handsomeb

For some reason it took me 15-20 tries to get the jump in the final mission of GTA 4 right. I just watched it on youtube and it sure didn't look as tough as I remember it being.

I'm not too far in, just took Connor into Boston, and it's starting to glitch out something fierce. And what isn't glitching seems intentionally counter intuitive.

Sam Adams wanted me to take him to a printer shop, but they way was blocked by some redcoats. Sammy said, "No problem, follow me. I'll show you how to use the tunnels." He then proceeded to stand there and do nothing. Can't interact other than the normal follow/stay prompt.

I finally decide that I probably need to just find a tunnel entrance myself to trigger some sort of a tutorial. This is when the running started. I ran all over Boston, synching 4 or 5 viewpoints and scouring the map for a tunnel icon. Nothing. Now I'm getting pretty frustrated and just decided to get to the printers on foot. Full sync required staying below level 3, so I scouted an alley with only 2 guards and told Sammy to wait for me. Killed the guards, get to the green mark only to discover that it is, in fact, the tunnel entrance.

It would have been impossible for them to be less clear about this location. Why are they guarding the tunnels? It's like the dialogue was purposely trying to confuse me.

So, I use the tunnel, and I'm glad for the mini-tutorial since it's nothing like the previous game (I skipped Revelations). Gone is the simple enter tunnel/select exit mechanic. No, they needed to complicate things with torches, and rats, and a lock-picking minigame. Wasn't this supposed to be a fast travel system? Why is it now slower than going through the streets?

Looks like I'll be avoiding these in the future.

Sam and I exit the tunnel and he tells me to meet him at the printers. I get there and find redcoats everywhere. Not wanting to raise an alert, I decide to be stealthy. I climb the back of the building, drop down the front and hit the 'interact' button as soon as it prompts. Everything goes swimmingly in the shop, and Sammy says he's going to show me how to leave town. We exit the shop and the redcoats are now blue, which I take as a good sign since everyone that's been cool with me has been wearing blue. I guess I was wrong though, because you can't leave without bumping into them, and bumping into them causes all fucking hell to break loose.

Now Sam Adams and I are fist fighting hundreds of blue coats. Wave after wave, no end in sight. Eventually there is enough of a lull to trigger Sam's walk and dialogue, which is promptly interrupted by the next group of blue coats we happen by.

Reload checkpoint, same thing. Repeat... repeat. I'm stuck. I can't remember the last time a game made me this mad.

Fuck you Sam Adams! Can't you use your local influence to stop this madness. I'm blatantly murdering some of these guys, if they're your comrades do something about it.

I turned it off. I'm scared what I'll find if and when I go back.

Is this a known issue with this mission? If these issues are typical, how often do they pop up? I remember hearing about bad chase missions and excessive "detection triggers failure" sections, but I don't recall hearing anything like this. The setting is really cool and I want to keep going, but if the rest of the game is this messy I don't know if I can.

It's a tough choice, especially since this generation has lasted so long.

I have to go with Red Dead Redemption. The atmosphere is so dense. Good music, good story, and the best horse-riding system I've encountered in a game. The 'Flowers for a lady' & 'I know you' stranger missions still get me.

The Mass Effect series is a close runner up.

Things like this statue always come off as more exploitative than sexist or misogynist to me. To call it sexist or misogynist implies there is something more to the reasoning than hype and the bottom line. That is something the game industry has struggled with for years. All forms of entertainment media have some aspect that is exploitative of women, but it has always seemed like the ratio is much higher in gaming. These companies have known for years that their target audience was young males with a disposable income, and have designed and marketed themselves in accordance with that data. But as demographics change, and games become more main stream, that sort of mindset has to change. We'll never get rid of the stereotype of the lonely neckbeard in his mother's basement if companies continue to market themselves like this as more and more people are paying attention.

What I found most disturbing about the statue was that Deep Silver thought anyone would want one of these in the first place. I've never been one for special edition junk anyways, just give me the game. I don't have room in my life for items with absolutely no function.

Amazing stuff.

I need to play some DD:Neon My gamerscore has ended in a pesky 9 since FIFA '09.

Any chance of looking at the BF3 maps like they have done Karkand & Close Quarters?

7th Guest

Best Download Only Game - Fez, Mark of the Ninja, Journey & The Walking Dead will surely get a lot of attention here, but I'd like to see Trials Evolution get some time as well. Yes, the soundtrack is rubbish, but the rest of the game is solid. I thought it was interesting that, as the game progressed, it slowly morphed from a racing game to a ridiculously difficult platformer. Chasing the all of the Platinum Medals would make for an excellent Breaking Brad segment.

2012's 2011 GOTY - I've got to go with Battlefield 3 because it's the game I spent the most time with this year. There's been a lot of extra content; 3 map packs this year counting Aftermath, Premium Content (Assignments, Double XP events), Private Servers. I know it probably won't win it, I'd just like to see it in the discussion.

Best Use of QTE's - Asura's Wrath

Best Sword Fight - Asura's Wrath

Best Game Where Your Arms Are Ripped Off More Than Once - Asura's Wrath

I think I'd like to see Asura's Wrath jokingly nominated in every category.

I'd also like to suggest a Year of the Bow category to celebrate the year's best implementation of archery, but I'm having trouble coming up with a list. I know there is one in BF3's Aftermath, and one in AC3. I guess you can count the 2012 Olympic Game, but I'm afraid most of the one's we saw at E3 won't be out until next year. Are there any I am overlooking?

Anyone else catch the 3 wise apes cue at the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys

I'm ready. I'll take this right now.