New Destiny Retail Details

What will we explore in the new Bungie adventure?

Why Am I A Console Game?

[Short Answer] I hate you PC Folk

The Continual Problems with Battlefield 4

Why the DICE multiplayer needs another tweak...

Six Months with Microsoft Next Gen Hardware

Games Console or Entertainment System?

The Best DLC Money Can Buy

Does it have Zombies, Burials or Dragons.....?

Monday 20 February 2012

BioShock Infinite Rundown



BioShock Infinite was original announced back in 2008 under the name ‘Project Icarus’ and is a FPS being developed by Irrational Games. This will actually be the third instalment in the BioShock series but only the second by the legendary Ken Levine, creator of the original premise, he also directly involved in this new addition to the series.

Due for release at the end of 2012 on all major platforms (Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC) but without a specific date takes place before both of the previous games. Set in 1912 the game takes place on a flying city called Columbia but does not directly link to either of the previous games. There is an entirely fresh set of characters and locations.

The trailers and snippets of information already released shows the main protagonist, Booker DeWitt, and the heroine, Elizabeth, running from a wide variety of interesting characters in a colourful but industrial styled world. The other main ‘character’ noted from the pre-released information is the Songbird whom previously protected Elizabeth from harm.



The standard premise is that the former detective Booker, controlled by the player, is sent to Columbia to recover a young girl called Elizabeth. As his mission progresses he gets caught up in a civil war which will set the pace for this adult story about finding your own place in a world of destruction.

While BioShock Infinite follows the BioShock lineage of being an FPS there are many new elements of note. The game actually steps away from the ever popular Plasmid route and opts for a choice between limited-use Vigors and Nostrums. Vigors grant special abilities that the player can uses to alter the tide of battles. Nostrums on the other hand are passive abilities that can improve attributes like strength or health.  Each choice can be found at various points throughout the game but have finite uses to stop people spamming their advantages

One of the most interesting aspects of the story comes in the form of the metal beast called Songbird (mentioned above). This is probably the closest equivalent to a Big Daddy in this floating metropolis and looks to give the player a real hallenge in battle. The Songbird’s previous duty was to protect Elizabeth but since her escape the creature feels betrayed and follows the protagonist through various sections of the story trying to get her back. Also present are characters known as Handymen; these large metal encased humanoids possess great speed and strength and look to enforce a sort of mini boss style effect to the gameplay.



An interesting side note on this world is the inclusion of a zip line style system that allows the player to traverse great distances but at the risk of falling to ones death. Various enemies also utilise this form of transport and make this one of the most hazardous ways of transport.

So far no news on multiplayer either….though BioShock 2 had one of the worse FPS multiplayer I can think of so it might not be a bad idea to exclude it.

Passing of the Future



More than ever games are taking great strides towards adding post-release content like new skins, songs, avatar awakes and missions to their ever expanding arsenal. This has now branched off into an attempt from developers to reduce the second-hand market by placing extras into their factory sealed versions of the games.

The main area I’m referring to is the ever expanding Online Pass system that grant those of us who picked up the game new a few additions to our games, whether that be content only available to those full price payers or but giving away free content codes or missions packs.

These Online Passes are still available to those second hand purchases but are usually priced to ensure that buying a game second hand and the pass exceeds the price of the standard factory sealed product. This means that people who rent the game or buy a used version, must pay more to extract their games full value.

It’s well known that publishers have always hated rentals and used sales, because they bring back little or no money to the companies that made them. It looks like they have now found a way to make everyone pay the full ticket price or at least improve their current return on investment.

OK so Online Passes are nothing revolutionary or new but the system itself is now spreading with Battlefield 2, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Mass Effect 3 and even Batman Arkham City all getting on board. This area of the market is going from being every few games to an almost mandatory inclusion. There are now only a few big guns out there thriving without the online-style extras like Gears of War 3 and Call of Duty (what a surprise).

Rental shops tend to hurdle this issue as many of their customers only use the short term trial once whereas second hand gaming stores suffer as the £10.00 cost for a pass often exceeds the £5.00 saved by purchasing second hand titles. This is a real problem for budget minded gamers especially in the current economic climate when people can’t afford £50.00 to buy every game new.

