Goombd Played! - Diablo III

 Click click click *LOOT!* click click. This is what comes to my mind when I think about Diablo. It's never about the horrible demons crawling their way out of hell or how dark and gloomy everything seems to be all over. Clicking tirelessly. I'll cut my sad attempt at a dramatic interpretation for this write-up. Yes, Diablo III is here and it's once again completely insane.

The remaining demons are back, looking for revenge at humanity. Diablo is still dead, but if he wasn't coming back, this game wouldn't be named Diablo III, now would it? Surely, they have something in mind and are after relics that will help resurrect the prime evil. It will be up to a hero or two to save the day, whether they are a monk, demon hunter, witch doctor or barbarian.

Much like previous Diablo games, Diablo III plays very differently depending on which class you choose to play as. Going even deeper, each of these character archetypes offers their own branching paths in terms of setting up skill runes. New runes become available every time you level up. You don't have direct control as to where the skill points go into your character attributes, but you do get the choice as to which rune you get to use. There are many variations you can take a character in, and they're completely interchangeable on the fly, depending on the situation you are facing. For instance, a monk can be an area of effect (AOE) powerhouse, taking down huge groups of enemies in a confined space, or they can act as a healer for a group of players.

Gameplay is pretty much like previous games, you are still spending the majority of your time clicking away like a mad person, although there are quite a few keyboard shortcuts to use for your special powers. Powers can be assigned to a few number keys and can be further tweaked once you activate what's called elective mode. This mode lets you combine powers that happen to be in the same school in order to further customize your character, breaking from the mold of only using one type of ability or spell if you so wish. This mix and match system breathes some new life in what could become a tired quest of quick or prolonged clicks, giving you the chance to change your character as the situation calls, or if you are looking for something new.

Grouping up is a huge part of Diablo III. Creating a nice mix of classes is paramount in order to beat the game at higher difficulty settings. Diablo III is setup in a way that pushes you into playing in groups online, by taking cues from previous Blizzard games like World of WarCraft. Every player gets their own loot drops, and the significant equipment upgrades are only found the higher the difficulty you play, which works as the endgame content, the oh so high ceiling of "grinding" for loot.

 

Loot plays a big role in Diablo III, both in terms of character progression and how you will make it through the game as you replay it in higher difficulties.Multiple playthroughs are a must if you ever wish to reach the level cap and have access to better equipment, but they aren't your only avenue to obtaining shiny new stuff. Much like WoW, Diablo III offers on online auction house where players can throw down unwanted items for in game gold or even real money. And like 'WarCraft, the better the item, the more inflated the prices tend to get. If you are unlucky as me in your item drops, you'll have to turn to this service, which can serve both as a blessing or a curse, depending on what you are in the virtual market for.

Regardless of being a seasoned dungeon hacker or a newbie, there's no denying that Diablo III looks gorgeous. Every act in this game looks and feels completely different, whether you are treading the desert or hacking away in a lush forest. Enemies are also varied, much more than previous games, they go beyond simple color palettes although there are exceptions to this rule when you run into elite versions of some monsters. These are sometimes even stronger than actual bosses, but are worth killing if you are after the better loot drops.

Diablo III ran into some shaky grounds upon its release thanks to the form of online activation Blizzard is implementing. It that demands a constant internet connection and for weeks after the game was released, it was regularly offline, keeping players away from the game, even in single player. There are still some issues now, but Blizzard promises to iron out the remaining bugs as the game gets further patched in the future.

If any of Blizzard's games is an indication of the longevity of Diablo III's lifespan, you can certainly look forward to a lot more content to kill your way through after you are boot next to boot on top of Diablo's corpse. The already implemented and aforementioned loot "grind" is there as a wall for the endgame and only a very, very naive player would expect Blizzard and Activision to be done with the game as it is. Diablo II is still getting patched and tweaked now, more than ten years after its release, after all. Considering how different of games both StarCraft 2 and World of WarCraft got turned to post release, you can expect to keep playing Diablo III for a long damn while. |9

Goombd Played! - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

What can you say about a game like Skyrim? Possibly, that it's a huge undertaking for anyone planning to play it. Like previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim is immense, filled with little bits of content just about everywhere. Are you ready to get started?

Dragons are back to terrorize the Tamriel continent of Skyrim, the snowy home of the proud Nords. Sadly for our viking friends, the drakes aren't their only worry. The Empire is moving into their territory as well in their quest to gain even more power. But that's not for your lowly character to worry about. He or she has bigger problems. They're about to die at the gallows.

