Mass Effect (PC) Review

PC Box Cover

Mass Effect was developed by BioWare studios. BioWare developers are well known for their RPG console game legacy: Star Wars KOTOR and Jade Empire. They also have some PC RPGs under their belt, such as Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate. I am very confident this team is able to create a masterpiece RPG, but we will see if Mass Effect is it.

Before release the game had massive following and high expectations. This was greatly due to Bioware's open ambition to create a game that actually allowed the player to make meaningful story decisions. Mass Effect is not particularly ground breaking since there are other games that have previously used this idea, such as Oblivion and even Jade Empire. The stories for this type of game, however, tend to lean towards D&D-like fantasy with magic, and prophecies. Mass Effect, however, managed to stay innovative by applying this blueprint to a Sci-Fi story line. In the other hand, Mass Effect also created some discord because it seemed to appeal to bigger masses by having a slightly dumb down feel to it, especially when compared with Oblivion.

This game is the start of a currently well-known RPG trilogy, but is it a worthy start to the journey? Or a massive fail? Did BioWare manage to create the masterpiece they promised with an innovative Sci-Fi universe?


Story: 
SCORE: 9/10

NPC Dialog menu

Mass Effect's story feels like it is right out of the SciFi channel repertoire, but with a bigger production budget and better writers. The story is set in 2183; we, humanity, obtained advanced technology from ruins of an extinct intergalactic race, called the Protheans, found on mars about thirty years before the game begins. This discovery led to the development of technology that allowed humans to travel outside of the solar system. Humans managed to colonize several other planets and harvest materials from many others. In one expedition humans found a Mass Relay, used for instant travel between vast distances. As humans tried to turn it on, a scouting troop of turian ships, one of the many alien races, found them and fired on humans because opening a Mass Relay connection is considered an impertinent and precarious action by the Citadel Council, the galactic government currently in place. This leads to the "First Contact War" (Surprisingly no acronyms...lol), but more importantly it leads to first contact with the Citadel and the rest of the alien races.

Salarian's camp

The story is very believable; it almost seems as if it was an obvious future for human kind. The game quickly places you on the shoes of a hero, with a background of your choosing, in charge of saving the Galaxy from a mechanical race, called Reapers, that plans to annihilate all organic-sapient life forms. Shepard, main character's last name, is part of the Alliance, the human military corps and front face of intergalactic relations, and serves in a state of the art stealth-prototype ship named, Normandy. From there you become more powerful and well known around the galaxy giving you more influence and difficult missions. Although the story is engaging and interesting it's hardly the story itself where the game shines brightest. The best part your experience the story. There are plenty of traditional cut-scenes and "codex" entries to read about the galaxy, technology and alien races. But interactive conversations with NPCs are what critically enhance the narrative. This is because it does not feel as if you are watching a movie that you are helping unveil; it feels as if you are truly controlling the way the story unfolds. These interactive dialogs are controlled via a circular dialog menu. The dialog menu has a setup that stays consistent through the game; thus, it is quite easy to decide what attitude you want to take in each matter. Although the selection tree is straight forward sometimes it is hard to anticipate NPC's reaction, but this hardly becomes a problem because the game is extremely clear when confronted with critical decisions that affect your game considerably.

Krogan: Urdnot Wrex

In the end, the combination of cut-scenes, written entries, and NPC dialogs successfully create a future for humanity that makes you feel like you are in control of what happens next. Although there is only one ending, Mass Effect's story is extremely rewarding. It is great to see how the game truly pays attention to your mood and attitudes towards characters and creates consequences in a decisive and sometimes crudely realistic way. 


Gameplay and Design:
SCORE: 8/10

Mass Effect's gameplay can be described as a third-person shooter sprinkled with elements of squad commands and strategy, and role-playing decisions, which at times may affect who is friend and foe. Conversation queries, as previously discussed, add a completely new variable to the typical third-person shooter. If a conversation is executed appropriately confrontations can be avoided or created out of nowhere. Again, dialog is the most influential aspect of the whole game; however, not every encounter can be solved with talks. Confrontations tend be divided into quick-pace firefights from cover spots. However, they do not get old as the enemies are decent at flanking and have great aim. The overall design of the game is quite logical and easy to comprehend and follow. The game asks you to select a character class at the beginning of the game, you level up after gaining experience, and experience is gained by completing missions, killing enemies, finding hidden equipment, etc. However, it is not spotless; there is plenty of room for improvements on the equipment management and galaxy navigation systems. Also... elevator loading scenes get old very quick.

