NewNews - Mass Effect 3's "new" ending

Official Site: http://www.masseffect.com/

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/783

The so-called "new" ending has launched for Mass Effect 3.  Originally, it was going to be a DLC sold to the players who wanted an extension to the game's story; however, the onslaught of angry gamers changed Electronic Art's position on the case and asked the developers over at BioWare to create a "new" ending that will be given to the players for free.  It's not an alternative ending that will change the outcome of the ending, but rather add to the original ending to explain some of the unanswered questions.  I don't know much about the ending of Mass Effect 3 or the DLC and I intend to keep it that way until I can catch up.  For those already caught up, go ahead and try out the DLC and judge for yourself if this made Mass Effect 3's ending any better.

GameLight - Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes

Official Site: https://wrathofheroes.warhammeronline.com/

Source: Youtube Channel gamespot

Over the weekend, I finally took the time to download and play Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as it has been released to the public in its open beta testing.  Wrath of Heroes is a special PvP (Player vs. Player)-centric multiplayer take on Warhammer Online's main MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Age of Reckoning.  It takes two modes (at the moment, Capture Point and Death Match) and pits three teams against each other using pre-made characters, each with their own unique abilities, role in the team, and 5 usable skills.  Joining a game from the main menu is much like joining a PvP in other MMORPGs with players joining getting matched up and placed into a server to play.  When the match starts, the player can choose from any of the characters available and can purchase more later on when they earn enough in-game currency.  When a player dies, they will respawn and choose to play the same character or choose a different one to adapt to the situation.  Like any MMORPG PvP match, knowing your role and complimenting them with your team mates' characters is the key to victory.  You have the tank who charges in and pins down the enemy while the damage dealer takes care of them, the healer who keeps their team alive, the support who buffs allies and debuffs enemies, the DPS (Damage Per Second/Damage Dealer) who causes the most damage, etc.  Since each character only has 5 skills to cast from, sticking to their role is very important.  An assassin charging in head first will probably get killed before they can take down their target.  A healer trying to hard to fight will do no damage and have their team suffer.  And the classic: if everyone chooses a DPS, the team will most likely fail to achieve anything as their tanks, disablers, and healers will overwhelm the team.

The gameplay feels a lot like any MMORPG in PvP mode, which is great for anyone who like PvP but hates grinding for levels and farming for equipment.  The game provides the most bare necessities for a fun PvP experience placing everyone on equal levels.  Victory is dependent on skill and teamwork and focuses on that as they take out any variables of class paths, items, character level, or perks.  The game is very fast-paced and can be confusing for new-comers of the genre, but I believe it's pretty easy to pick up after a few rounds (considering that I don't PvP that much in MMORPGs, I learned pretty quickly).  By simplifying it down to 5 skills, players won't have to juggle a series of skills to figure out what does what and be able to catch on the strategies to the character more quickly.  The game is free to play and is available as an open beta.  Click on the official site up top and register for an account to try it out.  It's great for any players who likes PvP but don't have the time to play a full blown MMORPG to do so.

VGCulture - Mass Effect 3 DLCs on day 1

Official Site: http://masseffect.com/

Source: Youtube Channel biowaremasseffect

Mass Effect 3 nears its launch date of March 6th, 2012, and apparently EA has made quite a few fans unhappy after announcing that there will be a DLC available the day it releases.  Downloadable-Content (DLC) has been looked down upon by the community as what was once a great idea to offer more out of a game well after its release as it has become a dirty practice in the industry to purposely taking out contents of a game that should have already been in the game only to sell it back to the players for a price.  What keeps this trend going is that it is an effective business system as people still buy the DLCs knowing that it will eventually cost more than the game itself.  It's a reflection of what business model works best in this generation.  Games or content that cost only $1-$15 has become a normal trend in buying games through digital distribution or micro-transactions/DLCs for existing games.  With such small price tags, it gives the illusion that one is not paying all that much for their purchase.  $5 doesn't seem too bad for a DLC, but the customers are already paying $60 for the entire game already and would expect the most out of it for full price.  Just a few years ago, games would launch at its full entirety for the retail price people would pay for.  With the new trend making more money, games are rushed out sooner with less content for the same price which is what's bothering a lot of people.

Personally, I am very against DLCs and have only bought them for insane discounts on Steam as I find their existence to lower the quality and ethics of game development in the industry.  I think it's great when a developer wants to offer more out of an existing game; however, the price tag that they (or their publishers) place on them just feels like a cheap way to make more money without being justified as a worthy purchase.  The matter on Mass Effect 3's DLC doesn't really bother me too much as I don't plan on getting the game anytime soon.  I have yet to finish 1 and 2 (lost my save files from my laptop crashing, remember?) and so I feel I can wait it out and eventually get the game when I'm ready and play through just the main story.  Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6, 2012 and the demo is available for download now.

