List items
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Beat 4/6/2012
Mass Effect 3, the grand ending to the Mass Effect story. Well, sort of. I began playing the game after the brouhaha about the game's ending exploded. In the end, I too found myself disappointed by the end of the story but not enough to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The moment the really annoyed me was seeing a video with "all" of the endings playing at once. If you are going to change each one so narrowly, why not just offer fewer possible outcomes and spend more time on polishing them? Aside from the story problems I had, the ME universe is still great and worth exploring. Everything from the codex to conversations you have with the various characters you meet are enjoying and worthwhile. The action still isn't the game's strong point, especially with clunky controls and movement (they really need to figure out the snap to cover mechanics), but its enjoying enough that I wasn't tired of it at the end. The multiplayer has been the real surprise to me. I admit - it isn't THAT good but there is something oddly compelling about it. Perhaps it's just the character progression aspect that has me hooked, but I've played quite a bit of it. Overall, not as good as Mass Effect 2 but still worth playing.
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Beat 5/5/2012
When I first saw video of Trials it reminded me of a great flash game I had played online. I never got around to playing the first game, but Trials Evolution looked too good to pass up. Trials:Evo is a quality game. It was entertaining, challenging, and fun to play - up to a certain point. I decided that I would try to get Gold on all the levels except for the "Extreme" levels. Playing the game and failing over and over again eventually made me rage so hard that I would shut off the game and remain in a bad mood afterwards. Maybe I need to lighten up, but that level of masochism didn't sit well with me and I decided to put the game down after finishing one of the extreme levels. Great game, but too frustrating to enjoy after a point.
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Beat 6/10/2012
I grew up as a kid without a computer until the year 2000. Since I didn't have a computer growing up when I was younger, I think I missed out on a bunch of games such as Diablo I/II and other early Blizzard games. I did eventually try to install and play Diablo but I don't think I "got it" back then. I do get it now. I beat my first playthrough of Diablo III as a Barbarian (~20 hrs) and it is a fun game with a lot of replayability. I've already started a second playthrough as a Wizard. One of the best parts of the game is the great drop-in drop-out co-op system it has. It's pretty seamless and that facilitates playing with friends which is a blast. However, I don't think this game has sunk its teeth in me quite as much as I was expecting. I enjoy its loot-driven nature and unlocking abilities but the whole experience feels sort of mindless. That isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't get me going and motivated like some other games I've played lately. In any case, it's a fine game and I see myself playing through at least once or twice, if not more!
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"Beat" 8/26/2012
Technically, I have not beat Binding of Isaac. For the amount of time I've spent playing it however (and with more playtime to come I'm sure!), I feel like I've had enough time to form an opinion. It's a great game whose greatest strength is its randomization. The dungeons, layouts, bosses, and item drops are unique each playthrough. Looking at the in-game item list, I haven't picked up all the item drops and I've already played for ~15 hours. Something keeps drawing me back to this game despite more major releases sitting not too far from me gathering dust. Edit: Did eventually beat Mom. Super satisfying.
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Beat 10/6/2012
Like Isaac, defining the completion point in this game is sort of tricky. There are two difficulties, Normal (read: kicks my ass) and Easy which I've completed. FTL was an unexpected surprise that I only looked into after seeing a bunch of recommendations on twitter. It has that Isaac/Spelunky "roguelike" system going on where the game has random events which uniquely effect each playthrough and each playthrough lasts a limited, short amount of time. The game isn't a graphical powerhouse by any means but its simple aesthetic serves it well. The combat is basic but when it gets difficult I am thankful for the inclusion of a pause button. Overall, just a great little game that I'll continue to play for its varied experience each playthrough.
