Demo Reviews: Dragon Age II

After an extra week of waiting I finally got to dig into this demo on Tuesday. Since then, I have played it twice and the Cynic has played it once. Now that it's had time to sink in, let's have a look. As usual, spoilers ahead.
Dragon Age II takes place during and after the events of the first game. You play as Hawke, either male or female, on your quest to become the Champion of Kirkwall, and whatever that entails. As with the first game, you have a slew of companions, some of them romance options, that accompany you on your travels. The difference here is that one of these companions, depending on your class, will be a sibling. You will either have a Carver, a warrior, or Bethany, a mage.


Family!



You are introduced to three other possible companions at this time. First you will meet Varric, a dwarf who also serves as the narrator. He's a rogue that carries a crossbow.

And chesthair.

Next is Aveline, a sword-and-shield tank warrior, who already has a reserve spot in my party, especially after the demo.

Lady Tank FTW!

And finally, some of you might remember Isabela from the first game. Yes, the one with whom you can have a three-or-foursome with that will teach you the Duelist spec. Well, she's back with a spankin' new revamped look for Dragon Age II.

Holy massive boobage, Batman!

I won't get into too many spoilers here, but there are two other returning characters that I'm really excited about. The first is Flemeth, once again magnificently voiced by Kate Mulgrew. She also has a vastly new look from the eccentric old-Wilds woman bit she pulled on our Wardens.

New Flemeth look, but still the same awesome character.

The other is everyone's favorite mage from Awakening (and I'm certainly not talking about Velanna): Anders! I won't get spoilery, but suffice to say, Anders has changed. And I'm so psyched for his story.

Oh, and ladies, this time he's romancable!

Anyways, onto the game itself. I played through twice, as a warrior and a mage (both female). The Cynic played through as a male rogue.

Although why you would when default Lady Hawke is this pretty is beyond me.

The rogue class doesn't really appeal to me, but the Cynic was having fun with it. It's a very acrobatic class, but at least on the demo, the DPS is quite low overall. This is for a very low-level dual wield build, however, and later talents may boost that. My first choice was warrior class, as that is my preference. It's about the same as Origins, only minus the dual-wield talent. The faster and more reactive combat definitely gives this class more flair, and I had a lot of fun with it. Mage is very fun. The same talents are available, now divided into talent trees, but the mage seems more melee now than before. You can actually hit enemies with your staff when they get too close. It's nice to actually have that recourse. The casting of the regular staff bolts is much faster as well, as is casting and cool-down times of other spells. The mage is definitely formidable, and I can't wait to see some of the high-level talents like Blizzard and Chain Lightning out to try. I did get a chance to use Crushing Prison during the demo, and it was gleeful.

As everyone knows, the graphics have been updated for this installment as well. Personally, I like the look. It still looks like Dragon Age, but nicer, if not... pointier. Things are spikier, especially armor. Although some familiar things will be there, although updated; such as the Templar Armor, which seems a little more toned-down this time around. The regular mage robes look nicer, and default Hawke (who you can see in the top pic) is actually wearing mage armor. How is that not exciting? The demo ran smoothly for us, both cinematics and in-game without a problem, and the facial renders during conversations looked very nice.

Onto the gameplay. A lot of things were locked in the demo, like the inventory, the character creator, and such, but it was nice to see that those things were still there. The radial menu was more or less the same, but the map has been separated from the rest of the menu. Not a huge deal, but something to be aware of. The dialogue wheel, which I was against at first after having some surprising responses in Mass Effect, is very well executed. The icons that accompany the responses make things much easier (although it seems to follow the Mass Effect pattern of: Top answer-nice/Paragon, center-sarcastic/ME-neutral, bottom-dickbag/Renegade). But there were no other options such as flirt, so we will have to see when all of that is available as well.

The combat. This was a big thing, the change to the combat. And you know what? I like it. No more shuffling around enemies and allies to get to your target. No more waiting for the character to get in position to use a talent. It's faster, it's fluid, it feels better. You can still play tactics and give orders if you want, or you can hack-n-slash. You can also still switch between party members the same way. There will also be the option for auto-attack in the full game, for anyone who wants it. I greatly enjoyed it, and I'm happy that this was implemented.

The voice acting. Now, this is BioWare, so of course it's going to be good. Your character is now voiced, and I like both the male and female Hawke voices. However, if you wanted a Commander Shepard-type voice for your Lady Hawke, I'm afraid you might be disappointed. Lady Hawke's voice is much more feminine, and it's a nice change, as you wouldn't want your characters to sound too similar to one another (despite the fact I adore FemShep's voice <3). From what I can see, you shouldn't be disappointed by the voice acting.

Did I have any complaints. Maybe just one. The text. I know that console games (yessir, I'm one of those evil, mouth-breathing cretins known as a console player lol) are taking into account the widescreen and high-definition and all that stuff that comes with today's TVs. It just sucks that it results in text been very small on my giant, old tube TV (how archaic!). Although it's not too bad for the most part, and not as bad as Two Worlds II, where part of my screen was actually cut off (thankfully it could be adjusted) because of the aspect ratio setting.

