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We all know that Call of Duty is the Juggernaut of the video game industry with at least a game in the series coming out every year. Black Ops is the latest in the release by Treyarch studios who some people regard as the underdog compared to the disbanded Infinity Ward. A billion dollars in the bank and millions of sales later, does this mean that they have the best Call of Duty in the series? Read on to find out
This is my first Treyarch Call of Duty and the third in the series that I have played and I must say that I am not wowed by the series because of the silliness of the single player campaign and the childish feel of the multiplayer compared to other shooters in the market. This does not mean that I dislike it all, on the contrary, there are some parts of the game that feels awesome and kicks ass like the various elements of the multiplayer.
7.8/10 The single player campaign is short and not worth the asking price because it comes in at only 5 to 7 hours depending on the level of difficulty you set. Black Ops takes place during the cold war. In the beginning, you play Alex Mason, an interrogated Special Forces operative flashed back to Cuba while in the chair. Mason is sent to Cuba to assassinate Fidel Castro when things go awry and you are caught while trying to escape with your friends Joseph Bowman and Frank Woods. While still in interrogation, you get a flash back of your escape from prison with a crazy Russian called Victor Reznov which is where things really get interesting and fast. The thing is that after you were captured by the real Fidel Castro and handed over to America’s enemy, Dragovich, you were brainwashed into doing something sinister that will certainly make you enemy of the State number 1. The whole idea of the interrogation is to get you to realised that you were brainwashed into hiding some mysterious numbers which when broadcast will send instructions to sleeper cells in the US so they can release the deadly Nova-6 nerve gas that would kill millions of people in different cities. We all know this is not going to happen as this is a game and you are definitely going to stop it. This mission takes you to various locals around the world which includes Jungles, Icy areas and swamps. There are various weapons in the game but you are limited to a few and can only carry picked weapons one at a time which limited the overall experience of the single player. The gunplay in my opinion in weak and sounds underpowered compared to other games like Battlefield Bad Company 2. I have a 5.1 surround system and the sound that comes out from a shotgun does not impress. I need the thunderous sound and the ground to shake.
8/10 Zombies is a funny addition to this package which makes you forget the actual length of the single player campaign. You play one of 3 characters and your aim is to prevent zombies from entering the room at all cost. If that actually fails, you can always device a strategy for the incoming stronger enemy with better weapons placed on the wall. The key here is teamwork
7/10 Dead Ops Arcade is an arcade style shooter if zombies is not enough. This is done on top down view of the map and you are place to kill a lot of zombies. The video explains how to unlock it.
9.2/10 Multiplayer is the heart and soul of this game and I do not think I have scratch the surface of this segment yet although I have spent some time fragging some foes online. Leaning has returned and also dedicated servers. I do not own a dedicated server but it is a silly idea to leave it out in PC gaming which would have irritated a lot of PC gamers. Match making is Ok but not great and most of the time not responsive. If you are scared of going online because of the reputation of the multiplayer of being brutal then you can opt in for some training in the Bot mode called Combat Training either alone or with friends. Kill Streaks are an example of why this game will keep you coming back for more. Anytime you kill a consecutive amount of players, you get a reward in the form of napalm strike, mortars, or a SAM turret to shoot down gunships. Customizations of gear and weapons certainly add a lot of replayability to this shooter like flak jacket which reduces explosive impact on the player. CoD points are in game currency earned while fragging foes and earning experience points which can be used to unlock new weapons and accessories in order to be efficient and deadly on the battlefield. Wager matches allow you to bet on Cod Points and the top 3 players split the winnings. The 4 modes in wager matches are: One the Chamber, Stick and Stones, Gun game and Sharp shooter. Weapon customization is in-depth which includes attaching custom made emblems which you can buy with CoD points. Theater mode enables you share screenshots with friends online. There are other modes which have not been explored here but certainly make you want to continue playing this game for months.
8.0/10 Black Ops graphics is getting long in the tooth as it is running on an old engine which ran the first Modern Warfare back in 2007. The facial animation is great and very realistic. From the neck of the character down felt a little rough and does not compare to the awesome face animation. Walking and talking and killing did not feel as if they were stiff which is a good thing. Some maps in the campaign have great textures and large areas of battlefield.
