Game of the Month – January
Mass Effect 2 (360, PC)
Publisher: Electronic Arts – Developer: BioWare
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Mass Effect 2 was chosen as our “must-have” for the month of January because of its superb storytelling, its deep characters and the fact that it is just so damn fun to play. Despite its technical issues, this is a game that can easily consume more than forty hours of a gamer’s life and then get him to do it all over again, if only to see the game from an alternative perspective. BioWare made every attempt to streamline the game and eliminate the flaws that plagued the first Mass Effect, and have succeeded for the most part. For fans of both shooters and role-playing games, Mass Effect 2 is an outstanding game that holds a lot of appeal.
–Dan
Runner-Up
MAG (PS3)
Publisher: Sony – Developer: Zipper Interactive
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It’s hard to beat 256-player online first-person shooter console action, especially when it is created as well as this. From solid (and gigantic) maps, to a great experience system and a chain of command to keep it all organized, MAG‘s offerings are limited to a very specific goal, but it works those offerings to near perfection.
–Bill
Game of the Month and its runner up are decided collaboratively by Pads & Panels’ staff. The choices are limited to the releases of a particular month, determined by U.S. release date. As always, it is based on the games we’ve had an opportunity to play, and not necessarily the entire field. It is designed as a recommendation, an “If you’ve only got money for one game this month…” type of selection, rather than a definitive “Best of…” choice.
