Starcraft II will be released in a few short days. Hopes run high among its fan base that Blizzard can recapture the magic that vaulted the original Starcraft to the top of the RTS heap. Blizzard has an impeccable track record, and many fans have received an extended free look at the multiplayer during beta testing. How did it stack up?

Balance

Real time strategy games usually only distinguish themselves through innovation. Balance is typically a prerequisite to being a passable RTS; without balance what does it matter what unique strategic decisions you allow? Rarely, however, is balance not just a building block but a distinguishing characteristic. By rarely, I mean only in one case: Starcraft. Include Starcraft II, and that makes two cases.

RTS games are complicated enough to make - designing tech trees, animating units, creating maps, scripting single player campaigns and recording sound effects is a tall order. Considering that poorly balancing a game can render all other work meaningless, developers usually just make factions symmetrical in function and slightly different in appearance.

Not Blizzard.

The iconic 3 factions from Starcraft: the Zerg, Terran and Protoss, return for Starcraft II. By some black magic Blizzard has managed to make each faction distinct yet perfectly balanced. Many baby seals must have been sacrificed to successfully perform this feat.

These guys might look hardcore, but they are slaughtered by the truckload in-game

Gameplay

A great game is easy to learn but impossible to master. While Starcraft II is slightly more complicated than chess, it is conceptually simple. You harvest resources with workers, and use those resources to build production facilities which in turn consume resources to build an army. You use that army to (hopefully) kill your opponent before they kill you.

There are of course many complicating factors. You don’t have perfect information as you can only see what your units can see. Imagine in chess if your pieces could only see the squares immediately surrounding them. You wouldn’t know how your opponent opened or how his pieces are positioned until you got close, so you would have to make decisions with less than complete information.

A good player in Starcraft II will try to counter what their opponent is doing, so initially you want to be able to scout out their strategy while preventing them from doing the same. You also need to be able to make educated guesses about what your opponent is doing from what you are able to see. At the highest levels, nearly as much can be gained through knowledge of what your opponent isn’t doing as from what he is doing.

The Immortal is one of the most powerful Protoss units that perfectly exemplifies how units are never obsolete even in longer games: it shrugs off powerful attacks but is susceptible to weaker tier 1 units

In addition, you can trick your opponent by allowing them to scout what looks like a certain strategy, destroying their scout, then changing your strategy to what will counter how he was planning to counter you. You can go around in circles trying to outmaneuver your enemy, but like in actual warfare many battles are won or lost before they even happen.

Decisions don’t end when a battle begins, however. There are many tactical and strategic decisions to be made that influence the outcome of a fight. You can take the same 2 armies and have them face each other with different positioning and on different terrain, and the outcomes will be drastically different.

Certain units and armies thrive by being in wide open space with the ability to maneuver around their enemies. Certain units do lots of damage to a small space and funneling an enemy army through a small choke point leads to total annihilation. Air units can outmaneuver their opponents in complicated terrain. Some units can tunnel underground and surprise their enemies from below, or circumvent static defenses.

Even within large battles, certain individual units can turn the tide. Some units can convert enemy units to your side for a small period of time. Stealing a key unit can make the difference between victory and defeat. Some units are good against clusters of enemies but become weak if their enemies are spread out; controlling your army is key. Having the correct parts of your army in the front, and in the back, and sometimes even flanking or surrounding your enemy is paramount. Even if you have a bad army composition because you misjudged your opponent’s strategy, you can still win with proper troop micromanagement.

In Starcraft II you are almost never out of the fight. The further behind in a game you are, the higher risk strategies you must implement, because conventional thinking won’t get you back into a losing game. Never give up. Never surrender!

The Corruptor is basically one of those squid things from the Matrix. Unfortunately, nobody can be told what the corruptor is. They have to see it for themselves

User Friendliness

Starcraft II will be the first game to utilize the full Battle.net 2.0 interface. While many fans of the original Starcraft criticize the system for being too ‘simplistic,’ that is because they’re living in the past. Battle.net 2.0 is a streamlined and comprehensive gaming system.

Games can be set up with the push of a button, and everything is taken care of automatically behind the scenes. Ladders ensure you’re going to be facing players of comparable skill level, and the wait to get into a balanced game is frequently a couple seconds for a 1v1 game, and a couple minutes for a 4v4 game. I’m sure those times will decrease in release as there will be orders of magnitude more players compared to the beta.

In addition, there is a great replay system where you can watch and analyze old games. There are achievements and custom user portraits and decals to individualize yourself in-game. Finally, there is a friend system where you can chat both in and out of games, and eventually across Blizzard games. Battle.net 2.0 might not yet be perfect, but it’s a great start, and over time players will wonder how they lived without it.

Interesting that the protagonist in Starcraft bases his operations from a Terran Battlecruiser. In game, however, Battlecruisers are powerful but still slaughtered by the truckload. Maybe it's a special battlecruiser? Otherwise this might be a short campaign

Custom Content

The award for the game with the most longevity has to go to either Counter-Strike or the original Starcraft. While the actual game of Starcraft II has the potential to be just as long-lasting, its lifespan will be prolonged by user-generated content. Even though the game hasn’t even been released, there are already hundreds of custom game mods created for the beta.

Some of the most popular include variations on tower defense and tug of war game modes. In the popular Battlecraft: Armageddon mod, players receive money every few seconds and have to choose which units they want to spawn to run at their opponent. They can’t control these units, which merely mindlessly run at the enemy. The skill comes in using your money to choose units which counter your opponent’s units for lower cost. The number of game types that will emerge during release when millions get their hands on the editing tools mean that people will be playing Starcraft II far into the future, even if the standard game modes have long been forgotten.

Starcraft II is going to be a massive success. Blizzard has created the RTS that will long be the gold standard considering its polish, balance and refined gameplay. It will storm the sales charts and more than return the $100 million spent on its development. Video gamers around the world are about to find out what we beta testers have known for the past few months: Blizzard has created something really special that we will be playing for a long time.

What went right?

Parity among factions

Starcraft was so popular because it was the first and only RTS game to achieve parity among factions without merely mirroring them. Balance is key to an RTS, and the only way most developers have achieved this is by giving every player the same units.

This is not the case in Starcraft, with the three factions (Zerg, Protoss and Terran) being significantly different from each other. Not only are none of the units the same, but each faction fits into their own unique but fair niche.

This doesn’t just break down into standard ‘these units are stronger but more expensive’ delineations used in other RTS games. Zerg, for example, don’t even build units from construction buildings such as barracks. They evolve their units from larva, and the implementation of this is completely distinct from anything players will be familiar with from other RTS games.

The mighty Protoss mothership is the final unit on the Protoss tech tree. See it and be afraid!

While Starcraft II had a significant leg up in terms of balancing as many of the mechanics and units are the same from the previous game, which had a decade of iteration, it is still an impressive accomplishment. Many of the units are new, or have been tweaked slightly, and yet still it all works well together.

