Top 10 Anticipated Games of 2010 Follow-Up

Well since we are starting into August, I thought it was high time to do a bit of a follow-up to the list I did at the beginning of the year on the CWTC blog regarding my most anticipated games of 2011. I outlined 10 games slated for release this year, and why it was I was looking forward to them. Now that the year is a bit more than half over, let’s see what kind of progress we have made on that list I put together back in December. In addition to that, I am including a mini demo review of a game that while it didn’t make my personal top 10, it was one that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for.

11. Demo Review- Duke Nukem Forever

This game has been a long time coming. Twelve years in fact, stuck in development hell and passed around from developer to developer. Now it’s here. I know the full game is out now, but I am going from the demo, which I played at my sister’s the other day. Let me say, I’m not impressed. Welcome to yet another modern first person shooter, to join the countless ranks already present. Well, this one is a little different. It’s incredibly crude and juvenile. If you’re looking for crude humor that’s got some wit to it, this is not your game. This is middle-school, sniggering teenage boy in sex ed humor. I didn’t have high hopes for the game when it begins with you having the option to use a urinal, or fling feces if you’re inclined. Sorry Duke, I’m not sure it was worth the wait. Give it a try if you’re a fan, but if you’re not, I’d say skip it.

10. Max Payne 3

Much like poor Duke Nukem above, this game has been rumoured and floating around for years. Unlike Duke Nukem, we’re still waiting to see if Max will get a third instalment. Apparently the game is still in development, but who knows when, if it ever, gets released. So we’ll have to see.

9. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This one we are still waiting on, as it is scheduled for Q4 of this year. Also, I’m still without a Wii console, so that might make things tricky.

8. Batman: Arkham City

I’m sure the Cynic and/or I will let you all know how this one is when it comes out in October. Until then, there is a five-issue comic arc that connects this to the first game written by Paul Dini (for anyone not in the know, the writer from Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the first game and much, much more). If we can get our hands on said comics, I’m sure the Cynic will let you all know how they are.

7. Marvel vs. Capcom 3

I hate to say it, but this game was rather disappointing. It was bare, with few features to make it stand out, and did not live up to the legacy of the first two games. The art style was pretty cool, using similar graphics to Street Fighter IV, but the lack of play modes really dragged it down. Now apparently there is an ultimate edition coming in November with new character, modes, and stages, stuff which probably should have been in the game to begin with. At least we still have Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (thank you X-Box Live!)

6. Star Wars: The Old Republic

And here I was itching to get back into MMO’s. This game has been pushed back, at least to around Christmas time, although next year wouldn’t surprise me either. So we go back to the waiting game. I guess I’ll just have to be patient about getting my Twi’lek Jedi Guardian. *sigh*

5. Portal 2

Now I should have already played this game. Unfortunately, there was a bunch of moving BS and gaming kind of got pushed to the back burner. Now that things have calmed down, I will try and get my hands on this and see how it is. I’m still very excited for this game, and hopefully can give it a try soon.

4. Mass Effect 3

Everybody who wanted this for Christmas, put it on your Easter lists instead. We’re looking at next March before we get to play our Shepards through the third and final game of the series. While it sucks we have to wait a couple extra months, I believe it will all be worth it in the end. And it gives me a chance to do a few more ME and ME2 run-throughs, not to mention some of that DLC.

3. Diablo III

If I know Blizzard, I’d say don’t expect this anytime soon. Beta testing is projected to begin Q3 of this year. ’Nuff said. Still, very excited, as I recently began playing Diablo II again and I can’t wait for my lady Barbarian so I can wreak havoc.

2. Mortal Kombat

I’ve already written my views on that game, so I’ll reiterate. Holy shit! This is a fighting game. This is what Marvel vs. Capcom 3 should have been. This is Mortal Kombat and fighting games at their finest, no doubt about that. Even Roland loved it, and he’ll still exclaim ‘Kaba!’ whenever he sees something MK related. As soon as we can, this is a definite buy. And to Netherrealm Studios: you guys did a beyond awesome job. Thanks for giving one of my favorite franchises the love it deserves.

1. Dragon Age II

Now this game met with mixed reviews. But I’ve made my opinions perfectly clear. BioWare characters suck me in, the cultures suck me in, and the voice acting is always superb. Really, you don’t need to hear me gush any more.

So there you have it folks, a quick rundown of my anticipated games of this year and how they've turned out so far. Stay tuned for updates as I will talk about the forthcoming games as they are released, or as we get closer to said release dates. Cause really, that's about all we can do.

Until next time!

(Sorry about the lack of pictures. The slow as molasses dial-up internet makes the process almost impossible.)

Demo Reviews: Dragon Age II

After an extra week of waiting I finally got to dig into this demo on Tuesday. Since then, I have played it twice and the Cynic has played it once. Now that it's had time to sink in, let's have a look. As usual, spoilers ahead.
Dragon Age II takes place during and after the events of the first game. You play as Hawke, either male or female, on your quest to become the Champion of Kirkwall, and whatever that entails. As with the first game, you have a slew of companions, some of them romance options, that accompany you on your travels. The difference here is that one of these companions, depending on your class, will be a sibling. You will either have a Carver, a warrior, or Bethany, a mage.


