Game Awards

Since giving out awards to videogames has somehow become commonplace, I say we do it here as well. List your top 3 favorite games of the year (don't need to be in any order) as well as your least liked game of the year, and also your biggest disappointment of the year. Just put a brief paragraph for your choices.

Games of the Year:

Batman: Arkham Asylum: This game had everything going against it: a rookie company working with licensed material in what is basically the 2nd worst comic book videogame franchise. Instead this game came through with great action and stealth elements, an intriguing story, a stunning sense of immersion, and good voice acting coupled with decent writing. And its trophies and Riddler puzzles and combat rooms with leader boards do much to help extend the life of this already classic and memorable title. It serves as a good reminder that you don’t need to resort to sandbox style gameplay or heavy multiplayer focus to make a quality title.

Prototype: I haven’t had this much fun with a sandbox game since GTA: Vice City. No game helps you live your dream of being a super powered a$$hole quite like this one. The action is brutal and raw and the staggering amount of ways you can make your violent point is enough to satisfy even the most perverse of personalities. It’s also a great way to vent some frustration, which as a 49ers and Bulls fan, I have no shortage of. Basically, if you want some good old fashioned public carnage action, Prototype fits the bill.

Assassin’s Creed 2: I may be jumping the gun on this since I haven’t beaten the game yet, but I enjoyed the first one quite a bit and it’s amazing how much they were able to improve on their formula and fix almost everything that was wrong with the previous one. I’m anxious to see what this “shocking” ending is that people have been talking about.

Honorable Mention: Resident Evil 5 and Uncharted 2.

Worst Game of the Year:

Brutal Legend: Tim Shafer’s first game since 2002’s majestic “Psychonauts” landed with an audible “thud” with schizophrenic game play, horrible marketing, and an antiquated graphics engine. It’s hard to believe this is the same guy behind the Monkey Island games and other various Lucasarts classics. You know you screwed up when you have to tell people the supposed “proper” way to play your game.

Most Disappointing Game of the Year:

Modern Warfare 2: Infinity (Mental) Ward should be congratulated for so precisely f-ing up what I really liked and making worse what I didn’t really like about MW1 (the story campaign and the multiplayer respectively.) I realize I’m in the minority here, but since CoD had always been known for its story mode over MP, it comes across as a bit of a punch in the gut to just disregard this component the way that they did in this edition. And their methods of making the MP experience as UN-noob friendly as possible and their constant rewarding of people who are already winning did little to stop me from sending this back to Gamefly within a week.

Dishonorable Mention: New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Skyhi said:

What don;t you like about the new Super Mario Bros? From what I've seen, its gotten pretty good reviews. I was planning on getting it for my son for Christmas (and was looking forward to playing it myself )

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By itself the game is not bad. It's old school Mario platforming action. The problem I have (and a number of people as well) with it is that it really is just ALL nostalgia. It brings nothing really new at all to 2d platforming or even Mario games in general. What it does has been done beforehand and done better by other Mario games, including ones that are over 20 years old. The multiplayer is just a quirky distraction that no one serious about playing the game will ever want to use, and the use of the Wii remote does NOTHING to enhance the experience and comes off as very gimmicky and a sorry excuse as to why they wouldn't allow us to use a GameCube or Classic controller.

As I said, this is not a BAD game and like me you'll probably have a decent amount of fun playing it. However, given that this is essentially the first 2d platforming Mario game on a console in 15 years, I expected more than what Nintendo has produced. Super Mario 3 was better, and Super Mario World was better. To give it an anology, it is the Terminator 3/Crystal Skull/Episode I-III of the Mario series.

I just finished beating NSBMW....

Again, as a 2D platformer the game is more than adequate. However, I am dissapointed in the game because it failed to deliver on 2 main points.

First, this hardly feels like much of a new Mario adventure. Nearly everything that this game does has been done (and more often than not done BETTER) in a previous Mario game. The implementation of the Wiimote does little to help things out, much like it didn't help out with Super Mario Galaxy. The time that sticks out most in my mind was when I was fighting Bowser and I was ducking under one of his flames, and I was adjusting myself in the seat and moved the WiiMote down a little, which the game interpreted as a spinning jump move that I didn't mean to do, resulting in Mario jumping right into the flame.