Galaxy map on Normandy's bridge

Mako

Navigating galaxy map interface

Shepard is usually sent to specific locations with a mission explaining the situation on the surface of the planet, your objectives and hints about the consequences of your actions. To access these locations you go to the Galaxy Map interface located on Normandy's bridge area. Although it is easy to manipulate it is annoyingly difficult to keep track of which planets you've previously visited and which are important quest locations without memorizing or checking mission logs. Before landing on a planet, you pick the members in your landing squad. Once your squad members are chosen one of two things will happen: The Normandy will either dock and let you out through the side door, or drop you on a controllable vehicle called Mako to the surface of the planet; the former option occurs mostly on main-quest sites while the latter on most side-quest sites. The Mako, however, makes appearances on certain main-quest segments; Mako has two weapons, a machine gun turret and central cannon, that quickly decimate enemies, and it is extremely versatile and resistant. When on foot all squad members have four types of weapons: Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, and Sniper Rifle. None of them require ammunition, but if weapons are shot repeatedly for too long they overheat, which creates a pretty good pace for cover and shoot gameplay. Each weapon type has stronger models that can be found and obvious pros and cons: Shotguns are best at close-quarters combat, sniper rifles are impossible to aim in small rooms, etc. In addition, there are different mods and ammunition that can be applied to weapons and armor to enhance them. This type customizing is fairly simple, but it is mostly necessary when playing harder difficulties. Characters are not limited, however, to weapons. Some Characters have psychic powers due to exposure to a certain kind of radiation; they are called biotics. Biotics are able to lift, trow, and stun enemies among other things. Other characters can use "tech" powers like instant shield regeneration, weapon or shield sabotage, etc. Biotic and tech powers are great addons that shift the pace of firefights, but only become crucial in harder difficulties.

Item interface

Equipment/power talk brings me to the biggest design letdown of the game: Item management. Exchanging equipment between squad members, and trade can become frustrating fast. First of all, characters must always carry one weapon for each weapon-type; thus, if you wish to exchange one character's weapons for another character's you must carry spares for each weapon-type. Second, even with weapon type filtering it is easy to lose items because the menu does not group exact copies together. Once this problem becomes obvious it is only natural to decide to use the same two squad members throughout the whole game. This makes the experience one sided as each character reacts differently to your role-playing decisions while in your squad.

Squad commands interface

On top of controlling Shepard, you also have the ability to issue general commands to squad members, such as attack, change weapons, move, hold position, or use specific powers. Overall AI is good enough to minimize the need of commands, but the option gives enough room to plan ahead and create minor ambushes or save teammates from imminent danger. This aspect is not too deep, but it gives the sense that you are in charge; thus, helping the role-play aspect of the game.

Leveling interface

The leveling system also applies to all teammates; this makes it possible to make a decently balanced squad with pretty much any combination of characters. Talent points are awarded after leveling up; those talent points can then be applied to an ability of your choosing. Keep in mind that not all characters have biotic or tech abilities; there is a range of things each can do, but it is not too limited. The problem is that leveling up doesn't seem to make much difference; very few powers feel influential. I didn't use half of them because I forgot they actually did something (like sabotage and shield overload). In addition, the difference between a power's first and second level is almost unnoticeable. In the long run it does matter, but the immediate satisfaction of gaining a level is just lacking.

In the end, Mass Effect brings a mixture of successful gameplay genres to a higher level with the addition of conversation queries, appropriate consequences for your actions and a good story. It is obvious that there is plenty room for improvement in design, and some tweaks should be done with the leveling system. However, gameplay is so varied and paced between conversations and action that you will be distracted enough to overlook those few problems with ease. It is extremely easy to have fun with this game and play it all night without stopping... at least that is what I did a couple nights in a row.


