Lost Levels: NCSoft Collector's Editions - Part Two

My brief synopsis of NCSoft's past collector's editions ended up being more picture intensive than I planned, so I'm putting the overflow in a second post. Despite the game's lack of success, Tabula Rasa was a well-conceived action rpg with interesting weapons/magic combat mechanics. Without going into too many details, it played like an MMO of Mass Effect, which was also released during the same month. Coincidence? Probably. Still, Tabula Rasa has a much more comprehensive collector's edition pulled straight from its fiction.

Lost Levels: NCSoft Collector's Editions - Part One

As I've made clear in the past, I'm not much of a PC gamer. My roots were always firmly planted in console gaming; pre-Nintendo I was rocking the Odyssey in my parents' basement. I barely touched a computer for gaming until early high school after witnessing the marvels of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight at a friend's house. Not realizing my PC was capable of manipulating the Force I promptly began to invest in some other worthy titles: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Civilization II , X-Wing: Rogue Squadron. Nothing really crazy, just the usual big-league titles that made the rounds in high school. It wasn't until college that I eventually dabbled in some MMORPGs like City of Heroes. While the appeal of playing in a progressive world kept me interested, the monthly fee draining my already low finances put a halt to the new endeavor. Eventually I met PC gaming halfway with Guild Wars, the only (good) subscription-free online RPG. By essentially flipping a massive multiplayer middle-finger to World of Warcraft, ArenaNet and NCSoft established itself as a respectable source of virtual worlds. Regardless of their level of success I've been a big fan of the games, and their respective universes. Here's a brief look at a few of NCSoft's other collector's editions, from the very successful to the quickly forgotten.

Preview - Game of Thrones: Visuals from the RPG

This weekend after a failed attempt to score some bonus AR cards from the recent Kid Icarus: Uprising events at Gamestop, I was able to secure a copy of the pre-order artbook for Game of Thrones. The upcoming RPG from Atlus is due next week and looks intriguing. Granted we're talking about a licensed game based on a cable show, based on a book series. Atlus has a respectable track record and usually does not disappoint. I haven't heard much about how this sidestory which blend with a compelling collection of literature, or the details of combat mechanics. Thankfully, from the look of this book, fans of the series expect a faithful visual interpretation of George R. R. Martin's fantasy epic.

Max Payne 3: The Promo Stuff

So Rockstar must really want us to remember the Max Payne series. Apparently they think gamers forgot about the awesome use of slo-mo bullet-time, the gritty and intense storyline, and the unique graphic novel style presentation. With the third and latest entry releasing next week, Rockstar has been ramping up awareness of Max Payne 3 like there's no tomorrow. Thankfully they're not asking us to remember this mess, but instead offering more reasons to support the original pill-popping hero in all his glory. With free stuff.

Ooh, you tease.

Review: The Walking Dead Episode One

There's a moment in the first episode of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead that sums up the unique experience. While our hero, the enigmatic newcomer Lee, is chatting with a series regular (both comic and TV), tension mounts as friendly conversation turns to inquisition. As I stumble to respond without hesitation I let slip a crucial bit of information about Lee's past. In that temporary lapse in judgement I forever changed two characters' relationship as well as the course of the game. That's what this short bit of adventure does so well; create engaging characters through brief but emotional dialogue. I've only logged a few hours with The Walking Dad's first (real) foray into video games and the second episode can't come soon enough. And I haven't even mentioned the zombies yet.

 They're walking, and they're dead. Are you following this?