The battle within finally begins. Final Fantasy XIII captures the true nature of story-telling in the pages of gameplay that make up the masterpiece of the narrative. Final Fantasy XIII ensorcells players into a world of action, heart-ache, and a contrasting dichotomy of good vs. evil which furthers the nurture and attention that an elegant storyline requires. The struggles make us forlorn to the protagonist, the themes make us feel alive within the world, and the form and mood of the storyline allow us to experience something on an entirely new level. Final Fantasy XIII uplifts the senses in its linear outline through encapsulating the audience in a RPG with lightning gameplay that shocks us into the reality, unforgettable storyline which grasps our hearts, a diverse cast with personalities that are a wonder to discover, and presenting a unique piece of art designed with Fabula Nova Crystallis in mind after a long wait which was well deserved. Final Fantasy XIII brings form of emotional tenacity that is tangible every minute within the world of Cocoon, and action that engages the audience through every plot-twist woven through drama.  Final Fantasy XIII acquiesces a form of gameplay that is both linear and exceptional, achieving a level of respect in the name of the Final Fantasy series.

Over centuries ago, a prenatural being created through a crystal in his body created a floating Utopian continent in the atmosphere, which was to be isolated from the lascivious lands below. The fal’Cie creature created the grand Pulse as a new world without the Gran Pulse below. Machines were commissioned to be the guardians of the citizens as barriers were fortified to prevent any and all contact with the outside world, giving the bulging metropolis the name of Cocoon.  Seclusion came easy to the citizens of the world for many years, but the Cocoonians became curious as to why the Gran Pulse is restricted. With a recent contact with people from below, citizens became rife with doubt and curiosity, questioning their morality and scruples. The Sanctum, the governing entity of Cocoon, issued an edict:  any and all individuals suspected to be in contact with the world of Gran Pulse are to be banished from the safety of the continent and cast out into the ruthless underworld. Within this essential background, Final Fantasy XIII creates a revitalizing group of characters with exceptional voice acting that have their own reasons for taking a journey to the Gran Pulse. The thaumaturgic tension within the narrative, combined with the intricate character interaction is unforgettable. Lightning is the protagonist that is essentially on a quest to save her sister the fate of being marked an l’Cie, and she has a propensity for fighting and putting down anyone in her way. Characters themselves are part of the journey within the Final Fantasy XIII series, and as such no more details will be given. What does remain to be seen is unfathomable, parapsychological, and simply a story that revitalizes the soul through incredible narrative direction.

Final Fantasy XIII takes linearity and makes it a part of the gameplay mission structure aspect within the world. While some exceptions exist given certain side-quest monster missions, players are constantly moving forward within the Pulse Vestige.  When in the Pulse, there are several crystal points where the party can acquire missions.  These missions become similar to Hunts from Final Fantasy XII and involve battling monsters around the Pulse.  As these l’Cie failed to complete their assignments, this gives the party an interesting look into l’Cie tasks despite lowering the pacing of gameplay as a slight distraction in the midst of chaos. The linearity becomes further pronounced as the corridors of the level designs are usually narrow during mission.  Players do not pick and choose which characters they want to play as the storyline is divided amongst more critical chapters giving different aspects of the story from different perspectives and furthering the choice for storyline over convenience of the audience to select a certain individual to complete missions with throughout. The gameplay mission structure is described with the context of the storyline, which macadamizes one difference between Final Fantasy XIII and its predecessors comes to fruition: there are no towns to explore, no puzzles, no offset missions to complete. While this may seem like a negative thing to legacy players of the Final Fantasy series, this allows for the storyline to seem more focused than ever, and less about simplicity and more about balance between complicated and simple storyline aspects.

The battle system within Final Fantasy XIII has been more customized and tweaked to provide an increased nuance with tactical and seamlessness. The Command Synergy Battle begins the moment the player runs into an enemy, which transforms the field into a battle arena with a few enemies on-screen. Players can control one character out of the party of up to three characters. Every action is guarded by an Active Time Battle bar, essentially the stamina bar for the battle character. Every command for the battle party places the ATB Cost as a strategic and manageable aspect of the battle system, with the ATB bar being divded among different sections to represent higher costs. Variety of commands and attacks for each character is stunning and traditional moves such as Attack, Cure, Fire, and Summon make a return, with notable area-field strength spells that target larger groups. From these battles, players gain Crystarium Points in battle, and can use Crystarium Points to purchase statistic increases, abilities, and finally spells all of which can be used to further advance the character into higher levels of battle difficulty.  Final Fantasy XIII’s battle system takes a page from the predecessors, while focusing the need to be less turn-based and more dynamic and strategic through the use of linear item collection and character progression that works well for the type of battle gameplay.

Masashi Hamauzu work within Final Fantasy XIII is simply something worthy of mention. As a notable composer of the Final Fantsy X soundtrack, Masashi Hamauzu has composed melodies of string quartets composed of the Viol, the slow tone of the Lute, the sagely wisdom of the violins with the bold flavor of the techno inspired heavy beats creates a memorable Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack that is worth the purchase alone.

Final Fantasy XIII brings elements from the series into a new light of day while still reflecting on the traditional origins, making a game meticulous and beautiful at the same time. While Final Fantasy XIII revolves around the linearity of the gameplay, it superimposes a believable narrative with more focus and attention to minute detail with the enhanced Command Synergy Battle System. Final Fantasy XIII paves the way to declare that linearity is not a bad thing, and further endeavors towards greatness in a form of its own.

Battlefield: Bad Company was a premiere shooter that marked the entry of DICE into the first-person shooter series category designed for consoles exclusively on June 23^rd, 2008. Bad Company offered singleplayer, a decent online offering of 24 players from the native 64 from Battlefield’s 1 and 2, and provided a venue for console shooter fans to play if they did not fancy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Nov 7^th, 2007. Bad Company offered a markedly watered down version similar to elements of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in terms of multiplayer minus the ranks and perks system.   Not surprisingly enough, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a sequel that uses the same formula and delivers on what the first title came close to doing itself: being a game with an unoriginal storyline of revenge and profit centered on repetitive gameplay and missions structure, while capitalizing on the online warfare craze with bland online elements revolving around statistic aficionados that find an all too endless joy in the clunky destruction engine of the environment’s flawed realistic scope.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 creates another compendium of unoriginality through a drastically exaggerated sense of camaraderie, a predictable and unimaginative set of personas within the Bad Company, and furthermore a narrative that is as pedestrian as the missions themselves. Battlefield: Bad Company ended with the main characters driving off with a truck full of gold and features similar characters. Private Preston Marlowe is still the “newbie” (player character), Haggard is the Alabama bomb-tech, and Sarge is still the commanding captain.  After losing the gold, the characters end up back in Bad Company, a rogue B-Company squad. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 starts with the rescue of a prisoner that is captured in the jungle.  Of course, Bad Company is given an offer of rescuing the soldier in order to go home, but things go from bad to worse in more than one way. The storyline continues on the trend of the Bad Company carrying out missions to alleviate the world of a foreign threat.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 seems to be extremely traditional, but unfortunately if this was the case in the sense of the franchise, Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 2 would still both not be considered far superior titles in terms of gameplay mechanics, singleplayer, and multiplayer. Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s vapid single-player campaign establishes a lot of the flaws in the gameplay elements that makes Battlefield: Bad Company 2 lacking in elements such as believability and variety. The players control Preston Marlowe and embark on the campaign missions where the core mechanics are dreadfully simple, and unfortunately repetition and lack of attention to detail leaves Battlefield: Bad Company 2 extremely antiquated. The gun mechanics for the most part are simple of any first person shooter: point and shoot. The key thing that made Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a symbol of great first-person shooters, such a craze was not the simple fact of point and shoot elements, but the title had a lot of nuances in terms of level design, mission structure, and even a focused set of weaponry. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 strides upon the same mediocre facets that Battlefield: Bad Company did: it solely relies on giving players weaponry, something to shoot at, and does not consider anything else to broaden the gameplay. Furthermore, lack of variety in enemy types and randomly a lot of cowboy-hat wearing enemies are just a sight for disappointment. Grenades do not have an indicator for other players to avoid, so it becomes hard to avoid them as the terrible A.I. uses grenades all too often. Teammate/Squad A.I. is even worse but fares slightly better than the first title and they do not get in the way of shooting.  The campaign is more linear than the first, which hardly offers any sort of excitement, even when the scripted actions provide a banal sense of excitement with the atrocious voice acting to supplement. It is almost as if DICE expects players to be enthralled and enticed with mediocre and predictable storyline elements that are too scripted for the action to remotely believable. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 relies too much on unoriginality of simple point and shoot gameplay elements grouped with a disappointing and predictable storyline while furthering the banality with an intense lack of variety including misguided attention to details.

