I just found this pic..
By jimbo_n 19 Comments
From the really good old days in my old WoW folder. Man do I get nostalgic when watching this picture. lvl 60 server vs server 2 hour preteam BG´s where have you gone? Man...
Anticipation 2010, Part 2
By jimbo_n 2 Comments
The top 5 games I´m looking forward to in 2010. See Part 1 for the others and some honorable mentions from 2009.
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5: Alan Wake
(Remedy / Playing on: Xbox 360)Did you read what I said about Max Payne 3? Well the same can be said here. The difference is that Max Payne is no longer developed by Remedy while Alan Wake are. So if they can work their magic with Alan like they did with Max there are no heights this game can´t go to when it comes to storytelling and atmosphere. And from what I´ve seen so far this game will not disappoint. The only thing that worries me is the fact that the game has been under development for so long that the things that looked mindblowing graphically a couple of years ago dosent look very good anymore.
I dont think that minor flaw will stop Alan Wake from being one of the greats in 2010 tho. Because it WILL be released in 2010 right?...RIGHT?!
4: Fable 3
(Lionhead Studios / Playing on: Xbox 360)Oh Lionhead. I sound like such a broken record when it comes to Lionhead studios at this point. I´ve been with Peter Molyneux since the Dungeon Keeper days and not ONCE have a game designed by him and his teams been nothing short of stellar in my books. I spent sooooo much time with Fable 2 and I´ve gone back to it several times to play through the whole frikkin thing again! Its sickening really.. If they take everything from Fable 2 and improve it further my mind can´t even fathom what will come out on the other side. Fable is a franchise that speaks directly to my gamer heart. Fable is MY type of game all the way.
The only thing that can put a stop on the third one is if the obvious Natal integration fails all the way. But I am actually one of the few that have high hopes for Natal. Natal hate is already getting old and I have decided I have faith in its integration into Fable 3.
3: Mass Effect 2
(BioWare / Playing on: Xbox 360)I actually just recently got hit by the Mass Effect 2 hype train. I really liked the first one even tho it had alot of engine problems. The thing with Mass Effect 2 that becomes more and more clear to me tho is that it seems to improve so much over the first one.
I have a feeling that Mass 2 is going to be the new Baldurs Gate 2 for BioWare. Its going to be that huge milestone that the company have been looking for for the past 10 or so years. Their games have been really really good but no game have stood out as an absolute RPG classic. The more I hear about Mass 2 the more i sincerely think that they will finally succeed. The characters in particular really stick out. From what we´ve seen so far the roster in Mass 2 is thick with characters I want to know more about on a level that not even Dragon Age could match.
2: Rage
(ID Software / Playing on: Xbox 360)The thing with games that gets delayed over and over again is that you lose your anticipation for it a bit. ID is closer to my heart than probably any other company on the planet. In my opinion they don´t get the cred they deserve anymore. It feels like they are currently working in the shadow of the whole industry with other "great" studios taking focus. But when everyone is busy praising all these newcomers they forget the company that invented first person shooters, deathmatch AND drove 3D technology forward to where we are today. ID software have produced nothing but the best games ever created but when gamers of today speak up on what games they are looking forward to they forget that one of the most important companies to ever be in gaming creation is coming out with a new game. Carmack was hopeful for a 2009 release but just like with everything else it got pushed into 2010. If this game finally gets released and its everything that it should be we should have another all time classic on our hands. It should also be worth mentioning that Killzone 2 was released in 2009. And since that game turned out so well Rage will have even more to live up to.
1: Heavy Rain
(Quantic Dream / Playing on: Playstation 3)Quantic Dream is doing the right thing. They make adult games for adult gamers that delivers something more than just "playing a videogame". Heavy Rain feels like a vessel for a new kind of storytelling that I will personally stand up and cheer at them for. Heavy Rain is what I want from videogames. Im closing in on 25 years old and even tho thats not very old at all I sometimes feel like I want something more from my time in front of my TV. Now don´t get me wrong. Just before writing this list I spent 2 hours with Onechanbara just because I wanted to try it. I love games more than anything else. Its both a curse and a blessing. But spending so much of my daily life on games since I was 5 there comes a point where you get ridiculously excited for something like Heavy Rain. They dare go where nobody else goes and they want to deliver emotion, personality and interaction in a way that makes me so hyped even Rage has to jump down a spot.
