Operation: Anchorage Second Look

After my first experience with the Operation: Anchorage Fallout 3 DLC, I was not impressed. Soon after playing it however, I quickly realized I played through it with an autosave that was created after I had gone on a crazy rampage. Fawkes, Dogmeat and everyone in Megaton were dead by my hand. I needed to remedy this situation, so I decided to load a hard save and give it another go.

This time I knew what I was getting into, and I really wasn't looking forward to it all that much. I did however make sure to have a FAQ handy for the locations of all ten "enemy intel" briefcases scattered throughout the campaign. As I made my way to Bailey's Crossroads, which is where the mission begins once you receive the distress call, I couldn't help but remember something said on one of the many gaming podcasts I listen to. I couldn't begin to remember who said it, but mention was made of how difficult it was to locate. This statement baffled me, perhaps it's because I had already explored most of the map and have a level twenty character, but I found it very simple to locate. Perhaps the podcaster just doesn't posses the required intelligence quotient required to play a game of Fallout 3's scope, I would surmise a score of five or so would be sufficient.

Once you find where the Brotherhood Outcasts are located, they quickly take notice of your Pip-Boy and realize you are exactly what they need to interface with the simulator. Which just so happens to be the only way to unlock a vault containing a large cache of weaponry. Once you agree, put on the Neural Interface Suit, and enter the simulator, the quest begins.

You find yourself tasked with infiltrating a chinese base, quickly and quietly or guns blazing, it's your call and really doesn't make any difference whatsoever. There are health and ammo refills everywhere, seemingly after every minor tussle. That was one of the things that bothered me the first time through as much as the second. There really seemed to be very little challenge at any point throughout the short campaign.

Once you have infiltrated the base and regroup with your CO, you are ordered to destroy some enemy artillery. Again it's a cakewalk. Although by this point you have at least encountered both the Gauss Rifle and Crimson Dragons. The Gauss Rifle is sufficiently badass, and can kill most any enemy in one hit. Crimson Dragons really aren't all that badass, just really annoying. Assuming enemy levels scale to your character level, they are weak. I could let them pound on me all day and bitchslap them to death if I wished. What makes them so annoying however is the fact they are pretty much invisible when crouched, and like to pounce on you from behind.

After finishing the destruction of enemy artillery, you are promoted and are able to assemble a small squad with followers of your liking that all posses the worst A.I. seen in a game, so I wouldn't really bother with them at all. You then have three separate objectives you can take in any order you wish. All three take about ten minutes to finish and are so linear in contrast to the standard Fallout 3 gameplay. Finish these, watch the short cutscene, and get out of the simulator, the end. Well, sort of.

Once you leave the simulator, you finally get to reap the rewards. Open the vault, have a little scuffle, then take what you want. You find several items inside including:

• Gauss Rifle - Powerful, but it has to be repaired by a NPC, so I won't use it.
• Trench Knife - Badass knife, but I'm a level 20 and haven't used a melee weapon since leaving Vault 101.
• Chinese Stealth Suit - This is cool, when you crouch you go quasi invisible, useful to some extent perhaps, but again can only be repaired by NPC's.
• Winterized T-51b Power Armor - Good armor, but I much prefer the combat armor received from the Reilly's Rangers quest.
• Jingwei's Shock Sword - Awesome sword that does shock damage, and can be repaired with Chinese Officers Swords. Again however, melee weapons are useless in my opinion.

Also if you have taken the time to find all ten "enemy intel" briefcases, you will have received the "Covert Ops" perk. This perk will raise your science, lockpick and small guns skills by three points each. My small guns were already at 100 and my science and lockpick skills were at 75, so again I found this useless as well, being that I will not see any difference in science and lockpick until they reach 100.

So after it was all said and done, I still wander around in my same old armor with my same old weapons. Is it worth $10? Everyone seems to be comparing it to Knights of the Nine DLC for Oblivion, but I felt there was alot more gameplay with that than there is with Operation: Anchorage. I honestly don't see where it is worth the price of admission, however I remain hopeful for Bethesda's upcoming expansions.

