Mass Effect 2 - Fight for the Lost

I’m a huge fan of Sci-Fi RPG’s. When Mass Effect 1 1^st came out to PC and Xbox 360, I was pretty much excited.. I got even more crazed out when I heard the Bioware was developing the game. Bioware is known for making Top-Class RPG’s such as Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. When I heard About Mass Effect 2 last year, I got excited more than I felt on Mass Effect 1 last 2008. Then Last January, Mass Effect 2 were on the store shelves on every game store and I immediately bought the game eventhough we are on a tight budget.

The Illusive Man

Mass Effect 2’s story features the events after Saren and the Reapers were defeated. You still play as Commander Shepard, the fearless leader of Normandy and you have a new breed of enemy known as the Collectors. You’ll be recruited by the Illusive Man leader of Cereberus, a new somewhat corrupted organization who’s after the Collectors. *Spoiler Alert! You need to play this game instead of reading it! Trust me.

Wage war against the Collectors

Graphics,  Gameplay and Sounds:

Mass Effect 2 uses state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 3, the same engine used on Gears of War and Mass Effect 1 although Mass Effect 2 has more updates than the old ones. It still plays like Mass Effect 1, Real-Time Shooter with lots of fire power. Although, this time your weapons don’t rely and Cooling time… instead, your weapon uses ammo/bullets so expect more adrenaline action throughout the game, reloading makes the game more exciting. You’ll have tons of quests which you can earn hundreds of Achievement Points. NPC’s and people around the system are so life-like and very busy plus galaxies and planetary structures are so detailed. Sounds and Musical Scores are superb and Voice acting are Hollywood Driven.

Mass Effect 2 is a must have for your Xbox 360 *nuff said.

Dragon Age Xbox 360

Bioware has done it again. Dragon Age: Origins has got to be one of the longest, epic and enjoyable RPG to date. You can choose from 3 character classes: Warrior, Rogue or Mage. Each class has it’s own story but I didn’t get a chance to finish or play the Rogue class and Mage. Why? I played and finished the game as a Dual-Wielded Warrior for almost 3 months with the total of 50 Hours game time and I have no plans on playing it again anytime soon. This is not a bad thing, for those 3 months of playtime, I never actually any other game besides Dragon Age: Origins. The story telling is excellent, weapons and character customization are addictive, and the side quests feels very rewarding. To make the story short, you’ll get very hooked with Dragon Age: Origins and it will suck you in for months.

Dragon Age Battle

You’ll play as a Grey Warden and protect Ferelden from Darkspawn invasion and the Blight. Along the way, you’ll get to meet other playable characters such as Morrigan, Sten, Wynne and many more. You can customize each of your playable characters, from stats distribution to weaponry. While you progress, you can also customize your character to become a dual class character which can be very useful against the Archdemon ( The big boss of them all, it took me 1 week to kill that sucker ). You can also choose your own path either you become very unlikeable to other people or you become a hero. With these features, Dragon Age: Origins is now considered to be an Open-Ended RPG.

An Ogre!! Shrek can kiss his ass

Graphics are superb, Textures and special effects are excellent although sometimes you’ll experience glitch hiccups when you are in battle. Save game bugs can be troublesome too.

Sounds and voice acting are Bioware’s specialties so we can skip that part.

Gameplay is excellent although controls are quite annoying especially if you are using mages. The PC Version is way better when it comes to controls

All in all Dragon Age: Origins is a must buy for RPG/ Action fans alike. You’ll never regret purchasing this game.

Castlevania: SOTN - Remembering the true nature of games

If you like RPG, Action and side-scrollers then Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ( SOTN ) is the game for you. Upon it’s release, This instant classic Castlevania title ruled the Playstation console for years. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a hybrid of RPG-Action-Sidescroller. You’ll get to use Richter Belmont as your intro character in the game and then Alucard all throughout. Alucard’s equipment roster is fully customizable, you can change your stats by changing and mixing weapon attributes. Just like any RPG’s Alucard’s level go up as you progress through the game, you can reach as high as level 70 – 90 although it will be tedious and dragging as at that level state, you will be ultra strong and indestructable. Castlevania: SOTN is somewhat Open-Ended in a sense that you don’t need to follow quest or linear instructions. You can go anywhere you want in the castle as long as your transformation skills and equipment are complete.

Stop looking at my genitals!!!

You get to battle hundreds of monsters and bosses, some of the enemies came from other Castlevania titles such as medusa heads, skeletons, flea, werewolves, etc….

More stylish vampire than Twilight cast eh? suck that Edward!

The story starts with Richter Belmont – The youngest in the Belmont clan. You are on the hunt for Dracula, and then you’ll get to slay him and then the first story comes to an end. Then you will run off to the Castle as Alucard, Dracula’s son. Your main mission is to destroy the castle but there will be a lot of twist along the way.

