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Gears of War: Judgment Free Guide Friday Giveaway

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Gears of War: Judgment strategy guideWho’s ready to visit the chaotic world of Sera once again, this time with my favorite character as the lead? Words cannot express how much I am itching to play this game. Do I really have to wait a week? It will be the longest seven days ever for this Baird fan! I won’t even have to play co-op as player 3 this time in order to play as him! Okay, enough of my fangirlism and on with a new contest!

BradyGames has kindly donated a copy of their upcoming strategy guide for this contest, and for the record, the hardcover Collector’s Edition is the ONLY edition the company is publishing. Does that get you more excited? It should, dammit.

Once again, it’s a Twitter contest, and you must live in the US to enter.

Do you have your Twitter account ready? Here’s how to enter:

  • Follow both @strategyreviews and @Brady_Games on Twitter.
  • Tweet the following: “I need the Gears of War Judgment strategy guide from @Brady_Games and @strategyreviews keep my gears turning this #FreeGuideFriday!”
  • Yes, that’s cheesy, but it’s fun and it’s a reference to a song title from the Gears of War 2 soundtrack. The tweet must be exact, or it will not count.
  • One entry per person allowed!
  • Winner will be picked randomly on Friday, March 15th by noon CST.

Have fun and good luck!

Monday Gaming Diary: So, Tomb Raider…

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Tomb RaiderI have been on the fence about playing Tomb Raider for some time. I’ve never played the original games, because I know they are mostly platforming and they didn’t really appeal to me. But after seeing the new Tomb Raider at E3 a couple of years ago, I’ve been a bit curious. It definitely doesn’t look like any Tomb Raider game I’ve seen in the past in terms of gameplay. If anything, it looks more like Uncharted, which is funny because I know that Uncharted has always been accused of ripping off Tomb Raider. I always understood that rationale in terms of overall story and purpose for both Lara and Drake, but TR always seemed to be more puzzlesque and definitely had a more platforming focus than Uncharted.

But that’s all besides the point.

Despite my intrigue for the game, my March schedule for reviewing guides is fairly full. With both Gears of War: Judgment and BioShock Infinite releasing over the next two weeks, I really don’t have time to squeeze in something else, as much as I would like to. I’m not a reviewing machine…yet. However, my April and May are open, so my intrigue has remained open.

I visited a friend over the weekend who is a huge TR fan, and she showed me what the game was like so I could see if I would ever play before spending the $60. I really enjoyed what I saw. There is some stealth, which initially disappointed me, but seeing that there isn’t a “game over” sequence if you fail the stealth brightened my prospects. Even if there is some more serious stealth later, at least that isn’t a primary focus. And the platforming didn’t look difficult, not unlike what I see in an Uncharted game, so I’m confident I can handle that without much controller throwing as well.

So in other words, a review of the Tomb Raider strategy guide is most likely coming, but it definitely won’t be timely. Kind of defeats the purpose, I know, but eh, I do what I can. And if I already have the guide, so I might as well, right?

Monday Gaming Diary: Mass Effect…Again?

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Kaidan AlenkoSo I’ve been on a super-speed run of Mass Effect 2 this past week. The last of the Mass Effect 3 campaign DLC drops this week, and I don’t have a save point in my ME3 game that will allow me to access any of it. I always knew that I would have to start over my playthrough anyway, if I wanted to play the DLC with my paragon Shepard. Since I always wanted to replay ME2 with my paragon anyway to change just one thing, I decided that there’s no time like the present. Since I don’t want to lose my original playthroughs with my paragon, I moved those save profiles to a USB drive and then started a new ME2 game with an import from the first game, just like I did the first time. Once I start ME3, I’ll do the same thing. So yeah, I’ll have four sets of saved profiles for one Shepard.

Am I little nuts? Yeah, but we always knew I was a bit nuts over this series in the first place.

So what is the one thing I’m changing? Yeah, it’s a really girly thing, and it’s probably stupid in most people’s eyes, but it is important to me, so there it is. When I first played ME2, Kaidan’s breakup was utterly heartbreaking for me. I had to turn off the game when it was over, because I was in shock at what happened. And then he sends that email later that was a bigger kick in the crotch…yeah, I saw no point in remaining loyal to him, which was my original plan. I had already been told that Kaidan/Ashley were not romance options in ME2, but I had no idea they showed up and dumped you. And Kaidan being upset that Shepard didn’t contact him when she was dead over the last two years…are you serious?