Final thoughts? Well, I only have to make it to next Tuesday before I get my grubby little meathooks on the full game. Until then, PLAY THIS DEMO. I definitely recommend it, and not just because I'm a fangirl. It really is a lot of fun. The world created in these games is an amazing one, and you would not do wrong to give it a try. I give it 4 1/2 hurlocks out of 5.

Just a Quick Note

As you may or may not know, the Dragon Age II Demo was out Tuesday. Unfortunately, given our current non-Gold status, I can't play it until next week. So sadly, the Demo Review has been pushed back until then. However, I will have it done as soon as I can once I have played through at least once. If you desperately need a look RIGHT NOW then head over to Blistered Thumbs where Angry Joe has a Let's Play up for the demo. I haven't watched it myself yet as I want to play the demo first, but I find his reviews to be very fair and would recommend you check it out.
I will likely do a review for the game itself, since I have been so stoked and hyped this game up a lot. Expect that in March sometime.
Cheers all.

Demo Reviews: Bulletstorm

First off, sorry this has taken so long. Things got really busy after putting up my last video. So, let's jump right into Bulletstorm.



Now we actually downloaded this demo a couple of weeks ago now, so it's had plenty of time to sink in and for me to play through a few times (and for the Cynic to as well, of course). So what did I think of it? Two words: RIDICULOUS FUN.

Now Bulletstorm would just be an average, run-of-the-mill, and likely forgettable sci-fi FPS, if not for the implementation of skillshots. This basically rewards you with tons of extra points for being creative with your kills (not to mention personal satisfaction and amusement!) , with tongue-in cheek-names such as voodoo doll, shocker, flyswatter, one hit wonder, and many more. These skillshots utilize not only your weapons, which all but the energy leash have various secondary fire modes, but also the environment of the planet Stygia. The demo itself takes place
in a toppled skyscraper hotel that is crawling with mutants and marauders alike. It's not an overly long demo, in fact, it's quite short (especially if you want the time bonuses), but it emphasizes replay to discover more creative kills and thus more points.

What else did I like about this? The cast, from what we saw of it at least. The moment the player character, voiced by Steve Blum, starts narrating the first part of the demo, I realized this was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. He voices your character (a pirate named Grayson Hunt) almost as a cross between Wolverine and Oghren from Dragon Age. And you can just tell he is having a lot of fun with it, which is really cool.

Sounds like a good combo to me :D


Joining Grayson is a cyborg named Ishi Sato, who gets about one line, so I can't tell you much about him. Last, but certainly not least is Trishka Novak, voiced by Jennifer Hale, who, from what we hear, sounds something like this:

FemShep + Ophelia = Win in my books (interestingly enough, my first Shep looked almost exactly like this one :D).

Of course, as with many games, certain types of people are getting their panties in a twist about the violent nature of the game, especially the names of some of the skillshots. I'm not going to get into that here or this will turn into a massive rant against certain types of people, for which this review is not the place. I'll just direct you to this video, courtesy of Blistered Thumbs and The Game Heroes, as they sum it up quite nicely. *Goes off to grumble about people bitching about my M-rated games*

So what are my final thoughts? Download this bad boy and try it! Now! It is a ridiculous amount of fun, if not a little short. You will want to replay it just to see what new combos and kills you can come up with. It is well worth your time. The game itself comes out next Tuesday (Feb. 22), and I will most likely at least give this one a rent. Maybe I can squeeze it in between the Dragon Age 2 Demo and release. Anyhow, definitely give this one a look if you are looking for a great way to have some fun and discover some really sweet and creative methods of dispatching your enemies.

Final score: 4.5 headshots out of 5

**Oh, and if you're interested, check out my other blog: Dungeons& Diapers. It will be the new home of PMS Cooks!, as well as other non-CWTC stuff, although everything posted here will be cross-posted there. **

Demo Reviews: Dead Space 2

Well I'll be, I'm reviewing a demo for a game that hasn't actually come out yet! Well that's a first. Anyway, let's look at Dead Space 2.



Let me get it out of the way and say that this is the first time playing a Dead Space game. I haven't played the first game, seen the animated films, or read the comics. But, as I've heard a lot of good things about the franchise, I thought I would give this one a shot. And it sure was something.

The demo starts out by giving you a four minute intro of exposition regarding the setting and the events of the first game. This is good for someone like me who doesn't really know much about it, and for those that do, you can skip it. This intro has some cool imagery and shows you the important stuff you need to know.

After that you go through what I assume is a ship looking for and speaking over radio to a woman named Dana. The set up of this allows you to get accustomed to the controls, the UI, and the various game mechanics, although if you are already familiar with all of this from the first game, it might seem a little dull. Eventually the shit really starts hitting the fan, and after some interesting encounters with some very creepy and disturbing creatures the demo ends just as you go "holy shit!" due to an imminent boss fight. Which was a good thing, because by the time we reached the end (the Cynic and I traded off playing after Roland woke up) we had no ammo and no health to speak of.