These factions are not rock paper scissors to each other. It’s not like Zerg always beats Terran but Protoss beats Zerg; each faction can succeed or fail against any other depending on the choices they make.

Battle.net

Online games are threatening to new players because it’s easy to log on while you’re still learning and just get crushed repeatedly which isn’t much fun. Fortunately, the new Battle.net system seems to solve many of these issues. You start with 5 practice matches on maps that prevent rushing from your opponent to give you time to learn the ropes.

After practice, you play 10 placement matches to determine in what league you’re going to be placed. While the players in the platinum league are probably micromanagement masters who will outmaneuver you at every turn, the copper or bronze leagues are full of new players learning the ropes, just like you.

They might make a few mistakes, or fail to expand their economy at the right time, or even choose the wrong units to counter whatever army you’re building. You are constantly shifted up or down the quality scale until you’re winning about 50% of your matches. The game remains challenging without being frustrating.

The mighty Protoss colossi storm in from the left. As zerg, these are the units of which I'm most afraid

Gameplay

This is the most important part of any game, but I have it listed lower on the list of positives for Starcraft II because you know what the gameplay is going to be like. If you have played Starcraft, then be comforted that Starcraft II plays just like it. If you haven’t played Starcraft, then just look at the monstrous sales figures.  Over 10 million players can’t be wrong.

The gameplay is smooth and refined. The graphics are fantastic. The presentation is elegant and intuitive. When films cost hundreds of millions of dollars, producers want to make sure all that money is ‘up on the screen.’ In Starcraft II, you can really tell that the years of development are there in the game. There is a huge amount of polish for a Beta.

What were they thinking?

Viewing perspective

The most recent RTS I played was Supreme Commander, a game that took pride in its massive scale and its ’strategic zoom,’ where the camera could be pulled out to see the entire map. Starcraft, on the other hand, is a very small-scale game.

The first thing I thought upon loading it up was ‘holy crap this camera is zoomed in really far.’ The lack of strategic zoom felt like a holdover from the past. The maps in Starcraft II aren’t nearly the size as those in Supreme Commander, and therefore the need for seeing the whole map isn’t as significant. Still, why not just throw it in? Is it really that difficult to implement in the engine?

If Blizzard wants to suggest that it somehow adds to the game, I would say that’s ridiculous. The minimap is an outmoded way of moving around the map, and strategic options are limited as a result.

Zerg usually depend on greater numbers to overwhelm their enemy. Zerg has become a verb among those in the know (losers)

Limited options

Customization options in Starcraft II are very limited. You can’t change hotkeys (although Blizzard has suggested in the past this is something they might implement in the final release). In addition, there are few ways to select all units when some competing RTS games have a built in ’select all air units,’ ’select all ground units,’ and ’select all army units’ hotkey.

I’m pretty confident this is an easy programming solution, and so the reasoning for not including these functions seems to be that they weren’t in Starcraft. In fact, this seems to be the rationale behind most of the outmoded decisions in Starcraft II. It’s understandable that Blizzard would hold constant much of the game; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all. Why not just include the extra options? Allow people to decide how they want to control the game, don’t do it for them.

Needless work

Starcraft players are famous for taking pride in their multitasking abilities. The whole purpose of an RTS game, however, is to test your ability to outmaneuver your opponent. Putting needless difficulty barriers between the game and the player is a terrible game design choice.

Think about Street Fighter: you should win or lose a match based on the moves you pull and what you implement to counter your opponent’s strategy. You should lose because you throw a high kick and your opponent chose to block high, expecting it. If you lose because you wanted to throw a high kick but couldn’t figure it out and therefore just flopped over onto the ground to be curb stomped, then the controls have failed.

Every unit is vital in Starcraft 2; unlike most RTS games, carelessly throwing away even a handful of units can be the beginning of the end

Starcraft players have complained that workers will auto-collect minerals for you. They complain that being able to click drones quickly and tell them to collect minerals for you is part of being a good player. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Being a good player is choosing the right units to counter your opponent’s army. Being good is managing your forces in battle correctly by sending tougher units in first and not needlessly sacrificing units against their direct counter. If you have a perfect battle plan but the controls prevent you from implementing it, then the controls have failed.

Blizzard should work to automate everything they possibly can, ‘purists’ be damned.

Starcraft II is still a work in progress, and it will remain a work in progress long after the retail version is released. The original game is still going strong after more than a decade, and while Starcraft II will probably replace it in the E-Sports scene, this is not just a game for professionals.

The matchmaking allows anybody to compete and have fun, and while there are a few missteps here and there due to influences from the original, Starcraft is the king of strategy franchises for a reason. The sequel does not disappoint.

[Today's article comes from our man in Japan: John Johanas. Japan must be stuck in a time nexus though because it's a review of Dead Space. The nexus is probably making its way across the globe so the rest of us are screwed in a few hours. It took him back 16 months; I hope it takes me back to the early 90's so people stop ridiculing my Zubaz pants]

Alright, so I just played this-BACK THE FUCK OFF OKAY-, and I have to say that Dead Space is the most kick-ass game to ever come out, like ever. Some of my bros told me what kind of hot shit this thing was, and I am here to confirm it. This game is hot shit. So hot, in fact, that my palms are getting sweaty even writing this review!

Dead Space is a balls-out action space shooter. That alone should cause you to shit your pants in excitement. If it wasn’t enough, though I might as well let you in to a secret. Ok, come here … quietly … ok, are ready? Because here it-YOUBLOWTHEFUCKINGARMSANDLEGSOFFALIENBITCHES! Bet that blew your mind huh? They actually tell you NOT to shoot the head. I know that will send a bunch of you bitching, but for those who can grasp it, it is abso-fuckin-lutely ball-bustingly fun. They make this crunch sound, too, it’s really awesome (trust me on this one).

Isaac Clarke: space baller

Let me give you the old Stillman rundown:

When went right: EVERYTHING

What went wrong: NOTHING

There you go, but I might as well elaborate.

Story is in-your-face from the get-go. You (my main man, Isaac) and a couple of other space dudes are out and about for a cruise in deep space when you go respond to some giant drill machine that lost communications. These idiots must have never seen a space movie (or played Dead Space for that matter) because it’s obviously a set up. Big, bad, necro-fuckin-morphs are turning these crazy religious space dudes into wacky knife-hand aliens. Now its up to you, a space engineer with balls so big they don’t even fit in his suit, to make things right. ISAAC’S IN THE HOUSE AND HE’S PLAYING FOR KEEPS!

How do you like your alien? Al dente or extra crispy?

The next 12 hours are you using wacky engineering tools to blow the shit out of those bad dudes. They come from everywhere: air vents, toilet bowls, air vents, the sky, and air vents!

People try to hype this game up as scary, but don’t be a bitch-ass. You KNOW there are crazy alien motherfuckers there, so why are you worrying when they pop out of the roof all of a sudden. Don’t worry, bro, my giant spinning saw blade will show you who’s got the right stuff. BOOYAH!

