[Gamer's Review] The Sims 3

Oh yeah. You read that correctly. I played the Sims. And what's more - I enjoyed it.

I recently had the opportunity to interview with EA: Salt Lake, so I decided to prepare for the interview process by diving into a game I’m only somewhat familiar with – The Sims 3. The Sims franchise focuses on the lives of simulated people as the go about their day-to-day activists. You, the player, effectively act as a deity that can control their actions and alter their world. As a side note: I've only played the game with NO additional expansions or "stuff" packs.

The Sims 3 cover art - www.wikipedia.org

Character creation screen | video.agaclip.com

In the Sims 3, there is a lot you can do. When you start the game, you first have to create your Sim(s). Here, you can customize everything from appearance to personality, by giving them up to 5 traits, which dictate a plethora of in-game actions available to the Sim ranging from what conversation options are available to how the Sim interacts with household objects. On my play through, I chose to create an aspiring musician, Luke, who has as much charisma as he has musical talent. He lives with his fiancé, Jamie, who is an excitable Sim aspires to be a top-level journalist, and Luke’s brother, John, who I created with the intention of being a good guy who eventually turns into an evil police detective, even though that didn’t pan out entirely.

After creating your Sims, you must purchase a house. The initial house I picked was just a simple small place that had no distinguishing features, other than its one-story design. At first, I didn’t really care for this aspect of the game, so I thought any house would do since I had to have one. Eventually, I came to really love putting additions on my house. I converted my one-floor dwelling into a two-story house that nearly doubled the value of it.

Live Mode: This dude is cookin'! | www.bit-tech.net

After purchasing a house, the actual game play begins. Now, you have three modes – Live, Buy, and Build. In Live mode, you simply watch your Sims live out their lives and controlling what they do next by queuing a line of actions for them to take. Sometimes, life necessities (such as using the bathroom or eating) may take precedence over your commands, but once that action is complete, the Sim returns to doing your bidding.

In addition to having life-long goals, such as Jamie’s desire to reach level 10 in the Journalism career, your Sims also have the simpler more immediate desires. These smaller wishes can be promised or dismissed by you and, if you complete a promised wish, the Sim will gain Lifetime Reward points, which can be used to purchase passive character upgrades, such as the “Attractive” trait, which helps when trying to gain friends quickly, or super-unique items like the Teleportation Pad.

Build Mode: I'm SO doing that next time I play | guides.ign.com

In Buy mode, you have the option to furnish your Sim’s house with a variety of objects including sofas, bathroom fixtures, and entertainment items like guitars or easels.

In Build mode, you can expand or contract your house. This includes adding doors, staircases, windows, wallpaper, and more to your home. Beware, this may cost a pretty penny so don’t just go building without any idea or you may find yourself out of Simoleons (the Sims currency) very quickly.

Seems like a lot of information doesn't it? Don't worry. The game does a great job of explaining how its mechanics work and offering additional insight where necessary. In fact, it's probably one of the best tutorial systems I've ever used in a game. Normally I just mess around until I get it, but the tutorials here take literally one minute to read and save me what would've been twenty minutes of aggravation and confusion.

The first two weeks of my Sims lives were the hardest, getting acclimated to cleaning up and organizing the house, increasing skills, and trying to maintain and advance in a career was a challenge.  Luckily, my Sims did it, for the most part. One of the most interesting aspects of the game was the reality that didn’t quite sink in when I decided which careers my Sims would take. Early on, Jamie wished that she’d marry Luke, and I promised she would. At this point, I knew I had to establish their relationship and improve their interactions so that one another would become closer. This was hard to do, however, when Jamie got home from work as soon as Luke left. By the time he returned home, she was already in bed so she could be ready for work the next morning. This provided a particularly interesting challenge and possible story line, as Jamie and John began spending more time together than Luke and Jamie. 

sims.wikia.com

The great thing about this game is the sheer amount of replayability. Granted, you will be using the same mechanics over and over through each play through, but you have the freedom to craft the story as you see fit. Don’t like how your Sim’s life is turning out? Try to spice things up by making your neighborhood mirror the script of a Desperate Housewives episode. Bored because your Sims just go to work and don’t do anything fun? Skip work. Skip work every day. See what happens. You have the freedom to do whatever you like and, what makes it all the more appealing, if something does go wrong, you can just start over and try it a different way.

