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Conquered Games 2010

2010 Was the year of changes. It was the year when I would leaving my lovely home in India with my lovely home theater with a huge HDTV and 5.1 Surround system for my Masters in Computer Science in US (Buffalo, NY) ...

I knew this was my last chance to play all those games I've been shelving for a long time, because well, I would most certainly not be taking my PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSone, Or my Atari 2600 for that matter, with me to US, it would be too much trouble. So after I finished the Final exams of my Undergrad, I started on my mission "Make use of Home Theater as much as possible"

Well, I actually started early in the year itself, knowing that I would be busy even after exams (with all the Visa etc formalities required for my Masters) So I tried to play as much possible from January itself.

The thing is that, I also had many BluRays and DVDs to watch, those which I left for till "The time was right". As there was no more time, I sat and watched all those too. Started off with watching All Planet Earth BluRays one after the other (crazy times) Then finishing the Band of Brothers Collector's edition BluRay (simply superb it was) with all the extras, watching episodes TWICE (with the commentary and special timeline view) among other things.

As for games, it was a sinusoidal journey. I played a lot, but the thing was that many problems like my 360 not working (not an RRoD for 3 years, but some disc read errors) and my Gamecube controller not allowing me to play Wind Waker (Wasted so many days trying to fix it), didn't allow me to make the most of the time gameplay-wise.

And then after my Journey to Buffalo on August 12th, I didn't find time in the whole semester to play on my 12" HP Tablet. I did however, play a little bit of SSFIV and Tekken 6 thanks to the DDR club (they play other games too) on Campus.

Well, many things happened in 2010. Lot of them involving games, so lets have a look at the games that I completed in the, what some may call, "last year of the decade"

List items

1. Punch-Out!!

Completion Date : Jan 9th 2010 | Completion Time : 6.5 Hours | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/7564340268">#ReCoGa Tweet</a>
 I really loved Super Punchout on the SNES. It was a great time waster. Just boot it up and play for a while whenever I felt like it. I knew Super Punchout was going to be really good, So started the year with it.
 And boy was it a good game to start the year with! The action was just as intense as in the SNES one, and it looked even better! Haha. The difficulty did indeed curve up like crazy towards the end, but boy was it satisfying!
 I didn't like how it didn't have a quick way to restart a match, also I didn't have any 2P to try the multiplayer with.
 I still regret, not getting this game with me over here to Buffalo :(
2. Luigi's Mansion

Completion Date : Jan 9th 2010 | Completion Time : 14 Hours | <a href="http://j.mp/f3KEUt">#LMansion</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/9010755626">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 One of the biggest Pluses of owning a Wii was that I would finally be able to play all those GameCube games that I always wanted to try out.
 Luigi's Mansion was one of those first games whose graphics made me go "WoW" back in the day. The character animation was just too good, and everything felt so FLUID. And yes, when I actually played it in 2010, NINE YEARS after it's release, it still felt visually pleasing. 
 That along with small quirks like Luigi Humming and Whistling the theme song whenever he's afraid, and the personality of the ghost themselves added a lot of humour and pleasure to the game overall.
 Even though there are no achievements in the game, I completed it 100% getting all ghosts and all collectibles. It was really fun. The whole design of the mansion was itself commendable.
 As is obvious by now, I totally fell in love with it. (controls were a little off though). And I guess you know which game gets my vote for "Best use of Torchlight in a game" 
 Hint : Its not Alan Wake.
3. Flower

Completion Date : Feb 28th 2010 | Completion Time : 6 Hours | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/9780146742">#ReCoGa Tweet</a>
 Flower Flower... such an old game, but such a beauty. I played flower whenever I got some free time. Whenever I wanted to relax, I would turn it on.
 It was one of those games that made me think a lot, I dont know, it was just flower petals floating in gardens, but this nothingness of it, made the mind think a lot. 
 It graphics were really good. No virtual grass looked finer before. It was also able to create things like "suspense" and "fear" in the players mind just because of the way it was presented.
 Completed it as close to platinum as possible. Did get all the secret petals in the all the levels though.
4. God of War III

