We started off the evening with a quick visit to Adam’s place to see his new yacht personal space.  Here we are chillin’ in the hot tub.

We had to leave Adam’s place though because we had to catch a showing  of episode 3 of The Tester, in Home’s Movie Theater.  It was something.  I think were invested now so  this is going to go on until The Tester is no more.  Oh Hal Sparks.  You have betrayed me. But I digress…..

After we filled our weekly douche chill quota, we moved on to a new area which is a beach.  There you are able to lay in the sun, swim and scuba dive for free goodies.  I found a pair of shabby shoes!  What’s not to love?!  So we did all of that fun stuff until we ran across a couple chatting on the beach.  I don’t know what came over us, but this is the result.

Makkers was the first to notice our new friends.  He introduced himself…. sorta.

He started a trend because the next think I know, all of us EZMU’ers and a few random people from the beach were enjoying this couple’s company.  To answer your question, no, they were not happy with this.  Nothing like a good mean muggin’ on the beach….. or a stormtrooper also on the beach.

Where will next Sunday take us?  Who knows?  But the good news is is that we continue to grow and many good times are had!

Here are the scores for each round….(click on the graph for a better view)

And here are the overall standings….(click on the graph for a better view)

Stay tuned for week 4 details on the boards.

Dismissed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZMU!!!!

Wow, one whole year as a podcast/blog/forum.  It’s been so great!  Join us as we talk to listeners, play some voicemails, read some emails, and talk about games.  It’s not our usual format, but it’s a great way to start a new year of EZMU greatness.

We’ll be back next week with our usual EZMU, but until then, feel free to leave a review on iTunes, follow us on Twitter @ezmodeunlocked or leave us a voicemail 405-EZ-MODE-U.

Thanks a ton to everyone who has joined us in the past year.  Here’s to many more!

 
Originally I created this as a teaser to what would be montages every week or at the end of the league. The issue is that one persons recordings, even with the kill cams, is a bit boring. Then I had the idea to invite yall to record as well and give me your footage so I could compile all them together. In the end I decided this was perhaps a bit much to ask. So for now its just a fun little video, but if anyone WANTS to record, let me know. I recorded mine by simply putting a camera in front of the screen. A bit ghetto, but it works.

So now onto the stuff yall really want to see, the scores.

Team one was victorious, but it was a battle for the books. Team 2 only lost by 1 match.

Here are the breakdowns of everyones performance
(Click on the graph for a better view)
These are the RAW scores before any adjustment.

Now on to Oatmeal’s explanation of the scoring:

“Doc has allowed me to come up with a scoring system for the MW2 tournament. I wanted something that was simple to calculate, simple to understand and fair for everyone. The points system that I have created awards points for your individual performance and reward bonus points for your team’s performance (not applicable for the Free-For-All matches.)

The easiest way to explain the points system is to show you an example.

This week I (sucked) scored 540, 1,320, 980, 620 and 800 XP. Compared against the field I placed 13th, 6th, 12th, 13th and 8th. If you look at the table below that translates into 40, 75, 45, 40 and 65 points for a total of 265 points.

Finish Points
1 100
2 95
3 90
4 85
5 80
6 75
7 70
8 65
9 60
10 55
11 50
12 45
13 40
14 35
15 30
16 25
17 20
18 15

I was on the winning team 3 rounds and earned 30 bonus points (10 per win) and an extra 25 points because our team won the majority of the matches. That increased my total to 320 points.

I feel this scoring system is a better way to balance the different game types to make them all equally important. It does so while showcasing the better player, encouraging everyone else as well as rewarding team and individual play without being too heavily skewed in any particular direction.

Weekly Seeding will be based on your average score per round played. If you miss a week or even a single round your average will not be skewed lower making for more balanced teams. We can also reconfigure the teams on the fly if someone is a last minute scratch to keep things fair.

If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact me. This is our trial run with a tournament and may use this scoring system again and are not opposed to making changes to the system.”

——Oatmeal

So all that being said, here are the overall rankings for everyone! (Click on the graph for a better view)

Week 3 details and teams will be posted in the forums very soon!

Thanks again for all participants! And, as always, thanks to Oatmeal for all his hard work with the graphs and helping me with the scoring system. This guy is a damn spreadsheet guru!

This past week there were two major news stories for the PlayStation world.

1. The “Game Over Barmy” shirt was released in Home to commemorate the departure of the infamous Barmy from The Tester.

2. PS3s across the globe mysteriously stopped functioning properly.

Coincidence? You decide, but despite those hurdles Dana and Rob were still able to log into Home and watch the latest episode of The Tester on Sunday night. I remember almost nothing about it. People in bubbles, David Jaffe not being angry enough to be entertaining, whatever.

We never got a post out for the previous week’s Home escapades, which include a tale now told across the internet, when a (semi) innocent TreesLounge00 found himself in a compromising position in the basement arcade of the MotorStorm area.

For that sordid tale, you’ll have to view the evidence here.

(I can’t believe I sat down the ran those through Photoshop.)

Tune in to the regularly scheduled Home Sundays with the EZ-Mode Unlocked crew. 10PM EST in Home. Be there.

You asked for a new theme song, so we’re letting YOU choose one for us!  Post a link in the blog comments to a song that you think we should use.  User created songs are encouraged! Please remember that licensed music is NOT allowed.

Nest week is our one year anniversary!  Help us celebrate by calling in live, or leaving a voicemail!  We wanna hear from everyone!

