Previously on TMOMGOTGL

I explained why some games that I cared about wouldn't go on to make the list or the discussion of said list. I also said that there would be two segments to the blog, but as we can see, the 2nd segment got pushed out to today's blog. So, what I am saying is that this is the Kill Bill of video game blogs.

But, without further ado, let's go back to work.

CUT

Let's remind us again of what the hell I'm doing: "The second segment will be an arena battle with small skirmishes between games that I feel like "occupy the same space". These skirmishes usually are between games from the same franchise, but in a couple of cases it will be between games from the same developer or games from the same genre."

These games "occupy the same space" and therefore should battle to the death until only one is standing.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Call of Duty: World at War - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Call of Duty: Black Ops - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Call of Duty: Ghosts -

Ok, these are a lot of games. Let's be practical about this: Back Ops 2 and Ghosts are out. I don't think a lot of people would contest that (ok, let's take this moment to also sack World at War) and, besides, I didn't play them anyway. Modern Warfare 3 was the moment where I started to lose interest on the whole Call of Duty thing. Let's also clarify one thing: I've never touched the multiplayer in a Call of Duty game. So, there's that.

That leaves us Modern Warfare 1 & 2 and Black Ops. Despite me enjoying the story/narrative of Black Ops I wasn't particularly engaged by the level design or their mission structure. Zombies, like Jeff, was also very much not my thing. I would play it for 5-10 minutes and be completely uninterested by it. So let's cut it, which leaves us the first 2 Modern Warfare games.

This is where it gets tricky. In one hand, Call of Duty 4 was the first of this kind of FPS. It was the one where I played over and over again in all the difficulties (not matter how unfair that "defend this abandon playground until the heli arrives" gets). In the other hand, Modern Warfare 2 had Special Ops. The gameplay got to the apex of the franchise, in my opinion, and the story/narrative was sitting on a thin rope between this-kinda-makes-sense and this-is-insanity-wat, but somehow it always stayed on the right side, making it a more intense, appealing, exhilarating action-movie story than CoD4 did. But, MW1 had that ghillie suit mission. And I'm pretty sure I can replay the missile launch countdown mission with my eyes closed. But, MW2 had the airport No-Russian mission. And the museum at the end. And saving Cpt. Price. And the EMP mission. But MW1 had the bonus airplane mission.

Guys, I really can't decide here. Flip a coin? I guess so. Heads is MW1 and Tails is MW2. Let's see what the Internet coin has to say... and it's Heads. Congratulation to Call of Duty 4, right? Sure.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception -

I gather this one will take less time. Drake's Fortune was a great first attempt, but if felt short in some aspects, like clunky moving and shooting and unappealing story. Drake's Deception, while looking gorgeous (after the guys talk about The Last of Us and how it may very well be the best looking game of the generation, I would argue that Drake's Deception would at least beat The Last of Us to it), it felt too much of the same after Among Thieves and its story never fully capitalized on what was the best premise of the 3 games.

So, Among Thieves wins. It looks great, it plays better than any of the other 2, it has an interesting love-triangle kind of story that actually engages the player with it and its characters. The level designs are top class and it's truly an indiana-jones-globe-trotting experience throughout (yes yes yes blue aliens I know). As games of this genre go, it'll be hard to find a better one this generation than Among Thieves.

Mass Effect - Mass Effect 2 - Mass Effect 3 -

Mass Effect 3 is a hot piece of garbage. Ok, moving on.

Betw- ok I guess I should clarify it. It isn't really a hot piece of garbage, but that's always the first, wild thought that comes to mind regarding it. Why did those nightmares sequences exist? Why did anyone think that would be good? Sigh, let's just not talk more about it. I don't think Mass Effect 3 ranks anywhere in the same level as the other 2.

Between Mass Effect 1 & 2 I'm having a very hard time deciding, but deep down my heart has always knew which one would be on top. And that's Mass Effect 1. I mean, you can walk in the Presidium. Why they would ever take that away for the next 2 games still baffles me. (I guess that's one of the saving graces of ME3, that moment with Garrus shooting stuff in the Citadel) Mass Effect 1 is the dream for that franchise. Discovering planets and systems and exploring them, while working as a G-Man solving the high-end mysteries and crimes of the galaxy. I'm hard-pressed to find a game concept better than that, more interesting or appealing. Mass Effect had it all, it just needed to play better.

But, ME2 while getting the play better right, loses focus on the other stuff that made Mass Effect. It's no coincidence that in the first one you that alien races like the Elcor and the Hannar (I think that's the name) have their role in it, but after that it's all aliens with two legs, two arms that can hold a gun and shoot you. Planets are just a resource dump for you to collect. There's no exploration, no passion. That's exactly what I think is missing from 2 and 3. Passion. It's left in the corner so the shooting is better. It's left in the corner so you don't have to concern yourself about specing your character or resources like ammo. It's left in the corner so that instead of trying to work on the problems that existed in the planet exploration sections, they just cut it out.

Mass Effect is arguably a less competent video game than Mass Effect 2, but it's a better video game.

Portal - Portal 2 -

I think the debate here stands basically in how much importance does novelty have. Because, that's what Portal has in its favor. It happened first, it was your first experience with the concept of portals and the reality behind the clean white panels of the lab test rooms. Portal 2 can't never hit the exact same notes of discovery and wonder, but it is overall a better game, with better levels, better puzzles, better story/narrative/dialogues, better characters... Is it enough to overcome the novelty of the first Portal?

I think so. And that's why Portal 2 is a better game and, most importantly, my favorite of the two.

DiRT - DiRT 2 - DiRT 3 -

For me, this one is very clear. Dirt 2 is, by far, my favorite. The exact balance between simulation and arcade, between realism and video-game-y-ness. That balance I never found in the other two which resulted in me spending way less time with them. Dirt 2 is winner!

Assassin's Creed - Assassin's Creed II - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Assassin's Creed: Revelations - Assassin's Creed III - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag -

Two games stand out from this list, for me. That's AC II and AC: Brotherhood. Revelations I played the first 3 hours and had no interest in playing more, while AC III I didn't even get to those 3 hours. Black Flag I haven't played yet, so nothing I can do there.