VGCulture - Mass Effect Movie

A while ago (I don't remember clearly, but maybe half a year to a year ago?) the rights to making a Mass Effect Movie was bought and is now showing some progress of its existence.  Videogame to film adaptations has been one of satire and mis-guided tribute in order to use the success of the game to bring in money for the movie.  I never understood why so many movie makers go out of their way to create a film that the general public wouldn't really understand or be able to appreciate without the background and upset the actual fans of the franchise that the film is based off of when it doesn't even make them that much money.  If someone is very serious about creating a "good" movie out of the characters and content of a popular videogame, they should do it in a way that interests movie-goers and please the fans.  With Mass Effect 3 coming out early next year 2012, the movie is hard at work on finishing it if they want to use the hype of Mass Effect to its fullest.

Source: Youtube Channel EAsingapore

Well it seems that screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) is determined to make Mass Effect an incredible movie in its own rights.  What has fans worried at the moment besides the fact that it's going to be actually made?  Well, it seems that they're focusing on the plot of the first Mass Effect and is planning on changing the entire story for the movie.  Mass Effect has its popularity in the ability to create an immersive atmosphere in a believable environment by giving life to all the NPCs, allow the player to travel freely in a gigantic galaxy, and tying in a large adventure for the player to journey.  Is it really possible to create such a story that can match the epic proportions of the game in all its characters, story, and world into a 2-3 hour movie?  The crew responsible for the making of the movie has their work cut out for them for sure.

Source:
-Tom's Guide - Mass Effect Movie Will Have a New Storyline 

NewNews - Dragon Age Legends on Facebook

Official Site: http://www.facebook.com/DragonAgeLegends

Source: Youtube Channel MyDragonLair

I've mentioned this before, but the quality on Facebook games are getting dramatically better than its predecessors.  Even with the simplistic game mechanics of Knight of the Crystals and Chocobo's Crystal Towers by Square-Enix was fairly entertaining and got some of my friends involved and playing.  Well, BioWare/EA has pushed beyond that and gave the player much more control in their new Facebook RPG: Dragon Age Legends.  The art style is similar to those of Adventure Quest with game mechanics similar to those that have been on Facebook and of other flash-based RPGs like Adventure Quest.  One of the incentives for people to play is being able to receive special items within Dragon Age 2 by fulfilling quests within Dragon Age Legends.  I tried a bit of it and like it already.  Fluid graphics and animations, quality sound and music implemented into the game, an in-depth class and skill system similar to the actual game, combat system with actual turn-based fighting and control from the player, and some strategy involved with time management and item making.  In short, the Facebook app feels like a game.  I've always felt like a passive playing clicking on buttons and watching the result of my battles automatically determined for me.  Similar to boss battles in Knights of the Crystals, you can summon characters that your friends made to join you in battle.  It uses the micro-transaction model to earn money while letting players play for free, and so those who want to progress faster can pay to do so.  I'm not sure if there's any PvP of any sort, but I'm pretty sure that those who spend more money will have the advantage over all other players.  That's fine.  Let me play my game for free and those who feel the need to gain the advantage do so by paying.  If anything, play enough of the game to get the items you want for Dragon Age 2 and be done with it.  I don't have Dragon Age 2 yet, but I think I'll continue to play DA Legends for a while and see how in-depth the game gets.

Source: Gamasutra - BioWare Releases Dragon Age Legends On Facebook

VGCulture - Dragon Age 2 Exploit Found Already

Dragon Age 2 was released two days ago and players have already found a exploit to gain an infinite amount of experience points and currency:

Source: Youtube Channel boricuacookie

This isn't the first RPG or game to have an exploit that grants infinite amounts of experience points and/or currency, but this finding in Dragon Age 2 has caused quite a stir in the gaming community.  Here are some of the complaints I've read on comments to articles and videos:
-This takes out the entire RPG element of leveling and gaining skills through side-quests
-Why would you want to ruin the fun of the game and make it unreasonably easy for the rest of the game?
-There's no purpose in playing side-quests anymore and the rest of the game will be too easy
-Exploits like these are only for those too lazy to work up to the levels
-Showing this glitch ruins the game for everyone who wants to play it legitimately!
(All these quotes have been reworded so that they don't pin-point to a specific user in the internet community).

