Today's forecast calls for Heavy Rain!!! Okay, okay. That was lame. But I couldn't resist. I just finished playing the Heavy Rain demo not too long ago and I'm definitely getting it. Just got done pre-ordering it with Amazon in fact. So let's get the ball rolling by talking about my thoughts on Heavy Rain, my recent completions (no spoilers), and what I'll be playing next.

Demo Impressions:

Heavy Rain (PS3)

First of all, the rumors about the demo only being available for European/PAL territories is not true. North America has access to the demo as well. You just got to know how to get your grubby paws on it. >_>

Anyway, on to my impressions. The game starts off with a tutorial. Controls are easy enough to learn really. The only problem I can see most (if not all) people having is how you move the character. You have to hold down the R2 button to get them to walk. You can maneuver the character with the left analog stick while holding R2. Why Quantic Dream did this...I have no damn clue. I'm sure I'll get used to it after awhile. But it certainly felt odd initially. The rest of the tutorial pretty much just coached you through how to handle button presses and right analog stick movements to perform actions. Simple stuff for the most part really. You can hit the start button and it will show a button layout and also a diagram of what all the button icons mean. Which will come in handy.

The next part of the demo involved Shelby, a Private Detective. He's a big dude and has asthma. Which doesn't seem like a good combination for someone in the world of private investigating, but Shelby can handle himself. Upon entering this sleazy motel, I ask about some chick and at first the guy acts clueless. So I have to slide the guy a Lincoln to get him to drop a dime on where the chick I'm looking for is at (yes, just a Lincoln...$5). So I head up the stairs and knock on a few doors until I found her. Knocked on a door of a couple apparently having sex in the room...she was quite vocal about the pleasure she was getting. So once I find the right door, I find the chick. She doesn't seem to be in a talkative mood, so she tries to close the door in my face. An icon pops up for me to quickly stop the door from closing. She thinks I want to come and get busy with her (yes, she's a hooker), but I'm there to ask a few questions. Apparently, her child was murdered by the Origami Killer. You can ask questions by pressing the corresponding button that swirls around your head. During the conversation you are having with her, you can interact with all kinds of things. You can lean on the bed rail while she is talking, take a seat on the dresser, or even sit down beside her. After the conversation, I leave her my card as I leave (by interacting with the dining table on my way out). On the way out of her room and into the hallway, I have an asthma attack and have to search for my inhaler. I use the right analog stick several times until I find it and finally use it. While this is happening, a suspicious looking fellow passes by me and goes straight to the hooker's room. He knocks, she tells him to pretty much get lost, then he barges in, closes the door, and starts to beat her. Of course, there was no way I was gonna leave her in that kind of situation. I knock on the door twice. Dude opens the door talking smack and then closes the door in my face. At this point, I have a choice to knock again or kick the door in. Y'all know what I chose to do. I kicked in the door and dude immediately says he's gonna give me the bizness. I don't think so! We get into an awesome Quick Time Event that made the same ol' QTE's feel fresh this time around. I kicked the guy's ass. It was awesome!!! The dude left and the hooker appreciated my help. And no...she did not show me "appreciation" the way some of you might be thinking. >_>

The last part of the demo involves a FBI agent who uses Minority Report-type gear to find everything and the info about it. Footprints, tire tracks, DNA strands, pollen spores, what you ate for dinner, even the name of the person that was your first kiss. I'm not going to go into detail on this one because in all honesty, it will put you to sleep. This scenario wasn't boring, but it pretty much just focuses on exploring the crime scene to find out how exactly the Origami Killer killed some dude. It was interesting, but trying to explain or go into details about it won't do it the justice it deserves.

If you are even mildly interested in Heavy Rain, give the demo a chance.

Recently Completed:

God of War II (PS2)

First of all, I thought the first installment of God of War was pretty damn awesome. I loved it! So I was thinking to myself that there was no way in hell the sequel would be better. Man...I was dead wrong. God of War II pretty much improved on everything and made the experience that much better. Brutal kills, challenging gameplay in certain sections, and once again, an engaging storyline. With the way things wrapped up at the end of this second installment, I can't wait to play God of War III. Kratos is as pissed off as ever. Just the way it should be!

Rating: 9.5

Mass Effect 2 (X360)

I'm not going to go into any details about Mass Effect 2 because I would have to spoil some things if I did. So all I will say is that ME2 is awesome! Epic even! And I would have easily given the game a 9.5 if it wasn't for that damn resource scanning...and the fact that pretty much everything that made it a RPG the first time around has been stripped out. Yeah, you can customize your armor. But what damn game doesn't have customizable gear these days. So that sure as hell doesn't count. ME is pretty much a shooter franchise now in my eyes. Does it bother me. No. Why? Because it's developed by BioWare. Period. Maybe it would bother me if it was a shooter developed by anyone else. But I love BioWare. They can make a dating sim for all I care and I'll purchase it. Yes. I'm serious.

By the way...I'm REALLY looking forward to Mass Effect 3!!!

Rating: 9.0

On Deck:

Darksiders (PS3)

I'm expecting Darksiders to be just simple fun. Nothing epic or around those lines. I've read the reviews and heard a lot of feedback. All of them seem to be in agreement that Darksiders is a mish-mash of all kinds of games. I've heard God of War, The Legend of Zelda, Portal, and even Panzer Dragoon mentioned on several occasions. But hey, if you are going to copy a game or become a gumbo of several games, then why not choose the best of them, right? XD

Hopefully everyone is enjoying life to the fullest and getting in time for games. Take care peeps!