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Beat 11/23/2012
I heard Criterion was developing this new installment of the Need for Speed franchise, which I have no attachment to, so I decided I would pick it up. Burnout Paradise is one of my favorite games that I've played on the 360, hands down. The controls in NFS:MW and general gameplay feel a lot like B:P, except everything has been made slightly worse. I think the police chases are lame and mostly annoying. They should have taken a page from GTA so that when you end a mission with cops on your tail your "wanted" rating goes down to zero. It's easier to get caught by the cops then to try and evade them with no real drawback. There were interface issues as well, the interface tends to disappear and takes a few seconds to reappear after certain actions in the game. This makes restarting a race frustrating while you wait for the interface to boot back up. The game lacks the character and charm that B:P had. The "racers" are faceless cars. I'm supposed to be going after drivers but no human character is mentioned, only their car make and model. All that being said, I did enjoy playing the game. The general racing and controls are tight and enjoyable. I'm waiting for one of my friends to pick up the game so that I can give the multiplayer a shot.
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Beat 12/8/2012
The first exposure I had to Hotline Miami was a strange teaser video that preempted its release. The video was really strange and gave me no idea what the game was going to be like, but I was still interested by it. After checking out the QL, I knew I had to play it. Super weird, indecipherable storyline which reminded me of Mulholland Drive. Great aesthetic, everything bathed in neon. I've never been a fan of much of anything from the 80s but I dug the movie "Drive" which I knew going in had inspired some of the visuals in the game. It nails the same feel that movie had. As far as the gameplay, it's just damn fun to play. The controls feel tight, the levels are challenging and satisfying, and the violence is brutal. The soundtrack really stands out with this one too. I'm not one to listen to many game soundtracks outside of playing the game itself, but this time I'm hooked. The soundtrack is great by itself and really enhances the games presentation. One of my favorite games this year!
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Beat 12/X/2012
I don't know exactly at what point you can say you "beat" a sports game like NHL '13 but I think I've played enough to formulate an opinion on it. I was never big into sports games and I'm not sure exactly what brought me to this one. However, I mostly enjoyed my time with it. I never really got the hang of the controls all that well and most of the modes didn't interest me. I enjoyed playing the "Be A Pro" mode and playing one position. The gameplay is pretty satisfying and it can be really frustrating when you aren't playing well. The problem I find myself having with this game is that... each game is essentially the same experience. I really don't care if I win or lose in Be a Pro mode. The commentators spout the same dialogue too often and sometimes it doesn't even make sense. I do think the game is fun but I don't see myself plunking down money for another NHL or sports game at all for that matter anytime soon.
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Beat 5/26/2013
I was a fan of the previous Farcry game after playing it on PC a couple of years back. The big points I remember about that game are all applicable to Farcry 3. Open world, unlockable weapons, various ways to approach situations. Farcry 3 attempts to improve on its predecessor with a story that has characters that you actually care about. I never really got to that point. Some of the characters, like Voss, were interesting because they were just downright crazy. But in an age where it seems like there are fewer silent protagonists, I found myself wishing that Jason was just that. The entire story of being on an island and getting captured by baddies is straight out of a B movie with some weird ethereal sequences thrown in to mix things up. I found myself not really caring about the characters or the story as it drew on. There is more positive things to say about the gameplay, however. The shooting action felt solid and successfully sneaking about and getting stealth kills is satisfying. I found myself attempting to do too many of the side missions at the beginning of the game because, this being an FPS, I assumed the story missions themselves would only take about ~8 hours of so. It turns out that there were more story missions than I had expected and I was feeling a bit burnt out on the game by the time I got to the end of the story. All in all, I would say Farcry 3 is enjoyable in spite of its forgettable story.
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Beat 9/1/2013
After a long gaming drought, I finally got around to playing the Walking Dead mini-series. I don't always come to video games looking for a resonating, emotional story. However, that is exactly what the Walking Dead delivers. Early on in the game I became invested in the characters and genuinely concerned about their fates. Few games have a story or characters compelling enough to say that about. The gaming bits are standard adventure fare that do a good job at driving the story forward but the real star here are the characters. Telltale has done a fine job, and I'm looking forward to playing the DLC.
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Beat 12/31/2013
Stealth games are not in my wheelhouse. Generally, I don't have fun with stealth sequences in games as they tend to be trial and error or memorization. I'm glad to say Mark of the Ninja breaks my preconceptions about stealth games. This game has a lot going for it. Great controls, art style and interface. The way they convey information, such as palette swapping your outfit when you move between light and dark, is really smart. I may jump back into the new game + to mess around with new items and outfits I unlocked.
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