Presentation:
SCORE: 8/10

Mass Effect obviously shoots for realist visuals, and it gets real close. Facial animations during dialogs are incredibly detailed and feel as if you were watching a movie. When a character is upset with you it shows on their face (even in some alien races), but the change between moods is not always fluid; there are times where you see programming suddenly kick in, but it is rare and brief enough to ignore or not even acknowledge. Cut-scenes are well designed; they use good angles that focus on the action and feel of the situation; there are some clunky camera shots here and there, but nothing to worry about. Camera during gameplay is easy to control (it moves with your mouse and it is always behind you), and it is rarely, if ever, obstructed by objects or characters. Corpse physics have their clunky moments, but they are rare and funny instead of annoying (there are bodies that should have fallen off a ledge and did not because of invisible walls, but nothing like floating corpses in midair). Although overall graphics are high quality and have great detail I think the best part of the presentation in Mass Effect has to be the voice acting. (Disclaimer: I only played as a female!). The voice acting does not feel like prerecorded messages at all; it is as if they recorded each conversation as the actors actually talked to each other, and this is not how they did it. There are plenty of codex entries that have a voiced reader who is great at setting the perfect tone for each. This reader does a great job in luring player into the story effortlessly (I mean common you don't even have to read to get involved). There are some grammatical errors on some silent codex, but most people won't notice or will just chuckle.

Enemy stuck on wall after affected by a biotic power

My biggest let down on the presentation category is actually a combination of gameplay and graphics mistake in regards to biotic powers. Biotics powers worked fine in ample spaces with enough room for people to float around in the air, but inside of ships and small rooms they tend to trigger glitches. I had to repeat a biotic boss battle about 15 times (no kidding) because the enemy's biotic powers would send get me stuck between immobile graphic frames or just propel me out of the scene completely (this last one happened at least twice.... I was just floating away from the fight infinitely while my teammates fought incessantly; I had to reboot my computer in order to try again). Now this could be a gameplay only mistake, but I attribute it to graphic and physics because the power was doing what it was supposed to do while the graphic frames programming did not have enough rules to stop biotic programing from overriding it (or at least that is how I imagine the coding behind it).

I think the overall presentation of the game is beautiful and incredibly satisfying, but there is significant room for improvement considering the polished state of most aspects of the game. I know there is a sequel and I hope that there is plenty of work done to biotics powers and physics because I really do not want to be traveling through walls anymore.


Lasting Appeal:
SCORE: 9/10

Mass Effect has a re-playability value similar to that of Oblivion or other massive RPG titles. A single play-through can easily last anywhere between 40-60 hours and if you play this game only once you will surely miss at least a quarter of the full game. This game features plenty of situations where your decisions make the game change course. Although most decisions are either evil or good there is plenty of reasons why you'd want to experience the other side as well. In addition, there is enough incentive to want to try out the other character classes for yourself. Your strategies will change dramatically!

I am not going into much detail about the forks in story because I do not want to spoil the game, but this is the main reason why you want to repeat the game. I think anyone who does not play it again is not getting their money's worth. Bioware made those forks because they wanted people to see how tone of voice and attitude can change everything around you.


Overall Score: 8.5/10

Going back to my review tone questions:
Is Mass Effect a worthy start to a trilogy? Or a massive fail? Did BioWare manage to create the masterpiece they promised with an innovative Sci-Fi universe?
It is a perfect start! But it is not the great masterpiece promised, yet. This is an amazing game that deserves a lot of credit, but there is too much that needs improvement. Hopefully these problems are tackled in the well deserved sequels, but you will not be disappointing to start at the beginning of the journey.

Again thanks for reading!!

Diablo III - Beta Test, Auction House Reveal & Bad News?

Blizzard Entertainment announced the upcoming, undated, Diablo III Beta Test and a new auction house system, to be debuted at game launch, that may revolutionize ideas like "gaming for a living" and "getting more value out of your game."

The beta test release date is still in the air, but it will feature everything that has been announced to date, except the auction systems: all 5 character classes, barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, and demon hunter; artisans and followers; runestones, charms, and gems; etc.

The great reveal is the creation of two parallel auction houses: one involving in-game currency, gold; and another involving real-money. The auction house systems will not be included in the beta test, but it will certainly be a part of the game at launch. They will allow players to post nearly every item found in the game, including gold and previously purchased items, for exchange. Auction houses are no revolution, WoW already features one that is great, but Diablo III's new twist to the mix will definitely change everything. Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo admitted with a nervous chuckle "We've found that no one's actually done this before. So it has been a long road to getting to where we are today, where we can actually announce we're doing this." This system is revolutionary, it allows players to exchange loot items and in-game currency for real dollars (yens, euros, or what have you) without leaving the game domain; but don't worry features like selling items to NPC vendors and character-to-character trading will still be present for your convenience.

