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Categories: Internets
Tags: big bang theory, su2c, xbox live

Stand Up To Cancer

Stand Up to Cancer and Microsoft Join Together with “The Big Bang Theory’s” Jim Parsons

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Categories: Review
Tags: dlc, mass effect, rpg, xbox 360

Mass Effect’s second and final DLC was quietly released on Aug 25, 2009, almost two years after the game launched. Like Bring Down the Sky, this episode can only be played after you have access to the Galaxy Map and before the story hits the point of no return (Ilos). It retails at 400 MS points ($5 US), adds 150 points to your gamerscore and offers a few hours of entertainment.

Pinnacle Station is a new location in the Phoenix system of the Argos Rho cluster. Once a turian command center, it’s now headed by Alliance Admiral Ahern for advanced combat training. Think of it as Mass Effect’s holodeck equivalent. Here Commander Shepard can prove his skills by reaching the number one spot on the various combat simulation leaderboards.

Capture, Survival, Hunt and Time Trial are the four modes of gameplay fought in subterranean, volcanic, tropical and warehouse arenas. Similar to what you might find in a multiplayer game, these simulations are less compelling in a single-player RPG.

Survival – endless waves of enemies – works the best, welcoming different playing styles and combinations of biotic and combat abilities. Hunt and Time Trial – both focused on killing enemies as fast as possible – are less effective, especially since Hunt requires convenient enemy spawns. Capture – hitting three or four checkpoints – is the least well designed since it relies purely on memorizing the map.

I always thought Mass Effect had a crude, but effective, combat engine and Pinnacle Station reinforces this belief. There’s fun to be had here, but sluggish gunplay and teammates who can’t keep up with Shepard’s pace add unwelcome complications. Overall, this expansion seems poorly balanced. I took on Saren in Insane Difficulty, but the basic simulations had me reaching for the “I’m too Young To Die” setting.

Ultimately, it fails to offer an essential Mass Effect experience, but the final simulation and its reward make this expansion worth muscling through for completists.

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Categories: Review
Tags: adventure, ds, nintendo, professor layton, puzzle

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS
Released: August 24, 2009
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 9.6/10In their second outing, Professor Layton and Apprentice Luke explore not one, but two curious villages as well as the curious train that connects them. This time they’re on the trail of the Elysian Box, a cursed object that kills whoever opens it. It’s most recent victim? Professor Layton’s mentor, Dr. Schrader.

If you’ve played the first game, you’ll recognize the game’s structure. Resembling a point-and-click adventure, you navigate around a map by tapping your stylus on a series of mostly static screens. Populating these screens are villagers who fill-in their locale’s backstory and challenge you with puzzles.

The Professor Layton games collect brain teasers and plug them into a framework of overarching mysteries. Want to find someone’s home? You’ll have to decipher clues they’ve left you. Need to explore a mine? You’ll have to deal with wiring issues. Combine this with a whimsical art style, solid voice acting, beautiful music, and gorgeous animation and you have a charming game.

Diabolical Box is packed with puzzles. Puzzle master Akira Tago combines original puzzles with reworked classics: the towers of Hanoi are now pancakes which must carefully be served; a slider puzzle contains an important key. You may remember some puzzle-types from the previous game, but none of this entry’s puzzles are an outright copy.

Even if this game were a retread of Curious Village, I would have no problem recommending it, but Level-5 has added some fun new features. Apprentice Luke creates a sandbox obstacle course for his overweight hamster. Professor Layton brews tea for picky villagers. Building a camera leads to spot-the-difference camera puzzles.

With over 20 hours invested, I’ve completed the story mode and beaten most of the 138 puzzles in the core game. However, I’ve barely touched Layton’s Challenges and haven’t downloaded any of the weekly puzzles. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out how many hops it takes a frog to get to his home.

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Categories: Review
Tags: eat lead, matt hazard, neil patrick harris, nph, shooter, will arnett, xbox 360

Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
Developer: Vicious Cycle Software
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Platform: Xbox 360 (also PS3)
Released: Feb. 26, 2009
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 5.9/10A funny thing happened after I gave myself permission to stop playing Eat Lead; I started enjoying it. This is when I encountered Altos Tratus, a towering JRPG-style character who’s the endboss of the Fraggmee Warehouse level. In addition to having a clever name, this boss is one of the best JRPG parodies outside of College Saga. And while I was amused all along by the Wafferthinn troops (2D German soldiers), when I hit the Wolfenstein 3D level I thought the game was finally hitting its stride. Only it was far too late.