Secondly, there was a good amount of talk about this game being very hard and challenging. Maybe I have just gotten better at 2D platforming with my increasing age, or maybe that was just a bunch of BS. The levels rarely require more than a handful of tries to beat, and the game throws power ups and 1-ups at you like they're having a going out of business sale. When I beat the game I had well over 50 lives at my disposal and over 40 power ups. Only once did the game offer to beat the level for me, but I of course said, "F-off! This sh*t will NOT beat me!"

I will end my critique of NSMBW (and get back OT) with this: If you're looking for a challenging and robust Mario experience, you'd be better served navigating over to the Virtual Console and getting Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Super Mario World, and possibly Super Mario Bros 3, which will in total run you $18, which I feel is a much better bargain than the $50 Nintendo is asking you for this. If you MUST get this game, I think you'll find that < $30 is a much more reasonable price.

2011 is upon us, so the 2010 awards are due:

Games of the Year:

Mass Effect 2: It appears Bioware took the same approach as Ubisoft did with the Assassin’s Creed series: Improve on what you did right in the first game and remove the pretentiousness and annoyances that bogged the game down for your sequel. D&D style combat replaced with Gears of War cover based shooting, an editor finally hired to reel in the verbal diarrhea and the annoying inventory and vehicle sections removed. That in tandem with Bioware’s commitment to great writing and acting made it a very early nominee for my GOTY.

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Some of you may know that my past relationship with Call of Duty Multiplayer has been rather contentious. While I never claimed it was bad, I just didn’t like their rules and the reward system that punished people who did badly by rewarding those that did well along with forcing the player to unlock everything including game modes and basic weapons. Something about Black Ops though just clicked with me and after forcing myself to play the MP for a while before I knew it I was already on my first Prestige quickly shooting for the next. Aside from that, the single player was done in true Treyarch fashion, which is to say, GOOD, as opposed to Infinity Ward’s recent stance of “Let’s get this thing done ASAP so we can knock off work to plan our exodus from Activision.”

Alan Wake: I have a soft spot for survival horror games with an emphasis on setting and mood (see Silent Hill 1-3 + Shattered Memories,) and this game hit that sweet spot very well. With influences from Stephen King and Twin Peaks mixed with a fish out of water story created one of the most unique experiences of recent memory of gaming. The ending is a tad on the convoluted side, but the ride leading up to it is memorable and should at least be attempted by all of those who have an Xbox 360.

Honorable Mention:

NBA2k11
Red Dead Redemption

Most Disappointing Games:

Final Fantasy XIII: For me, the Final Fantasy series has been defined by 3 things: Open world exploration, unique combat engines, and memorable characters. When a new Final Fantasy game screws up all 3 of these things, it isn’t going to get a good grade at the end of the day. Also, the argument that the game got better about 25 hours in was NOT a selling point. I’m tolerant of slow beginnings such as that in Heavy Rain, but I shouldn’t have to invest the same amount of time that I have in CoD: MP into another game before it stops sucking. Let’s hope this is resolved in Final Fantasy XIV or whatever the next version is that isn’t an MMORPG that will hopefully be released before my daughter sets off for Junior High.

Metroid: Other M:This game had a lot going for it: A brand new Metroid game designed by Team Ninja with more focus on the story of Samus. Sadly this just meant that the game had wonky controls and the character of Samus proved that in some cases, women are better seen than heard. Long, EXTREMELY drawn out expositions given in the tone of Data from Star Trek, TNG if they were a girl did nothing to draw me in. Also, having to navigate in a 360” world with a digital pad along with forcing me to point at the screen to get to FPS mode during intense boss battles led to this game quickly going back to Gamefly’s Pittsburgh PO Box.

Dishonorable Mention: Mafia II, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Worst Game of the Year: Medal of Honor: There’s nothing worst than a game that is hyped up the ass only to come out being disappointing and broken at the same time, and MOH hits both of these marks with bullseye accuracy. Between the blatantly ripped off mechanics of MW1/2, the questionable political taste of the plot, combined with gameplay that was broken to the point of unplayable with a final scoop of recycled multiplayer created the perfect sh*t sundae of 2010.

It's that time of year again. Looking back I actually did not play as many games as in previous years (which I can attribute to my child being in the picture without help from the in-laws) so my list is going to be rather short.

