson when everything goes to hell.  The unthinkable happens and the Reapers land on Earth.  With the Human Alliance building in shambles, Shepard and Anderson must get to the Normandy before it is too late.  Armed with a pistol and an omni-blade, Shepard and Anderson crave their way through husks and other Reaper forces as gigantic Reapers destroy the landscape around them.  The sense of scale in this opening mission is just incredible as it is very hard not to at least stop and take everything that is happening around you in.  It feels like Earth is being invaded by humongous machines.  After activating a beacon and fighting a few waves of husks, the Normandy flies into rescue you and Anderson.  Anderson decides to stay behind in order to help the human resistance, but restores Shepard's rank before parting ways.  The single-player demo picks up much later in the story as Shepard, Liara and Garrus have to help Mordin escort the only female krogan in the galaxy safely to the extraction point.  Along the way you will dispatch the attacking Cerberus soldiers on the way to the final battle of the demo against Cerberus' Atlas mech.  The single-player portion of Mass Effect 3 feels unchanged from Mass Effect 2, which is a good thing considering how great the combat was in that game.  The environments are more vertical as Shepard can now jump over gaps, climb ladders and interact with other parts of the environment in different ways.  Also the omni-blade is an amazingly powerful new melee attack that is very satisfying.

For Mass Effect fans the story is above all else, but the meat of this demo is found in the multi-player segment.  In the multi-player portion of this demo, you get to two maps to play on, one enemy to face (Cerberus) and three difficulties to chose from (gold, silver or bronze).  You choose your class, your race and appearance then you are ready to play online.  Mass Effect 3's multi-player is wave-defense mode much like Gears of War's Horde mode with a few new additions.  You and three others have to survive 10 waves against increasingly difficult computer-controlled enemies.  During certain waves, you must complete a special task in order to collect credits that can be used to buy other races, weapons and powers.  At the end of 10 waves, you must defend the extraction point needed to win the match.  No matter if you win or lose, you gain experience to level up your character.  In the final game, successfully winning matches in multi-player will affect your Galaxy Readiness rating allowing you to get the best ending.  Mass Effect 3's multi-player is not the best out there, but it is great in it's own way.  The only thing I did not personally like were the inability to play the multi-player locally as I would rather play split-screen with my brothers and other friends on the same couch as it makes communication, which is really needed to succeed in multi-player, much easier.  I know this is the necessary evil of online multi-player, but there were times when I got paired with people online who could not work as a team and it was not fun at all, so I would rather play with those I can cooperate with.  After playing through the single-player demo two times (once as male Shepard and another as female Shepard), the multi-player was kept me coming back to the Mass Effect 3 demo.  That is saying something considering I am not a big fan of online multi-player.  For those itching for next Tuesday as much as I am or not, download the Mass Effect 3 demo it is a great demo worth any gamers time.

Hump Day Music: Mass Effect Theme

It has been a couple of weeks since we had a new edition of Hump Day Music.  With the launch of the PlayStation Vita, the last two Wednesdays were dedicated to previewing the most interesting games in the Vita's launch line-up from both first and third-party developers than getting over the hump with some video game music.  Hump Day Music came at the right time as it is almost the day I have been waiting months for, Mass Effect 3 launch day.  I will fully explain my love for the series next week, which I have deemed Mass Effect week here on Silver Bit, but to keep things short for right now Mass Effect is my Star Wars in a way.  To get everybody ready for all the Mass Effect loving that will be going on next week with the Mass Effect Theme.

Not as synonymous as the Legend of Zelda Theme or the Super Mario Bros. Theme or even the Halo Theme, the Main Theme music for Mass Effect is just as great.  Those who have played either games in the series will immediately recognize it and the subtle more ambient tone of the piece.  My favourite part of the piece starts at the 20 second mark as things start the ramp up.  The electronic vibration sound just starts to get louder and louder and more lively until the boom of the percussion where all the other instruments come and the piece really comes alive.  It is a great piece of music that I did not fully respect until I heard it played by the Video Games Live orchestra.  It is at least worth a listen considering Mass Effect 3 is less than a week away.