Destruction seems to be an element that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 relies too heavily upon in the marketing of the title, but all it does to accomplish any believable destruction lies in the gameplay crumbling down like a building itself. Frostbite 1.5 can only make the game exciting to a limited degree, while not being entirely believable as well. Every environment in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is stale and uninviting, mostly being green jungle areas, snowy fields, and brown desert fades with a very limited gameplay area. While the environments are gorgeous and details to character models are helpful, the mission structure itself is alarmingly dreadful to play and gameplay is built on a constant reminder of the lack of variety and originality that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 represents.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 provides online elements that represent the overall feel of unoriginality and lack of variety that Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s gameplay builds upon during the campaign.  Various modes include Rush, Squad Rush, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch. The newer modes revolve around destroying crates in another team’s base which is more exciting than anything Bad Company 2 presents for the sheer reason of having other people around. Multiplayer permits players to choose from a set of weapon kits before each spawn, each of which represent the four classes from the previous 6: Assault, Recon, Engineer, and Medic. Specialists no longer exist. In addition to the hand grenades and sidearms standard for all classes, each class is equipped with a weapon and a pair of tech-gadgets unique to that class.  The traditional system of Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s multiplayer and customization of weaponry is the only thing that represents the still major successes of Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 2 that fare better than Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s gameplay. Limited Edition comes with six advanced unlocks in multiplayer and a bonus. Unlockables are key in multiplayer, which is relatively better but is plagued by the same problems as the campaign itself.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is definitely a surprise. An abhorrent surprise considering that this is a product of the same developers of Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 2, which itself is quite honestly difficult to believe. Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s campaign makes flaws in the gameplay elements apparent of lacking in elements such as believability and variety. Campaign missions rely on a deformed set of core gameplay mechanics that are dreadful at best and unfortunately repetition and lack of attention to detail leaves Battlefield: Bad Company 2 extremely antiquated. While multiplayer tactical adventure fairs better for the simple fact that it borrows elements from Battlefield 1 and straight from Battlefield 2’s unlockable weapon and ranks system, the gameplay is still plagued with problems. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 strides upon the same mediocre characteristic that Battlefield: Bad Company did: it solely relies on giving players weaponry, something to shoot at, and does not consider anything else to broaden the gameplay. With the first one being mediocre, and the second one following its stance, it is hard to believe in the Bad Company franchise. With all these heavy flaws of gameplay and $59.99 MSRP price-point, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 should be equally pointed straight to the bargain bin, and shot at.

The world has evolved games into two categories that are both worth a closer reveal. The high budget ‘blockbuster’ titles can become very generic and live on an established name whereas smaller titles which are full of creativity just do not pack the punch compared to a bigger offering. Heavy Rain is a refreshing title that has the major themes of a large release yet has the innovation and creativeness within the storyline and production value needed to really make this stand out from the rest. Created by Quantic Dream’s inspiration from Indigo Prophecy and renewed sense of exploration and experiment, Heavy Rain takes psychological thrill with attention to details and dares to do things which other titles simply do not try. Unfortunately with such minutiae of details, Heavy Rain comes bundled with large errors such as generic voice acting, and a lack of combat interactivity for an action thriller that all take their toll.  Regardless of the issues, Heavy Rain provides a great sense of exploration and takes innovative steps to draw players into a fascinating story full of intrigue and mystery.

Quantic Dream always describes the story as an experimental narrative thriller when it comes to Heavy Rain. The storyline is dynamically split to a certain level and is told through four different characters all involved in the case of the Origami Killer: Ethan Mars – a father of two who is the real main character and the one the player gets to know best, Scott Shelby – a private investigator who is hired by the families of the Origami Killers’ victims to find out who killed their sons, Norman Jayden – an FBI agent, who is drafted in by the local police force to help them in their investigation and Madison Paige – a reporter who is doing her own investigating of the murders and gets caught up in the drama of her own cathartic experience. Each character’s story is intertwined with the other characters for a similar feeling to CRASH and it is not a choice for the player to decide from which perspective the story will be detailed through, an interesting narrative element choice but can present a limited aspect when given the already limited spectrum of 4 characters. As each scenario builds up the suspense, Heavy Rain uses different perspectives of investigation that gives a 12 hour experience over the differing storylines. The story starts with Ethan Mars in his home having a quiet afternoon in before his sons 10th birthday party that evening, which acts as a gameplay mechanic tutorial of getting the player used to the controls while also showing Ethan as a family man with a normal life. Something, however, happens to Ethan’s life forever and the story fast forwards to two years later which is the time in which the main story is set. Two years later seems rather ambiguous for an emotional connection within the storyline, but presents no issues in directly offering players the fact that there is a lot of tension built up by this time. Ethan now finds himself a part of another sad turn of events that percusses his life and embarks on a journey to find the Origiami Killer. Many questions are asked throughout the story: Who is the Origami Killer? How far will Ethan go on his journey? What happens at the end? Heavy Rain builds on this suspense within the gameplay and storyline while making sure the latter two have no real answer as each decision the player makes throughout the game affects the outcome of the story.

