You review Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker of course. Sorry for the misleading title, but hey, saved me the space of writing all that down here. Anyway, I've had the DLC for quite a while, as well as some others, but this one's the only standout to deserve a review, at least the way I see it. Still new to reviewing downloadable content (the previous and firstmost try was the Broken Steel & Point Lookout pack for Fallout 3, if I recall correctly), but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

No spoilers whatsover, but it IS directed at people who've already played/completed ME2 and are looking for a worthy extension of the experience.

This is gonna be a big one.
Okay, so I know that I've come a bit late with my Game of the Year awards, but here they are anyway. My top 5 of 2010 will follow with the five most anticipated titles of 2011.
I experimented with differing layouts, some of my earlier drafts involved epic nominee lists and so forth... I even somewhat re-posted it at the Reviewers union, but decided against it here.
I'll just keep it plain and simple, best five of 2010 and the anticipated five for 2011.
Hope you guys forgive me :D I'll try to make this as enjoyable as possible.

Without further ado,

LGTX's Top Five PC Games of 2010


#5 - Call of Duty: Black Ops



"...while lacking polish in the more Infinity-Ward-areas, Black Ops gleams with outstanding directing and an even crazier pace of gameplay. And with now a decent enough story element to pull everything together, a perfected multiplayer component and a new level of digital acting, the experience is fuller than ever. Applause Treyarch, as they supersede the fathers of the franchise for the first time."

And truly, when you look at it from a high enough vantage point, it is clear that Treyarch managed to achieve the uncertain height in designing spotless, completely immersing rollercoasters which compel you to shoot just as they break you into a story grazing psychological boundaries regarding genre and perspective. Their every former effort, even World at War, which introduced some lucky concepts and strong mechanics - went into the basis and frame of their latest game, which gleams with astounding set pieces masterfully directed with one ultimate goal in mind - to throw YOU into the epicenter of a segmented adventure which slowly unravels before your eyes as you do things which manage, with the full meaning of the word, to dwarf Modern Warfare 2 by sheer intensity and scale. That means much more than it initially says.

Whether it's a Helicopter skirmish over Vietnam or a covert insertion behind enemy lines, Black Ops knows when to halt the carriage and when to head downhill, fast. The adrenaline-filled multiplayer only lenghthens the experience, simultaneously throwing the replay value to tremendous heights - Treyarch actually had it in them, holy hell. I remember saying once that Modern Warfare was an absolute pinnacle of on-rail shooters - hands down - and that the standard it set would hold for years. I said the same when Modern Warfare 2 hit the shelves. Consider my tongue swallowed this time, because I hate repeating myself. The temptation is awful, though.

Winner as: Best First Person Shooter


#4 - Transformers: War for Cybertron



"Sure, it's definitely not an Arkham Asylum to the franchise, nothing major was delivered in terms of gameplay or genre innovations, but it's guaranteed to satisfy lots of hopeless fans who waited for so long. Or what do you know, maybe even recruit new followers to the world of giant transforming robots, a silly, but magically nostalgic series which entranced millions many years ago, and is now taking up far larger fronts and continues to expand."

Transformers had a hefty going these last years, with Michael Bay doing his best to screw the essence out of the franchise, somehow turning the produced crap into worldwide hits. At least the bots drove the hall of fame again, but not in quality - at least, not until War for Cybetron.

It's funny really, how ditching obvious trends can benefit a license-based product - Who needs annoying little humans and their Earth-problems? Who said anything about melee bashing? Enter Cyberton, a world of war and corruption, a world where even the most gigantic Decepticons jump around like mad and rain fire from repeater cannons. No complex mechanics, no pauses during the gunfights, no boring preservation of supermarkets - that's what War for Cybertron is about, bringing true Third-Person Shooter mechanics to the unique world where the legendary conflict between two warring factions of giant, transforming, and totally awesome robots found its inception. And what's even more important, it's about as good a game as silly it sounds.