The online passes are not the only incentive being offered to buy new – Rockstar kicked this off with their Pass system that allowed a discount to future content. What this basically means is that anyone with the pass would be able to download the additional content for LA Noire at no extra cost (and usually means the pass owner gets the content at a discounted rate to what they would have paid individually). Mortal Kombat, Saints Row 3 and Gears of War have all now followed suite with similar systems too showing the industry wide popularity of reducing second hand sales.




Activision have gone one further with their Call of Duty Elite membership that bundles together DLC, statistics, tutorials and clans into one application. This is very similar to the Halo Waypoint service except that it’s £50.00 a year for membership and includes all DLC at no extra cost. Users actually benefit from a full £10.00 reduction over the total cost of each DLC individually and get access to a full tracking system too. These subscription plans are become part of the parcel these days and their use will only increase over the next 12 months.

A refreshing look at these options came in the form of XBLA exclusive Crimson Alliance last month when the product arrived as a free download. This hack-n-slash RPG comes with three classes that can be used for free within the demo version. Each class being taken into the full game though costs 800 Microsoft points but all three being purchased costs 1200 points which is more than the cost for one character but a discount if you want the option to play as any of the three. It’ll be interesting to see whether this model is successful and if so whether any developers would take this option forward with their other releases.

The Online Pass looks like it is becoming a staple part of the industry now but it is also easy to see that many developers have different ideas about what exactly entices users to buy into their schemes. The options are fairly broad for most developers out there so the next 12 months will really show which path they find most profitable and why. In truth these packages offer a type of transaction to guarantee a certain level of sales while additional elements for games encourage people to keep playing.



The Mass Effect 3 Demo Review


The concluding chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy is coming very shortly to systems everywhere and will be the first game in the series to be released simultaneously on all major HD platforms. The demo released this week completed the same feat with BioWare releasing Xbox 360, PS3 and PC demos all on the same day. Feedback received from various sites suggested that the PS3 versions fails to match its Xbox 360 counterpart as it suffers from major frame-rate issues but is still a great example of what is coming over the mountain.

I’ve played the demo through twice now and both times found that the areas on offer are interesting, involving and give players a good understanding of what they can expect in the final release. The demo itself is split into two parts – the first takes place at the beginning of the game as the Reapers start their invasion of Earth, the other is set midway through the game and has Shepherd sorting out issues on the Salarian homeworld.

The first part of the demo runs for around 15 to 20 minutes depending on the difficulty and your personal playing style and allows the player to create their own Shepherd, use the default option and even make a couple of story based decisions before you set off.  You start on Earth as the powers that be find out that the Reapers are on their way to Earth sparking a frantic tutorial style section. To say much else will spoil the proceedings for you and I don’t want to do that to you.

The second part of the game is a little larger and much more combat centric than the first section. Again there are a few areas where you can make smaller story based decisions and this one involved Wrex, Garrus and Liara all of whom had already been confirmed as party members this time around. The story doesn’t really ruin anything from the main game but does have some prominent points to fans from the previous instalments. It’s safe to say it involved Krogans, Women and Cerberus but again much more would spoil proceedings for you.

The combat over both sections is fresh, fluid and enjoyable even on Insanity. The gameplay has been tweaked ever so slightly to make the whole experience run smoother and will feel very familiar to any fans of the previous games. The only gripe I have with the gameplay element of the demo was the rolling aspect that didn’t really seem to make much of a difference beside making me role past my cover instead of into it. Powers still curve like in Mass Effect 2 and the weapons feel useful again as my team laid waste to several waves of enemies before the demo came to a close.

Speaking of enemies the demo actually showed off a few new ones including; a ninja style Geth (which I can’t remember the full name of) and also shielded Cerberus Troopers that add another dimension to the combat. It’ll be interesting to see what other enemies Bioware have up their sleeves as they’ve always been fairly original with their design choices.

Visually the game plays out a lot like the previous instalment; characters have good body language but poor lip syncing and facial animations. The game areas though look fantastic and the action in the background is easy to follow as well as being very clear. The first section of the demo also had a lot of path changes through environmental effects that made the game fast paced and action packed.

