Deadliest Warrior: Legends

Have you ever played a fighting game where rounds last between 5 and 30 seconds, because the damage is realistically fatal? Where if you hit a guy with a sword, his arm may just fall the hell off? It gets better, too. The characters are historical generals from ancient history, like Alexander the Great and Shaka Zulu. There is also an element of luck that can lead to an awesome upset occasionally. Try the demo. The game uses an armor class system based on attack types and armor types. So certain armors have a higher chance to deflect slashes than pierces, for example.

I bought this game because in the demo, I killed a fully armored Alexander the Great with Shaka in two seconds by throwing a spear that stuck right in his face. It went right through the slit in his helmet. I laughed for like, five minutes.

There's a strange thing when I play Alan Wake. My parents are disturbed by it when they sit in the other room, while various shooters and far more violent games go mostly unnoticed by comparison. It's because of the gunshots. When I figured this out, it made me realize how awesome that is, because gunshots in that game bother me too. They're not weak, poofy sounds that blend into an ambiance of war. They're not deep with bass, to convey mastery over power. They pop with combustion and ring like a ringing in your ear. They convey that you are out of your league. That sound jumps higher than anything else and isn't nice to hear. It isn't pleasurable to fire the gun. Even the clash of light with the darkness has a grating sound, like a sparkler scratching a metal plate. It is the sound of a violent chemical reaction, a sonic short-hand for conflict. All of this, not blending into the din of some busy battlefield or arena swarming with enemies, but in contrast to the dark and lonely woods against a few enemies at a time. I want to applaud the sound design in Alan Wake. It truly is the most violent-sounding game I have.