If you can’t ignore the fact that this game is 99 percent ripped exactly from Resident Evil 4 and Half–life 2, then you are a fool who can’t shut their mouth. I don’t remember either of those games taking place in space. Nor do I remember any knife-hand aliens. You are an idiot and don’t deserve to even open the shrink-wrap on this one.

I really don’t know what else to say besides that this game is da bomb. I should probably stop now or there is fear of massive nut busting in the next few minutes.

[Today's Heavy Rain review comes from John Humphrey Johanas, Esquire, through the teletape from Japan. He freelances for popular gaming blog Backhand of Justice, and also runs a webcam website

This game came with a lot of hype that I chose not to get involved in. All I knew before getting in was that this is supposed to be a ball-busting emotional thriller with more of an emphasis on story and choices than gameplay. The great Luke Stillman even controversially debated with himself over whether or not this is a “game” despite having not played the final retail version! All in all, this looks to be something that is destined to get fucked up.

I’ll give you the bottom line right away: I’d recommend it. Overall, the game kept me entertained to the point where I got all the endings and the story intrigued me enough to even go that far (Let’s forget that trophies are involved). HOWEVER, I’m going to go there and say that this is nowhere near as revolutionary as it was hyped up to be. It does have lots of polish to cover that up, though.

The good

The main draw of Heavy Rain is the plot. In a nutshell, it’s The Bone Collector meets Saw. Nothing incredibly new. We have four characters searching for the elusive Origami Killer (or are they?). There are adult themes (or are they?) and this is supposed to be pretty realistic (I’ll leave that up to you to decide). The whole thing starts solidly and builds from there. I have some gripes about the ending, but the four characters are well developed and the situations can sometimes be very complicated and harsh. The option to have players die and still let the story continue adds another interesting aspect to the gameplay.

Despite this being a good point, I’ll say that the whole thing isn’t as deep as it is being made out to be. I personally never got too attached to the characters and supposedly tear-jerking scenes fell flat to me. I guess I’m the one to blame though, for not being married with children.

Yep ... there's the rain, as advertised. 10/10

The alright

Graphics: Now, it’s hard to argue that the environments are not amazingly detailed. However, it is very plausible to argue that the character models are creepy as hell. While excellently modeled, they sometimes feel like wax figures. And, I think there is something wrong with their eyes. They all look blind or something, based on the way they move. I was surprised that with all the emphasis on the effort made to the faces and expressions, that they could miss the mark so significantly. Final Fantasy XIII accomplished this so much better, even in the case of lip-synching. It’s impressive, no doubt, but downright strange at times.

Voices: Sure they grow on you, but just like the faces there is something a little off about all of them sometimes. Try other languages for more fun!

Choices: The game has a solid mix of excellent, serious choices where one’s moral conscience gets riled up. Those are the good ones. Some of the others are not so interesting. I know that something is better than nothing, and it’s impossible to have EVERY option available to you, but sometimes I felt I was pigeonholed.

Music: It’s great, but a little over the top. When it starts getting epic in a nice fight scene or a critical story moment, it’s fine, but when a hypnotic piano melody breaks out every time I sit in a chair or open a door, it gets kind of ridiculous.

What's that? Why is my face so shiny? I'll tell you, but I have to press square, triangle and waggle the analog stick first

What were they thinking?

The controls: I have no idea who thought the R2 trigger walk mode was a good idea. Not only that, but why can’t any character run? If Ethan were so desperate to save his son, you’d think he would pick up the pace a little. As far as the QTE, what can I say? Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. The scene in the demo when Shelby has to push a three button combination to slide past a dumpster will remain in my mind as one of the silliest moment in gaming.

I would say this is as close as you come to the game/not game line, although sitting somewhere towards the former. It basically is a gimmick game, if you don’t mind me calling it that. Gameplay wise, this isn’t much of a step up from Parappa the Rappa, but not many people will notice that anyway.

Like I said before, I’d recommend this. I enjoyed it, I just can’t help thinking how I enjoyed it so much more 10 years ago when it was called Shenmue.

I have the strange feeling though that this game will not stand the test of time. A plot completely relying on the twist will no doubt diminish in value once everyone knows it. I would strongly suggest getting out there and playing it immediately if you even consider yourself interested. I was thick enough not to see the twist coming my first play through so maybe you won’t either.

And on the subject of the ideal but implausible remakes: Silent Hill 2 on this engine would be unbelievable.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Borderlands. It was the surprise hit of 2009 and the constant trickle of DLC doesn’t hurt in sustaining that trend. While Gearbox’s first two DLC offerings: the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (incredible) and Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot (terrible) were small in scope, the third is a more significant experience.

What went right

Characters

The story in Borderlands was never more than wafer thin. That being said, the characters were hilarious and well presented. This continues in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (hereafter referred to as Armory).

Fan favorites such as Scooter the mechanic, Marcus the weaponsmith and Moxxi the, uh, harlot?  – return and are more hilarious than ever.

The real prize here might go to General Knoxx, however, who is a cynical and jaded officer sent in to clean up the mess from the first game. His commanding officer is a 5-year old (damn nepotism) and the radio transmissions from Knoxx to command are beyond hilarious.

In addition, some of the new bosses like Mr. Shank are pure gold, and even the drab Athena (your new ally) transmits messages hidden in advertising streams for a male enhancement product called Engorge.

New guns

Borderlands is all about the guns, and with the level cap increasing to 61, the gun algorithm becomes more powerful. That being said, if you farmed New Haven as extensively as I did, then your level 50 guns are going to hold up through the entire expansion, and if you had some real gems you might not even find a replacement during a single playthrough.

Gearbox has added an additional tier of rarity above ‘legendary’ and while they could have chosen heroic or godlike or something, they went with ‘pearlescent.’ I have not yet seen one of these mammoths but I can only assume when one drops it won’t disappoint.

Moxxi's back with her entourage of ex-husbands. You even get to meet one and Mr. Shank is one of the best characters yet

New enemies

The original Borderlands and even the expansions suffered from a lack of variety in enemies. By the end of the game you were tired of seeing the same skags and bandits over and over again. While Armory suffers from this a little bit, there are several new and interesting foes.

There are the mighty Devastator mechs of the Crimson Lance that look like those stupid mechs from the Matrix sequels. There are skag riders where you can kill the skag but the midget rider hops off to continue the attack. There are the towering strider-esque War of the Worlds enemies.

There are also a substantial number of new Crimson Lance foes such as the pyro, the engineer, the medic and the chemical soldier. There are also Crimson Lance ninja assassins, pesky floating drones and jetpack soldiers.

What really make the new enemies more interesting than the offerings from the original game are that they are more strategic. In Borderlands, I used my ‘best’ gun in pretty much all situations. It was a jack of all trades, and worked equally well against everything. This is not the case in Armory.