The final part of the demo that I haven’t played much of is the cooperative multiplayer that works very similarly to Gears of War’s horde mode. You are tasked with taking down waves of enemies in between objective based tasks to collect experience points and rank up your custom made character. There are various perks and options to customise your character even in this early build. The AI is clever and quick to target the playing team’s weaknesses. Decisions need to be made quickly in order to survive and playing solo is almost definitely a death wish.

All in all any fan of the Mass Effect series should definitely play the demo as soon as possible and anyone picking up the finale as their entrance into the universe is sure to find the whole experience exhilarating.

Please let me know what you thought in the comments section below.

Friday 17 February 2012

Ideas for the Skyrim DLC


Many of you are still busy working through the insane amount of content included in Skyrim. Maybe you’re not one of them. Maybe you’ve unlocked and spent every perk point, cleared every dungeon and killed every chicken. Either way you are probably wondering what sort of content Bethesda will be creating to keep us entertained for the next 6 months.

Ok they haven’t released anything concrete but a few more ideas have cropped up in the various conversations I’ve had about the massive world we have all be exploring for the last few months. Bethesda have confirmed that these will not be quick pieces of content but will be more expansive adventures released over a longer period of time.

In the previous Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion, Bethesda released mainly smaller pieces of content ranging from Wizards Tower to the infamous Horse Armour. Following a reasonable degree of sales they then changed strategy and released the hugely popular Shivering Isle which added a whole new region for players to explore. This piece of content fell in line with the Morrowind add-ons and is looking like the direct that Bethesda will take with Skyrim over the next few months.

Whatever offerings come our way the Xbox 360 players among us will get to play the first two pieces of content before everyone else. One of the biggest options available would be to expand the current skill trees. We all know there are a lot of different ways to plunge deep into the Skyrim world but a few additional tweaks wouldn’t go amiss. What about dual casting different power and combining them to create even more effective attacks? It would be a great addition to the game and creating a vortex of lightning and fire would look amazing while also dishing out a ton of damage to your opponents. Maybe we could fuse together different Antronach types or create more powerful conjured blades. For those non-magical players you could notch multiple arrows onto a bow or hack off different limps with your broadsword. The actual options for just improving combat are pretty vast.

What about the prospect of improving Dragon Shouts? Ok we all know this could cause some distress to those steeped in Elder Scrolls fictions but I’m sure Bethesda could find a logical way around it. What if a forth word could be used to create super versions of the shouts we already know and love? This would certainly mean we wouldn’t need new shouts with each add-on but could also add new effects to combat situations. A forth word on the Unrelenting Force Shout line could make this an area-of-effect spell that spreads around the player in a full 360 degrees as opposed to being straight forward. Alternatively the super verion of Slow Time could actually reverse time for a few seconds giving the player the upper hand.

The main DLC most people are after is an increase in the territory size of the main game; which is really saying something considering the actually size of the initial gameworld. Shivering Isles was by far the most popular piece of additional content for Oblivion and it looks like this is the most likely route for the future DLC offerings. I would like to see another Daedric realm in the new content as this gives the developers and game designers a chance to try something new and provide a new level of entertainment. It has already been noted that Cyrodiil and Morrowind as land masses are already stored on the disk so maybe they are the places we will visit. I doubt this is the case though as Bethesda wouldn’t open up access to another province until the next main entry for the series comes around. Maybe we will explore the vast mountain ranges the hug the main province of Skyrim or delve deep into some large Dwemer ruins. There is even the possibility that we could return to somewhere like Solstheim or the mainland of Morrowind.

One of the other areas being discussed for possible DLC is the chance to purchase more property throughout Skyrim, a’la Fable 3. Owning your house is all well and good but I’d love to be the Major of Whiterun or the Alchemist king. The recently released video of possible DLC from Bethesda brought up the chance to ‘possibly’ build a house from scratch but I’m literally asking to buy somewhere different than Breezehome in my Tundra paradise  Don’t get me wrong I’d love  a personalised castle with a shrine to Sheogorath but chance for this are pretty slim.

The main point most people were interested in pre-launch was the inclusion of Dragons and whether you could fly one of these beasts. Now we all know that there is no option to ride your beloved reptilian friends but that’s not to say that we couldn’t in the future. We all know how amazing would it be to fly through the skies breathing fire on your foes and burning cities in your wake. It would be like the world map only deadlier.