8.0/10 Sound is great all around with great music and soundtrack from the cold war era. Sounds coming from gunshots and grenades should have been better. Voice acting is superb with people like Sam Worthington and Gary Oldman lending their voice to this epic game.
Overall this is a product you buy for its multiplayer which will last you for months. Zombies and Black Ops arcade certainly add value to overall replayability of this game.
Deathspank is a very funny game about a hero called Deathspank, vanquisher of evil, hero to the downtrodden and dispenser of Justice. At its core, deathspank is an RPG with some of the elements of this type of genre but executed in a very simple way to enable newcomers and veterans enjoy this hilarious journey of Deathspank.
Deathspank is a hero looking for the artifact only known as “The Artifact” which he is destined to possess, so he works night and day saving folks from evil and eventually becoming the kind of hero worthy of the Artifact. In the first few hours of playing, you recover the artifact but you get pummelled to the ground by Lord Von Prongs’ Bruisers who steal the artifact and retreat to the Von Prong castle. The game is further expanded to a small town of Pluckmuckel and you are immediately given a quest of saving orphans. This game will not be great as it is without the humorous dialogues you encounter with friends and foe.
Gameplay is very simple and straightforward. When you get a quest, you go out and complete it while hacking and slashing your way through enemies and stoopid chickens and there are lots of chickens in this game. There is an achievement in the game for slaying lots of chickens and I did not misspell stoopid. Just like some rpgs, you get a sword, crossbow, health potions, etc. to go along with you on a quest and you also earn experience points while slaying your foe and levelling up. Levelling up is easy as you are given Hero cards to choose from. These cards improve your block, speed, damage and how much money you can earn in the game every time you level up. Weapons and armor can also be upgraded and have been made easy with auto replace which replaces your armor with a better one so you can focus on slaying your wretched enemies. Foes range from drunken leprechauns, several unicorns, and armies of stoopid chickens, a talking tree, forbidden bacon and some very annoying orphans for our hero to save. Although these orphans are not dangerous, Deathspank thinks they will become future criminals. Every town or haunted area you enter has a fast travel method, so getting around the map is easy and accessible.
The world of deathspank is cylindrical, varied and colourful with a lot of humour to make you laugh till you drop. This is a great game but with some bugs here and there. Another annoyance in this game is picking your choice of sentences and hearing Deathspank repeat the same thing you just clicked. Wish they had used the Mass Effect Dialogue system to make it a little bit better. Overall this game is different and a funny action RPG all the way to the end.
Once again I have been given the freedom to roam the wasteland but this time it’s in sin city. Fallout New Vegas is a brand new fallout game from Obsidian entertainment set in post apocalypse Vegas or now known as New Vegas. You play an unknown character given a simple mission to deliver a platinum chip to Mr. House in New Vegas but got double crossed and shot to death, almost. In the spirit of a role playing game, you choose a character you want to play with. Make no mistake; this is not an expansion but rather a 30 to 60 hour long game about the pitfalls of a post apocalyptic world. Fallout 3 was a brilliant game when it came out and I was a little bit worried if obsidian entertainment can match or beat the critical acclaimed Fallout 3. Fallout New Vegas delivers in almost every single way possible with tighter controls, better gun handling, new perks and a whole lot more. In fact, New Vegas is a better game than Fallout 3 with more than 100 quest, more than 350 locations, special offers, trait perks etc.
What is the Plot?
You play unnamed courier sent to deliver a platinum chip to New Vegas but you have been ambushed by Benny voiced by Matthew Perry – who steals the chip and shoots you in the head. 
You are found by a robot named Victor who brings you to Doctor Mitchell in a small town of Goodspring. The good doctor nurses you back to life and this is where you begin your character creation and skill, attribute, name, gender definitions. Following the trail of Benny opens up a whole new world to explore. This is more than a revenge story as you progress in the game; you realize that Benny was a small fraction of this fallout universe. New Vegas is run by Mr. House who wants absolute control of Vegas and its surroundings by eliminating the competition using securitrons or depending on how you choose to play. The center of conflict is control of Hoover dam. The NCR and the Legion want to take control of the Dam for their own benefits and it is left for the player to decide who controls what and when.
How does it play?
