Dead Space is such a masterpiece: a third person shooter set on a gigantic starship drifting through space. Your character Isaac Clarke has to fight his way through a nightmarish maze of dark corridors and find a way off the doomed ship. Most of the crew members have been killed and turned into horrible monsters called Necromorphs. Their relentless attacks turn Isaac’s odyssey into a merciless struggle for survival.

The game rivals a good horror movie: gloomy atmosphere, scarce lighting, creepy sounds and things moving in the shadows. The references to Aliens and Starship Troopers are unmistakable. You know that there is a monster lurking around the next corner because you can hear it. But when the monster finally attacks from just the direction you didn’t expect the game still makes you jump.

If you like a game with an interesting plot, tough fights and a good scare you should definitely try Dead Space. I loved and hated it, both at the same time.

Rid of whom? Oh, sorry. I’m talking about that annoying (almost) unkillable monster in Dead Space. The damned thing is extra crispy now.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is very similar to Assassin’s Creed II. You move your character Ezio Auditore through three dimensional historic scenery. At any time you can either play one of the many missions or just roam through Rome during the Renaissance. Some new aspects make the game even more interesting:

1. You can rebuild Rome after freeing a district from Borgia influence. You can reopen shops, fix broken aqueducts or renovate famous landmarks like the Pantheon.
2. Ezio can recruit citizens of Rome for the guild of the Assassins. These assassins can either assist him in a battle or undertake missions to earn money and acquire trading goods. Each mission contributes to an assassin’s experience and over time they can reach new levels and learn new skills.
3. New weapons like a crossbow or a battle axe make Ezio an even more formidable fighter than before.

And I’m quite sure the nervous twitching will stop after a few therapy sessions.

While the first part stayed mostly true to the book the second part has been turned into an epic battle. It reminds me a bit of Return of the Jedi: after an initial action sequence and a short reprieve a one and a half hour final showdown begins. It  is full of action but still manages to find time for the important moments from the book although some details get lost of course.

Overall the movie is exciting but manages to slow down for the moving moments. It delivers the grand finale that I was waiting for.

Over the next few years two extra episodes which continue the story of Half-Life 2 were released on Steam. But my initial experience with Steam was very bad. I spent hours to find out why I got a network error when I tried to login. A few days later I learned that Steam suffered from a massive outage and there hadn’t been anything wrong with my setup in the first place. I never bothered to try Steam again after that incident and therefore never missed out on the extra Half-Life 2 episodes and Portal, another popular video game released by the same company. When the release of Portal 2 reminded me of this loss I bought The Orange Box for my PlayStation 3.

The Orange Box turned out to be really good value for money. You don’t only get the original Half-Life 2 (which I played through once again) but also its two sequels. They feature more excellent levels from a dark underground labyrinth full of zombies to urban warfare and finally peak it the fulminant Half-Live 2 homage to the Battle of Hoth.

But let’s not forget about Portal. It is a first person puzzle game where you have to teleport your character via portals that you create with a portal gun. The levels are simple at the beginning but get more and more difficult as the game progresses. You e.g. have to use portals to gain velocity or to dispose of your enemies. Who would have thought that bending the laws of physics could be so much fun?

Overall The Orange Box is hours and hours of excellent game play for not much money and I can highly recommend it.

But a cliffhanger at the end of a book is even more annoying, at least if you know that it will probably take another four years until the next book gets released.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

X-Men: First Class tells the story of the founding of the X-Men and their school for mutants. At the beginning Charles Xavier is only a talented university student with telepathic abilities and an interest in genetics. He leads a relatively normal life until a CIA agent asks him for help to examine hostile mutant activity. During their first mission Xavier and his protégé Raven, later known as Mystique, encounter Erik Lehnsherr who will one day become the infamous mutant leader Magneto. Together they set out to find other mutants and bring them together for education and training. But the conflict with a violent group of misanthropical mutants and the human fear of mutants threatens Xavier’s idea of a peaceful coexistence.

