Game Awards

wallypa said:

Although I'm not a big fan of third person shooters, based upon your recommendation, I'm gonna try this one. Thanks.

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One of the underlying themes of the game is honestly how shallow the 3rd person shooter genre is, so don't expect a Gears of War level style of execution. As I said, the game is more about conveying a story as opposed to Gears which was all about gameplay. The game takes a little while to get going, but all I'll say is that it picks up really quickly after the "Game Changing" event occurs (you'll recognize it when it happens).

wallypa said:

Well, the quality of game play and substantive story line is the least of my worries now. I am having a problem just starting the game. Keep getting the APPCRASH error and can't figure out why. This is also true with some of the games I DL'd from steam. It is irritating to say the least.

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Did you check this out? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-a75f-4306-ac85-35dbbf8485a9?tm=1323661425093

Now that 2013 is over, it's that time again!

Best Games:

Rayman Legends:

Following up the great Rayman Origins, Legends continues the great tradition of the series by having inventive levels, tons of unlockables, and gameplay that is challenging but not frustrating. It’s also rather cool that they decided to also throw in some Origins levels for good measure. Ubisoft should be praised for not releasing this only on the Wii U (and I hope whoever first brokered that as an exclusive got thrown out an office window for such a stupid idea.) It would have been a shame for people to be deprived of such a great game because they didn’t feel like investing on a Wii U. If you care at all about platforming games, this game needs to be in your collection.

Bioshock: Infinite:

This was a no-brainer. Beautiful environments, great voice acting, an interesting story, and tense combat all interwoven to create one of the best experiences in 2013. It’s clear that the five years’ worth of development was not wasted. I’m very curious to see how Irrational Games will try to follow this game up, and also looking forward to the “Burial at Sea” DLC set.

Saints Row 3 & 4 (Yes I realize that SR3 came out in 2011 but I never played it until this year, and had I not played it I would never have played SR4, so one is responsible for the other.)

Anyone following my commentary on here should not be shocked by this award. SR4 (and to an extent SR3) made me enjoy an open world crime game in ways I haven’t done in years, and probably won’t again in the foreseeable future. By distancing itself as a wacky GTA clone and focusing more as a superhero style game, a whole new world of gameplay could be achieved. Granted, it’s fairly obvious they had some “inspiration” from other games (especially Prototype and Mass Effect) but it made it work so well that you don’t care. It also understood that the only way you can pull off something like this is to not take yourself seriously and just have fun, and lord knows I had a lot of that. That on top of the great humor mixed in via references, parodies, and general dialogue constantly had me drooling with anticipation for the next mission (something that another game on my list failed miserably at.) Climbing up a flying missile to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” flying out of an alien spaceship to “What is Love,” and finally fighting with a full body power suit to “The Touch” are 3 moments I will never forget for all the right reasons. Fun fun fun is the name of the game here, and Volition deserves a medal for how well they pulled it off.

Honorable Mention:
DMC: Devil May Cry: Awesome hack and slash fun mixed with cool level design, marred a bit by a storyline about as subtle as a punch from Mike Tyson in 1987.
The Last of Us: Tense action with great acting and cinematics, marred by evil protagonists and an ending I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.


Most Disappointing Games:

GTA V:

I REALLY wanted to like this game, but sadly I think that I and this old flame are destined to never be together until we can get on the same page. I know it didn’t help that I came fresh off of Saints Row the Third, but many things about this game turned me off. None of the protagonists were likable for the most part, the improved police AI was at times too much to deal with, and overall the “theme” of the game just came off as too juvenile. GTA 4 seemed to be Rockstar’s attempt to make the series “grow up” by having a sympathetic, hard luck protagonist in Niko and his story to make it in America in the only way he knew how. Sadly though when most people rejected Niko and his INFERNAL tasks of constantly taking his friends out for pizza, Rockstar apparently interpreted that to mean that the players just wanted to be crazy, murder hungry psychos. Oh, and the rather glaring amount of misogyny in the game did not help things either. Maybe I’ll revisit Los Santos when/if this game is released for PC, but I should point out this is the third year in a row that Rockstar has won an award in this category (previous winners being L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3.)

