#comicaldisaster

[comicaldisaster-blog]

Same Sex Couples And Kids/Pets

As most know, my fiance and I are both women and we both have two pets so our household is full of love for our furry friends. Recently, I came across an article that detailed a new father who could not stand his newborn baby crying all the time. In his annoyance and lack of sleep, he decided to put his baby in the freezer and then soon fell asleep. The mother came home, was outraged after coming upon the incident, and they rushed to the hospital. After detailing the scenario, the article outlines the argument of same sex couples being able to have children or not having children.

For me, anyone in any relationship, can make this "mistake". In response to the article though, I propose the question: If same sex couples aren't able to care for a child then are we also not able to care for a pet? A lot of people view pets as their children. We have to buy them food, look over them when sick, play with them, help them use the bathroom, clean up after them, give them treats when good behavior has been established. I probably take better care of my animals than some parents take care of actual two legged baby humans. I have never once put my dog or cat in any danger that I could not readily save them from if it came to that.

With this being said, I challenge those who argue that same sex couples can not, will not, and should not take care of children. I don't stick newborns into freezers, ovens, or garbage cans. I have more love for my fiance than most people who have been married for ten or more years. I would go to then ends of this Earth and then some to do what I can to protect my pets. Not to mention, I want to work with children who have been abused and/or neglected (usually by a straight man or straight couple ;)).

In short, it just sickens me the way people quickly degrade another person based on race and/or sexual orientation. The world is meant to be diverse and always changing so let us embrace it. We only live once and it is too short to hate someone else because of trivial matters.

[comicaldisaster-blog]

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel

The bromantic game that is Army of Two is back for its third installment. As with the previous two games, Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel game is full of co-op love and has you killing a whole bunch of drug cartel baddies.

Numerous changes have been to this game that make it a bit different than the other two games. The graphics are nothing short of being on par with games that are currently coming out at this time. The dialogue is as brotastic as ever. There are enough enemies to quench your digital killing thirst. The customization is better than before and includes more options for customizing. Before the game was released, it was marketed as a game that takes on a more serious “Army of Two” tone, but throughout my time with the game, I was wondering when that tone was going to come into play.

The single player in The Devil’s Cartel doesn’t follow American ex-military mercs Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios anymore, but instead Alpha and Bravo take over the reigns. That’s not to say Salem and Rios don’t come into play at all, they just make cameos. This is one of the many numerous changes developer Electronic Arts made when they decided to release this game. In tune with this change, a lot of twists and turns in the story come into play that make it possible for all four characters to be tied at the hip. If you are big fans of Salem and Rios then you might not be too happy at how the story progresses and ultimately concludes, but at least it won’t suffer the same backlash as Mass Effect 3 did.

The Devil’s Cartel has the same gameplay mechanics as the other two installments as far as the “run, shoot, and take cover” mechanic is concerned. The Devil’s Cartel is missing the back to back, slow motion shoot-outs against enemies, but does include a new Overkill mode. Overkill mode allows Alpha and Bravo to turn into super human, shooting machines. Overkill gives you more fire power, unlimited ammo, no reloading, and invulnerability. In order to fill the gauge for Overkill mode, you and your partner earn points by doing different maneuvers such as successfully flanking a group of enemies or killing a multitude of enemies within a couple seconds of each other.

A missing mechanic from the previous games is the ability to drag your teammate away if he’s injured. At least if your partner goes down then he still has the use of his sidearm that can be handy as enemies swarm over the crippled duo.

The aggro system isn’t quite the same as it has been, as it doesn’t seem to be as effective. Even though the aggro system is not as apparent, you and your friend can still utilize it to your advantage.

While some may find the dialogue annoying, I really enjoyed how The Devil’s Cartel didn’t take itself seriously. The characters broke the fourth wall numerous times, calling out red barrels and how they always explode, how tutorial sections are always ridiculous, and plenty of other meta moments. There are a few sections in the game where the dialogue made me laugh out loud, but the banter was dull overall.

There’s not too much in the way in level variety. For the most part Alpha and Bravo will be in Mexico working through drug cartel shanty towns, adobe buildings, and the occasional drug lord mansion. Co-op sections where you’ll need to hoist your partner up or hold a door open are pretty few and far between. The sections in which you’ll split up from your partner -mostly so one covers high while the other is down low- work well enough too and most times if you’re partner is down you can make it to them to revive them.

