Anthem - Review

At last years E3 (or maybe the year before) BioWare announced their new game, Anthem. The idea of going around in an Iron Man suit appealed to me a lot.  When the game was released this year it got a lot of flack and I had other games to play (as I always do) so let it fall by the wayside.  Recently, Sinisa, one of my favorite technicians at work, let me know that Anthem was on sale for €10 on sale in Smyths. Naturally, I did not have to spend much time debating about the purchase.


Does anyone remember having Nerds as a kid?  Coloured, sugary balls of E numbers. They weren't really nice but at the same time, I couldn't get enough of them. I had a friend, Harry, in secondary school, and one day while waiting for his mum to pick us up he ate a whole box of them in minutes. The results were amazing, he puked hard and in multicolor like a rainbow.  It makes me wonder when they depict unicorns with rainbows coming out their mouths have they simply eaten too many Nerds? Playing Anthem I wondered was I going to be puking like a unicorn?

Story

BioWare has always been well known for its great storytelling abilities, interesting characters and dialogue choices that could really shape the game.  This is all largely absent from Anthem.  The game features you and a bunch of Freelancers who are wearing suits called Javelins.  There is something called the Anthem that seems to be almost alive, if someone can control it then they could remake the world.  There are also artifacts that need to be kept in check so they don't destroy the world. A load Freelancers go to take on a major artifact and it goes badly.  The story from that point is about trying to go back and finish the job.  

There are many characters in the games but I didn't feel invested in them, with the exception of Mathais, a historian/archaeologist/scientist type. He's the only one whose storyline provoked enough interest that he was memorable at all. Conversations and the answers you choose seem to have no bearing on what happens at all.

Overall the story feels like an unfinished novel, there are some interesting parts that could offer potential if only BioWare bothered to finish it, and it smacks of an incomplete EA release to get as much money as early as possible.

Visuals

While the story is lacking BioWare have at least tried to provide some great visuals. The world you traverse is full of lush forests and some cavernous places.  In 4K they look really good and the Javelins themselves are very detailed.  The character designs are pretty good and for the most part, it feels like you are interacting with an actual person rather than just an NPC.

Overall the visuals look great, the only thing lacking is a bit more variety with the world itself, one area can look very much like another - all high cliffs and lush forests with some rocky terrain. Different times of day would have added to this as well, missions at night perhaps.

Music

The soundtrack has an almost cinematic sound to it, featuring lots of strings, a choir, and the occasional electro sound. The music is composed by Sarah Schachner responsible for; Assassin Creed Origins and Unity, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019.

The soundtrack runs at just shy on ninety minutes.  My favorite tracks include; 'Strong Alone, Stronger Together', 'The Monitor', 'The Titan', 'Outlaw Ambush', and 'The Chimera'.

Overall the soundtrack is good but not quite as strong as Schachner's work in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019.

Gameplay

There is so much to discuss, so let's get it into it.  The game can be played solo, in co-op or with up to three other players. There are four types of Javelin, Colossus, Storm, Interceptor, and Ranger. Each with their own specialties and you can unlock all of them as you level up.  They each feel quite different and each provides a slightly different experience. The javelins can be fully upgraded, from weapons to appearance.  Weapons can be collected or crafted but for the most part, crafting isn't really necessary.  The javelins each have a power number and can increase as you add better equipment and weapons.

The enemies are varied and while a large number of them can feel a little intense at times it never feels hard even when the difficulty is on hard. There are only a few bosses in the game which are fun to be fair and offered more of a challenge.  By far the most challenging areas are the Strongholds which offer lots of enemies and even more experience points.  It was this element of the game that really kept me wanting to play more and is a really great co-op game. I suspect if I hadn't been playing it with my Nollsy, I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much enjoyment out of it, and she felt the same. Co-op is really the thing that saved the overall experience.

Okay now for the bad.  The load times are horrendous, which is made even worse through the matchmaking element which nearly takes as long. With side missions especially they can be completed so quickly that you can spend at least a third of your time waiting for the game to load.  This part of the game needs a massive overhaul and hopefully, be fixed in BioWare big redesign/update.

Once the game has been completed you can play missions on Legendary difficulty and take on all manner of challenges.  It because of things like this that I will keep going back and playing more of the game.

Overall the gameplay has a lot of work to make it all it could be, that being said I can't enough of playing it!

Final Thoughts

So, after twenty-plus hours how did I feel? Confused.  The story is far from epic, the visuals are pretty good but could use more variety, the music was good.  The gameplay is addictive even though it really needs work.  It is really tough to rate this one, I like giving round numbers so this one gets a 3 out of 5

Mass Effect 3 - The Mega Review

Back in February 2012, I was getting excited about the release of Mass Effect 3.  While the original Mass Effect was underwhelming with a slight glimmer of promise Mass Effect 2 was amazing, the characters, story, and gameplay were all pretty solid.  When I played Mass Effect 3 I could see great improvements in the visuals and overall gameplay, that being said there was something a little lacking, in particular, some of the story especially the ending(s).  In fact, I felt strongly enough about that it is only recently that I decided to replay it, this time with all the downloadable content.


