Grr@Bioshock. I'm stuck in a place where one of the splicers that was supposed to attack me didn't and the door through which I'm supposed to go out doesn't open. Add to this, the game only auto-saves at level starts so I have a fair number of fights including a Big Daddy to repeat. DAMN!

Using a pheromone plasmid to make a Big Daddy think you're his little girl and have him protect you = priceless.

Goddamn. I have begun playing Mass Effect 2, which means I'm playing some 5 games simultaneously - Just Cause 2, Bioshock, Blur, NFS:Shift and ME2. Out of those, only ME2 and Bioshock are narrative driven, the others are just cathartic fun, so it shouldn't be all that bad. Still, having a gaming PC on hand is making me OD a bit.

As for ME2, it could my favourite ARPG so far. Let's see, it will have to contend with Vampire: Bloodlines and Fallout 3 for that distinction. Some of the early levels look pretty fantastic, especially the pirate haven Omega. There's a bit of a Firefly feel with the crew interaction (not with the aesthetics, though - the Normandy is pristine compared to Serenity) and the streamlined convo system is useful. There is a SHITload to read, though. Not mandatory, of course, but if you put it in the game, odds are I'm going to read it, so it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Old crewmates Talia and Ashley didn't take up the offer to come back to the fold (wonder if that's because I didn't have an ME1 character imported), but Garrus came aboard after an awesome stand-off against three bands of mercs on Omega.

The RPG level up elements seem to be pretty straightforward, as are the tactical combat elements, and the game puts emphasis on both the RPG and the ... well, the A. My Vanguard class (Soldier/Biotic hybrid) is supposed to be an in-your-face close-quarters kind of guy and what I find is I'm getting killed quite often, even on Normal difficulty. Things have improved now that I've got Cryo ammo and better armor, but I'd say that having played through a duck-n-fire shooter like Gears of War would help your performance in this game significantly.

One problem is that character lighting seems to be quite off compared to the environmental lighting. I'll have to tweak some settings and see if there's any way to improve this.

Oh wait I forgot about SBK X and Call of Juarez II. So that makes 7 games. Can't be a good habit.

Finished the central mission story of JC2 a while back, but that's less than 30% of the game, apparently. Screwing around on the map is turning out to be quite fun though.

ME2 is also finished (the central story). Played most of the DLC - the Kasumi one was brilliant - and currently in the middle of the Overlord mission. Apparently, there's another one coming out sometime soon, so I'll hold off removing the game from my system till that happens.

DoW2 has a few changes from the first game. First off, the SP campaign has very blatant RPG mechanics, even more so than Warcraft 3. It's sort of fun and not too demanding on the choice front, so I can dig it. Plus, you now have to choose the squads you can take into a mission, up to a maximum of 4. Looks like they want some serious distinction between the SP and the skirmish modes. Advantage is, this gives me some practice with micro so I won't get totally owned later on in skirmish. Have to try out the co-op sometime here.

Metro 2033 brings back memories of Stalker - some great ideas and environments, but rough around the edges. The underground parts are the best so far, especially wandering through a sardine-can settlement rendered in all its grimy glory. It's also pretty hard and doesn't bother with too much hand-holding. I was on this one mission accompanying this guy to an outpost some way off and during the mission, I hung back to scavenge for some ammo and medkits and the guy just kept on going. I caught up with him only a few minutes into the next level! I don't know whether that was scripted or not, but either way it felt quite interesting. So if you're the kind of guy who gets lost playing something like Titan Quest, this might be a bit frustrating. Combat is pretty sucky so far though. More to report later.

Rahul Chacko wrote:
So if you're the kind of guy who gets lost playing something like Titan Quest, this might be a bit frustrating.
Grrr.