Personally I would like to see a few smaller tweaks to the gameplay. I was a massive fan of crossbows back in the Morrowind days as well as spears, halberds and lances and would love to get some of these into my equipment logs on Skyrim. The video of possible DLC from Bethesda showed off spears and made them look like a lot of fun again which appeals heavily to my nostalgia. I would also like to see more variations of current enemies, weapons and tactics. I love random one-offs like the Unicorn or Giant Mudcrab of Oblivion. Maybe Bethesda can give us a ‘Giant’ Giant or a new set of mounts for us to try; Frost Spider anyone?

What sort of things would you like to see in the content released from Betheda over the coming months? Would you prefer gameplay tweaks or large additional territories to explore? Please sound off in the comments below.

All You Need To Know About Halo 4


Halo 4 is scheduled for release at the end of this year and I’m happy to say that the eight Halo game is getting be as excited as any of the others if not slightly more so. The sixth game in the Halo universe to hit the Xbox 360 will be the start of a brand new trilogy of games called ‘The Recalaimer Trilogy’. Most fans will recall that Guilty Spark, the AI presence from the original Halo game (and namesake of 343i) often referred to the Master Chief as the Reclaimer and hence the title for the new trilogy had been found.

The protagonist John-117 (Master Chief) from the original Halo Trilogy will be back in action as announced in the original trailer shown at Microsoft’s E3 press conference in June 2011. It has been confirmed that both he and Cortana will be very different characters since their last outing. While the new game has been confirmed for an Xbox 360 release there has been no news on a PC version or if the title would hit next generation consoles.

Halo 4 will follow immediately after the events of Halo 3 so please don’t read on if you’ve yet to finish the original trilogy. Cortana and the Chief were set adrift on the derelict ship, Forward Unto Dawn, and as the trailer shows they both wake from cryogenic stasis as the ship comes across and unknown planet.

Official Announcement:
“Set in the aftermath of Halo 3, Master Chief returns to confront his own destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. Halo 4 marks the start of a new trilogy that begins with its release in 2012. “

The Unknown Planet in question was seen briefly during the Legendary ending of Halo 3 and was also revealed in concept art during Halo Fest. You can see giant ring-like structures but these do not seem to resemble Human or Covenant technology. There has however been a lot of speculation that these appear to match Forerunner architectural styles.

Obviously most of you are already aware that 343 Industries have taken over the development of the new trilogy instead of fan favourites Bungie. Most people have already picked up a fondness for the new developers after the success of their Halo Waypoint application and the Defiant Map Pack DLC they released for Halo Reach.

I’m very excited about the new trilogy and with a core employee base at 343i that came over from Bungie the series we all love is in safe hands. While not a lot of depth has been confirmed yet the little pieces of information have already got fans across the globe excited for what the Master Chief will do next.


Wednesday 15 February 2012

Microsoft France Speak About Next-Gen


Following on from my Article yesterday new information has emerged about Microsoft’s next generation plan; they have now gone on the record confirming the next console will definitely not launch in 2012.

Cedrick Delmas, the marketing director of Microsoft France, was asked by Lepoint.fr in a new interview, posted translated by Eurogamer: "Rumours indicate the presentation of a new Microsoft machine at E3 in June..."

He responded by saying that “We're in an industry that talks a lot, that likes telling stories. I am not convinced that things will happen this year. The Xbox 360's cycle is not over at all. The proof is that we haven't price cut this year”.

He then continued with, "what will happen at E3, it's still too early to say. What's certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012. If we wanted to counter Nintendo, we would have to be in a position to release something immediately, and that is not at all the case”.

The fact that Microsoft are not ready to counter Nintendo is a big statement that many people have already discussed in great details; some even citing that Microsoft can’t see the Wii-U as much competition. The chances are that Microsoft see Nintendo branching out into their own sort of market and that the next Playstation will be the biggest competition for the same set of fans.

The Wii-U is of course set for a further reveal at E3 2012 this June, with an expected launch in time for Christmas this year. On the other hand Microsoft is rumoured to be preparing to announce its next Xbox at E3, with a release sometime next year.