One of the more controversial aspects of the games is the price and amount of expansion packs. While I certainly understand why EA does it from a business standpoint, it’s difficult to handle as a consumer – especially if you don’t purchase expansion packs as they come out. In order to get all the content and have access to everything I’d have to pay over $130. I guess that’s the price you pay for updates. One aspect that eases the blow is that fact that each expansion pack is essentially a new town – not just new careers or objects. In fact, most expansion packs completely overhaul the gameplay and make it new and exciting again. 

All in all, the Sims is an exciting adventure into a large world of endless possibilities and choices. It may not be for everyone, but I’d recommend you give it a try just to see if it captivates you because I think you’d be surprised.

For more information check out the Sims wiki at: sims.wikia.com and Carl's Sims 3 page at http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/

Thanks for reading!

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[Gamer's Review] Mass Effect 3

Spoiler Alert! 

The following discusses Mass Effect 3 in detail, including the ending. You’ve been warned. If you’re looking for more general information on Mass Effect 3, check out the Mass Effect 3 wikia.

ME3 Cover | technabob.com

Alright… There’s an elephant in the room, so let’s get it out. The ending of Mass Effect 3 wasn’t the best. In fact, it wasn’t even very good… Okay, let’s face it; each potential outcome was the same exact thing, with different colors and slightly different textures to accompany those colors. Oh, and the flashbacks? Not necessarily of your romantic lover or your favorite squad member... just, ya know, arbitrarily picked friends. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check the YouTube video to the right.

  

You know what else sucked about Mass Effect 3? The DLC released the same day as the game for an extra $10. Granted, the DLC doesn’t suck, but the fact that you pay extra on top of your $60 does. Aside from this, and the highly ridiculous and unfulfilling ending to a great series, the game was nearly perfect. Because it was nearly perfect, we have to examine the few glimmering oversights and errors of the game. I’ll say upfront, however, despite any and all criticisms for the game, I fully recommend and suggest readers purchase it, because it really is fantastic. In fact, looking at it objectively, the game’s story, itself, really isn’t the flawed part – moreover, it’s the politics involved outside the game’s world, where corporations and the entertainment industry reside… But, I digress. Anyway, before we dive in completely, you should take a look at my prior adventures in the Mass Effect universe here.

Just as a reminder: I played the Vanguard class through all three games and had a Paragon reputation through the first two.

The game opened up and refreshed my memory as to how everything worked. Once I got back into the swing of things, it was time to leave Earth, the human home world being decimated by the Reapers. This short introduction also set a nice tone for the adventure that was about to unfold. My Shepard was quickly thrown for a loop when Ashley, his old flame, made an appearance and accompanied him on the mission to Mars. This was an exciting moment. An old friend and lover now distrusting the main character and reluctantly helping him is a level of depth not often explored in the video game realm. It was during that time that I started debating if I would go back to Ashley, knowing she never stopped caring. Imagine the dismay Shepard felt when Dr. Eva attacked her and left her nearly dead at the end of the Mars mission. Imagine my surprise when EDI, my ship’s AI, took the body of the mechanical Cerberus operative that harmed Ashley.  It pushed my Shepard and Ashley closer together than ever before. Imagine my surprise when Miranda enters the picture again. I couldn’t help but tell Miranda that I still cared for her. And the repercussions of that were… kind of unsatisfying, to say the least.

masseffect.wikia.com

The main issue I had with telling Miranda this was not that it would continue a romantic relationship with her, but that it completely ended things with Ashley and that was the end of it. Call me a jerk (or rather, my Shepard), but when Ashley asked if I was committed to honestly putting in effort with her to make our relationship work, I said, “Yes.” Keep in mind; this is prior to meeting up with Miranda. Once I met up with Miranda and she asked if I still had feelings for her, I agreed that I did. After I confirmed my affections for Miranda, Ashley didn’t say another romantic word to me. Not only that, but she didn’t say a word to me about lying to her only moments earlier. The girl who was insanely jealous that I had a fling during the events of Mass Effect 2 all of the sudden doesn’t care that I lied? It just seemed unrealistic. Granted, the galaxy is at a point where petty arguments cannot be had because there is a lot more at stake then that, but it doesn’t make sense. This may seem like a shallow complaint, but look at the bigger picture. I’m not saying that I wish I could’ve had them both as romantic interests or condoning the fact that you can say one thing to one person but do another action. I’m simply stating that, in a real, believable world, which is what the Mass Effect universe is striving to be, a jealous woman would continue to be jealous. Oh, and she probably wouldn’t fight alongside you or support you when you kill the human’s Council representative. She would probably figure you’re not trustworthy, as she can’t even trust you with her feelings. While this is not integral to the plotline story of Mass Effect 3, these romantic relationships are integral to my Commander Shepard’s story in Mass Effect 3.  This really is a minor complaint, though; given the scale of things and the sheer amount of things you can do in the game. It’s just a note for any developers or players that had the same experience I did.

