After a reasonably active June for game launches, the summer drought is finally in full-effect, with nary a major triple-A title in sight. Fortunately, 2011 has seen the rise of several quality downloadable titles for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and even WiiWare, providing options for even the most play-starved of gamers.

To celebrate the recent release of Ms. ‘Splosion Man (which seems to have garnered a decent critical reception), Gamer’s Guide to Life.com has a list of ten must-have downloadable titles guaranteed to carry you through these game-depleted months.

Editor's Note: The prices contained in this article refer to the cost of the games in the North America region. Prices worldwide may vary.

The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

The sequel to James Silva’s previous indie darling, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, Vampire Smile ups the ante on the previous title’s stylish, bloody action with more weapons, new enemies and a second playable character. Players can also team up to tackle Vampire Smile’s brand new co-op mode, controlling the eponymous Dishwasher and his step-sister Yuki. Unchanged are Vampire Smile’s tight, responsive combat controls, oft-times punishing difficulty level, and unique, Johnny-The-Homicidal-Maniac-meets-Kill-Bill art direction. Fans of Devil May Cry and God of War’s furious, combo-driven action, and old-school beat ‘em ups like Golden Axe or Streets of Rage, should schedule The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile for a double shift.

Xbox Live Arcade: 800 Microsoft Points (MSP)

Magic: The Gathering – Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012

With the release of the Magic: The Gathering’s new 2012 core set comes Magic: The Gathering – Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012, a refinement of Stainless Games’ 2009 adaptation of the popular card game from Wizards of the Coast. Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012 retains the previous iteration’s pitch-perfect Magic: The Gathering play mechanics whilst adding new decks; a new, smoother interface; and several new campaigns and modes. Gamers wary of Magic: The Gathering’s prohibitively expensive play costs would do well to give Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012 a look.

PlayStation Network: $10
Xbox Live Arcade: 800MSP
Steam: $10

Gatling Gears

Ever since Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved first graced the Xbox Live Arcade in 2005, the twin-stick shooter has seen a renaissance in the downloadable space. Gatling Gears adds to the roster, placing players in a steampunk, bipedal mech and asking them to blow up anything that moves. What separates Gatling Gears from a host of contemporaries - other than the obvious appeal of piloting a steampunk, bipedal mech - is its drop-in, drop-out co-op play, complete with scaling difficulty. Of course, the usual mainstays of the bullet-hell shooter genre are along for the ride, including massive bosses, continually-upgrading weapons and more firepower onscreen than can reasonably be kept track of.

PlayStation Network: $10
Xbox Live Arcade: 800MSP

Fluidity

A rare entry for the shortlist of quality WiiWare titles, Fluidity is a quirky blend of 2D sidescrolling and puzzling. In Fluidity, players control a sentient mass of water, and attempt to cleanse the land of the ooey-gooey Influence by collecting various Rainbow Drops. Control in Fluidity is handled by using the Wii Remote to tilt the environment, similar to games like Super Monkey Ball or Marble Madness. Additionally, players can change states to solve puzzles, by freezing to become a block of ice or evaporating into a cloud of steam. Tasks range from transporting gears in water form, to activating switches in ice form, to blowing balloons around as a steam cloud, and many challenges require juggling between the three forms. Inventive and enjoyable, Wii owners will be all wet if they miss this creative downloadable title.

WiiWare: 1200 Wii Points

Stacking

A product of Tim Schafer’s Double Fine studio, Stacking is a cross between point-and-click adventure games of yore (Secret of Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, etc.) and modern gaming sensibilities. As Charlie Blackmore, a Russian stacking doll, you must rescue your family from the clutches of the evil Baron. Charlie is able to stack inside other dolls, gaining their powers and using them to solve the many puzzles posed by the game. Each puzzle has multiple ways to solve it, letting impatient players cruise through the game with a single solution whilst still giving meticulous gamers a chance to search for every possible answer. Coupled with the charming 19th century setting and silent movie cutscenes, Stacking offers gamers one of the more unique, amusing experiences of 2011.

PlayStation Network: $15
Xbox Live Arcade: 1200MSP

Outland

Making its second appearance on a GGTL list, fans of 2009’s Shadow Complex take note: if you can buy only one game from XBLA or PSN this year, make sure it’s Outland. In true Metroidvania fashion, players are tasked with platforming through an expansive, interconnected environment, earning new abilities and discovering new areas with them. Outland adds a new component to the mix, implementing the light/dark shifting mechanics from Treasure’s Ikaruga. Players are able to switch between light and dark polarities, absorbing projectiles of a similar colour, whilst only able to damage enemies of the opposite colour. The polarity mechanics even extend to the platforming, only allowing players to land on same-coloured platforms, and creating opportunities for mid-jump polarity shifts. The game’s colourful, nearly-tribal art style is positively breathtaking to behold, and the controls are smooth and responsive. Those pining for an HD Super Metroid- or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-esque experience should waste no time in booking a ticket to Outland.

PlayStation Network: $10
Xbox Live Arcade 800MSP

Section 8: Prejudice

Gamers with a penchant for online FPS' have several months before the release of either Battlefield 3 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but clanners and campers alike may find a bit of respite for their itchy trigger fingers in Section 8: Prejudice. The original Section 8 was a promising concept mired by poor execution, but developer TimeGate Studios have made several mechanical improvements that turn Section 8: Prejudice into a playable and surprisingly fun experience. Players still airdrop onto the battlefield, à la Starship Troopers, vying for control points and buying high-tech weaponry with points accrued during gameplay. Since its launch, Section 8: Prejudice has seen the release of a new game mode, as well as a smattering of new maps. If this level of post-launch support is upheld, players could potentially be playing Section 8: Prejudice well into the shooter-heavy holiday season.

Xbox Live Arcade: 1200MSP

Torchlight

One of the many success stories of the Steam platform, Torchlight - Runic Games’ little dungeon crawler that could - has made its way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace. Torchlight is a loving homage to the Diablo school of action RPGs, with players infiltrating old, forbidden tombs in order to gather sweet loot, strengthening the player and enabling them to progress further into the dungeon for even sweeter loot. Lather, rinse, repeat. The game’s light, cartoony art style helps it stand apart from many standard 'dark' fantasy titles of today, and there’s something primordially appealing about grinding through waves of giant spiders in the hopes of netting epic gear.