Forums – Barmy’s Revenge! – Trees goes JPop Crazy – Rob’s Freaky Car

Question of the Week

Blog Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob doubts this story very much

Dana has a new #1

Trees can’t figure out this dog’s motives

Present

Rob plays with weighted precipitation

Dana goes probin’

Trees rules the land

Future

Rob plays America’s past time

Dana isn’t excited for an other open world game, but she’s going to play another one

Trees hits a mouse minion for 11 dmg

]]> http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/03/01/ez-mode-unlocked-episode-051/feed/ 1 108:32 Nest week is our one year anniversary!nbsp; Help us celebrate by calling in live, or leaving a voicemail!nbsp; We wanna hear from everyone! Forums - Barmy's ... Nest week is our one year anniversary!nbsp; Help us celebrate by calling in live, or leaving a voicemail!nbsp; We wanna hear from everyone! Forums - Barmy's Revenge! - Trees goes JPop Crazy - Rob's Freaky Car Question of the Week Blog Update Past, Present #38; Future Past Rob doubts this story very much Dana has a new #1 Trees can't figure out this dog's motives Present Rob plays with weighted precipitation Dana goes probin' Trees rules the land Future Rob plays America's past time Dana isn't excited for an other open world game, but she's going to play another one Trees hits a mouse minion for 11 dmg Podcast EZModeUnlocked.com yes No http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/02/23/mw2-league-week-1-results/ http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/02/23/mw2-league-week-1-results/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:59:30 +0000 docStrangluv http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/?p=2962

Hey everyone! The first week was a great success regardless of how crazy it was. A HUGE thanks to all who showed up and I cannot wait for next week. (I will be posting the team list in the next few days)

The raw data of the points for the first week is below. After much thought, and discussion with some people, I have decided that instead of everyone getting their straight points, there will be a percentage/ranking system put in place. So, for example, the first week will count as a lower percentage than the second week. This is just another layer to help keep things fair, give everyone a chance at the trophy, and keep the emphasis on fun. Stay tuned for details about the scoring system updates.

Xenocide (7,100)
Yummy Flaquito (5,950)
fatboy01 (5,100)
Mr Doom (4,950)
Los (4,500)
VillainVII (4,350)
docStrangluv (4,300)
Geekboy2424 (4,100)
CanadianDana80 (3,800)
spydersvenom (3,800)
Oatmeal25 (3,400)
Franklloydwrong (3,300)
Adam.S.S (2,800)
Gunhaver (2,350)
Quark60 (2,000)
techieq (1,850)
Duke (600)
JillyDad (0)

Thanks to Oatmeal for the help with spreadsheet and organizing some ideas.

(apologies for the low quality graph, the next one will be nicer)

Our one year is coming up fast!  What should we do to celebrate?  Would you like to see any changes in the show?  Got a segment idea you’d like to see, or one you’d like to see cut?  How can we improve?  (and please don’t say nothing!)

Email/Voicemail

Forums – Woman Seduces Kid of Home (and no, it’s not Dana) – More Sim Games for Dana – We’re off to the movies!

Question of the Week

Blog Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob is a big daddy

Dana makes googy creatures

Trees throws an AdHoc Party!

Present

Rob wobbles but he don’t fall down

Dana is spoiled!  What else is new?

Trees goes anti-g

Future

Rob gets a confirmation text

Dana is in a world of hurt

Trees wants to play a story that makes no sense and is hard to understand

]]> http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/02/22/ez-mode-unlocked-episode-050/feed/ 2 127:34 Email/Voicemail Forums - Woman Seduces Kid of Home (and no, it's not Dana) - More Sim Games for Dana - We're off to the movies! Question of ... Email/Voicemail Forums - Woman Seduces Kid of Home (and no, it's not Dana) - More Sim Games for Dana - We're off to the movies! Question of the Week Blog Update Past, Present #38; Future Past Rob is a big daddy Dana makes googy creatures Trees throws an AdHoc Party! Present Rob wobbles but he don't fall down Dana is spoiled!nbsp; What else is new? Trees goes anti-g Future Rob gets a confirmation text Dana is in a world of hurt Trees wants to play a story that makes no sense and is hard to understand Podcast EZModeUnlocked.com yes No http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/02/17/god-of-war-collection-gow1-review/ http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/02/17/god-of-war-collection-gow1-review/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:21:03 +0000 Rob http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/?p=2944

When God of War was released in 2005 it set a new standard for character action games that many developers still haven’t lived up to. Everything about the game is on an epic scale, and the character and set design are consistently impressive. All of this is set to a dynamic musical score and runs at a fast and smooth frame rate.

Kratos has a diverse collection of attack options you can experiment with if you choose, but the game allows you to progress on simple button mashing if you want to keep it light and fun.

The revamped visuals on the collection disk are thorough and well done. They may not compete with today’s games, but they never stand out as old. The game looks good.

There are some elements that make GoW fall short when compared with alternatives for today’s gamer, however. The restricted camera means you take shots from enemies off screen, fumble around to find obscure entrances to the next section of a level and you’ll be switching thumbstick directions to move towards the same target if the camera angle suddenly changes on you.

Some of the puzzles are needlessly frustrating, like the Hades blade towers, and others seem silly for a god-killing war machine like Kratos to be engaged in, such as “Stonehenge Tetris.”

Playing the original God of War is a great way to get ready for the release of the new game, and I’m sure that’s why the collection exists, but it’s probably the only reason you should play it at this point.

Have your gaming habits ever gotten in the way of your social life or personal life in a negative way?  Pissed off a Wife/Husband, a GF/BF?  Forgot to shower for a few weeks?  Missing work?  Tell us about it!

