So, this is probably the latest ever year roundup of games that I have ever posted, but post it I shall. For posterity, and all that.

Top Five Games I Played in 2018

5. Jalopy

I really like driving. There is something incredibly satisfying about getting into your car and driving to a new location. Seeing the sights, resuppling (as dramatic as that might sound for a little road trip), listening to the radio and taking in the local sights. That might be why Jalopy fit me so perfectly. You are stuck with your very own car, the game's version of a Trabbie, and you are going on a trip to Turkey. Along the way, you have to get enough money to constantly refuel your car, and more often than not, repair your dillapidated vehicle. The game just simulates the activity of being on the road well, and of course, it's very tense to be out on some rural road between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, running out of gas and all but one tyre having a flat. I should really play this again when I have the time.

4. Detroit: Become Human

I remember playing Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) way back when, and was just really overjoyed with playing an adventure game that added in action scenes through quick time events. I still like quicktime events when done right, I suppose. Detroit: Become Human is the latest game from Quantic Dream, developers of previously mentioned Fahrenheit, and also the slammer Heavy Rain, and they continue with their quote-unquote trope of a dark, gritty reality that just kind of sucks. Sucks in a good way, I mean. It looks really pretty, and some of the choices are just plain difficult. Do I lie to the kid to make her feel better? Well sure, that sounds like a fair thing to do. Oh no, she saw through it. She hates me. Well, that's a bummer.

3. Kingdom Come: Deliverance

You know what I like? Adventures. I like it when a game forces you to think about elements like food, thirst, sleep, cleanliness - without making it all too tedious. That is what Kingdom Come: Deliverance does. I liked just riding into town, filling up on supplies, and then heading out towards my next adventure. Strolling through the beautiful countryside, exploring a nearby forest, and maybe, just maybe getting murdered by some furious Cumans. The main story is not bad per se, but spelunking around is where the strength of the game lies. Just remember to get the perk where using the bathhouse is free. We want that armour sparkling.

2. God of War

The first God of War from the old trilogy (yes, trilogy) was a great game. The quick-paced action, tight controls, and the insane anger of the protagonist were all things that I appreciated with the first iteration of this franchise. When the trailer hit for the fourth big console God of War, ostensibly a reboot of the series, and it showed our furious protagonist Kratos with a kid following him around, with a much slower pace than the first three games of the series. I remember thinking "oh, god damnit".

I was so wrong.

God of War is what I would call a perfect game. The combat remains just as fun as the earlier games, if not even better than before, it is astonishingly beautiful (making me want to go explore my native Sweden), the story is deep and interesting and it all comes together in this big, fantastic package. I really hope that this is the first entry in a new trilogy, because I want to play more of this. Exactly this.

Boy.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2

It took me some time to decide which game would be my personal game of the year. Maybe that explains why this list is published in february, and not somewhere in the final days of December which is the standard. God of War was really, really good. But so was Red Dead Redemption 2.

While God of War's components came together to make a clockwork machine, RDR2 is more flawed. The shooting is sometimes not the greatest. The missions (with a few exceptions) almost always follow the structure of ride horse to place, shoot guys at place, ride horse away from place. This sounds like more negatives for Red Dead Redemptions than for God of War, so by the mathematics of game judgement, the latter should surely have won, no?

Red Dead Redemption 2's strength lies in two parts; the adventure, and the story. Like I spoke of earlier, I have a predisposition towards games that just lets me go out in the world and survive for a bit, without making it a hassle. Sleep in camp during the night, ride out during the morning, do some hunting, make camp, eat dinner, fall asleep... Maybe a particularly wild storm hits, and you have to take shelter in the nearby hotel for the night. Maybe you find some helpless stranger on the road, poking a hole in your plans for hunting as you have to lead them back to the nearest town. Or, maybe you shoot them because they are obdurate idiots, I won't judge. Going on random adventures in a massive, beautiful, engaging, and dangerous world is some of the most fun I've had in a video game in 2018.

Secondly, the story is about as good as it gets. I bet they could remove all the game play, make a motion picture of the entire thing, and I'd watch that movie over and over again. The characters are interesting in their ways, their duality, and one cannot overstate the importance of really talented voice actors. The pacing is slow, and whilst this may be grating for some, it was something that really clicked with me. The further you get, the more the narrative just beats you down, time and time again. Nothing ever goes well, everything goes to shit. It got to a part where I kind of didn't want to play anymore. I had to sit and think about how the gang could resolve this. How Arthur, the protagonist, could resolve this.

Also, you can wear a bear hat, and that is why Red Dead Redemption 2 is my game of the year.

