April looks to bring a nice calm to the influx of titles we have recently received. The must-haves for the month are few, but this month does play host to one of the most anticipated sequels of the year.
April 19th
Mortal Kombat
PS3, Xbox 360
Developer: Netherrealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
After years of experimenting since 1992 with 3D fighting, adventure games, and even bizzare single player exploration games; Mortal Kombat is returning to its roots. A simple 2D fighter with bloody finishing moves. In addition to the classic feel, a challenge tower has been thrown in to pit you against numerous scenarios from "Test Your Might" to "Test Your Luck" where you must find an egg hidden under a cup. It looks to promise the bizzare, the familiar, and the satisfying finishers we have come to cherish from the series.
Portal 2
PC, Xbox 360, Mac, PS3
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Easily, the most anticipated title of 2011. Portal 2 continues to unwravel the mystery of what happened at Aperture Science Labs while offering the same incredibly fun puzzles ot solve. Despite being first-person, this is a thinking man's game; requiring you to plan your moves and time each shot carefully to advace. Tack on a new co-op mode and you have one incredibly fun looking puzzle game. With Valve, you can rarely go wrong.
Dragon Age II
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: EA
Release Date: March 7th, 2011
Pros:
Dialogue wheel is a welcome addition to chats
Characters and writing prove strong as ever
Classes are diverse and offer plenty of variety
Sound design makes every hit satisfying
Interactive combat makes battles much more of a spectacle
Cons:
Lack of any real story arc makes the game feel less inspiring to start
Repeating areas result in bland quests
Isolation to one city makes the game feel enclosed
Occasional bug or glitch can ruin the experience
Somehow there is an infinite return of satisfaction from a tale of a young warrior becoming a noble hero and rising up against some dark terror that has plagued the lands. The first Dragon Age allowed players to choose a variety of races and classes to make such an adventure all their own, leading the Grey Wardens against a mass of Darkspawn. The addicting RPG element combined with epic battles and interaction at local towns made the first game a huge success. It is only natural a sequel should follow. Influenced by Mass Effect's sequel, the game has now limited the number of classes and even races chosen, while providing a more polished look and interactive combat...but does it take away from the individual experience the first game offered, or provide one far more interesting and unique?
A Story Within a Story...Sans Leo DiCaprio
Unlike the first Dragon Age, there is only one race and role to choose from; You are Hawke, a Fereldan driven from your home by the Darkspawn and forced to flee with your family to Kirkwall. Told as a "story within a story", one of your party members is chronicling your rise from peasant to champion in an interrogation. It's a neat concept that keeps you raising questions as to how you know the characters in question and what events led them there.
What is not a neat concept is the very thrust forward story. The last game was laid out very well, with a clear beginning of your induction into the Grey Wardens, participation in the front lines against the Blight, and journey to clear your name and gather an army. All the while, I had an overarching goal: Stop the Blight. This game has you flee from the Darkspawn, move to a city, and raise money so you can go on an expedition. It's much less of the overall "I have to stop a full on invasion" feel from the first, into a more "I hope I get 10 more gold so I can start the real game!" feel. Without that overall goal of an enemy or presence to stop, I felt as though I was just drifting from quest to quest, wandering aimlessly.
Despite the lackluster story, Bioware excels in its writing and character design, which is ever present in this game. No cheesy dialogue or cliche ridden one-liners, but true lyrical structure accompanies much of the characters. The banter between party members is alive and well, and calling on them to give their two cents is always enjoyable. Not to mention the characters themselves are a colorful cast of original entities, each with a back story worth investing time into.
No More Backseat Driver
The most drastic change to the game is the combat. Whereas Origins had you assign a set of tasks and watch them play out, the second installment asks you participate more. You tap a button for standard attacks and use the other three buttons for special attacks dependent upon your class.
This causes the combat in the game to feel less like a spectator's sport, and more like a battle. There is still the option to pause the combat and issue commands, with a menu that is much more streamlined for consoles. Orders go out quickly and smoothly, and coupled with macros you can customize; battles become a high point. What starts as a simple hack and slash soon evolves into frantic hits and powerful swings that reduce your enemies to nothing but red vapor.
With only three classes you would think it can get pretty straightforward but such is not the case. Each class has a subset of talent trees to choose from to specialize in and shape your character. Rogues can be up close with daggers or ranged, Warriors can be tanks or heavy hitters, mages can be healers or spell casters; it's all here. Having a healthy balance of these will insure your success. MMO veterans will feel right at home assigning roles and mixing the party accordingly, but the game is generous enough with quick saves to allow you to play around with the options.
You Are Not Smart Enough to Wear That!
Dragon Age has your standard RPG setup of armor and weaponry. You gain weapons and armor from quests or purchase them at stores, some with options of augmenting them to further assist. There are some pretty strict requirements for much of the armor and you will end up scratching your head as you try to reallocate your points accordingly; at the same time wondering why I need to be more cunning to wear a hat...