Xbox Live Arcade: 1200MSP

Hard Corps: Uprising

Speaking of homages, Hard Corps: Uprising is an homage to Contra’s brand of 2D, sidescrolling shooters. Actually, it basically is Contra in everything but the name. Frantic co-op play? Check. Arsenal of powerful weapons, including the almighty Spreader? Check. Borderline-masochistic level of difficulty? Ohhhhh check. For players less inclined to brutal levels of challenge, Hard Cops: Uprising offers Rising mode, which allows players to use points earned during play to buy new weapons, health power-ups, and extra lives, making the game slightly more manageable. Arc System Works, developers of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series of fighting games, give Hard Cops: Uprising a beautifully-animated look, perfectly capturing the animé feel of the game’s story. Gamers who can recite the Konami Code by heart should look no further than Hard Corps: Uprising for their 2D shootin’ needs.

PlayStation Network: $15
Xbox Live Arcade: 1200MSP

Beyond Good and Evil HD

Beyond Good and Evil HD is fairly self-explanatory: an up-res port of Michel Ancel’s cult classic from 2003, giving players who missed it another opportunity to experience one of the more imaginative titles from the PS2 days. Beyond Good and Evil casts players as Jade, a photojournalist bent on uncovering a conspiracy from the local, tyrannical government. Gameplay is an odd, appealing mixture of The Legend of Zelda dungeon-crawling and Pokémon Snap picture taking, with smatterings of open-world free-roaming. One of Beyond Good and Evil’s major charms is its characters, specifically Jade, a strong-willed, well-characterised female protagonist - the likes of which are often unseen in gaming - and Pey’j, an anthropomorphic pig who refers to himself as Jade’s "uncle": it makes sense when you play it. The quirky, fully-realised world is also incredibly charming. The game is hardly less unique now than it was when released almost eight years ago, and still holds up quite well, making it worth players' time to experience this hidden gem from last generation.

PlayStation Network: $10
Xbox Live Arcade: 800MSP


Are there any favourite downloadable titles from the past calendar year that I've missed here? Sound off in the comments, or tell us on Twitter, via @ggtl.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, DLC, Feature, PlayStation Network, PSN, Steam, summer drought, WiiWare, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade

I wish I could be writing this review with tears of joy in my eyes. Yet, alas, that is not the case. When I first heard of From the Ashes, the latest downloadable expansion for the company's flagship Killzone 3, I thought this would be the best DLC offering that Guerilla Games has created. I was completely wrong, however; any of the positive features the DLC offers are overshadowed by huge and abysmal oversights on Guerilla Games' part.

From the Ashes introduces four new maps to Killzone 3: Tharsis Depot, Radec Academy, Mobile Factory and Lente Missile Base. Tharsis Depot and Mobile Factory are only used in the Guerilla Warfare mode, whilst Radec Academy and Lente Missile Base are likewise only used in a single mode, Warzone. Unfortunately this division of maps is one of the huge faults of the DLC pack: it quickly becomes apparent that more imagination was used in the creation of the Guerilla Warfare maps, leaving the Warzone maps far less than desirable.

Tharis Depot, a remastering of the original map from Killzone 2.

Visually, Lente Missile base and Radec Academy are both boring brown-and-orange maps of the brand that have come to plague most modern first-person shooters. Radec Academy, a remake of the original Killzone 2 map, is the biggest culprit for this; it's somewhat of a shame as Radec Academy was one of the most visually appealing maps in Killzone 2. It seems the developers have forgotten what made the original such a masterpiece, instead painting it over with a dirty brown palette. Lente is no better, full of browns and sun-bleached stone and, to me, lacks totally in imagination.

Things change drastically with the Guerilla Warfare maps, however: Tharsis Depot and Mobile Factory are, visually, worlds apart from the two Warzone maps. I would even go as far as to say that the new Tharsis Depot is a visual masterpiece, and one of the best-looking maps that Guerilla Games has ever created. Mobile Factory - despite seeming like a boring factory reminiscent of the Train level in Killzone 2 - has an ever-moving landscape, which brings a sense of urgency to the locale and offers an insight into the Helghan wastes.

Radec Academy, another recreated map originally from Killzone 2.

Radec Academy is a medium-sized map and a fan-favourite from Killzone 2. However, fans of Killzone 3's forebearer will be deeply disappointed by this remastered version. The original Radec Academy was known for its claustrophobic corridors mixed with wide open spaces. The new Radec Academy no longer has the claustrophobic corridors, and is dominated by wide open spaces that remove the fun and somewhat hectic nature of the original Radec; the changes remove much of the gameplay dynamic that the original map boasted.

Lente Missile Base is a quite a large map with a nice mixture of open and enclosed spaces. The enclosed spaces are the corridors beneath the map that lead to the Missile Silo, and it's in these corridors that the deadly feature of the map becomes apparent. The corridors act as vents to the huge nuclear rockets in the Silo and, every so often, the tunnels will be used to vent the flames from the rocket in the process burning everyone left inside. This is a nice touch, extending on the map's overall theme, but is a somewhat annoying feature. It's unfortunate that you very rarely get to experience this feature, due to poor map design; the high points overlooking the Bases mean that one team can base camp the other team and prevent anyone from leaving their base. This isn't an isolated incident, either, and the constancy with which this base camping occurs makes Lente Missile Base a map quite devoid of enjoyment for the team on the receiving end of this issue.

The Mobile Factory map, a multiplayer version of the level from Killzone 3's campaign mode.

Fans of Tharsis Depot from Killzone 2 will quickly get used to the changes made during remastering for this DLC pack. The map is largely the same as it was originally, save for the inclusion of jet packs in this iteration. This new addition also means that the map seems bigger and full of more depth compared to its Killzone 2 counterpart. This also gives way to a more enjoyable, more strategic approach, as players take advantage of the extra height to the level.

Mobile Factory is based upon the vehicle from Killzone 3's campaign. The map is quite small but makes up for it somewhat with its sense of scale, created through several staggered floors which make the map seem rather large. This map is wonderful, with excitement rife due to its hectic and, at times, confusing layout.

Lente Missile Base's subterranean tunnels.

As a big fan of Killzone, I've found it hard to play and review the From the Ashes DLC, something that has ultimately impacted on the score I've given. The two Guerilla Warfare maps seem to be the best features of From the Ashes, but unfortunately this is one of the reasons for the DLC's low score; the two best maps in the pack are only available for the Guerilla Warfare game mode, a terrible shame as many people will not get to enjoy the beauty and excitement of the maps. Personally, I cannot see any reason why the maps are only available for Guerilla Warfare; yes, the two maps are small, but Killzone proved that some of the best games can be played on tiny maps, even with up to thirty-two players. The Warzone maps, however, have nothing that makes me want to play them and, ultimately, was what led to the downfall of the From the Ashes DLC.