I'm surprised that this exploit has caused such a commotion when it's within a single-player only game.  If it was for an online game or a multiplayer game that would affect other players and create an imbalance, then it would be reasonable to raise concern for the well being of the game experience for everyone else playing legitimately.  Maybe players who are more concerned with achievements feel as if they're being cheated out of since players who uses the exploit gains them much easier and faster than those who play according to the rules.  Personally, I think those who want to use the exploit should go ahead and do it.  If you don't want to cheat, don't do it!  A game should be played the way the player feels they'll have the most fun (as long as it doesn't hurt the game experience of other players by breaking the rules).  I use exploits all the time for single-player games.  If I'm playing Super Mario World and I can get an infinite amount of 1-ups in the "secret area", I'll do it because I don't want to go all the way back to a castle or ghost house if I mess up later on.  If I'm playing a fighting game like Tekken 6 and I find a cheap move that the end Boss can't block or gets confused with, I'm gonna spam like a boss if I can't beat him with actual skill.  If I'm playing Mega Man and I can kill a boss by pressing start several times when I don't want to go through with fighting him, I'll do it.  I don't have to do any of these things, but sometimes I like to experiment or have that little bit of edge when the game's too hard.  As for the Dragon Age 2 exploit, I don't think I'll be taking advantage of it when I finally buy the game.  But if there's someone out there who feels like they'll have fun with the exploit, then I don't think we have a right to say they can't play like that.  There's a reason why crazy, open-ended, sand-box type games like Garry's Mod, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto 4 are so fun and interesting to people.  There's so many different things to try and experiment with:

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

That's it for now, have fun with Dragon Age 2 (with or without the exploit).

VGCulture - Rogues are flippin' awesome (Dragon Age 2)

So yeah, I think rogue is the class for me (Mage is pretty cool too).

Source: Youtube Channel gullberg

Sorry for not having a full blown post, I'm going to be very busy this weekend for work.  So if you haven't, go try out the Dragon Age 2 Demo!

NewNews - Dragon Age 2 Demo (on PC and PS3)

So it's not the most current of news, but Dragon Age 2 has a demo out for everyone to try out (not 100% sure on Xbox 360).  Being fortunate enough to play PC games and own a PS3, I got to try out the demo for both and compare the differences between them.

Source: Youtube Channel Games

I have to be honest and say that I didn't play Dragon Age: Origins and only tried out the PS3 version when I was at a game store.  My experience with Dragon Age 1 made me feel like the game was really slow, the fighting was automatic and not directly controlled, and that it was going to be mainly about the story seeing how it's by BioWare who makes incredible stories for games (granted that it was only 5 minutes).  So when I heard about the soon to be released Dragon Age 2, I kind of didn't care.  Recently, I've been playing Demon's Souls and suddenly had an urge for good old Medieval themed RPG (and remedied that by playing Mount and Blade).  Then I saw the demo was available for Steam and PSN and decided to try out the one on Steam for PC which led to trying out the console version out on PS3.

"How does the same exact game play so differently?"  I kept asking myself this when I played the PS3 version of the demo after the PC version.

Steam PC Version
I turn to Steam a lot these days when it comes to PC gaming (when not free MMO related) and so I saw the demo available for it.  When I got into the game, I was surprised to see that the camera was in the orientation of a top-down RTS action RPG that looked like Dungeon Siege with controls like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars.  The skills for the character are lined up on the numbers like all other RPGs on PC and the gameplay is very fast-paced.  It was hard to click on the enemies I specifically want to strike at because of how fast they were moving and how I had to keep moving the camera around.  I was very surprised since I was expecting something similar to Demon's Souls where the camera was behind the character and the fighting was done through buttons rather than clicking.  I got this impression from the five minutes I spent on the PS3 version of the first Dragon Age and wasn't expecting a top-down point and click Action RPG.  The camera and fighting was really hard to control, but the game had a lot of action to it and gave a lot of control to the whole party for the player.  I learned today from a video that it didn't have to be chaotic and can be very strategic:

Source: Youtube Channel 0Antar0

So if you're the type of player who is looking for a bit more challenge and like the point-and-click style action RPG with keyboard/mouse style controls, then the PC version is for you.


Playstation 3 Console version
This is EXACTLY what I was expecting and hoped for.  The controls are a lot more responsive and makes much more sense from what I remember from the first Dragon Age.  The camera is by default behind the character in a 3rd-person perspective and attacking and skills are executed through the buttons.  The combat system feels much more different from the PC version and does an incredible job of adapting to a console controller.  I was very curious as to how the game was going to adapt all the skills with the limited amount of buttons and the party mechanics with no mouse to point and click.  Certain skills pauses the game to allow the player to strategically place where the spell or item to be executed at rather than having the player manually pause it like in the video demonstration for the PC version.  The game plays very fluidly and works much like an Action hack-n-slash game which feels much easier to adapt to than the controls on the PC version.  For those who want a 3rd-person action style RPG similar to Phantasy Star Online, Demon's Souls, or Vindictus, then the console version is the way to go.


I find the differences between the game mechanics to be interesting and think it's great for the developer to allow players to choose the style of play they're most comfortable with.  The PC version is really exciting and it's interesting to have the choice to pause the game and strategically set where skills are executed.  It's geared towards PC players who are accustomed to point-n-click RPGs, RTS games, and tactical games.  The console version makes much more sense to the console gamer to make it into a sort of action hack-n-slash.  It's going to be really hard to choose which one to buy, but I am leaning more towards buying a copy for the PS3 since I'll eventually be buying Diablo 3 for my point-n-click RPG desires.  For those who have not tried Dragon Age before, go and try out the demo for the sequel.