I now switch between 3 situational guns, the aforementioned standby, a corrosive weapon for pyro units and machinery and a fire weapon for everything else. Without a balanced arsenal, some enemies are simply too difficult to bring down.

What were they thinking?

Vehicle focus

Armory centers around a massive highway in the desert, and much of the game will be spent in vehicles. While they’re still primarily for fast travel and not so much for combat, it’s curious that Gearbox would take one of the weakest elements of Borderlands and focus in on it. While it’s great that there are now 3 interesting vehicles to choose from instead of the one boring offering from the original, it’s still not ideal.

This is not a driving game, it’s a shooting game, and that should always be the focus. In addition, the fast travel system is gone from the expansion area so you have to drive everywhere, a frequently time consuming process. That being said, the new monster truck with home missiles removes much of the aiming weaknesses from the first game’s vehicle combat, and some of the stunts you can pull off with the racer are incredible.

Beware the Jabberwocky. And the giant Crimson Lance mech suit. The original poem was cut off

Group focus

I realize Borderlands is a group game, and Gearbox wants to encourage group play, but it was nice that you could solo the entire first game. While the standard campaign is still possible to do alone in Armory, there is a new end-game boss called Crawmerax the Invincible who is a level 64 elite. The only way to do this solo is either to play a certain class and spend an hour shooting it, or use a well documented glitch.

Because this boss has the highest % chance by far of dropping the new and highest tier of weapons, players will want to farm it like they did New Haven. Unfortunately, it looks like getting in a group will be required and given the lack of widespread voice chat on the PS3 this is a painful thought.

Difficulty

I farmed New Haven, a town from the original Borderlands, for hours finding the best guns. Because of this, the random weapon generator eventually came up in my favor and I have guns that are hugely overpowered. As a result, I could breeze through the campaign in Armory, tearing through the Crimson Lance in mere seconds.

That being said, if you played the original game once and didn’t spend hours at level 50 beefing up your character, your arsenal is probably insufficient to get through the first couple missions at level 50. At the very least, there will be much dying and respawning involved. Once again, Gearbox has failed to adequately balance the game for the intended levels.

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is the biggest and best DLC thus far released for Borderlands. I had a blast, and laughed out loud at least a dozen times. If you liked Borderlands, you’re going to love Armory. General Knoxx definitely needs a spinoff game.

If you like role playing and conversation, you’ll love this game. If you like cover based squad shooting, you’ll love this game. If you like weird alien fish races and futuristic space prostitutes, you’ll love this game. There is so much to love about this game. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. It has set a high early bar for game of the year honors, however, and it’s going to take a heroic effort to dethrone Mass Effect 2.

What went right?

Character personality

At its heart, Mass Effect 2 is a game about interactions. Each of Mass Effect 2’s characters has their own unique personality. This doesn’t only extend to the main crew members, but also to the random people you encounter in random space stations. Not once did somebody have a reaction to a situation that I found unrealistic or out of character.

For every mission you get to choose 2 members of your team to accompany you, and it’s interesting to try to take personalities that are diametrically opposed to each other to spice up a situation. Each character has their own responses and comments for every mission, and knowing a race’s history can be useful.

For example, the Quarians and Geth are racial enemies, so it’s fun to bring your Geth companion onto the Quarian home fleet just to change things up.

By the end of the game, Asari and Turian characters will blend right in with the humans as just another part of your crew. They're that realistic

Art style

Mass Effect 2 is a beautiful game. The environments are varied and everything is well designed. The space stations look real; they aren’t overly high tech but are appropriate (who can say, I suppose, but they look reasonable) for how far into the future they are.

Characters are unique and have tons of little details that mostly stem from various animals, and yet even the least human ones have great personality and expressive faces.

The weapons and enemies are all top notch, and the explosions and biotic power special effects are great and never get old even though you use them thousands of times throughout the game.

On more than one occasion I stopped and looked around and said ‘this is somewhere to which I’d like to travel.’ Am I really the only one who would like to go to the seedy space nightclub ‘Afterlife?’ I doubt it.

The bloodthirsty Krogan are one of the funniest races you'll encounter in Mass Effect 2, but like all Bioware characters none of the Krogan you meet will be 1-dimensional

Little touches

So many games take little shortcuts to streamline their visuals. Mass Effect 2 is not one of those games.

One of the best little touches I noticed was that frequently people will compliment your guns, or notice that you’re carrying them and treat you with caution. In most games, it is just assumed that you have guns on you. In Mass Effect 2, however, every gun you are carrying is displayed on your back in a surprisingly non-awkward or cumbersome way.

While this can become hilarious when you carry the largest weapons and turn into a walking tank, each time you select a new weapon you actually holster your current weapon and smoothly unholster whatever new weapon you selected. It’s these little details that make the world convincing.

In addition, your body language speaks volumes, and animations aren’t merely functional. Conversational interruptions are smoothly integrated into your dialogue options and well executed.

High tech doorways, computer interfaces and outfits are as realistic as fantasy products can be, and it’s these little details that combine to create a world that seems alive.

The husks are some of the most single minded and annoying characters you'll encounter. Mostly they want to punch and bite you

Choices

Mass Effect 2 is a Bioware game, and their top gameplay feature is choice. They started the trend with KotoR, and perfected it with Dragon Age: Origins. While ME2 doesn’t have quite the same level of choice allowed in Dragon Age, there is still more here than in most other games.

The main choice mechanic in Mass Effect 2 is the paragon/renegade meter, where you get paragon or renegade points depending on what conversation and action choices you make during encounters.

Which option is the friendliest or most rude isn’t always obvious, either. The dialogue system is the same used in Mass Effect where you choose the general gist of what you want to say rather than the exact words. If you’re a jerk, even if you’re doing somebody a favor, you might get a couple renegade points.

If you stop somebody from shooting their childhood friend in a moment of frustration and anger, however, you might receive a huge number of paragon points. These open up additional good or bad conversation options and action moments down the road.

By the end of the game you really feel like you’ve shaped your own path and your Shepard is the one in charge, not some generic game Shepard chosen by Bioware.

Shooting mechanics

Not many would expect a role playing game to have great shooting mechanics. Gamers forgave System Shock 2, Deus Ex and Bioshock for their terrible shooting because the rest of the game was so great. Mass Effect 2 has nothing for which to apologize.

This is a full fledged shooter, with locational damage, tactics and twitch reflexes. Enemies take far more damage from headshots, and choosing the right weapon for the job is critical.

In addition, the game adds biotic powers. As you level up and gain experience you can choose from several powers as well as adopt some of the special abilities of your team. Battlefield management is key because not only are some abilities far more useful against certain opponents and defenses, but the environment can also be used to your advantage by throwing enemies off cliff edges etc.

There are many destructable cover points as well as explosive materials littering the environment, and as ammo is sometimes are a premium (especially earlier in the game). Using every advantage is key.

In the face!