Gameplay is driven in Heavy Rain first and foremost by the storyline, which is the key concept of the entire choices and layout. Players walk around a beautiful environment that provides various interactivity options and can discover what the character thinks at special moments in the game, when he/she enters a specific room or scene, or is even conversing with someone in a ‘timed’ converse event (TCE). Heavy Rain and is primarily told by button-commands for conversations and actions with the environment in regular scenarios. Every single aspect in the suspenseful narrative of Heavy Rain includes investigation in one form or another, a key element that is blended across different moods and tones of gameplay than ever before and perfected in Heavy Rain. As the characters experience events, more interactivity builds upon structuring tension of scenario aspect elements that are furthered through the camera angles. The central control mechanism begins with the introduction of the Quick-Time Elements, similar to the same gameplay core followed throughout.  The QTE’s are very well implemented into the different motions of the characters and the majority actually feel like they map to a human body doing various actions. The QTE’s are also very clearly marked with flashing icons needing pressed several times, ones with triangles at the top needing held down, dotted outline needed careful movement and normal white outlines just needing pressed normally. Quantic Dream sets up the traditional Indigo Prophecy influence through real time camera angle showing different views for differing action scenarios. The character’s moods themselves also act to the intense action in which players carry out their moves. The players do not solely affect the characters, but the characters also affect the players and their actions to create a thaumaturgic effect.

Heavy Rain controls are decent for the most part but can present quite an issue when it comes to movement, an annoying factor in the game when combined with the different aspects of the environment to get a newer look. While holding down a button to see the environment in a new and different way, holding R2 down and having the right stick in a specified direction can be an issue. The game maps the movement differently when so many angles change and serves to confuse the player as to when the character suddenly turns around and walks in an opposite direction. Quick-Time Events themselves within Heavy Rain are unoriginal and not innovative compared to the storyline elements and presents a rehashed view of adding tension. Action and Tension, while both are well built in some areas of the game slowly through progression and character interaction surprises, are not about how fast a button can be pressed but should allow for more dynamic realism in the controls with an actual fluid fighting dynamic. Heavy Rain focuses on controls throughout but has double standards when compared to other aspects of the game where feet are mapped to rear triggers and provide a sense of some realism in the mapping.

While each character is different, certain characters have different abilities to their controls. One in particular is very keen on looking good, using great technology, and having a substance abuse problem.  FBI agent Norman Jayden is one clever fellow when it comes to investigative elements. He is armed with ARI: (added reality interface) prototype, which consists of a pair of glasses and a black glove that can detect and analyze DNA, certain traces, and footprint patterns in the environment in real time, something that is simply incredible and vivifies the CSI scene. The actual search for clues is probably the most tedious part of the game but once you have them and are sitting in your office searching for answers the virtual reality comes into play in full and makes you really want a pair of these glasses.

Graphical detail in the environments with Heavy Rain is absolutely fantastic and the actual character models  feel like they have a soul and have obviously been done by the work of an excellent mo-cap team with some strong physical acting and nuances. Unfortunately in the shadows of the killer’s wake lurks another terror in Heavy Rain: the voice acting. Heavy Rain characters can provide a great experience in the emotional expression through their faces while embarking on an incredibly detailed story, but the voice acting becomes stale at time and wholly uninviting.  The character’s thoughts in response to the environments are bland and the dialogue sometimes feels disillusioned in a gritty and realistic world.

Heavy Rain comes with an exquisite soundtrack for the tense scenes and musical tastes of enthusiasts. Heavy baritones build a tension and trouble that befalls a certain character, while sharp lapses in the euphonium takes a transitional scene into a whole new soundscape. A lot of Pensante instrumentals convey a heavy tone during investigation scenes combined with the emotional force of Patètico. Heavy Rain latches onto the suspense through the music but also the mournful, and abrupt by presenting different riffs with Spicatto and Mèsto to create short and very fast erratic musical scores that are parapsychological for the experience.

Heavy Rain cannot be called a game. Quantic Dream has created rather a great piece of interactive entertainment despite the very little realistic qualities of gameplay. An in-depth story keeps things focused, while the intriguing mystery and murders redefine a new category of gameplay where a game does not have to be a game in the traditional sense.  Heavy Rain is undoubtedly an interactive drama despite its problems that will entice and interest audiences to a newfangled definition of the word: interaction.

Collaboration by: Usman Ihtsham & Stuart Blair

Look above you as hundreds of people are parachuting towards their objectives. MAG reveals player ipseity through central command and engaging 256-player online matches that are a sight for the eyes to see. MAG is another wonderful creation from Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment  (SCEE) to delve players into the strife of combat and the grueling circumstances in which it revolves.  While skirmishes are close and personal on an objective-based scale, MAG provides the thrill of bullets flying through the air and teamwork at an apex that is hard to withstand. MAG is without its problems such as small repetitive elements throughout the overall tone of the game, but becomes completely exhilarating during the moment. MAG undoubtedly presents a prodigious look into warfare and combat through an immense venue of a lot of squads and too much action at the same time. MAG is filled with objectives for different teams, formidable enemy squads, incredible map design, and a lot of opportunities to use individual skills and teamwork along with objective coordination to earn a powerful reward: the feeling of being a soldier and fighting for a greater cause.

Every player is required to choose a siding faction within MAG which involves three private military companies: S.V.E.R., Valor, and Raven.  The appurtenance of the combat is due to the world being engrossed in a Shadow War in which military contracts and facility wartime creates a competitive edge in the capitalistic world. Each faction itself comes with different customization options relating to appearance, weapon choices, and newer attitudes on the Shadow War. Zipper Interactive creates a sense of variety with these 3 limited choices to create a great personality that missions and MAG’s game design can work off.

Player design within MAG is monumentally important with faction-based gameplay at the core. Enlisting with a faction requires that a person stay with the faction and show loyalty at all times. MAG creates a level of teamwork and recognition not just through the battlefield or a simple lobby, but it also keeps players persistence and dedication to gaining a +5% bonus for their faction over another with a camaraderie of friends in the same faction. Players can choose to group up in one faction or players can choose to create varying teams with friends for different player profiles. Once players advance to level 60, they can change their faction for a new career type. Player design incorporates various maps that are central to certain factions that ensure different fronts are protected from the enemy. Every map for each faction has a different layout with four fronts and has its own challenges. While this can be great, there is a small amount of map repetition that can be exhibited despite the great level design. Luckily, this is nothing that a bunch of planned map packs cannot solve.

MAG mission structure in the key map areas involves four types, with only two being available at the beginning of the career Rookie stage. Supression is the typical team deathmatch mode while Sabotage presents players with a challenge to hold their own capture point, while attacking two other points from another faction to unlock and destroy a third point. These two introductory modes are 64 players only and give the audience a challenging look into the future as 64 slowly changes and grandfathers its way to 256 players in one map as part of MAG’s monumental battles.

The next modes become Acquisition (at 128 players) followed by the key gameplay element: Domination (256 players). These matches still focus on 64 player battle intensity in a certain quadrant of the multi-quadrant map that still manages to create an aptitude and concentration as part of the larger war. In Acquisition, the attacking faction tries to infiltrate enemy territory, steal a vehicle with wartime goods, and return it to their home insertion point. Acquisition can be quite intense as the quadrants are less than Domination and there are 2 quadrants in 64 player divisions as opposed to 4 that Domination makes really engaging. With Domination, the offense has to dominate a series of objectives to gain capture points which need to be kept in order to win. With not only mission-intensive objectives, the battlefields also contain strategically focused objects such as Bunkers for armored refuge on the front lines in addition to providing a haven for supplies. Turrets and sensor arrays along with mortars allow central rank-based Commanders in each unit to engage combat abilities while motor pools provide vehicles for mobility and further firepower.  These facilities are critical defense outposts and can create a tremendous impact with the small close quarters combat with varying factions. An opposing team can plant charges to or destroy the material goods to weaken another factions resolves. Repairmen with a high enough rank can fix these and the battles can be extremely significant and engaging as players fight to survive, support the team, or control individual loadouts to gain ground for their faction.

