As some of you may have noticed, there have been some changes here since your last visit. This blog has been upgraded to WordPress 2.5 in all its glory with a fresh new design and everything.

Now that the burden of upgrading software is over, there’s that gaming thing that I do. I’ll steal a page from a popular gaming blog to give you my gaming diary for the last several months.

Since my last post, I did receive a copy of Assassin’s Creed by returning my scratched disc, and finally did complete the main story of the game. Due to my obsession with achievement points, I finished the game lacking only 1 Templar and 3 missing flags somewhere in the huge Kingdom and the achievement for memory glitches — mostly because I had no idea what those were when I started playing the game. Anyone want to tell me where they found the last Templar? (Otherwise, I am just consulting the maps.)

Before I finished off Assassin’s Creed though, I also went all OCD on Mass Effect and completed a playthrough as the most evil Vanguard Nemesis that you could ever be — no, really, I think I finished with only 9 Paragon points because of mistakes I made. Who knew that beating a civilian across the level was equivalent to saving their life?

I’m not sure what I gained from the experience of being the most evil Shepard that ever lived. At a certain point — about 3/4 of the way through the game — I maxed out the Renegade point meter entirely. From that point on, the evil was only for my pure enjoyment, but I was committed to my goal.

I think on my next playthrough — oh yes, there will be another — I am going to try to be a completely good Vanguard as I get on my way to level 60. But, I still won’t play with Kaiden because he is worthless.

I have plans to complete a playthrough as an Adept at some point as well just because they seem like such a cool character when you max out that Singularity ability. I played most of the final portions of the game with Laila simply because she made everything in the room float to the middle and die. That’s an awesome party trick.

Luckily, I completed all of these game quests just in time to pick up my copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Yes, Brawl was the game I most eagerly awaited this year. While I regret that it doesn’t have online voice chat during matches — not even with friends — the multiplayer is outrageous. I can’t stop if I get going on it with a group of friends. I found that a simple speakerphone cell phone call plopped down on the couch will suffice for any online opponents that I may challenge.

I beat most of the singleplayer portions of the game already, and I plan to complete it all over — again and again — until I get every trophy. If you have seen the trophy wall at all, I haven’t used any of my hammers yet. I’m going to wait until there is really something good to use.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has dominated most of the game playing since I got it. It hasn’t left my Wii, and my Xbox 360 has been used for little more than playing DVDs from Netflix.

I am just now starting to reclaim my free time from blogging and Smash Bros-ing. Next up on my gaming agenda is a little online game called Ikarium and Super Mario Galaxy.

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I can see why reviewers were harsh to Assassin’s Creed. The game has a few parts where it seems a little broken–hiccups here and there with graphics.

Your master assassin might throw his arms in the air when he dismounts from a horse at odd moments, but at the same time, it has a few amazing elements that make it a great game.

There. I said it. I thought Assassin’s Creed was a great game. Like Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4, there were distinct moments in the game that made the story electrified and interesting.

Yes, it’s repetitive in some sequences, but if you give the game a chance, it becomes pretty addictive. Assassin’s Creed brought out the achievement junkie, a slightly obsessive compulsive element of my personality, and made me want to collect every single flag and complete every optional mission. I enjoyed the fact that it was repetitive but systematic, and each assassination was different.

That is, I enjoyed every single mission until I got to the final memory–a climactic moment I reached at 2 a.m. one weekend.

Ready to jump into the final conclusion, I selected it and entered the loading screen. There was my familiar assassin, Altair, waiting patiently in a cloud of light. As the 5.1 sound came to a constant hum, and the game was about to load, my Xbox 360 popped a message out of the right side of the screen–Disc Read Error.

What a cruel joke.

Apparently, a circular sequence of slight scratches on the disc that I had ignored were crucial to the disc’s final level but nothing else. I had almost sent the disc back early on, but decided to tough it out since the scratches caused no problems. I was impatient to start my journey as Altair.

I tried cleaning the discs several times–no luck. I finally jumped on the Amazon.com return policy pages to see about returning the disc–no luck. My disc was more than 30 days old and opened since Christmas Day.