The end line is easy to formulate: War for Cybertron proved that a game crafted from inspiration beyond limiting confines of movies or cartoons offers much greater potential than a rushed product meant for a bonus to a cinema ticket. You'll never want to return to Bay's abominations again. Not that the temptation ever drove anyone to agony, but... point made, man!

Winner as: Best Third-Person Shooter, Best Use of Creative License


#3 - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit



"...Hot Pursuit manages to deliver one of the most polished, visually stunning, and innovative racing experiences this year. Dazzling views of a fictitious Seacrest County, an Exotic car pack for any of your Lamborghini or Porsche needs, the Autolog system - which describes best as the Hot Pursuit Facebook - and lots and LOTS of cops pool together in a gameplay process which calls for imaginative chases and awesome throwbacks. "

What defines the perfect racing experience? A simulation in the smallest of details, turning fun into a hardcore imitation of real-life driving? Or a joyous, relaxing ride in a ridiculously overpowered and idiotically controlling Bugatti Veyron across kilometers of exotic terrain with nothing in the way? Every person has his or her answer, and more often than not choosing isn't even an option. But ask me, and I know what I'll pick. Had Gran Turismo 5 come out on PC this year, rest assured, this position in my list would've remained unchanged.

I'll never forget how cautious I was when I first inserted the disc and booted the game up. On one hand, holy crap man, NFS from Criterion! On the other, countless reviews constantly criticizing that very fact - describing the game as Burnout on a break and spooking the hell out of my nostalgic-NFS-geek side. The wounds were tended as soon as I hit the gas and busted my first race. It was back, and never since had a contradictive thought crossed my mind - I never even saw Burnout in there actually - the mechanics might've been based off the same drafts, but the physics were new, the handling was unique, and the chases had a completely different dynamic than Paradise or anything else for that matter. They did carry a slight cue, an easily discernible heritage of the very first Need for Speed where cops and racers was what everything revolved around.

The resulting mix, spiced up with the hyper-addictive Autolog, was a game with ridiculous life expectancy - it's the genes showing.

Winner as: Best Arcade Racing, Best Multiplayer


#2 - StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty



"...a comeback quenching a 10-year long thirst of millions and by far the strongest argument in favor of the PC as a gaming platform, StarCraft II does little to discover new horizons in a genre it established itself a king long time ago, but puts tremendous effort into further polishing the mechanics and presentation, containing amazing variety and balance along with an unprecedented sense of scale."

It's just not the same with Blizzard. The folk can go as much as developing a sequel for over a decade - just so that what they deliver in the end is a nuke of such force that it blows all recent advancements to smithers. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a flawed third of a story for some, a clone of its predecessor with an additional dimention for others, and a problematic multiplayer experience for many - finds solace in the single uniting overall opinion of every living person on Earth - it is the absolute pinnacle and the best of the best in a genre it reinvented a long time ago, and, unbeknown to other competitors who kept stomping the sand, set to overcome years later.

Argue on the story, complain about the online services, but don't stand and rant that Starcraft II is anything but astounding in terms of gameplay mechanics: never before has such a wide range of diversity managed to bind itself together by an actual balance of power - whether you have additional Pylons to construct or Siege Tanks to unfold, you know that the differences are superficial deep, deep down. I'm presenting you to a game which successfully fuses several absolutely unique play styIe into a single scheme, and, what's more important, makes them work. Give it a try.

Winner as: Best Real-Time Strategy, Best Graphics: Technical, Best Sequel


#1 - Mass Effect 2



"...Yes, it did make that huge step from hours of inventory micromanagement and focused on adrenaline-filled gunplay, but apart from this imbalance, it is still the Mass Effect we loved and missed: the futuristic cityscapes, mysterious enemies, a living, breathing world filled with believable aliens and a scale of events ranging from personal drama to the obvious battle for humanity and (eventually) the Galaxy."

