What a weird year. I can't remember a year list where I've had such dividing games peppered throughout.
What's next? I have the following on my To-Play list... in order of likely order:
I admit that I probably won't ever beat XCOM. I'm terrible at strategy games, and this one in particular feels... off. It's stressful. It's glitchy. It's repetitive. And after 12 odd hours playing it, the "base-building" mechanics haven't really sunk in.
Honestly, I think both FTL and Super Hexagon are better games than XCOM, and that makes me kind of sad.
A fantastic iOS game that occupies my time on the LRT every work day. It's short; depending on playtime, it's usually 60 seconds or less, which makes it an ideal commuting game. It's harsh but fair.
During my best time of 94 seconds, I felt like Neo from the Matrix.
What a great game. I typically don't like to play strategy games, but even though FTL is harsh, it never feels punishing. If you die, you just restart your game and try again.
Sleeping Dogs is a solid open world game. The story is great, the setting (Hong Kong) is fantastic, and on the PC, it's a damn pretty game. The controls are solid too, with a fantastic melee system that feels like it's straight out of Arkham City, but with decent shooting mechanics as well. Very highly recommended to all open-world fans.
Since I seem to be playing 2011 and 2012 games lately, might as well keep it up with Asura's Wrath. I don't care for anime, but Asura's Wrath is so mind-blowingly over the top that I _needed_ to see what was coming next. I think I would have been disappointed to pay $60 for this game, but for $20 (plus $7 for the additional episode), it was an experience that I was happy I had a chance to try. Thanks to Brad for consistently talking about this, otherwise I think I would have missed this gem.
[Not complete]
I was hesitant to put Halo 4 on this list since I haven't finished it, but maybe that's telling. I've played through every FPS Halo game, and have enjoyed all of them (except ODST, which felt like a padded out expansion), with Halo Reach and Halo 2 among my favorites.
Maybe I have shooter fatigue from Borderlands, but something feels really off. On my upstairs 37" HDTV, the fonts on the main screen are FAR too small, almost being unreadable, something I haven't seen with ANY modern game. Something about the level design seems wrong, and I can't put my finger on why that is.
At the same time, it also feels far too safe and familiar. Why are we fighting the Covenant again? The last time we saw M.C., we had been thrown from some crazy wormhole to somewhere in the Universe. Why not go out on a limb and put us impossibly from home?
Maybe I'll find out why they chose this route, or maybe it's best to just leave the Halo universe behind and remember it as fondly as I do before it ends up jumping the shark.
What a mess. Honestly, don't bother. I might come back to this one day when the game is patched a few more times and the always-on online functionality is fixed, but for now, there's way better ways to spend your money and time.
I've never really been a fan of the series (I think I owned the original at one time as a pack-in with a video card), but I loved the Uncharted series, and it's hard to discuss the reboot without thinking immediately of Nathan Drake and Co. There's something about Uncharted's over the top exploration and set-piece moments that makes Drake feel like a modern Indiana Jones.
The problem with Uncharted is that the combat, which takes up a solid 1/3 of the game, can be a boring grind. An almost unlimited army of enemies come at you, each one sucking up far too many bullets, and you generally slog through until you hear a chime and go back to doing something fun.
The rebooted Tomb Raider is a much grimier and brutal Uncharted, without the globe trotting and fewer set-pieces, but with incredibly fulfilling combat. This game rates _very_ highly for me, and I can't recommend it enough to fans of the Uncharted series. 2013 _is_ the year of the bow.
After finally getting a chance to finally get my teeth sunk into Far Cry 3, I pretty much devoured it over the course of two and a half days... a relatively rare occurrence when time seems to be at a premium.
The open world leads to such dynamic/emergent gameplay that you're never quite sure what's going to happen. Try to sneak up on an enemy outpost, only to have a cougar start taking out enemies first? A couple of times, _I_ was the prey. Most missions also can be approached in many ways, whether or not you want to play stealth or Rambo your way through.
All this, along with some of the best acting I've _ever_ seen in a game, makes the world feel alive. I'll leave it as that, as I feel like I'd just be repeating all the existing Far Cry 3 reviews out there.
A fantastic game, even though it suffers from a climax at the end of the 2/3rd of the game, making the majority of the last third to feel poorly paced. Regardless, this could potentially be the best game I've played so far this year, and I almost missed out on this gem. Highly recommended.
OMG Bioshock Infinite, you were wonderful. I don't want to say anything spoilerish, but I will say that the story, the characters and the setting are amazing. I enjoyed pillaging for loot Fallout 3-style as much as I could, and I should have done even more. I sucked through the game in about 11 hours, and I want more.
My _only_ complaint is that the combat feels outdated, which I think is especially pronounced at two particular sections in the last third of the game. Other than that, Bioshock Infinite is a gem that I _will_ replay through again.