Other news has suggested that the next Xbox is expect to be released in two different formats. The first is described as a "pared down machine" to be released as cheaply as possible and is likely to be a fairly bare bones machines for gaming only. The second is a "more fully-featured machine" with optical drive, hard disk and backwards compatibility. This would be aimed at hardcore gamers and released at a higher price-point. The new Kinect style system is expected to be bundles with both versions of the new console.

Finally Sony have also spoken to Lepoint and gone on the record for saying that they will ‘probably’ be the last company to announce their next generation plans.

Monday 13 February 2012

Xbox 360 - The Next Generation





The NextBox, Xbox 720, Xbox 360-2 or whatever the hell it’s going to be call has received an expansive amount of attention of the past few weeks. Rumours are hitting the internet thick and fast as the next generation of home consoles are starting to be confirmed. I’m going to go with Xbox 720 for this report and will be assessing the rumour mill as it constantly turns.


Discworld

One reporting reaching out computers last week was the information that the new Xbox will be utilising a Blu-ray drive. Many of us remember the HD format wars from a few years ago where Microsoft backed the wrong horse as Sony’s Blu-ray conquered the market. The Blu-ray option for the Xbox 360 was often rumoured but never cam into fruition but with a new console not far off the industry expects the big X to play the ‘if you can’t beat them joint them’ card.

Blu-ray technology has come a long way since it’s initial release and is becoming the drive of choice in most homes worldwide. The drives have gotten faster, storage size has increased and the whole set up has become less costly to produce. The new Xbox will almost certainly use Blu-ray in some form or other as it will allow releases more storage and a chance for higher-resolution graphics too.

Likely – 8/10


Power

A rumour kicked up in late January confirming the possible new specification of the hardware itself. IGN reported that it will use something similar to the Radeon HD 6670 (which offers DirectX 11) as well as 3D and 1080p output.

What this really means is that the system will be offering a specification that is six times the power of the Xbox 360 and even more powerful than the already confirmed Wii-U. The rumour mill then spun out of control as various sites advises the public that development kits will be with developers by August 2012 and that the first announcements are expected at this years E3 expo.

SO-SO – 4/10




Used Games

Notably the most controversial news coming out this week was the rumour that the system itself would not allow for the use of used games. This rumours is still unconfirmed at this point (much like the above) but this hasn’t stopped people from discussing the whole option at great length in various forums.

At the moment this is entirely speculation but people expect each new game to come with a one-time-use code that will prevent the disk from working on other machines, whether this is the truth or not though is still a very grey area. Microsoft has not yet denied the rumour and as this slowly expands across the net more and more players are getting concerned that this option would not only lower sales of the new system but also affect businesses across the planet.

Publishers though have been adamant for long enough that they believe that used sales are bad for the industry as a whole. Even so the big players on the high street like Game and Gamestop would all suffer as a sizable chunk of their revenue comes from the used games market.

Unlikely – 2/10


Microsoft Points

While this doesn’t affect everyone it is quite a possibility that the new Xbox would do away with the current online purchasing method. My article a few weeks ago outlined the downright oddity of the points themselves and the pain in purchasing anything online. Many gamers find them cumbersome and most would be happy to see a direct purchase method like on the Playstation or PC as the best way to take the online market forward.

 I think this is the most likely rumour to come true as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of arguments for keeping the points system in place. I for one would be happy to see the back of the current system and I’m sure the majority of you would agree too.

Very Likely – 9/10


At the moment there are a awful lot of eyes taking note of the Microsoft rumours regarding the next generation but until something concrete comes along I think it’s best to take all of the above with a pinch of salt.

Sunday 12 February 2012

Skyrim DLC Options





So Skyrim has been in full force for a few months now and we are finally hearing the first tit-bits of possible ways to introduce DLC. During the DICE 2012 convention in Las Vegas this week Bethesda’s creative director Todd Howard showed a quick list of what ideas his team have put forward.

The ideas have been brought together from a company-wide creativity session called Game Jam. He explained that the ideas were experiments and that they still don’t know if any will actually be released as DLC.