Mass Effect 2 is a sequel as tightly bound to its predecessor as no other game, but, at the same time, as drastically different as a prime continuation should be - you can almost see the unrelentless developing which forged the game into its current form: fan feedback? We'll take it. Combat's blunt? Gears of War can prove a nice inspirational material. RPG elements too stacked? Simplify, streamline. The Mako was crap? Make it hover. Characters lacked depth? Multiply their quantity AND quality thrice and see what they'll say next. Dialogues were too static? direct them so a hollywood cutscene might whimper.

The game did all this, then multiplied the result ten-fold, and was subject to further polishing until what came out was a wacky mix of an epic adventure, team-building intricacies, and absolute immersion in a world of politics, believable alien races, and threats beyond imagination - all of them motivating and leading you towards a suicide mission which would prove it's worth of title based on your choices throughout the entire quest.

I'm still adamantly convinced that we'll never see Mass Effect 2, or Mass Effect for that matter, in their true scope and meaning until the trilogy has locked and Mass Effect 3 has made the clockwork tick as a whole. That feeling alone is enough to offer Bioware my deepest respect for their ability to create and bind such stories - until then, however, I give you the most captivating and atmospheric game to have braced the PC this year, bringing utmost perfection in everything, from story and gameplay to porting and presentation.

"...whether it's an emotional dialogue scene on a hi-tech space frigate, an unrelenting combat sequence on the streets of a futuristic metropolis, or a calm, serene exploration of a post-apocalyptic world, Mass Effect 2 delivers it all in mint quality: you'll never find a game more bigger, stunning, and professionally set in the whole white world, and dark space beyond."

Winner as: Best Story, Best Downloadable Content, Best Graphics: Artistic, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Acting, Game of the Year



And now for some outright stupid and silly nominations!

Hero of the Year: Starkiller (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II)
Villain of the Year: Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2)
Sidekick of the Year: Leonardo Da Vinchi (Assassin's Creed - Brotherhood)
Body Count of the Year: Dead Rising 2
Copy/Paste of the Year: Bioshock 2
Steroids of the Year: Split/Second: Velocity
Overhaul of the Year: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Roflcopter of teh Yar: Deathspank: the Thongs of Virtue
Indie Game of the Year: Super Meat Boy
Best Score: Mass Effect 2
Shattered Hopes of the Year: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimentions
Movie Adaptation: Tron: Evolution
Epicmost Fail of the Year: Dark Void


Thanks for reading this through everyone. Now, I'll briefly Recap what I'm waiting for most in 2011 - the five games which are guaranteed to make it to my shelf.


#5 - Batman: Arkham City



Our favorite pointy-eared man with a caped spandex suit is back, if you'll forgive the bluntness. Arkham City is a vast, free to roam space where multiple villains, such as the Joker, Two-Face and Hugo Strange will face off against us and our bat-wits (and again, couldn't resist) in a continuation to the 2009 hit.


#4 - Portal 2



You know, after all the talk about coop portal-ing (just imagine. For a second.), post-apocalyptic puzzle sets and the glorious return of everyone's favorite AI-overlord of songs and sarcasm, I kind of find myself not caring about the cake anymore. I mean, it's a lie afterall... right?


#3 - Crysis 2



Lush, green jungles give way to skyscrapers and... ruined skyscrapers of Manhattan, throwing a Nanosuit 2.0-equipped protagonist amidst a pressing invasion of alien forces. The multiplayer thrilled me, and the suit seems practical to use at last... maybe we'll get that Crysis we were promised years ago, finally?


#2 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution



The anticipated prequel to a cult cIassic and simply a brilliant cyberpunk-era RPG with first-person shooting and choice-based gameplay, there's lot expected from the augmented Renaissanse of a once-great series. Stop postponing it already!


#1 - Mass Effect 3



I swear, after all I've written above, if you still expect me to say a word about this game, or franchise, or whatever - cut me some slack. Ok...fine. To say it short, I don't believe anything as grand as ME3 will happen in the foreseeable future, but I do have a nasty feeling in my gut that, like Deus Ex 3, its initial date will get pushed away long before we get near it - I'd honestly tolerate that rather than an unfinished conclusion to something deserving an epic one.

