This week I've been playing Chaos Rising, the new expansion pack for Dawn of War II. I had bumloads of fun with it and a preview for the game is coming this week. There will also be a full preview of Metro 2033 as well, so keep reading Destructoid over the next few days for the word on THQ's biggest upcoming games.
Speaking of games, we played games! Hit the jump and you might very well find out which ones!
Concelmo: I want to write about how I have been replaying The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Final Fantasy VIII, but that would take away space from saying how much I LOVE MASS EFFECT 2!
Seriously.
Love it.
So much.
Chester: I completed BioShock 2 and started playing Heavy Rain, neither of which I can really talk about right now. I will say that while I was really turned off by the preview code of Heavy Rain (which featured the opening chapters of the game), that's not entirely the case any longer.
Also playing Chime, an awesome not-for-profit XBLA game that hits next week, and Drop7 on the iPhone because I'm addicted.
Nicholson: I've been playing too much as of late. I checked out Death by Cube and Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment over XBLA. I didn't enjoy my time with Death by Cube. I think it's much too difficult and clumsily designed. The fact that you can screw yourself from progressing if you can't beat a single level, despite the game having an overworld free-to-roam map, was ridiculous. Vandal Hearts, on the other hand, was great. It's been a long time since I've been into a strategy RPG, nonetheless one that feels like Shining Force.
On the big boy front, more Mass Effect 2 and SOCOM: Fire Team Bravo 3. I talked a lot about ME2 in our recent review, and I can't comment on Slant Six's latest just yet. A few more days and I can, I believe.
Aziz: I've been playing PACKING. FUN!
Sterling: Been playing Heavy Rain, and like Nick I cannot really talk about it. I will say that I had to stop playing it tonight because my nerves needed a rest. I was at a THQ event most of the week, checking out Metro 2033 and Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. One of them is very is impressive, one of them let me down. I can't say which did what right now, though, but keep checking Dtoid for the upcoming previews. As far as games I can talk about go, I've only been playing Valhalla Knights 2 for review, and not a single one of you gives a shit about that.
Nicholson: Is it as bad as the original Valhalla Knights, Jim?
Sterling: These games are bad if you're unprepared for them. I was ready for a grind, and once you sink your teeth in, it can be pretty decent. Not brilliant, but not terrible.
Nicholson: That's good to hear. I was jazzed for the first, but just got lost in all the systems and challenges.
Totally forgot something -- I played some iPhone games this week as well. None of them were good. In fact, I think Trenches is the only good iPhone game I've played since Zombieville USA.
Niero: I've momentarily turned into Nick Chester. All I want to do is play Rock Band. All the time. Ever. I love to flip on "no fail" and wail on the drums on expert. It's also a serious workout! Maybe one day I'll start to get the notes :)
Razak: I finally got to start No More Heroes 2 and if the first boss is any inclination I will be loving this one as much as I loved the first one. I also replayed some NSMB Wii and have come to the conclusion that world 7 is one of the greatest moments in platform history ever. Seriously, every level in that world is absolutely inspired and does things with the Mario formula that blow my mind.
Also, a friend randomly gave me Wii Fit Plus. I have yet to experiment with it.
Burch: NMH2 gets insanely dull after the midpoint, Sir Razak. Enjoy the wackiness while you can.
Tolentino: I've been avoiding playing Mass Effect 2, given that I've yet to finish Mass Effect 1. In the meantime I've been playing the hell out of Star Trek Online. It's a nerd paradise, and my Borg character doesn't regret that lifetime subscription one bit. For now, at least.
PerLee: I played the Lady Gaga version of Tap Tap Revenge.
GOTY 2010.
Also, I did a fudge ton of previews. AvP, Lego Harry Potter, Socom, Darwinia+, and am currently sitting in a hotel room outside Pasadena California after seeing a NASCAR race with community member Suff0cat and Rey while checking out a new game based off Days of Thunder. Fun, but I am exhausted. Whew.
As for other games, Tatsunoko vs Capcom has been eating up my life. Team of Batsu and Zero or Polimar ftw.
