Review: Assassin's Creed 2 (360)

+'s

-better than the first game in pretty much every way (and the first game was VERY good)

-better combat controls

-more diverse environments (each city is distinctly different)

-better mission structure (you don't have to do side missions anymore, etc.)

-outstanding story (great blend of historical people and places with the game's fiction)

-'s

-the graphics haven't improved much if at all, and look a bit dated

-animation is showing it's age a bit

-Neutral

-Some religious folks might take offense to the story

Overall, one of the best action/adventure games of the year. The ending is strong, but it didn't quite give me the "I must play the sequel right now!" feeling that I got after the first one.

Review: Left 4 Dead 2 (360)

+'s

-it's more Left 4 Dead with more content

-much more content than the original shipped with (5 campaigns with Versus modes for all, Survival mode, Scavenge mode, and a Realism mode)

-more weapons (more variety for guns, new Melee weapons, incendiary and explosive ammo)

-more items (defibralators to revive dead players and adrenaline shots to move faster)

-more enemies (new Special Infected, introduction of Uncommon Infected, etc.)

-better presentation (slightly improved graphics, better characters and dialogue)

-'s

-still not a very long single player campaign (the 5 campaigns will last around 6 hours in Normal mode)

Neutral

-It's improved, but it's Left 4 Dead at it's core.

Overall, Left 4 Dead 2 is worthy of a sequel. Truthfully, it's probably the game Valve should have made last year, but that doesn't take anything away from how fun this game is this year.

Points Addict: 40,000

Tonight I passed 40K while playing Left 4 Dead 2.

Review: Dragon Age Origins (360)

+'s

-between 25-100+ hours of gameplay per playthrough (it took me about 40 hours)

-6 different characters/origin stories to play through

-good story

-good party-based RPG elements (items, character progression, etc.)

-very deep battle-command options and presets (you can set specific characters to automatically perform certain actions under certain circumstances, lots of different abilities to upgrade and choices to make)

-outstanding character interaction during normal gameplay (party members will have interesting and entertaining conversations while you're exploring)

-'s

-item management could be streamlined (it's not horrible, but could be enhanced by presets similiar to how the combat is handled)

-graphics are mediocre to poor for 2009 standards

-AI can be clunky (party members can attack when you command them to hold position, etc.)

Neutral

-music matches the game fairly well(except for the ridiculous 30 Seconds to Mars song at the credits)

-Acheivements are based on multiple playthroughs (this can be mitigated with some clever usage of game saves) and are a bit time-consuming

-DLC was already available at the time of launch and appears to be a bit misused (additional items, characters, etc. only available via the DLC)

Overall, Dragon Age: Origins, is a good game. It should be played by anyone interested in party-style RPG game sent in a Fantasy universe.