Gaming

Last year I compiled a list of games that were released during the year that I had the pleasure of playing, and my thoughts on them. I thought it would be fun to do this again for this year. They’ll be in order of their release, of course. It’s the best way to organize these things.

You don’t need to know this, but this is being written while I listen to PPPPPP (The soundtrack to the game VVVVVV) in the background. It’s an amazing album that you too can listen to for free here, or buy here.

Back to the Future: The Game.

I love Telltale Game’s ability to make a great Adventure Game, and this is probably one of their best. The story was made with help from fans and a co-creator of the original trilogy, and could very well have been a fourth movie. It’s well thought out, and ties together with events from the movies while still forging a fantastic story that contains an amazing twist at the end of every episode that kept me playing all the way to the end.
Telltale impressed me with the amount of work put into this game, and although gameplay was similar to their earlier works (Hard not to do given they’re all the same genre), it was refreshing, and prompted an urge to watch the movies.

Pokemon White

Another Pokemon game. The visual style was very different, lowering the view to a more isometric one, giving the game more of a three dimensional feel. The “villains” were quite an interesting change too, being a group that were (apparently) against Pokemon being caught and used by trainers. That moral subject played an interesting part in the Pokemon universe, and while I haven’t finished it, the game is definitely one of the better in the series.
I’m hoping the 3DS Pokemon game that comes out next year is just as interesting.

Portal 2

One of the games anticipated most this year by PC gamers thanks to a clever alternate reality game on Valve’s part, it was nothing short of amazing. It extended the gameplay made awesome in the original Portal and finished off the storyline, while introducing a newer one with co-op characters. The game also pleasantly teased at Half Life 3, which got the juices flowing.
As with all Valve’s games post-TF2, it has also gotten official DLC along with countless user made maps, which is just a major plus.
The implementation of Steam on PS3 meant Portal 2 players could play co-op cross platform between it, PC and Mac. This is something that as far as I know has never been done before.
Unfortunately, I’m yet to set aside time to properly finish the co-op campaign and get the proper ending for the game.

Brink

People were making comparisons to Team Fortress 2 in a negative sense, but I grabbed the game anyway during a sale to see if it was really as bad as they all said.
What I got was a game completely different to Team Fortress 2. Unlike TF2, Brink makes clumsy attempts at parkour style movement, and follows an actual storyline. It has a unique art style but unfortunately wasn’t enough to save itself.
I imagine I’ll return to the game one day I’m bored, but for now it’s been sidelined for games that are actually interesting.

Terraria

A game that borrows from Minecraft that in turn Minecraft borrows from. A 2D exploration game where you mine, craft and explore a massive randomly generated world, fighting flying eyeballs and zombies when it gets dark.
It’s fun, but nothing that was able to hook me for very long.

Duke Nukem Forever

It came out, and I loved it. I’ve already written about this previously, but to sum it up again, it’s a great game for those that merely want to reconnect with the legend. It doesn’t stand too strongly against other recent titles due to it’s long development time that really didn’t add anything to it, however at least by getting it out of the way Gearbox Software can focus on making another Duke game that lives up to the name.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

I never played the original version on Nintendo 64, but from what I understood it was a “classic”. My partner was kind enough to give me a copy to play, and while I enjoyed it, Ocarina of Time isn’t really something that immerses me in it’s world. It feels too dated.

Age of Empires Online

I always loved Age of Empires. This helped rekindle that love by combining the awesome formula from the first two games with a beautiful cartoony style, and the quest-fuelled gameplay of modern online games. Unfortunately, Microsoft locked the game up too tightly with “YOU MUST PAY” restrictions, which ruined it for a few people and made me feel like they were choking us unless we forked out $20 for a single civilisation. However, there’s enough gameplay in there to merit the twenty dollars and keep a person playing for hours and hours.
I also wrote about this ages ago.

Dead Island

I’ve played very little of this game, but it’s good. The gameplay feels clunky as the developers seem to have gone for a “realistic” movement system, but they make up for it with combat, in which you can pick up almost anything and use it as a weapon; it’s extremely satisfying.

The Binding of Isaac

I have invested over seventy hours in this five dollar indie game. It’s just amazing fun. Once again, I’ve written about this earlier, but it merits saying that if you’re looking to blow five dollars on something, I highly suggest doing so on this game.

RAGE

I was so hyped for this game, as it was the first in house game developed by ID Software in years and years. I’ve been a fan of theirs since Wolfenstein 3D, playing everything to do with that franchise as well as the Doom and Quake series’ that so solidified themselves in making FPS what it is today.
How does RAGE hold up for the developer? It’s not bad. Not fantastic, but not bad. The graphics are amazing as are character animations, but sadly it just feels too much like another Borderlands. Not to mention it’s a whopping twenty one gigabyte game. I am yet to have another game that takes up that much hard drive space and yet feels so restrictive.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

This is probably my pick for best game of the year. For reasons I’ve mentioned earlier as well as all the usual ones, Skyrim is mind-blowingly good and it wouldn’t surprise me if I invest a couple of hundred hours in the game as I attempt to not just do all the quests, but also due to the inevitable DLC Bethesda will no doubt release.
One thing that excites me is that the PC version will have Steam Workshop implemented, allowing people to upload mods they have made, allowing people to install them at the click of a button and rate and comment on them as appropriate. This is what makes me pick PC over console; the user base and what they do with their games.

Minecraft

Everyone should know what this is by now. The other week the game got it’s “official” release, complete with major update adding lots of content to the game. It still feels like the same Minecraft we’ve been playing for ages, but bigger.
Jens, who has now assumed the role of Lead Developer for Mojang, has plans to continue developing the game, adding proper modding api and the like. I can’t wait to see how the game expands in the future.

Cave Story +

Cave Story, but updated with Steam Achievements and the like, with a small price tag. It’s a fun game and well worth the purchase. I’ve only just started playing it so I can’t say much else, but if you want to play it and can’t afford to pay for it, there’s the original free version floating around on the Internet, which can be downloaded easily via Desura.

There’s a few more games coming out over the next month, but I see nothing I’m really excited for. I don’t mind though, I have way too many games to get through as it is.

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