Mass Effect 3 one of top trilogies ever made

Hello faithful readers. I've had about a five-month hiatus from writing in the paper (although my work appeared online and on my blog) due to some personal issues.

But things are coming back on track and so I'm back to offer my insights and opinions on video games on a weekly basis.

There were several big issues during the past couple of months in the industry, including backlash attacks at gaming giants Electronic Arts and Activision. But the one issue that particularly drew my ire was the fan attacks on Canadian developers BioWare Ltd., over Mass Effect 3.

Many 'fans' took issue with the game's ending, specifically the fact it basically broke down into three general endings, with a couple subsets within those. Fans felt cheated because they said the choices they had made throughout the three entries - decisions totaling about 1,000 options that were supposed to have ramifications as to how the game played out - were essentially tossed out the airlock. But in Mass Effect 3 space, you could definitely hear the disaffected and the forum trolls screaming bloody murder.

Personally, I think it’s a crock.

As a story teller, you have to have the game’s hero, Cmdr. Shepard wind up in one place. So, this idea that there could be dozens of endings is a joke. And the choices people made were not meaningless. They affected how you experienced the game and how you got Shepard to his ultimate finish. Go on YouTube and search through the different Mass Effect 3 videos and you’ll just how varied the story can be depending on the choices you made.

But the end is the end. That’s where the writers determined Shepard’s journey would ultimately come full circle and culminates in what I personally thought was one of the best, most rewarding, truly emotional and fantastic video game trilogies in the history of gaming. Period.

To their personal credit, the good doctors, Ray Mazuka and Greg Zeschuk, the heads of BioWare, have promised to revamp the ending of the game via a downloadable piece of content in the near future. I think the guys caved - in a way - to pressure when they didn’t need to. I know they care deeply about their fans, but I think a special group like BioWare that is dedicated to story-driven gaming, could have made a statement here about standing strong by their editorial and creative decision because the three endings were effective and emotional.

* * *

Here’s a quick look at a couple games out now:

* Syndicate (360, PS3; Electronic Arts): A strong, interesting sci-fi shooter with a story that could have been fleshed out better. In a dystopian future, big business can sell you a lifestyle if you agreed to have a chip installed in you that can, in essence, control aspects of your behaviour. You play as a syndicate enforcer, an Agent, who discovers there may be corruption in this seemingly perfect world. The game has excellent shooter mechanics and looks great, but is hampered by some glitches that take you out of the gameplay at points. With more polish and a little deeper story, this could have been really special. Instead, it’s just a heck of a shooter. 3 ½ stars out of 5. Rated M.

*Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3; Sega): OK, Japanese gangsters tackle a zombie infestation. Greatest game ever, right? Well, not quite. Enjoyable in sections and spurts, the lack of polish and the somewhat absurd storytelling detract from the experience. 2 ½ stars. Rated M

* NeverDead (360, PS3; Konami): A mix of hacking and shooting, akin to Too Human and Devil May Cry, this often times silly action title focuses on an immortal who can’t die, who is tasked with killing a bunch of demons. Ya, you can’t die. You’re immortal. So you can get stopped and have to reassemble yourself and then tackle sections again, so don’t sweat trying to stay safe or play strategically. Like this game, there’s really no point. 2 stars. Rated M.

Coming up: A look at the new PlayStation Vita and several sports titles, including MLB 12 The Show and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.

Geeky news and notes from the past week

Some weird, wacky and wonderful tidbits from the past week for you to chew on:

* The 11^th annual NAVGTR (The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers) will be announcing the final nominees for its awards on Feb. 15. The event, which honours the best of video game art, technology and production, will be presided over by actors Tom Sizemore and Tara Platt. Not sure if this qualifies as community service for Sizemore, who has had a few run-ins with the law, but as a game reviewer (though not a member of this group) I am always keen to stay on top of what’s going on in the gaming industry.

http://navgtr.org

* Feb. 28 marks the day that PlayStation 3 users who are members of the Call of Duty Elite Premium service will be able to get their first two DLC (downloadable content) packages.

Liberation and Piazza are their names.

Liberation, a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, features a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them, says game publisher Activision in a release.

Piazza, meanwhile, is set in an idyllic seaside village, an Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex network of branching pathways pose danger at every turn. Visceral close-quarters combat dominates in Piazza, and attacks from above and below are an ever-constant threat.

www.callofduty.com/elite.