My hype for Heavy Rain has gradually increased in 2009 and right now I feel confident to say that I would pretty much trade most of the games on this list to experience what this rainy story has to offer.
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So there you have it. My top 10 for 2010. Lets see if I can succeed better this year than the last one where only 1 or 2 games actually came out from the list I made. Honorable mentions goes out to Yakuza 3 (finally an international release), The Last Guardian (can they deliver a good game with all of that emotion this time?), Aliens vs Predator (Its been way too long since the last one), God of War 3 (Yes please, I´d like to impale mythological creatures with their own horns), Dantes Inferno (Rip off? Well, it dosent put me off at all. I think I like the premise more than the one in God of War so...) and many other games that I´m unavoidably forgetting right now. Oh, and I´m really really REALLY hoping for a 2010 release of the next Elder Scrolls game !
Anticipation 2010, Part 1
By jimbo_n 9 Comments
But instead of going back and writing motivations for these games I decided to start my Anticipation 2010 list with them. So consider these games my honorable mentions for 2009.
Now its time to look ahead. I´ve been spending some serious time pondering and thinking about what might get released the next year and I keep falling back on the games I looked forward to this year. The following list will be very similar to last years one. Note that Bayonetta would be VERY high on this list but I decided to leave it out since its out in almost a week.
So, lets do this shall we. I will not include games that are not announced but that I think will be released (i.e Gears of War 3):
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10: Dark Void
(Airtight Games / Playing on: Xbox 360)Still have my hopes up for this one. Still thinks the combat looks awesome and the premise even more so. Its the studio´s first game to my knowledge so my expecations are limited when it comes to polish and presentation but going in with that in mind I think I´ll really enjoy Dark Void.
Crashing into the dark bermuda to find an alien race, flying saucers and a frikkin Jetpack sounds like the bomb. I´m also interested to see what they do with the story since they´ve only told us the basics of it. Will there be a big juicy twist in the end? what characters will you get to know? But in the end I´m just glad I get to use a Jetpack, something that is sorely missing from the gaming market of today.
9: Super Street Fighter IV
(Capcom / Playing on: Xbox 360)I might not really look forward to this alot right now. I´ve played such an insane amount of SFIV over the year that I´m currently taking a long break with it.
One might say I´m kind tired of it. But this will all change when Super is released. The addiction will kick back in and I´ll have no choice but to get back into it.
I´m not sure i´ll spend as much time playing Street Fighter next year as I did this year but I have a feeling it will rock my world once I do. This is a game I anticipate subconciously rather than thinking about it daily wanting to play it.
(Rockstar Vancouver / Playing on: Xbox 360)
I don´t know what to think of this game at all yet really but I can´t help anticipating its release immensly. If they can even come near the atmosphere and script of the other 2 games I´m in gaming heaven.
The first time I played Max Payne 1 was a moment I´ll remember forever. I remember wanting to play it so much I actually did so on my very underpowered PC that was waay below the high system recommendations of the game. I am not kidding when I tell you that loading a stage in the game took me about 10 minutes and the game buffered to the hard drive like crazy while I was playing it. It did not stop me! Nothing could!
I really want to see the return of the king of noir action games!
(2K Games / Playing on: Xbox 360)
The sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. Bioshock was a winner on all fronts and felt so fresh when it came out. Oh Bioshock how I love your tense atmosphere, your graphical/sound design, your RPG-Shooter gameplay and your totally mindblowing premise. The story of Bioshock is something that often comes to mind when I think about a really really great Videogame story. It might not be heavyhanded or full of dialogue but man is it well executed.
To know that 2K will improve on this already classic game and let me go back to uncover more mindtwisting mysteries in a ruined oceanfloor city makes me all tingly inside !
