Dragon Age 2 - Just finished

Well, at long last I have completed my initial play through of Dragon Age 2. It came out to be a little over 40 hours. On casual mode I wasn't too annoyed with the combat tedium which was my biggest complaint about the first game.

When I finally got to the final cinematic, I was ultimately left wondering if I missed something. Probably because I never bothered to finish the original game. The story of Dragon Age 2 is about the journey, and not the ending. Ultimately, both Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall (the player character in DA2) as well as the Hero of Ferelden (the player character of the first Dragon Age game) disappear, which has everybody worried about... something. Presumably to be explained in a later installment of the franchise.

Having just now typed that, I can't help but be reminded of the Knights of the Old Republic series, which Bioware started. That franchise also ends with its two protagonists missing, presumably lost in deep space fighting a greater evil. It would seem the Champion and the Warden are also presumed to be in some dangerous hnterland, fighting a greater evil. I guess that's a roundabout way of saying "it's all kind of been done before."

At the end of the day, Bioware is good at RPGs. It is what they do. Dragon Age 2 is a solid fantasy role playing game. That being said, I would rent it or pick it up pre-owned, especially if you did not play, or did not like, Dragon Age Origins

Survivor: Redemption Island "We Hate Our Tribe" SPOILERS!

Tonight's episode starts off, as usual with a dual on Redemption Island. This week former Ometepe members Matt and Kristina meet in a puzzle battle. While I was rooting for the shrewd Kristina (she found a hidden immunity idol without a clue) in the early running, her quest for a million dollars ended abruptly this week.

From there we shift to the Ometepe members who weren't on Redemption Island as contestants or observers. Mostly it was whining from the girls while Phillip tries to gain what little leverage he can try to. Boston Rob seems inclined to keeping Phil around if only because he seems to be driving everybody else crazy with his "pink panties."

We then cut to a montage of Krista and Stephanie, the newest little girls to somehow be suckered by the now departed Russel complaining about their tribe. This is ultimately foreshadowing as this week is the first week Ometepe manages to win immunity on their own.

After this we get some strange bizarre game where Boston Rob goes out of his way to make Grant think that they're co-conspirators for an immunity idol that Rob had already found. It is utterly pointless activity for Grant, but at least Rob, and maybe the audience get a kick out of it.

That levity however quickly fades as we cut to Zapatera's tribe inevitable meltdown under the pressure of tribal council. Remember that the only council Zapatera tribe has faced before is one they chose to go to in an effort to shed the tumor that is Russel. While the main council in Zapatera begins to crumble, we get another montage of Krista and Stephanie cut to make them both look as vapid and stupid as possible. It manages to do a pretty good job of that as they constantly harp that the rest of their tribe "is not playing the game" even though they obviously are.

Once we get to tribal council, in an apparent blaze of glory Krista manages to launch several attacks at what she considers the cracks in the Zapatera super alliance. The only question was whether or not those cracks would splinter in time to save her. They did not. Krista became the fifth member sent to Redemption Island where she will face off next week with Matt. If he wins again next week, I might be inclined to think his prayers work.

Also, I wanted to include some video clips, but CBS apparently does not like to share. Jerks.

Batman: Arkham City - Latest Trailer

The latest trailer for Batman: Arkham City is out and it looks awesome. This game is the highly anticipated sequel of the amazing Batman: Arkham Asylum

My favorite thing about the first game was that it managed to make the player really feel like Batman. As you gained access to new moves and gadgets, that feeling became increasingly potent. There was a definite magic in using Detective Vision to watch the pulse rates of the bad guys sky rocket as you picked them off one by one from the shadows.

This trailer certainly makes it appear that you will be spending much more time "outside" than you did in the first Arkham game where most of the events occurred inside the various buildings of the titular Arkham Asylum. The gameplay footage that shows the enhancements to the glide and grapple systems look amazing. It's obvious that the designers realized "feeling like Batman" was the best part of the first game and looked to find a way to recreate that same feeling on what will hopefully be an even grander scale.

Dragon Age 2 - First Impression

Man have I been busy. I've been trying to find time to dig into Bioware's latest epic, but have found myself pulled in a lot of directions lately. I did however manage to get a few hours with Dragon Age 2 over the last few days and I'm ready to talk about some of my early impressions.

First, the combat is, well, I'm not really sure. I'm playing on casual difficulty and it doesn't seem too hard or too annoying. However from what I've heard, the harder difficulty settings will increasingly require the insanely micromanaged combat experience I found so frustrating in the first game. A similar form of pseudo-programming for establishing party AI is back, which while I've tinkered with it a little still seems labyrinthine and frustrating to me.

Second, this game surprisingly feels kind of like Fable. The cartoonish antics and animations may not be present, but the story telling techniques seem very Lionhead-esque. The story focuses on the hero, and the hero's relationships with their family and party members. The use of time lapse events (like the year of indentured servitude your hero endures as the game opens, or the 3 year gap that occurs between the end of the games first and second acts) reminds me very much of the sequences in Fable where the hero is sent to prison, or a citadel, only to return to see the impact their previous decisions had on the world in their absence. The similarity of the animations used to depict the events of these time when they are narrated will also probably look very familiar with anybody who has played the Fable franchise.

Anyways, I'm not sure if I'll have it in me to finish this title, but I am anxious to get back to it and see what happens in the second act.

