Dragon Age: Origins

I've always been a fan of role play games. It began with the original D&D back in the day, and gradually made it's way up to PC games. Neverwinter Nights by Bioware was one of the first I played on PC and one my favorite games ever. Since then I've been a fan of Bioware. Recently, I fell in love with the uber goodness that is Bioware's sci-fi epic Mass Effect.

Then on Tuesday of this week I picked up their latest epic Dragon Age: Origins. After having put in numerous hours into the game, and tried several of the different races/classes I am impressed by DAO. The meat and potatoes of a rpg is the story, and Bioware has proven over the years to be the masters of storytelling. Without giving anything a way I will just say that the story in DAO is on par with any epic Hollywood could produce. Perhaps greater. The brilliant voice acting really creates both beviablity and immersion into the story. Without this the game would fail. The story has a great sense of humor, but also balances the darker and more mature content well. This is a game made for adults, not your 8 year old. Between this game and Mass Effect I am pleased to see game developers coming out with content that appeals to adults without subcoming to mindless violence, nudity, and vulgarity. Rather they're dealing with personal issues and complex conflicts that appeal to some one that's interested in more then 'uber loot'. I also like the fact that you have to work on your relationships with the other characters in your party. You have to EARN their loaylty and/or romantic interests through your own actions and words. It's also an open ended world, not only in regards to where and when you go or do but also you have choices on how to handle situations. Do you let a prisoner free, kill them, or have them join you? That type of freedom is great.

In terms of graphics I have everything set on medium and it looks great and runs smooth. The cutscenes are rather striking with their use of lighting and facial detail. Bioware is not known for earth shattering graphics, but I am very pleased with the detail and quality of the graphics and animations.

The music in the game is brilliant and fits the feel of the world perfectly. I am glad they didn't use the heavy metal music in game like they used for the promos.

Overall, DAO is a fun game. There are some things I don't like - such as the lock picking system for rogues. Yet even with that DAO is a very fun game. I won't consider it the greatest game ever, but one of the best. Between the release of DAO this Fall, Mass Effect 2 early 2010, and their first mmorpg Star Wars: Old Republic I think Bioware is poised to kick some ass and give gamers some fantastic experiences.

Dreaming of a white Halloween

Starting on Wednesday we were hit by a major snow storm. It's rather tradition for it to snow on Halloween out here in Colorado but usually it is only an inch at the most. After Thursday my neighborhood ended up with 14 plus inches. Other areas in the foothills got between 3 and 4 feet.

I was scheduled to be off work anyways, so yesterday I got my snowshoes on and trekked about my neighborhood's paths and park. Never had done that before since we don't get much snow in the metro area. Every few years though we get dumped on like this storm. I'd expect it won't be the last snow we see this winter but may be the most.

The irony is that it'll be in the high 50's and low 60's a week from now in the metro area. Though it'll stay cold up in the high country. I'm going to try and go somewhere tomorrow to snowshoe and maybe head up north to Rocky Mountain National Park next Tuesday. Normally snowshoeing doesn't start until late Nov or early Dec and there's not this much snow until late December. Crazy - in a good way.

Nut Up Or Shut Up

Friday night I saw the movie Zombie Land. I enjoyed it because it had a good balance of comedy, over the top gore, and action. I also liked the spin they put on the overly cliche situation that every zombie movie has in it involving a family member being bitten.

I was surprised by the cameo of a certain Hollywood icon, and the short story line involving him.

I felt that the film was well cast and well acted. The story is more of an ensemble piece rather then a Woody Harelson vehicle. Nothing against Woody, he's great.
Although it is a simple plot and rather short for a feature film I liked the fact they did short flashbacks to each character's life prior to the outbreak. However I do think they could've given a bit more of Witchita and Little Rock (the nicknames of the two girls). Yet, the flashbacks did do a good job giving a rationale to Woody's character Tallahassee.

The character Columbus is keeping a list of survival tips during the course of the movie. In a clever movie the makers of the movie add these tips in relevant scenes via cgi. For example at one point Columbus is running from a zombie and via CGI they put Tip #3 Cadio on the pavement they're running across.
There may be holes in the logic of the plot, but it is not meant to be over anaylzed by pseudo intellectuals and eggheads. Overall, Zombie Land delivers the goods in entertaining and fun zombie flick. A good movie to unwind and let go with.