The real-money auction house will work as eBay; Blizzard will charge a fixed fee out of each transaction at posting and after the sale is completed. Money accumulated by the player will be placed into their battle.net account and can be used towards other Blizzard products and services or taken out by paying a percentage-based withdrawal fee. Although no details in the numbers or financial institution providers have been announced I am certain Blizzard will amaze us as always.

Blizzard emphasized that they will not be posting any items for sale on either auction system; auctions will only include items posted by other players at the price they desire. Although Blizzard does not want to interfere with the free market of the auctions they reassured that if security is in jeopardy they will act immediately in order to accommodate the system. They justify the creation of this system mainly because they wish to provide customers with better protection that other third-party trading sites lack. But we all know they also want to keep customers from using eBay in order to get that money for themselves. Furthermore, Blizzard is making it very easy to post items for auction and transfer loot between characters. They have a new shared stash system, which any character in your account can access, and sellers can post items for auction from any character or from their shared stash without much complication.


Lastly, the bad news (albeit they may not be news to everyone). Diablo III will be unavailable to play with internet connection; this rule applies even if you wish to play "offline," by yourself. In addition, there will be no bots or mods allowed in the game as Blizzard's servers will be monitoring such activities and disrupting players connection accordingly. Blizzard states that these measures are in place to keep the fluidity between the online and offline planes and accounts security. Blizzard claims that if offline play is allowed they would not be able to track the use of cheats and item mods on offline characters that will provide unfair advantage in online gameplay and auction trading. In this case Blizzard would have to require players to build characters from scratch for both offline and online play instead of the seamless "transfer" they plan to have in place.

In my opinion, these announcements are great, even the "bad news." Open beta tests tend to be a good sign of well planned developing phases, at least when referring to AAA games. It will also create hype that will build up momentum for increasing sales. The "bad news" can also have an upside if handled correctly. The internet connection requirement may drive players to create a sense of community bigger than expected, as it happened with WoW. The prohibition of mods and bots will not be beneficial unless addons are allowed. I think that, at least, Blizzard should manage addons as in WoW; this will bring a lot of player involvement, increase the degree of convenience for all players, and take advantage of consumer labor to improve the game.

The auction systems seem to have great potential, but they may bring issues as well. On the upside, there is plenty of monetary benefits for both consumer and Blizzard. The biggest opportunity for Blizzard is the complete replacement of monthly subscription fees for auction fees. This stunt will attract more players, perhaps more than WoW, because the cost to play is greatly minimized while the possibility of raising money is extremely appealing. This also means that Blizzard will have a bigger incentive for renovation and upkeep of the game; players will notice that benefit too. It is not like Blizzard wasted subscriptions fee money in WoW, in fact it was well invested towards their consumers. It is about Blizzard putting their trust on gamers involvement (and greed). Even if Blizzard decides to charge subscription fees the game will still be successful. The safest strategy for them, however, would be to first charge monthly fees to test the auction's activities and revenue; then evaluate and perhaps switch to no monthly subscription. If this is done they would have to provide bonuses for their previously subscribed players. On the dark side, this new feature will provoke a lot of controversial debates to come afloat. Will the real-money auction house support Chinese worker exploit? Will children under 18 be allowed to sell in the real-money auction? Is the systems susceptible to monopoly? Are rare drop rates appropriate to maintain a free market economy? Questions like these must be addressed and fixed quickly in order to ensure the stability of the game.

In the end, Diablo III seems to have greater potential than I previously expected (and my expectations were high). This game might make every gamers dream a reality, play games for a living. It also brings a whole new factor to more value for your buck; you can possibly make enough money to reimburse yourself the game's cost while funding further expansions and corporate services. I see a future where other games attempt to copy this new idea consistently. I think this may even become such a popular feature in certain games that it will be added as if it was a multiplayer mode for shooters. Either way, only time will tell whether this is a big success or just a headache for Blizzard.

Sources:
Blizzard: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/events/diablo3-announcement/index.html#summary
Game Trailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/new-features-diablo-iii/718443
Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/01/diablo-3-to-feature-player-to-player-real-money-auction-house-fo/#continued
Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Diablo-3-Rob-Pardo-Auction-House-DRM-Battle.net,13154.html

I'm Back!

It has been a long while since I posted anything on my blog. I apologize to anyone who actually cares about what I have to say, but I can explain myself!