Email and Voicemail

Fourms – Join Redlow’s UO event – New Calendar www.ezmodeunlocked.com/calendar

Question of the Week

Blog Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob calls baggage claim

Dana remembers soda

Trees self destructs

Present

Rob has the audacity to play another game

Dana gets to play the past

Trees goes probing

Future

Rob rides the 18 wheels of steel

Dana takes back everything she said about this game when Trees talked about it 3 weeks ago

Trees is stopped dead in his tracks

It has arrived! The long-awaited Modern Warfare 2 EZco show. Doc, Kyle, Oatmeal, and special live call-in guest Fatboy talk single player, spec ops, and most importantly, multi-player. Come join the fun!

Direct link to MP3 here.

Mass Effect 2 is appealing to lots of gamers, and for good reason.  If you like shooters, RPGs or dialog driven stories then you’ll find something about it to latch on to, and in the process you’ll discover how good the other parts are.  What’s worth noting is that it keeps the mixture of those elements balanced, and presents them all with a high budget polish.

As a continuation of the first game, or as a standalone story, Mass Effect 2 excels at making you interested in its characters.  The optional crew member loyalty missions are unique and you’ll want to do them all.  Recruiting all of the possible crew members and completing their side missions makes up more than half of the game and is the best part of the experience.  It’s not a grind or a chore.

Other than a few small design issues – close quarters combat can be disorienting when combined with cover, and scanning planets for minerals becomes tedious – Mass Effect 2 is a fantastic game that transcends its basic “save the galaxy” plot by populating your part of the universe with interesting characters that you feel invested in.

Mass Effect 2 is available on Xbox360 and PC.

What is your favorite snack to eat while gaming?

Emails

Forums – Some PC games you might have missed – LOTS of Mass Effect 2 talk – UO server is UP!

Question of the week

Blog update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob parties with rock stars

Dana does not enjoy pee on the floor

Trees sends a ‘fish mail’

Present

Rob goes on a gaming marathon

Dana is saving her robot lady

Trees finds out that being manly is the most important part of being a man

Future

Rob is excited for more destruction

Dana can’t hear it

Trees is a perv

Thinking about the concept of Stop Stress is probably more entertaining than playing the game.  Your bikini girl beach dream is inturrupted by the morning alarm clock, throwing you into an acid trip anger frenzy that lasts all day long.

During the journey you trash your apartment, kill your boss, throw bricks at cops, fight off  hallucination monsters and axe airport security guards in the face.  Quite visceral for a WiiWare game, no?

The only problem with Stop Stress is that the controls are horrible and despite the above list of fun-filled activities, the game manages to be boring to actually play.  Fun to show off to friends, and worth a laugh under the right circumstances, maybe, but after reading this you already know what the best parts are, and they’re less fun than you’re imagining them to be.

Stop Stress: A Day of Fury is available for download on WiiWare.

Thanks to Isaiah for making this in the infamous area

To whom it may concern,

This week was an interesting one for the EZ-Mode Unlocked Club.  Interesting because it seemed a little off.  I guess suppose even the biggest of parties has to slow down once in a while.  But never fear, despite the quiet evening, we still managed to get some great pictures of our adventures.

We started the evening out by checking out West43rd’s waterfall home.  It was beautiful! The first picture is of all of us hanging around, and the other is of Trees and West43rd chatting.

Once we had totally outstayed our welcome in West43’s house, Adam S.S brought us over to his England Pub for some drinks and darts.  As you can see Rob and Trees did neither of those.

Then it was off to the gamer lounge.  Which for a lounge for gamers is pretty boring.  No games, no music… just an airport cafeteria kind of room.  You may remember this space from the first letter you read.  This is where the famous ska wall took place.  What made this evening a little better is that we met a girl in a bikini with a hamster head on.  That’s really what home is all about, isn’t it?

Signed,

EZ-Mode Unlocked Club

Welcome everyone to the first ever EZ-Mode Unlocked Modern Warfare 2 League. We have taken many suggestions and structured the league to accommodate players of all levels and play styles. It’s going to be a blast!f

Our first event is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 21st.

Come check out the details here, see who is playing, and sign up yourself!

 
Submitted by quark60

It’s The Rocketeer, Ironman, and Independence Day with a hint of Nathan Drake, all rolled into one!

Submitted by Los

Games come and go. Some stay in your head others buzz off and are forgotten. And then there are the few that you sit down and play through till it’s done and then can’t help but ask yourself, “what the hell was that?” Dark Void is that game.

You play as Nathan Drake, as The Rocketeer. No, wait; you’re Will, my mistake. It’s so easy to confuse the two (damn you Nolan North. How about taking a little break before over exposure gets us all Northed out). The story takes place in the ever popular, rarely ever used in video games, World War II era. But there is a twist. You get sucked into the Bermuda Triangle and get thrown into another dimension where there is a war going on between the Survivors, humans who have gotten there the same way you have, and the Watchers, a sort of alien/robot species that once ruled over humans and who are trying to get back into the regular dimension to take control and enslave humanity once more.

And that’s about where I lost track of everything.

Somewhere between bad story telling, mediocre third person shooter gameplay, and trying to not fall off cliffs and ledges to my death, I was starting to lose interest really fast. It’s as if they wanted the gameplay to tell the story for them so they didn’t bother introducing characters or explaining who and what. This is fine. But not when what you’re doing is boring and slowly paced. That is, until you reach the later parts of the second half of the game. That’s when someone pushes the Ludicrous Speed button and passes by the stuff that you were actually wanting to know.

