Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011.^[7][8] It is the second chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy of video games.

Gameplay in Mass Effect 2 is influenced by decisions from the original Mass Effect. Many aspects of the game have been changed and refined, including the removal of long elevator rides, the Mako and a complex inventory system. Conversations with the A.I. have been given a more cinematic touch and players are now able to use a context-sensitive interrupt system. In combat, players now have ammunition and regenerable health.

After the events of Mass Effect, the Normandy is attacked by an unknown starship and Commander Shepard is killed. Shepard's body is recovered and he/she is brought back to life by Cerberus, a human supremacist organization led by the Illusive Man. Shepard eventually learns that the Reapers were responsible and working by proxy through an insect-like species called the Collectors, and that they are responsible for entire human colonies disappearing throughout the galaxy. Shepard must recruit and gain the loyalty of a diverse team in order to defeat the Collectors in a suicide mission.

A critical and commercial success, Mass Effect 2 shipped over two million copies worldwide in its first week of release,^[9] and has received universal critical acclaim.^[10] It is currently the third best reviewed game for Xbox 360 and the 14th best reviewed game of all time, according to GameRankings.^[11] The game holds over 70 perfect scores and has an average score of 96 for the Xbox 360 and 94 for the PC and PS3 on Metacritic.^[12][13][14] In July, 2011, IGN named Mass Effect 2 the best game of the modern console generation (2005 - present).^[15] In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.^[16]

Gameplay:

Certain decisions made by players in the original Mass Effect impact Mass Effect 2 in some form or another.^[17] When starting a new game, players are given an option whether to import saved files. If they choose to import a file, a summary of each one is given to help them decide which one to use.^[18] Imported Commander Shepards can be started from scratch if desired.

Players can dictate whether Shepard will die at the end of Mass Effect 2 based on their choices throughout the game. While exploring, recruiting squad members and hunting the Collectors, players can gather enemy intelligence and resources to purchase various upgrades for the Normandy that will have an effect on the final mission.^[19] If a player's Shepard dies at the end of the game, he/she cannot be imported into Mass Effect 3.^[20] Team members are affected by the player's decisions as well. Players will have missions to gain the loyalty of their squadmates. What the player does during the mission will determine whether they gain the loyalty of the squadmate. Gaining the loyalty of the squadmate will unlock a special power and also help in the final fight on the collector ship. Endings range from the entire team surviving to the entire team being killed, and everything in between.^[21]

The galaxy in Mass Effect 2 is more in-depth than in the original Mass Effect.^{[citation needed]} Uncharted worlds, which the player could only explore for "cheap thrills" in the first game, are now smaller but much more detailed.^[22] The Mako - used for planetary exploration in the first Mass Effect - was not included in Mass Effect 2.^[23] A drop shuttle is used instead, directly transporting the player to areas of immediate interest.^[24] Long elevator rides, used to disguise loading times in the original Mass Effect, were removed entirely, replaced by loading screens.^[25]

During conversations with the A.I., camera positioning has been improved. Previously static, the camera now moves around to provide a cinematic touch.^[19] Another new feature during conversations is a context-sensitive interrupt system; in addition to neutral, Renegade and Paragon dialogue options, Shepard is now able to interrupt the conversation when prompted with on-screen controls.^[26]

When the player starts losing health, a red ring will begin to form around the screen. Ammunition is also shown in the bottom left corner. Both are new features from the original Mass Effect.

Combat

Combat in Mass Effect 2 was radically changed from the original Mass Effect. Players can no longer heal themselves with medi-gel; instead, they have regenerating health and can only use medi-gel to revive downed squad mates.^[27] The ability to fire a weapon no longer relies on an overheating system; instead, ammunition is used.^[28] Ammunition is universal across most standard weapons, unlike in most other third person shooters where different weapons require specific ammunition.^[29]

There are 19 different weapons divided into 6 types in Mass Effect 2, which is considerably less than in the first Mass Effect.^[30] Grenades from the first game have been replaced by heavy weapons,^[31] and sub-machine guns have been added as a weapon class. Characters are no longer required to invest in weapon skills; instead, they are given class-specific weapons from the get-go and can easily upgrade them fully. Research can be accomplished for upgrades to weapon damage, ammo capacity, and accuracy. Armor restrictions have been removed^[32] and players are able to upgrade their armor through research, and through the purchase interchangeable components.

System Requirements:

Minimum Recommended PC[33] Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, or Windows 7 CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 or equivalent AMD CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E4700 or equivalent AMD CPU Memory 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista and 7) 2 GB RAM Hard drive space 15 GB Graphics hardware NVIDIA GeForce 6800 256 MB or ATi Radeon X1600 Pro 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB or ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT 512 MB Network Internet connection not required for activation. Required for one-time Cerberus Network activation and extra content download(s).