(Blizzard Entertainment / Playing on: PC)
I think my interest in SC2 has cooled off a bit over the last year but that dosen´t mean it isn´ right in here in the middle of my list anyway. I never anticipate spending thousands of hours on Blizzard games, MMO´s or not, but I always end up doing so. StarCraft might be one of the if not THE best RTS ever made and I am a ridiculous Blizzard fanboy at this point in my life. I´m one of those that just bends over and says "yes please" when Blizzard says they´re delaying their game for another year. Now they´ve said they´re going to bring this one out this year and just like last year I believe them. They´ll also be releasing Cataclysm that will probably make me jump back into WoW YET ANOTHER time because everytime they change something in Azeroth I want to see it even if I had previously decided to quit my WoW habit. So a mention to WoW: Cataclysm on number 6!
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Stay tuned for Top 5 sometime before new years !
Id´also like to know your own picks for the same list !
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 6 - Top 10 2009, Part 2
By jimbo_n 2 Comments
Alright. This is it, the 5 best gaming experiences I had in 2009. Buckle up.
5: Batman - Arkham Asylum
(Rocksteady / Played on: Xbox 360) Beforehand this game didn´t really catch my interest..because...well.. its Batman. I´m not a big Batman fan nor a big comics fan in general but man, it totally dosen´t matter. Arkham Asylum is still such a masterpiece of a game. Its a fresh blend of Dead Space / Bioshock and a 3rd person shooter. The campaign is perfecly paced, has a cast of great characters and a dark psychological tone that plays alot on your own mental strenght to get through. The game also managed to be a stealth game without it feeling frustrating and the difficulty was spot on all the time to keep you on your toes without it ever getting too much. Batman is a very tense and exciting game to play and all of the story twists the game throws at you combined with the great use of the Unreal technology makes this a must play, Batman fan or not.
4: Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn of War 2
(Relic / Played on: PC) I said it in my review back then and i´ll say it again. PC RTS havent been this good outside of a Blizzard title in a loooong time. Its fantastic on all levels. Warhammer is a great well to drain from when it comes to lore, artstyle and strategy. It blends to form a RTS/RPG hybrid that wont let go and make you lose your interest like so many PC RTS games does these days for me. This game drips of personality in every aspect of its execution and the blend of genres is taken to perfection. The campaign is a really nice display of progression with its loot and leveling mechanics and the stellar presentation makes every mission of it a battle for the ages. I can´t say enough good things about Dawn of War 2 and how tragic it is that many console players wont even think about playing it. But if you´ve ever enjoyed a Blizzard RTS in your life you owe it to play this perfect evolvement of the genre. It wakes up the sleeping RTS need you thought you didn´t have while playing on the strenghts of the WoW addiction of the world today. 4 distinct races to learn and play in skirmish and multiplayer and all of them reeks of personality and style.
Its a heavy, gritty gaming experience that stuck with me as one of the absolute best of the year.
3: Resident Evil 5
(Capcom / Played on: Playstation 3) One of the most rewarding Co-op experiences I´ve ever had. Few games was made for co-op like this one and if you didn´t like it chances are you either played it alone or have a dislike for Resident Evil already. Its a reminder of what made Resident Evil 4 one of the best games ever all over again but with added co-op.The game also features a great build up of the story and a great new character in Sheva. RE5 is also easily forgotten when it comes to graphics of 2009. This is easily one of the best looking games of the year and the facial animations in particular is nothing short of stunning. But as I said it was really the co-op that did it. Playing the game through twice with a friend easily contributed to some of the best gaming memories of the year and cooperative bossfights took gaming fun to a place it havent been for a while for me. Its a pure Resident Evil experience of the post RE4 era with over the top awesome cutscenes, panic inducing enemy encounters & plenty of unlockables to make you come back time and time again. Already super hyped to jump back in next year with the DLC.
