Spec Ops: The Line, Alan Wake, Borderlands, and The Refusal Ending blog - Reqieumthefallen

Hello everybody, it's time for another opinion post. Today we've got quite a few games to talk about (and sort of review, I guess). And one bad thing but well lets just get that over with now:

I know I promised to not talk about a certain Bioware RPG, and I will make this as brief as possible: Only the most petty person could resort to lying about adding something, then letting it pop up just so you could spite fans who wanted the core principles of the series to matter. Congrats, Bioware. I hope stroking your ego was worth me not wanting to ever buy/play a game from you ever again.

Okay, so, Spec Ops: The Line. Chances are you've probably heard its reviewing alright. You might have also heard that it's on sale right now for 25 bucks on Amazon for PC download, after being out for only a week. Well, let me tell you, I spent seven hours (according to Steam) playing it... and it felt more like twenty. I can't decide if I beat the game or it beat me, but I do know that I completed the campaign, and will always look towards the game as an impressive feat in interactive media. The game refuses to give you space to breathe, the loading screen event taunts you at some points. I do advise you at least replay the opening sections again after you've beaten the game -- after you've given yourself a minute to let it all sink in. You'll notice a lot of things you wouldn't have seen otherwise. And this should be obvious but: Don't ruin it for yourself by watching the ending ahead of time. It's that big a paradigm shift for your perspective on the events, not a simple wrap up that makes you feel victorious, like Resistance 3 or Dead Space 2. Also, the multiplayer isn't throw away like some reviewers claim, it just requires -tactics-. Group up with four friends, coordinate via voice chat, and you will kick lots of ass.

Next up, Alan Wake. I haven't actually beaten this game yet, presently still got a good way to go, but this is more of a worthwhile experiment than a great game in of itself. The story is good for those who like conspiracies and are observant. This is not Dead Space 2 though, the game play is more of the "horror game with bad controls" than "horror game with challenging combat". The exploration and light concepts are very neat though.

Last but not least, Borderlands. Once again, not beaten, but really by level 20, I feel like I've seen most of what the game has to offer. Sometime the boss fights are neat, Mad Moxxi's Underdome is probably my favorite part, and the co-op... honestly it felt like crap, really. I realize that may be because of my playing the PC version... but gah it just wasn't worth the hassle. Toss in tons of melee enemies in a SHOOTER RPG where only one class is supposed to be able to go melee at a moments notice. Also, classes don't seem to really feel balanced. The Siren is powerful out the gate, especially using the playstyle that supposedly The Hunter is meant to specialize in. Ontop of this, the vehicle combat is rather one-note, as is pretty much everything besides the shooting. Even the looting seems not considered -that- important, as they make inventory management a pain and constantly you have to leave valuable weapons on the field in favor of sticking to one playstyle. I wasn't too keen on that.