Mass Effect

Mass Effect is an award-winning, bestselling series of science fiction RPG third-person shooter video games developed by the Canadian company BioWare and released for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and, from the second installment, for the PlayStation 3. The first game in the planned trilogy centers around a player created character named Commander Shepard and his/her mission to save thegalaxy from a race of mechanical beings known as the Reapers, and its followers, including the brainwashed Saren Arterius. The first game sees Shepard facing Sovereign, a Reaper left as a vanguard, who plans to allow the Reaper fleet currently hibernating in extra-galactic dark space to invade the Milky Way and destroy all sapient organic life, continuing a mysterious cycle of destruction. The second game takes place two years later, and sees Shepard battling the Collectors, an alien race abducting entire human colonies in a plan to help the Reapers return to the Milky Way. The third and final game will center on the final battle against the Reapers.

Since the beginning the series has been a major critical success. Both games have received critical acclaim for their storyline, characters, romances, voice acting, choices, tolerance of diversity, and the depth of the galaxy.^[1][2][3] Video game website GamesRadarcalled Mass Effect the best new franchise of the generation, saying that the galaxy was so well-constructed that it felt like a decades-old franchise and that it represented "a high-water mark for video games as a story-telling medium."^[4]

System requirements 

Component	Minimum	Recommended
OS	Windows XP / Windows Vista
Processor	2.4Ghz Intel or 2.0Ghz AMD	2.6Ghz Intel or 2.4Ghz AMD
Memory	1GB (Windows XP) / 2GB (Windows Vista)	2GB
Graphic Card	Nvidia GeForce 6 series (6800GT or better) / ATI 1300XT or better	Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX or higher / ATI X1800 XL series or higher
Disk Space	12GB
Sound Card	DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is a 2009 strategic life simulation computer game developed by The Sims Studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is thesequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims 2. It was first released on June 2, 2009 simultaneously for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. The Sims 3 was released to home consoles on October 26, 2010, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS and Nintendo DS and later the Wii platform on November 15, 2010. There is also a Nintendo 3DS version, released on March 27, 2011, as one of its launch titles.^[5]It has also been released for mobile phone platforms, and a simpler version for mobiles with Java.

The Sims 3, an instant success, sold 1.4 million copies in its first week.^[6][7] Critics issued mostly positive reviews. The Sims 3 gained an 86/100 score from aggregator Metacritic.^[8] The game has sold over ten million copies worldwide since its 2009 release, making it one of the best-selling computer games of all time.^[9]

Gameplay:

The Sims 3 is built upon the same concept as its predecessors. Players control their own Sims in activities and relationships in a similar manner to real life. The game play is open-ended and indefinite. Sim houses and neighborhoods are entirely in one continuous map. The developers stated, "What you do outside your home now matters as much as what you do within." One of the biggest changes to the franchise is the use of rabbit-holes. Your sim isn't allowed to go inside the majority of city buildings; instead, they simply disappear inside for a certain amount of time--a feature known in video games as a rabbit-hole--while you are given very basic choices on what happens inside without actually seeing it. This was a rather large step backwards for The Sims franchise, as the previous installments had many fun and exciting locales in which your sims could cavort. For example, instead of walking your sim and her date inside a restaurant and watching the waiter serve them dinner as they nuzzle each other at the table, as you could in The Sims 2, you now wait outside while getting little text alerts about your sim's activities. This lack of interaction with the city has led many critics to wonder why such emphasis was put on walking around town when there's hardly anything for your sim to really do.

The game includes an optional feature called "Story Progression", which allows all Sims in the neighborhood to autonomously continue as if the player were controlling them, such as grow up, get married, get jobs and promotions, have children, build or buy their dream house while the player isn't playing.

The Sims 2 used a reward system called Wants and Fears. This is replaced with a new system called Wishes in The Sims 3. Fulfilling a Sim's wish contributes to the Sim's Lifetime Happiness score and mood. Some wishes, such as "Go to the Park", may add little points to their lifetime happiness while "Have A Baby Boy" may add thousands of points. In The Sims 2, Wants and Fears also contributed to a Sim's "Aspiration" meter, roughly analogous to current self-esteem. In The Sims 3, Aspiration is removed entirely, replaced with "Moodlets", which contribute positive or negative values to the original Motivation meter. Moodlets can be inspired by physical events, such as having a good meal or comfort from sitting in a good chair, as well as emotional events like a first kiss or a break-up. Most moodlets last for a set duration, but some negative Moodlets can be cured (such as the one incurred by an urgent need to urinate) and some positive ones rely on the Sim's surroundings and traits.

Sims live for a set duration of time (adjustable by the player) and advance through several stages (baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, and elder). Sims can die of old age or they can die prematurely from causes such as fire, starvation, drowning, electrocution, (as of the World Adventures expansion pack) The Mummy's curse, (as of the Ambitions expansion pack) a meteor, and (as of the Late Night expansion pack) by thirst (vampires only). One of the major new additions to gameplay is Opportunities, tasks that Sims can complete to earn rewards. These challenges occur randomly based on aspects of each Sim's lifestyle, such as relationships, skills and job. Career opportunities such as working overtime or completing special tasks can yield a pay raise, cash bonus, or relationship boost. Skill opportunities are requests by neighbors or community members for Sims to solve problems using their acquired skills for cash or relationship rewards. If the opportunity is connected to a Sim's school, the reward may be increased school performance.

