Tuesday, February 2, 2010 1:03:15 PM
omega, mass, effect, 2
My ears popped as the airlock adjusted the air pressure. I punched the button to open the door, the button gave way with a satisfying click and the door slid open and gave off a hiss, as if telling us to get out and leave it alone. The air was like a punch in the face and a poke in the eye at the same time. It was dusty and smelled of oil, a world away from the treated and conditioned air on the Normandy.
I stepped out of the airlock and and walked down the hallway. The sound of an unknown number of people, and an unknown number of species, became louder as I approached the main square. A mumbling batarian lay in the corner, probably crazy or sick, or both. As I turned the corner into the main square a wall of light hit me, shortly followed by the deep beats of club music. Afterlife lay ahead, and there could be no two ways about it.
I was on Omega.
I was playing Mass Effect 2.
Friday, November 27, 2009 12:14:30 AM
warfare, modern, creed, assassin
...
I was really excited about the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. So excited, in fact, that I bought a total of three versions of the game. I played through the single player campaign and I enjoyed my time with it. However, at the end of it, only six hours later, I was left feeling unimpressed and unsatisfied. Suddenly I realised how my girlfriend feels. I read about people finishing the game in under five hours. Even by FPS standards that's pretty short.
The stumpiness of the single player campaign is not the only problem with this game. No dedicated servers, no lean, no ability to kick players, no console, a plot line with more holes than my favourite pair of boxer shorts and a tendency to sacrifice gameplay to show off. An example of the latter happens when approaching the gulag in a helicopter. A jet is seen firing missiles at the building. The jet is only marginally faster than the helicopter, in an attempt to make it all more spectacular. The last time I checked jets were face meltingly fast and helicopters...not so much. The main issue is that once I finished the main storyline and played a bit of laggy multiplayer, I didn't really think about the game much.
With Assassin's Creed 2 (AC2) it is quite different. I have been playing it at least five hours every day for the last week, already several times longer than MW2. Furthermore, I find myself thinking about the game almost all the time. I'm also reading about the game, the period (Italian Renaissance) and looking up the characters and buildings that appear in the game. It's all becoming a bit obsessive. I think that fact counts for a lot. Sure, AC2 has its little annoyances, mostly control related issues. If you're thinking of a game in retrospect and the game didn't occupy your mind except for when you were actually playing it, then all you're going to remember are the annoyances.
My Opera