Family!



You are introduced to three other possible companions at this time. First you will meet Varric, a dwarf who also serves as the narrator. He's a rogue that carries a crossbow.

And chesthair.

Next is Aveline, a sword-and-shield tank warrior, who already has a reserve spot in my party, especially after the demo.

Lady Tank FTW!

And finally, some of you might remember Isabela from the first game. Yes, the one with whom you can have a three-or-foursome with that will teach you the Duelist spec. Well, she's back with a spankin' new revamped look for Dragon Age II.

Holy massive boobage, Batman!

I won't get into too many spoilers here, but there are two other returning characters that I'm really excited about. The first is Flemeth, once again magnificently voiced by Kate Mulgrew. She also has a vastly new look from the eccentric old-Wilds woman bit she pulled on our Wardens.

New Flemeth look, but still the same awesome character.

The other is everyone's favorite mage from Awakening (and I'm certainly not talking about Velanna): Anders! I won't get spoilery, but suffice to say, Anders has changed. And I'm so psyched for his story.

Oh, and ladies, this time he's romancable!

Anyways, onto the game itself. I played through twice, as a warrior and a mage (both female). The Cynic played through as a male rogue.

Although why you would when default Lady Hawke is this pretty is beyond me.

The rogue class doesn't really appeal to me, but the Cynic was having fun with it. It's a very acrobatic class, but at least on the demo, the DPS is quite low overall. This is for a very low-level dual wield build, however, and later talents may boost that. My first choice was warrior class, as that is my preference. It's about the same as Origins, only minus the dual-wield talent. The faster and more reactive combat definitely gives this class more flair, and I had a lot of fun with it. Mage is very fun. The same talents are available, now divided into talent trees, but the mage seems more melee now than before. You can actually hit enemies with your staff when they get too close. It's nice to actually have that recourse. The casting of the regular staff bolts is much faster as well, as is casting and cool-down times of other spells. The mage is definitely formidable, and I can't wait to see some of the high-level talents like Blizzard and Chain Lightning out to try. I did get a chance to use Crushing Prison during the demo, and it was gleeful.

As everyone knows, the graphics have been updated for this installment as well. Personally, I like the look. It still looks like Dragon Age, but nicer, if not... pointier. Things are spikier, especially armor. Although some familiar things will be there, although updated; such as the Templar Armor, which seems a little more toned-down this time around. The regular mage robes look nicer, and default Hawke (who you can see in the top pic) is actually wearing mage armor. How is that not exciting? The demo ran smoothly for us, both cinematics and in-game without a problem, and the facial renders during conversations looked very nice.

Onto the gameplay. A lot of things were locked in the demo, like the inventory, the character creator, and such, but it was nice to see that those things were still there. The radial menu was more or less the same, but the map has been separated from the rest of the menu. Not a huge deal, but something to be aware of. The dialogue wheel, which I was against at first after having some surprising responses in Mass Effect, is very well executed. The icons that accompany the responses make things much easier (although it seems to follow the Mass Effect pattern of: Top answer-nice/Paragon, center-sarcastic/ME-neutral, bottom-dickbag/Renegade). But there were no other options such as flirt, so we will have to see when all of that is available as well.

The combat. This was a big thing, the change to the combat. And you know what? I like it. No more shuffling around enemies and allies to get to your target. No more waiting for the character to get in position to use a talent. It's faster, it's fluid, it feels better. You can still play tactics and give orders if you want, or you can hack-n-slash. You can also still switch between party members the same way. There will also be the option for auto-attack in the full game, for anyone who wants it. I greatly enjoyed it, and I'm happy that this was implemented.

The voice acting. Now, this is BioWare, so of course it's going to be good. Your character is now voiced, and I like both the male and female Hawke voices. However, if you wanted a Commander Shepard-type voice for your Lady Hawke, I'm afraid you might be disappointed. Lady Hawke's voice is much more feminine, and it's a nice change, as you wouldn't want your characters to sound too similar to one another (despite the fact I adore FemShep's voice <3). From what I can see, you shouldn't be disappointed by the voice acting.

Did I have any complaints. Maybe just one. The text. I know that console games (yessir, I'm one of those evil, mouth-breathing cretins known as a console player lol) are taking into account the widescreen and high-definition and all that stuff that comes with today's TVs. It just sucks that it results in text been very small on my giant, old tube TV (how archaic!). Although it's not too bad for the most part, and not as bad as Two Worlds II, where part of my screen was actually cut off (thankfully it could be adjusted) because of the aspect ratio setting.

Final thoughts? Well, I only have to make it to next Tuesday before I get my grubby little meathooks on the full game. Until then, PLAY THIS DEMO. I definitely recommend it, and not just because I'm a fangirl. It really is a lot of fun. The world created in these games is an amazing one, and you would not do wrong to give it a try. I give it 4 1/2 hurlocks out of 5.

