I have picked a few games I have been playing recently, and am going to share with you, my loyal audience, what I thought of them. These are going to be quick and dirty reviews, for no other purpose than that I want to refrain myself from becoming too long winded in expressing my opinion.
Marianne would probably say that I should try that not only in this article, but also in regular conversations. Alas, I have yet to unlock that achievement.
By the way, you'll note from the platforms I played these games on, that I am firmly rooted in Microsoft's core audience: the thirty-something hard core gamer.
A fact I'd probably should not repeat outside of these pages.
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)
Good: The AC engine is beautiful to look at and controls wonderfully.
Bad: They try to obscure a lack of content by adding a plethora of repetetive side-missions.
Ugly: 1) "Interactive" cutscenes with way
too much plot exposition 2) The
plotMass Effect (Xbox 360)Good: The ME engine is beautiful to look at.
Bad: Turn on auto-leveling and the game becomes Gears of War with a better story and a sub-par shoot / cover system.
Ugly: Inventory system makes baby jesus cry.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Nintendo Wii)
Good: Coop mode!
Bad: Everything that sucked storywise over the course of the entire franchise is now yours to own in one game.
Ugly: Shake-your-Wiimote-to-dodge-the-next-killing-blow is
b-r-o-k-e-nHalo 3 (Xbox 360)Good: More master Chief! More incredibly well-designed shooting action! Four player coop! Forge!
Bad: It's not the end of the series (DUH!)
Ugly: They should have retained the simple elegance of the story present in Halo 1: as it is, I don't understand jack about what's going on anymore. The excellent books written by
Eric Nylund shame Halo 3's storyline.
Bioshock (Xbox 360)Good: Steampunk meets Stanley Kubrick's The Shining?
Weeeeeeeeeeee!Bad: Carefully crafted and scripted events are absent from the latter part of the game, replaced by an uninspired endboss battle.
Ugly: The much heralded and advertised freedom to do anything, behave any way you want boils down to Light Side / Dark Side choices and 2 corresponding endings. So last gen!
Stranglehold (Xbox 360)
Good: It's Max Payne starring Chow Yun Fat.
Bad: The destroy-the-environment-to-take-out-enemies mechanic largely disappears after the first level of the game. That's right, the demo level that was on XBLA...Hmmmmm...
Ugly: It's Max Payne starring Chow Yun Fat.
The man who is responsible for who I am today, whose works have graced my book collection ever since I was young--has passed away. I cannot begin to express the sadness I feel at this. I got my first AD&D books when I turned 11, and I can still remember the feel and smell of those big hardcovers; they were filled with magic and mystery, they made me want to discover ancient worlds and have terrific adventures--they dared me to fantasize. I had thousands of hours of fun playing in the sandbox he gave me, and I met some of my best friends because of his creation. Many years later AD&D would put me on the ultimate path leading to where I am now (a creator and producer of games). In many ways we owe a debt to Gary--for the worlds he chose to share with us, for creating a hobby that stimulated millions of gamers to embrace their dreams and fantasies, helping them to express themselves creatively and socially . Truly, with my mother having passed away several years ago, and now the Dungeon Master himself--the source of me has been erased. 
