Yes, yes, ok so I know that I’m a bit late with this one, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and after finally completing BioWare’s new epic RPG I must say - I loved it. Some RPG’s can be tediously annoying, some have poor plots and awful characters, whilst some like Morrowind have piss poor combat systems. For me Origins managed to chart a happy medium, the questing was varied and interesting, the usual PC pause-combat system worked well and as with all BioWare games the majority of characters were well written and portrayed.

The story isn’t hugely original, it’s your standard orphan becomes king fight the evil dark power fantasy plot line. Some may find this story already stale, but the mixture of betrayal and treason by the power hungry Loghain at the start was enough to draw me in and send me off in pursuit of vengeance. Although defeating the Blight and the Archdemon is supposedly the central theme throughout the game, I found that my quest for revenge and the exoneration of the Grey Warden order was much more compelling. The final episode in Denerim against the Darkspawn Horde felt more like an epilogue, but its completion was still satisfactory, especially after I made the noblest of sacrifices and laid down my life so that Alistair could live and fulfil his role as king.

After about 6 weeks of play and god knows how many hours I watched the final cut scenes with a sense of loss and lamentation; my heroic character was dead, my motley crew of hardy adventurers disbanded, alas god knows what happened to my faithful hound. Afterwards I found myself back at the main loading screen not knowing what to do. Should I go back and have Morrigan’s demon child and therefore live? And what about my blossoming romance with Leliana?

Starting a new character and trawling back through the Deep Roads and other dungeons just didn’t appeal to me, yet the urge to continue playing was strong. Any developer knows that a game that leaves you wanting more is a sure fire winner; Dragon Age Origins certainly accomplished that. Thankfully thou for those of us yearning for a return to Ostagar we won’t have to wait long. BioWare has already announced that the expansion pack – Dragon Age: Awakenings - is due out in the middle of March.

Even thou my dear character Loki might be as dead as the Dodo, something tells me that a remarkable and mysterious comeback is on the cards. To hell with story continuity, I want my battle-mage back!

Pretty damn sweet….

up down up down X X X X X X X X X X X X!

(via ohhaiannie)

muahahah fish wins!

Man I love this, people had a sense of humour back then, I imagine that this would never get past moderators nowadays - it would probably be considered unfair and un-PC to cowards and fraidy-cats. Damn pussies…

Here’s another part of The Old Republic backstory. BioWare certainly put a lot of effort into giving their games a comprehensive and engaging history, previous RPG’s like Baldur’s Gate and KOTOR have won critical claim due to their vivid settings and intricate stories.

The story of ToR continues after the events of Knights of the Old Republic 2 have been resolved. If you played the first two KOTOR you will remember that after defeating Malak, Revan left charted space and went off in search of a faction known as the ‘True Sith’. 300 years later and the Sith have returned more powerful than they were before, seems like Revan may have found what he was looking for.

Hopefully BioWare will provide a few clues later resolving the mystery of Revan’s fate….

Well it’s only a few days left until Mass Effect 2 hits the shelves; the first game received massive critical acclaim from the industry and BioWare have put their reputation on the line by stating “If you’re going to play one BioWare game ever in your life, this is the one to try.” That’s a pretty ballsy claim, especially when you’re competing with the groundbreaking Knights of the Old Republic and BioWare’s seminal masterpiece Baldur’s Gate. The CEO even went so far as to announce that ME2 “represents the pinnacle BioWare exeperience”. Claims like that are pretty bold and audacious considering BioWare’s immensely high standard.

The trailer certainly looks good, a lot of improvements have supposedly gone into the game, including a complete combat rework, traveling changes, side quest improvements and many, many more. Let’s hope the story is just as enthralling as the originals was. On a side note I’ve got to admit getting Martin Sheen to narrate the trailer was a genius idea, the man is awesome.

Also rumours are around that Bethseda are working on a fantasy/WoW style based MMO. Is there really room for more high fantasy MMO’s? Personally I’m a little bored with the genre, but if Bethseda were able to work on a MMO which contained a bit more maturity then i would definitely take a peak. For example if anyone came out with a Robert Jordan Wheel of Time MMO I’d be there in a shot.

I’ve been feeling pretty retro today so I thought I’d wander back through the mists of time, back into the days of my childhood and satiate myself on nostalgia and the machine that first got me interested in the world of computers.

Some memories are so stark and clear that they almost feel like they happened yesterday. I distinctly remember the Xmas morning that my parents bought me an Amiga A600, but funnily enough I can’t recall the day dad brought home the C64. I remember playing on it almost constantly and there are several games, most of which I have stashed away upstairs that continue to call out ‘play me!’ Four in particular hold a very special place in my heart and will be remembered to my dying day.

The most vivid without a doubt is ‘Thing on a Spring’. I can still hear the music right now, even while I write this article. Like most C64 games, ToaS was completely incomprehensible and totally bemusing without some form of a manual, but that was irrelevant – it didn’t matter because it was insanely hard, completely crazy and totally off-the-map brilliant. Apparently it was all about defeating some Goblin, but who cares? We played it for hours, jumping around bizarre neon landscapes, avoiding light-bulbs and spray-cans in a tireless effort to pick up oil and wrapped presents for some unknown purpose, but like I said it was brilliant!

The second game that evokes the most memories is White Viper. The game was essentially a love story involving some of the most torturously addictive gameplay known to man. At the beginning of the game several black wraiths fly in and steal all your gear and importantly, your woman. The wraiths would then fly off, escaping to some evil castle of wizardry beyond the marshy wastelands. So with much despair the valiant White Viper had to first capture his trusty steed, navigate his way across the islands - reclaiming his gear in the process and the ultimately fight his way through the castle. All of that sounds relatively simple, but in-fact it was agonisingly difficult.

Saddling the horse was the first major hurdle. It would dash madly about the screen letting you chase it like a Jack Russell after a cat. Eventually after you’d moved enough fencing it would twitch out and get boxed in allowing you to grab it. Next you had to jump across various floating islands, which was nigh-on impossible; the C64 joystick and character-pathing wasn’t exactly known for its responsiveness, at least not compared to modern day twitch gaming controls. Let’s just say getting to the castle was a rare experience and arriving at its lofty heights was an achievement met with much satisfaction.

Next time on retro corner - Impossible Mission (the name is clearly in the title) and Grogs Revenge (a game about a unicycling clam collecting caveman)

My boss sent me this one this morning, it’s not really my cup of tea, but the death crescendo is hilarious - there’s something almost slapstick about it.

Aliens vs Predator Killmoves Trailer - Watch more Game Trailers

Looks absolutely fucking l33t. It’s the first time I’ve seen or heard about it, but a quick scan through the net suggests that it’s a 3rd person shoot-em-up due towards the end of this year.

I’m liking the old skool look to both sides, but Megatron could do with a few more tweaks to invoke that 1980’s feel. Also if Soundwave doesn’t make an appearance in the game then it ‘s an instant FAIL.