Fall/Winter videogame lineup

[berniebrewer4life]

Well I must say MW2 is the coolest first person shooter I've ever played. I thought the original Halo set a new bench mark, then the original Gears of War but this game is the most customizable and most fun I've had playing in Multiplayer. In fact the online play has been so fun I haven't even touched the campaign yet.

The campaign is a little short(i think i beat it in 4 hours or so), but absolutely breathtaking. I'm hooked on the multiplayer myself.

[Hammer]

I have been playing the heck out of the multiplayer COD MW2 as well. I saw a guy w/ the name of brewers123 this morning and thought "hmm, I wonder if he is on Brewerfan?". My name is my_great_shot and am always up for a game or two if you need another player...(if my clan isn't together at the time).

[dabrew141]

im on MW2 on 360 alottttt. my xbox live tag is jugs141 if anyone wants just friend me we can play

[logan82]

I finished Dragon Age over the weekend. Somewhere around 45 hours on a mage playthrough. Mages can really dish out the damage, especially once you get the top tier fire , blizzard or lightning spells. I didn't think the ending was very long. On the other hand, the credits went on for almost half an hour I think. I just started a new game as a rogue noble. I will probably play all the way through with a rogue and then play through the rest of the origin stories. I might play all the way through with a warrior, maybe. You keep any specializations learned on any subsequent playthrough. You can also buy a book to learn a specialization, use it an drevert to a previous save. You specialization will still be unlocked, but you will have your money back.

 

I played through on hard. While the game wasn't very difficult, you would die very quickly if you walked into a large group of enemies without having a plan.

 

Forgot to add, very very good game although your choices seem to have only minimal consequences.

[endaround]

It depends on the choice. Some have huge consequences.

 

I finished a rogue human playthrough at about 80 hours.

[logan82]

You can lose party members or towns I guess that would be major. Other than Wynn, most of the party members are interchangeable. Wynn can even be replaced if you plan with Morrigan early enough. There really isn't a need to return to towns except for side quests so wiping out a whole town doesn't hurt much. I found the armies you can call to help of minimal value in the final few stages. I have not played as an elf or dwarf yet so maybe people have different reactions to those races. Maybe it has some effect at the Landsmeet. I will see as I wiped out the forest village. Right now the only consequence seem to be one of my team being a little upset(which means little as ally you have to do is buy them something nice) and I no longer have an easy source of elfroot.

[TheCrew07]

You played through the final battle on Hard without using the armies? Seriously? It probably took me 10 attempts to do the arch demon on hard as I didn't have the optimum group setup as I just used the ballistas exclusively when I beat it on normal. I was down to 8 of the 12 total mages by the end with every other force wiped completely out. With a similar group concept as I eventually had to use for Gaxkang and the High Dragon it would have went much better but I had too many melee characters and lost my best tank and all his gear to a decision right before the fight. I should have used Shale but it didn't occur to me until just now.

 

edut, Or did you play through on hard during your second play through with the same character because I can see where having all those extra levels would be a great advantage.

[logan82]

I did use the armies, just not much. I played on the 360 not PC so it may have been easier. It was my first play through. Mages do TONS of damage. A lot of the time I would drop one of the mage's large AoE spells(Blizzard, Inferno, Tempest) where the enemies would come through. That would weaken them enough that a hit or two would kill them off. If I got swarmed by a large group I could use Cone of Cold to freeze them all and get some space. The only real use I had for the armies was when I was fighting the archdemon and just outside the Fort Drakon where, I can't remember exactly what was there but I think it was mages and archers. After I got the demon down halfway, I called an army to keep the minions off my back so I could focus on the archdemon. Things were not tough as long as the enemies would come to me.

 

I had Leliana along to open chests and do some chip damage, Wynn to heal the part members and Allistar to keep enemies off me. I put Allistar in the Dragon Scale armor(complete set gives something like 75% resistance to fire) so I could drop the Inferno spell without hurting him much. Mages do crazy damage.

 

edit: I should add that I used Fireball if a large group was charging. Knocks everybody in the area down and does a good amount of damage. I put almost all my points into Magic and only enough into the others like cunning so I could get skills and such. Honestly 2-3 hits and my mage was going down. If my mage got frozen or stunned, it was all over but the reloading.

[reags24]

Just finished it as a Dalish Rogue specialized as a Ranger/Duelist and really like the combo. Maxed out all of the archery/Ranger talents and then dropped a couple into the Dual weapon/Duelist, so my character was really versatile. The creatures you can summmon, once you get them to the highest level, allow you to do crazy dps or even off-tank if need be. Your character can just sit back, pick people off, or jump into the fray and backstab the crap out of people. Really liked it because whatever you felt like doing attackwise, you could. Kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none

 

Really liked the game the first time through and I am working a new character, but not sure how much will change on the second run. I was too nice to people with my first character, maybe I will go through and do everything possible to get money and screw the world over http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/devil.gif

[logan82]

Holy crap Mass Effect 2 has quite a nice list of voice talent. Link

 

Bioware sent out the celebrity cast list for Mass Effect 2 this morning, which features several gaming industry mainstays, returning actors, and even a bona fide star or two.

