Ah, Bioware. You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? It wasn’t enough to drop Dragon Age: Origins on me, was it? Less than three months after hijacking a majority of my life, Bioware’s done it again with Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 2 builds on the successes of the first game to deliver a superior experience in just about every facet of gameplay. The continuing adventures of Commander Shepard will pit the hero of the Citadel against the threat of the Reapers once again. Of course, you’ll be filling the well-armored boots of the captain of the Normandy.

The first thing that leapt out at me in playing Mass Effect 2 was the changes that have been made to the environments. Unlike the first Mass Effect, there are very few maze-like environments to navigate. Instead, the levels give you a solid feeling of progressing forward, instead of wandering aimlessly. Combat in these environments can be resolved in multiple ways, including weapons, biotic abilities, and environmental hazards. Controls are easy to learn and master, and using powers is a straightforward affair through a selection wheel that also allows you to bind your favorites to buttons.

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One of the hottest games of the fall was the shooter / RPG title from Gearbox, Borderlands. Recently, we were fortunate enough to get to sit down with Matthew Armstrong, the Director of Borderlands, to talk about the recently released Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC, as well as the upcoming Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot.

Gaming Today: Could you tell our readers a little bit more about yourself, your role in the development of Borderlands, and what you do at Gearbox?

Matthew Armstrong: Matthew Armstrong, I was director of Borderlands. Right now I’m just one of a group of extremely talented people working on DLC.

Q: You’ve recently announced the Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot DLC. Coming so close on the heels of The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, it begs the question: How much DLC can fans of Borderlands expect to see beyond Mad Moxxi?

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Over at VG247.com, our very own GT alumnus Stephany Nunneley has posted a little snippet of an article from The Guardian UK. In this article, the Guardian purports to list the pros and cons of each gaming console in an honest effort to provide consumers with buying information.

Unfortunately, it’s all too obvious that whoever wrote this piece either hasn’t actually touched any of the consoles, has been away from the gaming scene for months (if not years), or has inserted their head firmly in a certain orifice of Microsoft’s.

Let’s examine exactly what they say, and then counter it with some actual, useful information.

We’ll start with the Wii. The Guardian says, in part, “the graphics aren’t as pretty as its two more technologically advanced rivals, and really ground-breaking Wii games come along very infrequently.” OK, that’s true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve sold a blue million of the damn things.

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Wanna make your very own game? Well, here’s your chance!

Epic Games has released the Unreal Development Kit. Wondering just what the UDK is? Says Epic:

The Unreal Development Kit is the free version of the award-winning Unreal Engine 3, the software development framework used to create computer and video games, 3D simulations, TV shows, films and more

Anyone can download UDK and work with the same game development tools used to create blockbuster games, architectural walkthroughs and digital movies. UDK ships with the latest version of the Unreal Editor, with its unrivaled content creation toolset and rapid prototyping functionality.

UDK is free for noncommercial and educational use. Licensing terms are available to those who wish to sell UDK-powered games or to create commercial products or services for business use at www.udk.com/licensing.

You can grab your very own copy of the Unreal Development Kit, as well as trailers for the kit and sample games built using the kit, over on FileFront. So, go get your game making on!

Grab it here: http://www.filefront.com/listing/pub2/Unreal-Development-Kit

Maybe I’m dating myself a little, but I can remember classic turn-based RPGs well enough that I get a little offended when I hear myself call them classics. (Does that mean I’m officially old now?) It’s a genre that I’ve gotten away from in years past, as I moved into shooters, MMORPGs, and other types of games. So I am sure you’ll forgive my skepticism of a little game I got my hands on last week, Nostalgia for the Nintendo DS. After all, how well will a classic, turn-based JRPG appeal to me now?

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Before I start on this review, I want to make something clear: I don’t normally use my Wii. After all, once the novelty of the machine wore off, the only reason it ever gets turned on is so my wife can use Wii Fit. The main reason is that I haven’t found any games that can hold my interest.

So you can imagine that I was a bit incredulous when I got a copy of Muramasa: The Demon Blade to review. Sure, I knew the game had won all sorts of ‘Best of E3′ awards, but I was still not sure about it. I sat down and started playing, and I found myself really enjoying the game.

Muramasa is a classic, side-scrolling action RPG. This first thing that hits you when you start the game is the look and feel. If you played Odin Sphere on the PS2, you’ll recognize the style, and you’ll be impressed. The graphics aren’t 1080p, or high-def, but they are endearing and attractive. The graphics are more like living art than what you’d expect from a video game.