So why did I keep playing? Simple. I’m a sucker for flying. I love flying in games. That coupled with my love for the 1991 Disney movie The Rocketeer, Dark Void had an unfair grip on my jetpack ignition. Don’t get it twisted, the flying is not the greatest, but if you need a fix and want to do some air combat then this will tie you over. They had some neat ideas when trying to put this game together, it’s just too bad they were poorly executed. Like hijacking a UFO, which sounds like fun doesn’t it? Well it was the first time. But doing it’s drawn out button pressing over and over isn’t exactly a good time. And then there’s the “which way is up? Oh, never mind, I just found this nice hard wall” problem that kept popping up for me. If that wasn’t when I was trying to follow something in the air, it was the kickback from initially turning the jetpack on where I’d go shooting off flailing in the air for a few seconds before I rocketed head first into a wall. Apart from a few annoyances, I can’t complain about this aspect of the game because it is what I was looking forward to the whole time. I guess you can say I had fun with it. Sadly, those flying levels took up about 35%-40% of the game itself.

Umm, call me crazy, but aren’t your legs supposed to be burnt off by now?

The rest of the game you were on foot shooting different colored robots. This gameplay is what got me weary. It was playable, but there just didn’t feel like there was any depth to it. And then you had this weird vertical cover system. Where you would rocket up to a ledge, and hang underneath it but not like you would think. You’re crouched behind a vertical ledge in a very uncomfortable and unnatural looking position especially for someone with a jetpack on their back. And if you think that would mess with your head and cause you to go a little dizzy, trust me, you are spot on.

In the end, it’s hard to say go out and play this game. Because I for one would be happy never touching it again. Sadly, the ending leaves it wide open for a sequel. It’s too bad you’ll be left wondering what the hell just happened when the game ends, leaving that want and need for a sequel nowhere to be found. The story felt very slow and then very rushed with no happy medium. And the only part of it all that’s enjoyable is a small percentage of the game as a whole. When it was over the smile on my face was priceless, because I knew that I can finally toss Dark Void into itself. (Get it? A dark v… nevermind.)

Final Judgment,
2.5 Water Bottles Full of Pee, out of 5

Speaking of which, be careful after you play a lot of the flying levels and then go to pee. This surprisingly deadly combination caused me to get dizzy and almost fall over into my toilet.

Submitted by Geekboy2424 a.k.a. The Young Gamer

Legos. You like playing with them right? I mean, who doesn’t?

This is the first thing that comes to my mind. I have never seen a game like Banjo and Kazooie N&B, and I would like for somebody to tell me about one. In a nutshell, Its Banjo Kazooie, with cars instead of Kazooie’s talents. You can make ANYTHING. The only catch is that you have to unlock it in the story mode, which isn’t that much a problem because the story mode is fun and a collectathon just like the old games. It’s got the same sense of humor that only Rare can provide. You collect Jiggies by beating challenges by making cars that fit the description for the challenge. Its a lot of fun, and as you progress, you unlock the more awesome parts for your vehicles.

The story isn’t much, but it gets you by and gives you a reason to collect everything. So if this game sounds like your style, then try out the demo! It actually represents the game very well, and you get the feel of the game as soon as you’ve played it. I love the game, and hopefully you will too!

Zombies are SoooOooooOo last decade.  What monster would you like to replace them in video game popularity?  I will also accept mythical creatures and super awesome animals.

Emails/Voicemails

Forums – We’re excited for PSN’s The Tester – We’re also getting ready for Heavy Rain! – Trade your games with community members

Question of the Week

Blog Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

What did Rob play?

Dana co-ops for the first time

Trees pulls out the power tools to play games

Present

The boys talk Mass effect without spoiling it!

Dana loves some DLC!  (WARNING!!!! WARNING!!!! Trees spoils the ending to Borderlands in this discussion.  If this is not something you want to hear, please skip!)

Future

Rob wants to race more people

Dana is back to Ultima Online

Trees continues his quest to collect all bikinis!

Another Home update!  Rob’s internal timer tells him that two hours is enough, Dana’s quest for some home lovin’ falls flat, and Trees is charming with the ladies.

 
If you have a video or want to add one let us know and we’ll add it to the post! Email contact@ezmodeunlocked.com or paste a link in the comments below. Bonus for a mention of EZ-Mode Unlocked in your video or its comments!

Another week has past, and the EZ-Mode Unlocked club is filling up at a rapid pace.  This week the club took a tour of Home, stopping in everywhere we could think of.  Here is an updated picture of our club.

(In The Back: Isiah, Sha-Near, Klaitu, Rob and Starstew.  In the Front:  Adam, Makkers, Trees, Dana and JillyDad)

We started off our night in the movie theater where we picked up some cool free swag and watched some trailers.  Here we are watching FFXIII and poppin’ and lockin’ to Leona Lewis.  We knew at that moment that this night was going to be a blast.  Nothing says I love Final Fantasy like synced pop and lock.  (note:  the black screen we are dancing in front of was showing FFXIII. If they left you take screens of the trailer, this picture would have been a lot more impressive.)

Next was the Guitar Hero space, where I was finally able to get my groupie on.  Sadly, the area was nothing like I thought it would be, and our stay there was short lived.  The space looks really cool, but the lack of music (If you can believe that) and the lame mini game they had going on made the area more annoying than anything.  So here Adam, Trees and I are front row starting a pit.

We then set out to find Trees the elusive glowing dumbbell.  We searched the mall (which is where the group photo was taken), but it had nothing.  Isaiah told us that we could get them in the Tekken area, so we hopped back on the EZMU party bus and headed on over.  There we met up with Xenocide, who we all agreed won the avatar of the night contest.

Once the dumbbell was secure, we went to the only place we knew that would appreciate such glowing greatness.  The singstar lounge.  This is where most of the club called it a night, as it was getting late, but here’s Trees and I sticking around showing off his new prize.