Tactical combat

The squad based combat in Mass Effect 2 is fantastic. You have limited control over your two teammates, but what influence you do have is well implemented. You can utilize their special abilities when they’re not on cooldown, and direct their movement and attacks. If you don’t tell them to do anything, they’ll intelligently react to the current battle situation.

This allows you to set them up in a forward position to lay down covering fire while you advance from cover point to point.  You can also set them to distract an enemy by moving them in front and then flank your opponent and get a free shot from behind. It never gets old.

Exploration

There are a huge number of side missions in Mass Effect 2, and as you go from galaxy to galaxy and explore the dozens of planets on offer while searching for resources, you will occasionally encounter a random mission.

These can range from chasing down mercenaries, to saving a crashing ship, to merely recovering stolen cargo from a pirate facility. They’re great little diversions from the main mission, and the universe in Mass Effect 2 feels massive as a result.

It is easy to imagine there are thousands of worlds out there that you haven’t visited, and the scale of the opposition you face is really put into perspective.

Streamlined RPG elements

Finally, Mass Effect 2 has greatly streamlined the RPG elements from Mass Effect. Inventory management is completely gone. In its place is a very simplistic inventory system where you merely switch out various armor components on your ship, and the tweaks they offer to stats are minor.

In addition, the leveling system breaks down to adding points to one of a handful of abilities to use on the battlefield. It is extremely simple.

To be honest, I only really noticed that I was getting more guns and more abilities; I’m not sure whether the enemies level with you over the course of the game but they never seemed to get easier or harder to take out as I leveled up.

Progression comes from your research system, which gives you access to greater damage and experimental weapons. It also gives your ship upgrades which help to protect your crew during some of the late stages of the game.

Overall, it is a great tradeoff as the game is really about conversation and cover based shooting; managing too many role playing elements would have been cumbersome and frustrating.

Even the alien races are extremely lifelike and expressive. The Asari (pictured) are some of the most human-like, but even the frog-like Drell never once seemed unrealistic. I would think 'they have interesting double eyelid physiology,' and not 'wow that's fake.'

What were they thinking?

Resources collection

The upgrades that you can research in this game require mineral resources to complete. Those resources are found by launching probes onto planets at mineral hotspots and extracting the material. Unfortunately, this process involves moving a criminally slow reticle over the surface of the planet and watching your measuring seismometer to find mineral spikes.

While at first I was diligent about scanning every planet in a system completely before I moved on, I soon learned that there are far more resources out there than are required for every single upgrade in the game, and I’d be better served only mining when it was required.

That being said, this was the most tiresome part of the game by far and whoever decided that this was a good mechanic needs to be fired tout de suite. This problem is slightly alleviated by any subsequent playthroughs after the first offering significant resource bonuses.

There are hacking minigames as well, both of which were a little repetitive but much preferable to the scanning system. The game would have been far more fun if you just received the upgrade when you found the schematics for it instead of having to supply the minerals as well.

Formulaic design

Mass Effect 2 feels like a game. All the rooms in which there is combat are conveniently set up with multiple cover points, and each mission concludes with a summary screen of your accomplishments. While I’m not as big on ‘immersion’ as many gamers, I still think it’s strange that Bioware created such a compelling world and then introduced elements that take you out of it.

In addition, the solution to problems are almost always fairly intuitive if you’ve played a role playing game in the past. The missions are never straightforward, there’s always a twist, but that becomes the norm after a while and therefore expected.

Each one of your crew members has a loyalty mission which delves into their backstory. By the fourth or fifth one, it’s pretty clear that the outcome of the mission will be directly opposed to their preconceived notions going in. It becomes a little predictable.

There is always a right answer

In Mass Effect 2, you have to make a number of choices, but if you’ve been good enough at being consistent with your Paragon or Renegade points, there is always an optimal outcome. There were no choices in the game where I was forced to choose between crew members.

There were no choices in the game like in Mass Effect 1 where you had to choose which crew member was going to sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission. There was always a way out.

While this would be forgivable if this game was released last year, as it would still have allowed the most choice in any game to date, Mass Effect 2 has the misfortune of coming out after Dragon Age.

In Dragon Age there were truly some horrible decisions to be made that tested your resolve. Mass Effect 2 in comparison comes off as having kid gloves and coddling the player, and as a result not being as realistic. It maintains the theme throughout that sacrifices must be made for the good of humanity, but never quite delivers on that promise.

Mass Effect 2 is not a perfect game, and as you can see above there are a couple of shortcomings. That being said, it’s damn close and one of the most fun game experiences I’ve had in a while.

I can’t wait to jump back in and see what happens if I choose all the renegade conversation options. I want to choose different romances, and even take a different crew member (where I can). What if I play through as a female Shepard; how will everybody react to me? Will there be a significant difference? I’m not sure, but I sure as hell want to find out.

I want to explore all the biotic powers. I want to take different crew members on different missions, and even find out what happens if I cut corners on crew upgrades going into the final mission. There are so many possibilities, and only in a game like Mass Effect 2 can they be brought to life.

Unfortunately, I’ll also have to mine more minerals if I play through again. Sigh …

After only a brief time playing it, I could tell that Final Fantasy XIII will definitely be passionately argued about. How could a game with such budget and hysterical hype live up to the games that came before it? Luckily, it seems as though the production team didn’t seem to concern itself over all of that.

What will shine through (if you can get past somewhat cliché Japanese RPG concepts) is that this game is unique in its own respect, and game play wise, is vastly improved from anything we have seen in the series before.

I’ll skim over the obvious and get to the interesting parts.

More than the sum of its parts?

The Graphics are amazing. Character movements and environments are the finest around bar none and CG almost seems unnecessary. An unbelievable amount of polish gives us a game that will definitely set the standard for a while.

The music is so good that you won’t miss Uematsu or the historic victory theme by the end of the first hour.

Black Friday deals are just as irresistable for evil robots; quick, to the mall!

Gameplay wise, this game has the most intense battle system (and quite possibly the best) so far. The action is fairly similar to the free-flowing battles of FFX-2, but I like to compare it more to a puzzle then just hacking the attack button. This time, characters have their own “job classes” called optimas, of which can be switched around on the fly between preset combinations. Magic and skills rarely cross-class and throughout most of the games, the skills between characters are so varied that everyone has their own purpose. 

A big gripe some people might have is that the player is only in control of the lead character while the computer AI handles the other two characters. Actually, this is for the best since sometime action gets too hectic for even one player let alone three. Plus, the AI is likely better than you are, handing out buffs and health when they are needed. I suppose you can think of them as gambits from FFXII but without you having to set them up.

George Lucas had some Star Wars clones lying around that Square Enix rented to save money on development

The game has a pseudo-autocombat option for yourself as well in which the computer selects for you the most suitable commands.  I would presume this is actually a necessity since combat is so fast that one has to be on edge most of the time, switching between optimas on the fly to go back and forth between healing, attacking, buffing, and defending. Of course you can still command your main character manually if you so desire. This is where the puzzling aspect comes in. While it may be possible to plow your way through enemies only attacking, you won’t be doing it fast. The game ranks each battle on your speed and if you don’t perform up to snuff, your loot will shrink. The fun is figuring out what the quickest way to tackle any fight and who is the best for the job.