Standouts include Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Martin Sheen (The West Wing, Apocalypse Now), who'll play the part of the mysterious commander of the Cerberus paramilitary organization; recent Emmy-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam) as Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay; and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Memento) as planet Omega's ruling crime lord, Aria T'Loak.

Seth Green (Family Guy, Robot Chicken) will reprise his role as Jeff "Joker" Moreau, along with Keith David (Crash, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2), who returns to play Admiral David Anderson. Joining them will be Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Halo 3: ODST), Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica) Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Saints Row 2), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, Halo 3: ODST).

That's a Sheen and a Baldwin (albeit not a genuine Baldwin) marked off on our checklist. We're just one Coppola short of a Hollywood dynasty bingo.

[TheCrew07]

I can't wait for ME2, though I'm already disappointed by 1 thing that was released in the trailers. Nothing gameplay wise as the game looks fantastic, it's just one of the story elements struck me as a "boo!" and I keep hoping it was just a dream sequence or alternate ending of some sort. The new companion characters look great though to go with the old guard and of course I want to see my character in Dragon Age armor!

 

I'm eagerly awaiting the game to say the least.

 

I played through DA as a warrior and a rogue so far, I didn't realize how much of the story I missed the first time, and it's a much quicker play through now that I'm skipping the dialog, as cool as voice over is, it certainly adds a significant amount of time to the gameplay as the dialog and cut scenes tend to be fairly long. The definitely add to the immersion factor of the game though, generally I don't "feel" anything when playing a video game but I was actually nervous during certain parts of the game. I do love the game though, and I'm hoping SWTOR carries through many of the same elements.

[bjkrautk]

I can't wait for ME2, though I'm already disappointed by 1 thing that was released in the trailers. Nothing gameplay wise as the game looks fantastic, it's just one of the story elements struck me as a "boo!" and I keep hoping it was just a dream sequence or alternate ending of some sort. The new companion characters look great though to go with the old guard and of course I want to see my character in Dragon Age armor!

 

I'm eagerly awaiting the game to say the least.

The thing that I'm interested in seeing in ME 2 - and it's more something that I'll witness through other people talking about their experiences - is just how dynamic the game really is to the choices the player makes. In the BioWare games I've played, the custom experience based on character decisions never live to the promise. Yes, there's an indicator in the menus showing whether you're a paragon or renegade, light jedi or dark jedi, etc....but the game still pushes you through essentially the same story elements regardless of how you play. If you're a goody-two-shoes or a d-bag to the people around you in Mass Effect, the events of the endgame don't change.

 

(I haven't played DA yet, but my understanding is that the game's origin stories are separate, but that the game beyond the origins push you through substantially the same content. Feel free to enlighten me if that is not the case.)

 

The promise of ME 2 is that the way you played ME 1 will be reflected in the playthrough of the sequel. Whether those differences will truly affect the playthrough (beyond the availablity of individual characters who may not have survived through the first game, and the words coming out of the character's mouth), is the challenge they have yet to fullfil. Until the game separates out the paths, and forces the character to make different kinds of decisions based on the path they have undertaken....the layers of 'choice' that BioWare presents will remain illusory.

 

 

Also, you shouldn't give players the option to hook up with blue, alien chick if a character modeled after Yvonne Strahovski is going to be made available in the sequel.

[reags24]

*** DA Semi-spoiler below (maybe)

 

I think the choices you make may have an affect at the final little wrap-up at the end, but not sure as I have only completed the game once. Essentially, when you complete the game there is a paragraph on each rach/group you come in contact with through-out the game and what happens to them after your story ends. Specific choices you do make are mentioned in some of these wrap-up stories, but not sure if that is a result of those choices only. Or as a culmination of those choices, as well as the other smaller choices you have made interacting with those groups.

 

Either way it is not all that satisfying. I was hoping for more immediate responses like: You give a person in need 100 gold in the beginning of the game and then you run into that same person later in another part of the game and that 100 gold you gave them opens up a new path that would not have been there before.

 

Maybe, I am asking for too much.

[TheCrew07]

Wow that would be a complex game but that's the way SWTOR is supposed to work, the MMO they are developing, TOR is supposed to have forks in the road in regards to the story and character development. In DA there are minor changes to the story based on different choices, but it's essentially the same. I'm playing through as the bad guy this time so I'm curious what happens, but in the end the main story elements will stay the same as you still need to end the blight I would think.

 

Rolling a different char presents somewhat different quests as you progress through the game but the main story line does stay intact. As a warrior there were quests around the world I didn't get as a rogue, but the rogue got quests I hadn't experienced as a warrior and so on, and of course many of the other side quests were exactly the same.