* I attended my first Fan Expo Canada in 2011 and enjoyed it, despite some rough spots with some of the overly aggressive and uninformed volunteers.

Patrick Stewart has been announced as one of the headline guests for 2012.  The Brit thesp is best known for his roles as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films.

Fan Expo Canada 2012 is also going to play host to writer/director Kevin Smith and his actor/pal Jason Mewes. They will be performing their show Jay and Silent Bob Get Old on Friday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets for the show are $39 for general admission, or a $69 (hey, it’s Kevin Smith) priority package that nets you better seating, a limited edition 8x10 autographed photo of Kevin and Jason and a complimentary one-hour preview of Fan Expo Canada.

Fan Expo Canada 2012 takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Aug. 23-26.

www.fanexpocanada.com

* Good news for Star Wars gaming fans this week as The Old Republic looks to be a success out of the gate.

The Massively Multiplayer Online game, from Canada’s BioWare Corp. and LucasArts, has sold more than two million copies and publisher Electronic Arts says in a press release that there are more than 1.7 million active subscribers playing the story-driven title.

“We’re truly honored and humbled by the incredibly strong support from our players who are enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare and general manager of EA’s BioWare Label, in a release. “Our entire team worked very hard over the holidays to deliver a smooth experience at launch and the resulting response to the game from our fans and critics has been exceptionally gratifying.”

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare and general manager of the BioWare MMO Business Unit: “We’re actively listening to our community for ongoing feedback to help us ensure the game and service continue to improve, and we’re working to deliver spectacular new high quality content on a regular cadence going forward.”

According to EA, there have been more than 239 million in-game hours, or more than 332,000 months and 27,000 years of in-game time played in the first month. There were over 20 billion NPCs killed and more than 148 billion credits spent.

I’ve had some time with the game and it’s definitely enjoyable. I plan to publish a review when I’ve spent a bit more time with it, so stay tuned.

www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com

* In the mood for some arcade titles? Well, Xbox Live has launched a new campaign called House Party.

Starting Feb. 15, 360 gamers can access a new downloadable game every Wednesday through to March 7. As a reward, if you buy all four of the games, you’ll receive 800 Microsoft Points, Xbox states in a press release.

Up first on Feb. 15 is Warp, from Electronic Arts, which costs 800 MS Points. You will play as Zero, an alien with a big score to settle in this puzzle-based stealth action game. Captured by the villainous Commander and imprisoned in his underwater facility, Zero must plan his ultimate escape using his arsenal of alien abilities — warp, frag, echo, swap and launch.

On Feb. 22, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare goes on sale for 1200 points. In this stand-alone game, novelist turned action hero Alan Wake fights the evil Mr. Scratch.

On Feb. 29, THQ delivers Nexuiz for 800 points. An arena-based first-person shooter, the game explores a reality TV show where you can alter the rules of the match and the laws of physics while dominating opponents in ever-changing hostile environments.

And then on March 7, Ubisoft launches I Am Alive, for 1200 points.

One year after a worldwide cataclysmic event wiped out most of humanity, a man struggles for survival. Faced with an insecure, decaying and hazardous world, he scours a desolate city, searching for his long-lost wife and daughter. Survive the suffocating, murky streets covered in dust. Climb the teetering remains of last-standing skyscrapers to reach breathable air and find untouched resources. Explore the crumbling ruins of a once-thriving metropolis. Discover a changed human condition, punctuated by distrustful survivors, dangerous armed gangs and victims in need. 

Sounds fun.

* Capcom confirmed that Resident Evil 6 is a go. It will be releasing Nov. 20 this year. Can’t wait.

* And finally this week, if you like some arcade action before or after you take in a movie at the theatre, Canada’s Cineplex Entertainment announced it has merged its New Way Sales Gaming with the amusement game and vending assets of Toronto-based Starburst Coin Machines. 

The new venture, Cineplex Starburst Inc., will form the largest distributor and operator of arcade games to the amusement industry in Canada.  The deal is worth approximately $4.5 million.

