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.
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.
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