Now that's a true artwork

Soundtracks of Castlevania: SOTN are epic and catchy, arrangements are very well orchestrated and elegant. Although Voice acting are overly ugly and cheesy, don’t get me wrong, Alucard really does have that big manly voice, but the script is a piece of crap. Dialogues are ugly.
Despite the short comings on the voice acting, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is still one of the best games out there. The Graphics, Gameplay, and Soundtrack are all close to perfection. If you haven’t played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, then you’re missing half of your life as a gamer. Castlevania: SOTN is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Store. You can play it too on that Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles title for the PSP as a bonus/unlockable game.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Perhaps one of the most exciting game I have played on the Nintendo DS. As an avid fan of the Kingdom Hearts Series ( Except for Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories which sucked big time ), I find this Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as an excellent Action/RPG for a portable console.

This time it's full Roxas

The story plot focuses on Roxas ( Sora’s alter ego ) and the most kept secrets behind Organization XIII. You play as Roxas teamed up with your other Organization XIII bretheren such as Axel, Xion, Xaldin and more. Just like other Kingdom Hearts games, you’ll get to visit different worlds from both Disney and Square-Enix Worlds.

For the Last Time, i'm not that Ninja Assassin Guy!

The graphics looks awesome, well… awesome enough for the Nintendo DS at least. Kindom Hearts is in full 3D mixed up with excellent cut scenes and cartoony special effects. The only bad side here is the slow down issues specifically on massive battle scenes.. oh and the camera angle controls can be a little annoying at times.
The gameplay is pretty much like the PS2 Kingdom Hearts games, Full of action with tons of heart.
Sounds are the same minus the conversation voice acting.. there’s nothing much here.
My bottomline is just, Kingdom Hearts in an excellent handheld game, one of the best DS games I played so far anyway. The fans of the series cannot miss this one out, if you are looking for a perfect reason to get a Nintendo DS… well here it is. Welcome to KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days.

Rune Factory 2 - Harvest Moon

This is definitely better than the first version. It may take a few months to finish this game if you are a first timer at RPG games. You may also get bored if you don’t have any interest in farming. Although there are other tasks to do too, such as weapon forging, harvesting supplies from your pet monsters and meeting and communicating to other NPC’s found in the game. Other events include festivals about nature and animals plus a chance to marry and have a kid. Rune Factory 2 is not your typical RPG where you only have to battle monsters from different places in the map. You can also learn a lot about how a farmer lives and even cook food during the course of the game. But it is also rewarding when it comes to the harvests that you gain from your farm and the delicious food you will be able to cook – in the game of course!

Mass Effect for Xbox 360

Are you into Sci-Fi games? Do you like the TV series Battlestar Galactica? Well, Mass Effect is for you. Bioware’s Mass Effect is an Open World Space Science Fiction RPG. Forget click and slash RPG elements, in Mass Effect you get to play it in Real Time Combat. Instead of pausing the game and planning your attack, you get to use, aim and shoot your gun to kill your enemies.

Graphics are superb, 3D rendering and level terrain textures are well polished although sometimes some objects tends to be a little bit too shiny. Lighting and explosions are well fitted for a Sci-Fi game, character models and other objects are well textured as well.

Mass Effect Screenshot

Sounds are excellent. Gunshots and grenades will make your room like a real time battlefield. Mass Effect is known for excellent sound and music arrangements mixed with good voice acting.

The Story is no doubt the best part of the game. Like I said before, this is a Sci Fi game, if you liked Battlestar Galactica, you will love Mass Effect even more. The story revolves around the protagonist John Shepard and the traitor Saren. You will have to go explore the whole universe, eliminate Saren and save all species. In your journey, you will also find excellent crew members and get to play each of their stories as well.

Mass Effect is Bioware’s Masterpiece and one of 2008’s Top Games for the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows. Mass Effect 2 is coming on Q1 2010, be sure to play and finish this game first.

Fallout 3

Your mission is to help your father to restore the cleanliness and purity of the water supply (A.K.A Project Purity) and bring Washington D.C. in order again.

Graphics are not as great as Crysis but that doesn’t get in the way at all, it’s not an explosive Sci-Fi action anyway so graphics didn’t bother us that much. 8800GT is enough to bring out the real graphics of Fallout 3 and it’s enough to impress us with it’s graphical power and presentation.
When it comes to the gameplay itself… It’s a no brainer that you will spend months playing Fallout 3, i mean everything you can imagine in a game are all here… Customize your skills and weapons, get drugged, kill anyone at anytime, become a good samaritan or a purely evil madman, go to any place and of course the ever popular and very reliable V.A.T.S (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) where you can pause the game and target the enemy’s vital points – This V.A.T.S thing can be very useful and enjoyable as well… all of this features can get you playing for hours and months. Every hardcore gamers out there should definitely play Fallout 3!
Sounds are definitely amazing. Old school music (and i mean like Frank Sinatra type of music) can be heard throughout the game, the twist may seem a bit odd due to it’s futuristic setting but it fits perfectly for Fallout. Guns, Grenades and Nuke explosions are heart pounding. Sounds in this game is simply perfect as well..
What about the gore factor you asked? Fallout 3 is all about Gore! Blood and body parts are everywhere in this game. Be sure to have a Bloody Mess perk to bring out total Blood Bath!
Let’s put it this way… If you want a real game for your unit and shelf, BUY FALLOUT 3!!!