2/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, Cathal Geoghegan, DLC, DLC Review, From the Ashes, Guerrilla Games, Killzone 3, PlayStation 3, PS3, Review

Well, boys and girls, it's certainly been a trying time for those of us loyal to Sony’s black beauty. With the PlayStation Network down, every PS3 around the world was digitally neutered; floating like plastic islands in a digital ocean, Sony consoles were cut off from one another and from the precious PlayStation Store, home to countless downloadable goodies. Luckily, Sony has finally managed to get the PlayStation Network up and running again, and - like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel - it seems like the return of the PlayStation Store is imminent.

Hey, it might even be up by the time this is published. A fanboy can dream, right?

So, what should you do once our lovable and cuddly digital store is back up? Well, besides telling it how much you missed it and showering it with gifts after it promises you to never, ever, ever go away again, there really is only one thing to do: get down with the downloads.

Last week I shared a list of some of the best PlayStation 1 classics available on the Playstation Store, and hopefully some of you will find it useful when sifting through the digital riff-raff. But, I know lots of you out there just can’t bear to game like its 1999, and the idea of revisiting a decade-old game is far from appealing. Well, here’s looking at you kids.

Aside from offering gamers some very sweet PS1 classics, the PlayStation Store has its share of great digital titles just waiting to be downloaded onto your hard drive. The task of choosing just a few titles from the hundreds available can be truly daunting, so I’m here to lend a helping hand. If you ask me, here are a few must-own downloadable games.

Flower

Flower was the first game I ever downloaded onto my PS3, and it’s probably one of the games I return to the most. This game isn’t quite like anything else you’ve played before, which automatically means it’s not for everyone, but it is definitely something that everyone should experience at least once.

Here’s the gist: you are a flower (or group of flowers) sitting on a windowsill in a busy city. As a flower you dream of the wild, open fields, filled with the greenest grass sprawling out under the bluest skies. You, as the player, get to play through those dreams. Trippy, huh? You will start out each level with a single flower petal, which you control with the motion capabilities of the Sixaxis controller; the petal will respond to your motions, while a press of a button will create a gust of wind to propel the petal forward. Your mission is to fly over wild flowers which haven’t blossomed and get them to do just that, bringing vibrancy and life to sometimes barren lands.

Simple as the game is, the colours, sounds, graphics and music of Flower combine in such a way that the experience is quite ethereal and very relaxing. When playing Flower, you lose yourself in the breeze. Trust me, that’s a very good thing.

Trine

A wizard, a knight and thief traverse a magical kingdom filled with an army of undead creatures and deadly traps, leading up to an epic confrontation, as the fate of a kingdom hangs in the balance. The catch? The souls of our three heroes inhabit a single body. Oh yeah, things are about to get awesome.

Part side-scrolling platformer and part puzzle game, Trine is visually inspiring, with gorgeous graphics and a lovely colour palette. Gameplay is immensely satisfying, as Trine forces you to be smart about traversing its levels. You see, each level will require you to constantly switch between the Knight, Thief and Wizard in order to access their unique abilities. It can be rather cumbersome at first, but with time this body-swapping mechanic will feel all too natural. Couple this with the Wizard’s abilities to literally create boxes and planks out of thin air and telepathically move them around a stage, and you’ve got yourself some truly epic platforming.

Trine is a blast to play alone or with a friend, via local co-op, and I wholeheartedly recommend you download it as soon as the Sony gods allow.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game

Retro is in. It seems like every game developer is keen to ride the nostalgia train all the way to money town, and that means tonnes of old-school games for us. Look no further than the new releases of Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, X-Men Arcade, and the new 'old' Megaman games if you want to see what I’m talking about. Sadly, it’s hard to pull off a good old-school game without having it feel outdated. Luckily for us, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World pulls this off with flying colours. Seriously, colours will literally fly whilst playing this game.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based on the comic series of the same name, and will put you in the shoes of Scott, your run-of-the-mill deadbeat Canadian hipster. Scott bites off more than he can chew when he falls for the lovely Ramona, since - in order to get the girl - he will have to defeat Ramona’s seven evil ex-boyfriends, in a battle royale of love. Cue nineties MIDI music.

A classic side-scrolling beat-um-up brawler, this game has metric tonnes of personality and is filled to the brim with nostalgic goodness, with winks to classics such as Streets of Rage, Super Mario 3 and Street Fighter. If you're a child of the SNES age, you won’t be able to keep from smiling at the old-school feel and references of the game. With four characters to choose from, you can pour hours of gameplay into this game, as you master each character’s skills with a levelling-up system similar to that you'd expect from an action-RPG.

Let the pixellated awesomeness begin.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Tomb Raider games are known as over-the-top adventure games, in which the lovely Lara Croft gives you the opportunity to explore huge, open 3D environments; these are single player experiences, which are more often then not light on the gunplay and heavy on the puzzle solving.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light turns this formula on its head. The game gives you a fixed, isometric view of the action on the screen, doing away with the free-camera that the series is known for. And when I say action, I mean action. This downloadable title probably has more gunplay than all of the previous Tomb Raider games combined. A large part of that is due to the option of having a friend join in on the fun (via local or online co-op). Through the co-op option, Lara can be joined on her journey by the aforementioned 'guardian of light' - double the damage, double the fun.

Although the game will feel initially foreign to Tomb Raider fans, once you get into the groove of things you’ll find that the essence of the series has been retained. Each level is essentially a giant puzzle for you to solve. The developers made the stellar move of tailoring the puzzles to accommodate your single player and co-op experience, making sure that the world around changes slightly when you’re accompanied by a friend.

With an excellent gameplay experience, swathed in great production values and incredible graphics (for a downloadable game), it’s hard not to recommend the Guardian of Light for a download.

Shatter

Brick-breaking games have been around since time immemorial – or at least the last couple of decades – but this game shatters all of your expectations and everything you know about the genre. Forget about a simple paddle bouncing a ball onto a wall of bricks; multiple angles of movement and precise control are what this game is all about. The addictive gameplay will get to you, and breaking that high score will become more of an obsession than a goal

With awe-inspiring visuals and genre-defining gameplay, Shatter is something you have to see, not read about. Check out the video above and put downloading this game onto your to-do list.


