DarkStar One: Broken Alliance

This long space adventure isn't deep or refined, but it's still good, simple fun.

The Good

• Fun, breezy, colorful space combat  
• Pretty galactic vistas  
• Intuitive control scheme  
• Long adventure, with lots of weapons and artifacts to collect.

The Bad

• Story is hindered by blurry cutscenes and inconsistent voice acting  
• Copy-and-paste mission structure leads to tedium  
• Various bugs and glitches  
• Frame rate tends to drop when the action heats up.

There aren't many opportunities on modern consoles to gallivant about the galaxy shooting space pirates and trading android parts, so DarkStar One: Broken Alliance fills a very large void. And in spite of its many quirks, this long and accessible space combat sim does a fine job of doing so, putting you behind an upgradable spacecraft and giving you an enormous universe to conquer. A lack of depth and lots of mission repetition make the later hours start to drag, and some cringe-worthy voice acting and overly compressed cutscenes lend the story some unintended campiness. But there's no reason the flaws should weigh too heavily on adventurers itching to save the cosmos by blasting nasty alien ships into smithereens.
Just like the PC version released in 2006, DarkStar One: Broken Alliance puts you in the shoes and ship of Kayron Jarvis, son of a talented pilot who was killed after an act of ship sabotage. Like it so often does, revenge forms the basis of this tale, though Kayron soon finds himself wrapped up in a political drama in which--wait for it--the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. The twists and turns of the plot do their part to inspire interest, but low-resolution cutscenes and eccentric, oft-repeated voice-overs make it hard to take DarkStar One's story seriously. The actors portraying the leads aren't so bad, and a few side players come across well, like the boisterous, swashbuckling Captain Hornblower. Others, such as the emotionless actress performing monotone communication duties at space stations throughout the universe, sound like they barely understand what their lines mean. It's easy to admire its spunk, but you won't stay glued to the screen on the merits of this humdrum space opera.
Luckily, a light role-playing system that lets you upgrade your ship--the titular DarkStar One--will keep you pushing forward when the story has lost its appeal. You fly about the galaxy seeking artifacts, most of which can be found glimmering on asteroids, though some are earned as a reward for liberating systems taken over by nasty space pirates. With enough artifacts, you level up your ship, granting it more hit points, perhaps, or giving you access to the next weapon class. This is also how you enhance your catch-all plasma device, which can be used for an extra layer of shielding or to emit an electromagnetic blast, among other possibilities.
And so you push through the galaxy in a first-person perspective, collecting artifacts and shooting up anything that turns your reticle red when you target it. DarkStar One is easy to pick up and play from the get-go because of the intuitive controls that make it simple to select targets of note, switch missile types, grab cargo, and more. You shoot your mounted weapons with a single trigger, while turrets fire automatically, assuming you have enough energy to power them. As you move from cluster to cluster, you gain access to more weapon types, from ion pulse weapons that damage shields to graviton guns that fire slowly but do a good amount of damage. It's some hours before you feel like your foes are putting up a struggle, but some later encounters force you to keep an eye on your weapon energy and maneuver carefully around giant cruisers that would turn you into space dust. Most skirmishes play out more or less the same: you target the nearest enemy and pummel it with lasers and spores until it blows up, and then you move on to the next one until the fleet is gone. Combat is simple and predictable, but it's terrific fun to zoom about, zapping Thul drones and Arrack bodyguards, and later enemies mix up their behavior, which adds a touch of challenge and variety.
Nevertheless, this predictability eventually leads to monotony, due to copy-and-paste side missions that see you doing the same activities over and again. Heading to a waypoint to eavesdrop on an unsuspecting group of conspirators is a nice change of pace, until you realize the plotters you overhear always deliver the same lines and always need to be blown away at the end. Providing support for a cargo vessel is a fun diversion, but every such operation plays out exactly the same as the last one. These side missions are optional, but only to a point: you need funds to make sure the DarkStar One has the most up-to-date weaponry equipped, and these missions are the easiest way to earn credits. Fortunately, there are other ways of earning a living in the darkness of space, should you find yourself in a rut. If you fancy yourself a space trader, you can buy low at one trade station and sell high at another, and the easy interface lets you do so with a minimum of fuss. If you'd rather subvert the law, you can attack cargo ships and steal their payload.
The story missions do offer a bit more variety, perhaps giving you a few wingmen to assist you versus a giant cruiser or sending you off to repair a few satellites. The first drastic departure from formula sends you through a series of planetary trenches, taking down turrets and other nasties, which is great fun when you're not struggling with the same mission's troublesome visual slowdown. Another welcome mission takes place in the interior of a great vessel, and while it's fun to navigate these tight spaces, the monotonous mazelike level design dampens the mood a bit. Fortunately, most of DarkStar One's vistas are much more attractive, showcasing colorful starscapes and pretty planets with patterns of light that identify the cities on their surfaces. It's best not to stare too closely at asteroids as you skim their surfaces lest you notice the low-res textures, and it's a pity every race's trade stations look exactly the same, both inside and out. Nonetheless, the game looks nice, and while they tend to suffer from some unfortunate frame-rate jitters, battles are colorful and fun to watch. You could add a few other nitpicks to the list of DarkStar One: Broken Alliance's minor problems. The inability to drop a side mission in progress can be a real pain if you select one that takes you to a location you haven't yet unlocked, for example. Sometimes, selecting a neutral object on your target list will not select it on your screen, while another bug may keep you from collecting all 100 available artifacts. Yet with all its foibles, this space combat sim is a lighthearted and enjoyable adventure that could last you upward of 30 hours, depending on how quickly you decide to blow through the story. If you've been looking to light up the heavens with lasers and missiles, there's no reason you shouldn't forgive DarkStar One's flaws and take to the intergalactic trade lanes.

