It's Back! It Being Myself.

I really haven't been trying to neglect this thing. I have just been too busy gaming and such to even really think about it. Well, sort of anyway. Really I just wanted to give what I've been playing some quality time before I embarked on a quest to regale you with tales of my obsessions in this little hobby of ours. On with it then.

So I was fortunate enough to receive a few games in recent weeks and figured I'd let you in on my impressions with these titles. They have been out a while and I'm sure most of you have played them, so don't go looking for any awesome Mass Effect 2 spoilers or anything. Oh, and if you spoil ME2 for me, I will find out where you live and feed your intestines to a bewildered raccoon. What does that even mean? How the hell should I know, it's 1am.

First up, Forza 3. Have you ever played Forza 1 or 2? Well it's pretty much exactly like those only prettier and it also boasts a beefier physics model. A must buy for any gearhead gamer. It has all the polish one has come to expect from Turn 10 as a Developer and if you are a sim-racing fan, it's pretty much pure goodness in a cup. I highly recommend the limited collector's edition for the truly hardcore. Not for the USB thumbdrive or keychain, but for all the extra cars and tracks. I mean come on, who could live without a 911 GT3 RS anyway?

Now we come to what has been my primary addiction lately. What started as a "meh" on my scale of interest has skyrocketed to "I'm hooked on crack" status. Borderlands is like Diablo-meets-Fallout 3-meets-insert any ID shooter here. Do you like loot whoring? Yes? Then have I got your new time killer. It just lends itself to the whole "just one more quest" mentality so well, it's neigh impossible to put down. Seriously, I'm a level 50 Siren with 50 SMG skill wielding a crazy Hellfire and Double Anarchy SMG's and can't stop looking for treasure. My bank is full of top tier weapons as well as my inventory with apparently no one to share them with.

Next up, Assassin's Creed II. It really hits on everything I loved about the original. It just does it with a bit more polish and refinement. I adored the first one while many complained about it's repetitiveness so I am a wee bit bias on this one. Though it does bring up one thing that irritates me to no end. People who complain about games that are "repetitive". Really!? All games are. I have never heard anyone say Forza is too repetitive. What about GTA? How about every sports game ever? If your whining because a game is too repetitive, seriously do the world a favor and lodge an icepick in your eye.

That brings me to Dragon Age: Origins. It truly is the successor to Balder's Gate. Even traveling from one location to another it asks "Gather your party before venturing forth?". That made me chuckle. Though I'm finding it long and repetitive. It's just one quest after another. In all seriousness though It's a phenomenal game from top to bottom with a minor gripe graphically but nothing that isn't easily overlooked. The texture work just seems a little low-res. The only thing that is really bugging me about this game is that it just hasn't got it's hooks in me quite yet even though I'm 20+ hours in. That bit doesn't sit well with me as someone who still plays BGII on a yearly basis. I'm still trudging through though, and will finish it to completion, hopefully multiple times.

Finally Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Well this is where I start getting hate mail. I like it about as much as the others in the series, perhaps less. It has the most ridiculous plot of any game in the series, and it's really, really, really , really short too. I'm pretty sure Clancy wrote it. (He didn't, I'm just trying to make a point) I'm not big on multi-player shooters on the 360 so that never came into the equation. If you are however, I would call it a must buy but if not, I'd say skip it. Infinity Ward has gone from historically realistic to bat-shit insane in just a few games.