Matt Hazard is the legendary Marathon character who hit the big time in the 8-bit days. Since then his career has taken a downward trajectory. Hoping to pull himself up from flops like Haz-Matt Carts, Matt is entering the “next-gen” era, but Marathon owner Wallace “Wally” Wellesley has other ideas. Wally hopes to pull off a twist by killing Matt in his own game setting up Sting Sniperscope as Marathon’s new golden boy.

Eat Lead is a third-person shooter built around the concept that Matt Hazard is a self-aware game character who’s trying to avoid death at the hands of Marathon’s programmers. What would be straight forward levels are turned on their head as programmers rewrite the game while you play it. A single level can shift between a Western saloon, a Russian nightclub and a Soviet missile base. Enemies armed with Super Soakers will attack you alongside space marines while you hear the moans of approaching zombies.

While this sounds like Left 4 Dead’s AI Director gone rogue, the end result is that one generic setting is exchanged for another. There are some good set pieces: a multistage sniper sequence finds you providing cover for Bill the Wizard and fighting zombies on a tennis court is original, but most of the levels are unmemorable.

The variety of enemies leads to some interesting weapon drops. You can soak zombies to death or turn a pair of Six-Shooters on some Nazis or take on space marines with your trusty Hazard Pistol. The enemies themselves don’t have a robust AI, but there’s enough of them to make the game surprisingly challenging – and some of the boss battles are downright unfair.

Of course the real challenge comes from multiplayer — not that it has multiplayer, but you get an Achievement for it anyway. But this is a game where you earn an Achievement for pressing start. It’s all part of the sense of humor which carries the game. Will Arnett voices Matt Hazard and he does a great job capturing the meta nature of the character. Neil Patrick Harris has less to work with as Wally, but it’s still NPH.

Much like 2004’s The Bard’s Tale, Eat Lead forgets gaming clichés are fun to point out, but annoying to play through. If a little less effort was put into being funny and more effort put into being fun, this would be a game worth recommending.

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Categories: Review
Tags: dlc, force unleashed, star wars, tatooine, xbox 360

The opening crawl calls it “A Fragile Hope,” but that’s probably too optimistic. Branching off The Force Unleashed’s alternate ending, this expansion puts Starkiller in charge of finding the Death Star plans. If you thought things were bad when Vader was around, remember that Starkiller was the one who Force-pulled a Star Destroyer out of orbit.

After a darker version of Star Wars’s opening shot, players take control of a Tusken Raider clad Starkiller who’s searching Tatooine for a certain astromech droid. Seeking information at Jabba’s Palace, Starkiller’s mission is complicated by Jabba’s machinations and the arrival of Slave I. Later, he picks up the trail at Mos Eisley which leads to a surprising boss battle.

In terms of length and level design, Tatooine isn’t better than the previous expansion (Jedi Temple). The add-on, once again, only adds 30 minutes of gameplay and you basically run in a straight line until you reach the end. For 800 MS Points ($10), players deserve more – however, there’s a lot to be said for fanboy appeal.

Punting Jawas and choking Gamorrean guards never gets old and the obligatory showdown against Boba Fett works really well. Even if you’re expecting the endboss, you’ll find some surprises. Unlike the boss fights in the core game, the Tatooine add-on makes good use of the camera and provides more interactive settings for the battles. Less impressive is Jabba’s Palace, which seems more like a prison, and the fact that while reaching Mos Eisley should mark the game’s halfway point, it signifies the end.

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Categories: Internets
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Blogging in a Twitter World
Overall my blogging was down, but my tweeting (@GameCouch) was up. I think this is part of a larger trend. If I’m looking for thoughtful conversation about games, I go to Twitter. It’s also my source for news and a great way to see a quick snapshot of the gaming world’s psyche. If you’re looking for community, Twitter’s the place to go. Some quick recommendations not found on my outdated People to follow on Twitter: bsangel, 8bithack, trixie360, and CorvusE.

The Biggest Story
The Rape Game, my take on the RapeLay/Amazon controversy, drew the most views, thanks largely to Leigh Alexander including it in RapeLay: The Response.

The Second Biggest Story
I understand why unique content gets a lot of traffic, but I was surprised that so many people came here looking for information about The Force Unleashed: Jedi Temple DLC. Doesn’t IGN cover stuff like this?

The Story I Wish Had Been Bigger
When a friend spotted Game Couch in a psychology newsletter, I was hoping for another flood of traffic to my interview with Grand Theft Childhood co-author Dr. Cheryl K. Olson. Instead it was just an aftershock from the 2008 piece.

Cool People
Rebecca Mayes, Audio Gamer
Video game reviews in song? I was intrigued. Since then Rebecca has exploded and now Rebecca Mayes Muses is a major part of The Escapist.

Howard Sherman, Interactive Fiction Author
What do ebook readers mean for gaming? I asked Howard Sherman, the madman behind Malinche about Interactive Fiction on the Kindle.

Beth Gallaway, Information Goddess
Beth exists in the intersection between gaming and libraries. Buy her book: Game On!

We Are They
This lead came via Jamie Sanders (VNES). They’re a cool band and I still love the pirate song. Don’t know how the Wii contest ever turned out.

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Categories: Review
Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon age, rpg, shale, xbox 360

The Stone Prisoner add-on ostensibly costs $15.00 (1200 MS Points), but every retail release of the game has a free promotional code for this expansion which adds Shale, a stone golem to your party.

Shale is so well integrated into the game, it’s impossible to imagine it without him. Bitter after spending years trapped as a statue in the village of Honnleath, Shale brings a loathing of organics not seen in a game since HK-47’s antipathy towards meatbags in Knights of the Old Republic.

Shorter than other golems, Shale is still a big stone brute. His strength and constitution mark him as a tank, but he has a devastating ranged attack and works well as a support character. Unable to use weapons and armor, Shale’s power is amplified by crystals found around Ferelden — similar to the game’s enchantments.

In addition to getting a fully realized character with the same amount of dialogue — both player prompted and party member interactions — as preexisting characters, Shale is an invaluable part of any Orzammar exploration.

Though $15 is steep, The Stone Prisoner is more than your typical side quest DLC. Shale is one of Dragon Age: Origins most memorable characters and a valuable addition to your party.

Note: According to BioWare, The Stone Prisoner is “not available as a separate download for the Mac version of Dragon Age: Origins.”

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Categories: Review
Tags: bioware, dragon age, rpg, xbox 360

Dragon Age: Origins
Developer: BioWare Edmonton
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PC, PS3, and Mac)
Released: November 3, 2009
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 9.0/10We always see fantasy worlds at their worst. Ferelden, the setting for Dragon Age: Origins, is no different. The darkspawn have again arisen from the underworld to spread their Blight. Once more the Grey Wardens assembled an army to crush them, but this time the confrontation ends disastrously — to the extent that the rightful leadership of Ferelden is now in question.

As one of the remaining Grey Wardens, it falls on you to end the Blight. Doing so will require unifying a country on the brink of civil war and convincing the dwarves, elves and mages to honor ancient treaties. How did you get to be so lucky?

Answering that question is one of Dragon Age’s strengths. After character creation — matching an elf, human or dwarf with fighting, thieving or magic using abilities — you begin your adventure along one of six paths. Whether starting as an apprentice in the Circle of Magi or running errands for Orzammar’s shadier citizens as a casteless dwarf, you get to explore your background before moving on to the esteemed ranks of the Grey Wardens.

Showcasing your origin story sets the tone for your character, and the choices you make here have ramifications throughout the entire game. This also makes replaying the game more palatable by bypassing the early level repetition of most RPGs. Even if you tend not to replay games, it’s worth exploring some of the other origins — side characters in one storyline are major characters in another and something as simple as a skeleton in a prison can take on poignant meaning.

After going from rookie to last, best hope, the game loses its rails and opens the world map to you. Here you travel by clicking on a location and watching the meandering path your party takes – punctuated by random encounters and scripted events (combat!).

Dragon Age: Origins uses a real time battle system. While you can switch between the four party members to micromanage them in combat, it isn’t required. Each character has several default profiles (which balance aggression against self preservation), but you can tweak the profiles to get the responses you want.

It’s an amazing level of control ranging from simply telling characters to heal themselves to ordering one of your fighters to drop everything and stun the enemy attacking you. It’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s also the game’s best feature.

While your party is doing what you’ve programmed to do, your own actions depend on your character type. On my first playthrough, I was a rogue who lured enemies into traps before picking them off one by one. The second time around I was a mage who launched fireballs into crowds and summoned blizzards to freeze my enemies. Customization extends beyond the three main classes with specializations you can learn. Fighters, for instance, can range from noble Templars to demonic Reavers.

Overall, I was impressed with Origins’ controls. Most of your character’s abilities can be mapped to the face buttons and lesser used abilities and inventory are easily accessed from a radial menu which — thankfully — pauses the action. Although the combat is real time, I found it often required a level of strategy reserved for turn-based games. And it helps to maintain that tactical level of thinking, even when an ogre lifts your character off the ground and starts pummeling him.

Unlike Bethesda’s RPGs which are exploration-driven, BioWare’s are quest-driven. I prefer the immersive feeling of Cyrodiil, with its day/night cycles and Radiant AI-powered NPCs, but none of Dragon Age’s 60-hour play time is consumed by simply walking from one town to another or stopping to enjoy a sunset over a lake. Every area in Dragon Age is packed with content and filled with dialogue.

I was amazed at how quickly events could turn, based on my conversations. While recruiting the Circle of Magi, I reloaded an earlier save after a poor choice of words led my party to go Order 66 on them. Yes, Alistair, even the younglings.

Gathering elves, dwarves and men to face the forces of darkness may sound a bit Lord of the Rings to you, but Dragon Age earns points for its focus on Fellowship. As you progress through the game, you gain followers. Each character has a different motivation for joining with you and not all of them are there willingly.

Instead of opting for the traditional good/evil meter, Dragon Age tracks how much your party members like you. On the surface, good actions make them like you more, evil actions less – but Dragon Age throws significant moral quandaries your way and you’ll find that you can’t keep everyone happy. I’ve had party members abandon me, challenge me in combat and betray me.

Of course there’s also love. Taking an interest in someone’s life, giving them gifts and fulfilling their wishes (side-quests) may lead to romantic opportunities. I’m talking about sex – or what passes for sex. It’s really a short montage of partially clothed erotic (or homoerotic) poses. A minute later and you’re ready to hit the road again.

Dragon Age: Origins has amazing music (composed by legendary Inon Zur) and ambient audio brings life to environments which are visually stagnant. If you find yourself emotionally affected by the game’s events, it’s due to the superb voice acting. The cast is literally a who’s who of notable voice actors and almost feels like a Star Trek: Voyager reunion. The amount of dialogue in the game is stunning, both in terms of writing and delivery.

Graphically, the game is a disappointment. Textures are muddy. Environments are lifeless. Faces are unexpressive. And there is no convincing facial hair anywhere in the game. Now I’m not usually a graphics whore, but since BioWare elevated digital acting with Mass Effect, I came to Dragon Age with high expectations. Main characters have their beards sink into their chests. Armor digs into characters’ heads during conversations. Characters will be spattered in blood for no reason and will appear in several different outfits during a single cutscene. Most egregious is a major cinematic at game’s end which is so poorly compressed it’s like watching something on YouTube. It comes down to a lack of polish.

This lack of polish carries over to an overly complicated menu system which keeps poor track of quests and an ever expanding codex. You shouldn’t have to hit three different tabs to find all the information you need on a quest. With the level of content in the game, bugged quests are expected but I was happy with the overall stability in the game and the fact that game breaking bugs were rarely encountered.

Swap Grey Wardens for Spectres, darkspawn for the geth, and the Dalish longbow for the HMWA VII Assault Rifle and you might wonder what BioWare is doing here that they didn’t do in Mass Effect.

What they’ve done is reworked the party dynamic so your fellow adventurers are more than mindless followers. They’ve given gamers a compelling reason to visit and revisit the game by offering multiple starting points and a wealth of paths to explore in-game. And they’ve taken what could be a generic fantasy setting and infused it with hundreds of years of its own history. Dragon Age: Origins is another impressive example of BioWare’s world-building even if the world feels unfinished. Let’s call it a Large Flawed Ice Crystal.