Just Cause 2 Review

Crazy stunts, a huge and gorgeous gameworld, and a playful attitude make Just Cause 2 a lot of fun.

The Good

• Enormous, varied island to explore with lots of things to do  
• More than 100 vehicles to drive and pilot  
• You pull off all sorts of crazy stunts  
• Stuff blows up in lots of awesome ways  
• Absolutely fantastic visuals.

The Bad

• Some of the missions are more frustrating than fun  
• Some visual glitches  
• Doesn't support Windows XP.

Just Cause 2 is ridiculous in the best possible way. In the space of a few moments, you can grapple to a hovering helicopter; beat up the pilot and hijack the chopper; blow up a cluster of fuel tanks; put the chopper on a collision course with an enormous antenna; jump out at the last moment; and watch the resulting explosion as you parachute down to the saddle of a moving motorcycle below. But in the life of Rico Rodriguez, such events are just another day at the office, though in this case, the office is the gigantic island nation of Panau, where three gangs vie to wrest control from a corrupt government. This is a big game that gives you a lot to do and a lot of crazy ways to do it. When Just Cause 2 gives you the freedom to do the things you want in the way you want, it shines in all its preposterousness and good humor. When missions and challenges shoehorn you into specific actions, however, the same loose mechanics that make the open-world exploration such a joy become a frustrating burden. Nevertheless, this sandbox action game surmounts its few issues with liberal doses of ludicrousness; well, that, and the ability to attach disreputable cops to a buggy with your grappling hook and drag them around.
There's a story tying all of the craziness together, but it's about as believable as the crazy stunts you pull. As in the original Just Cause, you play as Rico, a member of a US agency called, appropriately enough, The Agency. The story is all silly fluff, standing out more for its so-excruciating-it's-almost-good voice acting and broad ethnic caricatures than for any intricate plot developments. (Don't bother looking: There aren't any.) You'll probably have more fun trying to figure out where different characters are from based on their insane accents than you will working out what exactly is going on or why you should care, but the tale still works well in light of the game's screwy attitude. Contradictory updates from the government-run news agency will have you giggling precisely because they're so crazy; Rico offhandedly dismisses the insane, supernatural events that occur after an eventful flight into a Bermuda Triangle-type region. Most importantly, the tale provides oh-so-implausible excuses to blow up gas stations, radar installations, and offshore oil platforms.
And blowing stuff up is what Just Cause 2 does best. Causing explosions leads to chaos, which functions as a type of currency in Just Cause 2. To unlock new story missions and other goodies, you need to wreak as much havoc as you can, and you get lots of different, preposterous ways to do it. If you see a grouping of fuel tanks, you could just run in and shoot them with a machine gun, but that is one of the less dramatic ways to do it and will use up ammo besides. (And early on, the game is a bit too stingy with ammo, given the focus on making things go boom.) But why approach things in such a pedestrian manner? Instead, you could hijack a passenger jet, put it on a destructive path, and jump out at the last minute. Or you could steal a hulking tank, drive it to a central location, and start blasting everything that looks like it might erupt in a ball of flames. The dramatic approach can take a bit more time, but it usually leads to a good deal of entertainment. Yet, even if you do things the easy way and use a dinky pistol, the explosions are perfectly loud, big, bright, and obnoxious.