So what did I like about this demo? The atmosphere, it was dark, it was creepy, it just oozed the horror aspect of survival horror. The Cynic felt that the beginning of the demo with the frozen pods was very reminiscent of John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Overall, I felt it had a very Alien x Resident Evil feel, and these comparisons are favorable. We had a lot of fun with this demo, it was creepy with just a few jump-type scares if you weren't paying attention to your surroundings, and it did it well. The ship felt dark, gloomy, and industrial, not a terribly inviting place to begin with. Your character, Isaac Clarke, lumbers heavily in his space suit that covers him head to toe, and you never see his face through his futuristic Crusader Helm. That was all brilliantly done. One other thing we really enjoyed, in kind of a sadistically satisfying way, was the stomping dead enemies in order to make them drop loot. The creatures themselves worked very well with the vibe of the game, as only the pale, mutated, spindly, rotting undead can.

What wasn't I crazy about: lack of ammunition. Now I know that it makes the game more challenging to be sparing with ammo, and it most certainly does, but it was almost impossible to find ammo anywhere, the stuff just did not drop. Although, there was no indication of what difficulty I was playing the game on (most likely a normal/default setting), so I don't know if that had an effect. So be warned, be stingy with your ammo, you won't get much. Same goes for regeneration items.

This game hits store shelves January 25th. So if you want to pick it up, that would be the time to do so. Would I play the full game based on this demo? Yes, I certainly would (although after Roland goes to bed). I would give this demo four stars out of five, for a great atmosphere, interesting story, and good gameplay, but severely short of ammunition and a bit of a slow start (especially if you've already played the first game). Definitely give it a shot, and look for the full game out soon!

** Oh, and if you haven't heard (or seen the post below), Coffee With the Cynic is making a return very soon! The Cynic is currently working on new material as I type this, and will be debuting said new material and a new, more set release schedule in the very, very near future! So stay tuned here, on our YouTube channel, and our Facebook page for updates and new stuff! Huzzah!**

Demo Reviews: Vampire Rain

Here I said I was going to do a more recent game, and I'm looking at a game from 2008. I guess it's more recent than 2005, so that must count for something. This game was also released for the PS3 as Vampire Rain: Altered Species. It combines aspects of stealth and sneakiness along with action and survival horror. Sounds pretty sweet right?

NO

This demo SUCKED. There was a choice of three missions. Two involved sneaking around to find things and the third had you sitting in an alley shooting vampires as they ran at you. And they were all awful. There was nothing in the way of tutorial or even a quick bit at the beginning showing you what buttons did what, not a great way to start. I started with the point and shoot in the alley, and wow, what a shitfest. You are armed with a shotgun that is painfully slow (I threw on Mass Effect after and the shotgun was definitely faster than Vampire Rain) and each vampire/zombie creature takes at least two hits to down. Your shotgun has five rounds and a slow reload. You miss a single shot? You're fucked. Why? Because you can take exactly one hit from the vampires (two is rare) before game over. So why the hell does the game bother to give you a health bar when you have about as much lasting power as a level 1 priest in Naxxramas?

Doing the stealth isn't any better. If a vampire sees you, there is no way to hide or otherwise get away. Your weapons apparently don't even work on them for the first third of the game. WTF? I get the whole Metal Gear Solid/Splinter Cell BS that they were trying to go for, but this is ridiculous!


In addition to that, for 2008, the graphics are very underwhelming. Observe:

Vampire Rain (2008)

Mass Effect (2007)

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006)

In addition to the lackluster visuals, you also get very sub-par voice acting. I was quite disappointed in both these areas, and it was the icing on the cake for this already craptastic game. I'm not alone in this thought, this game was not well received (although was slightly more so in Japan), and I'd never heard of it before. And for a game about vampires, they looked a lot like more like zombies with a bit of vampire thrown in. Granted, I won't complain about making a vampire scary, but they looked a little too Romero-esque. That said, I will take these things over this douchebag any day.

So in conclusion, this demo sucked, and the rest of the game does too. It's substandard in all aspects and too frustrating to even be mindless fun. It looks bad, the voice acting is bad, the lack of ability to defend yourself or throw the vampires off your trail is bad, the one hit-kills against you by every enemy is frustrating, and the lack of action makes it boring in addition to frustrating and bad. This demo blows. I'd recommend this about as much as I'd recommend syphilis. Skip it.

PS. News from the world of the Cynic and I. Check out the Cynic's newest vid here. But don't worry dear fans, this isn't the end by far, just a bit of a break. I haven't decided on the future of the TTOTM videos during this time yet, but there's at least one that I wouldn't mind doing, but that will depend. However, you'll see a lot more activity on this blog from both of us as a result. So stay tuned right here for more with the Cynic, as well as more Demo Reviews and such with me.

Cheers to all
Picky Mama Scholar