GOTY 2011
Sort of a hope list
List items
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Late Feb. Very glad I picked this up. Early in my 2nd playthrough. Just wish I felt healthier.<br>
I'm not likely to play this any more, but my memory at least is still very fond.<br>
The atmosphere played into my enjoyment a lot. As much as Deus Ex has well designed, and realistic looking environments, DS2 felt more realistic mostly due to the sounds. It didn't really occur to me until a 2nd play-through, but aside from some voices, there didn't seem to be much ambient noise in Deus Ex. Maybe there doesn't need to be, but little things like an occasional chopper flying overhead, or some car noise a few streets over could have helped sell things a bit more.<br>
Coming down to the last days of the year, and I realize some of the things that have kept this at the top of my list: It let me upgrade. I love upgrading things. Did I wish I could upgrade more often? Sure, but never felt cheaped out by the game. Also, I don't remember any complaints I had about it. The whole thing just felt really, really Right.
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Feels strange to say, but I think the biggest thing keeping this from entering near the top of my list this year is also one of it's biggest draws. It's soooo open. Sure, the story can be followed very strictly, but even so, there's a lot of wandering to do early on.
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This scratches some particular itches. Also worth noting, I'm playing through a second time. The first time through I went almost entirely stealthy, trying hard not to kill anyone (up to the very end); the 2nd time I'm still being a bit stealthy, but not worrying at all about killing enemies.<br>
It's going a bit lower than DS2 based mostly on some of the small touches in sound and environment design. Maybe it was easier in DS2 since the whole thing was on a space station, but even with the varied environments in Deus Ex, there was a little something missing, and I realized it was little background noises.
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It's more batman, from the same people who made the last one.<br>
They took care of some of the mechanics issues from the last game, including boss fights.<br>
The story was good, and so was the combat.<br>
It's fun enough to noodle around with the combat that I'll probably go back in at some point and work on leveling up all my gadgets, etc.<br>
I don't expect I'll get all the Riddler trophies, but that's OK.<br>
Also, I don't expect to start a 2nd run through of this; maybe it's because the world continues on after the main story is complete, but unlike Bastion, I don't feel the interest in restarting, even with all my weapons, toys, etc. leveled up.
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Playing the opening few minutes of AC:R, I realized Ezio is a essentially a Renaissance age Batman, minus the "do not kill" oath. It may not be endless, but over the last handful of years I have yet to get tired of his ability to approach two potential enemies, and take out at least one of them before his friend realizes what's going on.
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What a fun game. The humor is good. The mechanics are good. And by mechanics, I mean the movement of the trenches feels . . . believable. In a world where these things exist, there is a definite feel to the movement of the different size/style trenches. The smaller ones go faster, and bounce up and down more when they walk, while the bigger ones offer a smoother ride, but at the cost of speed.<br>
Aside from the broadcaster weapons that I haven't really dug into, the rest of what you can equip for mounted and call-in weapons have this same feel. The shotgun is not just a slower machine gun with less range, as the sniper rifle is not just a faster artillery gun with more range.<br>
There's a story, but it seems largely unimportant except to give a thin reason for a change of scenery. I'm not finished yet, but even so, I can see where having some challenge maps would be nice.<br>
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Running neck and neck with Trenched. This seems to be the year for me to buy d/l titles. Ranks above L.A. Noir, just for being fun.<br>
Fully expect to at least start a 2nd play through of this.
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Only a little ways in, but this ranks higher on the Fun than LA Noire or Crysis2.<br>
I really wish that there was a way to re-play specific areas other either a) having a ton of save points, or b) going into commentary mode and playing through a whole chapter again.
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Half way through March, and enjoying this. The missions feel a little disjointed, but I like being able to do them in any order, and in bits and pieces.<br>
Almost half way through April, and doing a 2nd play-through. It's weird. As much as I'm having fun doing this, I think I'd still rank Dead Space 2 higher on a top ten list. Something to be said for a compact story. It's the leveling up, and character options that keep me coming back to DA2.<br>
I've started a 3rd character (Hudson Hawke, the rogue) but that was mostly for the achievement and the giggles of having a Hudson Hawke. I could play that for some of the side quest things I only sort of noticed in the 1st play, and have ended up missing out on in 2nd play. Not sure that the game moves fast enough for a 3rd sitting though. At least not so soon.<br>
In the fall now, looking back. I think this'll stay at #2 for now, based mostly on the available variations in character. The story doesn't change, and the methods for getting through certain areas isn't variable the way that Deus Ex is, but being able to customize my character (and to some extent my companions) counts for a lot.<br>
December: Moving this down a bit. While most games have a set ending, part of the implication with Dragon Age 2 through the course of the game is that when you get to the end, there will be some significant differences. While some people do or don't like you, and some do or don't die, it didn't feel like the different endings were actually that different. At least, not as much as the first Dragon Age. So.....moving this down for not doing something that was at least implied, regardless of whether it was supposed to happen or not
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Good fun for the part that was the story. I started some of the challenge modes though, and fell off the Fun cliff.
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Best transformers game I've played in the last several. Surprisingly, it came from the same team that made War for Cybertron, which I was almost completely disappointed in.<br>
This game has a good feel for the size of the robots. For the first time in a while, I actually felt like a giant robot running around in a made-for-humans landscape instead of a human running around some weird sound stage in a robot suit.
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Nice beat-em up.Not really into online though, so not really a long-play though.<br>
If I was good at Venn diagrams, this one would have a small overlap with LA Noire to create the "genres I don't play too often" color space.
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Not bad. The weapons felt decent. The movement didn't make me nauseous. The view modes were interesting; being able to see through walls and tag enemies was good, but the "tactical options available" seemed a little bit too much "HEY, LOOK OVER HERE ! ! !"<br>
I liked being able to upgrade the suit, but I would really have preferred the upgrades to stack instead of being either/or for the different areas that they covered.
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I need some stupid fun sometimes.<br>
The "Fun" fell down near the end though. At some point, maybe the last hour or so, I just wanted it to be done.
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A little bit more racing in a racing game would have been nice. This started out well, but having multiple non-race events stack up as the game progressed put a damper on things.
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Good game overall. playing regularly for several days, I may need to take a break.<br>
Is it weird to feel like there isn't enough variety to put this higher on the list?<br>
It's very <i>good</i> but DS2 and DA2 I think were more generally fun.<br>
Mostly finished. Will likely play a few dlc missions.<br>
It's wierd, I feel like trying to judge this against other games is like trying to judge a drama against a comedy. Some days are made for getting a bit deep; others you just want to run around and knock things over.<br>
07/27/2011: Noire was technically amazing for the face work and acting, but after a while the fun of it really drained out. Considering I've got a couple of new cases just waiting for me, and I'm not sure I'll be playing them any time soon, this keeps dropping down my list.
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Mid-september. hard to get in to so far. I'm not sure if it's because I'm still sort of tied up with Deus Ex or not.<br>
At least initially I'm feeling a bit tired with it. I think this was mentioned in a review, but aside from a reasonably unique look and feel, I've done this sort of game before. Run around, jump from platform to platform, shoot enemies, pull levers, push buttons, etc.<br>
Not quite done with the first chapter, and I'm looking at the progression screen wondering how long the others will take; kind of hoping that the first chapter is the longest, and the others move along at a better clip.<br>
It's interesting to see someone else's take on Alice, merged with a more industrial age look, but seeing what's here so far, I'm not sure how interesting it will be for the long haul.<br>
11-18: As it turned out, I got to a certain level in the game, and had enough of a hard time with it that I just stopped, and sent the game back.
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