So it's basically a couple of hours since midnight in here, just gonna peek in and wish everyone who reads this, and everyone who doesn't, a REALLY, seriously happy New Year! Like, the happiest yet. No arguments.

One of the most polished, self-contained, solid, and true-to-the-roots arcade and game in the general sense.

I honestly didn't expect, from myself foremostly, that this one would be ready so soon, but there it is. One of my more traditional, in-depth and informative reviews I used to write when I was active around here.

The only things I'm regretting is that I didn't explore the car park decently, other than that, I'm for the first time pretty pleased with myself. I started writing this the next day I got the game (I tend to get emotional on titles I dig), and was through a long, boring process or corrections/editings/rewrites since then, which is, I dunno, close to a month I think.

Nevertheless, there it is for you fine folk to read, enjoy and rate.

Better technically, tad bit flashier gameplay-wise, disastrously shallow in its prime aspect as a Star Wars tale.

I can't believe that amidst all the work and studies I managed to get this polished and up. I know it's been a while since release, but it still feels good to come back here with something to contribute.

I know it's kinda short, on-the-surface analysis, no real exploration of gameplay details and such, but it's really the best I can do with the little free time I have left. I'm studying all the way through to December 31st, and will hopefully get a week-long break in January.

By the way, did any of you guys happen to run into problems while posting reviews here? I had error pages every time I tried to submit this one, and once I gave up it turned out that the text DID get accepted, it just wasn't confirmed on my end. I just hope it turned out normally, I'm using Opera 11.

So that's that. Will try to start cooking up something else as well, to coincide with Christmas.

So yeah, title says it all.

I think it's really great because, basically, it's video games which helped me find a job this early on.

I started working as as in-training volunteer for a website called Civil.ge, it covers political/economical news on Georgia and has three language variants, and I basically act as an assistant to the Editor-In chief of the English version.

It's funny, really. The boss of the firm used to employ my father (he designed said website), and apparently they were conversing about me when my dad mentioned my blog and "unhealthy" addiction to videogames (standard-parent thing). Then the story goes predictable: boss shares laugh, boss visits blog, boss becomes impressed with my English and analytical skills, and that proves to be enough to get me on the position.

So now I'm literally shaving off seconds for personal life as I alternate between university and my newfound job whenever I can, usually returning late and too exhausted to surf the web, much less write reviews or sometimes even play games. It's good, though, since I may even be accepted in-state soon after New Year, and then I can go boast how videogames helped me kickstart a career. Which won't even be a lie :D

Which leads to the sad fact that after my prolonged absence due to trouble adapting to university, I'll probably introduce an even bigger gap of inactivity since now I have to settle things beyond education, working six days in a week and dedicating most of my computer-time to digging up political intrigues and what not. So yeah, expect even less of me from now on, I guess the best I can promise is a peek in around Christmas to share some grats.

As for a brief gaming update, since my last visit I managed to snatch off Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II and NFS: Hot Pursuit, and while the former polished the gameplay but degenerated a potential story element, Criterion's take on cIassic NFS cat-and-mouse chases is simply flawless to say the least, I enjoy the game immensely whenever I get a few (and woefully seldom) extra hours.

I'm also planning to go out of my way but attend the VGA livestream. Gotta know the secret Bioware IP.

So, that was it. I guess I'll return someday eventually, cheers people.

P.S. I probably could've said this earlier at any point in my life, but now that I have a rock-solid argument, behold the cliche: all of those "videogames have negative influence on young generations" crap is, well, crap. At least related to mentally healthy people. I mean, look at me! :D

Than I declare you beyond awesome. Seriously, you should check your memory, it may be working at overclocked levels.

I guess there's only one word I can say to justify my two month-long absence from here, and it's pretty straightforward and self-explanatory: University.

It kicked off with September, and since I chose a more-or-less technical faculty focused on computers and IT, the studies were pretty intense from the beginning, and subjects like informatics and algorithmic basics were genuinely tough to adapt to. And then there was all that peripheral stuff like advanced physics and English classes. We even got Theology. Which is, you know, weird given the faculty.