Regarding the first game, I feel like I liked it more than most. Sure, I recognize that there were 3 mission types in the whole game and the combat mechanics weren't particularly engaging. But, I loved the concept and got engaged with its weird story and the out-of-animus sections from the get go. AC will never be a great game, but it will always be one that I'll look upon with a smile.

Regarding AC II and Brotherhood, we can look at it a bit like the Portal situation. Sure, AC II was the one that made it right, the one where concept/ideas were in tune with the execution. That said, the "brotherhood" mechanic is by far my favorite of the whole franchise and whistling, followed by a dude falling from the sky and murdering the guy in front of you is just too much fun. I also think that making it primarily focus on one city was to its benefit, making me much more aware of the layout and verticality of the map.

This makes Brotherhood, my favorite AC game.

The Witcher - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings -

I haven't, somehow, played The Witcher 2 yet, which makes this a very simple decision. I left, however, The Witcher 2 come this far because I have a very good idea that it would be of my liking. But, yeah, The Witcher is the one that moves on in the discussion.

Grand Theft Auto IV - Grand Theft Auto V -

A similar situation as before, since I haven't played GTA V yet. However, the reason for this to be here is, I think, so that I can say that maybe, just maybe, I'm done with GTA games. This may be a very rushed conclusion, since I'm only basing on my experience of IV, but my impression is that V will not change that much when I end up playing. The point is, I just can't fully adapt to the controls, be it the shooting or the driving. The time that I played GTA IV was not much fun (I played until, hmm, the Irish fellas, I think). Everything around the playing I still very much enjoy, be it the radio, the stupid TV, the fake Internet or going to the comedy club and watching Rucky Gervais in video game form. The dialogues and story I also enjoyed (although not to the same extent of San Andreas or Vice City), but whenever I had to play the game, my interest would fall down rapidly.

So, this is why I'm going to cut GTA V, but also GTA IV. No winner comes out, they're both out.

Dead Space - Dead Space 2 - Dead Space 3 -

A pretty easy decision to me. Dead Space 3 I don't think I really need to talk about, and while Dead Space is a hell of a game, 2 simply plays better, looks better and sounds better. Sure, it's not as "scary" and not as "resource-scarce" but for what Dead Space is, that isn't a particular bad thing. Dead Space 2 is the better game overall.

The Blackwell Legacy - Blackwell Unbound - Blackwell Deception - Gemini Rue - Resonance - Primordia -

This is one that doesn't follow the "franchise" rule. These are all point n click adventure games from Wadjet Eye and I feel it's fair for them to go against each other. For me, the 3 games that stand out are the last ones: Gemini Rue, Resonance and Primordia.

Resonance goes for many of the same notes that Gemini Rue does, but it doesn't hit them quite well. And while it's a very solid, very good adventure game, but it plays much like you would expect, while Gemini Rue has moments that transcend the genre and achieve something greater. I do believe that Gemini Rue is one of the gems of this generation.

Now, it sounds unfair to compare this to Primordia, this gem of a game, but Primordia is stupidly good as well. One of the things that Primordia does better is in its art design department. Primordia has some amazing well done scenarios and it does the "future where everything is robots" very well. Its story is also quite good, particularly the "universe" it works in, which is perfectly crafted.

So, I'm going to break the rule again of "only one standing" but instead of zero winners, like in the GTA case, I'll let Gemini Rue and Primordia both go through.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Batman: Arkham City - Batman: Arkham Origins -

Another easy decision. Origins I haven't played (and I don't see really a reason to do so) and while Arkham City is great, I'm in the Brad camp of it losing the tightness and almost perfect pace and balance of Asylum for an average "open world". Asylum is an incredibly well executed game and an experience that has very few downs from start to finish. And it's my clear winner in here.

Bit.Trip Beat - Bit.Trip Void - Bit.Trip Core - Bit.Trip Fate - Bit.Trip Runner - Bit.Trip Flux - Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien -

And Bit.Trip Runner wins yay! It is by far the most challenging and well executed game of the list and not even Runner 2 does it better, in my opinion, with some design decisions that make it a lesser experience.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - Company of Heroes - Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm -

Another battle that doesn't follow the franchise rule, but let's be realistic here, how many RTS games would actually make it far? Not much, at least for me. A different time maybe that would be different, a time with Warcraft 2s, Red Alerts and Total Annihilations maybe. But, not now. So lets cut it into one, which is Starcraft II Wings of Liberty hands down. I was never a fan of the style of RTS of Company of Heroes and both Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3 are a pale comparison in quality to what those franchises have brought us before. Heart of the Swarm is more of what SC II did, but overall it doesn't reach the same heights (which to be honest were pretty high).

Sam & Max Save the World - Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse -

Alright, some actually quality Telltale adventure games. Sam & Max are very much a product of a different time and it shows. It is however a time that I very much enjoy so Sam & Max where right up my alley. Of the three seasons here I'll have to go with the first one, which was the one that I put more time into, by playing it from start to finish which unfortunately I was never able to do with the other 2 seasons. Sam & Max still produce probably the best and most funny banter between the two in video games from this generation.

Far Cry 2 - Far Cry 3 - Hitman Blood Money - Hitman: Absolution - Burnout Paradise - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Borderlands - Borderlands 2 - Metro 2033 - Metro: Last Light

Ok, this blog is going long so let's cram these 5 head-to-head fights in here. Far Cry 3 wins over 2, simply because I was never able to play much of 2, for some reason, despite recognizing some merits to it. Blood Money wins easily, since it's a great Hitman game while Absolution strays a bit away from what a Hitman game should be, in my opinion.

Burnout Paradise is the winner in his fight, not because of Hot Pursuit being bad, it's actually quite good, but Paradise is in a whole other level. Borderlands takes it, in a very similar fashion as Far Cry 3. In this case, I never got to Borderlands 2, not for any particular reason against that game, I just felt that I had enough Borderlands at that point. In hindsight, it's a silly reason, but the heart wants what the heart wants and the heart didn't want more Borderlands.

Regarding the Metro games, I'll have to go with Metro 2033. Last Light is probably a better game all things considered, but I had a hard time going over the fact that the crux of the story in Last Light is what I already did in Metro 2033 alternate ending, making Last Light, in a story standpoint, a complete waste of time.