It was in these early hours of the next morning where I started receiving naughty PSN messages from the men in the club.  Here’s an example of a ‘G Rated’ one.  (for an X-Rated example, listen to Episode 046 of EZ-Mode Unlocked NOW!)

This is when I decided that the night will get more interesting in a pink wig.  A pink wig and Zombies.  Trees and I ventured over to an area I had never even heard of before, and it had Zombies.  You would think that this would mean no dancing, no dirty talk and no glow sticks, but you couldn’t be more wrong.  No matter where you go in Home, it’s a club.  So here is a scary Zombie.

This is when I decided to call it a night.  Here’s a picture of my new do, and a great shot of the view outside my own personal space.

This is normally when the post would end, and I’d say goodbye because the party is over.  But not this time!  Trees tried to make it an all nighter.  Which didn’t exactly work out.  So he left too, but not before capturing some great photos.  Here are too girls fighting. (As mentioned in episode 046 of EZ-Mode Unlocked) and another picture of Trees butting in.

Signed,

The EZ-Mode Unlocked Club

Trash Panic has a simple and amusing concept.  You’re presented with a conveyor belt full of items that you need to fit, one at a time, into an enormous trash can.  In order to make all of the trash fit, you have to burn, disintegrate and compact all of it without letting the can overflow.  If too many whole objects fall out of the can you fail the level.

While that sounds like a quirky stress reliever, the problem with Trash Panic is that it’s a little too difficult for its own good.

The game has five levels, and I couldn’t make it through the third on normal difficulty before giving up.  Being held up by the steep learning curve is unfortunate, because the game scales like Katamari Damacy – giving you larger and more ridiculous objects to deal with and bigger ways to explode and digest the rubble as you progress.

That sounds like a good time, and it is at first, but it takes a more dedicated player than myself to enjoy all of it.  I wasn’t hooked enough to struggle through the difficult and repetitious parts to benefit from the fun of the increasing scale.

Trash Panic is available for download on the PlayStation 3.

Submitted by Los

With Mass Effect 2 in sight, I thought about taking the original Mass Effect for a refresher spin. 3 playthroughs later I strangely found myself wanting more and somehow still excited for the sequel when any lesser man would have been happy never hearing the name Mass Effect again. Afterwards I started thinking not everyone has the free time to play through this massive universe again, or for the first time for that matter. So I figured, why not give my own little “Mass Effect in a nutshell”.

So here it is, only I’m just going to go through the basic story and not dive too deep into the who’s who and what’s what of things. If you know the game, you would know that if you’re getting into details you’re basically doing the opposite of a “nutshell”. And if you don’t know the game, what a coincidence, I just so happen to be talking about it.

You are Commander Shepard. You begin on a top secret mission to retrieve a Beacon, an unearthed piece of technology left by the Protheans, an ancient race that lived throughout the galaxy 50,000 years ago and whose Mass Relays, a network of connected mass transit devices that allow interstellar travel, are the main reason for the discovery and advancement of all species in the galaxy. You are accompanied by Nihlis, an agent who works for the Citadel Council, a board of 3 council members who each represent their own species and who are the head political force in space surrounding the Citadel, a massive space station built by the Protheans that is the central hub of the Mass Relay network and the place where many alien species come to seek political power.

You are being reviewed to become the first human Spectre, a chosen force of elite individuals who act on their own or in small groups and are tasked to carry out various important missions set out by the Council. While on the mission Nihlus encounters Saren, a top ranking Spectre who has turned his back on the Council and has gone rogue and is now working with the Geth, a race of synthetic machines who have been in hiding for centuries. Saren kills Nihlus. You then have to report back to the Council and explain how their top agent just turned on them all. You find proof and expose Saren and then become the first human Spectre with your first mission being to find and stop Saren. After tracking Saren through several planets and systems you find a facility being used to breed an army of mercenaries. During the infiltration of the facility you find Sarens private laboratory where he can communicate with Sovereign, the massive alien ship that Saren has been traveling in which turns out to not be a ship but a Reaper, an antient race of machines who every 50,000 years or so come out of deep space via a hidden Mass Relay and destroy all life in the galaxy.

It is discovered that the Reapers are the ones that built the Citadel along with the Mass Relay network and the Protheans just discovered it all. The Reapers leave just enough behind after every cycle so that the next batch of races can fall into the same trap. You also figure out that Saren along with the Geth are being controlled by this Reaper. You blow up the facility and head to report to the Council about the Reapers. You are not taken seriously. It is too late and the invasion is starting. Souvreign must activate the Mass Relay in the Citadel in order for the fleets of Reapers awaiting in deep space to come in. Trying to stop him you are confronted by Saren and you kill him. You order your fleet to attack Souvreign and after a large aerial assault, Souvreign is destroyed. You have proven that humans have earned a seat as the fourth member of the Council. You then make it clear that there are more Reapers out there just waiting to come and complete the cycle that has gone on for who knows how long and you have to stop them. You cut the celebration short and march off to finish what they started.

And that’s the just of it. Leaving out all the races you’ve met, the allies you’ve recruited, and choices you’ve made, this is the main story “in a nutshell”. Hope it does some good for someone, if it doesn’t all it shows is how much of a loser I am for knowing all this from memory.

What everyday object do you think is being ignored, and would make the best melee weapon in gaming history?