Without spoiling anything, it's obvious that your avatar in the game survives and it's exactly at that point that Skyrim begins. You're left alone, in the middle of a destroyed town with only a nudge about where to head next. Do you follow your fellow prisoner to safety or will you trust an Imperial who just moments ago was ready to lob off your head?


Skyrim is a game about decisions. They start with whether or not you want to help a greater cause or with the mundane task of deciding about your character's gender or race. If you don't want to focus on the main story, that's fine. Wanna rush it all and get it done with? Cool. You'll find something cool to see and mess around with at just about every corner of the icy lands of Skyrim.

Like in Oblivion, the guilds are easily best distractions in terms of quest content in Skyrim. Sadly, some of the groups seen in Cyrodil, like the Fighter's Guild, are nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, the groups that did survive the cut manage to provide some of the coolest quest lines in the game. If you were like me and loved the Dark Brotherhood missions in Oblivion, get ready to be blown away in this one as well.

Most of the action in Skyrim is reliant on how you build your character and how you decide to use your powers. In the Elder Scrolls tradition, abilities level up as you use them, for instance, if you're a heavy bow user, your marksmanship points will go up as you line up and make shots. That also goes for involuntary skills like heavy or light armor, as you take hits. Unlike previous games, though, you can also level up by talking to certain trainer characters and pay your way up the scale or by reading special books that you can find by exploring.


Irregardless to how you decide to take your character, there's always a companion just around the corner that will easily counter balance your development skills. Bethesda took one of the best aspects of their other RPG series Fallout and applied it to Skyrim in the form of companion characters "for hire". These guys are very damn useful, especially for less resistant character builds like wizards and can take a lot of punishment. Unfortunately, they aren't as well developed as your buddies from the Capital Wasteland and very rarely bring more story elements for you to mess around with.

In terms of story, I'll have to admit that I was a little disappointed with Skyrim's main quest line. The build up for the most of the game is very well developed but it just doesn't go anywhere. The ending is not satisfying at all. The world keeps going, people go back to their routines and heck, even though you did something that should have rid the world of a particular kind of problem, as soon as you step back into the world and keep playing, lo and behold, they're still around causing havoc.


Still, if you take into account the sheer number of things to do in this game, the fact that the main story is its weakest element is pretty much forgivable. The guild quests, allied with just about a ton of extra tidbits and areas to spelunk in are easily more exciting and will be the main crux of your activities in this game.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Bethesda will do with Skyrim in terms of DLC, especially after loving what they had to offer in Fallout 3 and finding most of the areas that heavily hint on possible threads to explore in future downloadable content in this game. You can be sure that once you're through with everything this game has to offer, you won't be done.

Skyrim is easily recommendable to just about anyone looking for a fantasy world to dive into. The content is rich and the shortcomings are easily overcome by the sheer amount of awesome stuff to do in the frigid land of the Nords. Whether or not you decide to be a hero or a villain, one thing is for certain, this is one of those gaming experiences that are not easily forgotten. |10

Goomb Played! - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

It's a wonder how a game like The Witcher 2 manages to be gritty and positively beautiful at the same time. Polish developer CD Projekt Red's newest role-playing game is set in a gorgeous fantasy world, lush with details, a strong lore and absolutely amazing characters.

No one is a hero in Geralt's group of acquaintances, including himself. He lost his memories and the only thing he's sure of is that there's trouble brewing and somehow his order, of the witchers, is involved. It all starts when a serial king murderer strikes where Geralt happened to be. Framed for the regicide, he's forced to prove his innocence and avert a global crisis.

For an RPG, The Witcher 2 plays extremely simple. You got three "evolution trees" which you can follow when you level up, in the form of alchemy, sword fighting and magic. Each of them is tied to an aspect of combat but also influence other key abilities, like crafting and the making of potions. Potions work differently and are only used before fights, when you enter Geralt in a meditation state, where not only you can drink these concoctions but also mix them.

The fighting part of the game is very basic and easy to handle. The Witcher 2 turns into more of a hack and slasher, although not as involved as God of War, for instance. Depending on your choice as a 'spec', your prowess with swords, magic or status effects is improved. Fights can quickly turn hairy since enemies swarm you at about every chance they get.

Role-playing is probably the best aspect of Garelt's adventure, thanks to some excellent dialogue and interesting quests. Sidequests are far from the usual fetch and destroy a certain number of enemies and manage to be important to the overall story. Sure, you will run into RPG tropes here and there, like the repeated monster contracts but even those are relatively varied and make use of more than just 'kill kill kill'.