The Games

Oh boy, this was tough. Ok, let's see what we got at the end:

FEAR - Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Neverwinter Nights 2 - Dreamfall The Longest Journey - Rayman Raving Rabbids - Bioshock - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - Braid - Prince of Persia - Bully: Scholarship Edition - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - Shatter - Machinarium - Limbo - Super Meat Boy - Cave Story - Heavy Rain - Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Just Cause 2 - And Yet It Moves - Alan Wake - Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - VVVVVV - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Bastion - Deus Ex: Human Revolution - L.A. Noire - The Binding of Isaac - To The Moon - The Walking Dead - Mark of the Ninja - XCOM Enemy Unknown - Super Hexagon - Fez - Diablo III - Max Payne 3 - Hotline Miami - FLT: Faster Than Light - Sleeping Dogs - Botanicula - Closure - Rhythm Heaven Fever - Vessel - Spec Ops: The Line - Thomas Was Alone - Asura's Wrath - Papo & Yo - Bioshock Infinite - The Last of Us - Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - The Stanley Parable - Dota 2 - The Swapper - Gone Home - Tomb Raider - Gunpoint - DmC: Devil May Cry - Antichamber - Papers, Please - Volgarr the Viking - Sid Meier's Civilization V - Metro 2033 - Borderlands - Burnout Paradise - Far Cry 3 - Sam & Max Save the World - Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - Bit.Trip Runner - Batman: Arkham Asylum - Primordia - Gemini Rue - Dead Space 2 - The Witcher - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - DiRT 2 - Portal 2 - Mass Effect - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -

Man, these are still a lot of games. This endeavor is proving to be harder than I thought.

Coming Up Next

I really need to start coming close to a list of 25 games. I don't know if I'll be able to do it in the entry though. The list seems so big. Ooof, but this was the path that I chose, so goddammit I'll keep on trucking.

Also, I'm watching Three Kings while writing this and why is this guy running in the bunker with a stack of jeans in his arms? Please Ice Cube explain me what's going on.

xoxoxo

Previously on TMOMYGOTGL

The "lets put a lot of video game names in a wall-like manner" trend was in full effect in the last entry. A lot of games were cut down in a very ungracefully, but needed, manner.

Today I continue cutting games away in my quest for the Wonderful 25 games that will end up making my list, but this time I will do it with slightly more finesse. (as the title suggests, I'll use words this time)

Cuuuuuuuuuut

I'll, once again, divide this segment into two. First I'll take on the games that have got this far into the blog series, only because I felt the need to give them an extra mention, not because they were ever in contention to be part of the discussion. This may sound unfair for the ones cut before, but hey, these ones actually mean something to me so, yeah, eff those other games.

The second segment will be an arena battle with small skirmishes between games that I feel like "occupy the same space". These skirmishes usually are between games from the same franchise, but in a couple of cases it will be between games from the same developer or games from the same genre.

Games that I care about, but c'mon, they don't really belong in the discussion

Broken Sword: The Angel of Death

The Angel of Death is a game that I very much care about, but its mostly not because of the game itself. The Broken Sword franchise is one of my most beloved franchises. I honestly think that both The Shadown of the Templars and The Smoking Mirror (the 2 first games of the franchise) are some of the greatest adventure games ever made and consequently some of the best video games ever made. And that's why The Angel of Death is endearing to me. The game itself is not great, although it's not bad either. It balances between the ok and good. And that's why it also doesn't belong in the discussion and has to be taken down of the list.

Half-Life 2 Episode Two

Oops, I accidentally cut down Episode One already (or maybe accidentally didn't cut down Episode Two), but what I'm saying here also perfectly fits Episode One. Similar to before, I think Half-Life and Half-Life 2 are some of the greatest games ever made and that plays a factor on my affinity to Episode Two (although I think Episode Two is in itself a better game than Angel of Death is). And while Episode Two is a fine game, it loses some of its shine if you don't place it as a chapter in a bigger picture. On its own, Episode Two doesn't really belong in the discussion.

The Ship

A tremendous idea/concept. But, that's kinda most of what The Ship has to offer. The concept of The Ship's multiplayer (one that would be later on used to some extent on AC: Brotherhood's multiplayer) is indeed a great one, but the game doesn't give it the wings that it deserves. (note that we're talking about a game that started as a mod to Half-Life, though, now that I think about it, shouldn't really be used as an excuse, should it?) The game is kinda of clunky in its execution and after the novelty wears off, there's not much to it that would keep the interest afloat.

Peggle

It's Peggle. It's fun, it's entertaining, but it's Peggle and I don't think it belong in the discussion. I may be dismissive or elitist, but so be it. (also I realized that I have many games yet to talk about and this will become a very, very long blog post)

EDGE

EDGE is a very simple, but very fun and clever little puzzle game, where you control a cube that you need to "roll" though a 3D level until you reach the exit. Like I said, the game is like my explanation, very simple. It's a small game and it looks like one. I don't think it belongs in the discussion, but that doesn't mean in no way that you shouldn't try it out, if you haven't already.

N+

This was just a cheap of me saying that N is a great game and that you should play it. It's free, it's flash-based and you can play it in almost any computer that you may find yourself with. This other game, this N+? I guess it's good too, similar to N. I don't really know, I never played it.

The Void - Cargo! The Quest for Gravity

You should play these games. Humm, let me rephrase that. You should buy these games. Ice-Pick Lodge are one of the most interesting out-there little studios currently in action. Their work, their vision and their experiments should be rewarded, therefore you should buy their games. The early ones are most definitely a hard proposition to suggest playing, but Cargo is much more approachable (The Void, less so). You should try them, even if it's only for half an hour and then say "these games are not for me".

Puzzle Agent - Puzzle Agent 2

They may not be Telltale's finest, most innovative or popular work, but it's still one that more people should give a shot. These are simple puzzle games (with puzzles very much in vein of a Professor Layton game), with weird quirky stories and its peculiar art style. They aren't the most deep, innovative puzzle games, but they're fun and clever enough that warrant a look.

Orcs Must Die!