Batman: Arkham Origins:

I suppose at the end of the day you can say that Origins’ biggest offense is not being AA or AC, but it goes beyond just that. For one, it’s not really an “Origins” story unless you just count the origin of the Joker (which from what I’ve heard is more of just an introduction.) Nearly everything this game did, the earlier games in the series did bigger and better. And yes, I realize that this wasn’t made by the same team that made the previous games, but you’d figure that since they were using the previous games’ engine that at least it wouldn’t be as littered with bugs as it was. But really the biggest mistake that was made was WB putting the previous 2 games in a Humble Bundle set, which let me play the classic AA while playing Origins. After being reminded of how good the originals were, I quickly sent back Origins to Gamefly.

Worst Game Of the Year:

Aliens: Colonial Marines:

At this point, declaring this game WOTY feels like beating a dead horse, but really, this thing is a damn mess. The problem with this game is that it really does NOTHING right. The game looks awful, sounds awful, plays awful, and, is just awful. The biggest offender is level design. The game went WAY overboard on outdoor levels. Xenomorphs are only scary and deadly if they are in closed areas. This is because they lack long range weapons. You’d figure that the designers would know this and keep the majority of the game in such areas. For some crazy reason they decided to put at least 50% of this game in big, open areas that resemble Borderlands. As a result, the Xenos are not intimidating or scary at all. And more often than not, when you’re in close areas, you’re fighting WU forces with guns! The funny part is that I had NO intention of playing this game until December 19, when Amazon put this up for sale at $1.99. I also was going to have a first and not declare a “Worst Game of the Year” for 2013 because I really hadn't played any games that fit that definition. How ironic that A:CM slipped in right at the last second to pick up this esteemed award. Please do yourself a favor and don’t buy this game. It’s not even worth buying to laugh at. It honestly feels like laughing at a handicapped human being. Any enjoyment one can gain from it can be quickly squashed when you realize you’re likely better off just dusting off an older FPS in your library and playing that instead. Hell I’d argue that your time would be better spent digging up the old Apple II “Aliens” game and playing that instead (Seriously that used to scare the sh*t out of me as a kid)

Games that are Worth Your Attention:

Gone Home: A truly immerse First Person mystery/investigation game that you won't soon forget. Pick it up on sale when it's at least 50% off.
Papers, Please: An amazingly intriguing game, where your only job is to approve/deny entry into your country. Amazing how it's more engrossing than 90% of the mainstream games out there now. Worth full price of $9.99.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: An enjoyable, albeit very short journey of two brothers fighting to save their only parent. I recommend 66%+ off.
The Stanley Parable: I can't really describe this game, but it is worth your attention. Pick it up at 50%+ off.

This year I'm actually dedicating myself to finally working through my gaming backlog. I have so many games between Steam/Amazon sales, not to mention Humble Bundles that I probably am set for the next few years. I just started on Tomb Raider, and then I'll likely move over to Deus EX and then Dishonored, and then Shadow Warrior and Rise of the Triad. I also have enough Telltale Adventure games to keep my mind busy as well until the entire second season of TWD comes out. Also, the fact that I'm living "In the red" so to speak means I have little justification for adding new games.

king3pj said:

Backlog Games I'm Looking Forward to Most

From what I have played, some of these games could have made my top 10 list. I just didn't feel right about putting games up there that I haven't finished or at least gotten close to finishing. The only 2 games that made my top 10 that weren't finished are ACIV and Guacamelee. I am almost done with both of them and I have seen enough to know they deserve a spot on the list. These games go in no particular order. I am just listing them as I think of them. These are the games I hope to finish in 2014.

The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead Season 2 - I have played the first episode of both of these games. Right now I prefere The Wolf Among Us and I think it would have cracked my top 10. Unfortunately both of these games only have 1 episode out so far. Maybe they will make my 2014 list.