New Vegas plays just like Fallout 3 with some tweaks here and there that make the gameplay a little bit tighter and smoother than its predecessor. For a start, the gunplay has been tweaked for better shooting. The Pip-boy returns to your wrist for some pause and play action. Some information in the Pip-boy has been improved but in my opinion is still bulky and in the way as ever before. Every time you level up into even number levels for example: level 2, 4, 6, etc, you get to choose a perk but it does not work when you level up into odd numbers which is really dumb because imagine what players can do with perks on every level-up. World and interior maps should have been improved with better quest tracking. Imagine not knowing where your quest is in a building if it is located on a second or third floor. There should have been a pointer that points upwards or downwards indicating where your quest is. The world and interior map views are also poorly designed in my opinion because in today’s graphics, terrains should look a lot better than simple black and white even though it is set as if it is in the 60s. One of the best parts of combat is crippling enemies and actually watching them groan in pain which is awesome. One of the best additions to this game is factions. These factions are groups of people with different religion and experience who roam the wasteland trying to survive. In your travels you will encounter various factions that will need your help and depending on how you treat them, you will be accepted by the community or hated.
Overall if you played fallout 3, then this should be easy because it is the same combat system in place with better tweaks. There are new items in this game like super stimpaks or doctor’s bag which add a new level of immersion when in combat. A fallout game won’t be complete without the infamous VAT system which enhances the overall experience of the combat by allowing you target individual limps and shoot them off your enemy. Overall the gameplay is better than Fallout 3 and smoother in some places. Remember, your actions have consequences
How does it look and sound?
New Vegas is running on the same engine that was used in Oblivion and Fallout 3 and by the time you finish this sentence you will start to wonder why Bethesda has decided on this because character animation is extremely stiff and the all run funny. This engine had one the best lip syncing back in the day but now is becoming a pain just to watch. Notwithstanding, it is still a marvel to stand and look at a horizon and know you can walk there which is spectacular. The engine brings New Vegas to life from the strip to the red canyons. New Vegas looks and sounds spectacular with surround sound speakers.
Verdict
This is a definite buy for anyone looking for more than 30 hours great gameplay. Although it is familiar to fallout 3, this should not deter you from experiencing this engrossing adventure.
For a long time PC games have suffered from “me too” console ports for as long as I can remember giving some credence to “PC gaming is dead”. I am here to tell you that Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty is an embodiment of what a PC game should look, feel and play like. It is a near perfect PC game starting from the campaign to the challenges down to multiplayer and I did not play the first one.
STORY (9.4/10):
Raynors ex-girl, Sarah Kerrigan was left behind on a mission and sadly Raynor was not able to rescue her. Meanwhile, Sarah was taken by the zergs and turned into something more sinister and deadly. Now she is back and Raynor has to stop her from destroying everything they hold dear and also dealing with Emperor Arcturus Mengsk’s dictatorship and lust for more power.
You play Raynor, a convict with a long criminal record with a gigantic space ship with 3 things on his mind:
- Set people free from the Dominion’s rule
- Kill Zergs and sometimes Protoss if need be
- Set his former girlfriend free from the zergs
GAMEPLAY (9.4/10)
Starcraft 2: WOL is addicting no matter what mode you play one. There are 3 races in the game and Wings of Liberty focuses on the Terran for the single player campaign. Other races are the Protoss which use psionic powers and the Zerg Swarm controlled by the Queen of Blades who dominates over the zergs after the Protoss destroyed the Overmind which had control over all zergs. The remainder of storyline in the campaign is quite straightforward and comes to a simple ending.
In game cut scenes are interwoven into the core campaign real-time strategy gameplay so they do not feel misplaced from the top down view of the game. Make no mistake, this is a traditional base building, resource depleting game right from start. There are 2 resources you need to build bases with in SC2 which are Crystals and vespene gases. In order to build your little army, you need lots of these resources. Once your little army and robots are built, you can upgrade their gear from for example: a level 1 armour upgraded to level 3 and this also applies to weapons, vehicles and combat ships. Vehicles include siege tanks to giant walkers called Thor. There are light combat ships to heavily armoured combat ships like the battlecruisers which are difficult to take down and slow to retreat. If you feel like your current base is not safe, you can always uproot some structures and move them to resource heavy places. Every time you finish a mission, you are given credits to spend on better hardware.