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Forums – MW2 tournament – Los reminds us what happened in Mass Effect 1 – Our community is continuing to grow! Be sure to post your gametags in the forums

Question of the Week

Website Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob rage is at level 2

Dana creates some Mario beats

Trees shows us what’s behind the smoke and mirrors

Present

Rob puts the ‘petal’ to the metal

Dana is scared again

Trees goes indy

Future

Rob plays a polar bear in a speedo

Dana is a wizard

Trees will never play this game

We finish the show with a lot of talk about Home. If you would like to join us in our home clubhouse, send a request to RobTurboGA on PSN, or request to be added into the Ez-Mode Unlocked Club. See ya in there!

 
Submitted by Strider

Another week has past, and the club grows bigger with each passing outing.  This week, we EZMU’s decided to check in at the IREM festival, which is a traditional Japanese festival that was busting with free goodies.  Myself, Rob, Trees, Klaitu, and new members Isaiah, Adam and Sha-Near were in for a real treat.  The festival had food, clothing, prizes, and after we got there, dancing.  (obviously)  This picture will explain further.  We took this photo before the structure became a popular dance spot.

We then took our dance party to the only place where our dancing could really shine, and that’s the SingStar Lounge.  It was a slow night, but we brought the party.

Once the night was officially danced away, we took our club meeting to Trees’ house.  There we played arcade games, and took a new club photo. As you can see, there has been some growth in our numbers.  Here’s hoping the trend continues.

From left to right - Isaiah, Trees, Adam, Dana, Rob, Sha-Near and Klaitu

Trees was a good host, and was more than willing to show off all of the things in his apartment including his favorite movie poster.

Signed,

The EZ-Mode Unlocked Club

What game world would you like to live in and why?

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Question of the Week

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob is punished

Dana loses sleep over a death screen

Trees has no music skills

Present

Rob is a baby

Dana mingles with courtesans

Trees treads lightly

Future

Rob wants a new Sheppard

Dana is a cowboy

Trees is ready to put the trees in team

Submitted by docStrangluv

I always need a class that allows me to sneak around and prey on the unsuspecting. This is said class, and I use it A LOT.
The primary weapon changes based on what guns I need to complete silencer challenges with. The SCAR-H seems to be my go to though.
I recently switched from a silenced PP2000 to the Ranger shotguns because I felt like I should give them a shot. I hate seeing people run around akimbo with them (they look like they have things inserted in their rear bathing-suit areas), but they are pretty damn effective when you get caught in a tight spot (get it?).
I have Frags equipped for no particular reason as I could easily rock the Tactical Insertion to give myself a boost in the element of surprise.
Scavenger is my first Perk because I tend to get some good kill streaks with this class. There is nothing worse than kicking ass only to die because you ran out of ammo.
Coming in at number two, Cold-blooded is essential for being sneaky. Not only does it allow you to stay off the enemy radar, thermal scopes, but enemy air support and sentry guns don’t see you either.
My last perk is Ninja Pro. This keeps you from being found by the Heartbeat sensors, and with pro, gives you silent footsteps. Coupled with Cold-Blooded, you are practically invisible. I used to use Scrambler here, but you jam the enemies radar based on proximity. This sort of defeats the purpose because they know someone with scrambler is around.
Lastly I have Martyrdom equipped. I find that many times I am up close with my prey. So if they end up coming out on top, chances are they will be close to my saintly boom boom ball. Take that you dirty heathen.

That concludes what will be a series of class studies. Feel free to add your own. Some classes to come include: Snip Snip, The Heavy, One Fish, Two Fish, and I wanna riot. Stay tuned.

To Whom It May Concern,

If you are reading this letter, I assume you also found the time capsule where this, and many other letters like it have been hidden under the ruins of the EZ-Mode Unlocked community club house that was built in the very early 2010’s. Allow me to take this time to congratulate you on your find, and also breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that the items and letters found within have found save travel into the future and into your hopefully capable hands.

You may be asking yourself at this point who we are and why we would be so interested in preserving our name and legacy.  I value your curiosity, and will be more than willing to explain.  Please read on.  We are EZ-Mode Unlocked, and are comprised of three leaders of this club.  I am called Dana, and my associates are Rob, and Trees.  Surrounding us is a fruitful and giving community for whom we built this club.

This first letter that you are reading details our first full night as a club, and the adventures we went on that historic evening.  I am willing to assume that the establishments we visited have long since succumbed to the stresses of time, so please maintain the integrity of these photos so that they may be submitted for review at your closest historical museum.

We came across a meeting place filling with individuals who were dancing along to popular music.  This place was called The Singstar Lounge.  Trees and Rob, as well as a member of our club Klaitu, set about making friends who would be willing to join our newly made club.  What resulted is what you see above.  A human ‘Running Man’ train.  This picture shows Trees joining in on the dance.

We then decided to make our way to another gathering place of like-minded individuals, and came across a group of people who were kicking the western most wall of the establishment.  They chanted ‘JOIN US OR DIE!’ over and over again in hopes of recruiting more wall kickers.  Rob, of course, not wanting to die, set about kicking the wall with such vigor, that our lives were spared.  I can only hope we shall be so lucky in the future.  Myself , Klaitu, and Trees were so frightened by the chanting, we attempted to defuse the situation by doing the robot instead.  It was our only defense.

We ended the evening in my home, modeled after the famed Batcave, where I put a chair on my head, which was considered to be the style at the time.  I am sure we all look strange to you, person of the future, but I hope that this letter will entice you to continue reading the remainder of what’s left inside our capsule.  Perhaps you too can join our club.

]]> http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/01/13/letters-from-home/feed/ 5 http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/01/13/i-am-a-gamer/ http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/2010/01/13/i-am-a-gamer/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:33:09 +0000 Community http://www.ezmodeunlocked.com/?p=2675

Submitted by Los

I like to think of myself as a Gamer.