2: Borderlands
(Gearbox / Played on: Xbox 360) A TOP NOTCH first person shooter of old where awesome gunplay and cool enemies gets to take the front seat. Weapons are superb and they come in so many different flavors that you´ll never see them all. Layer on top of this a Diablo style leveling, class and loot system and you have something that is simply impossible to stop playing. Its a game that makes sure you have a blast playing it before anything else. The gameplay fun here is something that has to be experienced to be believed. It is not a game you watch a trailer of a instantly want to play but when you get into it theres no stopping it. It also has the best humor of the year and it conveys it in a very subtle way. Achievements, quest names, NPCs, monsters and small details in the enviroments are often nods to other games as well as a big chunk of pop culture. It dosent take itself seriously and manages to keep a tasteful amount of self distance to everything it does. Borderlands is a tribute to what makes games fun and 50 or so hours later you´ll still enjoy leveling up and finding new loot because it never feels like a grind, it feels like youre playing an awesome first person shooter that also features a great and unique artstyle to go with it.
1: Street Fighter IV
(Capcom / Played on: Xbox 360 & Playstation 3) SF IV cannot be denied as the effin mammoth of this year for me. I´ve never spent this much time with a fighting game in my whole life. Its resurrected a genre and my interest in it completely. Ive played almost 100 hours of this beast at home but this game has been played at several SFIV parties and has become something of a mainstay through everything else. Its inspired me to put down $170 on an arcade stick and its inspired me to start watching loads of professional players go at it aswell as studying tacticts to get better on it.
I´ve talked, breathed and enjoyed SFIV on so many different occasions this year that this game alone pretty much defines what 2009 was for me in terms of gaming. It brings people together and creates a party atmosphere that is just pure awesome sauce. Whether you are a pro or just started, a gathering with SFIV is such a good time ! I also usually dont play alot of stuff online on my consoles but I´ve probably played around 800 matches on Xbox live and even more with people in the same room. Plans are already in place for even bigger gatherings in 2010 and chances are this game will stick with me for the next year aswell with the release of the Super edition. Memories of gaming 2009 pretty much begins and ends with SFIV. I´m not even going to go into what an insanely well crafted fighting game SFIV is because at this point I´ve experienced it so much that I couldnt even begin explaining it.
I think that might be it for my 2009 GOTY awards. I might add some more special categories that have popped up in my mind.
Feel free to write you own lists in the comments and thanks for reading !
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 5 - Top 10 2009, Part 1
By jimbo_n 2 Comments
Time to get to the real deal. Man, this one has taken me some time to get right. I´ve had a real hard time to place this games in the correct order. Lots of going back and playing again for a while and lots of arguing with myself. But its finally done. The straight up 10 best games I played in 2009 are:
10: Shin Megami Tensei - Persona 4
(Atlus / Played on: Playstation 2) I didnt play all the way through myself. I played around 50 hours before I stopped (but looking back it felt like 5). I was totally locked down with this game ignoring everything else for weeks before I gave up. But that was only because I spent another 100 hours watching the Endurance Run here on Giant Bomb. The mix of J-RPG, social simulation, weather and calendar mechanics and the unique style the game is going for made this RPG one for the ages. The game features a great soundtrack, memorable characters and shows off some great use of the PS2 in this HD era. As much as I want to move past this title and ignore the last generation I just can´t. Following Vinny and Jeff every day throughout months of this year made this a very memorable gaming experience for this year. Its a really really great concept that I will be all over when it reaches the current gen.
9: Infamous
(Sucker Punch / Played on: Playstation 3) Controls so spot on it sometimes felt like you´re controlling the game with your mind, a superhero story with a twist and a great Lionhead style Good and Evil system to build your character around. Infamous ended up feeling a bit too grindy the 2nd time around but the first playthrough was a blast. It felt fresh and it was released at the perfect time of the year. When I was deep into this game I could wake up and it was the first thing on my mind. It stuck with me even when I wasn´t playing it. I am always a sucker for shaping yourself and the world around you with your actions so this one was right up my alley.
8: Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog / Played on: Playstation 3) I still feel like there´s something wrong with the way Uncharted plays and I can´t fully appriciate it as a 3rd person action game. But that dosent really matter when the game delivers such a rollercoaster ride. The campaign is cinematic and intense like few before it and its jampacked with likeable great characters and a cool Steven Spielberg storyarc. Uncharted 2 is also in a league of its own when it comes to presenation. We are talking serious budget here. Animations, voicework, camera angles, environments. You name it. U2 prevails on its fantastic presentation and its really a special feeling to play something that feels so lifelike and cinematic. Many of the coolest moments of this year is in U2´s single player campaign. Moments where you can hardly believe you just did what you did.
