Portal 2 Review

"This was a science!"

I would like to begin with saying there are some games you just can't judge or really review any more, they are so accomplished in the gaming world as a classic. Portal would have to be one of those games, where even people who have never played the game will sometimes say 'the cake is a lie' even if it pisses off the people who have actually played. The charm of the game reaches beyond the simple enjoyment of playing to an art form, although many will debate the idea of games being art. In my mind they very much are, just like a good novel is art or a good movie. When I heard that Valve was trying again, and Portal 2 was coming along I was both nervous and excited as a squealing fangirl with pigtails. Disturbing image aside, I couldn't image how the second Portal could live up to the high standards the first had set.

A good way to judge how far someone is in the second

Portal is to ask them if they have the potato yet.

There are so many things I like about the new portal, but I will touch on a few key things. For one the game completely expanded on the first, as far as mechanics in gameplay go. Not only was the portal gun back and easier to use, but there were new goodies for you to play with such as the different colored goos and the hard light. The puzzle game was fun and challenging the first time, but Portal added on to an already enjoyable experience without making it too complicated. Also, the dry humor continues. The charming little phrases that even idiots blabber now, cake included, now have been expanded to so much more

without being redundant. I especially liked the dialogue between different characters (Chell herself excluded as she is once again mute). You get to explore more of the scientific base and hints of the back story that made you crazy the way it left you hanging in the first one.

The multiplayer was another added aspect to Portal. Not only could you play with yourself, but you could play with friends! I must say that I had so much fun with the multiplayer, and my only complaint was it went by too fast. They used to say you should go camping or kayaking with a date to see if you are compatible in tricky situations, but really you should just play portal with them. The multiplayer requires both people to be equally engaged in the thought process and actual action of the puzzles. My only complaint was

that it ended too soon! GlaDOS makes it that much more enjoyable, with her snide hatred ridden comments through all of the maps. Another strong point of the multiplayer was the fact that it stands alone from the rest of the game, as far as having its own complex plot and also if you started on one campaign the two do not overlap

or cause and spoilers.

The final verdict.

95/100

Why? For one because I don't believe I would ever give a game 100/100. Also I felt like the puzzles were almost too easy. It made you feel smart solving them but there are less challenge modes like in the first Portal, and you can breeze through the solo campaign (no complaints really but it could have been more challenging) other than that, rock on Valve you did it again.

Games I will be playing

Finally, after a wait that was was longer than it should have, I am an owner of Dragon Age Awakening. After all of my rants and raves about Dragon Age: Origins my previous love affair, it will be interesting to see how Awakening holds up to my high expectations. I am skeptical about the chances of it having a 3 time play through value like DAO but hopefully it will hold me over till Dragon Age 2.

On another note, I was given Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo Reach as gifts for the holidays. Both for Xbox 360. So my console gaming career is back on the line again. The first thing I did once my family was finished opening presents was play the beginning of the campaign of Black Ops on my dads huge TV. Makes me a little sad that I don't own a TV at all let alone such a massive one but I make due.

Let the rest of break be one full of me yelling at my computer screen. Thanks for the great gifts.

Elder Scrolls V

Video Games | Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

New game that I am so excited for. A long ways away but at least I have something to look forward to as a birthday present next year! (my birthday is in November) Although I have read some discussion on how it is presenting a similar story to Dragon Age 2. If that is the case then I would have to say I'm voting for Dragon Age simply because I enjoy that style of rpg much more than the very open ended worlds of Elder Scrolls (although I have a console difference on which I played them) I would certainly buy both for PC even though I have an Xbox 360.

I would like to complain about the use of flash websites for video games. I know they are cool and make noise and move around LIKE a video game but from a marketing point of view flash websites are considered just problems now. For a while they were cool and made it so people couldn't steal pictures etc etc but there are so many problems with tags and loading and content that they are just too much trouble. I get so annoyed when I realize I have to wait for the flash website to load, almost to the point where I will just go somewhere else. Just a thought.

Coming up quickly (hopefully)

Will be 1000 pageviews for this blog. Please help me get there, and I'll think of some special treat for my readers (I don't really know what in the slightest but I'll think of something)

So link this blog to friends, tweet about it. Do anything in that nature and I'll make sure to give you a special shout out.

Call of Duty Black Ops

So Call of Duty has never been my favorite but now I am actually excited about Call of Duty black ops. Is it worth spending 60 dollars (around) to play? No. I don't think any game is. I think that games have been priced way to high, and that is the reason I do not buy them right when they come out. We all know that in a few months they will go down in price, and the only reason we want to buy it NOW is so that we can talk about it with other people or play with other people. If they gave is good, people will STILL be playing it in a few months when it is half the price. If not, then the game sucked and I don't need to buy it anyways. That is my verdict. I still plan on playing it at friends houses though. The cheap way out.

Mass Effect 2 Romance Frustrations

I just wanted to say that through my first play through of Mass Effect 2 I couldn't seem to get with any of the options for romance. Not a comment on the game as much as a comment on my flirting styles, but anyways. I wanted to give Mass Effect 2 props for having such a wide array of romance options, as well as 'fucking around' options (no pun intended) you can flirt with pretty much everyone lots of inter-species relationships. I just don't even want to think about how it works with Garrus or Thane.

I'd also like to complain about Jacob. He is so prude and whiny. Other than that I like the fact that you can flirt with your administrative assistant and if you save her at the end of the game she will give you a few 'benefits' funny. I think that the Dragon Age Origins style of flirting was a little better though. You had a little more wiggle room as far as saying the wrong thing goes (I am really good at just pissing the characters off when i'm trying to flirt) Hmmm sounds like real life to me!

The Witcher (beginning)

So the game in question is The Witcher. I personally LOVE rpgs especially the dark fantasy type. One of my favorite games that I have recently played is Dragon Age: Origins which in my opinion was close to perfect (there were some polishing flaws) so now I pick up The Witcher. First 15 minutes of the game. Ok so the voice acting is about as flat as you can get, and the small twitching of the mouths doesn't really impress me at all. The intro cinematic was pretty cool but now I'm thinking 'ok why is this game rated so high.' I find the reason in the redhead character who's boobs are bouncing in my face, in her extremely lowcut mesh/lace whatever shirt. Wow, real impressive. Too bad her hair is falling into her body instead of sitting on top like it should. Great rendering skills.

So I do the first mission of sorts, defending the lovely falling apart base of the Witchers, great fun. The battle tactics are very simple. Switch battle styles for certain enemies, click when the little sword flames, kill shit. Not that cool. Also there is a quick pause similar to Dragon Age, although for some reason it doesn't impress me all that much. So your group of allies utterly fail to defend their potions, and the boob chick gets hurt right away. Your next task is to find a potion for her. Then ALREADY you have the option of having sex with her. Sex consists of propositioning and then looking at an artsy picture of her naked with covers over pretty much all of her body, with some red action in the background that kind of looks like the inside of a womb but is supposed to be your lovemaking.

So far, I see that the shallowness of the guys playing this game has made them completely ignore the things like the pillow falling on the ground that looks a lot more like a colorful rock, the fact that half of the time in the beginning the horse is missing its tail and its joins pop the wrong direction, and the failure to keep hair falling into the bodies of the characters. Brilliant.

To be continued.