Hey Bombers, as a result of the typical gaming drought often seen in the summer months I use the time to delve into my backlog or attempt to platinum games that are still incomplete on my shelf (I know it is a terrible habit but I cannot stop!!) So I was interested in seeing what the community might think of my options and which I should play/platinum first. I would most certainly like this to be a poll but I'm still trying to figure out formatting on the site so you can vote with your comments.

I am currently playing through God of War: Ghost of Sparta but I figure that game will not take too long as well as Mass Effect 3's multiplayer as I have actually become engrossed with it despite typically avoiding multiplayer. Those are things to keep in mind when offering suggestions.

1. Dead Space: Alright I will admit several things here, one is that horror games are not my cup of tea. I am not a big fan of the typical gameplay of horror games and also am not a big fan of being scared. So yeah I am a wimp when it comes to horror games. However, one of my good gaming friends recommended this game to me and after he helped me discover Fallout 3 (which I loved) I took his word that it would be amazing. It was also a twenty dollar game so how could I go wrong? I know people love this game but it has sat on my self for like three years after I only finished chapter one. It will take some determination to pick up and play this game but I think it will be worthwhile. If I can man up lol

2. Fallout: New Vegas: As I mentioned above after giving Fallout 3 a shot on a friends advice I fell in love with the open world and post apocalyptic setting. I jumped into the game and played through the game twice platinuming it in the process. Everything about the Capital Wasteland drew me in so when New Vegas came out I was super excited for more. However, I bought it about two months after it launched and it was buggy as all hell. It crashed about 8 times in the first ten hours I played. So I took a break and came back to it andrestarted fresh and got about fifteen hours in and lost interest. I can't really even explain why. I've read a thread here that has people shouting the phraise of New Vegas over Fallout 3 and that may be true. However, the early game has not drawn me in as much as I would like and the fact that you need to do many side quests before confronting Benny or you will be locked out of certain options concerns me. (I know this is kind of dumb I should not worry about this and just play the game but I have a completionist streak and would want to do as many quests as possible before making a faction decision.) So yeah this is game I know I need to play but seems harder to get into than Fallout 3.

3. Nier: Once again after looking at these forums for a long time many users claim Nier has one of the best endings they have ever seen and that it is truly one of the most underrated games of the generation. I did not play much of Nier the first time around I will admit but it had some charm including the foul mouthed herm who i met just before I stopped playing. The game so far seemed a desolate place and the world seemed grey in general. However, I am almost positive this game will be a joy if I give it a shot I'm just no sure it should be the first of my back log to jump into.

4. Rayman: Origins: So I actually have played this game a fair amount unlike the previous games on my list. Initially I bought this game for three major reasons one being that Beyond Good & Evil is amazing and Ancel needs to be supported. Secondly it looked beautiful and charming as well as the giantbomb crew seemed to really like it. Finally I made the purchase in an attempt to find a game to play with my gf. Unfortunately this has not worked was too complicated for her even though she loves playing mario platformers of the 2D persuasion. (I guess I will have to keep searching, although Wipeout HD she loved for a long time) So I played this game and unleashed all of the fairies (or pixies can't remember) and have gotten to the point where each main world got a secondary location. I would play this game casually and to collect trophies if I picked it up again. I cannot play it for extended periods but is a good play a couple of levels game.

5. Twisted Metal: Another game that I played a large amount of but would jump back into it to be a trophy whore. This was the first TM game that I played the story of and I liked it a lot. It was difficult without feeling cheap and I loved the cut scenes because they were campy and sort of creepy. So I finished the campaign and played a fair bit of the online which was also fun. (I got to like level 17 or something the second tier). My friend bought the game for both of us to play together and as a trophy whore himself is enlisting me to assist him in platinuming it. (He is much farther in this pursuit than I am) So this game looks to be in my future and I could hop back into it, however, I was findin the online to be buggy as hell and annoying. I was also becoming rather bored in general with the online as I Mentioned not a big online gamer, and other than Nuke which was the hardest game type to find online the killing each other thing was becoming repetitive. (Just wanted to say I was disappointed by the lack of coverage of TM on Giantbomb, no review is fine but like no one played the game really based on the What You Been Playing segments of the Bombcast.)