The games listed above are but a tiny sample of the gaming gems you can find online. Keep your eyes open for the reopening of the PlayStation Store and make sure to check out the free games Sony is offering as part of their welcome package, which include some high quality downloadable titles. I’ll be sinking my teeth into Dead Nation and Wipeout HD, personally. What will you be downloading once the PlayStation Store is back up? Any recommendations for games I should take a look at? As ever, sound off in the comments section below.

Labels: 2011, Columns, DLC, Flower, Joey Núñez, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Store, PS3, RePlay, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Shatter, Trine

We also reviewed Civilization V as a standalone game.

Heilir, brothers and sisters of the shield. Fill your mead horns and slaughter the livestock taken during our last raid; we have cause for celebration. Odin smiles upon us, for he has blessed our warriors with a new method of practicing for their bloody and glorious entrance through the Val-hall Gate, conscripting Firaxis Games on Midgard to heed his raven's call. Weight your hammers and sharpen your axes, fierce vikings, for battle against exotic and formidable foes can now be met in the international colosseum of Civilization V.

Warn the world - the fury of Old Denmark approaches.

Lesser nations? Wall your cities and hide your women - your Ragnarok comes.

In their latest DLC for Civilization V, Firaxis Games gives players the ability to lead an old Norse power, Denmark, into the international fray. Like the Polynesia civilisation offered as DLC before it, this new Danish civ represents not only the geographic nation of Denmark, but also the cultures of its Scandinavian neighbors, forming a true 'Viking civilisation' made up of Scandinavian culture as a whole.

Does this blanketing union of Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland do justice to all five of those unique historical powers? Has Firaxis done justice to Scandinavian history with this DLC? Let's take a look.


Harald Bluetooth, king of all the Danes. He once killed a man for a sandwich... and he wasn't even hungry.

To create their Danish civilisation, Firaxis had to look primarily at the Viking Age, during which period Scandinavian raiders sailed by longboat to to nearly every corner of medieval Europe. For a few hundred years, early kings had practically no defence against these Northmen, who would sail quickly (by either sea or river) to a coastal town and sack it before a larger, slower royal army could arrive to provide protection. To implement this uniquely Norse capacity to strike amphibiously from bodies of water like lightning, the Danes enjoy the 'Viking Fury' special ability, which gives land units extra movement while embarked, a milder movement cost when moving from sea to land, and no movement penalty for pillaging a tile.

Viking Fury alone makes Denmark one of the most formidable military powers in Civilization V. When coupled with their special units, the blitzkrieg potential of the Danish civilisation becomes downright frightening. Both Berserkers, skilled amphibious viking warriors who replace the Longswordsman, and Norwegian Ski Infantry, excellent snow and tundra soldiers of Winter War fame, enjoy extra turns over the units they replace that allow them to cover substantial distances in a short period of time. With a navy to protect them as they embark, both can lead quick, effective invasions that will easily wipe unprepared players off of the map.

There are two ways to catalyse Denmark's unique abilities: conquering and exploring. Conquering is fairly simple; no matter how you start your game, choose scientific research so that you get Optics (and therefore embarkation), Steel (which unlocks the Berserker), and Rifling (prerequisite for the Norwegian Ski Infantry) as soon as possible. Whichever social policies you choose are really just a matter of taste, as long as you create an empire that can buy, train, or upgrade Berserkers and Norwegian Ski Infantry in high quantities once they become available. Once you have your army of special units, allow them to travel over water (you may want to train a naval escort) to whichever leader you'd like to wipe the smirk off the face of, cook up some microwaveable popcorn, and watch the nations crumble like sandcastles. Sandcastles being attacked by viking raiders. Your viking raiders. It's a good feeling.


Every Danish land unit embarks in classic viking longboats. This includes modern units like Giant Death Robots, which I imagine weigh at least 60-70 tonnes. It takes a special kind of heroic, foolhardy badass to storm a beach with waves of mechanised infantry, backed only by the naval equivalent of glorified wooden yachts.

Surprisingly, I've also found that Denmark's embarkation bonuses make it a great choice as a peaceful nation of merchant explorers allied with all the world's city-states. It works like this: build a navy of discovery, and send it out to discover all the city-states, natural wonders, ancient ruins, and potential trading partners (opposing players) your map has to offer. The downside of this tactic for any other civilisation is that it takes real time and effort to explore all of the ancient ruins discovered, as a land unit is required to dig around the remnants of old Troy and pillage its cultural, populatory, or monetary benefits, unless your Danish land units receive embarking units that allow them to island-hop from ruin to ruin relatively early on in the game. The benefits of exploration for Denmark can give it the cost-effective leg-up it needs during, say, the classical or mediaeval age, to help pay for either a reign of easily purchased buildings and peace, or an army of Berserkers with their minds set on war.

Like in its Polynesian DLC, Firaxis released a historical scenario along with the playable Danish civilisation. 1066: The Year of Viking Destiny puts you in the shoes of Harald Hardrada of Norway, Sweyn II of Denmark, William the Conqueror of Normandy, and the besieged Harold Godwinson of England, as they strive to either protect (Anglo-Saxons) or conquer (Vikings and Normans) the fields, hamlets, and cities of early mediaeval England.

From a strictly gameplay-centric point-of-view, this scenario is terrific. Each playable leader receives his own powerful special unit and ability, to cultivate a strategy around. Both Sweyn and Hardrara receive the amphibious, quick-moving Berserkers used by Harald Bluetooth in regular games, as well as the general embarkation bonuses of Viking Fury. William the Conqueror can both dig in with the Motte and Bailey improvement (a castle built by Swordsmen which provides +100% defence to any units on it and damages all enemy units adjacent to it by 3 health per turn) and unleash offensive hell on enemies with his Norman Knights, which receive the Blitz promotion (allowing them to attack twice per turn), to carve his place in history. Harold Godwinson protects his throne against all three threats eclipsing him, by enlisting the help of city-states (influence with them degrades at half the normal rate) and employing Huscarls, which receive a free Cover I promotion (+25% against ranged attacks) and boast a +50% combo bonus when facing mounted units.


How different would European history have been if he didn't win at Hastings? This scenario can make that happen.

The entire scenario is geared towards reckless war - allied city-states turn over direct control of their units to you; happiness, culture, and diplomacy are turned completely off; and the only way to beat the game is to complete the Domesday Book wonder in London (which can only be constructed after building six Domesday Shire Courts in English cities). With so many special units and abilities to choose from, there are numerous tactics that can be employed in order to take London and complete the Domesday Book before time runs out.