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I have to admit to having a healthy dose of skepticism about Batman: Arkham Asylum. After all, the history of superhero-based video games isn’t exactly all rosy and happy. Just in recent times, there’s been a good Hulk game, a bad Hulk game, an Iron Man game with horrid controls, and a Wolverine game that was actually quite good.

My trepidation was somewhat relieved when I got my hands on the demo and found it to have great atmosphere, great pacing, and great voice acting. Now I’ve had my chance to play the full game, and in short, it far exceeds any expectations I had.

Arkham Asylum opens as Batman transports his arch-nemesis, The Joker, to Arkham Asylum. Soon after arriving there, the Joker breaks free of his restraints and takes over the asylum, leaving Batman to pursue him through a myriad of obstacles the Joker puts in his path.

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One of my all-time favorite blogs to read is Tobold’s. It’s a great place to get a fresh take on everything that’s happening in the MMORPG world. As I was perusing his site over the weekend, I ran across this article.

In short, he refers to the recent rumors that Blizzard’s Chinese World of Warcraft servers aren’t going to be coming back up anytime soon. For those of you who aren’t aware, Blizzard recently transferred their license to operate WoW in China to NetEase, away from The9.

The9 filed several lawsuits in an attempt to stop this transfer, and the Chinese government accordingly refused to give NetEase a license to operate WoW, saying that “in order to protect the interests of domestic gaming enterprises,” they would “suspend review of all games belonging to foreign companies in the event of lawsuits or arbitration between foreign companies and Chinese companies.”

The Chinese servers have already been down for a month or so, and there’s still no word on when they might return. This really doesn’t hurt Blizzard as much financially as you might think, as they received little revenue from the Chinese players, who pay as little as 6 cents an hour to play.

But how does this get Blizzard down to 5 million subscribers?

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OK, let’s be honest here. Who isn’t tired of the near-constant stream of music games? I realize that it’s a super-hot genre right now, but do we really need another music game? Yes, this also goes for Rock Band Beatles, or Guitar Hero: Twisted Sister, or whatever the next shameless cash grab may be.

Regardless of what we may think, Activision isn’t content to sit back and count all the money they’ve made from Guitar Hero so far. No, they’re going to release yet another iteration of the title.

Guitar Hero 5 will add some new functionality to the title, and strangely enough, it’s actually functionality that makes it a better party game than before. Chief among these new additions is the ‘Pick up and Play’ mode. This will allow anyone to grab an instrument, jump in, play for a few minutes, and drop out without failing or causing the rest of the band to fail. It’s perfect for those unscheduled bathroom breaks in the middle of a song.

They’re also including a RockFest mode to let you face off against four players locally, or up to eight online. Heck, you can even throw down with four guitars at once if you so desire. But the question remains: Do we really need another full game for this? Wouldn’t these features be awesome DLC for the folks who spent nearly $200 on Guitar Hero: World Tour? You could probably even convince those folks to pay for them!

Ah well, maybe I’m just a spoilsport. After all, at least they’re including 83 songs in this version, and all the World Tour DLC will carry over as well. Maybe I’m just sick of having all these plastic instruments clogging up my living room.

At any rate, there’s a brand new trailer showing off these new features. You can grab it over at FileFront, or catch the embedded stream after the break.

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Gaming is a great hobby, one I’ve spent most of my life enjoying as a whole while moving from system to system, player group to player group but in reflection I find that I can illustrate my past with RPGs in one basic role – Storyteller.

I’m one of the lucky few out there who seems always consigned to the role of preacher, and never groom or groomsman. What do I mean by this? Well its simple. In over 20 years of playing pen-and-paper RPGs I have almost always been the DM. Sure I’ve gotten to play in more than a few campaigns over the years, but by and large if someone gets excited about a new setting or rule system and wants to have adventures in it (including myself I might add) for whatever reason I end up the one tasked with learning the rules, building the world and running the adventure.

I guess it’s rewarding to be in this position of trust and pseudo-respect. (pseudo because players tend to only respect you insomuch as it benefits them over the long term – which is painful to admit but true). I’ve been at it long enough that regardless of the actual system I find it easy to weave together a story. I also  learned long ago that too much preparation is not only unnecessary to the fun, but can be detrimental to your mental health as a storyteller.

This month, Wizard’s of the Coast is really pushing the concept of Dungeon Master Appreciation month. A concept introduced within the monthly column by staffer/blogger/sorcerer Shelly Mazzanoble, the self-appointed D&D Player-in-Chief. Shelly’s column in last month’s Dragon Magazine discussed her realization that the DM in her colorfully discussed tales often goes unappreciated by his players, and from time to time it’s a good idea to thank the person facilitating the game you enjoy playing.
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