I punch harder than bullets

So anyway, I've been playing a lot of Halo: Reach lately, from the Legendary Mode campaign with friends to Firefight Mode to Matchmaker Mode. I have to say, the game has really been fun so far.

Out of no hatred to Halo, I have prolonged actually playing Halo: Reach and beating it for some time. However some time ago I did actually beat the game, and I really enjoyed it. Keep in mind, Halo is a brilliant franchise, and as much as haters may say that the series has no originality or whatever, it really does. They probably just don't know what originality is--that, or I go cynical and say "Nothing new under the sun."

Me, getting ready to kill an enemy in Infection Mode

Now, I will say that Halo is best played with a friend. Even the campaign mode is best played with a friend, and that is true of both Halo 3 and Reach. The multiplayer is much the same as the singleplayer, except that you respawn whenever you or a partner are killed in battle. If all players are killed, they go back to checkpoint.
The control scheme is close to identical to all Halo games, save for the addition of Armor Powers, including Armor Lock, Jetpack, Sprint, Portable Shield, and Active Camo. Each ability doing almost exactly as it explains, it definitely adds an element to Halo not seen before.

The story takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved. As the Spartan known solely as Noble VI, you have joined the team Noble Six. A team that has been contracted to--what else?--save Reach from the coming alien invasion. As you progress through the game, it gives a sense of melancholy. Anybody who has played any of the Halo Trilogy, and has the combined knowledge that Reach is before that, knows that this battle is destined to be a failure.

That is where this game gets it's uniquity. It is about saving the world, but ultimately losing. You can try your hardest, but no matter what--the game will end with the destruction of Reach. Therefore, the game takes several liberties in missions--hordes of enemies, loads of dropships, and barely any allies whatsoever. It makes you feel like a badass as Noble VI is one of the few people able to do anything about it.

As Noble VI, an unnamed character that is widely unexplored, you get to be close to whoever you want to be. You even get to customize his armor, for use in both campaign and Online Modes. As you progress in Multiplayer and Campaign, you get upgrades to your military rank, from Privateer all the way to General, then to Master and Hero.

The more you play, the more credits you get. According to rank and credit amount, you can buy different armor and helmets, as well as things like Firefight Voices and Armor Effects. Firefight Voices being what they sound like--the voice Noble VI will have--and Armor Effects being the effect that happens when you die. It can be anything from Birthday Party Confetti all the way to Thunder and Lightning. They have no effect on the overall game, however.

Having logged enough hours of play to achieve Warrant Officer Grade 1 rank, I highly recommend the game. It is an action shooter, still, and keeps to the theme Halo has had throughout the whole series: Humans vs Aliens. I suggest it if you are looking for a good game, a refresher from standard Halo. The replay value is "Meh" unless you're playing with friends, and the online maps are actually quite fun. (coming from someone without the map packs)

Until next time I post, see you around!

First Post and Whatnot

So anyway, I decided to make a blog because I was bored, and detail what all I am playing in videogames. Why not just play the videogames? Good question. Next!

Anyway, I recently acquired two games I've been looking for for some time. Mass Effect and Army of Two: The 40th Day. So I might as well start writing with Mass Effect since I started playing that one first. (Keep in mind, I have played Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 1 gave me...something I wasn't expecting...)

So anyway, I started up my game of Mass Effect 1, (by Bioware) and looked around the menus for a little bit, trying to see if it would be anything like ME2. Finally after setting everything to my preferences, with difficulty at Normal, I started the game. I picked something different from my usual, a Spacer Lone Survivor Female Shepard, instead choosing an Earthborn Warhero Male Shepard.

The game started, and I was at first saddened at how Joker seemed to hate me outright. Well, maybe not outright, but his sarcasm was less...lightheartedly funny and more...get out of my face.

Anyway, I finally arrive at the first combat scene, and find the HUD to be vastly different, among other things.

Mass Effect 1's HUD

Notice the health bars in the bottom left, as well as shield monitors. This is what I loved best about the Mass Effect heads up display--it let me see how my partners were doing in a constant detailed report. I also admit I liked that there was unlimited ammunition, you merely had to not overheat your weapon. 

Mass Effect 2's HUD

The ME2 HUD is more concerned, it seems, with packing everything up. I can only vaguely see how my partners are doing with their health and shields, represented under Shepard's own health/shield bar by a small bar and a quarter circle. The only thing I ever really relied on in concern with that pitiful display is when their faces glow red, meaning they're taking damage, and even then, I don't know how much more they can actually take. 

I was, however, frustrated that I could not command my team separately in Mass Effect 1, a feature added on in Mass Effect 2. That did not excuse, for me, the pitiful lack in variety of weapons and armor ME2 has. Sure, you can change out parts of your regular N7 Armor, but most other armors are exclusive and DLC-Only, and even then, only for Shepard. Sure, you could change out skins on your team, but how much stronger does that actually make them?

I also noted that through three playthroughs, I only had two types of pistols, 4 machine guns, three snipers, and three shotguns excluding squad-exclusive weaponry. What is this? In Mass Effect there were almost countless variety of weapons, and different weapon manufacturers everywhere! It made it worthwhile to get money, to see how much more you could buy. In ME2, there was apparently a massive deflation in the economy, as while I amassed over 6 million credits in the predecessor, the best I ever got in ME2 on Hardcore Mode was around 300,000 credits. 

It's not a bad thing, and it certainly explains the drop in weapons and armor variety--I mean, with 300,000 credits only there isn't a lot the poor Commander could buy anyway. Besides, I'd much rather only buy virtually nameless upgrades for my weapons and, of course, be able to attach them all at once stifling my creativity of mix and match.

Now that the rant is over, I honestly cannot compare the storylines. I will say I liked the team of ME2 better, even though I still stuck with Tali and Garrus (they are my A-Team) and sometimes Legion. The arguments among the team were interesting as well, even if I never resolved Miranda vs Jack. 

The ending is a lot better, or it was for me, because I spoiled it (slightly) for myself. I read that Shepard could get killed on the Suicide Mission if certain parameters were met, and all along I was on the edge of my seat trying not to meet those parameters. In the battle against Sovereign and Saren, I actually managed to convince the villain to pull suicide, and the ending was on a grand scale (Joker's flying was incredible) however the knowledge that Shepard would, in fact, survive simply killed the end suspense.

Of course, I plan to play ME2 again with my ME1 Shepard, and play through twice to get good stats and all that, in preparation for Mass Effect 3 coming out Winter sometime.

Until next time I post, peace!