Never before have I seen a country as demolished as the England in this scenario. It's downright gratuitous. If you play as any of the invaders, you'll get a scripted note every so often saying, "Hey, you know that rapine and murder you keep writing home about? Well, Steve back here in the motherland wants in. I know, I know, Steve didn't want to come before... he said the whole idea of invading a foreign country was a waste of time. But he's changed his mind! And he convinced some friends to come along. Come on, check them out." Just like that, you'll receive six free, mincing, bloodthirsty units to unleash on whatever quivering English women, children, and sheep are left in its burning towns and fields, for absolutely no cost. The wanton destruction I caused playing this scenario three times left me quiet, philosophical, and in dire need of a shower, some community service, and a good pray to any dear and fuzzy god other than Thor, whose bidding I'd followed quite enough for one afterlife, thank-you-very-much.

Anyone who read our Polynesia DLC review knows that I have a huge problem with the lack of effort Firaxis has put into adding unique, scripted flavour to new Civilization scenarios. Paradise Found, the scenario released alongside Kamehameha and friends last March, was a huge let-down in that it tried so very little to recreate the legendary creativity and scripted fun of scenarios found in Civilization II. Everything was bare-bones, and that made the whole scenario feel dry and unfinished, like a deserted beta Firaxis chucked out at the world, in a failed attempt to justify its unreasonably high DLC prices. '1066' does a much better job of spicing up the scenario, even though it still falls nowhere in the standards of the scenarios of yore.


Ah, Stonehenge. After the seventh world war, when humans have long since been replaced by Robotnikoidian overlords, it'll still be hanging around, standing up straight like nothing's happened.

Seeing Stonehenge, or discovering a decrepit Hadrian's Wall north of York. Becoming allies of Welsh city-states and receiving Longbowmen before they were popularly implemented into the general British culture was fun, as was seeking out and conquering Ireland as the Normans instead of London, potentially making Dublin the high seat of an Irish Empire with the power of historical England. Though there are no creative, slightly-theatrical scriptings to go along with the conquering of Dublin or the addition of Welsh peasant longbowmen to your army, they still go a long way towards making the scenario especially deep and fun for history buffs hungry for a richer scenario, in which they receive dynamic, interesting, fun answers to all their 'what-ifs'. We want historical Easter eggs. 1066 is a quantum leap in the right direction.

The Viking Civilization and Scenario Pack has a lot going for it. A legendary, extremely popular civilisation to play as, a challenging opponent to square off against, and a reliably entertaining historical scenario that - whilst not amazing by any stretch of the imagination - is worlds better than its uninspired Polynesian DLC counterpart, Paradise Found.

I tip my mead horn to you, Firaxis. It may be a little expensive, but this DLC will definitely grace my computer screen for months, maybe years, to come. Odin would be proud.

8/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, 2K Games, Civilization, Civilization 5, Civilization V, DLC, DLC Review, Firaxis Games, Greg Mengel, History, PC, Review, Sid Meier

We also reviewed Civilization V as a standalone game.

E komo mai, travelers. E noho mai, e 'ai a e, wala'au.

Lay down a towel, mix up a fruity drink in a coconut shell, and take in the crashing waves, orange and blue sunset, and warm ocean breeze with all your senses, friend. Now that your soul is a rainbow of peace, let's talk about the new Polynesia DLC for Civilization V, from Firaxis Games.

Ancient Hawaii may have been paradise. Bananas, pork, coconuts, sweet potatoes, white beaches, crystal seas, clear weather, tropical rainforests, exotic animals, and living room aplenty. Colonised by Polynesian settlers as early as 300 AD, it eventually became one of the largest, most unified bastions of Polynesian culture in the Pacific.

In their latest DLC pack for Civilization V, Firaxis give players the chance to step into the shoes of Hawaii's most famous leader, King Kamehameha the Great, as they cultivate a Polynesian empire that ends not with colonisation by larger powers (as actually occurred), but with a cultural, diplomatic, military, or scientific victory that heralds Polynesia as the greatest and most dominant culture ever to populate the known world.

But has Firaxis done Polynesian culture justice? Let's examine.

King Kamehameha the Great. You could crush a coconut on those abs.

To create a playable civilisation from what was historically a vast, scattered collection of Polynesian tribes dotting the Pacific, Firaxis had to get a little creative. Whilst its leader (Kamehameha the Great) and capital city (Honolulu) represent the Kingdom of Hawaii, the new Polynesian civilisation's unique unit (Maori Warrior, from New Zealand), and unique building (Moai, from Easter Island), originate in locations thousands of miles away from Hawaii. These guys got everywhere; I would only be half-surprised if we found Moai statues on Mars.

The glue that binds the playable Polynesian civilisation together is its unique ability, Wayfinding, an amazing and mysterious form of navigation by which Polynesian explorers supposedly used not compass, but epic song, to chart their progress during long journeys at sea.

As a playable civilisation, Polynesia offers some substantial perks in Civilization V, the most valuable being that Wayfinding allows their land units to embark over water from the start of a game. In an archipelago map set at a marathon pace, a player using Kamehameha can obtain a huge advantage over his or her rivals by using Maori Warriors (which are also available at the beginning of a game) to clear out barbarians and colonise a gigantic ancient seafaring empire. While opponents are stuck on their lonely islands of origin until they discover sailing, Kamehameha can carve out an impressive foothold, beating opponents to key strategic and luxury resources that can turn the tide of a game.

Another helpful trait Polynesia boasts is its ability to order workers to build Moai, which boost the cultural output of what might otherwise be a useless desert square. For players aiming at a cultural victory, a "great wall of Moai" can prove extremely invaluable. The Polynesians are excellent cultural explorers, and may be the game's best option for players hoping to follow the Liberty or Commerce social policy tracks.


Those who download Civilization V's Polynesia map pack will receive not only the playable Polynesia civilisation, but also a scenario, Paradise Found, in which you play as one of four Polynesian leaders as they strive to become the dominate culture of early Polynesia. If you play the scenario on a map of the South Pacific (it is also available on random archipelago map types), you can gain achievements for discovering and colonising famous locations like New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Easter Island.

