Gamestop has announced which of its stores will open at midnight on Tuesday, January 26th for the release of both MAG (formerly known as “Massive Action Game”) for the PS3, and Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360 and PC. To find the list of stores where you can nab your copies of those games tonight, click here.
Personally, I have no interest in MAG. I’m not a big competitive online shooter fan because of the lack of narrative intensity pushing the action forward. Kill kill kill and you win the match. Take possession of x item or location and retain it for a certain period, you win. It just doesn’t do it for me. So taking the military strategy to the next level by incorporating squads and specific field objectives does not interest me. Left for Dead’s cooperative mode is much more my cup of tea with story sequences you have to survive and then progressing to the end of the level for a final stand off. Or the competitive survivors versus infected mode where you switch sides and jump into the rotting feet of the infected who just ravaged you and exact revenge. Ha! You couldn’t make it as far as we did.
Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, is close to my heart. I preordered a few months ago, and I have been replaying the first game over the last week to refamiliarize myself with the characters and story. Yes, I am that dweeby. It is amazing after all of this time how enthralled I became with the first Mass Effect again. The acting, story, and the conversation wheel system allowing you to react differently within the cinematic sequences really took RPG interaction to another level. The fighting was that splendid mix of shooter and turn-based RPG, allowing you to freeze at any time to assess the situation and what special abilities would allow you to take control of the current battle. I’m replaying on hardcore for the first time, and it’s amazing that it doesn’t seem that difficult. It actually seems easier than when I played through the game before. But, I’m sure that has something to do with the extended time I spent with the game, exploring every nook and cranny of every planet and helping any schmo that asked me for assistance with anything. I can’t wait to start the next leg of the Mass Effect journey!
Hopefully there are fewer planets with nothing of interest though. It’s been especially tedious in my most recent playthrough to hit planet after planet with very little engaging. There was a sense of accomplishment and adventure in my first playthrough when I actually did find something happening or a mini sidequest to complete that wasn’t listed in the quest list. However, the payoff was probably too light to make it feel worth it to sift through every single planet available in the game. I guess it does lend a sense of reality to the game, because I’m sure there would be a ton of boring mining planets. However, we don’t play video games to get a sense of reality, even faux reality, now do we?