Ashley, Miranda, and EDI weren’t the only familiar faces (well, EDI’s technically wasn’t a familiar face, but you get the idea) that I came across early in my adventures. It seemed anyone and everyone I had ever came into contact with over the previous two games made an appearance in one form or another.

masseffect.wikia.com

Some of these people were simply “there” during a mission, like Jacob Taylor when Shepard and crew go to help some scientists evacuate their laboratories during a Cerberus infiltration. While I can’t expect every character I have ever spoken with or fought with to join my cause (because it would be unrealistic), it is still good to catch up with them and see what path their lives have taken. I may also feel this way because I didn’t really care for Jacob in the previous game, either. Other people from Shepard's past played more significant roles. One of those people, that I was elated to see, was Mordin, the Salarian Scientist and most hilarious squad member ever, in my opinion. During a mission n Sur’Kesh, the Salarian home world, Shepard finds Mordin working on a cure for the Krogan genophage. During my story, Mordin nobly sacrificed himself on Tuchanka, the Krogan home world, while uploading the genophage cure to a beacon that would disperse the cure into the planet’s atmosphere spreading it across the planet to all of the Krogan.

While the game had far too many missions (which is a good thing) to detail every single exciting adventure, some of the highlights included tackling the Ardat-Yakshi monastery on Lesuss, rescuing Jack and her biotic students from Jon Grissom Academy, the missions on and around Rannoch, and the all of the events on Thessia.  Oh, and the part with Legion in the Geth collective mind was weird… but very creative and a cool visual representation of a linked consciousness.

Combat-wise, the game played very similarly to Mass Effect 2. My memory may be faded, but it also seemed that Mass Effect 3’s cover system was a lot more responsive, but they were probably similar. I enjoyed the variety of enemies and landscapes. Favorites such as the Husks (mowing them suckers down is FUN!) and the standard Geth troopers make appearances, as do new enemies. These new foes include troops from Cerberus like Centurions, squad leaders with the ability to conceal themselves in smoke, and Phantoms, operatives the utilize close-range combat and come complete with katana-looking swords, as well as Reaper-based enemies like Marauders, Turian-mutations that can give allies armor plating, the Brute, an all-Armor Turian-Krogan hybrid behemoth, the Banshee, a Reaper-mutated Asari with crazy biotic powers, and - the big daddy of ‘em all – the Harvester, the dragon equivalent for this Sci-Fi world.

masseffect.wikia.com

While the variety of enemies was fine, the frequency of each variety left something to be desired. I was slightly disappointed with the ridiculously high amount of enemies that used Shields as opposed to any other protective covering, like Barriers or Armor. Granted, some of the enemies were purely Armor, such as the Brutes, and others incorporated Barriers and Armor, like the Banshee, I still felt the majority of enemies utilized Shields, at least in the first half of the game.

masseffect.wikia.com

Due to this, I found myself using EDI nearly every mission due to her access to Overload. If it wasn’t EDI, then Garrus was there to take her place. The few times I tried to branch out and try different combinations, I found myself wasting ammo just to break down Shields that EDI or Garrus could’ve easily decimated. Granted, once Tali came back into the picture, I was glad to use her Energy Drain ability, but by that point I had already figured out tactics for my EDI-based party configuration. Javik, the last living Prothean, is also a welcomed addition to my team. His biotic heavy arsenal and access to assault rifles makes him a great soldier, especially when in thick firefights. On a personal level, he seems to be complex and very detailed. His insight into the Reapers and the cyclical nature of their destruction is very important in understanding the story and helps us, as players, to draw conclusions and similarities based on his stories and memories. It’s odd, though, to think that he is not a streamlined part of the story – rather, he is only for those who spent the extra money on the DLC. He’s not really “story” important (read: he's not mandatory in any part of the game), but he makes understanding the antagonists easier and makes relating to the universe much more interesting. If I wasn’t such a biotic heavy player-class, I would’ve definitely liked to use Javik more.

I guess this is a minor complaint, as I still ultimately have a choice in which squad members I use, but it is still something I wish was more balanced. On the whole, however, combat was much more precise and felt a lot smoother. The variety of guns also made the game more fun, once I became more willing to explore options outside of my trust Assault Rifle. The Scorpion, a handgun that fires detonating charges, became one of my favorite (and most useful) weapons by the end of the game.

