• 29Dec 09

  Look to 2010

  Let's see, 23 games finished, first time homeowner, passed 3 year mark at current job, rebought my Xbox 360, it was a pretty good year. Rebuying my 360 was a painless process, and without a doubt thus far, the best rebuy I've made. Plus I got to play Castle Crashers & Shadow Complex on XBLA, plus being able to continue with my character from Mass Effect once ME2 comes out in a few weeks. 2010 seems to be shaping up decently as well, with a few real big titles to kickstart the year. Let's take a quick look.

  #1 - Final Fantasy XIII
  #2 - Mass Effect 2
  #3 - Batman: Arkham Asylum 2
  #4 - White Knight Chronicles
  #5 - Mega Man 10
  #6 - God of War 3

  -RPGs Resonance of Fate, Nier, Star Ocean: Last Hope International: how will they turn out, will they be any good??
  -Alpha Protocol: will it be as good as the hype for it (being able to play as a JB spy, Bond, Bauer or Bourne), and was the delay til summer enough time to make it good?
  -Heavy Rain, The Last Guardian: still need to finish Indigo Prophecy, but enjoyed what I played; will HR be as good, or better? TLG, will it live up to its predecessors, ICO & Shadow of the Colossus?
  -Red Dead Redemption, Splinter Cell: Conviction: will Redemption be as good as Red Dead Revolver; Conviction sounds good in preview (like Hitman in a way), will I actually play it??
  -ModNation Racers: looks like a lot of fun, will it be?
  -Medal of Honor: how will it fare with its decendent, Call of Duty, reigning supreme?
  -Project Needlemouse: please stay true to its original announcement, 2D Sonic FTW!!

  • Posted Dec 29, 2009 4:32 pm PT
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• 28Dec 09

  Top Games of 2009: Part Three

  Here we go. Probably the easiest post I get to make, just talking about my favorite games of the year. As I've said, there were quite a few high quality games, but after that there wasn't much else. At one point, my "Top 10" was looking a bit ragged, until a couple last minute adjustments eased the process. Still, what will be number 1? I've been debating that for the last month at least. Time to decide.

  Honorable Mentions:

  -Zenonia: very enjoyable Zelda-like game for the iPhone, cheap, lengthy for that kind of game, and has three c1asses to play
  -Brutal Legend: didn't have the lasting good impression that Psychonauts had, but was fun at times for what it was, even if it felt like it had an identity crisis
  -MLB 09: The Show, Fight Night Round 4, NBA 2K10: all fun in their own way, some good Fight Night battles, and a few good NBA showdowns
  -The Beatles: Rock Band: I enjoyed playing thru the "career", and enjoying the music, but the best part of Rock Band is playing with friends, and we never did unfortunately

  Top 10 Favorite Games of the Year (in no particular order, except #1-3 this year)

  -Ghostbusters: surprisingly good and fun, with a good story thanks to the original main cast; besides, who ya gonna call?
  -Dragon Age: Origins: annual "in process of playing it and assume I'll enjoy" game, its a BioWare game, so I'm sure I will; good story and characters so far
  -Plants vs Zombies: on a whim, tried it and was amazed how much fun it was, great game
  -Borderlands: not usually an FPS fan, but after all the good things I heard, had to try and really enjoying it, especially for local 2-player co-op; hate Claptrap though
  -Shadow Complex: randomly just finished it after a four month hiatus, and really enjoyed playing it, very good Super Metroid-esque game, one of the best XBLA games I've played
  -Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Yes, I did like this game despite my groanings about it at times, good story, good characters, fun gameplay (if missing the awesome jetski sequences of original)
  -Assassin's Creed 2: some story groanings aside, loved playing it all the way through, not as repetitive as original, more to do, better missions, more fun
  

  #3 - inFAMOUS: eagerly anticipated, thoroughly enjoyed the newest release from Sly Cooper developer, Sucker Punch; nice story, great gameplay and loved the concept, only wish they began building a rogues gallery for you to square off against, but there's always inFAMOUS 2

  In what I can best call a virtual tie, these two are my games of the year, with #1 edging out #2 by the tiniest of margins. And I do mean that after debating this for the last month and the last hour.

  #2 - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. R&C has been unseated. Kinda. The main reason why will be detailed in a moment. Crack in Time was very good. I enjoyed Tools of Destruction, its predecessor, but Crack in Time was probably the best R&C game since Up Your Arsenal. The "will it be the final R&C" buildup helped, and was the biggest reason for this debate. I don't believe this was the last R&C game, maybe for PS3, but not overall. Besides, the games are still a blast to play, have great stories and great characters, and personally, is still my favorite game franchise of all time.