You'll make approximately one zillion things explode. And it never gets old.

Of course, such noisy endeavors will get the attention of the local authorities. It's amazing just how quickly swarms of militants will descend on you. (You might actually see soldiers fade into view directly in front of you.) The most obvious way of handling them is to fill them with lead, and when you're surrounded by enemies, Just Cause 2's loose shooting mechanics work just fine. The ultraforgiving autotargeting makes it easy to run about spraying fire, though you can zoom in if you need a bit more precision, like if you are taking out a military colonel and need to land a headshot. If you use a controller, you might run into troubles with that same autotargeting; You can aim and shoot directly at a guy's head as he leans out a car door but not land any hits. But if you're using a mouse and keyboard, you aren't likely to encounter this issue, and you're getting a more fluid experience to boot.
When you're surrounded by a dozen armed baddies and bombarded by a hovering helicopter, however, making a quick getaway may be the best option. Rico's grappling hook is a real life saver in these circumstances. You might attach it to a nearby building and fling yourself onto a roof or grapple the ground and pull yourself out of harm's way. Better yet, you can pull off a sort of inverted Spider-Man routine by grappling the ground, hurling yourself into the air, and opening your handy parachute before you hit the ground. Once airborne, you can repeat the move over and over, flinging yourself around using the grapple hook like Spidey would use his webbing. From the air, you can perform some satisfyingly silly stunts. For example, if you'd rather travel around in a motorized rickshaw, you can grapple on to one, pull yourself onto its roof, and evict the driver, who will undoubtedly be vocal about his or her displeasure. Or perhaps that chopper is still dogging you. In that case, grapple onto it, chuck the pilot out, and take it for your own. But it's plenty satisfying just to travel using your hook and parachute. It takes a little time to get used to the rhythm of taking off, but once you're accustomed to it, there's nothing like soaring above Panau's snow-capped mountains or taking in a beautiful sunset while floating slowly toward the beach.

ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead

 This stand-alone expansion improves upon the original in almost every way.

The Good

• Gorgeous new setting  
• New weapons, both retro and modern  
• More accessible for newbies  
• Same great Arma combat  
• Avoids Arma II's bugs.

The Bad

• AI drivers still terrorize the roads  
• Online play can be annoyingly unpredictable.

Although 2009's Arma II set a high standard for the all-purpose military simulator, its buggy single-player campaign held it back from achieving its full potential. In contrast, Arma II: Operation Arrowhead, its stand-alone expansion, boasts all the beauty, realism, and action of the original and none of the game-breaking bugs. Improving upon its predecessor in almost every way, Arrowhead introduces a new setting, new weapons, and new adventures to a great military sandbox.

