Bulletstorm (Epic Games/People Can Fly, 2011)
One thing you can say about Epic Games is that subtlety is a word none of them are familiar with. With the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War series, they made some of the most bombastic shooters of recent years and whilst they've tried to delve into more serious territory (Dom's sub-plot involving his wife in gears 2 springs to mind), what gamers go for is the company's knack for blowing shit up.
Bulletstorm, as the name suggests, involves shit blowing up on a spastic scale, however, never has Epic games delved into territory quite so ludicrous. Say thanks then to co-developers People Can Fly, who's previous work, Painkiller, laid the foundations for the sheer meatiness of Bulletstorm's violence. Whilst there's the excessive blood and guys with gravelly voices wearing half a car in armour, we now have the Killshot system that doesn't so much as enhance the carnage as be the total back bone of it. To earn more points and, therefore, unlock more goodies, the gamer is encouraged to kill enemies in the most outlandish ways possible. Shoot someone in the throat, the words "Gag-Reflex" fly on screen. Kick someone into a spiked wall, see "Voodoo Doll". It's perfect bait for the moral guardians of this world but the game seldom takes itself seriously and, as a consequence, becomes a lot of fun. The pace, as with much of Epic's previous titles, is pitch perfect and as you unlock further goodies and more elaborate kill shots, the delirium never slackens.
It's proper leave-your-brain-at-the-door stuff. I had a ball.
4/5
Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm Studios, 2011)
Out of all the big beat 'em ups, Mortal Kombat was in desperate need of a re-vamp. Each new title was met with an increasingly negative reaction, resulting in the series eating itself in a mythology that became increasingly more convoluted and dull. But rather than take the cheap route and ignore all that came before, the story starts with all combatants dead bar Raiden and Shao Khan. Just before his death, however, Raiden is able to send a vision of this time to his past self, at which point we're thrust right back to the beginning and revisit the events of Mortal Kombat 1, 2 & 3, now with the added knowledge of what fate awaits our heroes. It's an interesting way to alter the mythology (the recent reboot of Star Trek did a similar thing to great effect) and whilst the story mode is a loose excuse to thread together a series of fights, you get to know the familiar faces more than you ever did with previous entries.
But what makes Mortal Kombat shine is the overall package. Along with the story mode there is the obligatory ladder mode, training modes for basic fighting and fatalities and a new edition, challenge tower, where each level of the tower has specific requirements to complete each challenge and move onto the next level. Also everything you do garners points that can be spent on unlocking extras from the Krypt (new fatalities, alternate costumes, etc) as well as buying out those levels that you just can't seem to completed. Add to this new downloadable characters to play as (including Freddy Kruger) and you have yourself a well rounded and gruesome gaming experience.
Well worth your time and money.
4/5
Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2 (BioWare, 2007/2010)
My gaming sensibilities tended to veer toward hardcore FPS-ing, delighting in games such as Call of Duty and Halo whilst totally ignoring more in depth efforts such as Dragon Age and Final Fantasy. However, with literally every gamer in history raving about the greatness of Mass Effect, I figured it was high time to give the games a go.
Despite my love of science fiction and space opera, I was initially sceptical. You are not thrust headlong into a raging battle like many a game I'm privy to, but guided into the elaborate plot in a methodical pace, something I found quite frustrating to start. Coupled with the fact that every conversation gives you the option on whether your reply will be friendly, neutral or asshole added a depth and required patience that I was not used to.
However, it soon became apparent that, despite some flaws (dodgy frame rates, epic loading screens), Mass Effect was a work of brilliance. Having never played the likes of BioWare's previous effort, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, I was completely blown away by the sheer magnitude of the plot, with every decision you make, no matter how trivial, directly effecting the outcome of not just the this game but also it's planned sequels (the series was planned as a trilogy from the get go). The attention to detail is staggering, literally giving you an entire galaxy to navigate and hundreds of worlds to explore outside of the main story missions. You will literally lose days stuck in a state of wonderment.
Yet, if Mass Effect was considered one of the best games of the year, then Mass effect 2 is hot contender for the greatest game ever made. It is the perfect example of how a sequel takes what was great from its predecessor and amplifies it ten fold. Everything has been stream lined. Gone is the endless trawling through your inventory or roving for hours on a planets surface to find your objective (a couple of the small nit-picks from the first game), you are given a mission, sent straight to the destination and are given a mission report once finished. Sure RPG nuts may not be happy but the game still retains the necessities of its RPG heritage, namely the building of you and your squad to the best of their abilities before the inevitable final showdown.
Being streamlined also applies to the plot. Mass Effect had the task of setting up this epic universe, resulting in an often complex plot. Mass Effect 2 literally spends it's entire game time building to the climax and it quickly become apparent that if you choose not to play much of the skipable loyalty missions or fail to get the necessary upgrades for your ship and crew, that the end battle will likely end in catastrophe. It's this build to the climax that ultimately makes the game thrilling, literally twisting every ounce of tension out of the epic narrative to the point where, if any of your crew should not make it till the end (and trust me, there is every possible variable in how the end battle concludes), there is a palpable emotional reaction.
Also, there's the added bonus of importing your saved game from the original in order to shape events of the sequel. This not only creates a great sense continuity but it ensures that said continuity is unique to the gamer, taking into account thousands of variables that drives the plot in different directions for every play through.
Each game unto themselves are masterpieces yet taking them as one continuous story, the Mass Effect (soon to be) trilogy really is the greatest series of the modern console age. Once you get passed the sheer excellence of the story you have to stand up and applaud at just how epic the undertaking is. On the back of these two entries it's difficult to think that Mass effect 3 will be anything less than excellent.
I literally cannot put into words how great these games are. Get them, play them, be wowed.
Mass Effect: 5/5
Mass Effect 2: 6/5
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