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NME

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Games of 2011

2011: The year in which Gamefly eliminates the buying of games I don't actually like. Some downloadable games might sneak in.

May include minor **SPOILERS**

List items

  • Pros: Interesting concept; Puzzles are fun w/o being daunting. *** Cons: Combat is dull, repetitive, and rudimentary; A checkpoint system that varies based on the situation; Platforming isn't particularly good; Controls lack refinement; Game drags on after only a few hours.

  • Pros: Unique in style and gameplay compared to other modern platformers; Community content can be like a more robust WarioWare game; LBP.me website integration makes selecting and playing the best user generated content quick and easy; Drop in/out multiplayer is great; A marked improvement to the creation tools, if you're into that. *** Cons: Controls can get in the way of the platforming; Moving between the three-planes lacks fluidity; If you're not into content creation, a third of the experience is lost; Very little community created content is both unique and good; Long loading times.

  • Pros: The best UI in gaming; Zero gravity segments offer good variety; superb presentation; Several "wow" moments; Emphasis on the flow of the game; Very intuitive hint system; Increased focus on kinesis in combat; The final 2-3 chapters are a strong finish; Final confrontation approaches the game conventions with a new/interesting filter; Two key callbacks to the original; New enemy type: Stalkers *** Cons: Atmosphere lacks the tensions of the first game; Supporting cast feels very generic; Attempts to mix humor into the dialog fall flat and feel forced; Enemies often seem to inexplicably spawn from behind; Use of B button to both heal yourself and cancel out of menus caused unwanted healing; The false ending; New enemy type: Pukers

  • Pros: Mike Haggar is finally playable in a fighting game; Comic-style presentation; Everything about Deadpool (except maybe actually playing as him); If you have ever played as Ryu, you know the fundamentals of every character; You can use your hyper combos at will; Game gets better the more time you put into it. *** Cons: Available characters seems limited (only four unlockable characters?); Not enough variety in play style of different characters; Some of the nuance is not explained well, if at all; Mission are stupid demanding; Almost every ending is underwhelming; Final battle has a lot of cheap elements; Change of controls from previous SF & MvC games is awkward at first and probably unnecessary; Online mode connectivity is still a struggle; No quarter/spectator mode.

  • Pros: Charming atmosphere; Fun in its simplicity; Multiple solutions to each puzzle; Lots of variety in characters, the majority of which are worth exploring; Most solutions are intuitive yet thought provoking; Hint system. *** Cons: Movement control is a little wonky; Too focused on repeating missions.

  • Pros: Avatar support perfectly suited for the game.

  • Pros: Much easier to pick up and play than Killzone 2. *** Cons: Felt very generic, but I only made it to chapter 3; The multiplayer feels extremely outdated.

  • Pros: About as satisfying an ending as there's ever been to a game. *** Cons: Loading times are disappointingly frequent and fairly lengthy on PS3.

  • Pros: Awesome story mode; Probably the most feature-rich fighting game to date; Story and challenge modes make you a better player; Pretty much every worthwhile character is included; Plenty of finishing moves, most of which are pretty good. *** Cons: Shao Khan is still a cheater; Krypt navigation is cumbersome; Fighting, particularly the use of special moves, is not intuitive.

  • Pros: Combat is fun and simple; Ability to bypass driving sequences; Voice acting is mostly superb; Can be very addictive. *** Cons: An extremely underwhelming ending; Very little payoff for completing most missions; Ability to affect the story is not obvious; A lousy script (e.g. dialog during interrogations, particularly when subject is accused of lying); Some key story elements aren't told well; Interrogation ambiguities lead to incorrect choices and frustration; Driving is very loose and takes a lot of getting used to; Repetitive; Numerous technical issues (pop in, voice/lip sync, partner AI blocking you, partner AI not entering the car, friendly AI running in front of your shot and getting killed to cost you a mission, etc.); Juxtaposition of Cole's attitude toward killing within the story versus killing during side missions.