7: League of Legends
(Riot Games / Played on: PC) I wasn´t into the DoTA phenomenon at all but a free standalone game build on the concept got me. And it dosent take long for the addiction to kick in. Easy to learn / hard to master gameplay that is constantly fast paced and fun and when you start to get the hang of it you feel you want to step up your game even more. Its a very competative mindset that I haven´t felt since I played WoW Arena daily or tried to push myself on a pro level in Warcraft 3 or Quake 3. League of Legends will surely be there in future E-Sport tournaments. Sure the game can´t compete with the big releases of the year when it comes to content or presentation but there´s really something to be said for a game that is just pure fun to play and when you realize you put other big titles aside to play it you have to appriciate its awesomeness. The hours have flown away for me with this one. One game can easily take an hour but at the end of the game it only feels like 15 minutes. You instantly want to play another game and suddenly you look at the clock and its frikkin 5 AM! FIVE AM! The thought of taking a break never crossed my mind like it did with many other games in 2009.
6: Killzone 2
(Guerilla Games / Played on: Playstation 3) When this was released I described it as the Quake 2 of 2009. Not only because of the similarities in theme, enviroments and enemy/weapon design but also because of the mindset with wich they designed this shooter. Its straight forward, fun and has great level design. I think its something very pure in Killzone 2 and I think thats what really gets me. Weapons feel right, enemy encounters feels well balanced and the Quake 2 HD style of presentation brought in an extra layer of nostalgia into the mix. Also it dosent hurt that Killzone 2 uses a new way of lighting that brings a level of intensity to the presentation that havent really been seen in a shooter before. It looks great and also sounds great. This game might have the best overall soundwork of a game this year. Sure the last boss encounter was a catastrophy on all levels but that dosent stop this game from being a damn fine first person shooter. A genre I greatly appriciate.
Parts 5-1 to follow shortly. Thanks for reading and keep those lists of your own coming !
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 4 - Special awards, part 2
By jimbo_n 4 Comments
Time to continue on with some special awards.
Best Comeback
Monkey Island (Lucas Arts / Telltale / Played on: Xbox 360 & PC)The news of one of my favorite franshises of all time making a comeback must have been the best news for me in 2009. No gaming related news made me as happy as the rumors of both a remake of the original Monkey Island AND a new series of games. It almost felt too good to be true. The Secret of Monkey Island is easily one of the best games ever made, period. My interest in the new Telltale stuff eventually cooled off but the remake of the original that is now on my 360 harddrive is a near perfect remake !
Best Downloadable Service Game
Rocket Riot (Codeglue / Played on: XBLA) This was a really good year for PSN, WiiWare and XBLA and man this category was kinda hard to come to a conclusion on. But in the end the frantic Rocket Riot drew the longest straw. This game is a fantastic mix of easy to get into/hard to master frantic gameplay and really cool ideas like creating the enviroments and characters to look like HD pixelblocks. The gameplay never stops being fun and I ended up playing through all of the 100 or so levels, something that dosent happen very often with old school arcade games. The music is also superb and reminds you of a modern remix of an old school game song with its modern techno trappings and old bleeps and bloops. Its a sick throwback to gaming of old while still feeling like something totallt unique and fresh and its probably the most fun I had this year with a downloadable title.
Best Weather Effects
Fuel (Asobo Studio / Played on: Xbox 360) Now the game itself had some serious problems. This was not really a racing game to remember but it did one thing right, the weather! The weather looked jawdropping in this game and it affected how you raced in a spectacular fashion. Rain and wind sure but it was the full on tornados that really brought it home. As you were racing, big twisters roamed around both in the horizon and just on the track ahead of you throwing roofs, trees and debris your way. Its was a magnificent display of nature´s powers that I cant really remember seeing in any other game ever.