Altes Museum: Hitler's preferred Speech Venue

I went on a trip through Europe this last month where I got to see Berlin, Bern, Cologne, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Venice, and some others. Although Europe was, surprisingly, a major disappointment I will make blog posts for each of the major cities (or at least a mass blog with bits and pieces from a group of cities). I will share my opinion of Europe as a whole with you now, however, so that you get the sense of why I feel so disappointed.

I found myself repeating this phrase to myself over and over again at each city. "Europe is like Latin America, but with more money and time to spend it." To be honest everything I saw and felt reinforced my opinion (at least culturally wise). This thought was not exclusive for Hispanic-like countries; it also crossed my my mind while in Germanic countries. Although Latin America is not as bad as some Americans say I did not like Europe being so similar to it and, in a nutshell, that is why I am disappointed.

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In order to explain my feelings further I have to share the ideas I had before embarking (old stylish too; I left the US on a cruise...) on this trip. I knew what an average American would know about Europe from typical comparisons found on travel books and news: Europe has a more relaxed workplace, better work vacation programs, more organized and better quality of public transportation, more environmental policies, more history, freedom of personal choice, a less violent and more sexually comfortable culture, etc. Simply put, I thought of Europe as a more developed, acculturated and comfortable USA; this notion is completely erroneous. 

Vienna's Street Garbage Can

Florence's Street

The first thing I would like to mention about Europe is that EVERYONE SMOKES EVERYWHERE. For the exception of most indoor places it is utterly normal, actually expected I would say, that you smoke. It does not matter who is around you, what time of the day, or even if there is an elementary soccer team right next to you: YES, I witnessed PLENTY of mothers smoking while pushing their baby's stroller. This made me very upset every day; it was impossible to avoid snorting the foul, disgusting smoke coming out of someone's black and dying lungs for a whole day. I must've inhaled more cigarette smoke from only second-hand-smoke in that month in Europe than in all my life put together. The overkill is the best part: THEY NEVER TURN OFF (step on, water or smash up) UNFINISHED CIGARETTES.... and by never I mean MOTHERFUCKING EVER! On top of everything, unlike in the US, you feel unable to ask them to please smoke somewhere else or to turn it off because it is just culturally wrong since they have a different kind of freedom of choice. Plus no one else minds because they smoke too. It is just frustrating and disappointing to see how a place that I thought was more civilized, educated, and developed than the US was so suffocated in such a meaningless and easily recognizable disease/vice like smoking. I choose to call it disease because the abundance of smoking in every corner at every moment just makes non-smokers addicted to it as well without them even knowing and because it kills so effectively.

Bern, Switzerland
1 USD = 1.15 CHF

Another aspect that nearly blew my mind was how much they charge for things that we take for granted in the US. I know that most currencies in Europe are more expensive than USDs, but charging 7 British pounds for a sub at Subway just seems a little excessive when they have the most expensive currency in the world. Perhaps I was just overreacting because Ryanair had just raped me in the ass hardcore. DO NOT EVER GO ON RYANAIR IF YOU HAVE LUGGAGE AT ALL and DO NOT FORGET TO CHECK IN YOUR FLIGHT ONLINE 4 HOURS BEFORE DEPARTURE. If you don't follow my advice prepare to hand over your ass (around 50-100 pounds per person) to the airline. If you know what is like to be raped by Spirit airlines just grab that feeling and multiply it by 1.71 in exchange rate. But this is not only about outrageous prices it is also about paying for going to the restroom, takeout boxes (If they actually have any), fees for a train you already paid, etc. Restrooms are not outrageously priced, but the only one I saw that was clean enough to warrant a charge was at Bern, Switzerland; the other were pretty much anything you'd find in USA or worse. Takeout, actually called "takeaway" (British), is not expected in sit down restaurants so they may not have bags or boxes for you to put your excess food and if they do have expect to pay some cents for each (Yes it is just cents, but it is quite stressful when you cannot discuss the bill with the waiter because of language barrier).There is charges for plenty of other stuff that have developed because of the overwhelming presence or tourists (charges to go into churches, charges to sit down to eat, etc). These I can overlook, but in the grand scheme of things they are quite annoying and frustrating.

Day Train from Berlin to Bern, Cleanest Train I rode.