Apart from weapon and armor upgrades, every time you start a new mission, Rory Swan, resident Q for Raynor, sends your way mercenaries and other tough bad asses for your pleasure. Other upgrades are more like additions to the functionality of bunkers, marines, medics, etc. For example, medivac units can heal two targets at once when you purchase the right upgrade.
As you progress along the campaign, there will be moments when you have to choose one of two missions based on what you think is right to progress forward. One of the best part of the game is that Blizzard gave depending on the missions enough time to build your troops and annihilate your foes instead of forcing you to complete a mission under a certain amount of time. Once in a while, you play Raynor instead of the usual blue marine pawns striking the enemy where it hurts accompanied by fellow scientist and other important crew members.
Ingame cutscenes are one of the best I have seen in years with breath-taking realism depending on your hardware and character animation is top notch and all rendering using your hardware. Every character in this epic clash stands out. Tychus Findlay is the kind of guy that shoots first then asks questions later. Matt Horner is a humble soldier piloting Raynor’s heavy duty spaceship. Each one of these characters is unique and does not feel detached from the main game.
Another way of obtaining better hardware is when going on missions; you complete secondary objectives which helps gather zerg research points or protoss research points for better defence or offense
After you are done with the single player campaign, you can try your hands on challenge modes to test your skills before going online. Challenges also have achievements which you can unlock. Achievements is also the best part of the game which is a thousand times better than most reward systems put in by Microsoft and Steam. The achievements make you want to work hard while racking up those scores. Some achievements require you to adjust the difficulty to get and It is so addicting that you will want to try getting them all.
Multiplayer is the meat of this game with 1vs1 to 4vs4 game modes and a lot of maps. For new players, don’t fret any because you get 5 games which test your skills before placing you where you belong online so you do not meet Korean players. In this mode you are not restricted to certain upgrades like in the single player mode. In multiplayer, this is where true strategy shines through and through and how fast you can build up your marines, thors and combat airships. There is nothing much to say about the multiplayer except that it has to be experienced individually to fully understand what I am talking about. Be aware, multiplayer is difficult and takes time to master.
PRESENTATION (GRAPHICS and SOUND) (9.8/10)
The terrains on which missions are executed are varied and beautiful to look at no matter the conditions. There is an absolute attention to detail from top to bottom from marines to battlecruisers. The protoss look menacing and the zergs look absolutely ferocious. Some maps involve you only using battleships to accomplish missions while others require you accomplish missions before being overrun by lava. Voice acting is top notch with the same voice characters reprising their roles from the first game.
I do not like to talk about the in game menus but battle.net is looking spectacular with integration of facebook to add friends. The interface is clean and responsive with nice touches here and there. Also important is the interaction in the bridge, cantina, armory and laboratory parts of the game when you complete a mission.
The textures of every marine, protoss, zerg and all structures come at a heavy price. StarCraft 2 is a system hog. For some reason this game uses almost 2Gigs of RAM excluding operating system functions. In total, when I’m playing in either single player or multiplayer mode, total memory of my computer sits at 3,4Gigs out of 4 Gigs. StarCraft 2 is beautiful to look at on a large screen and you will need a powerful GPU to run this game at ultra settings but it is worth it. System requirements are quite modest and Blizzard did not want to eliminate some PC bases. According to ATI Tray tools, Starcraft 2 uses less CPU power but uses more GPU power so make sure you have a good graphics card.
The audio coming from StarCraft 2 is simply amazing and if you have the hardware that supports 128 voices, please by all means crank it up. The best sounding creatures are the zergs. Playing this game in 2 speaker mode is not doing the game justice unless you have a subwoofer or a very good headphone.
CONCLUSION
StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty is PC game done right which is what the PC needs to show that it is not dying but forgotten by game developers who are afraid of the changing landscape of PC gaming which few developers really understand. PC gaming is not dead but misunderstood and Blizzard is sitting on a gold mine. I can’t wait for Diablo 3.