Completion Date : March 27th 2010 | Completion Time : 12 Hours | <a href="http://j.mp/euSAQg">#GoW3</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/11164279780">#ReCoGa Tweet</a>
 My First game of 2010 that I played in 2010. One of those very few games that I rush to buy as soon as they are released. I dont know about you, but the ending in GOW2 got me really hanging on that cliff. I wanted to know what would happen next.
 And I was so dedicated to having a nice experience that I didn't watch anything but the first two trailers for the game, haha.
 Now because of that, the initial Poseidon thing was very unexpected and very awesome. It was kinda silly how even in this one, I had my powers ripped away from me, then get them all back. Why is this so common in games? What is this concept called?
 And that little girl... man she talks a lot :/ And Aphrodite... She had a really good face.
 All characters and fights and yes, the "scale" throughout the game was really awesome. Enjoyed it from beginning till end. Very satisfying and if my tweet when I completed it is to be believed...
 "Can write a 10page thing for the ending itself!"
 <h1>Which Reminds Me</h1> 
 By this point in time, I was now the Chief Games Editor of a Local Youth Magazine called BhelPuri. This was the first time ever that I was employed officially, on a payroll, for anything. It was really nice. I would right one review of new game, then a classic review, then a news round-up and a feature article. All stuff written by me :D The magazine was a potpourri of interests that the youth had, movies, hangout, games, etc etc.
Its completed funded and run by people under 25Yrs of age. Its a really nice feat, and I am very happy and proud that I was able to be a part of it.
GoW3 was the first game that I reviewed for the Magazine.
5. Snatcher

Completion Date : May 29th 2010 | Completion Time : 18 Hours | <a href="http://j.mp/hPINyO">#Snatcher</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/14999872930">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Now... where do I start??? I dont know.. even if I start somewhere, I dont think I can end this thing properly.
 Snatcher was this game, that totally ruled over my life when I was playing it. After years of wanting to play it. I know that it was now the right time to start playing it, and hence, I did play it.
 The starting of the game itself, was super crazy and it really hyped me up for the whole experience. It was so good, that the music is still stuck in my head and I always get the chills when I hear the intro. Its something that defines the game, the intro itself tells you exactly what you are getting into. Its very rare for games to have this good intros. 
<object width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2DuqYduG_CU?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2DuqYduG_CU?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480"></embed></object>
 At first, I didn't understand what was going on, everything felt so strange, I was like "Oh, a detective adventure game?" but then I started playing it. The fact that the game gave me options for every screen instead of asking me to click was like a huge "POW" on the face of point and click adventure games. I mean, If it were point and click, I would be pixel clicking all the way and trying to find things anyways, this was a direct and more time saving way of doing things.
 Other than that, the attention to detail was really exceptional, parahs of stuff about the couches and paintings, things that add nothing to the game's story, but add to the whole experience. Things like that, play a huge role in immersing the player into the world of the game. The player thinks like the character.
 That and technical jargon, the appearance of MK.II and so many other cool things, gave me one nerdgasm after the other. The game's story is pretty awesome, and for someone who really like sci-fi and blade runner type of stuff, this was like a dream come true.
 The cheeky things that I could do, and how I got locked out of the house for asking the daughter of a dead man (whose house I was investigating) out for a date... memorable stuff.
 The twist in the end was also very good, and there were MANY similarities in the stories of this and MGS. I guess Mr. Kojima has a formula to himself :P
 This was one of the games I covered for the classic reviews section at BhelPuri and I was surprised when everyone else, who didn't even play or like games (book nerds etc) liked the review.
 This game reminded me of a time, a time when game makers didn't have "profit" as their main goal. When there was a lot of creative freedom, and when games were actually made around ideas that the creators had 100% interest in and not something made out of the whims of mainstream.
 It will be highly impossible to make any game like this in present day scenario, its just very hard to get that much creative freedom. It would sell well
6. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Completion Date : Jun 11th 2010 | Completion Time : 12 Hours | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/15949564088">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Well, this was my second game reviewed for the magazine. This was the best new game available in the market for that month. Sadly, it wasn't that great of a game.
 I completed the game in a 12h marathon. The levels of the game were well designed, but they were all very easy. It was like if I traversing automatically, rarely had to give any effort in doing anything.
 The characters were also very poorly developed, and the story felt like it didn't even exist.
 I was quite disappointed with this, but oh well, it wasn't a total waste.
7. Red Dead Redemption