[endaround]

Spoiliers!!!

 

The end depends upon a lot of things that no one has quite soused fully out that I'm aware of yet. It depends upon what choices you made during the game for each region, not just who you side with but other things as well (ie establishing the chantry in Orzammar), the choices you make at the Landsmeet, your decision with Morrigan, your decision on the final blow, the boon you can ask for, what you decide to do afterwards, who you romance, etc.

 

As a human noble your treated as such by those who should know you. I've also made a female elf mage andreactions are different. I get treated as an elf and often assumed to be a servant. As a female I also got an entirely new conversation with Sten.

[logan82]

I'm playing through as the bad guy this time so I'm curious what happens, but in the end the main story elements will stay the same as you still need to end the blight I would think.

 

The main story stays pretty much the same. You can lose companions if you are a real jerk to them or make certain decisions. There are enough choices for companions that you can work around that though.

 

My mage was Arcane Warrior/Spirit healer although I really didn't use Arcane Warrior for much other than the ability to wear real armor without penalty.

 

Strength 15

Dexterity 15 +2

Willpower 33 +2

Magic 67 +2

Cunning 17

Constitution 16 +10

 

My Rogue was assassin/??. I think I whould have put more points into cunning and less into dexterity.

 

Strength 28 +6

Dexterity 56 +17

Willpower 16 +6

Magic 12 +6

Cunning 37 +11

Constitution 13 +18

 

I didn't get the full effect I could out of my characters from their specialties, but I really didn't have to.

 

 

Looks like they are releasing a sequel to The Force Unleashed.

[TheCrew07]

Well I just finished the game on Hard with a Mage, I beat every single major encounter the first time, talk about trivializing the game... my goodness. I just cycled through my area effect spells, stuns, and knockdowns... the boss fights were incredibly easy, everything was easy. I see now why posters on so many forums thought the game was so easy, playing through with a melee character is a vastly different experience, and playing through as a melee I didn't fully appreciate the power of the spell casters.

[nate82]

For those interested Gamestop is currently having a 40-60% sale on some of their video games. Noticed that Dragon Ages Origins for the PS3 is at $49.99. Link

[logan82]

$10 for a future purchase as well. Amazon has DA:O PS3/Xbox360 for $45 with free whipping and no tax. Amazon has had some pretty good deals on games for a few months now.

 

I added "winter" to the title since there seem to be a few good games coming out by early March in 2010. Most notably Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. I also have some interest in Army of Two: The 40th Day and Crackdown 2. The original Crackdown was a lot of fun especially after you powered up your agent to leap tall buildings.

[mothershipconnection]

I just bought a 360 on Monday and have thus completed the trifecta of current generation consoles. Time to buy games. Luckily, gamefly is running some sweet end of the year deals on used games right now.

[nate82]

I just bought a 360 on Monday and have thus completed the trifecta of current generation consoles. Time to buy games. Luckily, gamefly is running some sweet end of the year deals on used games right now.

I love gamefly but lately they haven't been coming back as quickly as before. I guess it is due to the Holiday season that they are not coming back as fast.

[Viva La Grinch]

I just got done with the gamefly deal. Picked up Red Faction, Street Fighter IV, Ghostbusters and Resident Evil 5 for $14.99 or less. Figure the price of those four is less then a new game.

 

For you baseball fans, 2k9 is $6.99 and MLB The Show is $9.99 if you need some summer fun while you are snowed in this week.

 

List of Gamefly deals for all platforms

[mothershipconnection]

I'm not a Gamefly member, I just buy their used games. One thing to be wary of, though, is that they switched from USPS to Fedex when shipping used games. Sounds OK, but they require signature for delivery. Makes it a pain in the butt when you're at work all day. They told me to go pick the package up at the office 48 miles away. I politely told them that they'll just come back after 6:00 someday, and they did. I ain't driving 96 miles to save 10 bucks on video games. Off on a tangent, UPS is way better than Fedex.

[stoutdude04]

So I received DA for xmas. Too bad I got it for xbox. I dont own an xbox.

[logan82]

That sucks stoutdude. Hopefully you can exchange it for a version you can play on a different platform. Some Wal Marts will exchange without a receipt.

 

I wish I could joint the all 3 console club. At this point though, even if I had the money I wouldn't really feel compelled to get a PS3. They have some really nice games, but I am getting by fine without. Most of the best games are multiplatform anymore anyway. The only reason I would want a PS3 is for MLB The Show. $360 seems a bit excessive for one game.

 

There is a rumor going around about a full expansion for DA:O coming out in March. Sounds like it might be around $30-$40. I have the Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep DLC. I don't really feel like either was worth the money. I don't think they were a total ripoff, but neither added much gameplay even if you did Shale's personal quest. Of course I got The Stone Prisoner free since I bought the special edition. Kotaku 1up