Gone Home - .4 hours played

Tomb Raider - I'm almost 6 hours in and I really like what I have seen so far. Bioshock Infinite came out and took over all my attention and I just haven't started it back up.

Far Cry 3/Blood Dragon - 4 hours played of Far Cry 3. I haven't started Blood Dragon yet. I really liked what I have seen so far but Bioshock ran this one over too.

Skyrim - 4.7 hours played

Metro 2033 - 1.6 hours

Bastion - 1.2 hours

The rest of these are backlog games I haven't started yet but I still want to play them in 2014.

inFamous 2

Uncharted 2 and 3

Metro Last Light

Saints Row 4

Alan Wake

Arkham Origns

Lego Marvel

Bioshock 2

Brothers

Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas

There are many more I could list but those are the top priorities right now. If they would just stop releasing new games I could catch up on some of these. I'm not going to do a negative list because I didn't spend much time with any games I didn't like this year. Even if I had, I have already rambled on enough in this ridiculously long post. I would be surprised if anyone actually made it this far into my post. Even if no one reads this far it was still nice to write it down. It's the first time I actually looked back and thought about everything I have played this year and everythign I want to play.

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If I could offer some suggestions..

Play inFamous 2 BEFORE you play SR4. SR4 is so over the top and fun as a superhero style game that IF2 will feel more bland and lifeless, which will detract from the experience. Don't get me wrong, IF2 is a GREAT game, but it's tone and game style is much more serious and will likely rub you the wrong way after the over the top fest that is SR4.

Beat Tomb Raider before you get into Uncharted, since they're so similar you may as well just focus on one.

Make it a priority to get into Alan Wake. That's one of my favorite games. One of the most atmospheric and engrossing games out there. And the commentary track makes for an intriguing second playthrough.

I may just be too early into it, but after about 5 hours Minerva's Den is so-so for me. Maybe my memory of BS2 is clouded but I don't remember the combat feeling so sloppy compared to 1 and Infinite.

Zookster said:

I would say play Uncharted 2 first (you could even skip three). Uncharted 2 set a new standard for this genre of game that you might not be able to appreciate how great it was for 2009 if you play a similar 2013 release first. That's the reason I made a point of playing Heavy Rain before Beyond Two Souls, as I knew I wouldn't feel that same way about Heavy Rain after playing something so technically superior (however better Heavy Rain's story may have turned out to be). Also from what I recall in posts made years ago, Yourbeliefs isn't the biggest Uncharted fan, so take his advice with that understanding. If you like Uncharted Golden Abyss, then know that Uncharted 2 is the best Uncharted game of them all (the last one created by Naughty Dog's "A" development team)--that coming from a big Uncharted fan, of course.

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I do agree that UC 2 is better than UC 3, and for the record I did declare UC2 an honorable mention for GOTY in 2009. I've never declared that the series was bad, but I just am not as big on the series as others here are. I'm just not the biggest Nathan Drake fan. It also doesn't help that I feel like I'm playing as an arrogant Tim Tebow.

lakebum431 said:

YB -
I enjoy your reviews of games, but curious, do you do any online playing? All of your reviews seem to be focused on the "campaign" or "story" aspects of the game.

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Very rarely. I used to do online gaming A LOT, back in the Doom/Duke 3D era. My friends and I would do the old school "Modem to Modem" 1v1 deathmatch games. The TEN network was like an amusement park for me. I would get up early and ready for school just so I could squeeze in a DM or two before I had to go.

Over the past few years I found I would just get more frustrated than anything. I have nothing against playing people in local, but sadly I don't have a lot of friends who are big gamers like myself. I'm bigger into co-op games than I am competitive. It also doesn't help that most people don't really play "together" and instead just try to get the biggest score at the end. I'm sure the bug will come back eventually, but for now I have no problem never touching a game's MP stuff.

Overall, my favorite MP games of all time would have to be Halo 2, COD: BO, Team Fortress 2, and Duke Nukem 3D.

With 2014 coming to an end, it's that time again..