In Part 2 of my various game reviews, instead of writing up a 1,000 word review, I am picking out what made the games great or bad.. Check it out
Episodes from Liberty City PC Review (9/10)
+ More GTA IV is not bad
+ The return of Liberty City
+ 2 games in one
+ Strong storylines for The lost and Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony
+ Improved Gameplay and game mechanics
+ Intense combat and varied missions from Ballad of Gay tony
+ Impressive dialogues and voice casting
+ New characters who are absolutely nuts
+ Good multiplayer
+ Hilarious dialouges and over the top violence
+ Great audio from 5.1 surround sound
- Graphics engine is getting old
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isle (9/10)
I am a big fan of Oblivion and it will be the best game I have ever played for a long time and the top 5 five games in my list of all times. Oblivion was ambitious and overall I have spent over 300 hrs including the 2 expansions and mods. I decided to play the shrivering Isle expansion and it is still a blast.
+ More Oblivion
+ Sheogorath’s realm is gorgeous and creepy
+ New crazy and deranged characters that are downright hilarious
+ Strong storyline that carries you throughout the campaign.
+ Game engine still looking beautiful and demanding after 4 years of release
+ Gorgeous maps and new creepy creatures to hack and slash
+ Strong audio with the right hardware and 5.1 surround
+ Classic RPG style missions
- No horses to transport you in the new realm of sheogorath
I have completed these games and instead of writing a full length review for everyone of them, I have decided to list out the things I liked and disliked about each one of them.
Check it out
BIOSHOCK 2 PC (8/10)
The first Bioshock is one of the greatest games ever made and if you consider yourself a hardcore gamer, it should be on your list. Bioshock 2 is a great sequel to the first.
+ The city of Rapture
+ The spooky atmosphere
+ Much improved shooting mechanics
+ Better guns and plasmids
+ Playing a Big Daddy
+ Fighting big sisters
+ Better upgrades to guns and plasmids
+ Going outside
-Weak multiplayer
-Short single player
-Linear
-weak multiplayer
Torchlight PC (8/10)
+ Lots of Loot
+ Great gameplay
+ Decent story
+ Leveling up is fun and addictive
+ Not a lot of talking but straight up action
+ Great atmosphere
+ A lot of unique monsters to slay
+ Continuation of play after storyline completion
+ Great graphics
+ Lengthy
+ Steam cloud saves
+ Gear upgrades
+ Colourful Spells fill up the screen when in intense battle
- Steam cloud failed and i lost 2 hours of gameplay
- Some repeatitive levels
- No Multiplayer
Assassin’s Creed 2 PC (8/10)
The DRM in this game is a nightmare for legitimate PC gamers like me who actually pay for games. I am prepared to overlook this situation for objective purposes. With that said, this game is far superior to the repeatitve first episode.
+ Great storyline for almost 22 hours depending on how you play it
+ Great gameplay which invloves, stabbing, slicing, stealing, climbing and running on rooftops, etc
+ Leonardo Da Vinci (my own personal Q)
+ Great characters that you encounter
+ Combat system
+ Decent graphics but showing its age
+ Earning Money to buy better gear
+ Swimming in water (first game did not have this feature)
+ Open world
+ Good atmosphere
+ The carefully crafted Italian cities
+ Twisted ending
+ Better looking In-game menus
+ Voicing is spectacular
- Ubisoft DRM (Digital Rights Management)
- I have lost connection 3 times while playing
- Not being able to login to ubi’s server to start the game
- No multiplayer
Warhammer Dawn of War 2: Choas Rising PC (8.5/10)
Choas Rising is simply a very good real time strategic mini Role playing game, period.
+ Choas Marines are a menance
+ New demons to slay
+ Boss battles
+ No base of operations
+ New gear and also upgradable gears
+ Corruption system
+ Gear that increases corruption on the player
+ Spectacular multiplayer modules
+ Great visuals and varying maps
+ Spectacular voicing and surround sound
+ Leveling Up
What I disliked:
- Short single player
Just Cause 2 is a silly excuse for a game but a darn good one with over the top action and the worst bad voice acting you could ever find in a game. This is a sandbox adventure that lets you do whatever you want on the island of Panau. Panau is a big island and you can pretty much do anything while you are here. There are 3 factions with various missions for you to play with: The Ular boys, Reapers and Roaches 
Rico, the main character who works for an agency called “the agency” is simply an errand boy but skilled at getting jobs done no matter the task given to him. These factions all have one thing in common which is to take over the government that is oppressing the people and Rico needs to help capture strategic areas of the map for these psychos to overthrow the greedy government of Panau.
Forget the storyline which disappears as soon as you really get into the heart of the game which is causing chaos and lots of it. Blowing things up and hunting Generals has never been fun. Getting around the Island is easier as you can perform a grand theft auto all over the Island with any car, bike, truck, chopper, jet fighters and even planes. You have a choice on how you want to approach a particular mission. Stronghold missions involve you leading an engineer into a facility and taking it over. Standard missions are given at random and can range from mediocre to top class. Agency missions progress the main storyline. In order to get a new agency mission, you have to cause enough chaos to activate an agency mission. This is always fun until it gets boring quickly.
Auto targeting helps in gunning down enemies. It is not the best shooter out there but it works. You get the standard guns like a pistol, shotgun, rocket launcher, grenades, etc which are all upgradable to be more deadly and your shooting gallery. When you proceed in the game, you get unlocks to different equipment that help you survive the Island ranging from better guns to gunships.
Other ridiculous things you can do on this Island is grappling onto anything. I mean anything. You can grapple onto a moving plane, van, truck, boat, etc. You can Jump from the topmost floor of skylines and grapple onto an enemy helicopter, beat the pilot and hijack the chopper with ease. There is even a club in the sky where you can party. You can grapple onto a gas tank and onto an enemy at the same while you watch as the tank takes your foe into mid air. Focusing on ground combat will get repetitive quickly but engaging in everything the Island has to offer is far more rewarding. Apart from the missions, there are challenges you can perform all around the Island. There are car races, boat races, point to point air races and so on.
The storyline took me about 22 hours to complete according to the game and I only completed 30% of the whole game. Just Cause 2 is a gorgeous looking game to boot. Panua is probably the most beautiful looking open world game I have ever encountered to date with cold conditions to the north of the map, desert plains and cities with skyscrapers all with a night and day cycle. Planes, jets and helicopters handle beautifully and was easy to pick up without crashing even the first time. Flying over Panua is a thing of beauty until you get shot down. Sound design is very good despite the bad voice acting. Explosions and gun shots sound just right and make it feel like your military paraphernalia carries weight. Rico and co are the only characters that receive better animation while the others look plain.
Just Cause 2 is not a serious game and deserves to be treated that way. It is a goofy over the top action game with lots of stunts to make Hollywood jealous but under the hood it is fun and addictive for any one who wants to blow stuff up
Dice captured my attention with Battlefield 2 on the PC 5 years ago and I sunk in many hours destroying enemy tanks, capturing bases, stabbing foes with unknown teammates online then fast forward 5 years with nothing much happening on the PC side of things, comes Battlefield Bad Company 2. The original was on Xbox 360 which I did not pay attention to untill the recent release of the sequel.
Dice has delivered an exciting game in Bad Company 2 with both the single player and multiplayer worth paying the full asking price.
Single player Story
Dice is not known to have single players in their Battlefield games until Bad company. The campaign is very well thought out and consistent all the way through to the end. You play Marlowe, one of four military rejects sent on a mission to stop a sinister plan invloving high class weaponry being used in the United States which takes you through jungles, icy weather conditions and desert lands. The story might not be your cup of tea but it works for me
The single player gameplay is great in many ways and the guns you carry around have weight and fire realistically. It might be linear but it is fun all around. The best part of the single player campaign is your squad members in terms of providing comedy along the 6-8 hour ride. These guys are funny period. They also take shots at Modern Warfare 2 with phrases like “Snowmobiles are for sissies”, which is funny. One problem with the members is that these guys do not die and their shots only kill enemies 20% of the time which makes the player carry all the killing weight but if you overlook this minor flaws, the singleplayer is fun.
Multiplayer
Dice has a spectacular track record with multiplayer gaming and they have the best online fragging platform around. The main reason to buy this game is the multiplayer. The maps are varied and large and on the PC side you get 32 players with modes like conquest and Rush being my favorite. Joining squads is easy and you can decide to start a squad and also go out alone. If you are killed, you can spawn on a captured area or spawn close to your squadmates.
There are 4 class to choose from which includes:
Assault: If you like the fun of just assaulting enemy base
Engineer: If you like fixing and rpgs
Medic: If you like healing
Recon: If you like to hide and put a bullet in an enemy’s skull
Each of this class comes with special military paraphenalia unlocks. The more you earn points, the better the guns, equipment and tanks. You also get bonus rewards for focusing longer on a single class. For example being an Engineer longer gives you better rpgs for blowing things up and the same goes for other classes.
