Like many of you, I'm replaying Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 in anticipation of BioWare's upcoming epic threequel. Well, "replaying" in this case means halfheartedly blowing up the same space pirates and mining the same hunks of rock I've seen hundreds of times before.

Video Blips:

• The female version of Mass Effect 3 protagonist Commander Shepard is just as capable at triggering multiple explosions and shooting colorful pieces of metal. Next thing you know, she'll be saving the galaxy from an ancient and evil threat using nothing but her icy cold stare.

Continue after the break for the grindhouse grittiness of Alan Wake's American Nightmare and the inseparable power of high-school love in Lollipop Chainsaw.

 

• Writers don't often get many chances to spark their creativity by blasting apart blobs of darkness with light surges, but Alan Wake's American Nightmare fits right up the pitch black alley. Don't miss the demon-possessed rear office going gorilla at the 2:14 mark.


• Commitment factors heavily into a loving relationship, and Lollipop Chainsaw shows that lopping off your boyfriend's head is a peerless sign of the strongest bond. I've heard of alternative keychains, but this is a little overboard.