Not much for me to say in here. It's a tower defense game (sorta-of) but apart from creating traps and defenses through the level you also control a dude which you actively play during the assault from, yes you guessed it, the Orcs. It's fun, it's simple (I have said that a lot already, haven't I?), it's a video game.

Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages is a weird game. From the guys that brought you Zeno Clash (ah, now I get why it's weird), it's a ... tower defense game slash roll a rock down a mountain and try to destroy a door at the end slash sometimes with boss battles game? And you're a Greek guy (I can't remember the name) trying to defeat other historical/mythological figures? And they make a fart noise when you do defeat them? I don't know, but I think I had fun with it. I think.

Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony

Now here's a game that I would love to see it go further into the discussion, but for some reason that I myself don't really understand, it will stop its track here. A shoot-em-up with a funny and weird story about colonies, Mars, Spaniards and aliens. Great soundtrack as well. But I guess I'm not the sort of guy that take shoot-em-ups in a very high regard. I feel like it's a fun and well done shooter and you should play it.

Alpha Protocol

Ok, I'm going to try to be very objective here. a) I really like Alpha Protocol b) I think it's a classical example of an underappreciated and underrated game c) I think there are parts of Alpha Protocol that are pretty bad d) I, for some reason, overcame those part pretty much unscathed and got to enjoy the other parts of Alpha Protocol that were pretty good e) I really like Alpha Protocol.

Deadly Premonition

I never played Deadly Premonition. But, at the same time, I've "played" Deadly Premonition. Twice. I'm obviously referring to the Endurance Run here on the site. And because of it, I have a highly appreciation for the game. But, I also know that if I had to actually play the game, I would probably never get too far with it. So yeah, it's time to say goodbye, right Zach?

Rage

Like Alpha Protocol, another game I find to be underappreciated and underrated. And that's the case because of two dumb reasons: a) it's not as good as Doom b) it's not a first-person shooter Fallout. Rage is a perfectly fine video game. It plays well and it looks great (when the textures are not popping). It doesn't have the most incredible story, setting, characters, and the driving part of the game is dumb, but not more dumb than the driving parts of Borderlands are. It's not an incredible game and that's ok. It's still a good game.

TrackMania 2 Canyon

It's TrackMania. It's weird, it's crazy, the UI is absolutely horrendous. But, there's something about shaving out seconds and milliseconds to your time that keeps the game compelling and fun. It's a very peculiar game that won't appeal to every one, not even to a driving aficionado, but to the ones it does it almost turns into a lifestyle.

Thirty Flights of Loving

A game/experiment that is worth playing for what it is, an experiment in game narration and story-telling.

Wizorb

I guess Wizorb would also fall in the basket of simple, but fun video games. An arkanoid-style game that is fun, challenging and has its own quirky style and story to it.

10000000

Ok, I promise I'll stop with the simple, but fun stuff. After this one. Bejeweled meets Puzzle Quest with some RPG elements thrown into it all played in a fast pace. It's not long, nor it's particularly challeging, but the time you spend with it it's time well spent.

Syndicate

A perfectly fine first-person-shooter with some interesting mechanics bolt into it. It's probably better than it had any right to be, regarding all the baggage that the name Syndicate brings, and it has a cool art style to it. But, c'mon Jeff, being a 2012 Top10 game was already pushing it too far.

Binary Domain

If you can look past mediocre gameplay and you are fond of weird/dumb/Japanese, then Binary Domain should be right for you. The shooting and overall gameplay is serviceable, but what brings you to Binary Domain is the weird and dumb character and the equally weird and dumb story, everything with a bit of Japanese sprinkled over it. French robots and Big Bo are not enough to keep this game on course, though.

Legend of Grimrock

A genre that I've never felt particular affection towards, but nonetheless I found myself really enjoying my time with Legend of Grimrock. Legend of Grimrock is not however your typical dungeon crawler. It's actually a big melting pot, with mechanics and features from a variety of other games/genres. It has the progression of a dungeon crawler, and a look of one, but it mixes puzzle solving in the middle of monster fighting. It's played in the first person perspective and despite you moving in a grid-based map layout, the game is actually in real time and not turn based as it would suggest initially. A very interesting game that warrants a look from fans and non-fans of dungeon crawling.

Oh God, this blog is too long already.

Coming Up Next

Remember, when I said that there would be two segments? Well, apparently the first segment took all this time and space and now I'm going Tarantino on this blog post's ass and divide it into 2 posts. So, next entry in this madness I got myself into (which will be tomorrow) will have the second segment that I talked earlier and that should have been done in this one. I'm just gonna copy/paste the description from before of what the second segment is, in case you don't remember it anymore (which it's exactly my case right now).

"The second segment will be an arena battle with small skirmishes between games that I feel like "occupy the same space". These skirmishes usually are between games from the same franchise, but in a couple of cases it will be between games from the same developer or games from the same genre."

xoxoxo

Previousy on TMOFMGOTGL

I presented my intentions and goals and wrote down a lot of video game names. Pretty uneventful, unless you're into reading video game names. In that case, it was the best blog you've ever read.

But today is a new day and this is no post with just a big wall of names on it. No, no, sir, it isn't. This is a sequel and as such, there are not one, but two walls of names. Double the walls, double the fun. That's how it works, trust me.

CUT CUT CUT

So without no further ado, let's cut back to the... cutting. As I've mentioned previously, games that don't hold anything meaningful to me will not be part of the list, nor will they even be part of the actual discussion that will occur later on. And although I may recognize in many of them merits and qualities which would grant them access to be part of a general discussion about the subject of GOTG, that alone does not suffice in my this case.

But enough of fancy words, let's see these walls that I'm sure you're all eagerly waiting for.