Many years ago I found that I really did not like prawns, I wanted to, but they always left me feeling underwhelmed, as time went by things changed and I tried them again and found I felt differently about them.  The dish I like most is hot chili garlic prawns, with a helping of egg fried rice, or noodles.  I am not sure if my palette became more refined, or I was simply more open to the experience.  Playing Mass Effect 3 again I found myself asking, was this my hot chili garlic prawns that I love now, or the underwhelming taste I remember from years ago?

Story

Once again you take on the role of Commander Shepard, and again try to save the galaxy, this time though the stakes are higher than before.  The Reapers have stopped being subtle, and are now out in force to destroy all life in the Galaxy, like a hardcore version of Thanos in Avengers Infinity War.

Shepard was with the Alliance in the first installment in the series, Cerberus in the second one, and now he is back with the Alliance.  In the early part of the game you get the impression, there is slight distrust towards him, and that he is perhaps mistaken about the impending Reaper invasion.  Fast forward a little and it's clear that Shepard is as honest, and trustworthy as always, and he was right about the Reapers, again.  Time to feel smug, wait there is a war on, no time to be smug, save it for later.  

The aim is to try and get as many races working together, gather a massive fleet and try to take a stand against the Reapers.  There are interesting stories along the way, in particular, I really enjoyed the Geth storyline which helped give a very fresh perspective on them.  The downloadable content (DLC) certainly added a lot to the overall story and for the most part was pretty enjoyable.  The Citadel DLC focuses on an assassin trying to kill Shepard, but the main focus is about the crew of the Normandy hanging out, it was a lot of cheesy fun.  The Leviathan DLC added so much to not only Mass Effect 3 but also the series as a whole, I genuinely can't say more than that without spoiling anything.  The From The Ashes DLC saw an introduction of a new playable character, a Promethean, you get an insight into what happened last time the Reapers showed up 50,000 years ago. The Omega DLC was by far the dullest, Aria is not the most interesting character to start with, and it just didn't add anything to the game.

Overall I felt the story to be more solid than my original playthrough, this was for two key reasons, the downloadable contents and the extended ending.  While the experience was better second time around I feel it would have been a more memorable game had they released the game with some of the downloadable content the first time around rather than trying to pry more money out of loyal fans.

Visuals 

The series has come a long way since the original Mass Effect, the visuals are still looking good especially for a last generation console game.  The HUD now looks and feels a lot crisper which helps for smoother gameplay.  One of the most visually stunning parts of the game apart from the various planets are the Reapers themselves, giant robotic squid type beings, which I know doesn't sound impressive, but trust me they're impressive.  The planet Benning had a very Judge Dredd feeling to them, orange skies, trash and beaten up buildings and containers everywhere.  The planet Kallini was cool, snow-capped mountains, a monastery that was futuristic, but also looked old.

Overall the game is visually impressive and really helps in bringing the whole galaxy to life.

Music 

The music has a very different feel from Mass Effect 2, which I suppose makes sense as the Mass Effect 3 is about all-out war.  The sound runs between being Tron-esque and a Hollywood war movie, and in honesty, it works pretty well.  Initially, I was disappointed that Jack Wall did come back to do the music, but the other composers returned along with a new one which worked just as well if not better.  Sam Hulick, Christopher Lennertz, Cris Velasco and Sasha Dikiciyan return, along with newcomer Clint Mansell create the sound for Mass Effect 3.  This group has collectively helped create some amazing and fun soundtracks including; Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Ghost in the Shell, Black Swan, The Fountain, Sausage Party, Agent Carter, Bloodborne, Prototype, Borderlands, Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Borderlands 2.

The soundtrack features over an hour of music, with some great tracks, including, 'Fate of The Galaxy', 'Mars', 'A Future For The Krogan', 'The Cerberus Plot', and 'Arlakh Company'

Overall a pretty solid soundtrack, that really helps create the feeling of war and all-out annihilation.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a lot stronger than it was in Mass Effect 2, no more getting stuck on walls or Shepard not crouching and then getting destroyed by the enemy, you can now roll too, which can be handy.  The biotic abilities feel a little more refined, and the weapons as a whole seem more precise and powerful.  There is now the option to add mods to weapons, which isn't a bad thing but I never felt like it made a huge difference.  The most powerful weapon was the MII Suppressor, a full clip could drop many an enemy, in some ways it felt as good as when I used to dual wield enforcers in Unreal Tournament.  The character classes fall into, Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, Sentinel, Adept, Engineer, each offer their own benefits, but like with Mass Effect 2 you can add/swap some abilities if you needed.