And then there was this crazy-ass plan for us to have up to seven "repute tests" every semester, which add up every student's scores, which, in return, are necessary to successfully transit semesters and attend even more tests. The first of such testing runs starts tomorrow, and I've really been going out of my way to not screw this one up as fails can seriously damage my scores and such.

So yeah, starting from the studies and ending with them, it's been a hell of a month, but I decided to hop back here and let you guys know I'm still kicking.

Now for something gaming-related, as a birthday gift I got a new rig more-or-less up to today's standards, and managed to finally set it up after weeks of "benchmark-mode", when I'd simply install game after game and test the performance. It houses a Q9500 pocessor along with 2 gigs of RAM at 1333Mhz each and a GTX465, a giant step forward from my previous piece of crap. I haven't had much time to enjoy it though, but I managed to catch some sweet FPS-reinforced moments from Crysis and similar heavy artillery, and the new computer delivered just fine.

As it is of this day, I'm a bit off the gaming current and I've been mainly playing War for Cybertron or some of the newer DLCs for Mass Effect 2 whenever I got the time, (by the way, I got a review for the former up on GS at last - it had to go through weeks of revising and stuff) so I guess I'll work myself in bit by bit and peek in here from time to time as well. The tests, starting tomorrow, will stretch over the whole week, so don't expect much activity from me in that period. I will try to somehow show signs of life, however.

Hey all, been a while. Just returned from a holiday trip to Turkey, was nice to finally vent after the exams.

The thing is, we had to leave on July 22nd, and July 22nd was when Inception was getting released over here. So it was, that after 10 days of unprecedented anticipation, I finally got around to watching what was probably the greatest standalone-script movie ever made.

Incidentally, I decided to go the District 9-way and ignored every bit of marketing the film spawned, TV spots, trailers, and reviews obviously included. It. Didn't. Help. People were just talking, talking everywhere, talking about how awesome it was, how ingenious the plot turned out to be, and how amazing ... well, everything was. I mean the hype was basically like a virus you couldn't avoid getting infected with. For ten days I forced myself to steer away from the numerous hot discussions on this movie just to avoid getting spoiled, and while I still managed to catch on about the dream-invading stuff and the general plot outline, I pretty much went into the cinema without knowing what exactly to expect.

First off, Christopher Nolan is an honest-to-God genius and I won't be having any second thoughts on that matter. Elaboration: The script was not an adaptation of anything, it wasn't even remotely based off anything apart from Nolan's weird thing for dreams and how he wanted to expand the concept of lucid dreaming beyond what any living being would expect. All the complexity of the plot, every brain-wrenching detail on human subconscious was entirely of his doing, what he was trying to put down on paper for the last decade. It's his Avatar, and, truth be told, it hits with originality much stronger than Cameron's Pandora ever did.

The story evolves around one Dominic Cobb (DiCaprio), an "Extractor" (actually one of the best), who specializes in the discreet art of dream sharing. By using a mysterious (no origins are explained) and illegal device, he invades the dreams of his "contracts" and steals their deepest secrets, intentions, and ideas from within their minds. After completing a particularly difficult assignment, he gets approached by a certain Mr. Saito (Watanabe) who promises him freedom from the law in exchange for something deemed as an impossible task by many: Inception.

And that's what the movie revolves around, obviously. Contrary to Extraction, Inception is an act of planting a new idea into one's mind, something so insanely hard and dangerous that it takes all the expertise and skills Cobb possesses to assemble a powerful team of invaders and plan out a wacky plan that'll crack your brains just by thinking about it. I'm at no cost spoiling anything regarding that particular aspect, but I'll say this: expect a LITERAL interpretation of the term "multi-layered plot".