Your team members will have a suit of armor that is non-removable, and simply upgrades as you find the necessary component. This is much appreciated, as changing out a helmet and passing it along the line got old after a while. They still equip the standard rings and weaponry, but this shortens the grocery list of items needed.
Can Hawke Come Out to Play?
The biggest disappointment with Dragon Age II is the overall feeling that the game was rushed.
Textures and environments, though much improved from the previous installment, are still not up to par with much of what is out there. Some textures are fine, but running around the city, I find a blur of muddy clay staring back at me. It's hard to believe this is the same company that brought us Mass Effect, as the game is littered with cloned environments. There are only around 10 or so, and once you've seen one, it tends to pop up over and over. It got to the point where I was begging quest givers to please not make me go to the beach again.
Much of the game revolves around Kirkwall and your rise to infamy within its walls, I get that. What I do not get is why I feel so trapped when I play this game. In the last game I was traversing across a continent, choosing where I wanted to go; be it a mountain city or lush forest. In this game I feel like I am a kid who has been grounded and can only play outside in the yard, as I am not allowed to cross the street. In a game promising adventure, I just expected to travel a bit farther from a city.
I also find myself running into the occasional glitch. Sometimes textures go missing, sound cuts off, etc. I even ran into a glitch on a main plot questline 8 hours into the game where I could not talk to a guy with a quest marker clearly over his head. In my beginning playtime the game offered no real trouble, but as fights picked up and colors starting flying, the occasional game freeze occured. In the better part of 2 hours I had the game freeze on me three times. This seems to be a fluke, as it seems to be a mix of people running into these problems, and some without any problems at all.
Recycled character models top off the list of things I wish were changed. Ogres, spiders, and even the dragon model are taken straight from the pages of Origins.
Overall
Dragon Age II is by no means a terrible game, and I already envision myself revisiting the main game plenty of times. It was just a let down considering the amount of time I poured into the first installment, expecting the same quality of adventure and story I had before. If you can look past the flaws, the battles and dialogue will eventually overshadow the small nuances. It's fun, but feels like one step forward, and one giant ogre punching you in the chest...steps back.
PC Developer: Trion Worlds Publisher: Trion Worlds
Rift adds on to the slew of MMORPGs that are emerging for the PC. Each character chooses between four classes (Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, Mage) and must battle monsters emerging from rifts before they overtake the lands. Already the game has gotten a swarm of participants, so much that they have had to open additional servers to handle the long ques.
March 8th
Dragon Age II
PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Developer: Bioware Publisher: EA
The sequel to the hit RPG title graces consoles once again. This time around the combat has gotten a complete overhaul, requiring much more participation than simply issuing orders as before. Along with new gameplay comes a shrinking of class choices to three, new visuals, and a Mass Effect inspired dialogue wheel. The demo is already out so if you have never checked out Dragon Age, now is the time!
Pokemon Black/White
Nintendo DS Developer: Gamefreak Publisher: Nintendo
No, Pokemon is not dead and obviously they have not run out of colors either. The newest addition to Pokemon continues the franchise's addicting collector gambit of catching, training, and battling your tiny monsters. This installment introduces 156 new Pokemon bringing the total number to 649!! Remember when it was just 151? Ah, simpler times...Regardless, expect new combat scenarios; including a triple team battle, and so much more.
March 15th
Homefront
PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Developer: Kaos Studios Publisher: THQ
This upcoming FPS is set in the time period of post-peak oil world, in which the US is rapidly declining. The story looks intriguing, and the gameplay looks to match it. With a 32 player multiplayer with dedicated servers and a single player to rival inspired by Half-Life, this is one to watch.
March 20th
Crysis 2
PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: EA
Crysis is setting the bar once again for graphical performance, with a follow up to one of the most stunningly good looking games ever created. Crytek has even claimed that his game will have the best visuals of any video game in history. With fast paced shooter action, incredibly destructible environments, and a well-prepared multiplayer; this will be a game to set your sights on.
March 27th
Nintendo 3DS Price: $250 Weight: 8.1oz (3oz less than the DS) Display: 24 bit display (over 16 bit of DS) Screen: 3.02 in (77 mm), 320 x 240px Connectivity: 802.11b/g Wireless, 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope
So not quite a game, but an important date nonetheless. The Nintendo 3DS will go on sale March 27th to continue Nintendo's dominance over the handheld market. Equipped with a sleeker look, slew of features including backwards compatibility, and a graphical overhaul to rival the Gamecube; this will be another handheld to rule them all. Not to mention it is the first system to truly make use of 3D technology without the need for glasses. Be willing to drop $250 to be the coolest kid on your block.