The mountains of Takistan seem to go on forever.

Much like its predecessor, the primary selling point of Operation Arrowhead is its setting, which swaps the thick forests of Chernarus in favor of the vast mountain ranges, boundless steppes, and parched deserts of the fictitious Central Asian country of Takistan. Both the natural landscapes and the various human settlements, including the teeming capital city of Zargabad that notably boasts a gorgeous Persian-style mosque decorated with mosaic tiles, are characterized by meticulous attention to detail that reveals the story of the place. For instance, the mountains are filled with quaint, well-worn trails, while outside the prayer room of the mosque, you'll find the shoes of the worshippers within. However, the tranquil beauty of Takistan hides a nation in turmoil. The Saddam Hussein-esque Colonel Aziz (who has a penchant for gaudy artwork and carries a golden gun) and his military junta have launched an invasion of their oil-rich neighbors in Karzeghistan. Not amused by Aziz's tomfoolery, the United States has vowed to overthrow the adventurous junta and has sent in the military to do the job. You take on the role of several different US soldiers during the course of the campaign, whose combined efforts will ultimately lead you to victory. Along the way, you'll encounter Takistani military forces operating T-34 tanks and other aging Russian military hardware; hostile, pro-government militias; UN peacekeepers; and antigovernment rebels who will join your cause.
While Arrowhead's campaign can't match the play time, freedom, and decision-making possibilities in Arma II, it surpasses the original by providing a refined, bug-free experience. And, although it loses a bit of the historical backstory of Arma II, Arrowhead makes up for it by leaving out the boring exposition and dropping you straight into the action. Right from the beginning, you'll be occupied with a diverse array of missions and objectives. For example, in one mission, you get to capture a mine with the aid of a friendly militia, search for missing hostages, find and disarm a bomb (using a code with exotic Takistani numerals), transfer control of the mine to the United Nations, and, finally, man a dilapidated Soviet antiaircraft battery to stop enemy MiGs from bombing a rebel village. Other missions range from classic, brutally difficult Arma infantry combat to sequences where you command infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, tanks, and helicopters.

Colonel Aziz to the rescue!

In contrast to the punishing realism of even the easiest difficulty levels in Arma II, Arrowhead offers a more approachable point of entry for new players, with its easier "regular" difficulty (veteran and expert difficulties are as hard as ever) and thorough tutorials. However, if you're a newbie, the coddling ends quickly because unlike in Arma II, where you spend several missions as a grunt, Arrowhead puts you in command of a mechanized squad in the second mission. Even after playing the tutorials, it can be hard to remember all the controls, and nothing is more frustrating than accidentally ordering your platoon to exit its vehicles in the midst of a tank battle. Thankfully, with time and practice, you'll improve your leadership skills, but even great tutorials and diligent attempts to practice will turn only a select few players into master helicopter pilots. It's difficult to stay airborne for more than a limited time before crashing unceremoniously into a minaret. Mercifully, you don't have to complete the campaign's helicopter mission to continue. Even after failing, in the next mission, you get the option to rescue the pilot, who apparently survived a 200mph collision with an unfortunate mountain goat or whatever gruesome end you inevitably caused him to suffer.

You'll find an abundance of novel weapons, vehicles, and equipment throughout the game, which provide exciting new ways to liberate (or terrorize) Takistan. These include World War II-era relics, such as Soviet T-34 tanks and British Lee Enfield bolt-action rifles, as well as modern, cutting-edge toys like unmanned aerial vehicles and thermal weapon sights. These are particularly awesome because they use infrared radiation to help you identify potential threats, such as vehicles, human beings, and rabbits. Since pro-US militiamen give off the same amount of heat as Takistani soldiers, it is ill advised to shoot at every human-shaped target you stumble across using this tool.