Best of the Year:

The Wolf Among Us: Following the amazing (and well deserved) success of The Walking Dead, many wondered if TellTale would be able to keep up their momentum coming off such a strong entry. They silenced all their critics with The Wolf Among Us, another well told story with great voice acting and more tense decision making. It seems like after all these years, TT has finally hit their stride with these games. I’m also looking forward to 2015 where we will see the Game of Thrones as well as Tales from the Borderlands series’ (and their subsequent 50%+ discounts.)

South Park: The Stick of Truth: Licensed games traditionally have about as good of a track record as the Chicago Cubs do in the playoffs, but South Park: TSOT, regardless of if you are a fan of the source material, marked an apex of licensed game development, where the creators of the product and the game developers actually worked together to make the best game possible, and it truly showed here. It almost seems like a “thank you” note to all the South Park fans out there such as myself who have been with the show over its nearly 20 year run. I only hope that other developers and content creators will take a cue from this game and start embracing collaboration more, as opposed the old school method of just making a game and slapping an IP on it. Given the fact that Trey Parker (one of the show's creators) is a self-professed gamer may have had much to do with the games' success, as opposed to ones in the past that were done with little to no collaboration.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: Well, this certainly came out of nowhere for me. My interest in Middle Earth ended right about the time the end credits for Return of the King came on screen and I’ve completely ignored all the games based on it. After reading a deluge of good reviews for this I decided to give it a shot and I’m glad I did. A simple formula of Arkham City style gameplay and combat tuned up to include a disturbingly satisfying amount of the old ultra-violence along with the Nemesis System have made this extremely enjoyable. I haven’t actually beaten the game yet, but I’ve played enough to know greatness when I see it and this fits the bill.

Honorable mention: The Walking Dead: Season 2, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Worst of the Year

Rambo: The Video Game: Holy craparoni. Rambo is that unique type of bad, similar to Ride to Hell: Retribution and Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties, wherein the player is just awestruck at how bad the game is. A rail shooter with a cursor, for a game with PS2 level graphics, and voice work ripped straight from the movies (a VHS manually recorded version of the movies apparently) all come together to make when of the saddest excuses for a game in recent memory. Hell, it’s bad even by licensed games standards, which should tell you something. If you’re at all interested in what this train wreck entails, watching either Angry Joe’s or Total Biscuit’s critique of it should do you nicely.


Disappointment of the Year

WWE 2K15: The WWE game series has been on a bit of a roll lately, even with the series’ transition from THQ to 2K games. WWE ’13’s tribute to the Attitude Era made for a fun experience, and while I did not get to play 2K14 (yet) from what I heard it tweaked and improved the gameplay and then added the 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode. Everyone was hoping (and expecting) 2K to continue the momentum into the current gen releases with 2K15. Sadly what we got was a shell of a game with reduced gameplay modes, reduced superstar roster (not even counting the obscene number of characters that needed to be unlocked) and reduced fun. The last gen releases seemed to suffer a similar fate as well. Hopefully they’ll fix things up for the next version, OR maybe they can come to the conclusion that we don’t NEED a new WWE game every year and instead go back, look at what has really worked over the past couple of years and combine them into 1 solid package, as opposed to being under the gun to produce something new and as a result constantly make changes just for the sake of making changes.

Infamous: Second Son: Again, while I declared that this game was not bad, there's no denying the fact that (other than graphics) this game is worse in every aspect when compared to the previous inFamous games. Worse story, worse environment, worse characters, worse gameplay, worse controls, the list goes on. I saw stuff in this game that I'd expect to see in the first inFamous game, not the third. And while I do understand that at the end of the day this is essentially a launch title that was rushed because it was meant to be the PS4's first "killer exclusive," that doesn't change the fact that stuff got sacrificed that really shouldn't have. It also didn't help that what it was trying to do had been done better by other games, such as Saints Row 4, Prototype, and sadly, the previous 2 inFamous games.

Dishonorable Mention: Watch Dogs, Destiny, CoD:AW, Titanfall, AC:Unity, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes