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Name: Lair of the Shadow Broker
Price: 800 MSP or $10
Approximate playthrough time (normal): 2 hours
Bonus: an easy 200 gamerscore!

In case you didn't know Mass Effect 2 is a really good game. It's the best game this year and one of the most fully imagined games every made. It also has had a lot of downloadable content. I have, to date, spent $32 on ME2 DLC. So, you now know I like the game. This also means I have played through all of the dlc.

Mass Effect 2 dlc is like the work of Christopher Nolan. All of it is good but it improves with every iteration. The story goes something like this...

The Shadow Broker is a person or group of persons who deal strictly in information. The Broker has done bad things to your friend Liara, from Mass Effect [1]. Liara is seeking revenge for what the Shadow Broker did and you, obviously help her. It's a simple story, much like the story of the Overlord dlc, that of a rampant V.I which you must shut down. However, a simple, well executed story can still be highly enjoyable experience.

Something the new dlc does a superb job of doing is making the game, which most people have spent 30+ hours in, feeling new with some simple and new gameplay mechanics and weapons. A small touch Bioware added was the addition of Flashbang grenades that the enemies use on you. However, the biggest new gameplay addition is that of flying a vehicle. Although it's not new to the game, it felt very fresh. I mean how can a chase sequence across Illium not be awesome?

Another thing the Lair of the Shadow Broker does extremely well is adding new and utterly stunning gameplay environments, Overlord did this well too. From subtle thunderstorms on Illium with beautiful lighting coming through an apartment window to one of the most stunning planets/ships to appear in sci-fi. I don't want to spoil it for you but the Shadow Brokers ship and local is unbelievable.

There is also copious amounts of genuinely comedic banter back and forth between Liara and Shepard. It adds a great history to the characters. Having never played the original Mass Effect I don't know how connected the two are, I simply know there is a connection. There conversations however, instantly reveal that they have had an intimate past.

Bioware promised dlc would bridge the gap between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 with dlc. With this being the first of that dlc it sets a very high standard for all the dlc to come.

In the end, if you haven't purchased any dlc but are a fan of the series, get this. It is more of the superb quality you have come to expect from Mass Effect. If you have purchased previous dlc, then without question, get this. It is the best of the dlc released thus far and one of the most enjoyable missions in the game.

Gameplay: Bioware added some clever new elements to make the game feel fresh again. 8.5/10

Presentation: Utterly stunning vistas and planets. Also, the chafe through Illium is gorgeous. 9.5/10

Story: A simple yet at the same time complex story woven deep into the fiction of the Mass Effect universe. 8/10

Overall: 9/10

(Suggested that you watch in highest quality.)

The third episode of Ghost Plays: Nightmare House 2 is live, and ready for your viewing pleasure.

Hope you enjoy! All constructive criticism is appreciated.

Ever wished that you could play Halo: Reach while playing in an idle server farming for funny hats in Team Fortress 2, at the same time without two separate consoles?

Apparently I'm not the only one, because Origin PC has just revealed their newest innovation in PC gaming: A nice little toy I call "the PCBox." It's a hybrid of both the PC and Xbox 360.

Every PC comes with a built-in Xbox 360 Slim, which you can play and have access to like any other Xbox 360 while your computer runs other tasks and programs. It features an entire console, and all the capabilities of the normal Xbox 360.

An while the Xbox 360 stored inside is the main advertisement point, this new Origin PC is actually one of the fastest gaming rigs available. But it's expensive, estimated at costing (at the basic configuration) $6,799.

As if that wasn't expensive enough, there's an even more powerful configuration of this gaming monster: Priced at $16,999.

If you have enough money to afford this, please custom order one now and show it off to all your friends. But be sure to spend some extra cash on some serious security for your home, because I'll more than likely try to steal it.

[Source.]

(Suggested that you watch in highest quality. [Now in 1080p!] )

The second installment of Ghost Plays: Nightmare House 2 is live, and ready for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one more than the first episode, but there's still a considerable amount of swearing and general flipping out throughout the course of this short installment.

Hope you enjoy! All constructive criticism is, once again, appreciated.

It's official: Gearbox will be developing and releasing Duke Nukem Forever in 2011. And this isn't just a "We're developing the game, it's coming out soon" deal.

Gearbox appeared at PAX with a hands-on demo for people to try out. Yes, after so long, Duke Nukem Forever has risen. And it's in the stage of being a playable game.

After a bit of questioning, CEO Randy Pitchford revealed to IGN that the keys to the Duke Nukem IP had befallen Gearbox. To the developer, a chance like this couldn't be let slip through the cracks.

Gearbox jumped at the opportunity to take the helm, and Pitchford also stated that his wife had given him an added... Incentive... For finishing the Duke Nukem series.

All sexual innuendo aside, Duke Nukem Forever is more real than it has been in the last twelve years since the last game. It would appear the alien beasts from the earlier games are still present, and Duke is more than happy to shrink them, freeze them, and just downright beat the shit out of them.

Those worrying that DNF may have a similar feel to Borderlands need not fright, for Duke Nukem Forever appears to be a traditional first-person shooter.

But DNF isn't stuck with archaic gaming technology: Elements that have emerged over the years of gaming development will be found in the newest Duke Nukem installment, from regenerative health to the ability to aim down iron sights and scoped weaponry. (Now that may not sound like much, but compared to the last Duke Nukem game these additions are like hovercrafts to neolithic cavemen.) Oh, and there's gore and blood: Lots of it. But that's fitting for a game of this proportion, and I'm sure we'll all sleep better at night for knowing this game isn't the G-rated version of Duke's havoc.

Duke Nukem Forever is looking promising, and we'll be seeing more as the release comes closer in... "Sometime in 2011," as Gearbox quotes it. While that would worry skeptics at first, keep in mind that further progress has been made by Gearbox than any other company on the Duke Nukem Forever project to date, in over a decade.

Let's get ready for either a game of epic proportions or a pile of steaming disappointment. Honestly, I'd like to put a few dollars on "game of epic proportions."

[Source.]

(Suggested that you watch in highest quality.)

This is the first of a series of Let's Play!, where I'll be playing (read: screaming) through Nightmare House 2, a new horror mod for Half-Life 2. If you're interested in playing the mod yourself, you can find it here.

Otherwise, enjoy the show. A new episode should be out regularly, (I've already got the first nine recorded.) given Minime isn't too lazy to edit. (Or I find some editing software that'll work.)

Hope you enjoy!