Bioshock 2 (TBNTB - To Buy or Not To Buy)

While our faithful PC enthusiast Kara Walker has already sipped the Bioshock 2 Kool-Aid - as she already pre-ordered it on Steam - I, who was blown away by Bioshock (as were a few others), have been the everlasting skeptic when it comes to the game that is receiving middle to favorable reviews.

I feel that because Ken Levine (the mind behind the first iteration) was not really involved, and had no plans for a Bioshock 2, that it [Bioshock 2] is the bastard child that was never supposed to be. I was waiting for the reviews to be terrible but alas they are not - now I must play this game.

A few things that I remember reading from Metacritic (not quotes):

The return to Rapture is welcoming but the magic of first discovering Rapture is no longer there.

Problems with the first game (no specifics) are improved upon but where the first game had bright shining moments, the second installment is "just good" the whole way through.

The multiplayer is there, decent, but not necessary. It will be fun to play but it probably will not have any lasting value.

Your thoughts?

Posted by Nate

Free DLC Today on the Cerberus Network

Shocking.

More Mass Effect 2 news.

Today, February 9th of the star date 2009, when you boot up Mass Effect 2 (if you are anything like me, this happens at least once per day), you will find that there is new, free content up on the Cerberus Network. While it is nothing as cool as a new mission it is still nice to receive something that is always keeping Shepard in fresh new duds.

The following is a description from the Bioware community forums:

Cerberus Assault Armor
Cerberus assault armor is designed for shock troops, turn the tide of battle against creatures or forces that would decimate normal soldiers.
Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by +10%
Increases shields by +10%
Increases health by +10%


M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun
The M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads. This design also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22a is not distributed to militaries.

I am eager to get my hands on the shotgun and the armor does not look bad either.
Another one posted by Kara for Nate.

Microsoft Abandons LIVE for all Original XBOX Games

Be calm. No, Microsoft is not abandoning Xbox LIVE altogether. They are, however, abandoning the LIVE service for all Original Xbox games. This includes all Xbox Originals which I now feel was a test bed for having downloadable Xbox 360 titles.

For most this will not matter but there are sure to be a few folks that will feel personally slighted at Microsoft's decision to ditch the part of the LIVE service that they [Microsoft] imply is holding the 360 version back. Perhaps Microsoft will offer some free Xbox LIVE Gold Memberships to those "new" adopters of the 360. Only time will tell.

Could this mean that we will finally have a friends list that containing more than 100 slots for friends? Probably - but as I previously have stated, this is not something I am excited for. I am eager to see if any further changes to the LIVE service come to fruition. I believe that to abandon the service for all Original Xboxes we will have to see more than one oft requested feature.

What are your thoughts, speculations on how this will bring changes to the service?

 Posting this for Nate while he stuck in the hell that is grand jury duty! Damn the government for blocking Blogspot! Anyway, on with the post!