Star Command was a neat little diversion. I love the art style, and for some reason I really clicked with the combat which is odd considering the amount of outrage its gotten. With that said, the game feels like a shell. The campaign is roughly two hours with under two hands worth of missions, and is entirely combat focused. It was a good purchase at $2.99, but I really want to see what the developers do to expand this (if anything).
On second thought, this just reminds me how great FTL is. I want a version of FTL with the Star Command art style. Yum.
Now playing (yes, I received a 3DSXL from Air Miles for free, so... why not?)
Ok, fine, I'm sick. I can't stop playing BL2; it's my go-to game when I want something light to play. GO MECHROMANCER GO
<Sometime before 8/25/2013>
I'm glad that's over. The Last of Us wasn't fun for all of the reasons I mentioned in my last post.
I played through the last part of the game relatively quickly, but it's only because I wanted to see the story which is the important part of this piece. The combat is so brutal and tedious though that I would MUCH rather have a game like The Walking Dead that focuses on the story and leaves the combat as an afterthought.
Ultimately, I would have been fine skipping this title.
<Updated 8/5/2013>
Ugh, The Last of Us came out at the wrong time of year... it's just too hard to play with it being so nice outside. :D I don't know how much I honestly like The Last of Us, considering how long it's taken me to get to the mid-80% completion.
I've found it frustrating. I love the story, but I'm not a fan of stealth games, and there are sequences where it seems like the stealth components fail, like when you control Ellie in a room of clickers. I died in that stupid room well over 10 times. Sometimes I'd knife a clicker and there were no consequences, in others, every clicker on the map came to his side with no tangible difference in the scenario.
Whatever. I'm almost done, and maybe I can move onto something fun, like Saints Row 4. I hope the payoff is worth it.
<Original post>
I think the reason I'm playing BL2 again is to balance out The Last of Us, which is so oozing in atmosphere and story (along with dread and death) that it seems like the wrong time of year (bright and sunny summer) to release it. I understand Patrick's review now.
I'm almost out of Pittsburgh now I think.
Ok, fine, I played through the PC version because I was stoked about Saints Row 4, and I had a blast the entire time. This is what games should be about, not the tedious stealth combat of The Last of Us.
Saints Row 3 still holds up... and with that said, it's one of the better titles on my "played" list this year.
As a huge fan of Crackdown, I _loved_ Saints Row 4. Here is a game that takes all the craziness of Saints Row 3 and then adds The Matrix and Mass Effect 2 to the mix.
I won't make the standard complaint that it was TOO much like Saints Row 3 -- there is enough changes in mission structure (and your new found powers) and some really pleasant surprises (which I won't spoil) that make it just different enough.
Unlike Halo 4, SR4 jumps the shark in the RIGHT way.
Probably one of the most unique titles on my list for this year, Gone Home is a fantastic adventure game. I know it has very little in terms of re-playability, but the way the story is told is unlike any other.
Ok XCOM. You're amazing. I take everything I said about you back.
Well... most of it.
The problem is partially with my side. I'll admit it, I'm terrible at strategy games. Once I realized this and forced myself to push the difficulty down to easy -- a rarity considering most games are becoming increasing simpler these days -- I toughed out the rough couple of first months in the game, got accustom to the mechanics, and worked my way through.
And I've played it pretty much non-stop since then. It's amazingly addictive; the mechanics are solid, there is always a threat of nation support going away, and even on easy, your squad can be decimated if you let impatience get to you. Towards the end, I actually started to care about the soldiers that made it alive since they grow to be so powerful.
Some of my original comments stand. It feels slightly unpolished overall. Mechanics aren't very well explained both in battle and in the base, and it's hard to know what is actually important at points. At least on easy, the whole laser-weapon upgrade path is largely skippable -- why bother sinking resources into it? The story is a bit haphazard and sparse as well. I would have liked to see more (both in amount and quality) of cinematics as the fight progresses.
In some cases, the game seems downright glitchy. The action cam can be weird at times, for instance, showing a soldier firing backwards at an enemy or clipping through objects. That's a minor complaint compared to some of the simple UI glitches I've encountered. When firing my Sniper's headshot ability on the first of two shots, the UI clearly shows it's available again, when it is not (it gives an error saying the action isn't available and the UI updates when you try to take the second shot). Glitches like that hurt accessibility.
Even with all of the above, this is an amazingly addictive, if not quirky, game. If you aren't good at strategy games -- bite the bullet, change the difficulty to easy, and enjoy.
I know I'm sick, I'm sorry.
This time is was Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, which apparently isn't a thing in the Giant Bomb's system. Great expansion.
Also, expect to see more Borderlands 2 on this list.
Finally played the 400 Days DLC. I can't wait for Season 2!
One of my favourites for the NES, I played through twice. It may not be the longest or most challenging game, but it's alot of fun. One day I'd like to try the crazy Neo Geo version.