All things considered, I would highly recommend buying Mass Effect 3 so you can finish your Commander Shepard’s adventure. I realize the ending, and the few complaints I’ve outlined here may make you question whether or not it’s worth it, but the polished and engaging moments in the game far outweigh the negative aspects.

What did you think about Mass Effect 3? How did your story turn out? Leave your comments and thoughts below!

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Time To Save The Galaxy...

After some frustrating customer service at one video game retail store and some exceptional customer service at a sister store of that same video game retailer, a headache, and much excitement, I finally got my hands on Mass Effect 3, with the From Ashes DLC included. In order to celebrate the most anticipated game of 2012, I’m chronicling my journey through the galaxies of the final chapter of BioWare’s masterpiece. While I’m in the process of starting Mass Effect 3 (which is slightly delayed due to an exam in my Entertainment Law class and a pretty full schedule) I’m going to write some quick memories of my Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 experience.

mikewashburn.net

For anyone unfamiliar with the series check out the Wikipedia article about Mass Effect, which does a pretty good job explaining the basics about the series’ gameplay and universe, or the Mass Effect website. Oh, additionally, the following has some SPOILERS of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect

The first time I stepped in the shoes of Commander Shepard (mine, by the way, is a male named Luke) I remember being impressed with the level of customization available not only on the appearance of the character but also on the combat stylization. In fact, I recall on my first play-through of Mass Effect I automatically selected Soldier, unaware of the fact that there were other classes available, because I was so excited to get started. When I replayed the game last summer, I created an entirely new character. I recall correctly, this Commander Luke Shepard was a space colonist and eventually became a war hero after enlisting in the military. Instead of selecting the Soldier class again, I chose to be a Vanguard, as I finally understood the game mechanics and the usefulness of biotic abilities. Throughout both games, I leaned closer to the Paragon side in my actions, although I tried my best to seriously contemplate and judge my actions on an individual basis, playing Shepard as though I had to live with the consequences of my actions forever.

Ashley & Garrus | masseffect.wikia.com

Throughout the course of my adventures through the galaxy, I completed a majority of the side missions in addition to the main story missions. Utilizing weaponry as well as biotic abilities, I choose to add additional firepower to my team by taking the military-minded Ashley on the majority of missions. When I took her, I usually took Garrus, the Taurian tech-warrior, as my third member.

Wrex & Tali | masseffect.wikia.com

When I switched it up, I used the Wrex, the brutish Krogan bounty hunter, and Tali, the Quarian tech-specialist, giving myself a balanced team most of the time. As much as I love Mass Effect, my favorite moments are few compared to Mass Effect 2. The part I enjoyed the most, however, was the feeling and depth the main mission planets provided. Feros was extremely atmospheric and the first time going through the game, I was caught off guard by the mutations that took place upon returning to the town. Noveria, too, created quite a desolate and abandoned atmosphere. The snowy planet was had beautiful scenery as did Virmire, the beach-themed planet. I can still remember playing on a warm, breezy day, feeling like I was actually on the planet storming Saren’s Geth base. That mission featured some of the most memorable and exciting series of events I’ve seen in any game. 

The characters were greatly detailed as was the dialogue between them. Developing relationships was one of the best parts about Mass Effect. For the most part, all of the characters were pretty intriguing. Unfortunately, the characters I found to be the least interesting were all of the love interests. For my Shepard, I had the option between Ashley (who was prejudice against all of our alien comrades) and Liara (who was less interesting then a snail race without salt). For female Shepards, they at least had Kaidan, who was fairly interesting and complex. Honestly though, I felt he paled in comparison to the depth I found in Tali and Garrus, which is likely why they were brought back for Mass Effect 2. It might be an unfair comparison. As a human character, there is less to learn about Ashley and Kaidan, especially compared to the cultural and racial differences between the alien members of my squad. 