Games of the Year

Infamous 2: Overall this was a sequel done right. Keep what worked in the previous game (open world environment, colorful characters, an intriguing storyline) and get rid of things that didn't (Bland environments, bland powers.) To be fair, Infamous 1 was very good to begin with so there wasn't a major increase in quality, but good is still good and I definitely had a lot of fun with this game. The last thing I'll say is that unlike many other games with such a pedigree, this one actually has a satisfying ending. It's nice to be reminded that not every damn series has to be a trilogy.

Shadows of the Damned: This can also be filed under the category, "Best Game that No One Played." Have you ever asked yourself, "What would happen if someone threw Resident Evil 4, a Silent Hill soundtrack, and some Purple Haze Brownies into a blender and drank it?" Well probably you haven't because you know it would taste horrible, but that's the best way to describe this game. It's crazy shooting fun with colorful personalities and environments. Of course it is rather short and easy on standard difficulty, but that just makes it more like a day at 6 Flags with no lines, as opposed to other games that make you feel like you're at a local travelling carnaval that has all the same rides that all the other ones have, including the creepy ride directors.

Honorable Mention: Crysis 2, Portal 2

Most Disappointing Games

L.A. Noire: There's nothing worse than a game that's "supposed" to change the world that ends up just being rather bland. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the setting and the character acting is some of the best I have ever seen. I feel as though this would have worked better as a movie or a mini-series, but sadly this is a GAME, and as a GAME it's rather boring and repetitive. Searching for clues is basically a game of "Search until the music changes," the interrogation sections are easy yet frustrating all at the same time, and the characters themselves, while portrayed well, don't evoke much love or sympathy. It also didn't help that the character you control, and thus the main character of the game, is basically a giant douche. I definitely don't think we'll be seeing much from Team Bondi in the future.

Duke Nukem Forever: I think this one speaks for itself.

Dishonorable Mention:MW3

Worst Game Of the Year

Homefront: This could also be listed as most disappointing game as well, but really it just deserves the overall bad award. It's a shame though, because it is very clear going in that this is a real work and attempt to try something different, as opposed to last year's "winner" of this award Medal of Honor which was EA's cheap attempt at stealing thunder from CoD. Sub Par graphics, a convoluted storyline, and a rather wonky difficulty curve make this game about as much fun as eating wallpaper paste. You also know it's not a good sign when the developer of the game comes out and says, "The game isn't as bad as everyone says it is! Really!"

Games that look promising but I haven't played enough of yet to pass judgement: Batman: AC, Gears of War 3, Dead Space 2.

Time again..

Games of the Year:

Prototype 2: Much like inFamous 2 of last year, this open world ass-kicker simulator did not reinvent itself as much as it refined what was already a great game. By trimming the fat of the excessive weaponry and useless side missions and keeping the brutal action that the original had, I had just as much, if not more fun kicking ass all over New York in a way only a masochist could love.. not that there's anything wrong with that.

Mass Effect 3: It's a shame that most of the press for ME3 centered around it's disappointing ending. People seemed to forget just how much fun the game was, continuing the solid foundation that started with ME2 with the memorable characters and fun action gameplay. Sure the multiplayer was more forgetful than the 3rd Terminator movie, but that along with the ending controversy did not take away from what is another fun 40+ hour experience that any gamer who cares about gaming (and preferably has played the other two games) should experience.

Spec Ops: The Line : This game will go down with the likes of Psychonauts, ICO, and Shadow of the Colossus. Games that were not very successful financially but are all shining examples of the "art" that is video games. Like such games, the actual gameplay is rather forgettable, with it being a standard, generic 3rd person shooter with the basic routine of duck, shoot, give generic commands, and try to kill everyone before they overrun your position. Where the game truly shines is the story and character development, with Nolan North delivering what is by FAR his greatest performance in the medium so far, outshining that of Nathan Drake and Desmond Miles. It is an interesting profile and analysis of the not only the human mind in the middle of a war, but of the human mind in the middle of playing a game ABOUT a war. The ending of the game is one that will stick with me for a good long time, and I strongly encourage everyone and anyone to give it a look.