Other 2018 Games I Played

The Messenger

The Messenger is a cool game. It has tight controls, neat time-travelly mechanics, and a kicking soundtrack. It is a good sidescrolly game, and while it might not be anything too special, it is still a game I will look back at with liking.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

The new Tomb Raider games are really fun, but I feel like this is the weakest entry in a great series. Maybe that is me misremembering the older games, but I felt like I was given a lot of fun tools, and no real place to use them all. Or maybe I was just playing it wrong. Either way, it's still Tomb Raider, Lara's pissed off when she's stabbing dudes (which happens a lot), and it's all very pretty. It's a good game, but I felt like something was missing.

House Flipper

House Flipper is satisfying. That is the game's main strength. The core concept is to buy derelict houses, clean them up, slather a fresh coat of paint on it, fill it with furniture and then (hopefully) sell it for more than you spent getting it into shape. Now, buying a burnt-out house in complete squalor, and simply cleaning it all up? That transformation is satisfying. Satisfying.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth

I play World of Warcraft, so I bought the expansion. It's nothing too special, and as someone that actually cares about the story in these things, it has been mostly ludicrous. I've had fun exploring the PvE content, although not as thoroughly as maybe I would have liked. Many of the systems introduced in Legion have been refined, but it feels almost messy in a way. If there is a tick-tock of WoW expansions, then this is definitely a tock.

A Way Out

I really like couch co-op games. It's fun to hang out, eat some food, drink some drinks, and play video games where you're not (exclusively) trying to fuck each other over. I had high hopes for a game that forced you to play it co-operatively, but it all fell flat. The game is not especially challenging, nor is its story that engaging, so there is really nothing satisfying about playing or progressing. The most fun you have is doing all the little minigames and such strewn across the world, but that is not enough to elevate the game above being a thoroughly bland experience.

Honourable mention(s):

1. Artifact

Did not get to play enough of this game, but it seems pretty damn cool. MTG is still my favourite card game, and Richard Garfields influences are clearly felt on this game. I really hope to play more of this in 2019.

Yesterday was the release of Rock Band 3 here in Sweden. I picked it up, played some and in short, it's awesome. 
 
But I decided to play with the Rock Band guitar this time around, instead of the many Guitar Hero ones I have laying around. So I borrowed one from my brother (thanks bro!) and began rocking out. 
 
My first impressions were how much muscle memory is in playing a plastic instrument. It took some time to figure out how big the buttons were, and I am not sure I am used to it just yet. 
 
But man, this guitar is awesome. The strum bar is different from the Guitar Hero franchise in the way that... well, it doesn't make any sound. It strums very softly, and this might just be personal preference, but it feels like you could strum faster with this kind of strum bar.  
 
Also, there's solo buttons on the Rock Band guitar, awesome! However, muscle memory restricts me from using these without failing horribly on Expert.  
 
The whammy bar is there aswell, but the most awesome thing about the guitar is the pickup selector switch. This little extra is way more brilliant then I imagined it would be. It basically gives you the ability to switch between four different effects, Chorus, Wah-wah, Flanger and Echo. These effects come in to play when you go into Overdrive, and will add some sick effects. 
 
Sweet. Can't wait to play more tonight.

Last night was teh start of the Swedish Elitserien, AIK against Linköping. AIK got crushed, which was great to see. 
 
Tonight is the first game of my favourite team, Djurgårdens IF, against the team they lost against in the finals last year. I do hope they win. 
  
Also, today is the release date of NHL 11 here in Sweden.  I can't wait, but I suppose I will have to. Won't stop work until at 8PM.  

A few tough months ahead for a hockey lover, indeed. 
 
This past year has been a great year for hockey. I've followed the Swedish Elite League (Elitserien), the NHL and we've such great tournaments like the olympics and the world cup of hockey. 
 
But for now, I'll have to wait until the middle of September for the Swedish Elite League and the beginning of October for NHL. 
 
Tough months ahead, indeed. 
 
I guess I will have to spend my time with NHL 10!

So, these new quests are kinda cool. Will have to go and look at them further tomorrow. 
 
Also, just finished the BC2 singleplayer, and it was good. Don't know if I prefer the first BC singleplayer or this one, but damn, they were both real enjoyable. Played a few minutes of multiplayer (One test run to see what it was all about that got stretched into several runs) and I must say that it was awesome. 
 
More awesome then MW2? I would say so, yeah. But it's impossible to make that assumption after playing the MP for just a few minutes. I have a good hunch, though.

That must've been Trials HD. Overpriced, not a lot of fun, and basically a waste of money.

After a rather shaky start for Battlefield 1943, I have finally begun getting into games (and not getting disconnected from them mid-battle) and I must say I enjoy it – a lot.  However, the game still suffers problems with connection, and the problems seem far from resolved.