Starburst has supplied and serviced the arcade games located within all of the original Famous Players brand theatres for many years.  They also supply equipment to numerous arcades, amusement centers, bowling alleys, amusement parks and theatre circuits, in addition to owning and operating Playdium, the Family Entertainment Centre in Mississauga.

New Way supplies and services the equipment located within Cineplex Odeon and Galaxy Cinemas in addition to a number of other businesses. Following the merger, Cineplex Starburst Inc., will supply and service all Cineplex Entertainment theatres across Canada and continue to supply and support numerous other third parties.

Cineplex is the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada and owns leases or has a joint-venture interest in 130 theatres with 1,352 screens serving approximately 70 million guests annually.

www.cineplex.com

Strong vocal cast to be a highlight of Mass Effect 3

Hey, hey, hey. It ain’t Fat Albert in da house, but rather Jedi Aragorn. Back from seeing a loved one become one with the Force (thank you to my friends and family, readers, listeners and followers who offered condolences across the spectrum of social media outlets I use to spread the good word) and ready to embrace all those geeky things that make life worth living here on this third rock from the big, burning ball of gas we circle.

So, let’s get down to business, shall we?

The countdown is on and console gamers like me are eagerly awaiting the third installment in the Mass Effect trilogy.

Mass Effect 3, available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, ships in North America on March 9, while the demo moves on both consoles Valentine's Day.

Developer BioWare looks set to deliver a triumphant finale to this remarkable role-playing game franchise, set around the adventures of Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre agent, as he helps defend the galaxy against an invasion by a terrifying race of machines.

Mass Effect 3's demo hits Feb. 14,
while the game launches on consoles March 9.

ME3 should continue the Canadian company’s legacy of delivering one of the most cinematic gaming experiences around. BioWare goes all out in securing outstanding voice talent for its projects because the good doctors who founded the company – Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk – are big believers in a truly artistic product being delivered to its appreciative audience.

You can see that commitment in games like the previous Mass Effect titles, where Martin Sheen was hired to voice the enigmatic human-centric character, the Illusive Man, as well as BioWare’s latest PC opus, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which features the likes of Jamie Glover (Malgus), Catherine Taber (Padme on The Clone Wars and Vette in the game) David Hayter (the male Jedi Knight, as well as Metal Gear Solid’s Snake), Grey DeLisle, Lacey Chabert, Tom Kane, Deborah Kara Unger … the list goes on and on.

Well, ME3’s voice cast is equally impressive. Sheen returns, as does Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale as the voices of the male and female Shepard, respectively, as well as Adam Baldwin, Seth Green, Tricia Helfer, Keith David, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lance Henriksen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica).

“We are absolutely thrilled with the passion and emotion the entire cast brought to their performances in Mass Effect 3,” said Casey Hudson, executive producer of the Mass Effect series, in a press release.

“In a story where Earth and the entire galaxy are at war, we needed to take the performances to a level of dramatic power and intensity that we’ve never previously attempted. This extremely talented cast delivered.”

Sure, it’s easy to be snarky about someone like Prinze Jr. joining the cast. Hey, it’s Fred from those lame live-action Scooby Doo movies trying to sound like a bad-ass space marine … but cut the guy some slack. First off, it’s his voice you’re going to be hearing and the guy does have some decent pipes. So at least wait and hear what his character, a guy named Vega, sounds like before you draw the long knives, folks.

“I have always loved science fiction and I have always loved games and Mass Effect is really the first time both come together successfully,” said Prinze, Jr., in a release.

“It is a completely immersive game where you really feel like you’re part of this journey inside this universe. It will make you think, you will care about the character you are playing and you will care about the characters that you bring into battle with you.”

In Mass Effect 3, players will be thrust into an all-out galactic war to save the galaxy from an ancient alien race known only as the Reapers, the release states. Players will assume the role of Commander Shepard, a war-torn veteran who’s willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate this nearly unstoppable foe. With a team of elite, battle-hardened soldiers at your side, each player decides how they will take Earth back, from the weapons and abilities they utilize to the relationships they forge or break. Gamers can get their first taste of the galactic war when the Mass Effect 3 demo launches worldwide on February 14.

For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect,  or "like" the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/masseffect.

Me, I can’t wait to get my hands on this baby. BioWare is a master group, like the Pixar of video games, and it’s going to be fun to see what they’ve got up their sleeves for Shepard’s last ride.