I'm actually interested in your VK2: Battle Stance review. I thought the original had a lot of good going for it, but there were some flaws, like no teleports, holding it down. If a few of the problems are fixed, I'll probably get it.
I literally just beat NMH2 and I'm disappointed in the ending. There are so many plotholes and the fact that Suda 51 didn't capitalize on the continuity from NMH1. Silvia and Travis "supposed" child, Jeane , Travis vs Henry, Shinobu, the UAA theories, then lacking ending compared to NMH1. Great game, but the ending made me sad. Also, the game was lacking something in it's personality, not sure if it was the boss fights or all the characters themselves. NMH1 is definitely better.
Also playing some Mass Effect 2 and Tatsunoko bs Capcom.
Tried my first FNF...got about 2 games in Gears of War Multiplayer before the little lady forced me to turn it off. After I finished Kingdom Hearts (still not ZOMG impressed with the game like some) last Sunday I decided to finish some of the games I've had in my back log. I plopped Infinite Undiscovery in and booted up the save. After about an hour or two's worth of work I finished a quest and ran all the way back to and around town realizing the person I have to meet up to finish the quest is another town. I immediately shouted FUCK and turned it off instead of running another 20 minutes around a forest to reach the other town.
I then played some Marvel vs Capcom 2 and lost 7/7 matches. That sucked, but I'm starting to figure out which fighters I'm good at. Now I just have to get used to the pace of fighting online and I think I should be able to win against some noobs (is that term still popular? whatever).
other than that its been some Indie game demos. Carnivale was interesting though I'm not sure if I'd sit down and play the entire game. Ninja Bros. wasn't really great, but had a unique approach to cooperation. I wish Soul let me use the D-pad as I really had to get used to the left stick, but it was fun. And The Impossible Game is just fun.
@Nicholson
Tried the Vandal Hearts demo and just wasn't impressed by anything it brought to the table. I'm not really a graphics kinda guy, but I felt it looked worse than Band of Bugs. The gameplay was fine, but I didn't ever really enjoy it like I do FFT, Disgaea or any of the other isometric SRPGs. I'll probably get it with a deal of the week at $10, cause I'm not gonna plop 15 for a SRPG that I wasn't impressed with when Chaos Wars is $10 new at EB Games.
Well I beat ME2, so now I'm left without an addiction. Replaying it is still great fun, but not nearly as addicting the second time around. I hit all the quests and managed to end at 35 hours of play time, falling just short of my ME1 playthrough.
Mass Effect 2 for me mostly this week. Got to level 30, Did all the side quests. Did all the Loyalty quests, No one died at the end. Suicide mission my ass!
I did play a little Shadow Complex off to the side, Still trying to get that last chieve (Level 50) and S-rank that motha finally.
This week shall be equal parts Mass Effect 2 and Saboteur more then likely as well as finishing off Shadow Complex.
Near the end of Brutal Legend and playing Psychonauts again on my macbook on the commute to school. Damn, that was an amazing game. I want to try the speed run in Braid, but I'm incredibly intimidated at investing 45 minutes to do it.
I replayed Portal twice, three times if you consider the time I wasted on the challenge levels. Achievement whoring on P: Still Alive, and then going back to the Orange Box version for similar reasons. I am a sucker.
Led me to get back to Half-life 2, though, which I really should have finished a long time ago. This neglect is almost Samit-level. Blew through to the beginning of Nova Prospekt, which my coworkers say is tits.
In an ideal world, I would have been playing Mass Effect 2 all week, but no; my computer decided to break on Monday and I won't get it back from the repair-dude until Monday.
Instead, I played a bit of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and spent the entire weekend blasting through No More Heroes 2. I've currently spent about 2 hours trying to kill the final boss and I've taken a break from the game, as I'm extremely frustrated. Anyway, up until this point, it's been a fantastic journey.
Played Cave Story through the weekend. Play it if you haven't its free and indie(eww) and really good. Also MW2. I know how you will probably react to that and I don't care, I like it.
