March certainly did come in like a lion and go out like a lamb! Heavy hitter Mass Effect 3 dominated a lot of our play lists in the beginning, while we went out on a softer note with the puzzles of Final Fantasy XIII-2. But it seems that most of us were just slogging through our backlogs, as we always seem to be when either we can’t afford the newer games or we just don’t care for them. Read on, friends, and find out what we played in the last month!
John Scalzo
Editor-In-Chief
For the month of March I played a ton of Mass Effect 3… no… not really. Instead of playing the biggest game of the month, I settled in with a few under-the-radar titles. Some, like Konami’s Blades of Time, are under-the-radar for a reason. The clunky brawler was practically smuggled into stores by an indifferent Konami. It’s a pretty basic hack-and-slash, but with its ridiculous story and hard-to-handle special moves, it’s not going to be winning any awards. But at least it’s better than the previous game in the series, X-Blades.
But one game from March that definitely did not fly under the radar was the Grasshopper/Digital Reality team-up Sine Mora. The steampunk shoot ’em up oozes style and its bullet time-like “Time Capsule” mechanic is awesome. Look for a full review next week.
Nicole Kline
Senior Editor
Ah, March. I spent most of March doing nothing but playing Final Fantasy XIII-2, much to my chagrin. I spent so much time with Serah and the gang that I neglected almost everything else. When I was out and about, I played a lot of Silent Hill on my PSP, and this week I finally got my Vita! So expect to hear a lot about that in next month’s roundup. Oh, and I played a ton of Words With Friends and Draw Something, which means I had to charge my phone constantly. Other than that, it’s just been a lot of Dungeons & Dragons – we started an awesome new campaign called Zeitgeist that I really love. Think steampunk D&D – we have guns! And Ryan Littlefield just got me Prototype for my birthday, so here’s hoping I can beat that before the sequel comes out!
Ryan Littlefield
Podcast Producer
March was a total blur – it seemed like the month didn’t even exist, and because of that, I really only seemed to have time to focus on one game: Mass Effect 3. Before that though, I was working on finishing up my save file of Final Fantasy XIII – my second playthrough, and so I’ll be finishing that in the coming weeks. I spent maybe one session a piece with Demon’s Souls and Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2011. But I did get to spend some more quality time with my Vita, playing Hustle Kings on that as well as Unit 13. It’s an impressive game despite all its odd shortcomings and inexplicable technical errors, but it’s definitely an essential one to check out, and it displays the Vita’s capabilities well.
Andrew Rainnie
Staff Writer
Like Ryan, I cannot believe it is the end of March. Where did this month go? Finishing my novel, that’s where!
Well, despite Nicole handing me my proverbial ass during several games of Zynga’s Words With Friends, I tested out Amazon UK’s trade-in beta site, since it looks as though GAME will not be around much longer to do so. For seven games, I managed to get back an impressive four – Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Batman: Arkham City, L.A. Noire, and last but not least Mass Effect 2 (yes, I missed the whole ME boat – sue me. No wait, don’t; I’m not BioWare).
I managed to complete AC:R in four days, and was kind of let down by the ending – it’s a game series thats getting to a level of frustrated storytelling that “Lost” managed to reach. (Speaking of “Lost,” having now played Arkham City for over a week, have you heard the cool easter eggs where the henchmen discuss the show? It made my day.)
Which to start next – L.A. Noire or ME2? Or will I fall further into my social gaming addiction with Draw Something?. Find out next month folks, same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel!
Chris Urie
Staff Writer
It was in March that I got reacquainted with my old friend Nathan Drake. Uncharted 3 proved to be another solid entry into the franchise that was full of rip-roaring adventure and sly one-liners from PlayStation’s favorite treasure-hunting scamp. I also jumped head first into Mass Effect‘s universe in order to prepare myself for the epic conclusion that everyone seems to be talking about. (I know, I know, I’m way late.) Finally, to round off the month, I decided to get some nostalgia kicks from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It isn’t the best in the Zelda pantheon, but it’s still enjoyable to strap on the old emerald tunic and save the princess. Now if she’d jusy stop getting herself into scrapes, I could take a break from saving Hyrule and relax while cliff diving in Zora’s Domain.