Why? There’s a few reasons. Yeah, I play but that’s not all.

I subscribe to magazines, I listen to some 10 odd gaming podcasts a week, I belong to a(n awesome) gaming community, hell, about 95% of my time on the Internet is spent doing video game related stuff.

Is that enough? No? Ok. I own all 3 consoles, 2 of which I purchased on their launch days, I also own both handhelds. I pay a yearly fee to play online on one when I could just play for free on the other. And I go out of my way to build up a score/collect trophies that have absolutely no value whatsoever in the real or virtual world.

Now that you got me started…

I now know how to watch and copy movies to my consoles from my laptop using no wires. I get excited for things like firmware updates and expos/conventions that I have nothing to do with but still can’t wait for because of whatever news comes out of them. I know the difference between convex and concave.

I have stood in line till 1 a.m. just to buy a game that I couldn’t wait to play. When I have some extra cash the first thing I do is think about what titles are out now that I want. Even when I don’t have any money, I go to the game aisle just to look around. When I see someone purchasing a game, I try to peak at what they have just because I’m curious, and I have to stop myself from having a conversation with them even though I’m sure they’d participate freely.

I am a Gamer. When I play it, I live it. I have defeated evil countless times. I’ve raced the fastest cars, and fought in wars you couldn’t imagine. One day I was an Assassin in Renaissance Italy and the next a fortune hunter solving mysteries and proving myths. Zombie apocolypse? Don’t worry *cocks shotgun* I’ve done that before. Princess need saving? Been there more than once. Yesterday, I was a wizard casting spells, today, the entire galaxy is safe because of me.

What is the reason for all this you ask? I met a guy at work yesterday who is buying a 360. “Great” I said. Until I found out it was just for Modern Warfare 2. And that struck a cord. As he explained how it is going to be the only game he will ever play, it bothered me knowing that from the day he gets that 360, he will be refered as, and he will call himself, a “Gamer.” It’s right up there with the other “Gamers” who only play Madden or Halo. And while Modern Warfare 2 is a great game, I don’t like it when someone comes and soils my title of Gamer when they haven’t experienced anything else that I or other real Gamers have experienced. Call me crazy because this irks me. I feel I have a job, a responsibility, to not only defend my name, but point out the differences between Us and Them.

Throw your fist in the air, or walk away. Doesn’t matter to me because you know where I stand.

Have you ever gotten so into a game that you burn out on it before you finish it?  Even though the game is great, you just don’t feel like playing it anymore?  Which game was it?  What happened?

GET SOME!

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Question of the Week

Website Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob’s game couldn’t make more sense

Dana is North’d out

Trees causes so much excitement he electrocutes Rob!

Present

Rob and Trees go ‘Mean Muggin”

Dana’s ready for an EZMU Walkthru

Trees is ’surprised’ in a brothel

Future

Rob ventures into the unknown

Dana’s ready for more North action!

Trees has `Wimsmacle` balls

What game are you most looking for to in 2010 and why?

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What you’ve been missing on the forums : Yossarian has a baby!, Modnation Racers, Steam Deals

Question of the Week

Website Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob gives us some late night tweeting

Dana is sneaking around Nazis…. and failing

Trees is giddy with nostalgia

Present

Rob is probably off rotating objects as you read this

Dana can rotate some objects of her own

Trees plays a farm crawler. Yup, you read that right.

Future

Rob is gearing up for more racing

Dana gets gory

Trees griefs fellow gamers

Submitted by Klaitu

The Dagger of Amon Ra is the second part in the Laura Bow mysteries series. (I previously reviewed the other game in this series, The Colonel’s Bequest)

Laura Bow is a fresh-out of college Lois Lane type character in this one. She’s moved to the Big Apple in order to start her life as a career journalist.

Wouldn’t you know there’s also been a theft at the museum? And at the grand opening no less! Through a series of improbable events, Laura becomes trapped in the museum. There’s several people trapped in with her, and someone is killing them off.

Tha game takes place in the 1920s, and the game really emits an early 20th century vibe to be sure. It was during this era when Egyptology became all the rage, and this game plays that angle like nobody’s business. The puzzles involve heiroglyphs, among other Egypty-things. The copy protection is also “Identify the etching of the Egyptian god of X”.

Gameplay once again is your standard Sierra point and click setup.

Dagger of Amon Ra is a bit easier than the Colonel’s Bequest, and it’s way easier than any of the Gabriel Knight series in terms of figuring out the puzzles.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

[See more writing from Klaitu at his blog Special K.]

Submitted by Klaitu

The game was originally called Hero’s Quest, but due to some problems with Milton Bradley (who made a board game called Heroquest) It got changed.

What would happen if you took Ultima and you mooshed it all up into a Sierra game? You’d get the Quest for Glory series.

Quest for Glory is another one of the Sierra titles that has both an original version which is text-based, and a remake version which is point-and-click. Of all the remakes, the two versions of Quest for Glory are probably the most similar.

You are a hero. You hail from parts unknown and have arrived in the hamlet of Speilburg on your quest to become a hero. You look around for Hero stuff to do. You know, the usual things. Fight brigands, rescue princesses, defeat evil wizards.

Quest For Glory is pretty cool in that you can be any of 3 kinds of hero. You can be a fighter, a magic user, or a thief. The game plays out entirely differently for each type of profession.

Quest for Glory is also unique among Sierra games in that it has actual combat. Damage is calculated through stats, and you’fve got HP and all that. Skills are use based.

The remake version features claymation monsters to fight!