Zipper Interactive really focused on MAG gameplay and mission design solely by making sure command structure is a key element. MAG has tremendous shooting mechanics and controls to compliment gameplay which becomes both rewarding and enticing when it comes to command structure. With matches of 256 players, command element is important and beyond simple mission structure and design. Command gameplay design comes in the variety of squad leaders that can designate a target for the squad to engage. While staying near a squad leader, player receive an additional boost to their abilities such as reload speed and resistance to certain enemy damage along with the most notable form of advantage characterized by double the experience on the battlefield. When a squad leader actively creates newer targets, the players can keep close and the gameplay element is ramped up to a nostalgia that emits camaraderie within the squad only seen by one other title so far on the PlayStation 3 – SOCOM: Confrontation.  If a leader is not doing the proper job or the tactical advantages are not enough, squad members do not have to rely solely on rank and can nominate someone else if the need arises. Like Commanders, these Squad Leaders have access to localized abilities such as localized strikes, cluster bombs, and poison gas along with more diverse and broad help such as Sensor Sweeper and Bombardments.  Platoon leaders and Officers In Charge can voice chat with everyone on command and provide immense gameplay abilities that might not be as advantageous as Squad Leaders.  Role diversity and command design in MAG is completely incredible and well worth the time spent in-game fighting enemies despite a repetitive element in mission design.

MAG creates not just differing kinds of soldiers from Squad Leaders to Platoon Officers, but also it furthers a level of camaraderie in working for the team that has been exhibited on a more massive scale. While MAG may seem a lot like SOCOM: Confrontation in creating a beautiful atmosphere of wartime camaraderie and squad life, it is based on an entirely more massive scale with a different gameplay design and more strategic elements for different rank structures. MAG carries through not just an experience of war itself, even if it may seem repetitive to a point, but in addition an experience of teamwork, tactical dimension, and coordination unrivaled.

1968 has never been so cold and the water never this damp. Awaken as Subject Delta in 2K Marin’s BioShock 2, the sequel to BioShock that introduces the gaming world to an unraveling Dystopia in which philosophical individualism and seeping autocracy haunts the flooded corridors. BioShock 2 takes a very daring road to build upon the exotic backdrop of BioShock in which a plane crash lands the Protagonist Jack Ryan to the mysterious underwater world of Rapture. 2K Marin valiantly creates a new and recognizable atmosphere into a completely different storyline that evokes the responses through totalitarian dictatorship, improved gameplay based upon similar game interface as BioShock, and furthered incredible variety when it comes to the chills and haunting images that Rapture exudes. BioShock 2 furthers improvements and shooter mechanics beyond the first one and continues to up the par with a multiplayer mode from Digital Extremes. While something about the atmosphere, however, is not quite on par with the first title as things seem all too familiar and lose their substance that made the microscopicity of the original so daring, BioShock 2 still creates an atmosphere that is engaging and still very much provoking.  BioShock 2 incontestably creates an atmosphere that is prominent regardless of the familiarity that veteran players might feel and new players might not completely believe.

Hastily inscribed upon the walls of Adonis Spa are cries for a lost religious overtone in a philosophical narrative that is all too real. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,” the great kingdom that was once the vision in the latter part of the third millennium, and it was here that the Bible says God confused the languages of mankind. Impregnable to incredibly different degrees of religious notions, Bayblon was lost in a bewildered flood of the Euphrates River from the Persian advance. The air is familiar as Subject Delta awakens in the decaying Adonis Spa in 1968. It feels like yesterday that you were with your Little Sister Eleanor Lamb through an unbreakable bond. As Subject Delta, one of the original Big Daddy protectors introduced in BioShock, you seek out to find Eleanor that is sending you troubled signals of being held captive by her mother:  the totalitarian Sofia Lamb, who took influence of Rapture after Jack Ryan departed on his own in 1958. Sophia Lamb is undoubtedly more different than anything Andrew Ryan preached as the wealthy founder of Rapture.  While Sophia Lamb may not be a shockingly similar match to the deep-rooted and downright maniacal beliefs of Andrew Ryan, she shares a level of disturbing presence engrossed in her own personal and moral philosophy that makes the senselessness of her persecution even more radiant.

BioShock 2 incorporates gameplay heavily through story as the original with a beautiful didactic narrative but comes with some inherent problems in the storyline progression. One of the central introduction aspects WhatIfGaming became concerned about makes itself known once again: the question of how BioShock 2 incorporates and furthermore pleases not just veterans but also newcomers of the game but also newcomers alike. 2K Marin assured that newcomers will have an equal experience as veterans of the series in terms of storyline narrative, but there are core storyline progression elements from BioShock that BioShock 2 simply does not touch upon. The first game focuses on the immense discovery and building façade of mystery on the city of Rapture and the downfall dynamic that engrosses any player who still plays it to this day. Unfortunately, BioShock 2 misses out on taking the same level of intrigue and placing it into the game in terms of microscopic details.  To fully understand the new game, players need to have prior knowledge. Some ancillary reading is hidden either in the menu or the tapes / tutorials of gameplay elements, but unfortunately it is not as powerful as incorporating these into the story directly.  The issues in terms of storyline do not end here. There are also issues in terms of the origins of Subject Delta never being truly explained along with the factors of key characters that played a monumental role of the first game being lightly delved into the sequel. Another problem that manifests itself is the lack of emotionality within BioShock 2. While Subject Delta wants to find Eleanor with tidbits of memories consistently being presented throughout the game, there is no real emotional construct to rely on other than the fact that the game simply bases the entire journey upon finding Eleanor Lamb. Despite these prominent issues, BioShock 2 still continues to present a strong case of philosophical undertones that furthers the psychological barrier that has already been established by the entire premise of the storyline.

BioShock 2’s mission structure revolves many enemies and few gains that create a survialistic nature in the horror-torn Rapture. Like Babylon, there is a lot of ADAM and an increased level of struggle with Lamb’s cult of Splicers, former Citizens of Rapture that went mad from using a drug called ADAM to give them superhuman abilities such as lightning shock and swarming bees. The ten years between BioShock reveals the splicers have gotten slightly religious and are more disfigured and confused with an even more dangerous combination than just disfigured.  Splicers encounters come with the typical enemy types from the first game which includes wall-latching splicers and teleporting splicers in addition to the fearful brute class splicers that throw concrete. Subject Delta soon reveals that he himself can use ADAM by injecting it into one of the situation cores in his suit (used to lock the Big Daddys in their suit and their body). ADAM is obtained through the unforgettable Little Sisters that made the first game iconic, brainwashed children under the aura of Rapture. Little Sisters discover various ‘angels’ or ADAM infused corpses to drain with EVE hyponeedles. The Catch-22 here follows the fact that each Little Sister is guarded by a Big Daddy that does not let another Big Daddy remotely near his ‘daughter. Once defeating the Big Daddy, it is up to Subject Delta to decide what to do with the little girl that cries and mourns for her lost Daddy like a poor orphan. As a Big Daddy, you can choose to ‘Adopt’ the Little Sister by placing her humbly onto your shoulder or sacrifice her (through murder) for ADAM. These two choices are constant throughout Rapture and the option to choose on the spot similar to the first game really extends upon the consequences of the choices players make. From here, if Subject Delta chooses to adopt the Little Sister, he can help the Little Sister to keep collecting ADAM while making sure to defend her. One interesting thing about BioShock 2 is the way the developers keep this aspect of the game astounding, through either momentary twists or dynamic variability with enemies to keep BioShock 2 from being one big escort mission.