Presentation and Sound:
Character animation and the whole atmostphere are done professionally and Dice pays very close attention to detail. Looking for cover and staying long is not wise because every structure in this game including the structures in the multiplayer maps can be destroyed with the right weapon so always keep moving. Overall, Bad Company 2 runs beautifully with all the eye candy turned on with 8X Antialiasing with Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion and DX 11. I recommend playing this game with a quad core processor to enjoy all the physics this game has to offer.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a spectacular online shooter with a great single player campaign that offers great value for anyone looking for a more than 200 hrs fix.
Humanity has been destroyed by nuclear weapons and the only people that survived are cramped in a metro in Moscow. This Post apocalyptic setting is very dark and absolutely frightening with a supernatural twist. Metro 2033 is 
a fine interative piece of entertainment albeit flawed in some areas. This is a first person shooter at its core and an uber linear one at best.
Story (7.5/10)
There is a threat in the metro called the dark ones and Artyom, the main character is called upon to eliminate this threat once and for all. Apart from the “dark ones”, other threats in this game include mutated creatures you do not want to mess with and also flying animals called demons which can only be encountered on the surface. Going topside in Moscow is dangerous without being eaten which is why people stay underground. The metro is littered with people who somehow survived the bomb blast. When it starts, you can feel the surferring and agony of the inhabitants of metro 2033. Children make the atmosphere more authentic and while playing the singleplayer campaign, you might end up asking yourself when this nightmare is going to end.
Gameplay (6.8/10)
The shooting gameplay seems to be broken. Shooting creatures or your fellow humans is very poor and the linearity does not help put it at the same level with most triple A titles. Mission completion is going from point A to B which is understandable as there is no room for manoeuvrability or questing underground. Interacing with people is also limited. Every weapon in the game does not fire right which lowers the overall quality of this game.
The currency in metro 2033 are bullets. Trading only happens when you have bullets and you can buy other bullets with bullets. The shinier bullets kill foes a lot faster than the old ones. After a long run and gunning, checking your ammo only happens when you switch weapons for use which is a downer. Once in a while, you are forced to go outside and complete some missions but remember to put on your Gask mask with lots of oxygen so you do not suffocate in the toxic filled atmosphere.Enemy A.I is retarded and should have been fixed before the whole package shipped. Reacting to bullet shots is somewhat realistic but sometimes those guys are downright dumb
The atmosphere is spooky and scary and also varied for a tunnel crawling game. Every tunnel is unique in its design albeit extremely dark in some areas in such a way that you need a torchlight to survive or be eaten.If you here faint crying in the distant, do not bother going after it because there is nothing there except terror. The ending is somewhat disappointing and should have been better and also felt rushed.
The most annoying part of this game is that if you have an Xbox 360 controller, unplug it while playing because you will be forced to use it to enter the next level by clicking on the start button on the pad and also interacting keyboard keys like “E” appear on the screen as “X” which is extremely retarded. I hope this is fixed.
Presentation and Sound (9.2/10)
Technically, Metro 2033 is superior in graphics rendering to other games in this genre. The only game to bring PCs to their knees was Crysis back in 2007. Running the game in Direct X11 with Advanced Depth of field with Tessallation will bring framerates down even for the most powerful GPU on the planet. Human Character seems to be the only objects with tessallation properties. The atmosphere is brought to life by the spectacular engine this game is running on and requires a ridiculously heavy duty desktop to play it at its full glory. Lighting is one of the best I have seen in a game yet and shadow rendering is top notch but all at a detriment to you framerate. Still, if you can run this game on high, please by all means enjoy crank it up and enjoy the beauty.
Also impressive is sound withs enough backgound noise to make you jump out of your seat. Voice acting is extremely well doen and you can decide to play the whole game in russian for authenticity.5.1 surround is the best way to go as you can here those creatures approaching from behind.
Overall, Metro 2033 is an good game that is worth trying out if you have the chance. Hopefully there will be patches coming out to fix the bugs and smoothen the gameplay and if you think, youu PC cannot withstand the pounding, by all means get a console. 