I found two problems with Paradise Found. The first is that the scenario is far too easy; all a player has to do is focus completely on culture in order to win. Build temples and Moai, churn out scouts and settlers, stir for a few hundred turns, rinse and repeat. My second issue ties into a general problem I have with scenarios made after Civilization II. Paradise Found is nowhere near as exciting or interactive as it could have been with more events, bonuses for exploration, or historical quirks made available by creative scripting. Offering achievements for discovering recognisable geographic locations is a good start... but I want more.

Instead of a lonely text bubble noting that Captain Cook has suddenly shown up and left your territory, changing the fundamental way your culture lives, eats and thinks without so much as a wave hello, for example, I'd like to actually see his ship, and be able to attack it for more treasure and technology ^[1]. By the same token, I'd love to start the game earlier in history and have some interaction with the supposed Chinese junk fleet discussed in Gavin Menzies' 1421.

New Zealand. Where Maori Polynesians first met their hated, ancient enemy: the sheep.

When I invade New Zealand, I'd like some scripting telling me how the Maori culture of its inhabitants mingling themselves into my empire gives my civilisation (or at least the cities I found in Kiwi territory) a culture or trade bonus. The same goes for Hawaii, Easter Island, and Australia. Perhaps the first culture to discover these areas could receive a scripted message that their exploits have led to the writing of a great epic song that is worked into the empire's Wayfinding tradition, giving a bonus to water travel for all naval units for the remainder of the game.

Once your Polynesian tribe enters the nineteenth century, add a side-quest to find and wipe out Bully Hayes, the famous South Pacific pirate, in exchange for technology, or maybe a powerful exploratory naval unit in the form of the Leonora, his legendary ship. Or just add some basic civilisation contact with the French, the Americans, the Japanese, the Germans, and the Dutch, all of whom were extremely active in the area by the early-to-mid 1800s, in part due to their growing needs for one of its most valuable natural resources: oil. Without even some basic scripting along these lines, Paradise Found ends up feeling bland and uninspired.

For its addition of the Polynesian civilisation in regular games, I give Firaxis all the positive attention it deserves. For the mediocre nature of the Paradise Found scenario, I have little praise to offer.

If you ever read this, Firaxis, I offer one final word of advice. The next time you make a scenario, go to a used game shop, find Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition, load up the scenarios, and immerse yourselves in the scripting of Midgard, X-COM, Atlantis, and The World of Jules Verne. If you can combine the unique flavour of those scenarios with the terrific graphics and gameplay of Civilization V, then you'll have the makings of amazing, must-buy DLC.

Kipi hou mai, travellers. Mahalo.

6/10 [?]

[1] The man was killed in Polynesian Hawaii, for gods' sake. And we know that the Polynesians had lots of strange, spiritual perceptions of Cook that could be tapped into with some creative, theatrical scripting or voice. [^]

Labels: 2011, Civilization 5, Civilization V, DLC, Greg Mengel, History, PC, Review, Sid Meier

The story surrounding the Mass Effect universe has always been compelling, of that there is no doubt. With the latest DLC, entitled Arrival, the narrative somehow manages to creep deeper into unparalleled territory while still maintaining BioWare’s diverse set of combat scenarios. It isn't the longest add-on in the history of the medium, but it does its job well and should warrant your undivided attention if you’re deeply involved in preventing intergalactic extermination.

Arrival is a different beast when it comes to situations in Mass Effect 2. As most may know, for practically the entirety of the game you’re always rolling with your crew, issuing orders, utilising powers, reviving dead dudes... you get the idea. This, however, isn't the case in Arrival. Shepard is going in solo and, while it may seem a little bizarre, it’s a refreshing bizarre that puts you in a very interesting scenario.


Remember that Admiral Hackett guy from the first game, a.k.a. Lance Henriksen? Good, because he’ll be playing the role of catalyst in Arrival's situation. You see, Mr. Hackett has an issue with an undercover female operative going missing in a Batarian colony. Presumably, she's confirmed an ancient Reaper artifact that proves they are coming, and soon. While Hackett isn’t so sure on the whole Reaper shindig, the lady is a friend of his, and he wants her back unharmed. Since you’re no longer affiliated with the Alliance, Hackett trusts you to do this small favour for him, in return for the opportunity to obtain information you’ve been looking for on the Reapers. Go in alone so as to prevent any backtracking to the Alliance, get out, everybody wins. Sounds simple right?

Playing without a crew has its benefits, but also contains drawbacks. You have no-one to back you up if your biotics are on cooldown, or if some dude with a flamer tries to give you a hug. It means you’ll have to play very conservatively, as one wrong move will lead you to the lovely loading screen and minor frustration. If you’re like me, it really shouldn’t phase you too much since the biotics are quite powerful, lack ammunition, and recharge with great speed. That’s not to say I didn’t have trouble, though, because there were plenty of situations where I really could have used a more meaty character with extra survivability (besides, you know, Barrier).


However, the good thing about playing solo is the atmosphere and gameplay change. You can even take a small stealth approach that just wouldn’t seem feasible with Grunt running around. Your surroundings are extremely tense, and with no extra Overloads or Concussive Blasts to save your ass, that extra awareness to stay alive is a completely different feeling. Depending on who you are, you might find being unable to take someone along for the ride a bit of a nuisance. The characters you’ve been riding with are all incredibly fleshed out, and have some of the best designs in the business, but take it from me: this mission was designed just for Shepard, and just to be different.

Though it’ll take you around an hour or so to complete it, Arrival contains an incredible story that Mass Effect junkies should devour whole. At just about $7 USD, this is an absolute steal. While it may be the last bit of extra content we get before Mass Effect 3 hits, Arrival should sate most die-hards' thirst for more, and maybe even rekindle the urge to play through the game just one more time before (dare I say) it arrives.

9/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Bioware, DLC, Mass Effect 2, Review

Dearest Rockstar...

How's life in California? The wife and kids thriving? Glad to hear it. Colorado is doing well. Unemployment is down, the Rockies have been blanketed with a foot of fresh powder, and the seventy-foot-tall series of statues portraying John Elway fighting off a horde of ninjas whilst riding a flaming bronco Pegasus and swinging Excalibur in front of the capital building are coming along steadily.

I'm writing about a matter of great importance: your upcoming blockbuster title, L.A. Noire (which looks all kinds of fancy, by the way. Good, pipe-smoking, rustic gentleman fancy. Not 80s glampop music video fancy). I couldn't help but notice that it shares a release date with last year's mega-hit Rockstar title, Red Dead Redemption. Does this represent a shared development timeline between the two games? If so, then I'd like to discuss L.A. Noire's inevitable Hallowe'en downloadable content.