Actually, the amount of satisfaction I got while experiencing Inception without any background checks urges me to stop telling anything altogether, but still, as this is a review (more or less), I'll go on a bit about the production. It so happened that Nolan managed to nail a breathtaking plot along with colorful, strong characters who all fit in the general puzzle as every one of them serves a key purpose vital to the story. The dream worlds, and the concept altogether is gradually and elegantly explained, never treading too far into scientific documentary, and making watchers believe that something genuinely new and original is going on on-screen. Seriously, just thinking about how much Nolan needed to think through to make Inception happen, it's impossible not to respect the man.

However, as much as a strong point the story is, many will come out a bit exhausted by the amount of processing power required to simply UNDERSTAND everything that went on for the two hours of screen time. The plot thickens at a geometric rate, beyond anything that has ever been done before, so make sure to check that you're on a clear mind and not expecting some pop-corn flick with a bunch of explosions and visual effects.

Speaking of which, Inception gets no less eye-poppers than any other action movie with a budget too substantial to handle: the dream worlds allow for infinite fantasy to change and warp them in any way the "architect" deems necessary, and the visual enhancements don't disappoint: whole cities built from scratch, folding upon themselves or "collapsing" once the subject becomes aware of the dream, outside stimuli affecting the dream in ways you don't expect, with gravity shifts and time/space paradoxes feeling cozy in the endless imagination of the dreamer, list goes on. It's simply amazingly awesome, and there's no way around that simple and amazing fact.

I know that I never really went in-depth with this review, and I hate myself for it, but I just can't bring myself to spoil more, the details which I revealed were already painful to write down. Just... just go and watch it if you haven't already. I'm pretty sure nothing of such originality span will ever be done in the future, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

And to make an epic closure, Inception is currently #3 in IMDB's Top 250 list. Not to go cliche, but... nuff said.

To those who do wish to get a bit more spoiled, I added up to the given review and expanded a bit in my blog.

P.S. On an unrelated note, I happened to stumble upon the launch trailer for Bioshock: Infinite while typing this blog. Had no idea something like that was cooking up, but I can't help but wonder why they didn't go this way with the sequel. It looks astonishing, and the setting is more than promising for another atmospheric revolution. Check it out.

And while I'm at it, War for Cybertron review is coming folks, just a couple more days of polish, and to wrap up with the presentation and write down the conclusion.

Ok, so I know I royally screwed up with my promise on posting this a week ago, but I ran into complications while formulating the story segment. I desperately wanted to incorporate a mini-roundup of all the games in the franchise, a doomed task for a review, but I still pressed on with it. I can say that I'm pleased with the result, but... it pretty much stretched the text out. And then I also think I might have overused the humor too, but I guess I'm just being overly self-critical.

Other than that, it's there for all you good people to criticize - I wanted to do a fully in-depth analysis after my short revs of Split/Second and Just Cause 2, and I think I managed to pull of my usual styIe at last.

On a side note, my exams are finally over just in time for War for Cybertron to arrive. I've been playing for over an hour now, and all I can say is that it's pretty damn intense, whether you want to compare it to Gears of War or that crappy Revenge of the Fallen from a year back. I'll get around to reviewing it soon enough.

Aaand I'm obviously in a hurry again, so that's that. Thanks for reading, I'm out.

P.S. To any GRU members reading this, I'll post the review up on the union as fast as I can, I promise. ;)

Just a short entry to assure everyone that I'm alive :D Exams are finally here and I'm currently through a lot of pressure, but I've still found time to do a bit of writing.

I got Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands the other day. I consider buying it as much a mistake as you're probably thinking, but I'm a crazy fan of the franchise, it wasn't even a matter of question once I found out that this would lead up to Warrior Within. The feelings are definitely mixed, and I won't go summarizing them here. I'll have a review up in a day or two. Curiously though, I haven't written a single review on any of the PoP games, although I do own ALL of them. I guess I just sentenced myself for a lot of retro-writing.

Also grabbing War for Cybertron someday soon, and judging from the scores it's getting, I may just have the perfect Transformers game since... well... I guess it will be the first. The campaign is said to span over 12 hours, and the multiplayer is praised above all else, so I guess I'll take my time on that. Probably a review by the end of July.

Alright, so that's that. Gotta run.