Review: Dragon Age 2- Mark of the Assassin

 

How's it going you filthy nug-humpers!? Mark of the Assassin is the second content DLC for Dragon Age 2. Apart from five new dungeons/zones to explore, MotA features a brand new companion named Tallis; a female elf rogue/assassin that is just as customizable as your other companions, and can be romanced!

Release Date: 11/Oct/2011

Platforms: Pc, Xbox 360, PS3.

Price: $9.99 for PS3, 800 BW pts/ MS pts for PC and 360.

Total run time: 5 hours (Blood/Force Mage Hawke, Tallis, Anders, Varric).

Difficulty: Moderate (The only tough encounter I had was at the beginning. I ran a 3 mage team, with varric, and I had no time to prep, before being thrown into battle).

Accessibility: Act 2, statue in your library, near the "Legacy" statue. Must install v1.03 (the DLC can install it for you too)

Summary: Though you start off in Hightown, 95% of MotA takes place in Orlais, in one of their picturesque mountain regions (or as Tallis puts it, in the middle of nowhere). Sadly, I can't really say much without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't played it yet. Just know that this DLc is much better than Legacy in most aspects, and is definitely worth the $10. Visuals/Audio: If you've been reading my other articles, or at least have seen my "screenies", you know that I'm a sucker for cool lighting; and we're on no short supply of that in MotA! Due to the fact that this DLC requires you to update to v1.03, you can be assured that the old graphic problems in 1.01 and 1.02 are a thing of the past. Not a lot of new things in this department, seeing as we are still running on the same engine, and this is a DLC and not an expansion. There are a few noteworthy things though; the score is awesome. Like the scores in the previous games, this does nothing more than enhance the gaming experience. It doesn't get in the way, and it doesn't sound out of place. Another thing would be the abundance of cleavage on Tallis... Sure, this makes me sound like a perv, but you've got to admit that it's a nice distraction, once in a while. 8/10

Story: The story revolves around, you guessed it; Tallis! For once, we're not forced to shove our heads into Hawke's family history, in search of answers as to why he/she is just so god damned bland. Tallis enlists your help to relieve an Orlesian duke of an item that he has no business possessing. But wait a second! Why would The Champion of Kirkwall know an Orlesian duke? Well, one of the many perks of being a Champion, is the fact that nobility find you to be an irresistible curiosity, and they're more than willing to send you invites to private parties, and whatnot! So all you have to do is mosey on down to his shindig, having Tallis as your "plus one" (more like a "plus three" really). And in true Bioware fashion, you'll eventually end up having to do a bit of killing now and then...it's all good fun, really. 10/10

Gameplay: As all balanced games strive to do, MotA encounters span from piss-easy to bat-fuck insane (all depending on your difficulty setting). I for one found the first encounter hard, because I usually run with a three mage team, along with Varric; meaning, I need to have my passives up, in order to survive (I wasted 3 Mythral's Favors). Some encounters were quite challenging, but none of which that can't be remedied with good strats and a bit of micro, here and there. This DLC has less trap interation, more head-on battles (that require a bit of micro), and an actual stealth mission. All in all, I find this DLC to be a bit more entertaining that it's predecessor. 9.5/10

This DLC offers a few new pieces of gear to play with, a few of which are...

- One Mage armor set

- New weapons for all three classes

- One rogue jewelry/trinket set

- Jewelry upgrade for Varric

Lastly, there are quite a few cameo appearances from old favorites; after all, would a trip to Orlais be complete without seeing everyone's favorite bard?

Total Score: 9.17/10

Buy it, what's $10 for 5 solid hours of unbridled entertainment?

TMG Podcast Episode 04: "The Revamp show"

And we're at it again, but with changes. The TMG Podcast is a show about the TMG crew having a good conversation about anything related to video games. Be it a new game release, a huge announcement, or just us banter about something completely stupid, or something hilarious about gaming.

In this episode, Quash, Kage, and Tim discuss - News of Dragon Age 3, the evolution of Dragon Age, Bioware as a whole, Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, Dead Island, Torchlight 2, Age of Conan, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Star Wars: The Old Republic, a bit of World of Warcraft talk, and even answer a good question " If you could buy only one game, would you pick Guild Wars 2 or Diablo 3??".

SPOILER ALERT!  We mention endings of Dragon Age: Origins and Knights of the Old Republic(KOTOR).  If you haven't finished Dragon Age: Orgins and want to avoid any spoilers, please skip 3:20 to 4:00 to avoid the talk about the ending of Origins. For people who haven't played KOTOR, skip 55:10 to 55:20 to avoid the ending of KOTOR.

Why did we have spoilers? well we're having a free discussion with a recorder in the middle, Thus us swearing a lot. The spoiler just came out i guess when we we're talking. We apologize for having spoilers, next episode we will make sure we avoid spilling out spoilers. Swearing? well, we'll just tone it down a bit. Maybe bleep it out? we'll see, but for now we're keeping episode 4 raw.