Combat in BioShock 2 is extended with certain improvements but stays close to the original and traditional. ADAM can be spent on DNA plasmids to gain access to psychokinetic and potential powers with which players can freeze people or hurl fireballs. Gene Tonics make a return to create enhancement to certain passive abilities such as faster movement speed, quieter footsteps and more.  Combat options are not limited to genetic variability but extend to weaponry as well.  Since Subject Delta can dual-wield weapons, the combat feels more fluid and dynamic than the first game. This allows players to keep an active defense in one hand while creating a level of hard-earned damage with a gun on the other.  As players continue into Rapture, they can upgrade plasmid guns and add tons of improvements to give certain weapons secondary and tertiary abilities to grant bonuses.

BioShock 2 introduces the series’ first look into multiplayer that presents BioShock 2 as ‘part prequel in Sequel’ —with gratitude to our contact at 2K Marin for spilling the details the day the first teaser came out. Players will be the citizens of rapture that have joined the Sinclair Solutions Consumer Rewards program for self-defense to test various weapons and plasmids for the war between Andrew Ryan and Atlus, his nemesis. Multiplayer modes are pretty standard such as Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch with Capture The Sister as a capture the flag counterpart where players try and capture a crying Little Sister from the enemy.  Maps are set in notable locations from the first BioShock and multiplayer remains challenging while also adding more for players to accomplish into the game.

BioShock 2 is undoubtedly a great game with amazing improvements despite dismal issues with storyline and continuity for newcomers. Rapture continues to be the underwater city with a baroque style movement that creates the atmosphere for the continuing storyline. Sophia Lamb and her Family are constantly out to destroy older parts of Rapture to eliminate any of the remaining ego that Andrew Ryan possessed, while creating an even more interesting approach to religious backdrops of rebirth and retribution for the sins of Rapture and its existence as a whole.  The haunting atmosphere of Rapture carries through with the story embedded in the environment – the details being on the walls with crayon, neon markers, or sketchy chalk. Writings in the surroundings and the context of the storyline are undoubtedly still as disturbing as before regardless of the storyline flaws affecting the atmosphere and tone. Rapture remains an underwater city that still is impossible to escape as the struggle for Subject Delta to find humanity seems impossible in the environment. The city is undoubtedly perturbing with incredible gameplay improvements, voice acting, and soundtrack scores that make the surroundings in BioShock 2 as memorable and horrifying as ever.

WhatIfGaming - Game Of The Year 2009 Awards

It is with proud pleasure that we ask all of you to join us to celebrate the 11th year anniversary of our WhatIfGaming and read all about the video game industry’s most exceptional and gratified 2009 titles specially chosen by us here again this year. Similar to the previous year, WhatIfGaming is first to give out Game of the Year Awards this year. We just rolled out the red carpet and the winners for 2009 are here with us live!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Years to our beloved millions of WhatIfGaming readers (this means you)! See you all in 2010.

When the words ‘game’ and ‘World War II’ are mentioned in the same sentence, everyone has a stock image of a first person shooter storming the beaches of Normandy. The Saboteur deviates from this redundant, tired look and lets you feel like a small part of a more rewarding cause. Rather than being a soldier, the gun-for-hire aspect gives the player a greater sense of accomplishment which works exceptionally well during the harrowing scene of one of the most brutal times in recent history.

The Saboteur is set in Nazi controlled France, specifically around the city of Paris not long after the start of the war. Sean Devlin, an Irish immigrant with a sharp tongue and clever wit. As the main protagonist of the game, Sean finds himself facing choices that are difficult and questionable at times, and that there is more to his demeanor than pure simplicity of a cigar in the mouth and a mechanic turned racer.  It is hard not to like Sean in The Saboteur at the onset especially with some of the crude and hilarious jokes of the title. Through the course of his missions and the gameplay design, Sean shows that he has ulterior motives for hating the Nazis but has to bide his time. Sean works for various resistance and black market people throughout the story to fulfill his revenge against the Nazis, for which the reasons will remain unclear until well into the introduction chapters of the game. As the story progresses, each characters traits are shown in the full and you are never in any doubt who Pandemic Studios want the player to like and which ones to loathe. The Saboteur provides an incredible time in 1940’s France and makes sure players encounter characters that have their own plans and motives in the world.

One of the main features that was touted for The Saboteur was that the game is in black and white until certain missions are completed which give the locals hope for the future hence the change into colour. There were a lot of skeptics about this, whether it would work or just feel like a gimmick, but it is achieved really well and the art direction really complements the sense of liberation that the player is giving to the people of Paris. The missions themselves are full of variety which is excellent considering the number of main and side missions that are given to choose from. However traveling, either, to the mission starts or the target of the mission feels extremely long and while there is a plentiful supply of cars, some fast travel system would be greatly appreciated. The climbing mechanism, that we have seen in games such as Infamous and Assassin’s Creed, is again used here and while it does not feel as free as Assassins Creed — it is solid and allows scaling the famous structures of Paris with relative ease and efficiency. The driving feels unfortunately stiff but it seems to work because of the amount of times you will be escaping Nazis. The only real downside to driving is the fact that crashing into other cars feels pathetic, but it makes more sense on a chorniclogical note even though it is not realistic.

The main mission structures involve a simple 4 word plan: Easy-In, Hard-Out. The concept works fairly well for the most part as the initial difficulty requires stealth for parts of certain missions and then requires a battling fight to the exit, providing action and adventure in one mission. An entire mission can technically be played out with stealth, but it is not easy. Taking the disguise of a German officer is an interesting approach but becomes frustrating  at times due to the A.I. being a bit overdone. On the whole, mission structures work well to support the action and add fun stealth elements to the countless other methods involved in approaching a mission.

A fresh idea was needed for the World War II setting and The Saboteur definitely brings a lot of new ideas to the table. While it recycles a lot of features and ideas seen in other open world games, The Saboteur brings enough new mechanics and styles to make it stand on its own. Parts of the game which are not upto the standards of the rest do not affect the enjoyment you get from playing against the Nazis and The Saboteur ends up being a far better game in the process.

