My previous articles have been an observation of sorts of love in the time of technology. My conclusion is that even with all of the new ways to communicate our love for each other, we are no better off now than we were twenty years ago. If anything, the facility has rendered us shallow with the attention spans of fruit flies.

For my fellow Montrealers, my review will be a wee bit more uplifting as I take you through the five best places to take your date in Montreal. I made it a point to go to each one of these places recently with my partner just to make sure I wasn't imagining things and thankfully (for once), I was right on the mark.

This city is positively thrumming with romantic energy, from the European charm of the Old Port to the endless selection of parks, museums, markets, cafés and shisha bars. After reading this, you'll agree that love isn't dead and Montreal's just plain hot (or something close to that). Let's get started!

The city is quiet as I exit the metro at Place St-Henri. I walk a block or two and come to a large building in front of which Jean-Richard Beaudry, Compulsion Games' 3D animator, is standing. He greets me and we begin the walk up a loud metal staircase and eventually emerge in a wide hallway. We walk past several doors until we come to a gray one with the Compulsion logo next to it.

The first thing I notice as I enter the studio is how much it feels like a large living room. There are no cubicles, but rather large desks cluttered with books, figures, coffee cups and bonsai trees. Besides a conference area and a small kitchen, there aren't any distinct rooms. Computers line the walls, but the centre space is dedicated to a TV and a bright red couch. Some Contrast merchandise decorates the studio, a reminder of Compulsion's debut in the games industry. Beaudry had turned all the monitors off prior to my arrival so as to make sure I don't get an accidental peak at the developers' currently unannounced title.

Jean-Richard Beaudry is a 3D animator who has worked at several video game studios in Montreal. At 27 years of age, he's witnessed much of how video games evolved, and is as excited as ever to contribute to such a dynamic branch of entertainment. Now, he's a part of an ever-growing trend in the industry: indie games.

As a child, Beaudry watched and rewatched characters flesh themselves out on screen as they pranced around in The Lion King or floundered wildly in Toy Story. He also dove into games like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country for hours on end. "I always liked to play with stories and characters," he says, "whether it was role playing or drawing, there was always something about giving life to a persona that I enjoyed." Beaudry confessed that he got the idea for studying animation when he cleaned out his room and stumbled upon pen-and-paper flipbooks he had made as a boy.