International Fanboys Bitching About Killzone 2 Reviews Day

If there is one thing that irritates me like nothing else, it's moronic fanboyism. It's something that has been bred into console gaming. My guess is it all started with the Genesis does what Nintendon't ads. Ever since then it's been a nonstop pissing contest as to who's console has the bigger phallus. Today the internet is running rampant with fanboys complaining about Killzone 2 reviews. It doesn't matter what the review says about the content of the game or the "score" given to it by the reviewer, even though it isn't even available in stores yet, it's always wrong in the fanboys opinion.

My question, Do you enjoy the game or not? If so, what does the review even matter? You paid your money, got your game, and are enjoying it. Do you need confirmation that your purchase was justified? Then you have much larger issues you need to deal with in life my friends.

Reviews are based on opinion folks, get over it. Just because you don't agree, doesn't make their opinion any less valid. In fact, I'll leave you a nifty little excerpt from the U.S. Constitution that guarantees their right to said opinion.

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

P.S. You have the right to your opinion also, but not the right to defamation of character.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Now I'm not the worlds biggest Ghostbusters fan, that would be Dan Amrich. I'm just a guy birthed in the late 70's. When I was young, the ghostbusters were friggin' HUGE, and as such, they were everywhere. From T-shirts and coffee mugs to music videos and videogames. Videogames? Yes!! Videogames!! Boy was I excited to play this. That was until I actually played it on my Commie64.

I was initially very excited to be playing this. I mean look, it was the mid 80's, I booted the game up, and saw this. How cool is that, the music playing through the Commodores sound chip was a thing of beauty and with karaoke bouncing ball lyrics in tow, I was sure I was in for a thrill ride.

Then the first thing you were tasked with was decking out your very own Ecto-1. All this did was get my expectations even higher. You mean I get to pick my own car and fit it with all the equipment I desire!! Err, I mean can afford!! Yes!! How cool is that!!

Let the game begin! So now your tasked with god knows what. Get used to this screen, cuz it's about all your ever gonna see. All the ghosts are making a run at the Zuul building, and your supposed to catch them I guess, in which case you can drive to them and suck them up with your cars vacuum cleaner, just like the movie!!

Notice the cool vacuum on the hood, just like the movie!!! So this is what I spent most of my time doing, and it never really seemed to amount to much other than make you money.

Other than the pointless ghost sucking, occasionally a building on the map screen would flash red, and you could drive there sucking up ghost on the way, finally arriving to try and capture a ghost. Just like the movie!!! (This time without the sarcasm) This also didn't amount to much. You have now been privy to the entire Ghostbusters Commodore 64 experience I had.

That's why I'm actually looking forward to the new Ghosbusters game coming in June. With all the voice actors, minus Rick Moranis because he's a whiny little millionaire who shrunk his kids, and the beautiful screenshots we have all seen, it couldn't possibly be as bad as the Commie64 version. Maybe the boys will finally be given the game they deserve.

Mass Effect 2 in Q1 2010?

John Riccitiello of EA apparently disclosed in a conference call that Mass Effect would be shipping in early 2010, not to mention it would be multiplatform. He didn't specify which platforms however leaving speculation wide open.

I personally don't see how it can make an early 2010 release. It is a Bioware developed title, and they are very publicly still working on the new Star Wars MMO. Developing an MMO is not a short affair, nor is developing an RPG with the depth of Mass Effect, especially if they intend to retain the quality of the original if not surpass it as most fans are expecting. Add to this the fact it is supposedly going to be multiplatform. The more systems you develop a title for, the longer it takes to develop. I would venture to guess a holiday 2010 release at the earliest.

The platforms as mentioned, WERE NOT SPECIFIED!! This is also not the place for fanboy debate. One could assume this to mean an XBox 360 and PC release. However, it is EA and when was the last time a business that large wasn't in it for the money? I would suspect a PC/360/PS3 release at minimum, and depending how much EA wants to milk the franchise, DS/PSP/Wii/iPhone minigame collections could be forthcoming. Yes that last statement was a little bit on the bitter side, but you know it's not that far from the truth.

That was the one thing that worried me from the start when EA purchased Bioware. Bioware as a developer is always at their best when given free reign on a project. Now with new ownership, EA will be breathing down there necks pushing for a quick release regardless of quality. I will give EA the benefit of the doubt for now, but knowing their track record, I won't hold my breath.

You Are Dead, Dead, Dead...