Come from the rooftops, steadfastly swift direction at night, let your blades be the serene guide. As an assassin you will learn: truth is written in blood. Assassin’s Creed I abashed players worldwide by allowing them to explore the political depth of war and intrigue through the eyes Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, an assassin dedicated to a group interested in shifting the pace of The Crusades in a war against the Christian Orthodox Templars. Unfortunately, repetitive gameplay combined with a poor set of voice acting contributed to the fall of Assassin’s Creed I as a mediocre title with no variety. Ubisoft is marked with unfaltering dedication and persevering power when it comes to Assassin’s Creed II. Assassin’s Creed II completely alters the perception of the prequel, providing stunning gameplay, brilliant voice acting, and most importantly than the former: a medley of variety that is badly needed for any game to be a success. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II heralds a vivacity unseen of the Assassin’s Creed saga, and pronounces an unwavering view of the life and struggle of what it takes to defend the honor of family in Renaissance Italy.

Assassin’s Creed II begins the epic story in 15^th century Florence, Italy and introduces Ezio Auditore da Firenze as a suave and charming charming protagonist in a fight against nobles of the Pazzi Family. Ezio is a young Florentine nobleman who is both a ladies’ man and a charismatic character unlike Altaïr. Ezio is wealthy, has a father that is apparently a Banker, and a brother that he always engages with in friendly competition as life keeps looking at him in the eyes with a flare. After a grand conspiracy shatters this vision, Ezio sets out on a revengeful path and metamorphoses into an Assassin by utilizing the innate Auditore fighting style abilities he had since he first kicked his feet after being born.  Along the way, Ezio meets various friends who include very prominent figures such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci. The level of depth to Ezio Auditore da Firenze is undeniably more approachable than the reclusive Altaïr, which provides for more contrast in the storyline and the conception to a grand beginning. Ezio has to change not only emotionally but also physically in his fighting style to protect his family as the entire Florentine officials try and hunt him down. The storyline has more uniqueness, and provides room for a level of sympathy from the audience to really allow them to become connected with the idiosyncrasies character and consequently the harrowing storyline.

Gameplay presents an extraordinary detail as Assassin’s Creed II comes with more variety and profundity due to more missions, and various enhancements to the city of Florence, Italy. Assassin’s Creed II rids itself of the repetitive nature of gameplay, which has seen an extraordinary change since Assassin’s Creed I. With more than 200 mission types, Assassin’s Creed II heralds a new form of a mission structure for Ezio to take part in. Looting and pick pocketing missions have been entirely removed and various mission types are related to side quests that take a part in the story-arc in general. Missions provide the corridor to an exciting gameplay adventure and allow core gameplay features to be fully realized. What Assassin’s Creed I lacked, Assassin’s Creed II delivers on with mission mechanics.

Along Ezio’s journey in Assassin’s Creed II, players will find themselves aided by famous Renaissance figures, most noticeably Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli. Some few interesting characters make reappearances, and provide an interesting plot dynamic and enthusiasm for engaging with characters and not being the lone wolf skipping from rooftop to rooftop. The various friends players come across give Ezio an affability that is admired and a storyline that is more intriguing than just plain and mediocre.

Assassin’s Creed II leads the gameplay facet of a notoriety system, allowing Ezio to become recognized and for the environment to dynamically change response around him.  A high notoriety makes the consciousness of civilians and guards increasingly vigilant of Ezio’s movements. Dividing the notoriety comes between different cities, so the player can gain a sense of dynamic gameplay that aids in the change of day to day life. Affecting notoriety comes intertwined with the realistic gameplay mission style: Ezio kills informants and good people for bad thugs in turn leads to the notoriety increasing. Should he do good things for a lot of people, notoriety drops and Ezio becomes the lively town prince that he is presented as to his close friends. To aid the change in life, the gameplay further adds a day/night system, which is not scripted anymore. A day and night system in Assassin’s Creed II presents a level of continuity and realism that the living world badly lacks in the previous iteration. A notoriety system combined with a day/night cycle gives Assassin’s Creed II substance that is both exhilarating and revitalizing.

Combat mechanics are fluid and furthermore have a level of electric progression both emotionally and physically with Ezio’s character in Assassin’s Creed II. As the storyline increases, and the proficiency gets more and more difficult with enemy A.I., Ezio learns to adapt. The subtle changes from the way he wields his sword, to the way he sends enemies catapulting into the water to drown change as he embraces more of his inner assassin as the gameplay carries on. Various attacks are different and come in the same style as the first title: punch, grab, knee, and throw are made of variations with the right trigger button, and have nuances to them that are simplistic but also varied. In terms of combat weaponry, Ezio gains access to various weapons, which work on an upgrade system with shops or the ability to scavenge them off of defeated enemies. Most prominent in amazing feats of weaponry includes Ezio and his two hidden blades beneath his gauntlets and also a gun below his left hidden blade. In addition to normal weapons, certain allies or friends will be able to give Ezio special devices that allow him to complete certain missions or use it to traverse around the huge landscape, making a major addition to Assassin’s Creed II and weapon variety. With over 45 kinds of new weapons, Ezio will be sure to get the target but also be more fashionable to the sense of action in Assassin’s Creed II. The additional new system for upgrading and acquiring weapons provides flexibility to the world that really gives the free-roam scale meaning and every weapon more powerful than before.

A newer conception leads to more depth in the interaction of the combat with the environment  and an introduction to monetary reward for engaging with enemies, both sorely lacking with Assassin’s Creed I. After killing an enemy in the previous title, the protagonist would simply run away for cover into a group of monks as an outdated and extremely repetitive factor or tried to climb away at buildings in a faster pace, rarely escaping enemies in the process. Assassin’s Creed II allows players to furtively loot the bodies of defeated foes and also steal openly in public or be stolen from, adding a whole new factor to gameplay with the monetary system of Italy. Ezio is able to use money to heal himself from street doctors as a new element to gameplay, and uses money for bribes  to local courtesans for various reasons to be seen throughout the variety of mission structure. The monetary system follows closely behind the weapons upgrade cache to enable players to use the already well established upgrade system for different kinds of weapons, allowing the character to feel play a part with the economic community rather than just social and political influences of the 15th century. While enemies are degraded after a humilating loss, Ezio can also use stealth tactics to hide the bodies in various ways that are increasingly surprising throughout the game. The more in-depth combat within Assassin’s Creed II creates a stunning compliment to include stealth based tactics nd an introduction to a monetary system that engages the culture of 15th century Venice, Italy.

With combat comes greater enemies and A.I. talent. Assassin’s Creed II lives up to provide challenging enemies but also logical enemies that do not make it impossible for you to escape into the crowd. Ezio encounters heavily geared swordsman, to halberdiers, civilians and plain enemies in the crowd from a notorious family. While enemy A.I. is talented, they still slightly lack in a sense of believability. Sometimes as Ezio navigates through a path, an enemy will notice him from too far away and reclaim how he looks so familiar, and then all of a sudden everyone starts chasing him. There is no strong sense of believability in the approach, which makes the enemy A.I. seem at times unpersuasive as a whole. Assassin’s Creed II provides enemy A.I. who are mostly intelligent in their tactics and more skilled at fighting and approaching an assassin than ever before even if they are not very realistic.