With no MP system and your health refilled after every battle, encounters exist in a very temporary environment which gives even more the feel of a ‘give it all you’ve got’ experience.

The game steals the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X and renames it the Chrystallium. It works in the same way but each job class has it’s own series of crystal webs on which to spend points to gain stats and skills. Just like FFX, leveling seems less important since battles continually net upgrades to your characters.

If you look at these aspects, Square-Enix took the best features of previous games and amalgamated them into an amazingly solid system. It’s deep enough that post-game fights will warrant a lot of planning and strategy to win, but easy enough that you don’t have to be fluent in it to finish the story.

Little known fact: This character is not named Snow for his chilly demeanor but rather because he's a snowman who murdered some guy and is wearing his skin like a suit

A controversial new game structure: the giant tube

The biggest issue in the game will no doubt stem from the linearity aspect. Bottom line: a majority of the game is an absolute straight line. The first real ‘dungeon’ where you can potentially go in two directions is potentially only the final one. There is the large area of Gran Pulse roughly three fourths through the game that allows players to tackle some optional missions, but they are actually discouraged. Standard places like revisit-able towns and NPCs with which to speak are nonexistent, and while dialogue exists it is not a focus.

For someone who is still sitting around waiting for their Final Fantasy VII remake, this will obviously be a huge issue and potentially a gamebreaker. For me, I found it great, and it was particularly because of the positives produced from it.

The best part about the linearity is the story. The game starts out somewhere near the middle of the story and subsequently fleshes itself out through flashbacks. Proceed a little further with the story and players are shown more dialogue between characters. This leads to a better opportunity for character development. Without time to goof around, you won’t get lost in ‘what am I supposed to be doing here’ and instead are constantly on the way to your goal.

This is Shiva, one of your summons. She can turn into a motorcycle, which you can then ride into battle. Hey, don't ask me

Paths constantly diverge between characters, and the beginning of the game forces you to use preset groups in order to train you to experiment with everyone. This does double duty story wise of making everyone interact with each other. If you get confused with all the wacky terms thrown around, don’t fret. The game has an internal encyclopedia to detail all aspects of the story and its players.

I might as well say it; the characters are pretty good this time around. While most Final Fantasy games have an overly emotional and whiny protagonist, this iteration takes itself a little more seriously. Lightning is cold, fighter Snow is overly cocky, Sazh is the realist and so on. Even 14-year-old Hope who is already being labeled as the whiny baby is not that bad and winds up having the best one liner in the game along with a hefty summon. Whatever you don’t like about the characters when you first see them winds up changing by the end once they grow, which is a pretty remarkable feat. Overall, they are all likable and well acted (at least in Japanese) so there isn’t much to hate there.

How much you like this game will boil down to how much you like the story. It’s nothing new in terms of rogue group against overall bad dude/world devastation, but at least the presentation is interesting. No major twists or random final bosses come from nowhere (I’m looking at you FFIX), although things start to get convoluted towards the end. It winds up being just as you expected and somehow over fairly quickly despite the storyline taking about 40 hours or so to complete (although the entire sequence of the game takes place over the course of a matter of days). I attribute its brief feel to the fact that the game prohibits you from grinding or doing side quests. When everything is so streamlined the story comes to focus and that’s what it should be all about anyway. Don’t worry about missing anything, either. You can’t even do everything (trophies) until after you finish the game and have seen the ending.

This gentleman has a Chocobo that lives in his afro. They have a symbiotic relationship where the Chocobo subsists off food that falls into his hair, and in return provides valuable grooming services

East vs. West

The fact that Square-Enix has limited the player’s freedom in order to tell the story this time around is exactly the opposite of its predecessor and is a decision that works well in the context of the game. It is a love it or hate it style, though and as I said before, I expect much polarizing Internet rage from this one.

Players must realize that this isn’t a Western RPG, it is the representative Japanese RPG that will probably not change your mind about how the Japanese make their games. If you take this as it is, though, it’s a fantastically well-crafted product that is fun and exciting to play. Square has gone in a brave new direction that succeeds at differentiating this game form the others in an expansive series.

Ok, so maybe Bubble Bobble isn’t in there, but people need to relax and take a step back. Darksiders isn’t just a ‘re-skinning of Zelda,’ it’s a unique product that builds off the success of its predecessors (as do all games). Critics have short changed Darksiders, because it’s one of the best action adventure games in recent memory.

What went right?

Style

You play as War, one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, and the story takes place in a post apocalyptic earth inhabited by angels and demons. War has a chunky, powerful look that hints at Joe Madureira’s (the art director) origins in comic books. His giant sword and bulky armor has a Blizzard / Square feel and although sometimes that stands in contrast to War’s swift and fluid motions.

In addition, the environments vary significantly from desert wasteland to eerie gothic cathedral and even ruined urban environments. Enemies are distinct and well defined by their silhouettes, and the giant bosses you occasionally face off against are memorable in appearance.

War’s combo maneuvers look satisfying and effective, and even the cutscenes and menus feel fully integrated into the art style. Do you like the way Warcraft or Diablo looks? Do you like gaslight fantasy? You will love Darksiders.

Combat

What is it with people and ‘button mashing?’ ‘Oh my god that game takes no skill, it’s just a button masher!’ ‘You can’t beat me fairly in Street Fighter 2, you just mash buttons!’ You know what, I love mashing buttons. Not only does the combo system in Darksiders reward button  mashing with fluid combos and impressive weapon sweeps, but adding in secondary weapons and additional abilities adds some depth.

Exhibit 1 shows War stabbing somebody. He will do this during the game many times. He has a stabbing problem and needs community support

In addition, your horse (Ruin) adds some great horseback combat in certain scenes that is a welcome change of pace. There are also ‘finishing moves’ for each enemy when you get them below 1/3 of their health that allows you to finish them in one hit with a brief canned animation. While they are somewhat simplistic, and sometimes you see the same one ten times in a row, they are extremely well integrated into the combat. Not only can you begin them at any time (even mid sword swipe), but they aren’t wholly distinct actions and while you’re performing the killing animations your sword sweeps can hit other enemies. You aren’t taken out of the game world.

Furthermore, there are two additional resources that add choices to the combat. The first are wrath abilities which are the equivalent of magic, and can either do direct damage or increase your armor etc. Finally, there is ‘chaos form,’ which is where occasionally you can change into this ridiculous flame demon for a brief time where you’re invulnerable and do absurd damage. I cannot reiterate enough how this requires no skill and completely breaks the game especially when you use it on a boss and wtfpwn them in ten seconds, but it’s so satisfying each time.