From the landing on Eden Prime to the final confrontation on the Citadel, Mass Effect did a very good job of making me feel like I was actually fighting with a purpose! Below are some of the highlights of my story based on what I can remember as I attempted to stop the Geth:

• ·      Managed not to kill any of the people on Feros during the uprooting of the Thorian
• ·      Spared Shiala on Feros
• ·      Freed the Rachini Queen on Noveria
• ·      Saved Liara T’Soni on Therum
• ·      During the confrontation with Wrex on Virmire, managed to peacefully reconcile
• ·      Pursued a romantic relationship with Ashley
• ·      Choose to save Ashley over Kaidan on Virmire
• ·      Convinced Saren to kill himself during the final confrontation
• ·      Sacrificed the council during the battle against Sovereign for the greater good
• ·      Appointed Captain Anderson as the human representative to the council
• ·      Never did any of the DLC

Mass Effect 2

Having defeated Sovereign, I began the journey through Mass Effect 2 feeling triumphant and untouchable. BioWare, likely aware of my arrogance, quickly cut me down by allowing the Collectors to fire on my ship, cause my entire team and I to be separated. While I was subconsciously aware that I’d somehow have to rebuild my team (the same way Samus seems to always lose her powers in some creative way only to retrieve them once again in the Metroid series), I was still pretty shocked at how quickly and abruptly my ship was struck down. Having little time to reveal in my past success, I began to rebuild my crew, this time under the command of Cerberus.

Cerberus Logo | masseffect.wikia.com

I assumed the same class I had from the previous game and became a Vanguard for Cerberus. After being put back together Six Million Dollar Man style, I knew I was in for quite a ride. While the gameplay changed pretty distinctively, the universe was very much consistent with the first game. 

Mordin & Grunt | masseffect.wikia.com

My favorite memories from Mass Effect 2 definitely center on the loyalty missions. The missions not only served to prolong gameplay but also introduced me to a different side of the character in most cases. The game also introduced a wider variety of squad members this time around. Mordin, the Salarian Scientist, for example, was not only unique in that he was the first possible Salarian squad member, but he also had a distinct style of speaking and sense of humor, which allowed me to connect with him on a more personal level. Since playing this game, every subsequent game has had to do what Mass Effect 2 did; make me care about the character. I'm sure I cared about character depth on a subliminal level prior to playing Mass Effect 2, but now I'm hyper-aware when a shallow character acts as the protagonist. This isn't really a bad thing, though, as character development does a lot for a game. Mordin, who in my opinion is on the weaker side when it comes to offensive ability, was one of my favored characters whereas Grunt, who was a less cool version of Wrex with less personality, was one of my least favorites, even though he was probably better suited to be on the battlefield in most cases. 

I was also glad to see not only recurring characters like Garrus and Tali, but the way in which they developed was also impressive. Garrus, like you’d expect, treated Shepard like an old friend. It was interesting to actually feel the connection they had and understand the familiarity between the two. In other games that feature war buddies, you simply are told that you and some other character have a history, but to have experienced the war stories Shepard and Garrus are sharing first hand in the first game greatly enhances the experience. 

Thinking back now, I loved the recruitment aspect of the game as well. Going after the Archangel and the scientist on Omega was one of the coolest experiences ever. Gang wars have not been so well done since the days of GTA: San Andreas. In addition, the recruitment of the prisoner was by far one of the coolest parts in the game. After learning Jack’s name, I expected a huge, burly dude that was capable of making Grunt cry. What I got, instead, was a bald-headed, tattooed girl with a bad attitude. I recall first seeing her and being half confused and half elated, because I saw so much potential for her to be a deep, interesting character. Unfortunately for Jack, I was also very taken by Miranda, the Cerberus office who aided in rescuing me from my old ship’s wreckage. Must’ve been the accent (or the bodysuit). Anyway, I recall actually being engaged with the conversations they had, and wanting to know more about her especially after completing her loyalty mission. 

Miranda & Samara | masseffect.wikia.com

As far as my squad is concern, I generally used Miranda and Samara, but I changed the party as the situation dictated, utilizing everyone at some point in the game (with maybe the exception of Jacob and Grunt, as I didn’t really care for them that much). I also rejoiced in the diversity of level design this time around. During Mass Effect, aside from main-story missions, the planet surfaces and dungeons/building interiors were very similarly designed (with some exceptions like the Luna mission). Additional, the item management of this game was much better. Instead of worrying about inventory like I did in the first game, I was free to focus on character development and action. All in all, Mass Effect 2 was not what I expected; rather it was something far greater. As I fought against the Collectors, there were several major decisions that I made:

• ·      Imported my Shepard from Mass Effect (and got the associated perks)
• ·      Recruited all squad members and completed all loyalty missions
• ·      Pursued a romantic relationship with Miranda (Sorry, Ash!)
• ·      Managed to save all of my crew and squad
• ·      Fully upgraded the ship
• ·      Survived the suicide mission
• ·      Destroyed the Collector’s ship
• ·      Never did any of the DLC

Now that my Xbox is done updating and the DLC is done downloading, I must venture off, dear readers, to save the galaxy from impending doom. I’ll keep you posted!

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