Assassin’s Creed II has a more dynamic music system and does not start scripted anytime something awkward happens.  The Florentine culture and music is included with every note, and does not ruin the temperament of the music by feeling overly action intense. Most of the music is calm, and the brilliant part about the musical integration lies with music being played amongst the crowd in the environment itself, making the environment even more lively than before and showing the culture of the entire game. Custom soundtracks can still be used, but this creates an interesting blend between music and in-game music of Florentine culture that revolves around flute compositions that convey 15^th century Florentine culture that combines for a baroque inspiration that is brightly conveyed with the amazingly detailed environments. Music in Assassin’s Creed II is lively, entertaining, and most of all appropriate this time around to the culture of the surroundings.

Climb the rooftops, drop down from the sky, or just swim in the sea; everything is presumptive in Assassin’s Creed II. Ezio is an assassin that changes with the struggle he has to endure, and provides an invigorating glimpse into what it truly means to rise to the occasion for the first time. With powerful weapon selection, an incredible variety in mission gameplay, inspiring cutscenes for a deeper storyline plot than ever before, and a living and believable environment in the world of Renaissance Italy, Assassin’s Creed II gives players a trek they will not tire to experience multiple times. Grab some hidden blades and ensconce with undulating robes of renaissance Florentine culture: it is time to live life by the way of Ezio Auditore da Firenze and relive the Assassin’s Creed on an unprecedented scale.

It has been two years since Infinity Ward has let the giant known as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare loose. Once Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had been released from its cage, and was able to flex its massive guns, it had quickly taken over the First Person Shooter genre and had sold the most number of any action titles at the time. Fast forward to present day and Infinity Ward has catapulted us into the future of Modern Warfare. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has become exhausted from all the flexing in the last two years, and because people have found the creature’s weak spots, Infinity Ward has decided to release an evolved and more enhanced creature that goes by the name: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Beautiful environments, a real modern warfare grasp that enscorcels any shooting buff and delivers a realistic combat feel that allows Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to once again take over, and to show the audience what true war means.

The giant is inside of your television screens, lucidly glaring back to scare any other First Person Shooter title on the shelves far away. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 provides a terrific tale that makes the single-player action as intimidating as the rest of the title. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues the story five years after where the prequel leaves off. The Russian nationalists are back and are led under the leadership of Vladimir Makarov. As the previous game, the singleplayer requires constant switching between different characters and environments, providing a broader feel for the storyline. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s singleplayer experience makes commendations to the storyling of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Players will encounter some returning characters from the previous game, and will meet a lively host of comrades to shoot next to and defend certain aspects of the army. Along the way, players will also come upon an exceptionally wide-jaw dropping variety of environments that ranges from frostbite rampant conditions in the snow, to the deep grasps of the territorial sharks in the water, and to the scorches and waterless surrounding of the desert.

The gameplay is analogous to the prequel for the more enhanced action of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The first Modern Warfare ran on the IW engine, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 now runs on a slightly upgraded version of the same engine, which is the IW 4.0, so there is not a monumental transformation in terms of general structure of the gameplay. New weapons and gadgets including most noticeably the Riot Shield and the Heartbeat Sensor have also been added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, giving players more of a feel for not just weapons but also the technological weaponry enhancements. In order to allow players to take a break from all the action on the frontlines, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 does a good job of mixing the gameplay into a medley where players are driven into thrilling scenes featuring snow mobiles, water boats, helicopters, and underwater scuba diving to name just a few. Modern Warfare 2 also is simply stunning and immerses the player into the warzone and creates an extremely realistic atmosphere that is relevant to the experience during an actual modern day war (according to our Correspondent in the 10^th Bridgade – General Rowen Airen).

The singleplayer campaign has four difficulty settings; Recruit, Regular, Hardened, and Veteran. The typical player will be able to complete the campaign in around six to eight hours on the Regular difficulty, so the length of the game is very comparable to that of the first Modern Warfare. The great singleplayer experience that the series is known for is still there, and this time, it is even better than before thanks to the incredible immersing story.

With the singleplayer aside, Modern Warfare 2 offers a brand new cooperative mode called Spec Ops. This new mode supports up to two players, either online or split-screen locally, but can also be played alone. The way it is set up can easily be compared to the co-op mode in Splinter Cell: Double Agent, for anyone who has experience with that. Players are essentially put into different types of missions and are ordered to complete tasks for those missions. One mission could have a task you have to complete within a time limit or another could have you defend against a wave of enemies, so you will not be having too much of a limited or repetitive co-op experience here.

These missions will have players in familiar locations that are straight from the singleplayer mode, but will have nothing to do with the main campaign of the game. The missions are set up in five different categories; Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. All of these categories have five different missions each except Echo, which only has three, so players have a total of 23 different missions to play from, with or without their friends. Players will first start off with having only Alpha unlocked, and will need to complete missions and earn stars in order to advance onto other categories. The way you earn stars is simple; each mission has three difficulty settings; Regular, Hardened, and Veteran. The stars you are rewarded depends on which difficulty you complete the mission on. Completing a mission on Regular will grant you with only one star, Hardened two, and Veteran three. These stars do not stack per mission, so the maximum number of stars you can get per each mission is three. The new Spec Ops mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is definitely a good addition to the series, but we feel they could have made it even better by upping the amount of players to four instead of two. Nonetheless, it is still a great co-op experience that players will enjoy taking part in, whether they are playing alone or with a friend.

The singleplayer and cooperative Special Operatives modes are prodigious, but the primary action comes down to the core set of multiplayer action. The multiplayer resembles the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with a several improvements that tweak gameplay. Infinity Ward definitely uses the concept of trying to not fix what is not broken to please fans of the prequel and the current iteration. The progression system in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is built around experience points which constitute various levels that are in turn awarded unlockables. The game modes come packed with new ones and mostly the beloved ones from the previous Modern Warfare. New modes include few in number, most manifest in Capture the Flag and Demolition. The one new gameplay multiplayer mode is the intriguing yet relative 3^rd person mode, which consists of both 3^rd Person Teams and 3^rd Person Cage Match modes. These modes are both just played in 3^rd person. Although the need to have the option to play in those two 3^rd person game modes is incredible and exciting for anyone craving a new view, it will definitely not be replacing the first person aspect of the game any time soon. Playing in 3^rd person is entertaining, and offers players a change from all the first person action. Some of the strategies you would use in the first person modes will not work so well when playing in 3^rd person, so it forces players to create different strategies for both the different views. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 brings a multiplayer aspect that allows for an incredible playthrough with something traditional and also new and revealing.

Customization is the new and improved factor that provides players more identity. Players will find that they have more customization tools than the previous game. Now, people are able to customize what you want your three kill streaks to be, whether you want a helicopter drive by or a bomb drop, you make the calls. A total of 15 different kill streak rewards can be unlocked and selected / customized to the likings of the player. You are also able to customize and unlock more Call Signs, which are basically fancy titles and emblems that go beside your name (such as veteran, elite, etc). These are only displayed in-game in certain situations, like if someone captures a point or if you kill someone. A lot of the old perks that have been modified have also received some name changes as well. The not-so-well received perk that went by the name of Martyrdom in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has now been removed, and instead made into a Deathstreak. Deathsreaks are basically the absolute opposites of Killstreaks. If you have been killed three times in a row, you will receive the Deathstreak called Painkiller, which basically grants you with a health boost for a limited time after you re-spawn.