Worst Game I Played in 2009
Leisure Suit Larry - Box Office Bust (Team 17 / Played on: Xbox 360) Poor Larry, what happened? This series was once respected for its spot on sexual humor. Well not anymore. Tha language here is vulgar to the point that its disgusting to listen to and it dosent even try to be funny. The game itself is a technical trainwreck with all of the technical problems you can imagine and it controls like shit. Add on tacked on game mechanics, scary character designs, a horrible soundtrack and pathetic attempts at being sexy and you have the worst game I played this year by far. The only thing that gets a pass is the voiceacting but what good is that when you are playing something that shouldnt have seen store shelves from the beginning. I actually recommend you to check this out if you can get your hands on it for free somehow just to experience what a pathetic attempt of a game it is.
Coming up. The actual top 10 games of the year, part 1 !
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 3 - Special awards
By jimbo_n 5 Comments
Ok. Time for the first real part of my list where I´m going to give som cred where cred it due. Stuff that stood out in games over the year. They might not be the best games of the year but they can still have parts to them that are. I´m going to go with the same genres of awards as last year and maybe add one or two to the list. I might also break this up into 2 pieces.
Best Original Soundtrack
Street Fighter IV (Capcom / Played on: Xbox 360)With melodic mixes of old favorites and new tracks SFIV´s soundtrack is in a bit of an own league this year. Overall the soundtrack focus of 2009 has been on the cinematic level. While that might be good its not the tunes you´ll remember. SFIV is dripping with old school over the top cheesy, melodic music. You might develop a love/hate relationship with the main theme and all of the "uhn tiss uhn tiss" but all said and done this is for sure the most memorable soundtrack of the year and probably the one you´ve noticed the most.
Best Licensed Soundtrack
Rock Band 2 (Harmonix / Played on: Xbox 360)
This goes by default to Rock Band 2. Now this isnt really fair since the game wasnt released this year. But I´m breaking my own rules here and basing this purely off DLC songs. The library that the Rock Band store now offers is totally bonkers. Everyone can find something they want to play now and I´m constantly suprised by the stuff their adding and for the most part its really good music and if you´re as into metal as I am the you´ll be chocked over and over again when they keep adding your favorite songs on there. Keep it up!
Best Female Voiceacting
Emily Rose (Uncharted 2 / Played on: Playstation 3)Just like the game itself Emily stepped up her game as Elena Fisher in Uncharted 2 and delivered a believable, likeable and deep character. Her voice fits perfecly with the character and feels natural all the way through the game. This was actually a great year for female voice acting in general and games like Batman Arkham asylum, Dragon Age and Resident Evil 5 were all games with really strong female voicework.
Best Male Voiceacting
Mark Hamill (Batman: Arkham Asylum / Played on: Xbox 360)While Nolan North as Nathan Drake was the obvious choice here I thought some more about it and realized that he has kinda been overexposed this year in his everyday witty man role. This also made me realize that Nolan really cant do much else and that his character in Uncharted 2 didnt really evolve the same way Elena did. Then I remembered The Joker in Batman and what a masterpiece of a performance Mark Hamill put into that character. Insanity havent been so precise in a long time.
Best Graphics - Technical
Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves (Naughty Dog / Played on: Playstation 3)I don´t know if there was ever any doubt here. There were plenty of insane looking games this year and at some point you almost start to go numb at how good the games look. The bar were already set really high with Killzone 2 early on in the year but Uncharted 2 really took it through the roof in 2009. The game had some rough edges and sure, games will surely look better in the coming years but there are things in Uncharted 2 that just makes you surrender and bow down on your knees at its glory and lifelike splendor.
Best Graphics - Artistical
Muramasa - The Demon Blade (Ignition Ent. / Played on: Nintendo Wii) Every second of you playing this game is a second of starting at an artistical masterpiece. Just like with Uncharted 2 this game made me stop and say out loud how good the game looked. This game shows that 2D graphics are still highly viable and that you can make mindblowing stuff with 2D art instead of 3D. So much love, care and detail has been put into every frame of animation and every background that at some point I almost felt like 3D graphics is just unnessesary.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the special award categories very soon. For now. Feel free to comment and discuss and of course, tell me that I´m wrong and give me your own lists ;)
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 2 - Anticipation 09
By jimbo_n 1 Comments
In further preparation for my Top 2009 games list I also went back and looked at what games I looked forward to playing in 2009. Its kinda funny since almost all of them wasnt released or got pushed to 2010. So I really didn´t get to play most of what I wanted this year even if I did make a few "probably wont come out but I really want it to" choices. Here´s the top 10 games I looked forward to playing in 2009.