First let me say this, if there is one thing the current generation of consoles have definitely done right, it's finally ushering in the era of wireless controllers as standard equipment. Since the dawn of the N.E.S. third party companies have made wireless controllers, very poorly I might add. Be it lag, flaky connections, or just plain old poor build quality, they never were a suitable replacement for the standard issue human interface devices.

There is one issue I have recently encountered however, proprietary charging cables. You see, at this moment, I am in a land far, far away from human civilization known as Randle, WA. My controllers have had there life force extinguished, and I have no way to charge them due to my own negligence. I left my play and charge kit at home. I can't go back to using AA batteries because they require a cradle that gets discarded when using a rechargeable battery pack. They charge with a USB cable that has a proprietary connector on one end ($20). If they used a standard USB device cable($5), there would be no issue. Of course this would lead to smaller profits for Microsoft by a few thousand dollars per year, and we can't have that, can we.

I love wireless controllers, I hate proprietary.

A Gamers View on the Death of EGM

EGM has fallen and 1up has been decimated, one issue short of EGM's 20th anniversary. Almost every former and current employee has put there two cents in on the subject, so I figured I would voice my opinion on the subject as an outsider. Simply a fan of the video game industry and everything related to it. Yes I know I'm a bit late to chime in, however now that the dust has settled and emotions have returned to a state of normalcy, I couldn't think of a better time.

I'm thirty years old. I have been a fan of games since the age of four or five. In that time I have seen my fair share of "gaming rags" come and go. Even though EGM was never my favorite gaming mag, it remained a constant throughout. I always preferred and subscribed to magazines like Nintendo power, Next Gen, GamePro (regrettably), Official Dreamcast Magazine, Official XBox Magazine, and last but most certainly not least, Game Players/Ultra Game Players. I was crushed when UGP was killed. I loved the character the writing staff brought to that publication. So I can completely understand readers disappointment in EGM's demise. Though not a lifelong subscriber, I decided to subscribe a couple of years ago, and instantly noticed that exact same phenomenon the EGM staff brought to the presses each month.

The staff at that magazine was as talented as any of the other great gaming magazines ever available on newsstands. Perhaps more so due to numbers alone as EGM had a gigantic staff and a nice stable of consistent freelancers. The articles were all well written, informative and most importantly, the staff was given the freedom to inject there own personality into every page of edit, at least in my short stay as a subscriber. If you want to catch my attention as a reader, that's exactly how to do it.

When a writing staff is allowed to put themselves into there work, reviews and editorials mean so much more. The longer you read that kind of work, the more you get familiar with reviewers tastes. You see, it's not the review score that matters, it's the content of a review. For example, Gears of War 2 received rave reviews pretty much across the board. I don't care what the scores were, but the reviews that told me it was pretty much identical to the original. I completely understand why people love that game, it just doesn't suit my tastes. Perhaps that is a bad example, but I'm insanely tired and it was the first thing to come to mind. Then again, here is another example with more specifics. I can't recall the exact text, but I do remember OXM giving NFS:Hot Pursuit 2 a mediocre to decent review. I also remember the article making note that fans of racing games would probably enjoy it immensely. That part was a 100% correct. Yes that game had flaws, so a mediocre score was completely understandable due to that reviewers objective opinion. It was one of my favorite original XBox/PC games and I didn't enjoy it any less because of a lower score.

I suppose what I was getting at is, if you get a bunch of guys who write tech manuals to write video game reviews with no personality whatsoever, you wont get discernible details that let you know weather or not that game is for you. That's what made the "state run media" of Nintendo Power so drab. That's also what makes game magazines like EGM, UGP and OXM so great.

P.S. My heart goes out to all the currently unemployed folks due to 1up's sale to Hearst, and hope you all create your own, or find gainful employment very soon. R.I.P. EGM and belatedly CGW/GFW.

OH NO!! It's Mechagodzirra!!!

Bored and in a waiting room. This made me laugh as I also heard the post title in my head. I'm getting delusional.

First hint of Forza 3?

I just checked my Twitter feed and "chespace" Che Chou, formerly of 1up.com and now Turn 10 studios, said "DUDE OUR GAME IS STARTING TO LOOK AMAZING. DAMN." Could he be referencing a new Forza? There has been no official announcement as of yet. Really though, what else could Turn 10 be working on? The only other possibility I can think of is a new PGR since Bizarre Creations was scooped up by Activision. Personally, I am hoping for Forza 3.