There is this hilarious delay after you trigger it where War transforms into this full screen demon where you get to anticipate what’s coming. Even better is that many of the later enemies react to your transformation (although with less horror than they probably should) and just makes it that much more satisfying. Every game needs chaos form. Even Tetris. It’s the greatest game mechanic ever conceived.

Storyline

I’m not going to lie: the story in Darksiders is pretty thin. That doesn’t change the fact that it has one of the greatest final ten seconds of any game ever made. If you were at all excited about the game, and can see the potential that Vigil has unlocked with this initial effort, then you can’t help but find the ending to be incredible.

They have set up the perfect sequel, and introduced an idea that everybody with any sense was thinking about during their playthrough. I completed the game and then went back and watched the final ten seconds on YouTube about 10 times just to appreciate just how great it was. Well played.

This demon, while giant, is unfortunately mere fodder for War the unstoppable dynamo

What were they thinking?

Lack of debris

You’d really think the apocalypse would have more trash. The world of Darksiders is oddly sparse, and even more curious is that Vigil first puts you in one of the worst environments. Most developers like to start on a strong point, but Darksiders looked terrible right at the start with simple burnt out car models and empty streets and developed into a brilliant postapocalyptic fantasy playground.

Boss patterns

I realize this game took a lot of cues from Zelda, but boss fights were one area where they might have considered real innovation. The bosses are visually impressive but boil down to pattern recognition. Only two of the 8 or 10 boss fights utilize the game’s combat system, and it’s no fluke that those are the most satisfying.

The boss fights could also have used some more epic orchestral soundtracks. Or at least use the Mortal Kombat theme song for every boss fight. That would have made this game of the year.

This thing on the right is War's chaos form. This thing on the left is a demon meeting the chaos form for the first time. $50 on the chaos form, I'll give 10-1 odds

Environment traversal

Vigil wanted to sell Darksiders as an open world game, but it’s not really open world. While there are convenient teleportation locations that speed up travel time significantly, they are too few and far between to make backtracking to a specific location to search for items anything other than a chore.

In addition, the minimap has a woefully small view range and makes frequently consulting the cumbersome map a necessity.

Confusing puzzles

Some of the Darksiders puzzles are great with elegant solutions. Some, on the other hand, aren’t intuitive and have few cues to clue you into what you’re supposed to do. In addition, some of the later puzzle sequences go on a little too long. That being said, many of the puzzles build on skills you’ve been taught previously in the game and give you a clear sense of progression.

These shortcomings of Darksiders are small and niggling, and for good reason: Darksiders is a high quality game. It is fun and just the right length. It has great set pieces and interesting environments. Its combat is fun and its ending is one of the finest in any game.

While Darksiders won’t have the impact of a classic Zelda game back when they were still innovative, it builds on and adds to the experience to the point where ex-nostalgia it is likely the best Zelda game of all time. Darksiders won’t be game of the year. I probably won’t play it again. But it’s a fun romp that is more than worth 12 or 14 hours of your time.

Also: chaos form. The defense rests.

Bowser’s Inside Story is charmingly simple, witty and inventive, and is one of the best and most accessible RPGs I’ve played recently. Both Bowser (a surprising protagonist) and Fawful (the antagonist) are hilarious, and the light RPG elements and timing based gameplay are a refreshing change from standard Japanese RPG fare. You can’t go wrong with Bowser’s Inside Story (apart from the dubious name).

Delightful fun

Bowser is the big bad guy of the Mario universe, and in past games he merely roars, laughs and steals princesses from the shockingly incompetent Mario brothers. Little did I know that he is the funniest character in all of the Mushroom Kingdom; fortunately Bowser’s Inside Story clarified that for me.

From his overly cocky and aggressive attitude that frequently gets him into sticky situations (where he is bailed out unbeknownst to him by the Mario brothers), to his bumbling and hero-worshipping minions, Bowser is given a fantastic makeover in this game. No longer is he a one dimensional villain, he’s an amusing character whose dialogue makes the game as fun to watch as to play.

The story in Bowser's Inside Story is absolutely ridiculous and random. Residents of Toadtown are inflicted with an illness called 'The Blorbs' which makes them swell up to monstrous size. Why? Why not?

Fawful is also a fun antagonist, whose word inflections and odd behavior give him a non-threatening demeanor although to be fair for much of the game he manages to be one step ahead at all times and is therefore a worthy foe. The whole game has a Saturday morning cartoon feel to it, and the relationship between Bowser and the Bros is very Penny and Brain or Scrappy and Scooby.

Time it right

The gameplay in Bowser’s Inside Story is entirely timing based. You choose which attack to use, and then depending on your timing you can hugely increase your damage. In addition, each enemy attack can be countered with the appropriate use of an ability at the right time; it doesn’t just prevent damage, it also damages your opponent.

This is one of Mario & Luigi's many special attacks. They start slow but quickly become crazy, timing-intensive affairs

Both Bowser and the Mario brothers also have a range of special attacks that are either timing based or stylus based. They are diverse and give the battles a needed change of pace. Leveling up is streamlined and the game never ventures into that ‘oh my god not more enemies’ feeling that can happen in Final Fantasy.

In addition to the standard battles are the occasional events such as where Mario and Luigi have to power up Bowser’s muscles from the inside to help him complete a task, or even the epic moments when Bowser grows to mammoth size and fights a castle (I cannot reiterate enough how incredible castle fighting is).

Finally, there is an interesting interplay between Bowser and the Bros during fights. Bowser can inhale enemies which sends them inside Bowser where the Mario brothers can take them out.

Teaming up to traverse the perils that live inside Bowser is certainly a welcome change from the standard environments of the Mushroom Kingdom

Puzzle elements

Both Bowser and the Mario brothers also have a couple of abilities they can use while exploring the world. Bowser can punch and breathe fire while Mario and Luigi can spin jump, drill and hammer world elements. The game includes many puzzles where the solution involves using one of these abilities in the proper manner.

This would be compelling enough for gameplay, but Bowser’s Inside Story takes it one step further and involves situations that involve both Bowser and the Mario brothers. There is a segment where Bowser can drink water or step away from the fountain, which either floods or empties his body and opens up different areas for the Brothers to explore.

Straight out of Duke Nukem is Fawful's helpful right hand: Pig Man o' Doom!

There is another situation where Bowser can step up to a light and shine light through his body which also changes the environment for Mario and Luigi who are shrunk down and inside him. These puzzle elements are simple enough that they never become frustrating, but are also an inventive change of pace.

Bowser’s Inside Story isn’t a complicated game: the items are simple and easy to find, the combat and puzzles are for the most part a breeze and the real enjoyment is found in perfectly timing attacks and counters and in listening to the characters. The game is a joy to play and other than Henry Hatsworth (the greatest DS game of all time) it’s one of the best experiences I’ve had.

If constant sarcasm, Bowser complaining about gaining too much weight and losing his lithe frame and (I kid you not) fighting castles with a 100 foot tall Bowser sound fun to you, then give Bowser’s Inside Story a shot. If those don’t sound like fun, maybe you need to reevaluate your values.