The mini-game of mining planets from Mass Effect 2 is gone, now you can scan planets quickly for War Assets, although if you are not careful the Reapers will find you, and then it's game over.  Hacking is also gone and replaced with by-pass which see Shepard hold his hand up for a few moments to unlock certain doors.

One thing that really bugged me, as it had in previous games was the mission completion list.  In some cases you would be asked to carry out a mission, you might then go and get distracted with other ones but there is nothing to let you know you had completed that part of it.  Then it would be mean you had to go to the area you may have got the required item from and see if it was still there or not.

The addition of Jarik, the new playable Promethean character, was good but not great as his abilities were not really any better than the other characters and in some ways felt weaker.  The DLC added a lot to the gameplay (apart from Omega) which was great but once again made me feel it should have been available in the original release of Mass Effect 3.

Overall some great gameplay that has a lot of improvements of Mass Effect 2, in particular, the cover system and weapons.

Final Thoughts

After thirty plus hours, how did I feel?  Pretty good actually, it was certainly a better experience than the first time around.  The gameplay, visuals, and music were all pretty strong, the real game changer was the addition of the story.  I have mentioned it already, but it does make me angry that the game was not released with downloadable content and extended ending, it would have made the overall experience a lot more solid, and perhaps it would not have received so many negative reactions from fans.  If I take my experience as a whole this time, with all the bells and whistles attached I would have to give it 4 out of 5

Mass Effect 2 - The Mega Review

I'm not made of money, so trading in and borrowing games is the only way I can pay for my habit.  That being said there are games I keep, this only happens in an instance where I have really enjoyed a game AND can envision playing it sometime in the future.  It's like some movies, they can be really great to watch but once you have seen them once you don't always feel the need to watch them in the future.  I remember buying Mass Effect 2 back in 2010, I enjoyed it but afterward felt undecided so traded it in.  About year later I wanted to play it again, so I bought a copy from Amazon and never looked back.   You may or may not be asking 'why have you called this Mass Effect 2 - The Mega Review?', well, that's because I have included all the downloadable content as part of the review.


Growing up one of the meals I enjoyed was fish fingers, usually served with mixed vegetables and potatoes.  They are basically low-cost fish, usually, cod, covered in breadcrumbs.  Even thinking about them makes my stomach gurgle, or it could because I can smell lasagna and fresh cupcakes - thanks Nolls.  I tried them again a few years ago and while I still liked them there was something missing, they just didn't taste quite as good, maybe my childhood just made them seem tastier or perhaps I had a much less developed palate back then?  Playing Mass Effect 2 I found myself asking was it as tasty as ever or was there something missing?

Story


The game starts with an Alliance vessel being attacked by an unknown enemy.  Quickly things go from bad to worse and a lot of people have their lives extinguished including the character you play as, Commander Shepard.  Two years later and you have been resurrected and the group responsible for this is known to have a slightly checkered background.  Shepard is tasked by the leader of this organization, The Illusive Man (voiced by Martin Sheen) to assemble a team made up of beings from all over the galaxy to help take on an enemy that few acknowledge even exist.  As if this wasn't harder enough, you have to go to the enemies home turf, which no one has ever returned from.


Building your team is a lot of fun, I enjoyed assembling them and even better yet was gaining their loyalty.  Unlike Bioware's Dragon Age, where you can upset your teammates easily by breaking wind and losing their loyalty, in Mass Effect 2 you just need help characters complete one mission which holds great importance to them, I think it's almost impossible to screw them up, apart from Zaeed's, who in fairness is a bell end anyway.  My two favorite loyalty missions would be Jack's, the crazy powerful and angry biotic, and Grunt, part of a race called the Krogan who look like reptilian American football players in full gear.  In both cases, I felt a real connection to the characters and I liked them both more after playing their loyalty missions.


Like any Role Playing Game, there are many side missions, some good, some not so good.  Overall most of them help show the scale of the galaxy and help introduce different worlds and cultures, similar to the Dragon Age series.


There is a number of downloadable content for the game including,  Kasumi: Stolen Memory, an interesting story with a non-interesting character.  Lair of the Shadow Broker, which literally gave me chills, fantastic story.  Overlord, which was both interesting, heartbreaking and asked the question how far is too far?  Arrival, which teases the real enemy of the series.


Overall a great main story, some good DLC, some interesting character stories and a few side missions which for the most part weren't bad.