The seven hour campaign experience will provide little challenge on normal difficulty and once you are finished plowing through the boring narrative, the game offers some additional online modes. There’s no competitive multiplayer, unfortunately. However, the co-op suite is less than stellar in its offerings. It’s not a drop-in/drop-out game and requires both players to play through a whole chapter before it saves your progress. It also restarts the chapter if someone wants to join or if the other player drops out. It’s crazy that co-op, the main selling point for this game and the entire reason that the Army of Two franchise even exists in the first place, doesn’t sport a tighter design or features that are present in other games where the co-op isn’t as popular.

There’s also a persistence system which seems to double your income, used for purchasing upgrades, if you play co-op as opposed to single player. As far as connectivity is concerned, the online works with virtually no lag and I could find players pretty quickly using the quick match options.

All in all, The Devil’s Cartel is a letdown for sure. It lacks what made Army of Two great, and desperately tries in other departments to make the game shine, but unfortunately, EA has failed. Play co-op with an awesome friend to make the game worthwhile.

[comicaldisaster-blog]

Risen 2 Review [Xbox 360]

Review: Risen 2

The idea of pirates merging with the action RPG world sounds great and Risen 2 sets out to do just that. However, despite the fun story line and catchy one liners, it just isn’t executed quite right. It always felt like Risen 2 was missing something even though I enjoyed my time with it.

Playing through Risen 2 made me want to go back watch all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The game had me captivated and willing to look past the lack luster voice acting to adventure through dense forests towards tantalizing treasures in an effort to see what happens next. The base story of Risen 2 flows around a horrible but sexy sea creature that plagues the ocean and your commander in the Inquisition asks you to find a way to kill her. It’s not a derivative plot, and the premise is quite interesting, lending for a great pirate adventure. Unfortunately, the plot informs you of your entire adventure quite quickly, causing the minor plot twists to fall victim to a fairly flat narrative. Fortunately, the unnamed protagonist and his interactions with NPCs is what makes the story engaging and interesting.

The most heinous problem this adventure comes in contact with is in the form of the combat. This is a single-button, unimaginative action game that tries to hide the simplicity of its activities behind tactics and abilities that are only unlocked through giving away a handful gold –  gold that is so very hard to come by. No matter how much gold you spend, the combat always seems clunky and not as precise as most gamers would want it. The game targets the enemies for you and, unless you have handed over that sack of gold to learn new skills, then all you’re really doing is tapping the “action” button over and over again. And just tapping the “action” button will not guarantee victory against enemies, especially if they capture you in an ever long, health draining, “who can kill who faster” tug of war battle.

If you get bored with sword fighting and/or guns then there is the voodoo element to the game which of course, you’ll have to pay for and it’s a pretty penny. As far as it being useful, gamers will be left stranded. Unless your hero is accompanied by a couple of NPCs then you should just stick the pointy end of your sword into enemies.

For some leveling your no name character may come across as aggravating, but rest assured it is not. That is, once you get the hang of it. Every enemy you kill and every mission you complete will reward your character with “glory points” which are spent in leveling up your character. Do you want to spend your points in sword fighting, guns, voodoo, sneaking around, or charming NPCs into letting you slip through the cracks one or two times? All those options are available provided you have the proper amount of glory points to spend, and as mentioned previously, individualized skills are upgraded via copious amounts of gold given to the proper trainer. It is simple really.

Graphically this game seems a bit dated. While the setting and atmosphere is beautifully rendered, it holds an “old school” stiffness that is expected with older games. The environment is often stagnant and unmoving, while the water ‘lapping’ at the shore seems hard and rigid. Character movements are stinted and puppet-like, especially the sassy Patty who often resembles a little tea pot when she talks to you, bobbing around like some surreal marionette. The character designs, on the other hand, are gorgeous. And each character seems to have its own personality; from their physicality to their costume, a lot of love has gone into creating the cast for this game and it does not go unappreciated.

The one thing that I had the hardest time grasping is the inability to swim. I mean, I’m a pirate so why the hell can I not swim? It’s like when playing Assassin’s Creed and I have ability to scale huge buildings but I can’t climb a simple tree.

Overall, Risen 2 is a step up from its predecessor, but this is definitely a game that will probably slip under the radar of most gamers. The good points are too often undone by some fairly distracting technical faults and some frustrating moments during combat sequences, which can be trials of patience. The combat is dull and mindless and not even remotely entertaining, but if you can battle through the menial quests then maybe you’ll have a game worthy of your time. If you don’t finish the game then you can go ahead and watch Johnny Depp in The Pirates of the Caribbean films, instead. I can assure you the story lines are not really any different.

Pros

Pirates, need I say more?

Great storyline about…pirates

Cons

Not enough rum in the game

Combat was tedious and boring

Leveling up system could use a bit of tweaking

3/5