The ideas shown included:

Spears
Kill cams for magic
Water arrows
Giant mud crabs
Paralysis runes
Seasonal foliage
Speedy water currents
Dragon mounts
Dark dungeons
Adoption of children
Advanced home building
Epic new mounts
Fast travel portals
Kinect dragon shouts
Enhanced water visuals
Ice and fire arrows
Lycanthrope perk tree
Vampire imp minions
Goblins

Unfortunately still no news yet on my requests to include a Cross-Bow… a man can dream!

Is there anything from this list that you’d most love to see included in future content packages or any ideas of your own that you wish had been brought up? If so please sound off in the comments below.


Tuesday 7 February 2012

The Flaws of Skyrim



I’m sure that a lot of you have probably given many an hour exploring the wonderful world of Skyrim over the last few months and while it is a beautiful and involving game it’s still a long way from being perfect. OK Bethesda have created the best RPG ever but the actual narrative is a little bit forced and our hero’s don’t affect the game world nearly enough.


Consequences

It’s really difficult to feel guilty about being evil in Skyrim. You can kill everyone within a town and once you've paid the fine you're OK to be on your merry way again. Terror trips are far removed from having any sort of emotional pull on the players and a mass murder generally feels fine. It’s disappointing to find that the NPC’s do not react properly to your maniacal ways and this actually quickly reduces the immersion of the whole adventure.

The only actually affect of being evil is the small fine/bribe payment system that feels like a rather easy get out clause for all our budding Jack the Rippers out there. It’s clearly difficult from the offset that there is no way to clearly monitor your good/bad style of play as Bethesda have removed the standard tracking bars – yes this is a step in the right direction but not putting a clear alternative in place has led to this change becoming more of a hindrance than anything else.

That’s not even mentioning the strangeness of being in the Dark Brotherhood and also running the Mages Guild. Skyrim really is consequence free!


Level Issues

Skills are levelled by use, the more you stab with your broadsword the better your one handed skill becomes, the more times your shield is used correctly the better your blocking skill becomes. The problem we have here is that the world levels around you even when you’ve spent the first 20 levels creating Iron Daggers to quickly improve you level through the smithing perks. Basically you could end up being a walking meat shield that gets taken down by everything from rabid dogs to household rats.

It's great to have a completely open experience but next time Bethesda please make sure we are required to level our useful skills if you don't want the levelling systems to completely hinder the player progress.



Combat

OK so combat has been improved since the utterly terrible Oblivion but lets face it the improvements aren't that great. The hack n’ slash mechanics are still ancient in comparison to most of the action games on offer these days. Yes it’s nice to finish someone off with a special move but to flail aimlessly at them for 10 minutes first is both frustrating and poorly designed.

Being a stealthy thief also has it’s downfalls as the player soon realises that darkness does not mean much in this fantasy world. You might not be able to see you character on your TV screen but that damn goblin was aware of him 20 paces ago. This is another fault that duly affects the immersion of the experience as we soon realise that everything is being controlled by the invisible dice rolling in the background. Plus the more you level up the more vigilant everything becomes. ARGH I’ve been seen again!

Bethesda have created a brilliant world but too many of the combat mechanics are dated and need to be improved next time round. It’s strange to see this sort of thing in a 2011 release when the critically disappointing Deus Ex: Invisible War had a better stealth system back in 2003.

  
Impotentency

It's hard to argue that the world of Skyrim isn't the most fantastic place we've ever had the joy to experience but it's almost been too carefully created. The developers are so proud of their final product that they have ensure that nothing our Hero does will ever affect the world around us. Our actions no matter how heroic or destructive have absolutely no impact on what we see or hear.

The worst part is that Skyrim builds tension for massive storytelling moments that no matter what decision is made there will be no tangible consequences. Kill generic NPC A and you'll be treated the same as if you saved him from his peril and set him up with a new house and family to love him forever. 

This is one of the most disappointing aspect of this fantasy world, Fallout 3 contended with the destruction of a city and Mass Effect have created 100's of possibilities in the gameplay. It's such a shame that Bethesda haven't even managed to put one major consequence into this massive game. 

The possibilities are massive too; the storytelling is brilliant and there are many branching paths that could have been used. I'm not trying to move mountains here but it would be nice for the locals to know I'm the local menace than ask for my help everytime I walk passed them.