10: Aliens - Colonial Marines
Its been pretty much quiet about this game all year. The latest word is early 2010 as far as I know. So i´ll keep anticipating the glorious return of a sweet Aliens game.
9: Dark Void
Got pushed into 2010. But over the year this game has gained alot of polish. I thought this game looked awesome 1 year ago and it looks even better now. One of my first purhcases of 2010 for sure.
8: Killzone 2
Released and did not dissappoint. One of the highlights of this year for sure.
7: Bayonetta
Got pushed to 2010 for those of us not in Japan. This would probably place higher if I were to make an Anticipation 2010 list. The recent release of the demo has really got me pumped for January.
6: Duke Nukem Forever
For some reason I thought that 2009 was ACTUALLY gonna be the year when this was released. Instead 3D Realms shut down. Man was I wrong about this one. Very sad.
5: Diablo 3
Wow its already been a year. I thought the year would take longer than it did and that Blizzard would actually get D3 to stores. Ok..maybe not. This was probably just wishful thinking on my end, but I really really wanted it to happen.
4: Alan Wake
Alright so I did alot of wishful thinking at the end of 08. But just like with Duke Nukem I thought that 2009 would be the year for Alan. And I was wrong again. Now we have a promise of a 2010 release. Come on Remedy, make it happen!
3: Heavy Rain
Was it really so wierd of me to hope for Heavy Rain in 09? In any case I´m still hyped for this one.
2: StarCraft 2 - Wings of Liberty
Im going to quote what I wrote back then: "Unlike Diablo 3, the first part of StarCraft 2 SHOULD see the light of day this year but I guess I shouldnt be surprised if it was pushed into the first quarter of 2010". Totally and utterly wrong again. It really seems like this year has gone by so fast when I think about how short amount of time it feels like its been for Blizzard to develop a game.
1: Rage
And yet again i´ll keep waiting. Rage seemed pretty far along in development under the 2nd half of 2008 tho. And judging by Carmack´s speeches it felt like he was hopeful for a 2009 release. In any case I´m probably more hyped about Rage than anything else. Nothing has changed in that regard.
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So to recap only ONE game from my most anticipated games of 09 was released. Granted there were still alot of good games this year and ignoring my top 10 there were still games coming out that I really wanted to play. But still, man was I wrong. I didnt really make a "games I THINK will come out list" tho. Rather the opposite. These were all games i really hoped would come out. Some might have been 100% wishful thinking but to be honest I actually thought we would see games like StarCraft, Heavy Rain, Duke Nukem, Rage and Aliens in 2009.
Overall the feeling I´m getting going back and reading this is how insanely fast 2009 has gone by. Is time really going so fast? It feels like I wrote that list a couple of months ago, yet its been almost a full year. What happened to all the stuff I was supposed to do this year? Makes you stop and think...
Game of the year awards 2009: Part 1 - 2008
By jimbo_n 3 Comments
So in preparation of my "Best of" list of 2009 I decided to dig deep in the archives of my blog. I went back to December 2nd 2008 when I posted my Top 10 for 2008. So to kick off the end of this gaming year, here´s the best games I played LAST year.
10: Mario Kart Wii
9: Prince of Persia
8: Gears of War 2
7: Super Smash Bros - Brawl
6: Grand Theft Auto 4
5: Dead Space
4: Devil May Cry 4
3: Fable 2
2: Burnout Paradise
1: Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots
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BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ( OST that´s NOT licensed songs )
BIONIC COMMANDO REARMED
BEST LICENSED SOUNDTRACK ( OST that´s ONLY licensed songs )
BURNOUT PARADISE
BEST FEMALE VOICE ACTING ( Best performance by Female in a game )
DEBI MAE WEST AS MERYL, METAL GEAR SOLID 4
BEST MALE VOICE ACTING ( Best performance by Male in a game )
DAVID HAYTER AS SNAKE, METAL GEAR SOLID 4
BEST INDIE GAME ( Best independent / low budget / hobby project )
AUDIOSURF
BEST DOWNLOADABLE SERVICE GAME ( XBLA / PSN / WiiWare )
CASTLE CRASHERS
BEST GRAPHICS TECHNICAL ( Most beautiful game, technical )
GEARS OF WAR 2
BEST GRAPHICS ARTISTICAL ( Most beautiful game, artistic )
PRINCE OF PERSIA
League of Legends is where its at!
