Games Cheats and Reviews

IncGamers reports that a BioWare Tweet indicates that "something cool" will be coming for Mass Effect fans later today.

The E3 2010 runs from 15th to 17th June this year and will feature some of the most anticipated games. Call of Duty 7, Rage, Brink, Mass Effect 3 and many more. See all the PC-highlights through the link.

If Metacritic is used as the measuring stick it appears that God of War is still holding a strong second to Mass Effect 2 in the race for GOTY. With 95 reviews for Mass Effect and a meta score of 96, the game currently holds a two point lead to God of War III. God of War III with only 33 reviews currently ranks at a meta score of 94. With the games release date still a little over a week away, God of War III has built a strong score base pre release and has earned "Universal Acclaim" thus far.

News for Gamers meta review shows God of War with an average score of 9.4 out of 70 reviews. The same site also show Mass Effect 2 rating a 9.5 overall with 327 reviews. Game of the Year 2010, not likely to be ran away with by anyone at this stage of the game.(more)

GB writes: "Folks we are in the seventh generation of gaming and are being blown away by the power of Xbox 360. All of us who have bought the Xbox 360 must have bought many blockbuster games along with it like Gears of War, Halo 3 and the more recent Mass Effect 2.

But there are many great games which we have played last generation (and in previous ones too) and we are forced to wonder if we will ever get to play them with next generation graphics and game play. We decide to list those games which should be remade on the Xbox 360."

Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed – Why the Mass Effect trilogy may end up being the most important role-playing saga in gaming history.

Mass Effect 2 was a game about choices. Yes, it did have aliens, a plot to shake the universe on its very foundation, sex sequences, and an epic soundtrack to tie it all together. But ultimately Mass Effect 2 completely hinged itself on the decisions commander Shepard made. The alliances you chose, the romances you engage in, and even your save file from the last game all played a role in shaping the storyline that unfolded till the very end. However, while Mass Effect 2 did keep many of its promises there was one really powerful storytelling element that was all but absent from the gameplay. Something that Playstation 3’s exclusive Heavy Rain has in spades.

GameZone’s Stefanie Fogel writes,

"These days, it seems like everywhere you look, video-game characters are flaunting their pixellated private parts. Whether it’s a giant topless Cleopatra in Dante’s Inferno, a congressman flashing the full monty in Grand Theft Auto IV’s The Lost and the Damned, or the copious amounts of side cleavage in both Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, sex and nudity in games have become more prevalent over the last couple of years. And while the industry has seen its fair share of controversy over its increasingly racy content, one has to wonder: Is sex in video games becoming more acceptable?"

Just announced today, you can download the Firewalker DLC mission pack and gain access to 5 new missions featuring the Hammerhead.

Mario's weekend job

There is a longstanding stereotype that gamer’s are lazy. For years, many of us have been fighting this unfair label and have largely proven that gamers work just as hard as anyone else. We don’t go around calling avid readers or knitters lazy, so why should we stand by when we are labeled as such. Nevertheless, there is one area in which many of us are lazy, and we have to change it. For some reason, many gamers tend to rely on marketing and media to tell us if an upcoming game will be good, rather than expend the time and effort to do some research on our own.

Really quite boring

According to data from the GfK Chart-Track, reported by Games Industry, Aliens vs. Predators is now the fastest selling game of 2010. Really? Obviously, with Halo Reach and WoW: Cataclysm releasing this year the data will change, but we’ve had Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect both release this year, and AVP has beat them both out. The real reason this shocks me is because AVP is the most boring game I have ever played. The controls were fine, and the graphics were decent, but it bored the hell out of me and most people to whom I have spoken on the subject agree.

Not as cool as it looks

You see, the problem is that we get so enamored by brand recognition and pre-rendered cut scenes, that we do not take the time to look into a game. Last year one of the darlings of the industry, Bethesda, released a horribly done game (author’s opinion) entitled Rogue Warrior. As it was only published by Bethesda, I have often wondered if anyone there actually played the game when it came up from the publisher. Game Informer gave it a 1.5 out of 10. However, when I saw the beautifully rendered cut scene that was used for the commercial, I thought the game was going to be amazing. Nevertheless, I chose to do some research as the game neared release and began to realize that it was going to be bad. To prove it to myself, I rented the game, and it was very bad.

The developers are not going to stop trying to get us to buy their crappy games, so it is on us to pay attention to the industry, do some research, and stop buying in to the hype. Some games are destined to be good. We all knew that Mass Effect 2 would not fail. No game is destined to be good. If we want things to change, we must be willing to kill our darlings. For example, I have been waiting for Heavy Rain for four years. I have anticipated it more than any other game ever. I am very lucky that it has turned out to be good. However, I did my research over the years, followed the insider previews, gameplay trailers, and played the demo. Had those things started looking bad, I would have killed my darling. The more we condone the actions of publishers release bad games with good marketing, the more they are going to do it. The principle is simple, and it is one that can apply to all aspects of our lives: we must think for ourselves so that we are not taken advantage of.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

IncGamers’ Tim McDonald looks at three of the biggest titles of the past few months and muses on whether this could indicate a change in the direction of gaming.

From the column: "What’s also interesting about all three is that each has a very, very unique take on gameplay. Heavy Rain is best described as an interactive movie, with player choices and unorthodox input methods driving the game forward. The other two provide streamlined takes on RPGs, albeit by going in totally opposite directions: where Mass Effect 2 emphasises player choice in every situation, Final Fantasy XIII cuts it out almost completely, to the point of – for most of the game – removing sidequests, player-initiated conversations and, really, any illusion of choice at all."