I'd like 50s style aliens to invade Los Angeles.

The famous 'Battle of Los Angeles' photo, taken during a supposed alien encounter over the city in 1942. Somehow, your conspiracy theorist neighbour will link this to 9/11.

Space music.

You may already have a plan in the works for new Hallowe'en DLC. With the rich history of corny B-movies being shot by-the-minute in 1950s Los Angeles, there are a cornucopia of zipper-suited monsters you can pull from. That said, tin-foil suited, antennaed, green-skinned visitors are the best choice. The fear of malevolent, subvertive life forms from outer space, abducting cows^[1] and plotting the destruction of humanity, beats at the heart of America's cultural identity during the awkward pubescent years of an age heralded by changing lifestyles, frightening new technologies, and a neverending showdown with a quiet, leering enemy - the Cold War.

L.A. Noire is set during this 'Cold War'. I'm just sayin'.

Imagine Cole Phelps, detective on-the-beat, discovering through a series of clues that the City of Angels is being secretly invaded by little green men. Without any help from the city government, he follows a trail of oddities across his urban jungle. Characters Phelps knows (from L.A. Noire's campaign) walk and talk awkwardly, as if puppeteered by invisible strings. Quiet, black-suited federal agents tail Phelps, then disappear without a trace. Blurry photographs of levitating saucers hovering above the city skyline somehow find their way into his padlocked desk drawer.

It would work perfectly.

Alien invasion film noir has been done well before. Where, you ask? How about a forgotten short story in a tattered old anthology found on the top shelf in a dank, labyrinthine library in a quiet little hamlet known to its shadowy denizens as... The Twilight Zone.

Here's a taste of Martian invaders, complete with Rod Serling's famous pun-infested conclusion. As you watch, imagine a hardened human detective listening in the back of the diner, face hidden by a fedora, but for the cigarette he sits tending. As his offhand rests on his revolver, his heart threatens to hammer out of his chest at the exchange he hears.




Now conceive a different invasion scenario, in which the supposed conquerors are not conspiratorial at all, but friendly and outgoing. As the rest of Los Angeles embraces their Samaritan extraterrestrial benefactors, one doubting Thomas-in-a-trenchcoat suspects that the city's would-be messiahs are too good to be true.




L.A. Noire's aliens could be boldfaced warmongers, assailing Los Angeles with saucers and death rays with a head-on attack, à la War of the Worlds...




...or honestly come in peace, for the good of all living things, like those of The Day the Earth Stood Still.



Hell, it could be completely zany, like Destroy all Humans! or Invader Zim. The point is, any alien-themed Hallowe'en expansion would be the greatest DLC since... well, since Undead Nightmare.

It's in your hands, Rockstar. If you can mate this with this, then you'll have created something beautiful^[2].

You see, Jimmy? This is why you never get in the car with strangers - they'll fatten you up and turn you into pie. Now finish your broccoli.

You don't have to respond right away. I know that when it comes to far-off development plans you're a little shy, Rockstar. That's okay, you're human. I only suggest that you do this: go outside on a clear, moonless night, when the stars are so clear and vibrant they fill the sky and the Hubble telescope seems unnecessary, listen to some jazz, and think on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Then put on your thinking cap, light a fresh cigarette, and ask yourself whether or it's possible that human beings are, in fact, alone in this universe (or in the saxophone-echoing streets of Los Angeles, circa-1955). Who knows? Maybe there'll be a life-form somewhere out in that vast expanse looking back at you.

Thanks for reading, Rockstar. You're a real pal. We've been through a lot together, which is why I swear to you, with Thor as my witness... if you make this alien invasion DLC, I'll forever erase my memories of the drunken mistakes of your past.

Good luck with the L.A. Noire release, buddy. See you at the review party.

Footnotes

[1] But they're covered in nipples!^
[2] Inversely, not doing so will make the baby Jesus cry.^

Labels: 2011, DLC, Feature, film noir, Greg Mengel, L.A. Noire, Open Letter, Rockstar

Let's imagine for a minute that Red Dead Redemption is a delicious German Chocolate cake, baked long, long ago in a quaint small town bakery, Uncle Hans' Loafin' Buns.

When it was released, Uncle Hans' German Chocolate recipe became an instant sensation. It was tremendous! Cake critics from the far side of town raved about it, exclaiming between bites that it was, quite possibly, the most delicious cake in the history of baking. Cake connoisseurs demanded that Hans don his apron again and improve on his masterpiece.

Ecstatic at the positive reception to his recipe, Hans turned back to the drawing board, twirling his moustache in deep, sugary thought for months. Finally he rose from his thinking chair, snatched his finest chef's hat and marched to his bakery. After a few months he emerged from his dessert lair, hair standing on end and face covered with a film of powdered sugar, to announce that he would indeed be re-releasing his German Chocolate recipe, this time with a Hallowe'en twist - pistachio ice-cream filling!

It would be dubbed 'Zombie Chocolate'.

The response was mixed. Some cake critics were enraged, decrying the inclusion of pistachio ice-cream as an abominable insult to the pure, historical goodness of Hans' original German Chocolate. Others lauded Hans. His baking skills were so great, they declared, that he would make German Chocolate and pistachio ice-cream seem as naturally compatible as cookies and milk. Still others remained neutral, stating quietly that nobody could predict the future, and the town would all have to just wait and taste for themselves whether or not Uncle Hans had gone mad.

The verdict?


Uncle Hans' Zombie Chocolate, otherwise known as Rockstar Games' Undead Nightmare, may be the most delicious downloadable expansion ever baked.

Music.

The game starts in symbolic grindhouse fashion, with a cutscene of a dark and quiet night in the Old West. An eerie, disembodied voice (that you wouldn't be surprised to hear reciting the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe) narrates, as a relieved John Marston returns home after a day of chores, the trials presented to him in the last few months practically forgotten. He's tired, and happy enough just to share in his wife's lacklustre supper or listen as his son describes the plot of the latest book he's reading.

Unfortunately, the rabid, cannibalistic corpse of Uncle spoils the familial tranquility, infecting John's wife and son with the plague of undeath. Unwilling to let his loved ones wander the world as mindless cadavers, John grabs his revolver (and shotgun, and rifle, and repeater...), mounts his horse, and rides to nearby Blackwater to find a cure.