The game is your regular Battlefield game, reminding a lot of of Bad Company, as it has the same destroyable buildings and other stuff to blow up. You have the ranks (not certain of how many there are) to level up, but they do not give you any other rewards then the thrill of leveling up. You also have your various other rewards such as ”Capture thirty flags” and ”Get twenty melee kills”.

The game has three classes, the rifleman (equipped with a regular rifle and also some sort of grenade appendix for said rifle), the Infantry (sub-machine gun and a rocket launcher) and of course the sniper guy, equipped with his trusty sniper rifle (and a kickass sword if you’re playing the Imperial Navy). You also have a selection of light ground vehicles, tanks and planes. You also get the occasional bombing raid, which you call in from certain stations placed on the map.

There’s currently three maps to play, all in the pacific part of WW2, which means that battles are fought between the US and Japan. A fourth map will be unlocked for play once the community together has reached a total of 43 million kills.

As a first impression, there really isn’t that much more to say. If you love Battlefield, then chances are you will love this cheap lil’ game.  Expect a review in the coming days, when I can actually get the game flowing again, as it seems to be quite stuck at ”Searching for games” at the moment.

So basically, since I am too tired to write reviews at night, and at night is when I feel like doing it, I decided to just share a few words about games I have been playing throughout the week, and also give a lil' rant about games which I want, but I don't have yet. So, here goes:

Played Games

World of Warcraft (Trying out a PvP spec)
Throughout all the years I have been playing World of Warcraft, I have never had a pure PvP spec. Last night I wrote personal history by spending some of my unneeded Emblems of Valor and saved up honor on getting me some pieces of a PvP gear set for rogues, and also a couple of daggers, trying out a mutilate spec. I have been heard saying that I would NEVER, EVER become a mutilate rogue, but I guess I am kind of stuck of it. It's fun killing people fast in BG, and that's that.

Eternal Sonata
A game which I never really got into when I bought it (due to playing it too late and really not understanding any of the simple game mechanics), but after playing it some this week I can really see myself playing more of it when I don't have another pile of games waiting.

Fable II (With DLC!)
Downloaded some DLC for Fable 2 since it was cheap last week, and boy, I had forgotten how extremely beautiful this game is! It consumed some days of my week, and I have to say that it was money well spent on those DLC's. Fun things to do and some new achievements, can't get better. However, back to its ordinary pricing now.

Call of Duty : World at War
A game I really thought I could get into, but I just can't. I really enjoyed the Russian campaign until I had to get into those damned tanks (which I guess went okay eventuallly), and the Marines campaign is just assy. I know I've read that people call this "World of Grenades" or something like that, and man, it's too true. I mean there is barely any chance of avoiding a dozen grenades when standing in a narrow trench. Seriously. And crazy bastards running with bayonets isn't doing the whole thing easier. Though, the feeling is still great and the game in itself isn't bad, it's just so goddamn tedious at times. And I still haven't tried out the multiplayer (tried out the beta back in the days, but none of this real action), but I guess I can get into that when done with the singleplayer. IF, I get done with the singleplayer.

Upcoming Purchases

The Sims 3
Dude, I want this game badly. I'm gonna be a lazy-ass clerk, playing guitar in his free time, and gonna become a rock-star, yo! Come to think of it, sounds like me for real, but I guess I don't have a job. Bummer.

Battlefield 1943
This looks really good, and I have never disliked Battlefield multiplayer, so only good things can come out of this. Hope to pick it up next week, and maybe then it will be part of my weekly gaming rant.

Well, I've had thunderstorms all day, which has kept me off the internet quite a lot, but I hope that wherever you are, you have the perfect weather and a good week, so, laters. DUDE!

Who cares.
Hrmmph.

I have been submitting a lot of stuff today, not much else to do when you have a sore throat and is generally ill. But it actually has stopped hurting that much now, and I can live through it. Even though it is 1.30 AM, I'm fine. SERIOUSLY. Hoping to get a lot of lovely points for what I've done. Not done yet, still have some things to add to be completely complete with that project, before the next project starts.

I have also been preordering some games:
Fable 2,
Far Cry 2
and Final Fantasy 13. All for the 360.

In other news...Uh. Completed Battlefield:BC on hard, which is the hardest difficulty. Going back to Multiplayer where I am..Rank 17 or something? I'm a captain at least. Hope you guys are enjoying Giantbomb as much as I am, and that the summer is lé awesome. (FUCK YES, Can finally do apostrophes without getting some "Balls, your HTLM is incorrect").

Yes, this is just a short blog (I'll probably make another one like it later) to advertise a little project I'm doing. It's called Orange Rhymes With... and it's my online comic. Poorly drawn, yes. Amusing, perhaps. Lots of naked ladies, no.

Anyways, the URL is http://orangerhymeswith.blogspot.com, check it out if you want to. I'll blog about recent happenings at a later point.