So ME2 came last friday, and it's pretty good. First of all, I just want to mention the ridiculous extent Bioware and EA have gone to to try to stop people buying this game second hand, through the Cerberus network add on, which comes free with each new copy. If you buy the game preowned, however, and the key to join the network has been used, you have to shell out a preposterous 1200 microsoft points (roughly £10) to get access to the DLC already available through the Cerberus network. To penalise people for pirating games is one thing, but preowned games are perfectly legal and the majority of games that I buy are preowned, due to me being poor/tight. This game sets a dangerous precedent and I'm not entirely comfortable with supporting a company who feels it is necessary to manipulate consumers in this way. It's like Bioware and EA are becoming the Ryanair of video games. Anyway the game itself is perfectly fine. Much was made of the combat beforehand but to be honest if it was just a 3rd person shooter you would say it was mediocre. It's still enjoyable but for me the interesting parts are still what made the first game so good - exploration, dialogue, art design, sound and story. A lot of bugs and inconsistencies evident in the first game have been ironed out and the game runs a lot more smoothly having been split onto 2 discs and gone are those terrible lift loading sequences. There are stairs everywhere! Hallelujah. I imported my character from ME1 and despite the announcement that your actions in the first game would make a difference in ME2 so far I am yet to see any direct influence except for the odd e-mail (yes e-mail) sent to me by randomers I apparently helped in the original. Anyway, 15 hours in, it's been an engaging and fun game. Not as good as ACII though, and I suspect it will drop out of my disc tray for a while when Bioshock 2 comes next week. Still, a good game, although it is just the same Bioware RPG in a different skin all over again. Not that is bad in any way. Just a bit hard to get excited about it. I think I've figured out the plot twists already. The most unexpected thing so far was finding out that character who looks and sounds suspiciously like Martin Sheen IS actually voiced by Martin Sheen. Yeah. Slim pickins.
In other news I finished watching the second series of Mad Men and I have officially decided that it is as good as the wire. I started watching the 3rd series on iPlayer but couldn't bear to continue watching it in low quality on NinjaVideo, so I am currently torrenting a ridiculous 15GB in 720p. Estimate is 3 more days. I can't watch TV shows once a week anymore, having become accustomed to the DVD binge over the last few years.
No, I didn't watch Skins. It's fucking terrible. Any show where a writer will even consider the preposterous idea of a teacher farting into a megaphone to quieten a rowdy school assembly CANNOT be good.
Four Tet's new album is really good, I am actually going to buy it next time I'm near a reputable music-selling establishment, and I recommend you give a try as well. This song is pretty awesome (not on the album by the way).
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