I always had a thing for Garrus, even from the first game, so yeah, I had no problems developing that relationship. At least here is a guy who is willing to hear Shepard out and stay loyal despite the Cerberus ties. Kaidan wouldn’t even let Shepard really explain; it was 100% black and white with him, so yeah, I didn’t feel any remorse in going after someone else when Kaidan made it so clear it was over.

Of course, then he returns in ME3 and made everything so damned complicated. I still had a soft spot for Kaidan, but then there’s Garrus, who has been loyal from the start. I accidentally triggered a commitment scene with Kaidan while playing, and I’m glad I did, because otherwise I never would have known that he thought Shepard cheated on him. If you commit to someone else, he won’t have the commitment talk with Shepard at all. When he said, and I quote, “Look, I understand why you cheated,” I about screamed at my TV. I felt like Ross from Friends in that I wanted to tell him, “WE WERE ON A BREAK!” We weren’t really even on a break; he dumped my ass. I have the email as proof.

So ANYWAY…I’m going to see how different it goes with Kaidan when Shepard remains loyal. As much as Kaidan hurt me (not Shepard, me, as sad as that may sound) in both ME2 and ME3, I still have a soft spot for Kaidan and I want to see one Shepard work it out with him. That’s the beauty of playing a game; you can replay it and change the outcome as much as you want.

Best part? So far, I’ve been able to recreate my original playthrough to a T, save for the romance. Oh and it looks like this time I’ll save my crew in full as well. Definitely not reenacting that mistake.

Tomb Raider Strategy Guide Free Guide Friday Giveaway

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Tomb Raider Strategy GuideHave all the glowing reviews made you even more excited for the upcoming Tomb Raider game? Perhaps we, along with the help of BradyGames, can help that excitement even more with a Tomb Raider strategy guide giveaway! Once again, it’s a Twitter contest, and you must live in the US to enter.

Do you have your Twitter account ready? Here’s how to enter:

  • Follow both @strategyreviews and @Brady_Games on Twitter.
  • Tweet why you need the Tomb Raider strategy guide.
  • Your tweet must contain “@BradyGames” “@strategyreviews” and “#FreeGuideFriday” to be a valid entry. For example, “I need the Tomb Raider strategy guide from @Brady_Games and @strategyreviews this #FreeGuideFriday because I own everything Tomb Raider.” Yes, that example was terrible, but you get the idea.
  • One entry per person allowed!
  • Winner will be picked randomly on Friday, March 1st by noon CST.

Have fun and good luck!

 

Monday Gaming Diary: Gaming Apathy

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Gaming BluesAfter the craziness of last fall and the sheer amount of strategy guides my staff and I had to review by the end of November, I’ve been suffering from an incredible dose of gaming apathy. I told myself I was just burned out. I blamed the holidays, and then my pregnancy, as it has made me extremely tired. But it’s been nearly three months now, and I’m still unmotivated to play any games.

This is the perfect time to catch up on my Stack of Shame, too, as I’m not personally reviewing anything until March 19th. I experienced something similar last year, and as such, by this time last year, I had completed six games (yes, I keep records). SIX. Right now, I can barely find the desire to play one for just a couple of hours!

I started Batman Arkham Asylum a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t touched the game since I played it, which was like twice for two hours at a time. Since I have fun playing Halo 4 Spartan Ops missions, I thought maybe it was because Asylum moves too slowly for me right now, whereas Halo 4 is quite fast-paced and action-packed. It’s not that I don’t like Asylum, don’t think that at all; I’m just not feeling the motivation to keep playing at the moment, and I’m trying to piece together why I feel that way.

So, in an effort to find something from my SoS that is more fast-paced, I tried out Borderlands last night. I know there’s a sequel out now, but seriously, if you knew me at all you would know that I rarely play anything out of order (or read or watch). Assassin’s Creed 2 has so far been my lone exception.

Borderlands is a bit quicker-paced than Asylum, that’s for sure, and many snippets of dialogue made me snicker. Yet, I’m still feeling a bit of boredom that I know I wouldn’t normally have. Maybe it’s the fact that the aiming system is going to take a bit of learning (it’s no Halo or Gears), or maybe it’s that I feel like I’m always looking for ammunition (am I that bad of a shot?), but I really didn’t feel that normal happy feeling I get while playing games.

Am I trying the wrong games? Is this just a phase? I really hope it’s the latter, because I’m tired of this funk I’m in. Maybe I just need to replay a game I really liked to get back into the groove? Or should I get back to playing Dragon Age: Origins, since I really, really, REALLY enjoyed that when I was playing?

It’s frustrating, and it sucks to be a little down on a hobby I’ve greatly enjoyed for so many years. Anyone out there have any tips how to get out of the gaming blues?

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