shannanegin

Let’s start with the very worst… Even tho it could have easily been my favorite game of the spring.

Dungeons & Dragons : Daggerdale | The Ugly
I’m going to preface by saying I really REALLY enjoyed playing this game – at first. There were a few minor bugs – vendors that seemed to hold nothing for sale one moment, and a plethora of goods the next, shields that looked equipped but were not, and general funkiness – nothing to fuss about. But then, like a 505 year old curse coming to fruition… the good times came to a violent halt. Assigned skills were disappearing – along with their points as paid, loot obtained or purchased was no longer in inventory, items selected to be sold were not – but rather others from your pack were chosen at random, it was a game nightmare. Restarting would sometimes provide a temporary resolution – but autosaving quickly ruled that option out. What’s left? An uplayable, non-refundable, XBL Arcade game from Atari – with no ETA for a patch or fix. FAIL…

Dungeon Siege 3 | The Meh
All I have played of this so far is the Demo on XBL. But I was really looking forward to it based on the previews and trailers I had seen online. So far, I’m underwhelmed. I had read one review that bashed its voice acting. I thought the guy was being a little harsh, especially since all D&D had was bizarre groans to backup the text segments for story. Now, I do agree – the way the voice acting was done is VERY flat, actually kind of robotic – but this really didnt bother me. However, the pacing and controls do. It feels SO slow… for a hack and slash I felt like my character was trying to swing a 200lb mallet rather than the svelte staff she had equipped. I also had NO idea what my character was doing or was capable of doing. Now I know it was just a demo, but I hope the $60 game comes with a more intuitive tutorial or character builder. Either way – I likely wont be buying this until I see some glowing review that outlines some form of polish since the demo… Perhaps I can borrow it from someone.

Sweet awesomeness from E3 | The Superb
So many great previews and announcements came out of E3 – here is a list of games I am excited about….

Elder Scrolls : Skyrim
Looks friggen RIDICULOUS (in all the good ways)… The graphics are superb, the story intriguing – and the characters look much improved since Oblivion (which was and is still great).

Gears of War 3
Ummm yes. Still. YES. I’m ready to see how this trilogy ends… Stoked to see how Marcus’ father ties in, the new characters, if Carmine will live or die…. Yes. SAVE CARMINE.

Dead Island
Do we really need another zombie game? Hell-Effing-YEA we do. And this one looks killer – heh I know I’m lame. I swear I saw a boomer tho.. did I? I kind of hope not. Lets get some new crazies in the mix please. Thank you.

Lara Croft – Tomb Raider
The style of play on this looks quite different from it’s predecessors – and beautifully done. Up close, gritty, and actually a little scary – in that stressful ‘oh shit i could die right now’ kind of way. Bring it!

Mass Effect 3
I actually wasnt *super* impressed with the trailer – maybe it was my mood… I just didnt see much that differed from the last game – and that is OK by me. I am excited to see what decisions it imports from the first two games – and to whoop some reaper ass.

Batman : Arkham City
This environment looks omfg enormous – not to mention absolutely gorgeous. Even more pumped now that I know there may be additions if you played thru Asylum, etc. I was a little confused by the Catwoman trailer. Is there a section where you have to play AS her to proceed, is it an extra, can I just roam the city with feline prowess?? We shall see…..

Bioshock : Infinite
The first two Bioshock games were beautifully done in undersea landscapes that constantly surprised and mystified me… Full of splicers that scared and amused me… And a story that completely drew me in, both times. The twists in the game were not ‘earth shattering’ but I was not expecting them. If this 3rd in the series is anything like the first two – it will most definitely be worth the wait.

Halo 4
OMGSTFU! I was soooooo stoked to see this picking up right where the movie left off after the credits on Halo 3. Although – you did see an ominously close ‘Death Star’ type orb in the Halo 3 end movie – and now, well its really close now… So was Master Chief asleep for like, I dunno, 30 minutes? I hope it felt like longer – we need you well rested.

Singularity | The Surprising
This game is SCARY! I just started it, but holy crap! Ok ok – its not ‘the first time I played Dead Space’ scary but it is definitely up there. I didn’t think it would be the least bit scary… I think I was expecting some cross between Fallout3 and MassEffect? Either way, I am really enjoying it so far… when I’m not too scared to go on!

Oh and for some more meh….
Fable for Kinect? Ehhhh – I’m not sold. And Im a sucker for Star Wars but the kinect version might not quite cut it… and WTF is Kinect Fun Labs? I tried downloading some of the “Gadgets” – but both failed. Boo.