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands

I've been a fan of the Prince of Persia franchise ever since 2003's The Sands of Time. The combination of acrobatics and combat-- along with the sweeping environments -- made the Prince of Persia franchise one of my favorites from the last generation. And despite Ubisoft beating the franchise into the ground by releasing sequel after sequel each year, I still bought and played them all -- though I recognized that the Prince was starting to feel more than a little tired.

But the 2008 Prince of Persia -- a reimagining of the franchise that took away almost all the player's ability to fail -- showed that the Prince needed more than just a few tweaks and a short break to be exciting all over again. While some people enjoyed the ultra-forgiving, you-can't-lose aspect of the 2008 PoP, I felt like the game had brought this aspect in at the expense of the sense of accomplishment the previous games evoked. The Prince's adventures need to be beatable, sure, but player's don't need to have their hand held all the way.
Which is why I think I enjoyed the latest game, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, as much as I did. While much more than a simple rehash of previous PoP mechanics, Forgotten Sands manages to find a fine balance between reward and punishment. Combine this with some awesome new mechanics and a combat system that really comes into its own by the end of the game, and it's easy to recommend despite the boring story and rather unpolished feel of the game's visuals.

In The Forgotten Sands you play as the titular Prince of Persia, a handsome, acrobatic warrior with a penchant for climbing just about anything and destroying anyone who he comes to blows with. The Prince goes to visit his brother and in typical videogame fashion things go awry, magical enemies appear, and he's quickly dragged into an epic quest that will take him through the ruins of a kingdom in an effort to save the world. It's the sort of stuff that previous PoP games were all about, but I have to say that this storyline pales in comparison to The Sands of Time (the PoP game that all are measured against in my mind), and never managed to pull me in to the narrative. However, while the story failed to catch my attention, the acrobatic platforming the franchise is known for managed to get me hooked all over again. The Prince has the uncanny ability to run up walls and be an all-around monkey when it comes to climbing, and the game gives you plenty of environments to ninja about in. Each area the Prince enters is essentially a level, and it's up to you to figure out what moves you need to pull out in order to make it through.

The first couple of hours of platforming would have you thinking it's a relatively easy game, but it gets more difficult as the Prince unlocks new powers. During the quest the Prince will eventually gain the ability be to temporarily freeze water into climbable objects and make certain portions of ruins appear as they were before they were destroyed. The game gradually ramps up the difficulty, forcing the player to combine these powers until eventually they're encountering rooms where all of them are used in epic sequences that make the game feel like a mix of platformer and rhythm action

Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3; Online Multiplayer Action RPG (PC)

ous maker of video games, BioWare started work on the new Mass Effect 3, the third installment of the much followed the saga of science fiction into a frenzy that sent millions of players around the globe, we learned that it appears that Bioware will propose soon a new multiplayer mode!
The news indiscreet jumped out in these last hours, following the publication of a job listing on a popular social network, which states clearly looking for a multiplayer programmer for Mass Effect series. BioWare decided to expand the gaming experience in the world of Mass Effect through the inclusion of a multiplayer mode. Of course, at best, this should come together in the third chapter of the game since the team is currently engaged in creating expansions for Mass Effect 2, released on PC and Xbox 360.

The Canadian software company has so far not commented on these rumors, however, after the announcement of the work on the third chapter of the saga is becoming increasingly apparent confirmation from sources close to the same BioWare, the third chapter of the game Commander Shepard and his crew will use the expertise gained from the software house for the new Star Wars: The Old Republic, with which it could share many elements of online gaming.