I also have complains about the public transportation system, but these are due to American's opinions back home. Americans love to talk about how incredibly organized and punctual public transportation (PT) like buses, trains, and trams can be in Europe. I attribute their comments to the fact that there is no properly functioning public transportation in most US cities. The reality of European PT is far simpler; Europe has: trains that work, some ugly and old while others crisp clean and new; schedules change all the time, but they try to stay true to timetables; trains, buses or trams are not exactly punctual, but definitely attuned with the time hungry American lifestyle; facilities are severely different from one city to the next, but generally better in richer countries. In my opinion PT in Europe is an advanced version of what you will find in South America. By advanced I mean: it is more predictable (allowing for timetables and planning), cleaner, and safer. That is literally it. Bus, Tram and Metro lines are extremely difficult to learn if you are staying for just a day or two. There is plenty of rubbing against each other inside trains and buses, "hop-on salesmen" (at least that's what I've been calling them in my head all my life), and homeless and beggars on trains and stops.

Venice, Second to Rome in Nastiness

City garbage is still a problem despite Americans saying that Europe is very clean. I think this is due to the size of the cities (big cities are bound to have street garbage and smelly alleyways), but the American pedestal quite exceeds the reality. A lot of Europe looks exactly the same as downtown Miami (and Latin America for that matter) in the garbage department, disgusting and unapproachable. It is noticeable, however, that they spend time and money to keep high traffic and tourist concentration areas fairly clean. Thus becoming Latin America ++.

Beggars and 'Buhoneros' (street vendors) are everywhere. While there is plenty beggar and buhoneros in USA I have never seen any as annoying and persistent as the ones found in Latin America; sadly, I encountered several that surpassed them in Europe. I have never been slapped or pushed by a beggar or buhonero anywhere in Latin America, but this fact didn't stop them in Europe. There was at least two occasions where I can distinctly remember being mistreated. First, it was by an old lady beggar in front of a church and after by a Turk buhonero that followed us for almost two blocks. Perhaps these people are not from that country or from Europe at all (we saw several Africans and Turks as street vendors), but I still think that Europeans (in their glorious freedom and letting others be) don't have the guts and character to tell these people off so that they behave better.

The quality of the food is definitely better in Europe, but not enough to justify prices and the simple, insubstantial plates served in restaurants. The only food worth money in amount and quality are Doner Kebabs, but they get old fast when that is your only food. If you are going to Europe thinking that you will have great food rich in culture for a normal price you are tremendously mistaking. If you want decent food you have to be ready to spend a lot more than you would in the US (and Latin America for that matter). Food is the single aspect in which I honestly think that Latin America completely outperforms Europe. The best meals I had in Europe at a bargaining price were a Mexican torta in Bern and a meter diameter pizza in Venice. My overall diet while in Europe were Doner Kebabs (or its chicken counterpart), and salami/bologna/cheese sandwiches with juice simply because of budget. Take this advice when you go to Europe: If you are going to spend your money there make sure you have extra to cover good food expenses first!

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Needless to say Europe is a very good place to visit. It is extremely safe (even thought it may not seem that way at first), there is plenty of history to see (although not much to feel), and there is plenty to do aside from sightseeing. Hostels are what you would expect: some dirty, some smelly, some with 30 people in a shared room. They vary severely in price, place, and quality. I am simply trying to say that Americans have Europe on a high pedestal that does not represent it and for this reason I was disappointed. I thought Europe was something else than what I found. I ask you not to make the same mistake; I am certain that if I had gone there with my mind empty and no expectation I would not feel as empty about Europe as I do now.

In the end my Europe trip helped me realize how wasteful Americans are, but at the same time how ingenious they can be when making life easier and less burdensome (putting workplace aside). I went to Europe thinking I would find a place that I would love to call home, but found a part of the world that I would love to visit, and only visit, again. Yes, the USA has many problems, but I just did not feel as comfortable over at Europe. Now.... Canada.... That is a place I would call home ranking above USA. We will see when I go back up there, how I feel about it and what I decide to do.


PS: I was working on some drafts before leaving to Europe and I know I haven't posted them yet, but I am trying hard not to make blogging part of my homework or job yet. I do not want it to get tedious and frustrating before I am even started. I promise I will post another game review soon and some video games news (there is plenty of material with the past E3 event and upcoming releases).
The thing is that reviewing a video game is tremendously difficult when all I've done in life is play video games for fun. I definitely think I have an aptitude for it because I am now able to look at video games with a different eye, but in the end it is strange and difficult to play games while I looking for stuff to write about. I think I should make a comparison in one post.... I'll call it "Reviewing gaming vs. Fun gaming" (or something like that). I hope you have a good few weeks of summer before fall starts approaching (In my opinion it's just too hot and I want winter already....).