A Fallout of Epic Proportions

Welcome to Earth, 2277. It has been two hundred and three years since the Great War, a battle that has destroyed the entire world. You are a Courier in the Mojave Wasteland, a land filled with war and death. Two main factions constantly battle for control over this land: The New Californian Republic (NCR) and Caesar's Legion.

As well, the natives of the land inhabit New Las Vegas, more commonly known as New Vegas. This is the namesake of the videogame we talk about today, "Fallout: New Vegas". The game starts you off by getting shot in the face as you look the end of your mail-delivering days in the eye and say "Bite me." Naturally, being the main character, you survive this dark ordeal and wake up about a week later, deciding to trade in your mailbag for a nine millimeter pistol.

As an open world game, you get to travel the Mojave Wastes, battling your way through the fallout of the nuclear war that had happened two hundred years prior to the game. The game has several things to do, and multiple skillsets for different abilities for each individual playthrough. This doesn't mean you can ONLY have a Lockpicking Skill in one playthrouh; in fact, by the end of my main playthrough, I had all but three skillsets maxed out.

The initial Level Cap is 30, just like it was in Fallout. However, with each DLC you get, your cap gets raised by Five Levels. That is five whole levelups to apply! More skills to max out! The most lovely thing I'd ever heard of.

Not only that, but each DLC has it's own deep storyline to follow, all leading up to who you (The Mojave Courier) really are. The story and ending revolves around who you choose to be, who you choose as your friends and enemies, and how dedicated you are to the cause of saving the Mojave Wasteland from whatever you perceive the greatest threat to it to be. You can even be the greatest threat to the Mojave, as anyone and everyone in the game is...well, fair game. Anyone can be killed, and everyone can be killed. But there are consequences to these decisions.

The Symbol of the NCR--a Two Headed Bear

If you kill a quest-giver, or someone related to a quest that needed to be alive for it, you naturally are no longer capable of completing that quest. So maybe exterminating all life in the Mojave is a bad idea. That said, there are many, MANY quests that, even at the Level Cap of 50, I have not done. You can find a lot of quests in close to anywhere in the Mojave, but beware, doing these quests can be a bad idea at times.

You see, this game isn't just "Good and Evil" like Fallout 3 was. This game entails a large variety of Reputation. What is Reputation, you may ask. Why, Reputation is how a faction sees you! Not everyone in the Mojave will see you the same way: for instance, if you are a stout follower of the NCR, and help them wherever you can, their enemies, the Legion, are not going to be very fond of you. Vice versa, as well. However, there are several communities in the Mojave who will all have their own opinions of your actions through the Mojave--everything between being Idolized to being Vilified by a nation.

Concept Art of the Legion slavers

There is still a Karma system, which is really just saying that you are a good or a bad guy. You may notice you have a title somewhere in  your Pip-Boy, the game's GUI system. That title is based off of two things: Level, and Karma. The top three titles are "Messiah", "True Mortal", and "Devil". 

All of these choices, all of these communities, all of these consequences and ideas lead to some very interesting ending scenarios, with great rarity on repetition. Being one of my nice guy games, I always did my best to be my best, and help everyone, so I got some pretty positive endings. I still have two endings I need to see, being "Side with NCR for the war" and "Side with Legion for the war", as I have already made an Independent New Vegas and a House-Ruled New Vegas as two characters.

The DLC's all have their own endings, as well. I will briefly describe each DLC, as they are all good and are definitely worth a look over.

Dead Money: 

You have been kidnapped by Elder Elijah, formerly of the Brotherhood of Steel. Forced to navigate the deadly Sierra Madre Casino and it's outskirts, it is up to you to gather a deadly team out of your fellow inmates and escape this crisis situation. New weapons and companions will aid you as you navigate the deadly terrain, filled with toxic gas and a new kind of Ghoul called a "Ghost Person".

Honest Hearts:

After returning to your Courier roots and deciding that maybe you better remember that you are, in fact, a Courier and not a genocide machine as many people play him as, you head up with the Happy Trails Caravan for a job all the way to New Canaan. However, you are headed off at Zion National Park by tribal bandits, killing everyone but your badass genocide machine self. After allying yourself with the natives of the Park, you find new weapons and enemies in this new area as you try and find your way back to the Mojave. You also get to meet Joshua Graham, known as "The Burned Man" by the Legion, a barely-living legend who is still skilled in combat.

Old World Blues: 

Kidnapped again by scientists, you awake at a dangerous area known as "Big  Mountain". The natives call it the "Big Empty" because "Mountain" abbreviates to "MT" and people phonetically tried to figure this one out. So? You've been in dangerous places before. You now find out you have to help your kidnappers to get something very important back. What could be so important, you ask? That's why you need it back! To find out. There actually is a reason described, but for suspenseful reasons you need to get this DLC to find out.

Lonesome Road:

You get a mysterious message from a man named "Ulysses" saying to go to an area known as "The Great Divide". The Great Divide is a highly dangerous area, filled with radiation and highly destructive winds. A highly lethal place that makes the Mojave seem like a pleasant place to live in. It is here, in the Great Divide, that you learn of your past and who you were before the bullet to your noggin back at the beginning of the game. You have to find Ulysses in the Divide, and settle matters with him once and for all. Whether those matters be peaceful, or end up with Ulysses' corpse is up to you. After settling matters with him, you have to make a choice that would change the Mojave Wasteland forever.