How Will Be The Game: New Mass Effect 3? Explained by BioWare

Despite support for the project related to Mass Effect 2 will continue for many months (as evidenced by the liveliness of Cerberus Network), the upper echelons of BioWare already beginning to question what to do to bring to gaming history through the saga worthy of a final chapter ‘be remembered for years to come.
New Mass Effect 3 News: It will be more “light and fun” , says BioWare
We do not say anything new to say that Mass Effect 2 pc game was a delivery darker even than his predecessor, who managed to overcome in a lot worse. Well, now since its development, we anticipate that the closure of the trilogy will be much more fun and relaxed than the second half.
This has been confirmed to PCGameTrek UK magazine Casey Hudson of BioWare, who has materialized that this increased “lightness” of this package will be seen, for example, in the many comic scenes featuring Joker and EDI (artificial intelligence Normandy) taking place in the game.
We can not tell you much about Mass Effec 3 right now but the second installment of any trilogy is usually quite dark finish. The third part is when you are trying to bring back a little more fun and lightness to the set.
Something we try to do with Mass Effect 2 PC Game was in addition to achieving a more mature, to introduce many more comic elements, something that powers the hand ME3 characters like Joker and EDI.
Mass Effect 3 (PC) will be an epic conclusion … so it will be much darker, but also contain large doses of humor.
Personally I’m surprised the comic emphasis seems to want to give the franchise, which, however much he says Hudson, is not very common at the end of any trilogy, especially if it has the epic tone that has always characterized Mass Effect.
When questioned by the children of 10 to 16 years old, in fact, Christina Norman of BioWare said what will be the road that the developers of the popular EA’s Canadian subsidiary will undertake to make Mass Effect 3:
“With Mass Effect 2, we wanted to learn all aspects regarding the fighting and shooting, just because BioWare, historically, is strong in the narrative and the creation of role-playing games but is less good in action sequences. And it is precisely for these reasons that with Mass Effect 3 will focus on component role, multiplying in number and longevity exploratory stages but at the same time taking care to perfect the artificial intelligence of enemies. On the advice of our fans also see each other again from zero the phase of planetary exploration. ”

Mass Effect 3 News

Casey Hudson of BioWare, seems to be clear that they do not want to spend that much time between the two deliveries remaining in the Mass Effect trilogy as there was between the first and second.
“We’re already working on new Mass Effect 3. We want to develop awareness and listening to what the community of gamers has to say while experimenting with Mass Effect 2. We also have a lot of DLC in which we are also working, and somehow in that mix business and eventually move to full development of the third. ”
“We do not want development on forever and we would like people to be able to finish this trilogy that has accompanied us for years. It is envisaged that the development time of the third party occupying the same as Mass Effect 2 DLC, that is, a couple of years. ”
Casey Hudson, Project Manager, BioWare says that right now are with the first details of the story of ‘Mass Effect 3′ and suggests that perhaps the title in the trilogy will be released within two years.
Meanwhile, says Hudson, and to make the wait more bearable (and incidentally keep filling their coffers a bit, of course), will be launching a host of downloadable content that we will have access to new adventures. No, we will not be bored.

Mass Effect 3; in 2011 or early 2012?

I still shiver in the shins after seeing the amazing trailer for ‘Mass Effect 2′ Alex brought us this morning. What a feeling, gentlemen, what a feeling. That music, such as film composition, the universe at stake, these aliens totally crazy and a lot of eyes, that Commander Sheppard able to sacrifice everything for humanity … a lot of iron masters, BioWare will show us what that game will be worth mention.
But of course, can not stop the wheel spinning and so is already talking about the next iteration of the franchise. ‘Mass Effect 3′, the episode will end the trilogy and, once and for all, save humanity from catastrophic destruction. The question is clear, How long before we see it? For less than you think, that there is a hurry to keep winning base metal.
At least this is clear what Casey Hudson of BioWare, which recently said in an interview that “Mass Effect 3 ‘is already in development and will arrive within a couple of years.
We Sheppard and inter galactic adventures for a while. Hey, and we are delighted, of course.

So, the end of the trilogy might reach 2011, or later, in early 2012. Meanwhile, we are already playing at Mass Effect 2, and so that you do not make you eternal wait until the January 29.
If even half the promises made to us by Miss Norman will be confirmed in Mass Effect 3, between late 2011 and early 2012, the society of lovers of role play science fiction, having had a tough setback with the second chapter of the series , officially receive the final blow.