These games don't mean anything to me, nor I think they possess the qualities to be part of the discussion

Just Cause - Dark Messiah of Might And Magic - Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure - Top Spin 2 - Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis - Test Drive Unlimited - Call of Duty 3 - Saints Row - Uno - Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Prey - Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Burnout Revenge - Medieval II Total War - Resistance - Galactic Civilizations II - Half-Life 2 Episode One - Dead Rising - Overlord - Heavenly Sword - Virtua Tennis 3 - Eternal Sonata - Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Stranglehold - Calling All Cars! - Trauma Center: New Blood - Folklore - Blue Dragon - Medal of Honor: Airborne - Call of Juarez - ArmA: Combat Operations - TimeShift - flOw - Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Space Giraffe - Hellgate: London - MotorStorm - The Darkness - Crackdown - Europa Universalis III - The Club - Tomb Raider: Underworld - Army of Two - Animal Crossing: City Folk - Mount & Blade - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Too Human - Top Spin 3 - Age of Booty - Ratchet & Clack Future: Quest for Booty - Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe - Siren: Blood Curse - Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - Toki Tori - Lost Odyssey - FEAR 2 - League of Legends - Rabbids Go Home - Demigod - MX vs ATV Reflex - The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai - X-Men Origins: Wolverine - ArmA II - LEGO Rock Band - Overlord II - Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - The Maw - The Saboteur - Wolfenstein - 3D Dot Game Heroes - RUSE - Dead Nation - Costume Quest - MAG - RISK: Factions - Supreme Commander 2 - Shank - Raskulls - Def Jam Rapstar - Medal of Honor - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Dead Island - Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax - WWE All Stars - FEAR 3 - Space Pirates and Zombies - Magicka - Hard Reset - Alice: Madness Returns - Dungeon Siege III - Homefront - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - World in Conflict - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Project Gotham Racing 4 - Warhawk - Valkyria Chronicles - Resistance 2 - Pure - Boom Blox - Devil May Cry 4 - PixelJunk Monsters - Saints Row 2 - Condemned 2: Bloodshot - Castle Crashers - Mega Man 9 - PixelJunk Eden - Mario Kart Wii - Tales of Vesperia - Midnight Club: Los Angeles - de Blob - Boom Blox Bash Party - BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - MadWorld - Halo Wars - A Boy and His Blob - Brutal Legend - The House of the Dead: Overkill - Tekken 6 - Fat Princess - Excitebots: Trick Racing - Game Dev Story - ModNation Racers - The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom - DeathSpank - NIER - Resistance 3 - Top Spin 4 - Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten - World of Tanks - Orcs Must Die! 2 - Sine Mora - Skullgirls - Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Double Fine Happy Action Theater - Awesomenauts - Starhawk - Twisted Metal - Dear Esther - Wreckateer - Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine - Skulls of the Shogun - Remember Me - Disney Infinity - Gears of War: Judgment - Soulcalibur IV - The Conduit - 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - Noby Noby Boy - Poker Night at the Inventory - DJ Hero 2 - DJ Hero - Iron Brigade - Catherine - Dragon Age II - Prototype 2 - Prototype - Resident Evil 6 - Don't Starve -

These games don't mean anything to me, but if they did they would very much be part of the discussion

Condemned: Criminal Origins - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Gears of War - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Viva Pinata - Neverwinter Nights 2 - Dreamfall The Longest Journey - Wii Sports - Super Mario Galaxy - Halo 3 - Team Fortress 2 - Rock Band - Crysis - Forza Motorsports 2 - Rachet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - Supreme Commander - Virtua Fighter 5 - Skate - Unreal Tournament III - Guitar Hero III - Super Paper Mario - Pac-Man Championship Edition - LittleBigPlanet - World of Goo - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Gears of War 2 - Fallout 3 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Rock Band 2 - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - Left 4 Dead - Fable II - Bionic Commando Rearmed - GRID - Sins of a Solar Empire - Spore - Battlefield: Bad Company - Guitar Hero World Tour - No More Heroes - Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - Ninja Gaiden II - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - Mirror's Edge - Street Fighter IV - Forza Motorsport 3 - Dragon Age: Origins - Killzone 2 - The Beatles: Rock Band - Demon's Souls - Guitar Hero 5 - Shadow Complex - Left 4 Dead 2 - Empire: Total War - Plants vs Zombies - New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - Flower - Punch-Out!! - Resident Evil 5 - PixelJunk Shooter - Red Faction: Guerrilla - The Sims 3 - inFamous - Trials HD - Marvel vs Capcom 2 - 'Splosion Man - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Halo 3: ODST - Torchlight - Skate 2 - Need for Speed: Shift - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Wii Sports Resort - Trine - Zeno Clash - Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Red Dead Redemption - God of War III - Rock Band 3 - Halo: Reach - Super Street Fighter IV - Pac- Man Championship Edition DX - Bayonetta - Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Kirby's Epic Yarn - Donkey Kong Country Returns - Bioshock 2 - Joe Danger - Splinter Cell: Conviction - Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - Monster Hunter Tri - Gran Turismo 5 - No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Split/Second - Final Fantasy XIII - Darksiders - Vanquish - Fallout: New Vegas - Dance Central - Blur - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Puzzle Quest 2 - Dead Rising 2 - Bejeweled 3 - Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale - Darwinia+ - Skate 3 - STALKER: Call of Pripyat - Trauma Team - Red Steel 2 - Fable III - Yakuza 3 - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - Monday Night Combat - Singularity - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - LittleBigPlanet 2 - Gears of War 3 - Rayman Origins - Forza Motorsport 4 - Total War: Shogun 2 - Dark Souls - Frozen Synapse - Battlefield 3 - Outland - Dance Central 2 - Saints Row: The Third - Killzone 3 - Mortal Kombat - Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds - Stacking - Crysis 2 - Trine 2 - Ms. 'Splosion Man - PixelJunk Shooter 2 - Child of Eden - Bulletstorm - Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - inFamous 2 - Terraria - You Don't Know Jack - Driver: San Francisco - Renegade Ops - Yakuza 4 - Atom Zombie Smasher - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Tropico 4 - The Gunstringer - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron - Shadows of the Damned - From Dust - Minecraft - Journey - Xenoblade Chronicles - Trials Evolution - Dishonored - Guild Wars 2 - Torchlight II - Tribes: Ascend - Halo 4 - Dance Central 3 - Forza Horizon - Spelunky - Persona 4 Arena - Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Darksiders II - Dyad - Dust: An Elysian Tale - Street Fighter X Tekken - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - LEGO The Lord of the Rings - SSX - Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - Crusader Kings II - The Darkness II - The Unfinished Swan - Natural Selection 2 - Dragon's Dogma - Final Fantasy XIII-2 - The Last Story - Rock Band Blitz - Tokyo Jungle - Saints Row IV - Guacamelee! - Proteus - Path of Exile - Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Europa Universalis IV - Rogue Legacy - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Injustice: God Among Us - Battlefield 4 - Company of Heroes 2 - State of Decay - ArmA III - Beyond: Two Souls -