Head over to the link now to have a listen of TMG Podcast Episode 4! recorded on: (09/02/11) - http://www.divshare.com/download/15654839-b76

We had a blast so we hope you enjoy it as well. We'd appreciate it if you guys give us your feedback and comments so do hit the comments section.

DLC Review - Dragon Age II "All-Class Item Pack"

Yes, I caved in and bought it...

The Item Pack is the first Dragon Age 2 DLC to be released  since the ones that were released along with the game (The Exiled Prince, The Black Emporium, and the Signature Edition Rewards pack). It is available on all three platforms for the individual price of $2.99USD( 240BW or MS pts), or the combo price of $4.99USD( 400BW or MS pts). Each class-specific pack has both weapons and armor sets (no set bonus though) for Hawke, and a piece of jewelry for each your companions that share the same class as the pack you've bought (e.g. Merrill gets a ring with some sweet stats from the Mage Item Pack).

Mage Item Pack:

The MIP Comes with two sets of armor, one set for early game, and another for mid game, as well as a staff that scales with level (good enough till you get the Torch of Falon'Din or better). I'd love to have seen a second staff as opposed to a scaling staff, but I don't really have any gripes about the looks of this set. All "IP" items are good enough to last till you reach "champ level gear" (scaling items can potentially do better as your level rises). 

Warrior Item Pack:

The WIP comes with two sets of armor, two 2h swords , and a 1h axe and shield that scale to level. My only gripe is the fact that the early game helm looks a bit off, and that the shield doesn't match the mid game armor. The early game armor bears a striking resemblance to the "Legion of the Dead" armor.

Rogue Item Pack:

The RIP comes with two sets of armor, scaling dual daggers, and a scaling bow. The bow looks BADASS, and the daggers are okay (sort of look like wings on low res). I'm not exactly happy about the helm choices though.

Notes:

If you've played World of Warcraft, you'd most likely see these items as an offshoot to "Heirloom Items" or "BoA Items"; because they essentially replace gear you get from "drops" as you go on your adventure, only being replaced by the "top tier" equipment that you'll eventually get (although some pieces may be used in stead of the "champ armor" pieces for a slight boost in some stats; if runed properly) . It's basically the candy sprinkles on top of the whipped cream topping of a cupcake; nice cosmetic touch, but not really needed. Was it fun running around in my new digs? Yes. Was it worth my $5? Not really. It's something for die hard DA fans, RP nuts, and people who just have too much spare cash.

Grade: 50/100 

Buy Dragon Age 2, Get Mass Effect 2 for Free

I think that this offer is for anyone who still doesn't have Mass Effect 2 and having trouble on getting Dragon Age 2. Then it would be like buying the PC version of Mass Effect 2 to get Dragon Age 2 for free. Great job, Bioware! Anyway, it is still a great offer to anyone knowing that Mass Effect 2 is 2010's Game of the Year. So grab it before the promo ends on April 30.

To qualify and get your Mass Effect 2 PC download code, please follow these steps before April 30, 2011 at 11:59pm PDT:

1.         Activate the Online Pass content that came with your copy of Dragon Age II (The Black Emporium). 2.         Start the game and log in using your EA Account or create a new EA Account. 3.         Visit http://social.bioware.com/me2offer and log in with that EA Account. 4.         Enter your Online Pass code and click "Submit". You will then be provided the code for Mass Effect 2. 5.         Open the EA Download Manager and enter the code to commence download (if you don't have the EA Download Manager installed, it can be found here: http://eastore.ea.com/eadm).

For more information on this and answers to any frequently asked questions, please visit: DragonAge.BioWare.com/ME2Offer.

Dragon age II demo coming feb 22

The dragon age II website announced that there will be a demo for Dragon Age II. Thank god they decided to release a demo because a lot of people have doubts and issues on the changes made for the sequel. People saying it being less of an Baldur's Gate RPG game, more of a fast paced action with mashing buttons and it being in-tuned on how Mass Effect was developed. It being more like Mass Effect in terms of conversation I think is a step forward and i can't believe people were complaining about this. Don't you want a voice with your character?

Well with this demo, we can now all see for ourselves and all those doubts and speculation will go away. And honestly will be replaced with what we love or hate about the game. Regardless, We get to go hands-with this game to finally decide if the game is for us and if its worth the reservation or buying the collectors ed. Aside from the demo, Bioware is adding something special with the demo. They are calling for a Call to arms, asking you all to support the Dragon Age 2 demo reach 1 million downloads. If this is done, bioware will unlock 2 items for the community..........wow. Not much incentive if you ask me. Regardless of the items, i think we all want this demo.

Again for people who didin't get the memo up top, Dragon Age 2 demo coming to PSN Xbox live and PC on feb 22.

Dragon age II will be released on March 8, 2011 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.