Fallout 3 and Fable II DLC afterthoughts

DLC is almost always a mixed bag. On one hand you get some pretty cool new content for an old favorite (old being a completely subjective term). On the other, sometimes it feels like the content should have been there in the first place, or doesn't belong at all.

Fable II is a good example of what to do. While the actual quests are quite short, the abundance of toys make up for that quite well. From potions that can make your character taller and shorter to the Halo assault rifle, the real meat of the content is the customization that comes with it. Yes it can negate most all of the consequences of your choices through the game (trying to be spoiler free), but if that doesn't bother you, it's well worth a shot.

Fallout 3 however doesn't do so well. Nothing against the content that you get, but it feels like it should have been there from the start. For starters, it can be completed in under an hour if your a level 20 with ease. Then while playing you begin to realize there is no reason to take your time. The levels are very linear and sparse, save 10 pieces of enemy intel to find. The equipment you get when finished really isn't all that great either. It all feels tacked on and not really in tune with the gameplay mechanics. Worth the playthrough or not? For me yes, but I can't in good conscience recommend it to anybody.

So there you have it.

Fable II Knothole Island DLC: Thumbs up

Fallout 3 Operation: Anchorage DLC: Thumbs down

Game(s) of the Year 2008

What is there to say about the games of 2008 that already hasn't been said? Well, nothing probably. Especially coming from the skewed view of a 360 gamer. Well, mostly anyway. PC gaming has felt pretty stale to me in the past few years and I haven't felt the need to pick up a PS3. I don't need a Blu-Ray player, nor does Little Big Planet necessitate a $600+ price tag. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a PS3 basher, I can't justify it as a worthy purchase for me personally. So my perspective will be limited to my personal experience, not the limitless supply of games at a large game site. Yet for some strange reason, I still find myself compelled to chime in on the subject.

Of all the games released in 2008, how do you pick just one? I don't know if I even can. Let's see what I found memorable. Early in the year I got down on some Lost Odyssey. I'm usually not a huge JRPG guy, but it is an itch that needs scratched once in a while. One that had not been scratched since the SNES days. I thought it was pretty, dug the story, enjoyed the combat and thought the grinding was kept to a minimum. Still not GOTY material in my opinion, but memorable nonetheless.

Grand Theft Auto IV. Yes it's most certainly in the running. Great story. One of the most memorable all decade, let alone year. Video game plots suck, this one didn't, and I still enjoy the hell out of it.

Ninja Gaiden II still sticks with me. I always want to play it, but I am afraid to. It feels so wrong to love a game so much that I completely suck at. This game kicks my ass. I completely understand I suck and don't blame the game. That fact alone makes this game jump up my list.

Summer came, and so did Yoda to my 360 via Soulcalibur IV. I am 30 years old. I was 15 years old when Street Fighter II was huge. I grew up playing every fighter that came out. Including shitty shareware PC robot fighters, and ridiculously misconceived hunks of poo on the 64. I was bred on fighters. I love them. And from the first moment I played this series on Dreamcast along with DOA, I knew it was one of the special ones. SCIV did not disappoint. The deep character customization, online play and addictive combat will keep me coming back for a long time.

From September on, it's quite a blur. Rock Band 2, Fallout 3, Guitar Hero World Tour, Fable II, Prince of Persia, not to mention I was late to the party with Burnout Paradise and Dark Sector. I also have no desire to play Gears of War 2. I just don't dig it, though understand why people do. I guess if I had to pick one game of the year I couldn't. So I'll break it down into categories.

I'm in the mood to screw around: GTA IV honorable mentions: Fallout 3, Fable II

I want to kick some ass: Ninja Gaiden II honorable mention: Soulcalibur IV

Just drive man: Burnout Paradise honorable mention: GTA IV

I wanna rock!: Rock Band 2 honorable mention: Guitar Hero World Tour

Oooh, pretty: Prince of Persia honorable mentions: Fable II, Soulcalibur IV

Okay, fine. Here you go. are you happy. Your making me do what I didn't want to do. Pick one game. So here you go. it is.... Fallout 3. I see myself coming back to that the most in the future, especially with DLC. It had crazy missions, stories and in-jokes, I'll never forget it. This is also coming from an Oblivion junkie, so take it for what it's worth.