Overall Score: 9 of 10 (both versions)

[See more writing from Klaitu at his blog Special K.]

Submitted by Klaitu

Another retro game that I’ve been checking out: Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals.

Leisure Suit Larry 3 was another game that I originally beat in ages past, but one that I had not had the opportunity to replay for quite some time. I found that I remembered a suprising amount of the solutions in the game after all this time.

If you’ve been living under a rock (or you are some punk whippersnapper born in the 90’s or later) you may not be aware that Leisure Suit Larry is a balding, middle aged computer programmer who just wants some companionship. Most of his games are about Larry trying to score with as many women as possible (but rarely does he score with anyone except the final woman of the game).

LSL 3 finds Larry on Nontoonyt island, having been divorced by his wife (who was the final woman in Leisure Suit Larry 2). Larry is depressed, until he realizes that once again he is single, and he loses his don ho garb and puts on his leisure suit, ready to face the world.

This particular game follows the “see woman, do woman” pattern that would become frequent in later games. The story of the game is sort of disjointed, there is no overarching plot other than trying to figure out what a woman wants, give it to her, and then get a little smooch time with her.

The final woman in this game is, of course, Passionate Patti who is the female version of Leisure Suit Larry. (she’s even the one on the boxart) this game is one of two Larry games where you play as a character other than Larry himself, and that other character is Patti.

The real charm of this game, and the Larry series in general, is the humor. The game is actually quite funny, and now that I’m older than 13, I can actually get the jokes! Some of the puzzles made a lot more sense this time around as well.. well, about as much sense as creating a slingshot with a bra and two coconuts so that you can kill a wild boar can make sense.

If you can find a copy of it, give it a play through. I think you’ll get a few laughs out of it. It took me about 2 hours to get through it.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

[See more writing from Klaitu at his blog Special K.]

Over 10% of the country sucks at this game.

They say when it comes to job hunting, “If you sit there on the couch, nothing will happen for you.” If that’s true, how come in the last week I’ve uncovered a vast conspiracy in renaissance Italy, liberated a suburban town from Russian soldiers and searched through the depths of Arkham Asylum? Well it’s true, none of those adventures brought me any closer to employment, but they kept me from feeling defeated in a fruitless job search. Still, the question burns in my mind, how much of a gamer can you be when you’re unemployed and still avoid becoming a loser?

The answer is complicated.

When I was working 60+ hour weeks at my old job, a nice long break in front of the Xbox was a weekly ritual. I would make a pot of coffee on Friday evenings just as my wife was going to sleep and stay up all night searching the wastelands of Fallout 3, or shooting my way through a Modern Warfare Team Deathmatch. I have to confess, when I lost that job due to the recession (quite a while ago now) My gaming habits increased intensely, right along side my job hunt.

Experts in a different economy once preached that a job hunt is a 30+ hour a week occupation and before the recession it was true. But facing a 10% national unemployment rate and rising, with certain professions reaching 20% or even 30%+ unemployment in some metro areas, some of us just can’t fill a week searching for a lost island in an ocean that’s been mapped a thousand times. There are the daily rituals of online job site hunts, professional networking events to attend, and of course, the domestic chores of the unemployed spouse. After all that, you’ve barely scratched a dozen hours a week. (Unless you have multiple small children. In that case, how you’re still gaming at all is a mystery to me.) So in order to pass the time as the months of unemployment mounted, the rest of my weekday’s free time went to gaming.

I blazed through title after title, week after week; holding down RB and then hitting A, carefully maneuvering the Right Stick while holding down the trigger and charging controller battery pack after battery pack. Months and months went by. A few interviews came and went yet there was still no job to call my own.

For a brief period both my wife and I were unemployed at the same time, but being in a more vibrant industry in these economic times, she quickly found work, albeit in a new city. I traveled with her, and so did my 360. I spent less time out in the field hunting the job market wasteland, and more time inside on getting every last stud in the next great Lego game. One particularly dreary Monday, as the rest of the city’s workforce strode to their duties, I put the controller down in unmitigated guilt. Had I gamed myself into oblivion? Was my 360 habit keeping me unemployed?

I put the controllers away, shelved my games and an intensified job hunt followed. More events, more net-scouring, more connection calling. 30+ hours was still hard to approach, but to say my efforts had been doubled would be an understatement. The result? Not a single interview. Not a bite, not a nudge. What message could I take from this unfortunate reality?

Certainly not that gaming was helping my job search, it wasn’t. But I’m not so sure it was hurting. What it was doing was doubling the guilt that comes with unemployment to begin with: The “If I was doing as much as I could be I would have a job by now.” kind of guilt, and that has nothing to do with videogames. It has to do with feelings of worth, of putting one’s time to good use and feeling proud afterwards, something that unemployed folks have a harder time achieving, regardless of whether or not they’re gamers. Well I have a startling revelation for guilt-ridden unemployed gamers: Gaming while job hunting is good for you!

This recession is teaching me the precious lesson of patience. If you are an unemployed gamer, like me, then you can only do what you can do. Beyond that, be yourself, and enjoy what you can with the extra free time you have been given, no matter now long it is until your next job. Achievements on the Xbox or PS3 may be artificial, but while your life is void of actual career achievements due to no fault of your own, there is no crime in spending some time on the couch, boosting your gamerscore. You didn’t cause this recession, and you probably didn’t deserve to be out of work in the first place, so don’t punish yourself by curbing the 360 habit out of self-flagellation. As long as you’re in the hunt in real life, you can remain in the hunt with a controller in your hand. To my fellow unemployed gamers I say good luck in your job search and wish you many hours of happy, guilt-free gaming in the New Year!