Raithe

The stripped down is that they've removed the ability to select skills to improve weapon aim. Certain skills do provide bonuses to weapon damage... All aiming is now twitch-based. If you don't aim right (with whatever controller you enjoy) you'll miss. No "point in the general direction and hold down trigger" times. The changes in cover mechanics is a little better, although the multipurpose control is annoying. Sometimes you jump over cover, sometimes you mean to run and end up diving into cover (on the wrong side of it) all because of that multipurpose button. The enemy AI is muchly improved.. (although whether you can classify that as a strictly combat mechanic is point-of-view). It's much more streamlined, but I think it comes down to personal perception of whether removing skill "bonuses" to hit counts as dumbing down or not.

I installed Dreamfall once.. and my computer died and one of the sli cards in it blew up.. so I seem to have a psychological block against re-installing it.

Hah. 44 nearly 45 hours of gameplay and I've finished my first run through. Went on Veteran and imported my 60th level Vanguard from the first... And dang it.. I lost Mordin. And only Mordin. Now I'm going to have to figure out why the hell he died...

How about we shelve the piracy and concentrate on the other things.. Aka, Do you really want all games you buy from now on to end up using the same type of system where you have to be online to play it. Even if you just want to play a single-player game.. If you have a crappy net connection (which a lot of people still do) , if something happens (like I suffered recently) and you end up with no phone-lines or internet for a week because of weather damage...

The rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan was rather award-worthy..

Hm, and I seem to have had a small glitch in the whole carry over saved games... Conrad Verner turned up and played out as if I'd used the Renegade option on him in my ME1 saved game.. which I hadn't... Since I reran ME1 about 3 weeks ago in a fairly paragon way to have my level 60 Shep all ready to go.. my memory wasn't that bad . Everything else I've encountered has been spot on.. so now I'm pondering if something glitched that .. And damn, I was so tempted to choose the "Shoot him in the foot" option.. I'm probably going to have to reload just to try that one out...

Hm, after getting into the Archangel recruitment phase.. I have to say in many ways I like the refined combat.. but right now I am getting really annoyed with the all purpose key. I keep telling Shep to run so I can get out of fire and around some cover.... and then he jumps into cover rather then run past it.... and of course.. he's on the wrong frikkin side of the cover.. .. not just once.. he does it every frikkin time.. It's... annoying.

My shiny CE edition just arrived in the post.. and yeah, the store fudged and didn't provide the pre-order code for the Inferno Armor.. Ah well. Just in the process of downloading the Zaeed , Normandy Crash Site, Collector's Armor, and Blood Dragon Armor.. so I guess I can't really complain But it's still that little annoyance factor that someone screwed up.

Hah. Well I'm a firm believer in practicality. If it kills them, I don't care if it's a bullet, a biotic neck snap, or just some tech explosion. If it works, use it. It's all about being able to put the boot in. Now that's manly.

Offline mode always works and you can always launch your games. The problem is getting into it. It'll often try to update Steam for 5 minutes before it gives you the offline mode option, but it IS there, even if you try to turn that mode on with no net on a fresh boot. Hm, I just spent 4 days with the phone lines down.. (and thus, all internet access dead) and I couldn't run any of the steam games installed. Even trying to put it in offline mode they wouldn't run.. so.. mayhaps there's something weird there...

The non-Gizka site released a working version about ..mid october last year I think it was. They've subsequently released about 3 patches for it as well.

Good, they only use a SecuROM-less CD-check and a CD-key. Unless you want the DLC stuff.. (obviously) then it's the whole sign onto Biowares "community" site, type in the correct pass codes, and then when you run the game you get the log in options and it downloads it all.. but then you don't have to dl some other software ala steam or games for windows live doohickey to handle it. It's all purely internet browser.

This does seem a very "kick the dog" approach to it. Well, I can't really say this will stop me getting their games since none of their upcoming releases was likely to interest me anyhow. As long as it doesn't catch on with other companies.

A QTE is in many ways, a mini-game event that usually involve pressing several buttons in rapid succession.. (at least to my mind).. In ME2, what you get is the <i>option</i> of stopping certain conversation's or cutscenes in midflow to perform either a renegade or a paragon style action. You don't have to do it, y ou don't need to do it. It's based around if you want to do it to suit your style of playing.. That's not quick time event. It is however only available for short moments of time before that option passes.. Just like it would in a normal conversation. To my mind, it almost seems like the way they've been talking about Alpha Protocol having those extra options in conversation trees It's just not part of the "conversation wheel".

There had to be a hamster somewhere....

Well.. since Friday evening all phone lines were down.. And so was the Internet access! It only came back on like.. an hour ago. So four days with no net access drove me to actually finish Assassin's Creed.. and fit in another playthrough of Alpha Centauri.. ( I guess I was working the AC types...) But I get online again and one of the first emails I see is the confirmation that my ME2 CE is in the mail.. so rahr.. that should arrive in a day or two..and I'll get to playing some of that..

Yup, two years. So Tali goes from the perky and enthusiastic 19 year old (thereabouts) to the world weary and experienced 21 year old..

Oh no way is it months. I'm fairly sure they said Shepherd has been believed dead for about 2 years. And I can't remember how long it was he "died" after the events of ME1

If you want good natured cheesey actioner.. Tron 2.0 was entertaining.. I know people recommend it..but I found Crysis lacking a soul. Technically excellent but game play was just very.. meh.

They've covered it semi-scientifically actually.. The whole "alien life forms probably won't catch diseases from other alien lifeforms..because they're.. you k now.. alien." The quarren use suits everywhere because after so many generations on starships and that sort of "clean environment" their own immune systems kind of suck. So they react badly to environmental pollutants. So get a quarren in a "clean" room and they're fine and dandy for getting out of the suit.. but after all these generations there are all sorts of taboos dealing with the suits... Other point ; there was some mention that Tali in ME1 was like the precocious teenager, unexperienced and eager to see what the world was like.. now it's several years later she's more the experienced twenty-something. One of the Bio guys mentioned something along the lines of it being like a "Now Tali's all grown up and Shepherd gets to contrast what she was like then with what she's like now." Or something to that vague effect... Now, I'm not one of those hankering for a Tali-mance. I've always kind of had the idea she was like the "adoptive daughter" type of character in a lot of sci-fi films. But ah well.

No, it really doesn't. Braveheart is a fantasy on amost every level. LotR has more meaningful things to say about English and Scottish relations in the 13th Century. Well.. he got most of the names right.. of people and locations. That was about it.

The point of bromances is that they aren't gay.. the bromance is the ultimate buddy concept shown in way too many films. Riggs and Murtagh (however you spell it) from Lethal Weapon was a bromance..

Who needs demon babies when you can cuckold the english king and father the heir to the throne?

Isn't that kind of like saying Mel Gibson brought historically accurate truths about Scotland to a new audience?

.. I tried.. but there's too many slavvering threats about "Talimance" and "Garrusmance" going on.. I was overwhelmed and had to flee.