Oof, I'm tired again. These walls take a lot out of me. But, enough about that, let's see the results of all these cutting (yes, I know I lied, there are three walls. I'm sorry)

The Games

Company of Heroes - Rainbow Six Vegas - FEAR - Hitman Blood Money - Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Neverwinter Nights 2 - Dreamfall The Longest Journey - Rayman Raving Rabbids - The Blackwell Legacy - Broken Sword: The Angel of Death - Bioshock - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Mass Effect - Half-Life 2 Episode Two - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Portal - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Sam & Max Save the World - Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars - Peggle - Blackwell Unbound - DiRT - Assassin's Creed - STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - The Witcher - The Ship - Grand Theft Auto IV - Braid - Dead Space - Burnout Paradise - EDGE - Call of Duty: World at War - Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Far Cry 2 - Prince of Persia - Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Bully: Scholarship Edition - N+ - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Batman: Arkham Asylum - Assassin's Creed II - DiRT 2 - Borderlands - Shatter - Machinarium - Bit.Trip Beat - Bit.Trip Void - Bit.Trip Core - The Void - Mass Effect 2 - Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - Limbo - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Super Meat Boy - Cave Story - Heavy Rain - Sid Meier's Civilization V - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Call of Duty: Black Ops - Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Just Cause 2 - Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - And Yet It Moves - Alan Wake - Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Metro 2033 - VVVVVV - Bit.Trip Fate - Bit.Trip Runner - Alpha Protocol - Puzzle Agent - Deadly Premonition - Batman: Arkham City - Portal 2 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Bastion - Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Dead Space 2 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - L.A. Noire - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - DiRT 3 - Gemini Rue - The Binding of Isaac - Bit.Trip Flux - Orcs Must Die! - To The Moon - Rage - Blackwell Deception - Assassin's Creed: Revelations - TrackMania 2 Canyon - Rochard - Rock of Ages - Puzzle Agent 2 - Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony - Cargo! The Quest for Gravity - The Walking Dead - Mark of the Ninja - Mass Effect 3 - Borderlands 2 - XCOM Enemy Unknown - Far Cry 3 - Super Hexagon - Fez - Thirty Flights of Loving - Diablo III - Max Payne 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Assassin's Creed III - Hotline Miami - FLT: Faster Than Light - Hitman: Absolution - Sleeping Dogs - - Botanicula - Closure - Rhythm Heaven Fever - Legend of Grimrock - Wizorb - Vessel - Resonance - Spec Ops: The Line - Thomas Was Alone - Syndicate - Binary Domain - 10000000 - Asura's Wrath - Papo & Yo - Primordia - Grand Theft Auto V - Bioshock Infinite - The Last of Us - Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - The Stanley Parable - Dota 2 - The Swapper - Gone Home - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Tomb Raider - Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - Gunpoint - StarcraftII: Heart of the Swarm - DmC: Devil May Cry - Antichamber - Metro: Last Light - Papers, Please - Call of Duty: Ghosts - Volgarr the Viking - Dead Space 3 - Batman: Arkham Origins -

Ok, alright, this is looking much better. What is this? 150/200 games? I think I can work with that. I feel confident.

Coming Up Next

There's more cutting to be had, but there will be some form of rudimentary discussion and arguing next time, not only writing down names and be done with it. I think.

I know, right? The future is bright for this blog series. I mean, it can only go uphill from here. I hope you enjoy the uphill journey that will most definitely occur in the next entry of the whatever-that-name-I-posted-on-the-beginning-was blog.

xoxoxo

Introduction

Hi. This is the introduction section where I introduce the..humm..thing.

Anyway, hi. Hello.

My goal with this series of blog posts is to write down my thought process until I end up with a list, an ordered list if you will, let's say... with 25 entries? of video games that were, in my opinion, the best and only the very best that the last generation of video games brought us (in this case, me).

The rules are pretty simple. Rule numero uno: the video game had to come out between Nov 05 and Nov 13 for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC. Rule numero dos: (is that how you write "two" in spanish? i dont remember). Rule numero tres: wait, I guess there wasn't any rule no.2, so there isn't a rule no.3 either. That means there's only one rule, huh. Silly me, over complicating it all.

But forget my ramblings and let's focus on what matters: video games. I've been thinking about them, more precisely, about the ones that came out in the last 8 years. I've been thinking about how they compare to each other and what are my thoughts on them. Some of the conclusions that I have so far, after all that thinking, are: a) video games came out in the last 8 years b) a lot of them, not just a few c) a decent number of them were good or had potential to be good.

So, after these conclusions I decided to write down the names of said games and this is what I came up with:

