Are You Motherfuckers Ready for the New Shit?

Hai guys I has heard of this new game Dragon Age: Origins it looks dopeness.

When that trailer was released upon the internet in the dark days of May 2009 the reaction from hardcore RPG fans hoping for the next Baldur’s Gate was a kind of bewildered butt hurt. Blood, violence, sex? Who cares about those things? We want an isometric camera and elaborate spreadsheet like dialogue trees. The phrase de jour was “dumming down” and there was mention of the dreaded “consoletards”. The Marilyn Manson song blaring over the top just added insult to injury.

The game is out now and it does (on the PC at least) feature an isometric camera and elaborate spreadsheet like dialogue trees. It is the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate but it’s Baldur’s Gate by way of World of Warcraft and Gears of War. By which I mean it’s picked up some of the combat dynamics of WoW and Gears of War’s po faced self seriousness.

But it is a good game and over the next few entries I’m going to examine it in pain staking detail because I have a blog and that’s how I roll.

Do we get it? NO!
Do we want it? YEAH!
This is the new shit
Stand up and admit it

Next: Character Creation

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Bros. of the Old Republic

Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords got a lot of flak for being unfinished. Sure it’s brilliantly written and packed with interesting moral dilemmas but all of that is for naught if the last three hours of the game turn into a total shambles. Sadly that’s what happened to KOTOR 2, I’m not really interested whose fault it was but the games final act was a total rush job and really failed to deliver the memorable finale that the previous 25 hours of great gameplay deserved.

A team of enterprising chaps have just released a mod hoping to fix the situation. By digging through the game’s files they’ve turned up a lot of content that was originally intended for the game and after much toil they’ve put it back together. Think of it as the director’s cut of a movie except made by the fans using pretty much everything they scavenged off the cutting room floor. Actually on second thoughts don’t think of it that way.

If you’re interested you can find more details here. If you are a fan of KOTOR 2 I highly recommend trying it. I think a lot of the cut dialogue helps flesh out the story but it still doesn’t totally fix the choppy WTF finale.

One of the most impressive things about the mod is how it really draws out the character’s motivations. To the point where it ends up being quite an introspective character driven drama. So over the next few posts I’m going to explore some of those characters in detail. Naturally spoilers will abound but hell can’t we just agree that this spoilerphobic culture we’re building is getting a little childish?

Next: I Think Atton Might Be Gay

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A Pacisfist in the Wasteland – Introduction

[Image via Digital Battle]

The original Fallout is my favourite game ever, mainly because it allows you to play it in many different ways. It doesn’t just give you the option to be a stealthy thief, it lets you be a stealthy thief with a drug dependency and a kamikaze attitude. Or you could be a highly educated stylish and charismatic thief or obviously not a thief at all. The point is Fallout is a game where you can be almost anyone.

But the question is can you be a pacifist? Can you get through the whole game without killing a single soul? Well, let’s find out.

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A Game Diary of Imagine: Champion Rider

Recently, while playing The Elder Scolls: Oblivion it occurred to me that the thing I enjoy most about that game is riding a horse around a lushly detailed virtual world. Actually it’s not an uncommon feeling in the gaming community. Mount and Blade, Ocarina of Time and Shadow of the Colossus have all received high praise for their horse riding elements.

Then it occurred to me that if I was going to play a glorified Horsie simulator I may as well play the real deal. Now I know you’ve always secretly wanted to know the ins and outs of the growing Horse Riding genre but were too afraid to purchase one because the pretty girl at EB might suddenly think you’re “a gay”. But don’t worry for I’m here to lay some knowledge on you.

But with so many options which game should I pick?

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