Whaddup peeps! Finally decided to get in gear and fill y'all in on my gaming progress since the last proper blog. So a here we go!

Recently Completed:

Dragon Age: Origins (PS3)

108 hours. That's how much time I invested into my 1st playthrough of this game. There's only two other games that I have spent more time with it. Suikoden III and Dark Cloud 2. I'm not gonna spoil anything for those that haven't played it. But though the story and the world of Dragon Age seems very much like Lord of the Rings, I enjoyed every bit of it.

Playing a Human Noble Warrior was a true fit for me. I started off playing the City Elf origin story, but became somewhat bored during that path. When I decided to start over and go the Human Noble Warrior route, I instantly was interested.

DA had me on my toes quite a bit. Having to use different tactics for different situations was fun, but something I wasn't use to doing much in a RPG. What worked in some battles, didn't work in others. And keeping yourself and your companions healthy could be quite tough (and expensive) until I found my Spirit Healer. Then I was able to concentrate on the important things. Killing!

I thought the companions were all well done, but I especially enjoy the time I spent with Leliana and Morrigan. They did as well...to the point where they were at each others throats throughout the whole quest! :lol: Eventually, Leliana made me choose between them. I chose Leliana. Morrigan was not pleased. Not pleased at all. But luckily, she did not leave my party. We did have a heated discussion toward the end of the game though when I refused to let her have her way. I didn't want to upset her, but I wasn't bout to accept what she wanted from me.

The interface worked well enough (certainly not bad for a game that was only meant for the PC), but a bit more care could have gone into the console interface when it came to the menu. Sometimes I felt like I had to go through a million categories just to find one thing I was looking for. Not cool. That aside, there wasn't much to complain about. The graphics weren't that bad in my opinion. Could have been better, but I wasn't expecting Uncharted 2 here. There were times when the speech track would totally disappear during conversations for a few seconds, but I found that happening more toward the beginning of the game than the end.

All in all, I would recommend this game to anyone that is interested in RPGs. I loved the game and I'm really looking forward to any DLC/expansions that release for it. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but that can be quickly alleviated. Having the right party and setting up the tactics for your AI-controlled partners is the key to survival. I found that it was in my best interests to have two warriors (one of those being your tank to take most of the punishment and keep the enemies away from your mage), a rogue, and a mage (healer would be best for this spot of course) in your party at all times (when possible). But I roll Barbarian styIe. So that was the best party setup for me. If you aren't into killing anything that lays in your path and leaving dead bodies, severed heads, and rivers of blood all across the country of Ferelden; then the Barbarian lifestyIe isn't your thang. So change your party to suit you.

Rating: 9.0

Assassin's Creed II (PS3)

Wow! Was I surprised at how awesome this game ended up being. I had found myself interested in the first installment of the series until reviews had hit the scene. Then all interest had left the building. So when the sequel was announced...I chose not to get excited. Until E3 2009. Then ACII was instantly in my radar. Being able to fight your way out of every situation and not having to rely on stealth for the most part was extremely important to me. I hate stealth games. I can handle games that have some stealth elements in it because you either won't be doing it that much throughout the entire game or it isn't an option that has to be relied upon to succeed.

I was nervous the closer we got to ACII's release date. I was hoping to not be broken-hearted. Afterall, the original had done so. But when the 1st wave of reviews came in, I purchased it with the quickness. When I finally got to play it...yeah, I knew this was going to be something special for me.

I'm not gonna bother going into the graphics. ACII is a beautiful game. But let's talk about the locations. The detail that went into those. The fact that I TRULY felt like I was in the old era of Italy while playing the game. The voice acting was good, the animations were terrific, and did I mention the animations? Did I? XD

Then there is the combat...which was extremely accessible. I especially loved the finisher-styIe kills. Often brutal...and I loved them! There was nothing like leaping from a ledge and driving my hidden blades through the skulls of two unsuspecting guards, or slashing the throat of an idiot guard who I had just counterattacked, or giving multiple stabs to the chest of a guard (Sugar Ray Leonard jabs-to-the-body styIe) who just had his attack deflected, or taking my sword and running through a guard while the citizens watched in horror, or putting an axe I just disarmed from a heavily armored guard right into his shoulder and then pushing him over like chump afterwards... *faints from excitement* *ahem* Sorry about that.

I even enjoyed the story. And the ending was unexpected, but awesome nonetheless. To say that I'm looking forward to ACIII would be a great understatement.

ACII was my very 1st Platinum trophy. That's how much I enjoyed the game. I actually got every trophy. So if you are interested in action-adventure games. Even just a little. Then you owe it to yourself to play ACII. Period.

Rating: 9.0

On Deck:

I've actually been struggling with this. I started Tales of the Abyss and I'm only about 2 or 3 hours in (and most RPGs take at least 30 hours to complete). But I'm scared to actually start really playing it because I know that when Mass Effect 2 drops, TotA is gonna kicked to the curb like an ol' girlfriend. So I think I might actually play some of my backlog that I know I can probably beat over a weekend or so. Either Tomb Raider: Anniversary or God of War II.

I hope everybody is in good health and good spirits. Take care peeps! Til next blog.

I just wanted to wish all my peeps a Happy New Year. 2009 was an off-and-on year for me. So I'm hoping 2010 will be much, much better. Y'all be careful out there and have fun bringing in the New Year. I hope 2010 is everything you want it to be.