Visuals

I won't lie the visuals have aged and it certainly wouldn't hurt if it got remastered and got a little HD treatment, that being said overall it holds up okay.  Mass Effect often focuses on the little details, for example in your quarters there is a large aquarium which can be filled with different fish, there are models ships you can collect and display, along with this you can have a framed picture of your love interest on your desk. Let's not forget you can get a Space Hamster!  Okay it's just a regular hamster you can buy in space but it still looks cool.


The characters designs as a whole are solid, there are only two things I found very jarring; the eyes of human characters which looked dead/broken, and when kissing or touching it looks like you are groping the air.  One of the characters you acquire, Kasumi has a really bad-ass cutscene which was both epic and disappointing, don't get me wrong it looked great but the character was nowhere near as cool when you actually use her, kind of reminded me of some the games shown at E3.


There are some picturesque moments, for example when you are in the middle of the storm approaching the Shadow Brokers Lair, in Overlord it is highlighted by your AI to check out the impressive ravine view which looked really impressive.


Shout out to a creature known as Varren, imagine crossing a dog with a shark and that's pretty spot on.


Overall some good if not slightly aged visuals, attention to smaller details make you feel more part of a real world.



Music


The music style used can be best described as a cross between, a space opera and a late 90's early 2000's thriller soundtrack.  Being honest this combination works really well and always managed to strike the right balance while playing.  The main composer is Jack Wall, who is also joined by, Jimmy Hinson, David Kates, Sam Hulick, Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco, and Christopher Lennertz.  Between they have worked on major titles and franchises including; Unreal 2 The Awakening, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Borderlands, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Quake 3 Arena, Resident Evil 7 Bio Hazard, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Darksiders and Medal of Honor.


The soundtrack runs at over two hours (including the add-ons) and features some great tracks, my favorites being; 'Humans Are Disappearing', 'The Attack', 'Normandy Reborn', 'Samara', 'Normandy Attacked', 'Jack', 'Jump Drive', 'Crash Landing', 'The End Run', 'Agent Combat' and 'Final Combat'.


Overall the soundtracks stand up well versus the test of time, the add-ons certainly provided a change of pace to the rest of the game.

Gameplay


When it comes down to it Mass Effect plays like a third person tactical shooter with RPG elements, the games strikes an almost equal balance between conversations and combat.  Both of these are key in the game, while the answers you give won't always have repercussions certain decisions you make can.  Additionally, your answers will either be deemed as positive (paragon) or negative (renegade) which build up and can open up different dialogue options as the game progresses.  I imported my save file from the original Mass Effect which provided changes to the story in Mass Effect 2 and some will carry over to Mass Effect 3, this element I found to be quite interesting, especially when they came in the form of moral dilemmas.


Before talking about the combat it's important to focus on building your character.  There are certain things you can choose, some of them are cosmetic and others focus on your class and starting abilities.  I found with the starting abilities you can choose there is a lack of explanation about them, which is a little frustrating, admittedly later in the game, you can reset some of these but still, it can make it difficult to decide what to pick.  I can tell you from experience if you are playing on insane difficulty don't pick a class which gives you pistols to start with, I found them simply too slow and lacking in power.  Combat itself can be quite fun, if things are getting too crazy you can pull up your tactical wheel to help give you a moment to breathe and consider your options.  What isn't fun is when your character fails to get into cover even after trying multiple times, on harder difficulties it becomes frustrating.


As you complete missions great and small you gain experience points, these can be used to upgrade current abilities or open new ones.  The retrain ability means you can always redistribute points if you mess up or if you want to try something new.  There are two hacking mini-games that reward you with credits and new upgrades.  There is also planet mining which is simple enough and use to gain materials to upgrade equipment and abilities.


Watching your crew grow as you gather more galactic badasses is a lot of fun,  there are some really strong characters that have both good backstories and abilities such as Samara, Jack, Grunt, and Legion.  There are some weaker characters such as Jacob, Kasumi, and Zaeed.  No matter how you feel about them you need to make sure you gain their loyalty as the final mission will be a pain otherwise.



The mission themselves vary greatly, some don't even register, some are really annoying and drawn out like the Firewalker Mission, others are really intense like Overlord, and in the case of loyalty missions, you feel closer to your team.


I have to give a big shoutout to Niftu Cal the Biotic God, he has a small role but a funny one, people have uploaded his contribution to Mass Effect 2 on YouTube.


Overall the gameplay is pretty good for the most part and the only major flaw is the wishy-washy cover system, which if memory serves Bioware has made massive improvements for Mass Effect 3.




Final Thoughts

So, after thirty plus hours how do I feel?  Pretty good for the most part, story and music are mostly strong, however, the visuals and gameplay sometimes felt a little lacking.  The game has definitely lost some of its charm since it was originally released, that being said I had a lot of fun playing it and will likely play it in the future.  Overall I would have to give this one 4 out of 5