The new X-Men movie takes much more time to portray the human aspects of the mutants. They are frequently scared of their own powers and fear and loathe rejection by normal people. Thanks to an ensemble of excellent actors this aspect of the film is neither boring nor corny. Of course there is also a lot of action and special effects, just as you would expect from an X-Men movie.

All in all X-Men: First Class is a very entertaining a movie and a must for all X-Men fans.

The splash screen revealed the first pleasant surprise: Mass Effect 2 was created by BioWare, the very same company that published KoTOR many years ago. And the game cannot deny its origins. Mass Effect 2 features a lot of the qualities that made KotOR such an excellent game:

1. The game tells a fascinating story. It takes place two years after the events in Mass Effect. Its plot is full of action, mystery and twists. It combines elements of various Science Fiction books, movies and TV series like Babylon 5 (also one of my all time favourites) into a gripping tale. Frequent cut scenes help to bring the story to life.
2. The game features a lot of very well written and excellently voiced characters. They all have a history, particular quirks and frequently a hidden agenda. They interact not only with your protagonist, Commander Shepard, but also with each other. Some of the resulting conflicts can even jeopardise the mission and you have to deal with them carefully.
3. At various points you are faced with different choices. It is not always obvious what the right thing to do is. You have to consider your actions carefully because there will be consequences. Some of these choices will even influence the events in Mass Effect 3.
   This concept was already available in KotOR. But Mass Effect 2 leaves you much more freedom and the outcome is much less predictable.

Overall it feels like you are playing an interactive Science Fiction movie. While the plot is mostly predetermined the game still leaves you a lot of freedom and you don’t feel restricted.

The gameplay looks similar to KotOR on a quick glance. You control a party of up to three characters which moves through a three dimensional landscape . Your party collects items, talks to other people and has to solve puzzles. But when you get into your first fight you noticed a big difference.

KotOR is a turn-based AD&D role-playing game. You have full control over all three members of your party and you can plan their actions multiple turns in advance. At any point of time you can pause a fight and change your tactic. If one of your characters gets incapacitated you can use the other two to revive her or him. You only get defeated if all three characters are knocked out at the same time.

Mass Effect 2 on the other hand is a third person shooter with elements of a role-playing game. Fights happen in real time, they just pause while you select weapons or special powers. You can only fully control your main character, and if he or she gets overwhelmed you have lost the fight. While your two companions in arms will fight alongside you autonomously the game allows you to give commands to influence their behaviour. You can e.g. tell them to use certain weapons or powers, focus on a particular enemy or to take up a defensive position. While this appears to be a bit limiting initially it makes the game feel more realistic. Giving the right commands at the right time is often challenging but crucial for the success of your mission. The wrong decision can even get one of your squad members killed. Between fights you can acquire better weapons, shields and other technology which will help you during your next conflict. Successful missions contribute to your characters experience levels allowing you to develop their powers.

Mass Effect 2 has a lot going for it: story, characters, gameplay, atmosphere, graphics, sound and much more. If you like Science Fiction role-play games you should definitely have a look. Mass Effect 2 is also as close as you can get to a Babylon5 computer game. I’m really looking forward to Mass Effect 3.

The movie of the same name finally unravels the mystery of the crater shown at the end of Iron Man 2. It was created by the impact of Mjölnir, Thor’s magical hammer. After Odin the king of Asgard banished Thor to earth for this arrogance and recklessness he sent the hammer to earth as well. But Thor can only reclaim his powerful weapon if he finally proves worthy of it. During Thor’s exile his brother Loki tries to seize power in Asgard at all costs.

Thor is a very entertaining action movie. Good actors and lots of special effects guarantee a lot of fun. The 3D effects are nicely done and avoid poking at your eyes. In between all the action there is even room for a bit of comedy and human relations.

We are looking forward to The Avengers to see what havoc Iron Man and Thor can wreak together.