A great presentation isn't the sole reason to jump into any game, although it helps a lot. The Witcher 2 is an absolutely gorgeous game. Environments are colorful and feel alive, even when you're sneaking through a cave. Geralt himself looks rugged, as he should look, like an aged warrior that's been on the wrong side of many blades, with scars to prove.

Music is superb as well. The score manages to be epic at just the right spots in the story or during action scenes and subtle at softer, calmer moments. When a character opens his or her mouth to speak, you're treated with very well performed voice acting. Geralt sounds just as gruff as he looks and dwarves... well, they sound like dwarves. Did I mention dwarves are the kinkiest race on the planet?

They sure are, thanks to how of a more mature tone CD Projekt Red takes in this game. Dialogue more than often turn sexual, with the constant use of the word "plowing", The Witcher 2's version of "frak". You get the drift, right? There's more than one instance of actual sexual situations too. While not nearly as intense as was hyped during this game's development, they are treated in a far less awkward manner than in a game like Mass Effect nor as say, interactive as God of War. They work more as cutscenes than anything though and don't particularly affect the story at all.

It's worth mentioning that this is an open ended game that features more than one path during the story. These forks in the road work a lot better than the usual karma options and they actually show unique facets of the story. The Witcher 2 demands a second playthrough as soon as you set your controller down if you wish to know the full story or see where a different choice in allegiance can take you, for instance.

The Witcher 2 is one hell of an RPG. While the combat can get mindless and cheap at some points, the story and atmosphere are just incredible. It's the type of game that will grip you. Simply put, if you got the machine to run this, you shouldn't miss it. |10

Goombd! Played - Fallout: New Vegas Lonesome Road DLC

Unlike the title might suggest, in Fallout New Vegas' newest piece of downloadable content, you're hardly ever alone. Lonesome Road picks up right after Old World Blues, where you discovered that you are not the only Courier in the Mojave desert. Courier Six, the first person approached with the task of delivering the Platinum Chip and who refused to do so, is hot on your trail for mysterious reasons.

It all begins after you get transmission from Six and are sent to the depths of the Divide through a conveniently placed entranced in the middle of the wasteland. Much like previous DLC, you're not allowed to take any of your party members along. The trip is hardly solitary though, since as soon as you get to the first area of the Divide, you meet an eyebot named ED-E, that much to your surprise, acts a lot like another ED-E you might have met during your journey through the Mojave.


Much of Lonesome Road revolves around discovering the reason why you've been brought there. You come in contact with Courier Six rather early on and he hardly gives any clue about why you're there, let alone how to find him. You do, however, run into a crap ton of active nuclear warheads, Deathclaws and irradiated mutants who must all perish in the name of Six.

This DLC goes so far as to give you a special gun that activates those warheads in order to clear the path through all the rubble in the Divide, along with a few new pieces of gear to don and fashion on your way back to the Wasteland. Red Glare is a new type of rocket launcher that has the added bonus of being upgradeable. ED-E can also receive updates if you're thorough in your exploration and can manage to find his fallen eyebot friends scattered around. The best part about upgrading the little flying hunk of metal is that it all transfers to your original ED-E party member once you travel back to the main game.


The best part of Lonesome Road that I found to be extremely rewarding, besides the smartly written story and dialogue, that are not as heavy in delivery as Old World Blues, is how your actions in Divide play a pivotal role in the main New Vegas campaign. None of the previous downloadable packs provoked consequences in the Mojave, aside from giving you exclusive pieces of gear, but depending on your choices in particular parts of your visit to the Divide, your main Mojave quest might be deeply influenced.

I'm talking extermination here - things that can create ripples in your New Vegas experience. This is an awesome part of Lonesome Road that makes it worth playing through and to put an end to a four part story that began way back in Dead Money, where I for one hardly thought they would reconnect story-wise in any way. I will go so far to suggest that you give this a go right in the middle of your main New Vegas experience in order to see how the hell these consequences play out in the story. You also run into recordings made by Six as he explored the areas covered in the previous DLCs that tie into and help carve out a personality for this enigma of a character.


If you enjoyed New Vegas, there's no reason not to give any of the four DLC packs a try. As a combined experience, New Vegas' pieces of downloadable content managed to deliver a much more solid overall story than say Fallout 3's, and that's saying a lot, considering how much I liked those back then. |8