I thought the first Mass Effect was one of the best sci-fi games I have ever played but Mass Effect 2 has proved me wrong in almost every way possible. BIOWARE has streamlined ME2 in every way that it is difficult to hold back talking to people about this epic journey of Commander Sheperd.
Omega
Before you go out and buy Mass Effect 2, I would tell you to purchase the original game and complete the quest before importing it to ME2. The character progression brought over from ME1 is probably the best thing I have seen in a game yet. The decisions you make or made in ME1 will be laid out in some story plots in ME2, so be careful.
Storyline
The story in ME2 is much more interesting than in ME1. Commander Sheperd has been sent on a mission in geth territory but there is something else on the horizon: a collector ship with a sinister plan involving kidnapping of human colonies. Sheperd’s Normandy is attacked and your character is killed but you are awakened by a lazarus project funded by Cerberus, an organization bent on advancing the human race run by the mysterious Illusive Man. After you are recovered, you can create a new character from your imported mass effect 1 save file and also change your looks.
Gameplay
Mass Effect 2 is a combat oriented roleplaying game with more emphasis on the combat part which has been improved from the original and the roleplaying part has been reduced and streamlined which is the only part of the game that is a minus for me and also waiting for Mass Effect 3. This second act is all about recruiting people for your suicide mission, gaining loyalty from crew members and upgrading. Each memeber you recruit has a side quest which after completion gains loyalty for that particular member. Loyalty is important as it will affect the ending part of the game.
There are 2 minigames which I spent a lot of time playing which is hacking terminals for credits and scanning planets for minerals so I can upgrade my team and my new Normandy. Scanning for minerals is very slow and should have been better but it is still better than the Mako in ME1 and you dont have to land on the planets to mine resources. Lifts in buildings have been scrapped and go around is easier in this version
The loot system in ME1 has been removed for a more streamlined inventory system. You get specific weapons and while going out on quest and exploring, loots that you find are used with various resources to upgrade weapons. Some upgrades affect just crew members only which is very helpful. In my gameplay I recruited everybody and gain their loyalty before attempting the suicide mission and my Sheperd survived, but you can choose to play differently. Before going out for the suicide mission make sure you upgrade normandy with the following:
- Heavy Armor
- Multi-core shielding
- Thanix
else people start dying.
Lair of the Shadow Broker
Leveling up has been simplified to just 4 squad points. For example if you have incendiary power, you can auto level up from 1 to 4 or you can purchase 1 squad point, 2 point, etc. The final (4) squat points evolves your powers to either benefit you only or the entire crew which is neat. Every power has an evolution, so think carefully and remember that you are on a suicide mission. Squat members also level up with you as you go along.
The shooting mechanics as mentioned earlier has been improved drastically from the first game so it feels like a shooting game and the cover system and sending commands to your squad mates have also been improved. When in combat mode, you can also mod your weapon on the fly by pressing the left-shift key and clicking on Cryo mod or inferno mod.
There are more dialogues in ME2 with an interesting interrupt system that shows a renegade left mouse click on the lower left corner of the screen and a paragon dialogue interrupt right mouse click on the lower right corner of the screen which makes the whole experience unpredictable.
Jumping from an action sequence to a cut-scene is fluid and very good and does not take you out of the experience that much and there are less loading times on my system this time around which gives Mass Effect 2 an overall polish.
PRESENTATION AND SOUND
Character animation is the best I have seen in years. You can differentiate every character in this game and BIOWARE’s attention to detail is phenomenal. The side quest in ME1 felt like a copy and paste but in ME2, it has been overhauled and you can find lush environs. The size and scope is obvious with beautiful graphics and sound to blow your mind. The level design is artistic rather than technical and you cannot get it by just reading this article unless you buy and play.Sci-fi sound is essential in a game like this and BIOWARE nailed it. If you really want to enjoy this game then a 5.1 surround will be the sweet spot. Period.
Mass Effect 2 is an experience and will be a contender for game of the year and it also sets a very high standard for other games in the future and the competition might not be from other games but with Mass Effect 3 which is a downside because I have to wait for it. Oh men !!!!!!!!!!!!!!I hate waiting
Shepard and Liara
update:
Lair of the Shadow Broker (85%)
The lair of the shadow is the best addition to this spectacular space action rpg. Watch out for some amazing in game chasing in your flying car.