  • Pros: Challenging but mostly fair; Level design support the very good platforming mechanics quite well; Lots to do without feeling like the game drags; Interesting and rewarding boss fights; Combat is a lot of fun and flows very well when at its best; Both technically and artistically impressive; Plenty of opportunity for exploration; Understated narrative provides background without being overly obtrusive. *** Cons: No checkpoints for long boss fights; Mid-level checkpoints do not work for returning to the game; Some cheap tactics used (e.g. enemies hiding in bullet hell, bullet hell obscuring background traps, color matching only protects from projectiles); can be difficult to keep track of current color after taking damage; Controls are always as responsive as they need to be; Enemies are entirely pattern-driven; Perhaps a bit too much backtracking; Some abilities can be ignored almost entirely after acquiring them; Money seems mostly pointless

  • Pros: Combat is fun and satisfying at its best; Controls are surprisingly intuitive given all of the abilities; Climbing is usually very easy/fun; Powers are fun to use. *** Cons: Combat is generally tedious and repetitive; New Marais isn't a very interesting place, making it a lousy analog for New Orleans; Low health warning (screen graying) shows up early and lasts for a very long time, even when not taking damage, making it difficult to tell just how close Cole is to death;

  • Pros: Scales well to the amount of time you have available; Very easy to get into; Lots of unlockables; A good tone and level of self-awareness. *** Cons: Repetitive; Both art style options have significant flaws; Neither the gameplay nor the narrative are very captivating.

  • Pros: Superb presentation allows the entire game to flow smoothly; Beautiful art design; Inspired score; The narrator tells a great story that combines both excellent voice acting and writing; Surprisingly deep combat; Lots of options to customize the game to your preference; Lots to unlock, which keeps the game fresh and captivating throughout. A very satisfying ending. *** Cons: Aiming and target prioritization doesn't always jive with your expectations, especially when lots of enemies are on screen; Can be difficult to keep track of the edges of a map; Proving grounds are less about skill and more about whether or not your weapons are properly upgraded or if you know how to cheese the level; Poor weapon combos can make certain enemies extremely difficult to defeat, particularly with shrines activated; Even when fully upgraded, early weapons feel obsolete as the game progresses.

  • Pros: A very interesting visual presentation; Even without being a fan of techno, the music was enjoyable; Easy to pick up and play; Wacky premise, presentation, and enemies creates a refreshing departure from majority of games; "Feel Eden" mode allows for playing unlocked levels without worrying about scores and/or dying. *** Cons: Lousy camera can make tracking projectiles difficult; Projectile HUD warning seems to be sporadic and displays too late to react in most cases; projectiles appear to travel at uneven speeds and connect from much farther away than it appears they should be capable.

  • Pros: Very satisfying gameplay; Special powers are fun to use; Balances relaxing and demanding gameplay; Visually impressive. *** Cons: Requires you to fail and retry certain areas several times; Friendly AI is pretty dumb; Lousy ending; Controls could be much better.

  • Pros: May be the best looking game of this generation; The variety in environments is captivating; One of the fallen angels is a Michael Jackson analog; Good checkpointing system; Minigame allows you to avoid dying; Boss fights offer the best combat in the game; Decent platforming when camera/controls don't get in the way; Hud is optional (off by default). *** Cons: The camera and controls are awful for the majority of the game; The combat is mostly repetitive; The story is fairly vague and characters aren't always fleshed out; The ending is underwhelming

  • Pros: Garcia Fucking Hotspur and the way he says "PAULA!"; Voice acting is superb; Ammo is typically plentiful; Interesting boss fights. *** Cons: Too Resident Evil 4-ish for its own good; Controls aren't particularly intuitive; Too much focus on the darkness; Boss fights can last too long

  • Pros: You can level/skill up pretty quickly; it has some of the appeal of Jackal. *** Cons: Unskippable cutscenes; lousy voice acting; repetitive gameplay; Cannot unlock majority of achievements in co-op; Vehicles handle poorly.

  • Pros: Far more approachable than Demon's Souls; Very satisfying combat; Graphics are both artistically and technically solid. *** Cons: Every decision you make is a gamble; almost nothing about the game is explained; difficulty fluctuates between "hard" and "fuck you."

  • Pros: Best in class multiplayer *** Cons: The campaign is a flaming turd; Co-op is not always clear about objectives and failure criteria; Early server issued prevented consistent access to multiplayer, co-op, and stats.

  • Pros: An excellent adaptation of and improvement upon the Metal Gear Solid foundation; For me, a more streamlined and fun game than Arkham Asylum; Superb presentation (ambient chatter, cutscenes, good load times/transitions). *** Cons: The ending is underwhelming; It's very easy to miss out on half of the content; Getting to The Riddler requires a pretty crazy time investment.

  • Pros: Combat seems to be scaled back a little bit; beautiful game; great presentation. *** Cons: Combat is still the weakest part of the game; Story isn't as interesting; Extremely underwhelming climax.

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