John's journey across the original map of Red Dead Redemption is a strange exercise in nostalgia. When you find yourself saving the McFarlane Ranch from cadavers under a green-tinted moon, or hunting down and escorting survivors to their family members in a government-run Fort Mercer, you may sense a strange mixture of déjà vu and surrealism. Things are the same... except that they're different. Rockstar picked a perfect name for this expansion, as this zombified, mystical West could easily be one of its residents' nightmares.

Don't get lost in the woods.

To match its nightmarish environment, Rockstar once again produced an incredible musical score - subtle, poignant, and perfectly timed. Here is one of the user comments found on the YouTube page for Blackwater, U.S.A.:


"Desolate, yet you know something happened there. Fires and damage surround you, yet strangely... where are the corpses? There are definite signs of fighting: Overturned carts, bullet holes in the wall, painting on the walls "The end is nigh!" "The dead have risen!" Risen? That can't be right, you know that's impossible. An old legend to keep people inside at night... But... where are the bodies? Where is everyone.....  what was that? Something's coming. You are not alone here. Run... RUN!"
- wkunzelman1


I couldn't have put it better myself. Or how about Dead Sled, by The Kreeps? As you play this song, imagine yourself on an American Army cargo train headed full-speed for Mexico, pinning your hat against the wind as you pick off a horde of ambling zombies under the moonlight. The image will stick.

What Undead Nightmare does, it does well. My only complaint regarding the game would be that I wasn't ready for its story to end when it did. I wanted more than a mere seven hours of nightmare. I'm not sure I would have been content with seventy-seven. Good zombie westerns make me greedy.

Zombies, this is Death, Felhorse of the Apocalypse. Death, zombies. What do you mean you've met?

Now that I've tasted the forbidden fruit, and inevitably find myself periodically succumbing to the siren's call of zombies in the Old West, I sate that appetite by either:

a) Replaying the story. One of the benefits of a storyline under ten hours is that you can churn through it in a weekend.

b) Wandering the endgame, finishing challenges, and unlocking the Undead Hunter (a much-deserved Army of Darkness reference) and Legend of the Apocalypse outfits. Also, there be mythical creatures to find ...and slay.

C) Multiplayer modes: Undead Overrun (basic but fun survive-as-long-as-your-ammo-holds-out-then-pray game) and Land Grab (a free roam game in which any player on the map claims a piece of land, then defends it from the neighbours). Both add enough spin on traditional Red Dead Redemption multiplayer to keep you entertained. Undead multiplayer skins are a nice touch.

With its terrific grindhouse style, nostalgic twist on Red Dead Redemption's characters and world, and new challenges, outfits, and multiplayer game modes to explore, Undead Nightmare is a must-buy for anyone who enjoyed the original game. Taken as a whole, Undead Nightmare is more complete - more feasible as a standalone product - than any other DLC I've played. Simply put, it's as much a masterpiece as its predecessor.

I, for one, am glad that when there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Old West.



Next Hallowe'en, Rockstar? I expect an L.A. Noire expansion in which flying saucers land in Los Angeles.

10/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, DLC, Greg Mengel, Red Dead Redemption, Review, Rockstar, Undead Nightmare

It's September, and whilst we sit here twitching our thumbs, waiting for the onslaught of videogame goodness from the likes of Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fable III, Gran Turismo 5, LittleBigPlanet 2 and the like, there's one game that came out way back in January that I still think will be unmatched in terms of its quality.

That game is Mass Effect 2. It's rare that we at Gamer's Guide to Life give a game a perfect 10/10 score but that's just what Bioware's sci-fi sequel deserved. As a single player experience, it's up there with the best I've ever experienced. Since its release, we've been gifted with a steady stream of DLC ranging from pretty good, to great, to poor, to a waste of time. The add-on, Lair of the Shadow Broker, is undoubtedly the best yet.


Lair of the Shadow Broker will immediately resonate with fans of the first game because it sees the much loved Liara T'Soni return as a central character, despite being little more than a cameo in the main game. The story starts with the Illusive Man sending you information about the potential location of the Shadow Broker, a Jabba-the-Hutt type figure who has been spoken about throughout both games but never seen. It just so happens that Shepherd's good friend Liara wants the Shadow Broker dead after kidnapping one of her friends, and from here the story of this mini-adventure begins.

Calling it a mini-adventure might be a bit harsh, as whilst it may only be three or four hours long at most (and that was on the hardest difficulty setting), it takes all the best bits about Mass Effect 2 and hurtles along at breakneck speed to leave you feeling thoroughly satisfied and entertained. There are some great conversational moments, including some great banter between Shepherd and Liara, as well as the same fantastic intense combat that you know and probably love. There's even time for two devilish boss-battles that will require plenty of strategic use of biotic and tech powers, as well as a surprisingly great space taxi chase sequence though the busy air space of Ilium.


Lair of the Shadow Broker also has some of the most impressive graphical moments of any part in either Mass Effect or the sequel. The aforementioned chase sequence is as fantastic to watch as it is to play, but the real set-piece moment is a stunning sequence on top of a massive space cruiser in the middle of a lighting storm. Fighting your way down the top of the ship looking for a way in, to find the Shadow Broker, is thrilling and memorable. The new character designs are also great: the Shadow Broker looks like nothing you'd expect and is genuinely creepy.

As always, the voice acting is absolutely top notch from all involved and the sound effects and musical score are right up there with the best the main game has to offer.

The four hours you'll spend with this DLC is made even more attractive by the reward at the end. Obviously I don't want to spoil anything, but there are some rather awesome things made available to you that you'll definitely want to return to now and again during your continued time with the main game, or during any future DLC.


Really though, the biggest reward you can get from playing through Lair of the Shadow Broker is the story. If you played through the first two games then you'll have a genuine sense of attachment to the characters, and the return of Liara allows for some great moments between her and Shepherd. Bioware says that this is also the first piece of DLC in which your decisions will affect Mass Effect 3, so that's something to think about and will encourage multiple playthroughs as well.

Lair of the Shadow Broker is a love letter to fans of the Mass Effect series - it expands the story and lore, lets you meet up with old faces, has some fantastic action, a great story and your decisions have real consequences. It's definitely one of the best pieces of DLC I've played for any game, and easily the best Bioware has released for either of the Mass Effect games. For 800 Microsoft Points, if you have Mass Effect 2 this is simply a must buy. And if you don't have Mass Effect 2 - what the hell are you playing?!

10/10 [?]

Labels: 360, Bioware, DLC, Mass Effect 2, Review, Tom Acres, Xbox 360