  #1 - Batman: Arkham Asylum. Prior to Arkham Asylum, there were basically zero good Batman games. The best ones were considered brawlers, and didn't feature what makes Batman great. When Arkham Asylum was announced, I was happy a new Batman game was being made, but I was fearful of what it would end up. Early previews were promising, but I was still apprehensive up until the point I played the demo. That apprehension melted away pretty quickly, and was blown away once the game came out. My favorite superhero finally getting a definitive game, that was great all the way through, with a great Metroid-esque feel, a very good story and tremendous voice acting (including Kevin Conroy & Mark Hamill reprising their Batman: Animated Series roles as Batman & The Joker respectively), and the large Arkham Island to explore. Arkham Asylum was such a great game that despite my love for Ratchet & Clank, I just had to give the edge, however slight, to Batman: Arkham Asylum.
  

  • Posted Dec 28, 2009 10:58 am PT
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• 27Dec 09

  Top Games of 2009: Part Two

  Moving on, let's take a look at my picks for the best games per platform this year.

  ----------

  Nintendo DS

  Nominees: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (92%), Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (91%), Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (87%), Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (85%), Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (84%).

  Winner: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. A worthy handheld release of the GTA franchise, especially considering the lack of mature titles on either Nintendo platform.

  ----------

  Sony PSP

  Nominees: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (90%), LittleBigPlanet (89%), LocoRoco 2 (86%), Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (86%), Patapon 2 (85%).

  Winner: LittleBigPlanet. GTA would also be a fine choice, but I try to avoid repeating winners. Besides, LittleBigPlanet is a very good handheld release. It was enjoyable on the PS3 (despite the fact I didn't play it enough), but this is also a very good home for the game, with its simple platform levels.

  ----------

  PC

  Nominees: Batman: Arkham Asylum (92%), Dragon Age: Origins (90%), Plants vs Zombies (89%), Left 4 Dead 2 (89%), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (89%), Empire: Total War (88%), Resident Evil 5 (87%), The Sims 3 (87%), Torchlight (86%).

  Winner: Dragon Age: Origins. In the mold of Baldur's Gate & Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age is a fully fleshed out fantasy RPG in its own D&D-esque world. I've been working on the X360 version, but so far, it has a very good story and some good characters, with a number of character options.

  ----------

  Nintendo Wii

  Nominees: New Super Mario Bros Wii (88%), Punch-Out!! (88%), Boom Blox Bash Party (87%), Little King's Story (86%), Dead Space Extraction (84%).

  Winner: New Super Mario Bros Wii. Not a very good year for the Wii in terms of exclusive releases. Personally I wasn't impressed with this release, seeing as New Super Mario Bros has been out for the DS for a couple years, but having it on the Wii with upto 4 players is a very nice touch. Plus I did want to try the DS version, so I'm sure its a good game.

  ----------

  Microsoft Xbox 360

  Nominees: Forza Motorsport 3 (92%), Shadow Complex (89%), Left 4 Dead 2 (89%), Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (87%), Trials HD (86%).

  Winner: Forza Motorsport 3. Another system with a down year when it comes to exclusives. Three Live Arcade releases listed is not a good sign, but so long as they are good games, its not that bad. Forza is Microsoft's answer to Gran Turismo, and from reviews, this is the best release thus far.

  ----------

  Sony PlayStation 3

  Nominees: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (96%), Killzone 2 (90%), Demon's Souls (90%), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (88%), Flower (87%), inFamous (86%).

  Winner: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I find this funny. I played through and really enjoyed Uncharted 2. However, I was dismayed by all the praise the game received, not that it didn't deserve a good amount of it. It was just the extent of all the praise and hype. I don't think it was that good, but the single player was very good, and even though I didn't play any multiplayer on the full release, the multiplayer from the beta was surprisingly fun.

  ----------

  Multiplatform

  Nominees: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (93%), Street Fighter IV (93%), Batman: Arkham Asylum (92%), Assassin's Creed 2 (91%), FIFA 10 (90%), The Beatles: Rock Band (89%), BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (88%), NHL 10 (88%), Fight Night Round 4 (87%), Dragon Age: Origins (87%), Resident Evil 5 (87%).

  Winner: Batman: Arkham Asylum. Initially I had Modern Warfare 2 in this slot, but the more I thought about it, I just couldn't. Single player that's just too short, plus rehashed multiplayer from the first Modern Warfare, and a flavor of the week feel was just too much for me to get behind. Batman has a tremendous single player adventure, with a handful of good Batman villains, the entirety of Arkham Island to explore, not to mention that this is an actual good Batman game, probably the first one ever. Exploration was great, so was combat, and the story was very well told.

  Note: scores obtained from GameRankings.com, decisions based on that plus my personal opinion.
  

  • Posted Dec 27, 2009 12:18 pm PT
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