By jimbo_n 13 Comments
I´m curently up at 4.30 AM because my adrenaline levels are through the roof. The reason is League of Legends. This game is hands down one of the best I´ve played this year, and thats despite it´s lack of content. This game currently have ONE map to play on and STILL is so fun I´ve probably spent 8 hours playing it tonight. And probably 40 or 50 hours total and I feel like I´m just beginning to get into this game.
LoL is slowly becoming a real addiction for me. You run into alot of random games where you just get your ass handed to you. But if you get teamed up with 4 team mates that knows what they´re doing while playing a class you really know how to play well and combine that with good teamwork you get a game full of so much gameplay satisfaction its crazy.
And let me tell you right now, this is coming from someone who didnt even try DOTA back when it was a Warcraft 3 mod. I went into this fresh and the sensation of finally starting to get into the flow is, as I said, comparable to Blizzard games like Warcraft 3 or WoW and their fast paced, combo intense, micro heavy gameplay. One game usually takes between 35 to 70 minutes but even after a 70 frikkin minute game you still instantly queue up for another one.
Riot games have nailed supertight controls, a fantastic artstyle and an MMO style account management client where you actually level your account instead of a character. You can spec into different trees and buy runes that enhances your game when your actually playing. So on top of this fast paced, adrenaline pumping gameplay you have this client running in the background tracking your stats and earning you expeirence as you play.
On top of this the game is 100% FREE to play. Just go to their homepage and create an account and youre good to go. If you decide that you like the game enough (wich you will) you can buy skins, heroes and XP boosts for money. Its an excellent business model that hooks you and then makes you feel good about giving them your money.
This holiday season is full of AAA console titles but I find myself playing more of this free PC game from a newly founded studio instead. They were really on to something with DOTA back in the day and with League of Legends this concept gets its own game and an ability to stretch out to the masses and I feel I have to do my part in spreading this message onwards.
If you have a super tight game where both teams are masterful at what they do you end up feeling like you had the most gaming fun of the year at the end of the match. You also make alot of friends with whom you can make arranged teams with in the future (via the built in Friends feature of the account client). Oh and speaking of the client. Its a program that lies on your desktop where you can manage your account, your specs, visit the store, join chatrooms, manage your friendslist and more, outside of both a browser and the game. It also acts as a patcher wich is especially handy since this game is in its early stages.
You can approach it from alot of different angles. Are you tired of your MMO and need a break from it? Are you an old DOTA veteran? Are you and old school Warcraft 3 Battle.net player that likes the fast paced micro or are you a causal fantasty fan looking to get into something new and completely fresh?
The team at RIOT runs a superb community support, valuing each and every new member. They have started a program to help as many new players as possible to get into this. They are also great at managing the community and making YOU feel appriciated and valued like few before them.
Its way too easy to dismiss this game as "something I´ll have fun with for a while but that isn´t really worth my attention right now". To think like that is making the biggest mistake of 2009 when it comes to gaming. Due to its low profile this game needs word of mouth just like I´m doing here. Try it out and spread the word!
When this game starts to expand its feature set and builds up contentwise there will be nothing stopping it.
If you have enough time to dedicate to one game (much like an MMO) you owe it to yourself to start digging into this one.
Oh, and this game combined with a custom iTunes playlist consisting of the World of Warcraft and Wrath of the Lich King OST´s might be the best custom soundtrack fit of all time. I´m not kidding. The tunes of Elwynn forest and Sholazar Basin is a 110% perfect fit for this game.
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