The Walking Dead: I'm only 2 episodes (out of 5) in but I can already tell this is a winner on many levels. Similar to games like Heavy Rain, the game is more about experiencing the story and character interactions as opposed to gameplay, which is good as gameplay is rather stale, even by adventure game standards. But at least it's not a full fledged adventure game and having you use moon logic to solve various puzzles. The decisions you make will not always be easy and there will be consequences that will definitely come back to help or haunt you later in the game. To spoil one moment, there was one part where my character was walking around and ran into a man who got his foot caught in a bear trap. As it could not be opened, the only way to get the guy out was by cutting off his foot, and my character happened to have an axe on him. If you're cringing just from the thought of this, you can imagine how it feels to see the act in action so to speak. The game has already won a number of GOTY awards (well okay I only know definitively of 1 but it's on many top 10 lists) and the first episode is available for free on iTunes and XBLA for a limited time so you can try it risk free, and then you can go out and get the PC version as it is on the Steam sale at 25% off and may be reduced further near the end.

Honorable mention: Lollipop Chainsaw, Journey

Biggest Disappointment:


Max Payne 3: It's sad that games from Rockstar seem to be getting this award quite often as of late. While the action was undeniably fun at times, the mind numbingly wonky difficulty curve just added unnecessary frustration, and this wasn't helped by the fact that at the end of the day, we were playing as a drunken a$$hole who just couldn't get over his past. Yes, we know Max lost his wife and child, but I don't need that repeated to me via the same stupid cut scenes with Max drinking whiskey and crying about his life. It also appears that Rockstar forgot that it wasn't just Bullet Time that made the first 2 games cool (The first 2 were made by Remedy, while Rockstar did the third.) What made the first 2 cool was also Max himself and the presentation of the game, done in a dark, comic book noire style that, while rather absurd at times, was always self aware, thus never taking itself too seriously or trying to shove stuff down our throats that it knew we wouldn't swallow. The formula of unsteady difficulty combined with a character/story that I don't give 2 sh*ts about led to this game being returned in less than a week.

Dishonorable Mention: Silent Hill HD Collection

Worst Game:

Resident Evil 6: As games develop as an art form like music, books, and film, it will likely be taught in schools done with various real world examples of successes and failures in its field. RE6 feels like a textbook example (literally) of what NOT to do with a long running, and as of until this release, momentum gaining franchise. While it was understandable that given the success of RE4/5 that the series would stay more action based instead of survival horror, I don't think anyone anticipated it going to such an extreme. The level of action and "excitement" is so ludicrous at times that I almost felt I was playing a parody game, like the whole joke was how crazy and far it could push the envelope. Sadly though, while games like Shadows of the Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw can pull this off as it IS doing it in a parody style, RE6 fails as it's trying to do it straight faced and be serious about it.
But even if it wasn't called "Resident Evil" and was just some other new IP, I'm not sure I'd be much kinder to it. The interface was unintutive and confusing, the lack of ANY method of pausing did not add tension but rather added annoyance, the characters were not believable or sympathetic as they'd been through all this crap before, and the action gameplay hadn't seen any noticeable improvements since RE4. Speaking of which, if you have yet to play RE4, PLAY IT. It's available on all current generation systems in some form or another, although I recommend the Wii version simply because using the Wii Remote to shoot people is most satisfying. In summary, avoid this game, and send Capcom a message that we won't just buy anything that has Resident Evil on it. Maybe with some luck we'll finally get a decent new Mega Man game..

Zookster said:

Normally, a military-style shooter wouldn't get on my radar, but based on your recommendation of Spec Ops: The Line, I might want to check that out if I can ever pull myself away from my 2012 RPG binge (playing the first Mass Effect at the moment.)

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This video really gives a good summary of what makes the game so great and why you should play it..
http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/spec-ops-the-line-part-1

Yeah he's really good in the game. He has a greater range in this game because he's not playing the typical smug Nathan Drake or the confused Desmond Miles. Honestly when I first heard his voice I was like, "UGH... not him AGAIN" but when he starts his mental descent it really comes through well via his voice acting and how the game is animated.

FYI, Spec Ops is this week's Midweek Madness on Steam. $7.49 for the Game of the Year. I suggest anyone with a halfway decent PC get it now. Sale ends Thursday. http://store.steampowered.com/app/50300?snr=1_41_4__42