P.M.S Cooks! Ribs and Potatoes

Hey all, instead of bringing you a Demo Review of Dragon Age II since I can't play it until next week (damn Gold-only for a week :P), let's have another cooking post!

So tonight I wanted to make a really nice supper for us. So slow-cooked ribs and pan-fried potatoes seemed to be just the thing!

Ribs:
-cook time: approx 8 hours (in slow cooker/crock pot)
-rib sauce included: hickory bbq sauce (just enough to cover the other spices, as the flavor is really bold); Montreal steak spice- again just a little; dried chives, rosemary, sage and parsley; garlic- 4-5 cloves put through a press; pinch of sea salt and quite a bit of pepper. I wish I could be more specific but I don't measure these things. I just put in as much as seemed necessary for the amount of meat that was there. Oh, and the ribs were beef.
-mix all the spices with the bbq sauce. I just did this all in the slow cooker pot. Then add ribs and stir until coated. Cover and cook.


Steamy, meaty goodness. :D

Potatoes:
-Cook time: 15-ish minutes on medium (until potatoes soft and getting brown and crispy edges)
-Ingredients: potatoes (I had several very small white ones left over from stew); leek- I only used 1; butter/margarine; garlic- 2-3 cloves, depending on size; dried parsley, chives, and dill.
-Cut potatoes into thin slices, so the same with the leek. Melt butter in pan with garlic and fry garlic a little with the chives. Add potatoes, parsley and dill (I eyeballed how much parsley and dill). Let cook a little- maybe 5 mins, then add leek. Cook until potatoes are soft, or if you're like me, until they get brown, crispy edges.


Still in the pan.

And voila! Add a veggie side, some tea and hot chocolate, and you have a spectaculous dinner for your sweetie!


Don't mind the messy table :P

On to other business, the Demo Review will be out next week, probably Wednesday (or Tuesday maybe, we'll see). I will likely also have a review up for the game itself sometime in March, although I'm not sure when. I also got my brother to try Origins, and so the Dalish Elf ChrisPBacon was born! More info as his adventures continue! lol.

Not much new on the makeup front. Attempted a smoky eye that made me look like a bad mall goth and so was brightened up severely with much white sparkly goodness and the outer wings removed entirely. It was bad. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of when it looked all "mall goff", but here was the final result:



On the bright side, by the time I was done it was super sparkly.

Thanks again for tuning in and keep an eye for some new and exciting things coming up. :D

Demo Reviews: Bulletstorm

First off, sorry this has taken so long. Things got really busy after putting up my last video. So, let's jump right into Bulletstorm.



Now we actually downloaded this demo a couple of weeks ago now, so it's had plenty of time to sink in and for me to play through a few times (and for the Cynic to as well, of course). So what did I think of it? Two words: RIDICULOUS FUN.

Now Bulletstorm would just be an average, run-of-the-mill, and likely forgettable sci-fi FPS, if not for the implementation of skillshots. This basically rewards you with tons of extra points for being creative with your kills (not to mention personal satisfaction and amusement!) , with tongue-in cheek-names such as voodoo doll, shocker, flyswatter, one hit wonder, and many more. These skillshots utilize not only your weapons, which all but the energy leash have various secondary fire modes, but also the environment of the planet Stygia. The demo itself takes place
in a toppled skyscraper hotel that is crawling with mutants and marauders alike. It's not an overly long demo, in fact, it's quite short (especially if you want the time bonuses), but it emphasizes replay to discover more creative kills and thus more points.

What else did I like about this? The cast, from what we saw of it at least. The moment the player character, voiced by Steve Blum, starts narrating the first part of the demo, I realized this was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. He voices your character (a pirate named Grayson Hunt) almost as a cross between Wolverine and Oghren from Dragon Age. And you can just tell he is having a lot of fun with it, which is really cool.

Sounds like a good combo to me :D


Joining Grayson is a cyborg named Ishi Sato, who gets about one line, so I can't tell you much about him. Last, but certainly not least is Trishka Novak, voiced by Jennifer Hale, who, from what we hear, sounds something like this:

FemShep + Ophelia = Win in my books (interestingly enough, my first Shep looked almost exactly like this one :D).

Of course, as with many games, certain types of people are getting their panties in a twist about the violent nature of the game, especially the names of some of the skillshots. I'm not going to get into that here or this will turn into a massive rant against certain types of people, for which this review is not the place. I'll just direct you to this video, courtesy of Blistered Thumbs and The Game Heroes, as they sum it up quite nicely. *Goes off to grumble about people bitching about my M-rated games*

So what are my final thoughts? Download this bad boy and try it! Now! It is a ridiculous amount of fun, if not a little short. You will want to replay it just to see what new combos and kills you can come up with. It is well worth your time. The game itself comes out next Tuesday (Feb. 22), and I will most likely at least give this one a rent. Maybe I can squeeze it in between the Dragon Age 2 Demo and release. Anyhow, definitely give this one a look if you are looking for a great way to have some fun and discover some really sweet and creative methods of dispatching your enemies.

Final score: 4.5 headshots out of 5