Starwars

Maybe they're gradually cutting down the beard with each piece of news that a copy got released early.

Damn you funcroc for tempting us with these spoilery videos. But I shall not give in!

We eagerly await any beard news.

I've not watched that video yes, but ME2's plot *does* suck a lot and I have a nagging suspicion the game will feel completely useless and unnecessary when viewed in light of the entire trilogy as far as the story goes. The great things in ME2 all had to do with the companions and their quests (which were perhaps Bioware's best). But the main story was terrible. For all the talk of how ME was planned to be a trilogy from the start, it really felt like they had no idea where to take the story in the second part. But yep, still a good game though.

It's things reviewers will instantly go after since they are immediately noticeable. While a lot of the interesting things will probably become apparent after analyzing and playing through several times. Which is not something a lot of reviewers do, so yep. Anyways, I've been leaning towards starting playing on Hard right away lately at any rate. Like you say, I don't think it'll magically make the AI great (nor do I think a game such as AP requires it) but we'll see. The fact that the streaming guy has apparently died a lot is good considering he seems to have played a bit like an idiot. Let's hope Hard can provide a good challenge.

My first playthrough will be some sort of stealthy guy. Whether it be Field Agent or Freelancer with a build like WorstUserNameEver, I don't know yet... I gotta say the tech specialist sounds pretty fun as well. Shotguns and gadgets, hell yeah.

I'm not sure if it's the same bug that I got, but in both Mass Effects I'd sometimes "lose my grip" on the walkable areas and suddenly be able to walk on air and stuff. This completely stuffed up the level. It looks similar to this glitch and how it's shown in the ME2 video. I had hoped it would not be rearing its ugly face in Alpha Protocol but I guess it's there.

Not gonna watch any more idiot players struggle with the game. The game is too close now, pre-loading on Steam at the moment. Just a few days I'll be able to play it like a pro myself.

Yeah, the voiceover is awful. What a boring voice. But gives a pretty good look at stealthing. I'm still not sure whether I'll go for the Field Agent background or customize it myself using Freelancer (where my Martial Arts points will go into the skill that affects hacking and that stuff).

I'm not sure what ending you went for the first time but there is a very neat evil choice near the end of MoW which changes the end-game. Really enjoyed it. I think I shall be getting this game, maybe after I tire of Alpha Protocol. Did you enjoy it? I broke down and bought Awakening for Dragon Age but I have to say it's really not gripping me. I really enjoyed the main campaign so I'm somewhat baffled that this is not managing to draw me in. They always marketed it as a bit of "more of the same" so I went in knowing that, but I still can't help but wish they had changed the direction like MotB did for NWN2 (and SoZ did again later on). It's not bad at all but I find myself sort of bored with it.

Be quiet or I shall post it again!

What Josh says:

In southern Sweden, the weather is still stuck in between Spring and Summer. It's like everyone's going around waiting for Summer to break out, but it... just... doesn't... want...to... Annoying.

Interesting about the skill merge if that indeed proves true. I wonder if there are more changes to the skills (seems doubtful, in that case I guess the preview would've mentioned them as they mention Survival and Firearms). I hope it also means that they sorta balance the gameplay a bit so that having Firearms won't be super-overpowered in itself. And it will also be interesting to see how Survival will impact the gameplay. I have high hopes for that. Man, I really hope they can create a good challenging game if we toggle Hardcore mode on and have the difficulty level at Hard (and hopefully they won't have that "more xp on higher difficulties" thing).

I don't think the metros by themselves were all that bad, though I tend to dislike "dungeons" with loads of enemies in them outside of dungeon crawler games. But I learned to hate them because they were the only means of navigation in the DC area, especially because it often *looked* like you could do just fine navigating DC, just that they had a bunch of unconvincing "pile of rubble" placeables here and there with invisible walls on top of them to block you off. Perhaps it was a design trick to make DC feel bigger than it really is (as in, maybe it'd feel really small if they removed the invisible walls and allowed you to go where you wish) but it came at a prize of incredible tediousness if you ask me.

Yeah, that's a good point. The boss fights are well designed for sure, just all that stuff in between. Closing in on the end. Just managed to beat the Howe guards (when you've rescued Anora) for the first time. Don't really like it though. That fight is the one fight in this game that just feels artificially challenging. And it didn't even feel like I got rewarded for beating it (contrary to when you're defeated, you get a whole sidequest to finish). I really love the politics and that stuff in the game. It's so much more interesting than the darkspawn plot. Some of the choices are just delicious.

Is that the first STALKER game you play? How do you like it? I really liked it myself.

Still playing Dragon Age, finished the Circle, Dalish Elves, the first part of Redcliffe and Orzammar so far. I think Orzammar and the Deep Roads is both the best and some of the worst of the game. The Orzammar lore is really interesting stuff, and the city looks great visually. The Deep Roads problem is that there is just sooo much filler combat in there. But on the other hand, there is a wonderful sense that you're really heading deeper and deeper down into the bowels of Ferelden. The atmosphere is great, but the gameplay becomes a real slog. Still utterly convinced that this is Bioware's best game to date.

I like that piece of music with the bass-y lead, wonder if it's from the game. Also, strippers.

http://blog.metacafe.com/2010/05/exclusive...meplay-trailer/ At the end of each trailer, you'll be presented with choices leading to new trailers. Awesome. Probably quite spoilery, so take care. The choices aren't too elaborate but great concept for a trailer. Also, a really damn weird music video trailer: http://www.gamesradar.com/f/world-exclusiv...520163010148093

Good stuff in that review, some of it sounds extremely interesting/cool. Thanks Oner. Only 8 days left here in the EU... God I hope my pre-order copy arrives early, or at least that they don't screw up the order so I won't get it for the weekend. And I hope the servers for authorization are up when I get it.

Oh god I hope that means another VA company than in F3. EDIT: Oh god I hope that doesn't mean that they got Russel Crowe to do VO for an important character and then 5 voiceactors for the rest of the voiceacting.

There is definitely stuff cut out at some points in the trailer. Small example is I don't think we automatically walk up to the guard at the start, I believe this is a mission where we can sneak in elsewhere without bothering with the guard (Albatross will tip you on the stealthy route if I remember correctly). Hard to say exactly how things will play out in the game because of the cuts here. Really looking forward to seeing how the choices play out. It seems like it's gonna be really compelling to try out different characters.

It's good to see that Mr Bulock andco did something good out of all those months (years?!?!?) he put into this game. I have to say that I really like Mike's voiceacting in this as well. I think he does really well in the various stances.

It's pretty awesome that you *can* befriend someone like Brayko. In another game, the only option would've been to kill him. And wow, you can really be a **** in this game, haha.