6. Uncharted 3: Uh Oh I haven't played this game yet let the harassment begin...alright now lets say why. I got this game at Xmas with a few other games (Yakuza 4, Infamous 2, Rage, God of War Origins Collection and Resistance 3) and it was a big haul of games. One of the main reasons I did not pop this game in immediately was because I had just finished playing through Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the second time as I finally bought i myself (first time played my friends copy). So I was sort of Uncharted out. Also the first time i played U:DF and U2: AT I thought they were decent games with excellent chracters.It took me til my second playthroughs of each game to really become engrossed in them. This is probably one of my top contenders for next game to play simply because I am fully invested in the series and it is somewhat fresh.

7. Yakuza 4: Are you guys still with me lol? On someone elses blog post I commented my love for Yakuza 3 and it's insanely amazing story and characters in a setting that i am fascinated with modern Japan. I cannot wait to play through this game and learn more about Kazuma and be introduced to the 3 other protagonists who will be joining his crew. My main reasoning for holding back on this game is because it is a huge time investment for me. In Yakuza 3 I did all the substories and played a ton of the minigames (thought I could get the Minigame Master trophy NO WAY) as well as goin through the story twice once on extra hard (With that unlimited gun which made me feel both cheap and a monster :D) I Know that I would be the same with Yakuza 4 and am no sure ifI'm ready to hop in yet any useful advice would be appreciated.

There are other games I still have on my mind but these are the main contenders. If you managed to read through all of my blathering your opinion would be appreciated. Also I apologize for any typos as the keyboard I am using is terrible. Thanks duders!

EDIT:

8. Bulletstorm: I ended up buying this game after the many helpful suggestions from the bombers on the site. It also helped that it was only ten dollars. This game seems like a blast and I enjoy playing decent shooters as a palette cleanser. This is now one of my top candidates.

Yakuza 3 was better you play the original protagonist exclusively and the story is better

That new Yakuza zombies game looks interesting though...

Sell them all and buy Diablo 3.

@gamefreak9: Dunno man Diablo 2 was decent and my first MMO but i realized they are not really my cup of tea.

I find it vaguely amusing that my two suggestions so far are for JRPGs

@D_Bones said:

2. Fallout: New Vegas: As I mentioned above after giving Fallout 3 a shot on a friends advice I fell in love with the open world and post apocalyptic setting. I jumped into the game and played through the game twice platinuming it in the process. Everything about the Capital Wasteland drew me in so when New Vegas came out I was super excited for more. However, I bought it about two months after it launched and it was buggy as all hell. It crashed about 8 times in the first ten hours I played. So I took a break and came back to it andrestarted fresh and got about fifteen hours in and lost interest. I can't really even explain why. I've read a thread here that has people shouting the phraise of New Vegas over Fallout 3 and that may be true. However, the early game has not drawn me in as much as I would like and the fact that you need to do many side quests before confronting Benny or you will be locked out of certain options concerns me. (I know this is kind of dumb I should not worry about this and just play the game but I have a completionist streak and would want to do as many quests as possible before making a faction decision.) So yeah this is game I know I need to play but seems harder to get into than Fallout 3.

If being a completionist is an issue for you than avoid New Vegas. This game loves to lock you out of content because of the decisions you make at every opportunity it can. I believe that is what makes the game great, but this opnion is subjective.

@MonetaryDread: My question is, is it worth playing several times through to see all of the content or is it more of a play through once do what you can and enjoy?

@D_Bones: I didn't think Fallout New Vegas was worth playing more than once. A lot of that had to do with the fact that I was just tired of the Fallout setting and mechanics, though A barren, decrepit wasteland just never feels like home quite like a Skyrim or Oblivion can.

Like the last game there are three paths to take, Light, Neutral, and Dark, then New Vegas takes that concept and adds factions to the mix. I played the game twice, once as a good guy that was more Han Solo than Captain America and the other was as evil as I could make him. Throw in some DLC to the mix and I estimate I played the game around two-hundred hours and only saw eighty percent of the content.

TL:DR If you game the system you could probably see all the content in two plays, but it is more of a play through once and do what you can type game.

@MonetaryDread: Thanks for the reply. You guys are making my mind up not to play it til after a few other games lol. Just because yeah I was pretty sick of the Fallout setting and being a completionist will bother me.

So far I've put GOW: GoS on hold, played a bit of Mass Effect 3 multiplayer (although I think the charm is finally starting to wear off) and have picked up and played another 2 hours of Rayman. I really like that game. It's strange to me that I would I'm not a big 2D platformer I'm more in the 3D camp but that game is actually making me enjoy a challenge without becoming super frustrated. May I say I've started doing a couple speed runs and they are no joke to get the trophy, the skull teeth as well are quite a challenge for me anyway.