The graphics, however, are outdated. Using the same engine as Fallout 3, it naturally has all the same problems that Fallout 3 had; frequent crashes, not too good looking character models. However, other than those small problems, this is a very good game, and I recommend it highly.

Until next time, I post, peace! Remember that the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim comes out 11/11/11, and Assassin's Creed Revelations only four days after! My wallet is certainly in pain just thinking about it.

The Best Things Come in Pairs...Two for post #2.

Post number two, and today we'll be talking about the game I recently bought and beat, Army of Two: The Fortieth Day.

Army of Two: The 40th Day takes place in Shanghai as it is destroyed around our heroes by terrorists. Salem and Rios have returned, donning their fancy new Army of Two armor, since in the end of the original game they founded a merc company named for the game.

Anyway, I started the game, and immediately checked out the menus, as I often do. I looked around and saw the masks selection, being pleasantly surprised that masks no longer had to be tediously purchased, like in the original game. So I gave Rios a silly yellow mask with a smiley face painted on it and Salem a skull mask.

Naturally, I chose Salem because he has hair. Silly reason, really, but I connect more with the character of Salem and revere Rios as more of a guidance character, even though he can be annoying as hell in combat when trying to heal me.

Anyway, the game introduces a deeper and more customizable weapons system, where you can interchange parts from weapons you have, parts you buy, and things you pick up. I ended up with the M41G, a great upgrade letting me mow down enemies.

I like how they upgraded the enemy AI, as well, showing characteristics similar to Salem and Rios. If you didn't quite kill a soldier, another will drag him to cover and patch him up. It made me feel good inside to know Rios wasn't the only AI who knew how to do that, even as I picked off the helper then the wounded.

Once down, you can drag yourself to cover and wait for your
partner to heal you.

Other interesting mechanics have been added in-game as well; hostage situations, mock surrendering, and in general better mechanics. If you are knocked down in combat, you can drag yourself to cover so your partner doesn't have to worry about you while he mops up remaining enemies. You have a health bar, though, so if they leave you too long or you can't find adequate cover, you get killed.

The aggrometer as it appears in Army of Two

I must say that I love the aggro system very much. It works well for the game and makes quite a bit of sense in appliance--enemies will be aiming at whoever is threatening them the most, that being whoever is shooting the biggest gun the most. It is oftentimes me, as I am more of a tank-typed gamer, preferring to jump right into the action, however there are times I was forced to cooperate with Rios, letting him take the aggro so I could sneak around and snipe enemies.

A hostage situation can quickly be turned around for your
advantage...if you know who to grab.

New mechanics in the game include "Mock Surrender" and the new GPS add-on "ID Search" as I call it. It tells you what rank certain enemies are. As for why you'd want to know that, you can grab an enemy and use them as a human shield. Any enemy whose rank is lower than who you just grabbed will surrender, and you have the choice to kill them or tie them up and spare them. (though in an exploding city, leaving them there isn't much better than killing them...)

The idea comes is extremely important when rescuing civilians. One well-timed capture can save them, but a slip-up and they are the first to get shot. If they die, morality is lost, causing difficulty for the player at the end of the game.

Salem pretending to surrender

The mock surrender appears just before combat ensues. It allows you to gain a bullet-time upgrade  temporarily if done correctly, giving you a major advantage in many of the firefights you will encounter in the game. It also allows you to get to items not normally attainable if one just rushes into the thick of combat, such as extra cash and weapon parts.



The game also allows for something not previously seen in Army of Two. While in the original, you had to constantly buy your weapons and upgrades, in the latest installment you can use the ones that all your enemies conveniently have. The temporary weapons system works well in the game and fits to the action, especially if you're hurting for ammunition in the middle of a firefight.

The Grenadier, just waiting to pick a bone with our heroes

All these tools in mind, the game doesn't simply let you run around all willy-nilly and not use them. It taxes your cooperative skills and ability to use them to their fullest ability-for instance, the Grenadier Trooper (pictured left) can only be killed by shooting his grenade packs, which are behind him. One has to use aggro effectively to get around him and manage to fire long enough to take the Grenadier down, all the while trying to keep their partner alive. There are other troops like this, such as the Minigun Trooper and the Flamethrower trooper, whom have similar strategies to be defeated. However, using the aggro system this well is rewarding and will win many battles pretty easily on its own.

With its new bayonet-typed attachments, martial arts-style moves, expanded arsenal, greater co-op commands and strategic requirement, the beautiful destruction of the city of Shanghai in Army of Two: The 40th Day certainly does it's best to live up to the original's legacy. But does it? Gameplay-wise, I am much happier with the performance. Storywise?

Army of Two takes place across the whole world, involving a massive terrorist plot to take over the world, naturally. The 40th Day involves the warzone of Shanghai as a terrorist group seeks to wipe it off the face of the Earth for pessimistic reasons involving the state of humanity and its unwillingness for sacrifice.

Both involve treachery, and the bonding of our heroes. They both allow growth for the characters while establishing they've already been through hell and back, and are ready to do it again. I am reluctant to say which is better because both have done a great job of portraying the hotshot Elliot Salem and the Wants-to-save-the-world Tyson Rios.

I can't truly reveal my pick without spoiling the game, so I will only say that The 40th Day has been done with magnificent detail, and rivals, if not surpasses, its predecessor in many ways. However, if you want all the fun and action, I suggest that you play both.

Until next time I post, happy trails.

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!