All of the interesting changes in the multiplayer factors provide the key difference between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the prequel: the shots and hits seem to register much faster and are more accurate. Infinity Ward has improved the multiplayer for the better by re-introducing and improving upon the features beloved from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It will not be surprising to see people still playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for many more years until Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 arrives.

Multiplayer sees an addition of completely new sets of the maps, excluding maps from the previous game. Players will be able to play a total of 16 new maps plus the two map packs that will be released later on for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gives players an experience that would otherwise be untenable: the experience to see war for what it is. With outstanding singleplayer experience that will have you at the edge of your seat, the entertaining Spec-Ops cooperative mode that will fill your hunger for a quick burst of fun, to the well-prized multiplayer experience that will once again be played for a good couple years, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the premiere and definitive title of modern warfare and combat of 2009. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 shows us that while war may be costly and oppressive, war brings a certain glory to it, comes with uncertain amount of thrill, and most of all: war reveals his hidden beauty.

Collaboration by: Berk Erilmez and Usman Ihtsham

Escape into a world of boundless proportions as a Grey Warden in Thedas, contributing to the last known legendary order of guardians that exists to this day in BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: Origins marks the awakening of BioWare into the realm of dark fantasy epic tales and vernacular of a world so lively and capturing. Abilities, skills, specializations and over hundreds of talents and spells in a massive world creates a unique and stimulating invigoration despite whatever small problems present itself in Dragon Age: Origins. Made to excel at a new realized façade, Dragon Age: Origins represents the modern re-chimera of the party based fantasy role-playing fame, filled with an staggering storyline and fused with an unforgettable world with interesting characters and hundreds of quests, creating a long to be remembered title in the mark of video game history.

The Dragon Age: Origins kingdom is unruly in the clutches of war and engulfed in the violence of vehement consternation that keeps freedom unreachable. Fate has chosen the one Grey Warden to consolidate the trepidity of the age, unite the lands, and defeat the archdemon for the last time. Throughout the lands, the Grey Warden protagonist will set about many different quests, meet succor characters including fiery dragons, and be enthralled by how decisions play an important role to not just the world, but also the different party members in their journey. Dragon Age: Origins aligns a nuance of detail with an enthralling blend of gameplay to create a vastly different tale for anyone that entrains on the massive role-playing tale.

Dragon Age: Origins re-invigorates the modern sense of traditional, keeping vastly new features in terms of quest and gameplay mechanics in a familiar elegance to most memorable role-playing game titles of the age. Dragon Age: Origins keeps a strong focus on character progression that has a wide outcome to the world players become a part of and the choices they make decisions in. The unnamed protagonist’s story begins by choosing Race, Class, and Background. The primary forefront of character individualization begins with the 3 races: Human, Elf, and Dwarf. Humans are the most abundant in Thedas, while the Elf race has taken place in mankind’s shadow. The small amount of classes is more than enough to begin the tale of the Grey Warden. While there are only 3 classes, the various mixtures of classes with other skillsets and talents make for a wide variety of characters in the land of Thedas. Classes also come in 3 varieties from the tough Warrior, the sorcerous Mage, and the steadfast Rogue. From all the classes and races, attributes lead to various skillsets that contributes to the ways the storyline plays out. The character’s background comprises of the “Origins” component of Dragon Age: Origins, determining which of the six distinct opening acts players will have and the experiences they will play through. The aspect of taking various traditional gameplay points and providing a new modern sensation in the ensorcelled world of Thedas gives Dragon Age: Origins a level of sophistication that keeps the journey and the choices the center of focus, rather than trying to create something vastly different in a new character progression scheme.

Dragon Age: Origins hopes to provide players with a world in which reason needs to be applied to choices and the consequences that follow to create a monumental storyline and environmental scale.  Character progression strongly ties into who the players are and the decisions that players will make in addition to how effective their choices become. Persuasion and Intimidation in the dialogues are examples made through the use of combination between various attributes. To intimidate someone, the chance of succeeding in the Intimidation skill requires knowledge of Coercion and the Strength attribute, making such combinations essential across all three central components of character progression for choices and the adventure. The attribute modifier depends on a base index of 10 while the combination of race and class adds certain advantages. Skills progress with focus of four proficiency levels with two pre-selected skills based on class and background, further giving a foundation to Dragon Age: Origins and the harmonious nature between every single type of characteristic, categorical or qualitative.

Quests that involve a wide variety of tasks create the livelihood of the Grey Warden hero and the faces players will encounter especially deadly foes and enemies in combat. Quests on a majority of the time are varied and present no repetition in the land of Thedas, giving players ample opportunity to progress characters through attributes through the combat mechanics.  Quests are not just about finding the next battle or bloodshed, but about talking with natives and reasoning with them. Multiple quests have multiple different outcomes, and the same quest can be done in more than one given way. From the fascinating quests that create an impact on the storyline, players prospect the vast talents of combat in a kingdom torn apart by civil war.

Combat mechanics are smooth and are typical of traditional party-style gameplay but have a neoteric clarity within Dragon Age: Origins. Most talents and spell abilities fall under 3 types: Activated, Passive and Sustained. Activated abilities utilize health and mana and can be used across a broad area and manage to effect anyone in range. Passive abilities are passive as the title indicates, and Sustained creates a condition that remains active until disabled or both mana and health is depleted. Weapon styles determine the number and types of weapons a character can wield. Weapons can be carried in an advanced weapon sets that range from Dual-Wield weapons, to two-handed weapons, bows and crossbows, Mage staffs and a continued plethora of race/class specific items that work in harmony with class specializations, additional levels of specializations once a character gains proficiency and is powerful to attain them.  Dragon Age: Origins begets a traditional candor that retains a modernistic vibe through an adventure that is deep into the history of Thedas to provide players with liveliness in their characters and journey as a Grey Warden.

The only critical problem players will find with Dragon Age: Origins despite a few small problems aside in various combat glitches comes in the form of no online component. While BioWare has made a large role-playing game, once all the classes are played through and done with, the replayability of Dragon Age: Origins slightly dwindles down. Glitches come in the form of combat rarely and popping/tearing is present at some points in both console versions minus the PC versions. Additional problems presents itself through the way the characters level up. Most of the time levelling is not-repetitive, but the small rewards by gaining experience with either three attribute points or the possibility of a new skill point makes it a little more difficult to advance than normal. Dragon Age: Origins looks past all of these small inconveniences through other gameplay venues and makes them just a minor.

Dragon Age: Origins gives a reason for players to experience the lands of Thedas and the far reaches of the various characters in the outskirts of the countryside. The cultivated character progression provides more of strength to the dark fantasy tale as a role-playing game and the epitome of variety in the hundreds of quests with different outcomes and decisions effectuates a journey that is always the best outcome for the different choices players will make. Dragon Age: Origins shows a lot of promise and delivers on everything it sets out to accomplish by showing anyone that it is not simply a brawler and there is more to the world. There is more to the world of Thedas where violence and strife pillage the lands, and there is a level of something still unexplored in the chasms of the traditional elements. There is more that Dragon Age: Origins reveals, rather surprises us with by providing a new realization to the word “traditional,” and revealing this throughout a tale where the journey is never as simple as it seems.