Tuesday 13 September 2011

Blogga's Wall - August '11














It's that time again! I had hoped to be using Avatar Kinect for this, but it's playing up at the moment and it's a bit of a faff to fit around my work schedule so I'll stick with good ol' text for now.

1) Knight Errant: Deluge #1












I've really enjoyed the return of this series, which had an explosive start when, as always, Kerra arrives to the rescue just as an invasion force arrives to take the system. With Hutts flying starfighters and superweapons that control the weather on a water planet this series is off to a great start already when a starfighter force from the Republic shows up to help Kerra! We also got a glimpse of Arkadia, one of the Sith from the novel so I am totally buzzed about this issue and can't wait for more!

2) Planetary, Volume 3













I am really loving this series. It's amazingly well written with classic Sci-Fi adventures and an over-arcing plot that really drives it forward, we got more of the origins of characters like Elijah Snow and Jakita Wagner and the whole thing picks up the pace as the group finally take the fight to 'The Four' their adversaries. Along the way we meet vampires, a sci-fi city in the middle of the amazon, a space programme from the 1800s and aboriginal myths come true. It just gets better and better!

3) Captain America: The First Avenger












I really love this movie!! The Avengers series just gets better and better - I thought Hugo Weaving was amazing as Red Skull and Tommy Lee Jones was hilarious as the Army General behind it 'I ain't gonna kiss ya!' was brilliantly delivered! I liked how they took the time to really develop the character of Steve Rogers before throwing him into the action against the Hydra division. Bring on the Avengers!!!

That's it - there won't be a Blogga's Wall for September as I haven't had much time for Sci-Fi stuff to my shame, normal service will resume soon I promise!!

Saturday 10 September 2011

Blogga's Video Game Diary - 10/9/11

MASS EFFECT 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker










More Mass Effect 2 DLC, because I haven't been playing much recently due to the start of a new job, which is also why things are quite quiet on the blog - and that pretty much sums it up as far as the Diary part goes!!













Lair of the Shadow Broker carriers on from the acclaimed Dark Horse comic series Mass Effect: Redeption. The story follows Liara coming to terms with Shepard's apparent death and finding out that the Collector's want his body and are dealing with the Shadow Broker to get it. Running into Cerberus and the rogue agent Feron she strikes back at the elusive Shadow Broker and rescues her friend's body, giving it to Cerberus for their Lazarus project, but Feron is captured by the Shadow Broker and Liara has been plotting her revenge...

SPOILER ALERT as ever as I take you on this ride, I think I'll have to show you the New Stuff as we go along otherwise it'll get far too cumbersome.

Story









Shepard returns to Illium to meet Liara T'soni and give her some information on her nemesis, the Shadow Broker. He agrees to meet her at her apartment, but finds it empty and crawling with police - and that's not all he finds...

Tela Vasir
Species: Asari
Sex: Female
Occupation: Spectre









This was a very exciting moment as this is the first Spectre we've seen since the first game and considering the first one we met was killed in the first mission and the second was the villain it's good to see more of the force in action. Tela takes over the T'soni investigation from the Police, helping Shepard find clues as the what she was up to and who tried to kill her. They track down Liara amid a trail of death and destruction - a trail caused by Tela herself, who is an agent of the Shadow Broker!!

Shepard teams up with Liara, who exposes Tela and they work together to take her down, along with an army of Shadow Broker soldiers. This is a great sequence including a chance to pilot one of the air taxis we normally only see in cutscenes. After a long drawn out showdown, she is finally killed, but has one of the best endings in the game, knocking Shepard off his high horse by claiming that she works for the Shadow Broker for the good of the council as he works with Cerberus for the good of humanity.











Finally you have the chance to catch up with Liara properly, she fills you in on what happened to Feron and you can talk about your relationship, if you have one, before moving on to go after the Shadow Broker.

Shadow Broker Base










A unique vessel designed to remain completely undetected in the hurricane atmosphere of Hagalaz it requires enormours power and a number of specialised systems all working together to keep it from plummeting into the planet. From here the Shadow Broker gathers information and sends commands to his key operatives.

Species: Drell
Sex: Male
Occupation: Informer







Shepard and Liara battle across the outside of the vessel to find an entrance and once inside face the Broker's private army to reach Feron, who is trapped in a torture chamber kept there for betraying the broker to save Shepard. He cannot be released, the team go on to confront their enemy...

The Shadow Broker
Species: Yahg
Sex: Male
Occupation: The Shadow Broker











A first for this new species - Yahg. Enormous beings, extremely intelligent predators in a pre-industrial civilization they were refused access to Citadel space when they murdered the entire diplomatic team who visited their world.

The true origins of the Shadow Broker are unknown, perhaps a succession of people have taken the role. The current Shadow Broker was captured as a trophy by his predecessor, who was curious about the newly discovered species. He worked and became one of his operatives and learnt enough to kill the Broker and seamlessly take over his operation, gathering the galaxy's secrets for decades.

Liara and Shepard engage the enormous beast in combat, fighting to kill him, having to get up close due to his powerful shield. Eventually Liara overloads his shields and kills him. But then in another shock twist, with the Broker's organisation starting to unravel immediately, Liara steps in and takes over as the new Shadow Broker - promising to do some good in the role.










You can now visit the broker base for some treats and even invite Liara over to the Normandy for a catch-up. I think that's enough rambling so I'll call it a day there - one more DLC pack to go.