Dragon Age 2 - Coming Soon

I want to be perfectly clear right now, I would not put any time into either playing, or reviewing, Dragon Age 2 if not for Mass Effect 2. What do I mean by that? Well, as much as I loved the first Mass Effect when it came out, the sequel was so much better than it's predecessor that I was astounded. What does that have to do with Dragon Age? Well, Bioware is the company behind both titles, and while I found the first Dragon Age... lacking, I'm willing to give the second a chance based on the accomplishment of their other current major franchise.

What was it about the first Dragon Age I did not like? Mainly, it was the combat. I played the PC version of the game and was frustrated at how frequently I had to pause the game to micromanage my party in combat. Especially since I could only queue up one action at a time. While Dragon Age Origins did have an AI system that theoretically could have made that easier, it would have required way to much time to really customize and tweak. I appreciate that the developers essentially made it possible to self program the AI of your party. I did not appreciate having to play programmer while trying to engage in an immersive fantasy RPG.

Bioware did succeed in telling an interesting story, with solid characters and as usual a dialog tree so complex it would be almost impossible to see all the possible interactions without cracking open the code and looking them all up. My first play through stalled just before the start of the big End Game content. I was just tired, my party felt somewhat underpowered (common for first RPG run throughs for me) and frankly, I had no desire to go through the tedium of managing my party in a massive battle in an effort to save the world. Some hero I turned out to be.

Anyways, so, the sequel, which follows more expansions than I could be bothered to keep track of, released earlier this week. Hopefully I can get some time in with the game and get at least a early review with first impressions up in the next few days.

Survivor: Redemption Island "Don't you work for me?" [Spoilers!]

CBS's newest season of Survivor had two "twists" to bring viewers back to this show now in its 22nd season. First, there is the "twist" that made its way into the title, Redemption Island. Instead of being eliminated after being voted out, contestants are sent to Redemption Island, where they will challenge the current occupant for the right to remain on RI instead of go home. At some point yet to be announced, the occupant of RI is to be returned to the regular game. I know, the possibilities are oh so tantalizing.

The second twist was the return of two of the show's greatest villains, Boston Rob and Russel. Neither man has actually won the game in the past, though both had proven their ability to make it into the deep game of Survivor. At least, they both did until last week. Russel, who's arrogance and abrasive attitude set him at odds with the vast majority of his tribe had been sent to Redemption Island last week. They were so anxious to get rid of him, they threw their own challenge.

As per usual this season, the episode opened with the challenge on Redemption Island before Golden Boy for Christ Matt, and skeezy skeezy Russel. The two had to create a line of dominoes that would push a ball to break a plate in order to stay. The challenge went back and forth, but ultimately Matt prevailed which resulted in one of the most gratifying things I've ever seen in reality television, Russel Hantz crying. Maybe that's why he decided to leak show details at the risk of legal action. (Okay, so he's accused of leaking details on his two previous seasons, all the same, he's slime.) Boo hoo Russell.

With that settled it's back to business as usual in the two tribes. Having succeeded in jettisoning Russel from the game, his former tribe, Zapetera went right back to their winning ways. At this rate, Boston Rob's control over the Ometepe will be utterly meaningless by the time the tribes merge. So while Zapetera enjoys some delicious hot dogs and veggies, Ometepe prepares for what will be their third tribal council.

Boston Rob's alliance is split in who they want removed. Some of the younger members are anxious to see the stranger and crazier Phillip go. Though, I'm sure the producers were looking at the footage as it came in and just praying somehow he could avoid being voted out. Personally, I can do without a montage of a middle aged black man spilling out of his saggy pink briefs. Meanwhile, Rob himself is worried about Kristina. You might remember that she found the first hidden immunity idol without the benefit of a clue. (Rob managed to find the new one in tonight's episode, with the help of a clue, some luck, and a lot of bullshitting.)
Ultimately, Ometepe voted Kristina out of the tribe, so she will be facing off against Matt next week on Redemption Island.

Man I really really loved watching Russel cry. That was too awesome. What did you think?

Community Season One

When Community first aired as part of NBC's Thursday Night Comedy line up, I gave it two episodes to win me over. I should have given it three. I initially missed the first season of this amazingly funny show but when a friend of mine who essentially never likes anything told me I had to give this show a chance, I decided to listen. Season 2 instantly won me over, which meant I had no choice  but to track down Season 1 to see all the hijinx and hilarity I had missed.

Fortunately doing that was pretty easy to do. Not only can you pick this season up on DVD for a relative song on Amazon, you can also get it via Direct Download from them as well. While the first two episodes are a little slow, it's only because they take the time to introduce the motley members of the Study Group to the audience, as well as set the stage of what life at Greendale is like. But starting with the third episode, which focuses in on Abed, who's dysfunctional behavior both strains the boundaries of the fourth wall and fuels much of the "meta" humor that makes this show so appealing, Community as a whole really feels like it starts to find its footing.

As the season progresses the show begins to really explore the dynamics of the members of the Study Group and puts a lot of emphasis on the connections that humanize these characters, and ultimately bring them together. By the time you get close to the end of the first season, it seems the writers can do no wrong with classic episodes like Contemporary American Poultry , and Modern Warfare.

Contemporary American Poultry is a brilliant homage to mafia movies like the Godfather or Goodfellas,  and it pulls off the conceit with both class and style. Modern Warfare may not be related to the hit gaming franchise, but it does manage to squeeze in some kind of loving reference to almost every major action movie you could think of.

At the end of the day this show shines. The combination of a top notch cast giving the audience characters that are identifiable and writing that is able to convey both emotional weight as well as a self deprecating self awareness has launched this series to being one of my top two favorite live action comedies on television today.