The Games

Condemned: Crimian Origins - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Gears of War - Company of Heroes - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - Rainbow Six Vegas - Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Burnout Revenge - Medieval II Total War - Resistance - Galactic Civilizations II - Half-Life 2 Episode One - Viva Pinata - Dead Rising - FEAR - Prey - Hitman Blood Money - Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Neverwinter Nights 2 - Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis - Test Drive Unlimited - Call of Duty 3 - Saints Row - Uno - Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Dreamfall The Longest Journey - Rayman Raving Rabbids - Top Spin 2 - Wii Sports - The Ship - Just Cause - Dark Messiah of Might And Magic - Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure - The Blackwell Legacy - Broken Sword: The Angel of Death - Super Mario Galaxy - Bioshock - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Halo 3 - Team Fortress 2 - Rock Band - Mass Effect - Half-Life 2 Episode Two - Crysis - Forza Motorsports 2 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - World in Conflict - Portal - Rachet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Sam & Max Save the World - Supreme Commander - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Virtua Fighter 5 - Project Gotham Racing 4 - Skate - Unreal Tournament III - Guitar Hero III - Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars - Super Paper Mario - Peggle - Blackwell Unbound - DiRT - Warhawk - Pac-Man Championship Edition - Crackdown - Europa Universalis III - Assassin's Creed - MotorStorm - The Darkness - STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - The Witcher - Overlord - Heavenly Sword - Virtua Tennis 3 - Eternal Sonata - Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Stranglehold - Calling All Cars! - Trauma Center: New Blood - Folklore - Blue Dragon - Medal of Honor: Airborne - Call of Juarez - ArmA: Combat Operations - TimeShift - flOw - Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Space Giraffe - Hellgate: London - Grand Theft Auto IV - LittleBigPlanet - World of Goo - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Gears of War 2 - Fallout 3 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Rock Band 2 - Braid - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - Left 4 Dead - Dead Space - Fable II - Burnout Paradise - Bionic Commando Rearmed - GRID - Sins of a Solar Empire - EDGE - Valkyria Chronicles - Resistance 2 - Call of Duty: World at War - Soulcalibur IV - Pure - Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Spore - Battlefield: Bad Company - Boom Blox - Guitar Hero World Tour - Far Cry 2 - Prince of Persia - Devil May Cry 4 - PixelJunk Monsters - Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Saints Row 2 - Bully: Scholarship Edition - N+ - Condemned 2: Bloodshot - Castle Crashers - No More Heroes - Mega Man 9 - Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - PixelJunk Eden - Mario Kart Wii - Tales of Vesperia - Midnight Club: Los Angeles - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Ninja Gaiden II - de Blob - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - Toki Tori - Lost Odyssey - Mirror's Edge - Top Spin 3 - Age of Booty - Ratchet & Clack Future: Quest for Booty - Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe - Siren: Blood Curse - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - The Club - Tomb Raider: Underworld - Army of Two - Animal Crossing: City Folk - Mount & Blade - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Too Human - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Street Fighter IV - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Batman: Arkham Asylum - Forza Motorsport 3 - Assassin's Creed II - Dragon Age: Origins - Killzone 2 - DiRT 2 - The Beatles: Rock Band - Demon's Souls - Guitar Hero 5 - Shadow Complex - Left 4 Dead 2 - Empire: Total War - Plants vs Zombies - New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - Flower - Punch-Out!! - Boom Blox Bash Party - Resident Evil 5 - PixelJunk Shooter - BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - Red Faction: Guerrilla - The Sims 3 - DJ Hero - inFamous - Trials HD - Borderlands - Marvel vs Capcom 2 - Shatter - 'Splosion Man - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Halo 3: ODST - Torchlight - Machinarium - Skate 2 - Need for Speed: Shift - MadWorld - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Wii Sports Resort - Trine - Halo Wars - A Boy and His Blob - Prototype - Brutal Legend - The House of the Dead: Overkill - Tekken 6 - Fat Princess - Excitebots: Trick Racing - Bit.Trip Beat - Bit.Trip Void - Bit.Trip Core - FEAR 2 - League of Legends - Rabbids Go Home - Demigod - MX vs ATV Reflex - The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai - X-Men Origins: Wolverine - ArmA II - LEGO Rock Band - Overlord II - Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - The Maw - The Saboteur - Wolfenstein - The Void - The Conduit - 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - Noby Noby Boy - Zeno Clash - Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Mass Effect 2 - Red Dead Redemption - God of War III - Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - Rock Band 3 - Halo: Reach - Super Street Fighter IV - Pac-Man Championship Edition DX - Limbo - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Super Meat Boy - Cave Story - Game Dev Story - Bayonetta - DJ Hero 2 - Heavy Rain - Sid Meier's Civilization V - Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Kirby's Epic Yarn - Call of Duty: Black Ops - Donkey Kong Country Returns - Bioshock 2 - Joe Danger - Splinter Cell: COnviction - Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Just Cause 2 - Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - And Yet It Moves - Monster Hunter Tri - Gran Turismo 5 - No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Split/Second - Final Fantasy XIII - Darksiders - Vanquish - Fallout: New Vegas - Alan Wake - Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Dance Central - ModNation Racers - Blur - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Puzzle Quest 2 - Dead Rising 2 - Bejeweled 3 - Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale - Darwinia+ - Skate 3 - Metro 2033 - STALKER: Call of Pripyat - Trauma Team - Red Steel 2 - Fable III - The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom - Yakuza 3 - VVVVVV - DeathSpank - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - Monday Night Combat - Singularity - Bit.Trip Fate - Bit.Trip Runner - 3D Dot Game Heroes - RUSE - Dead Nation - Costume Quest - MAG - RISK: Factions - Poker Night at the Inventory - Supreme Commander 2 - Shank - Raskulls - Def Jam Rapstar - Medal of Honor - Alpha Protocol - Puzzle Agent - NIER - Deadly Premonition - Batman: Arkham City - Portal 2 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - LittleBigPlanet 2 - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Gears of War 3 - Rayman Origins - Forza Motorsport 4 - Bastion - Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Total War: Shogun 2 - Dead Space 2 - Dark Souls - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - L.A. Noire - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - DiRT 3 - Frozen Synapse - Battlefield 3 - Outland - Dance Central 2 - Saints Row: The Third - Killzone 3 - Mortal Kombat - Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds - Stacking - Crysis 2 - Trine 2 - Ms. 'Splosion Man - PixelJunk Shooter 2 - Child of Eden - Gemini Rue - Bulletstorm - Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - inFamous 2 - Resistance 3 - The Binding of Isaac - Terraria - Top Spin 4 - You Don't Know Jack - Bit.Trip Flux - Iron Brigade - Catherine - Orcs Must Die! - To The Moon - Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten - World of Tanks - Rage - Driver: San Francisco - Renegade Ops - Blackwell Deception - Dragon Age II - Assassin's Creed: Revelations - Yakuza 4 - Atom Zombie Smasher - TrackMania 2 Canyon - Rochard - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Tropico 4 - The Gunstringer - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron - Shadows of the Damned - From Dust - Rock of Ages - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Dead Island - Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax - WWE All Stars - FEAR 3 - Space Pirates and Zombies - Magicka - Hard Reset - Alice: Madness Returns - Dungeon Siege III - Homefront - Puzzle Agent 2 - Minecraft - Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony - Cargo! The Quest for Gravity - The Walking Dead - Mark of the Ninja - Journey - Mass Effect 3 - Xenoblade Chronicles - Trials Evolution - Dishonored - Borderlands 2 - Guild Wars 2 - XCOM Enemy Unknown - Far Cry 3 - Super Hexagon - Fez - Torchlight II - Tribes: Ascend - Thirty Flights of Loving - Diablo III - Halo 4 - Dance Central 3 - Forza Horizon - Max Payne 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Spelunky - Persona 4 Arena - Assassin's Creed III - Hotline Miami - FLT: Faster Than Light - Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Darksiders II - Orcs Must Die! 2 - Hitman: Absolution - Dyad - Dust: An Elysian Tale - Sleeping Dogs - Sine Mora - Street Fighter X Tekken - Botanicula - Skullgirls - Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Closure - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - LEGO The Lord of the Rings - Rhythm Heaven Fever - SSX - Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - Crusader Kings II - Legend of Grimrock - Prototype 2 - The Darkness II - Wizorb - Vessel - The Unfinished Swan - Natural Selection 2 - Dragon's Dogma - Double Fine Happy Action Theater - Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Awesomenauts - Starhawk - Resonance - The Last Story - Spec Ops: The Line - Thomas Was Alone - Twisted Metal - Syndicate - Binary Domain - Rock Band Blitz - Tokyo Jungle - 10000000 - Rock of Ages - Resident Evil 6 - Asura's Wrath - Papo & Yo - Primordia - Dear Esther - Wreckateer - Grand Theft Auto V - Bioshock Infinite - The Last of Us - Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - The Stanley Parable - Dota 2 - Saints Row IV - The Swapper - Gone Home - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Tomb Raider - Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - Gunpoint - Guacamelee! - StarcraftII: Heart of the Swarm - DmC: Devil May Cry - Proteus - Path of Exile - Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine - Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Europa Universalits IV - Rogue Legacy - Antichamber - Metro: Last Light - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Skulls of the Shogun - Injustice: God Among Us - Papers, Please - Battlefield 4 - Call of Duty: Ghosts - Company of Heroes 2 - Volgarr the Viking - Don't Starve - Dead Space 3 - Gears of War: Judgment - State of Decay - ArmA III - Disney Infinity - Batman: Arkham Origins - Remember Me - Beyond: Two Souls