Skyrim comes closer than just about any other game to creating a truly believable world. And yet, it's only when we're this close that we can really see how far we still have left to go. I'm loving Skyrim as much as the next person but to find these frankly terrible design flaws have meant that I'm already worrying about the Elder Scrolls 6 when we finally get a teaser in about 5 years time.


Monday 6 February 2012

Have I Done Mass Effect Right?

We all know that the finale of the Mass Effect trilogy is just a few months away and many millions of people worldwide are speculating on what will happen over the course of the battle to save the galaxy.

Bioware have of course forced you to choose your own path over the course of the previous two games as Commander Shepherd has been put in some rather hairy situations. In Mass Effect 3 we will finally see the results of these decisions in their fullest and while I love the series I have found myself worrying about my Paragon Vanguards quest to save all sentient life.

First of all he managed to save the Citadel but put a Human Council into power after a few brief moments of button bashing only to return to his usually lovely self by obtaining a complete Paragon score before he took on a suicide mission in which all his crew survived. Basically he’s a lovely guy but he suffers from a short temper and has no patience which sometime causes him to make terrible decisions.

He has been my Shepherd now for almost 5 years and he means a lot to me. Is he anything like Bioware’s Shepherd though?

I’ve played through the first two instalments twice now (once with my super hero and once with a Renegade Soldier) but have noticed that most of my friends are on their fifth or sixth run and I’m gradually becoming more aware that I have less of a chance to have the Bioware style Shepherd that I probably need.

Mass Effect 2 followed on from Mass Effect quite nicely and the majority of the decisions I made had some sort of impact as the story continued. What I’m worried about now though is that all my decisions will have to play out in some way to finalise the trilogy and this could impact the final arc Bioware intended for the sage. If this is the case then we can expect to see our decisions have less of an impact then we may have expected.

Take Dragon Age for example – Bioware created their fantasy epic with the foresight to also allow decisions to effect the stories in their future sequels. Unfortunately this has now started to sow the seeds of doubt in my head as my decisions in Origins were almost scrapped when I played the multiple DLC offering and the Awakening storyline. My Grey Warden decided that although he had the hots for Morrigan that the evening before their final battle he would not consummate their relationship. Basically her request to spawn a demon child was vanquished and her sexual frustrations caused her to leave the group forever disappointed. My Warden then took it upon himself to save the world by leaving for the void.

This is where my story became bothersome. Upon starting Dragon Age: Awakening a few weeks ago I found that I could still import my recently deceased hero and play the whole game with the impression that he’d never decided to banish himself to the void for the greater good. This was both weird and awkward as more and more story spots pointed to a variation of situations that had nothing to do with my decisions from the original game. You do have the option of using a completely new Warden from Orlais but this also doesn’t mean your story continues where it left off; you actually start a completely fresh tale. This left me without the great sense of immersion that I expected from the series even when I loved Origins so dearly (and I still do).

It didn’t stop there either; firing up the Witch Hunt DLC I found that although my anti-hero had not impregnated the witch she had still managed to persuade some unfortunate adventure to do the dirty. And there I was thinking my tough decision had paid off and my Hero’s restraint had stopped the world from suffering again in the future. Guess I was wrong!

The illusion of decisions in Dragon Age slowly unravelled as more content became available and from what I’ve heard the second games makes things even worse. It’s become clear that Bioware are telling a tale and the more depth that comes with it the more it must be told in a certain way. If you don’t follow the program they’ll just reconnect you with some dodgy excuse. I suppose it might be our fault, it’s clear that most developers want us to play the good guy so maybe that’s what we should be doing in our progressive stories. In the situation of Dragon Age it could simply come down to the fact that it was originally suppose to be a single game tale that lost it’s finality in the process of scripting a sequel.

So Mass Effect 3 has been 5 years in the making for most of us now and this fills me with both excitement and dread. I want the whole experience to be perfect, accurate and fitting. I’m scared of how my Shepherd might contradict the experience that Bioware are set to offer us. I guess the March release is when we will finally find out.

Come on Bioware make me happy and don’t wash over my actions, I’ve spent five years creating my Shepherd and I should get to see how this makes the final game pan out.