My last chance was Ubisoft, the publisher of Assassin’s Creed. Luckily, I found an entry in the knowledge base two weeks ago that showed a disc replacement program. As long as the disc was purchased within 90 days–true–and the disc problems were not caused by any foul play on my part–also true–I would get free disc replacement. Whew! Relief.

It seems like it is going to be a little harder than a swap and replace, but for the moment, my Assassin’s Creed hopes will be at the mercy of Ubisoft customer support. It’s tragic when a gamer is separated from his ending.

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I haven’t played Assassin’s Creed yet myself, but I have read the numerous mixed reviews around the Web. Many have lamented about it’s repetition or the twist in the plot being revealed right at the beginning, but I’ll still give it the benefit of the doubt.

Destructoid pointed out the part of the game that excites me the most–the free running and combat system.

 Indeed, once I got the hang of countering and attacking, and once I found myself in fights with up to six or seven guards at one time, I was stringing together counters and offensive slashes to create a goddamned ballet of death and destruction. I’m not at all exaggerating when I say that Assassin’s Creed contains the single most visually rewarding melee combat system ever implemented. I found myself picking fights with guards just so I could experience the pleasure of countering their attacks and viciously finishing them off with well-timed sword blows. Granted, the sword fighting gets way too easy after you get the hang of it: as you might see in an old-school Kung Fu flick, Altair can be surrounded by ten or fifteen guys at a time, but they’ll only attack one at a time, making a fight against three opponents just as easy or hard as a fight against twenty. I would have really liked to see some more aggressive enemy AI in the sword fighting. Still, though, the fighting is enjoyable.

UbiSoft took it’s time in making this one–over three years–and even though it will be strange to have a movement system without having to time jumps–I still think it looks like one of the best games to come out this year.  Again, disclaimer: I haven’t played it yet, so my honest opinion will have to be held back until I check it out.

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Now this might be biased because I have a noticeable shortage of PS3 games on this list, but I also don’t own a PS3.  Maybe that explains it.  I also don’t feel there is anything coming out until 2008 that really catches my fancy enough for me to jump on the PS3 bandwagon–although Little Big Planet might be good enough.Here is the list of blurbs of games I want to play…

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Xbox 360

I was in on the Beta test for the multiplayer portion of this game, and it truly amazed–not to mention what a great thrill it is to see that developers have acknowledged that World War II has ended.  The ability to upgrade weapons and camouflage based upon how much you use each set got me hooked.  I personally enjoyed upgrading the sniper, but I changed directions and spent a few days upgrading my shotgun/demo man because you learn quickly that snipers cannot possibly own at every map of this multiplayer.  Play as a team or lone wolf, but the game gives you a great deal of optional configurations and great graphics.

The game is already racking up some great reviews–and even more great reviews–and trying to keep up with demand for the title.

Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo Wii

After avoiding Sunshine and not really paying attention to the Paper Mario series, I actually found Super Mario Galaxy pretty interesting–and maybe a tide me over until the new Smash Bros. is released.  I can’t wait to play it in all it’s planet-running glory.  I think the Mario series tends to be some of the best games for any Nintendo system, but the past several have left me not hyped enough to actually purchase them over a game I know will be a crowd pleaser.  I haven’t really gotten excited about a Mario game since Mario 64.  From the looks of it, this one could change my mind about the little red plumber.

Assassin’s Creed - Xbox 360

Free-roaming environment with sandbox gameplay? Interacting with the crowd to be seen or sneak through the shadows?  This game looks great and has the talk to be great as well.  The word on the street is that the game surprises in the first few minutes, which is why the producers are being so hush hush about gameplay elements like all that text swirling around in-game targets.  The imagery in this game looks beautiful, and I think the gameplay will easily match.  I always wanted to be an assassin.

Mass Effect - Xbox 360

We have been hearing about this one for a long time.  The cutscenes leave you trying to imagine how it will all fit together, but to make a long story short, you have to put/hold together a team to save the galaxy.  No matter what the hype is about the sex scenes that may or may not show nudity, I am more interested in the conversation system and the overall plot of this one.  If they pull it off right, this game could be one of the most epic stories ever told in videogame form and make a precedent for the industry.  The launch trailer already shows just how great this game could be as long as the story holds up to scrutiny and the gameplay satisfies.

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