by tonicbh
Since 2008, I've been keeping a record of all the video games I've beaten over the year. Mainly because I like lists. But also because I can figure out what I played and whether I agreed with the consensus or decided to be the outlier.
Included is the date I completed it, a small blurb on what I thought about it, along with any additional notes.
Note this only includes games with story campaigns, there's a fair share of games that are online only that I played a bunch, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Payday 2 that are not on this list. Let's look back, shall we?
Showing 1-10 of 27 items
(Beaten on January 24, 2013) Ah yes, this old classic. This game has what I dub "The Deus Ex Effect": The moment anyone ever talks about the original Deus Ex fondly, someone is bound to reinstall the game and dick around Liberty Island. Only because that game has a really strong first level. This is one I tend to play every year or so. It can be frustrating, but how you can adjust it by being gung-ho or going super-stealthy is a nice twist. Out of the three main endings, I decided to be a dick and go for the New Dark Age ending. Not like it matters as Invisible War combined all the endings anyway.
(Beaten on February 10, 2013, Genkibowl VII and Trouble with Clones DLC beaten on July 25. I also beat Gangstas in Space, but I don't remember when. Probably some time after the other two.) Ridiculous, crazy, over-the-top, rife with in-jokes and goofy pop culture references. It's the opposite of GTA, where craziness reigns supreme. I went through about 80% of the game with a friend, and it was fun as hell. It's too bad I had to play through this with a really shitty computer with everything on low settings. As for the DLC, Gangstas in Space was funny because of the parodies of movies, Genkibowl was just more of the base Professor Genki missions with a pinch more "WACKY!!" and Trouble with Clones felt like bad fanfiction with subtle hints towards Saints Row IV's superpowers. They're not amazing, but worth giving a shot once you've beaten the main campaign.
(TNT Evilution completed on February 25, 2013) The unofficial Doom sequel. A bunch of Doom modders make a 32-level level pack for Doom 2, intending to release it for free, then John Romero saw dollar signs and turned Evilution into half of this. It's Doom. It's new levels, which loses impact nowadays since 32-level "megawads" are being put out at a ridiculous rate, thus negating the reason to really own this unless you play it in co-op with someone. I didn't finish the other half of Final Doom, The Plutonia Experiment, because it's super-hard even in lower difficulties. Recommended for people who think Doom 2 is too easy. (Alternatively: Download Hell Revealed, which is like Plutonia in terms of difficulty.)
(Beaten on March 4, 2013) Uncharted was a good game, albeit flawed. Uncharted 2 fixed those problems. Uncharted 3 is like Uncharted 2, but more polished. Story reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Prior to this game, I always played through games on Hard difficulty the first time through. NEVER AGAIN! Two major sections in the late stages of the game just kicked my ass so much that I had to finish it on Normal. I feel better as a result.
(All the DLC completed. Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot on March 5, Zombie Island of Dr. Ned on March 7, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution on March 15, and Secret Armory of General Knoxx on March 22.) Borderlands was an interesting game with interesting ideas. There were many things that could've been improved, like trading among other things. All of these were fixed in Borderlands 2, so it's pointless to even play this game or its DLC. But anyway, what I thought about the DLC: - Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot: Wave-based survival stuff that I found boring and unfun. If you love "horde mode" style game modes, this is the one for you. - Zombie Island of Dr. Ned: The zombies were a pain in the ass from beginning to end. All it takes is two acid spits to have you fighting for your life. Story's a little goofy. - Claptrap's New Robot Revolution: Don't remember much except Claptraps dressed like chickens. I guess you could say this is great for those who hate that robot bastard. - Secret Armory of General Knoxx: Barely remember anything from it. I think it had more powerful enemies and such.
(Episode One completed on 360 on March 9, 2013.) An interesting way to do adventure games. Felt sympathy for Clementine and a few other characters, while wishing some of them would die to zombies. Alas, I never continued past Episode One. I have it on PC, might be time to give it a second shot.
(Beaten on March 12, 2013) A fun action-packed sequel that barely had anything to do with the first game. Gunplay was fun, and there were a few parts that were pretty spooky, but I don't think it was as memorable as the first game. Also, this game SCREAMS "console port." Quite a shame, really.
(Beaten on March 13, 2013) A DLC campaign that can be beaten in a single sitting. I think this is meant to bridge the gap between the first and second games, but this might be as much canon as F.E.A.R. Extraction Point was. Glad this already came with my F.E.A.R. complete bundle, otherwise I would've been pissed if I bought this separate.
(Beaten on March 26, 2013) It's Duke Nukem 3D with a southern redneck vibe. It was the only game of the Build Engine era that I never played, and decided to give this a whirl. It's fun, but there's a lot of item/key hunting and hidden switches that you'll be forced to look at a YouTube walkthrough to find it. Fun fact: Greg Goodrich (of the modern Medal of Honor games) and Viktor Antonov (of Half-Life 2 and Dishonored fame) worked on these games. Small world!
(Beaten on April 11, 2013) This is the closest we're getting to Total Recall: The Video Game. It's got a dose of euro jank and can be frustrating in the later stages of the game, but it's got a pretty lengthy single player campaign, which is saying something. I wrote about this game on my own blog shortly after I beat it, if you wanna hear a more detailed description of it: http://youfoundasecret.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/conquered-chaser/