What went right?

Free Running

Free running, or Parkour (Italian for ‘awesome’), is what makes this game great. You play as Ezio Auditore, and his ability to run, leap and scramble up and down buildings and across rooftops is impressive.

Movement in open world games has frequently fallen into two categories: either it is far too restrictive and cumbersome to get around or it is far too easy and everything is mindlessly streamlined. Assassins Creed II finds the perfect compromise between the two. It is simple enough to traverse the landscape while holding the high profile action buttons, but at the same time you can’t just press up and ‘climb’ to scramble up facades. You have to actively search for handholds to maneuver around.

Water, once the only natural predator of the Assassin, has finally been neutralized! I'm pretty sure the story arc is setting water up to be the force behind the Templars

While Ezio is fairly sticky in terms of grabbing onto nearby ledges, it’s the ability of the engine to interpret what you’re attempting to accomplish that completes the experience. Instead of grabbing every ledge, Ezio will for the most part leap to your target on command. Rarely did I find myself leaping to my death accidentally (only when I intentionally jumped but didn’t look to see if there was a building below me) and similarly you can fall as far as you want in one go and don’t have to laboriously drop from ledge to ledge to move downward.

Finally, the animations are stunning and Ezio never grabs a climbing point that does not exist. Every time he places his hand, it’s on a ledge or a windowsill or something plausible. He also rarely makes superman jumps to the extent that Nathan Drake does in Uncharted 2. I would have paid full price for an Italian Parkour simulator; everything else fun in AC2 is gravy.

Assassinations

The title alone would suggest that assassinations are important to the gameplay; fortunately they don’t disappoint. Most of the game gives you free reign over how you want to approach an assassination. You can go for the generic ‘stab in the face’ technique or the air assassination. You can pull a target off the roof of a building or hide in a haystack and stab them as they pass.

This isn’t even considering any of the non-hidden blade weapon types available to you, all of which have unique and breathtaking animations. Even the assassinations I’d seen many times before remained fresh and entertaining, and towards the end of the game I was discovering new animations I hadn’t previously seen.

One segment in the game teaches Ezio how to appreciate beauty. You have to watch the sunset for 35 minutes real time. Ok, I kid. It's 15 minutes, max

This doesn’t even touch on the combat, which is amply varied. You can use standard attacks. You can grab enemies and throw them through breakable objects. You can disarm the enemy, or counter their attack as they strike. You can throw dust into their eyes or use a smoke bomb to stun them. You can shoot them from afar with throwing knives or a rudimentary pistol. You can distract them with hired courtesans, mercenaries or thieves and then execute them from behind.

The range is mind boggling and while the fights are slower and more deliberate, AC2 rivals Batman for most compelling combat mechanics due to its finishing moves alone.

Stealth

I’m not going to pretend that this game is Metal Gear Solid. The stealth mechanics aren’t integral and it’s easy enough to go through the game with your sword at the ready, mowing down legions of guards. That being said, there are some fantastic moments when you are surrounded by 20 guards, drop a smoke bomb and race up the front of a building. You drop out of sight of the guards and manically search for a hiding spot to evade them before they find you again and pelt you with arrows and stones.

While you’re never really in danger, it’s fun when you’re forced into scrambling across rooftops recklessly and occasionally missing a ledge vs. the usual more measured and cautious running tempo.

You'd think after this guy watches me murder 50 of his friends he'd be less cavalier about attacking

Atmosphere

This is a beautiful game, and although there are pop-in issues, Ubisoft’s recreation of Renaissance Florence and Venice is lifelike. Despite its massive size, it’s not that repetitive. Sure, some of the towers are clones of each other, but each district has its own distinctive feel and I started to recognize familiar landmarks and identify the quickest escape routes when the guards caught on to my stabby ways.

Eat your heart out Batman

Pimp my home

Money is fairly abundant in the world of AC2. Fortunately, there is something to do with it beyond purchasing weapons and armor. You receive a (run-down) villa early in the game and to be honest it looks like a piece of crap. Vines and dirt cover the exterior, and the town in which it resides (your family’s land) is for the most part abandoned.

As you pump money into renovating the town, not only does it start to open up and offer you discounts at the local stores, but everything starts to look shinier. In addition, tax revenues periodically fill your coffers, and your early investments are more than repaid over time.

One mission tasks Ezio with finding delightful flowers for a gala he's hosting. Ok, not really. Unless gala is slang for face stabbing

What were they thinking?

Assassins Creed II: Fish Monsters

I don’t know who was in charge of character models, especially that of the women, but they have this horrendous fish-monster thing going on. One character in particularly clearly grew up in Chernobyl as her mouth is quite simply the gaping maw of hell. Imagining that she might be real is terrifying.

Story

The story in AC2 has high ambition, and while it may have helped if I played the previous AC game instead of just reading the Wikipedia plot summary, I’m pretty sure it would have been crap and cliché regardless. Fortunately, the story gives you just enough incentive to fulfill the missions and experience the gameplay.

House call

While your villa periodically receiving money is a great mechanic, you have to return to the villa to collect the revenues. While this might have been ok if you could go back when you chose, your villa can only hold about 80 minutes of tax revenues and so you’re forced to return to your villa at a minimum every hour and a half if you don’t want to waste periodic inflows.

In addition, you can only change your weapons and armor at your villa. Unfortunately, when you purchase new weapons or armor pieces they are automatically equipped. Because I had the best armor and weapons about 60% of the way through the game, I was forced to return to the villa to change back into the best equipment each time I purchased some of the lesser items just to complete my collection. Considering the stores next to my villa offered the greatest discounts, I did most of my shopping nearby. It was still inconvenient.

Assassins Creed II Hot Coffee mod. AO Rating

Reactive combat (especially with swords)

While the combat is exquisitely animated, it is somewhat reactive. The best moves come from countering your enemy’s attacks, and so sometimes I found myself standing around surrounded by a dozen enemies waiting for one to strike so that I could counter and horrifically murder them.

In addition, many weapon types have special ‘charge up’ attacks which are fun to perform. Unfortunately, the sword is not one of them. What makes this disappointing is that the best weapon in the game is a sword, so you’re forced to choose between quality and combat enjoyment.

Replay story missions

You can replay any past mission that you have completed at any point in the game. Of course, ‘any past mission’ means any non-story mission, so some of the best missions are inaccessible once you complete them. This means you only get one playthrough of some of the best and most unique missions, a disappointing choice by Ubisoft.

Assassins Creed II is the last major release of the year, and fortunately Ubisoft saved the best for last. This is certainly the best open world game of all time, and one of the greatest games I’ve had the privilege of playing this year. Unless you have a phobia of humanoid fish people (in which case you’ll be terrified by this game), go pick up Assassins Creed II.

If you’re not yet sold, consider this: you can both hug Leonardo Da Vinci, and beat up the Pope. SOLD!