Did I say I've been meaning to write this blog for the last week and a half but somehow I've never been able to do it? I think I start to see why.

Fuck, that's a lot of video games.

Coming Up Next

OK guys, I'm sorry, but I'm exhausted already. I'm done for this one. Next blog entry I'll do some cutting down (a lot of cutting down, I hope) and try to reach a reasonable number of games that I can work with. I'll do my best and explain myself and my thought process while doing so, but c'mon, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut down R.U.S.E. without saying a word about it. And others will be on the same ship.

I don't know yet how many blog posts I'll go through until I reach my goal (I'm assuming 4 or 5, right now). The optimal way would be to release one every day, but this blog is already far from optimal, so I'll try to not go more than 2/3 days without another entry. I hope you guys are interested on what's going on here (although I guess there's not much, unless you're into reading a huge block of video game names) and what's coming up ahead.

xoxoxo

It's been over a day since our community (and the overall video game community) was shaken to its core. Over 24 hours since a significant part of my life got broken to pieces. First came the shock, then the sadness and the tears took over for what seemed like an eternity. The barrage of messages, reactions and tributes that flooded the internet brought the mark of inevitability, of the cold harsh reality. It did happen.

A simple look at a photo, a snippet of a once joyful, funny and amazing moment was too much to bear looking at, on those initial couple of hours. Slowly, tear by tear, it got better. Well, not better, but more tolerable. The hours passed by, the day turned into night, the night turned into day. The new day didn't bring a new reality, unfortunately. It did bring a new question, though.

What do you do the day after? There are less reactions, less mentions and less messages. It is a new day, after all, and people go back to doing whatever people do. "You got to move on" people say. They are not wrong. Life doesn't stop, the machines are still working and the cogs are still turning. But, I'm stuck. Stuck between yesterday and whatever has to come next. Move on, but move on where? When? How?

What do you do the day after?

Hell, what do you do the day after that?

Who knew that for a dude that I never met I'd feel this much sadness and shed these much tears. I ... just fuck. fuck fuck fuck.

It's been a decade of following him and a.... fuck. Whatever I may be feelin right now, isn't even close to what the duders, family and friends are feeling. I... I'm so sorry for them. fucking why? WHY?!

I just wan... fuck. fuck fuck fuck fck fuck. I can't....

I'm sorry, I shouldnt even be post this, but.... i feel so bad right now. fuck.

god whyh

For fuck sake! That's just too unfair . .

Yeah, woohoo! It's da fucking Christmas. So, I went to a party and got a little drunk. That doesn't mean I don't think life is great and so I'm writing a blog about it.

Also, the Spec Ops: The Line "bad" ending is great and it achieves something, so far, unique in the world of videogames. It achieves a sense of transformation, that nothing else in this industry has even grasp. You, your character, has changed in the course of those 6-to-8 hours of bland-not-really-interesting gameplay. The actions Cpt. Walker takes, not only changes the narrative and the world surrounding him, but it also changes the "player". Your feelings, thoughts and beliefs towards the situation, the characters and the overall story is so different from the point you click "New Game" to the point you "finish" the game. There's a metamorphose during that period that, either you like it or not, changes you, the character, and you, the player.

All of these are perfectly illustrated in that ending. The blank, distant eyes of Cpt. Walker says it all. He's no longer a nicely labelled man. He no longer fits the socially acceptable role models. He's a monster. He is as far away from the human race as a person can be. "Twisted" is the closest adjective to describe him, but even that doesn't come close to the truth. He consumes all and everything consumes him. A world-eater in human form. A brutal force of Nature, only possibly battled by something as destructive as himself.

Nothing good can ever come out of that Devil's hole. That Devil's hole governed by Captain Martin Walker.

Did I say this blog was about how I thought life was great? Apparently, this was a blog about Spec Ops: The Line. I think I'm okay with that.

. . . I fucking love Giant Bomb!

This is my blog. Points for me.