Create a Sim

A player editing a Sim in Create a Sim.

Create a Sim (CAS) now has more customizable options for Sims than the CAS in The Sims 2. The player now has a larger selection of body types for Sims, and are able to create different hair styles for every Sim. The player is now able to pick their Sim's shoes.

There are a total of 22 hairstyles for female Sims and 17 hairstyles for male Sims. There are a variety of hats and hair accessories that the player can use, but they all come with set hairstyles. Each of the hats and accessories can also have their colors and textures altered. Hairstyles can be chosen separately for each outfit. Each hairstyle's colour can be customized with one of eight basic colors. but players can customize the hair further by clicking the paintbrush icon. Individual colors for the base, roots, tips and highlights of the Sim's hair can be customised with a color palette and slider. 4 new men hairstyles were added with the Pets expansion pack, and some men clothes. The Sim's basic hair color can be changed to even unnatural colors, as can the color of the roots, tips, and highlights. There are a variety of preset hairstyles which can be chosen for the Sim, and the colour of the Sim's hair can be chosen or customized. User-made hair colours can be saved onto the bin and used later, and will be used by generated Sims. Hair colors can be shared to the exchange for other players to download and use.

Compared to previous games in the series, a lot more things can be modified. It is possible to just change the nose, for example, and it is possible to use the Advanced Mode to go into more depth (such as to change nostril definition, nose tip scale and bridge height). There are more hairstyles than that in The Sims 2 and The Sims core games combined. The player cannot add layers when customizing clothing, but if the clothes already have layers then the colors and textures for each layer can be altered. The player can also click on any part of the Sim and the Create a Sim tool takes them directly to the right menu for editing whatever is selected. There is an eyelash length slider bar. Socks and shoes are also fully customizable.An interesting edition is the breast, muscle, muscle definition and body weight sliders. These can be fully adjusted to create much more realistic looking Sims.

The player can choose the Sim's full name, age, gender, skin tone, weight and muscle tone. There are six possible skin tones, but only three of the six are realistic. The other three are green, red, and blue. There is a slider so the player can edit how light or dark the skin tone is. For example, they can make a light green Sim with a dark green mother and a light skinned father. Body modifiers also use sliders that adjust weight from thin to fat and muscle size from flabby to muscular. In the Late Night expansion pack, sliders for muscle definition and breast size were added. Height still cannot be changed, due to conflicts with animation. In The Sims 2, players could only choose between two basic body types: normal and fat. A third body type - Fit - could only be achieved in the game and not on the Create A Sim menu. In The Sims 3, however, body weight is determined by moving a slider left or right. Sims can be extremely skinny or extremely fat. However, toddlers do not have the option to have their weight customized. This can be decreased through gameplay if the Sim uses the Athletic skill and exercises or increased if the Sim eats with the Stuffed mood let.

In the clothing tab, players can choose what their Sims will wear. Five categories include everyday wear, formal wear, sleepwear, athletic wear, and swimwear. Each type of clothes found in each categories include tops, bottoms, full-body outfits, footwear (which players can choose, unlike in The Sims and The Sims 2), eye wear, earrings, gloves, bracelets, rings and socks. Players can create up to three outfits in all categories. Outfits can be customized during gameplay by clicking on a dresser. The color and pattern of the clothes can be chosen by the player with the Create a Style tool. However toddlers do not have the option to have athletic wear, swimwear and accessories chosen and/or customized. Accessories can also be added and customized also with the Create a Style tool.

Players can choose any of the traits available in the menu. Players can also can choose their Sim's favorite food, music and color. The Sim's voice is customizable as well. Toddlers have one voice slider, children have two voice sliders, and teenagers and older have three voice sliders. They can also pick the Sim's lifetime wish, which is a goal a Sim will be working for all of their lifetime until it is fulfilled. Zodiac signs are added in Late Night^[10] and Patch 1.7, which make Sims more friendly with other Sims of compatible signs. Players can also write the biography of their Sims. However, toddlers, children and teenagers don't have the option to have their lifetime wish chosen in CAS, but children and teens will be able to choose it once they are out of CAS.

System requirements

Requirements Windows[22] Operating system Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows VistaService Pack 1 or Windows 7 CPU Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent 2.0GHz (XP) 2.4GHz (Vista or 7) [If built-in graphics chipsets then 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.] Memory 1 GB (XP) 1.5GB (Vista or 7) [If built-in graphics then add 0.5 GB additional RAM] Hard drive space 6.1GB or more for extra content Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compatible card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA FX 5900/ATI 9500 or better) and support for Pixel Shader 2.0 Sound hardware 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible card Macintosh Operating system Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard CPU Intel Core Duo Processor Memory 2 GB Hard drive space 6.1GB of free space and 1GB for additional content Graphics hardware ATI X1600 or NVIDIA 7300 GT with 128 MB RAM or Intel Integrated GMA X3100