So I pick up Mass Effect 2 and No More Heroes 2, so I spent most of my time trying to finish ME1 and NMH1. Hell, I haven't even poped either ME2 and NMH2 in yet. Note to self:stop buying sequels until I finish the originals.
Also been playing Tatsunoko vs Capcom, which is already my pick for fighting game of the year. MAG, which makes me want to eat my controller in rage due to how fustrating it can be. And a little Smackdown vs Raw 2010.
Sterling said: "I was at a THQ event most of the week, checking out Metro 2033 and Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. One of them is very is impressive, one of them let me down. I can't say which did what right now, though"
but at the start of the post:
"This week I've been playing Chaos Rising, the new expansion pack for Dawn of War II. I had bumloads of fun with it"
I don't remember if I posted this last week or not, but I finished Gyromancer and Tales of Monkey Island. I've been playing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 on my way to and from the gym on the bus. At home I've been sucked into 1 vs 100 on XBL, played a little bit of VVVVVV, and have continued on with Bookworm Adventures and Dragon Age on PC.
Mass Effect 2.
...but then NMH2 is there, begging me to play it. So then I play it, and then Mass Effect 2 looks at me judgmentally and then I'm forced to switch. Ugh, I wish the human body evolved sufficiently to split consciousnesses and bodies into two so I could be playing these two games at once.
I'm currently playing a lot of Heroes of Newerth (beta). Such an improvement over Defense of the Ancients - and don't let the freemium League of Legends fool you; that game is broken.
I would be playing mass effect 2... except I beat it less than two days after it was leaked onto the web. One of Biowares greatest game, if not their absolutely greatest. And that's coming from someone who didn't even LIKE mass effect 1. at all.
Don't take that as Mass Effect 2 being short btw. I did it in two 14-hour sessions, clocking in on 27 hours not counting the time I spent retrying like the two only difficult fights in the game.
If you want a challenge, don't even think about playing it on Normal.
If my PS3 hadn't YLOD'd on me, I would be playing Bioshock and Infamous right now. So while I'm waiting for Sony to send me the box so I can send it to them (in exchange for new Slim! Sweet!), I've been playing GameCube stuff. Mainly Metal Arms: Glitch in the System and Beyond Good & Evil.
Finished mass effect 2 and got my subject zero killed. After that I downloaded the battlefield bad company 2 xbl demo and havnt put down the controller since.
Riding the Steam train: TF2, L4d2, finally got around to playing Dawn of War 2 and now I just got the Freedom Force pack.No if the Kids would jist stop being sick, so Daddy could get some free time...
No More Heroes 2 and Tatsunoko VS Capcom. 90% of my time was TvC. I'm horrifically addicted to that game. (I'm also in desperate need of friendly competition. I have no Wii Friends)
Closing in on 30 hours of playtime in Mass Effect 2, and OH MY GOD! What a magnificent game this is! I was sceptical of some of the changes they made at first, but as I invested more time with this game I cant imagine it being easy for me to replay the first one again.
Alltough I miss the company of some of my old team mates.
Please dont tell me Metro 2033 is bad. I was so excited for that game.
Im playing the Bad Company 2 demo at the moment. Its amazing how long i can have fun with one freaking map. This game is definately very high on my "must purchase" list.
For the last week I have been playing Uncharted, Pro Evo 2008 (Wii), Wii Play, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village muthafucka! Rollin' in St Mystere wit' my homie Luke, tearing dem puzzles UP yo!
Didn't even turn on my 360, unusually. I will need to do so soon and finish Mass Effect, as I've heard some people say that Mass Effect 2 might be worth playing.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves multiplayer for me this week, finally! There was a problem with the MP and all I could do was move 3 or 5 seconds and then my character would stop and then somebody would kill me -_-
Little bit o'dem Dragon Age Origins. I see the update and Return to Ostagar were just put up. Hopefully that doesn't break my game as I plan to finish today and make with finishing Mass Effect. Tali imma roll up on that fine ass and smack that monkey.
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9:00 PM on 01.31.2010 