Completion Date : Jul 22th 2010 | Completion Time : 35 Hours | <a href="http://j.mp/h4MASH">#RDR</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/19291944805">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Now thanks to my job at BhelPuri, I now had a steady flow of "new games" and a constant push that would make me actually play the game and complete them! This was the first time in YEARS that I was playing games in the same month as they released and completing them within that month.
 I knew that RDR would be really hard to complete quickly, I had to write many articles , complete the game, write a review for it, all within the month's deadline.
 Lucky for me, I was able to isolate myself for many days, and got to play the game at my own pace instead of hurriedly running through the game.
 As for the game itself, I really liked it. The characters, their dialogues, everything was splendid. Even though I am not a huge fan of Westerns and stuff, I was able to appreciate the depth and amount of work that was put into the thing, it made me want to see more Western movies, haha.
 It showed how sad and miserable the life during the times of "Wild Wild West" was and how in the name of Civilization, many brutal things were done.
 Also, you know that John Marston is a bad guy, it feels hard to give him some sympathy, you at times feels sad for him because he is trying to be better, but you know how bad he has been and you are being while playing as him. All this, along with him talking like a supreme gentleman, really blasted my brain with different kinds of feelings.
 The ending of the game is certainly one of the most emotional and touching endings I've ever seen in any game. You really feel like every bullet is worth the shot when the final battle happens.
 I wish I could share my review for the game, but I guess its offline only and property of the magazine.
 Maybe sometime in the future, I'll do that.
8. Resident Evil 5

Completion Date : Jul 25th 2010 | Completion Time : 10H 51M 43S | <a href="http://j.mp/hXpldR">#RE5</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/19486792376">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Two Years ago, when I was in a shop in Saudi Arabia, I saw Resident Evil 5 and Infamous, both for the same low price. I had to choose which one to buy. I really wanted to play infamous, but I also wanted to play online co-op.
 After lot of thinking I decided to buy this, *announcer voice* "Resident Evil 5". I started playing it online as soon as possible. But the problem was that, both me and my friend ScorpioGamer always had problem scheduling. Either I was busy with something or him.
 So after more than a year of trying to play it and complete the game (by when ScorpioGamer had already beat the game THRICE, platinumed) we finally completed the game on Co-Op!!
 This was probably my first fully online co-op game completed on PS3. Even though the game could have been run and gunned, we sat and decided to plan and play. It was quite fun with the resource management.
 But one thing is for sure. The experience that I had when I played Gears Of War full co-op in 2006 was far more easier, better, more streamlined, than my Resident Evil 5 experience in 2010. It is partly both because its Resident Evil 5 and because its on the PS3.
9. Resistance 2

Completion Date : August 1st 2010 | Completion Time : 10 Hours | <a href="http://j.mp/i5vwz7">#R2</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/20074257393">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 I bought this game the week it was out (My brother bought it actually :P) and that too, COLLECTORS EDITION! I just saw the first level of the game when I bought it. Played some online with my friends, and then that was it.
 So this was 2010 now, and it was the right time to complete all those shelved games, hence now came the turn of Resistance 2.
 I am a huge huge fan of Insomniac games, give me any new thing that you think is very good, I will in someway translate it to something that Insomniac already implemented. But as much as I love them, I never really liked Resistance 1 very much. Because it was like they went back 5 years in time and forgot everything they worked on.
 They implemented so many cool multiplayer stuff and gameplay elements that would totally make any FPS cool. But none of them were implemented in Resistance. It feels like they started from scratch.
 Everytime I played resistance 2. I could think nothing but "Why" and "How" insomniac had made the game as it was, because it never felt like it was made in their true spirit. The graphics and guns were good. But everything was not great.
 The conclusion sure was a big 0.0 I'm hoping the third one will be more original and more insomniac than the previous two resistances.
10. Crysis

Completion Date : August 2nd 2010 | Completion Time : 9H 20M | <a href="http://friendfeed.com/search?q=#Crysis from:reetesh">#crysis</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Reetesh/statuses/20187302138">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 So, I would no longer be close to my PC after August 12th. If I wanted to complete a crazy game like Crysis, this was my last chance for a long time. Thanks to Gagan and his generous gift (8600 GT) I was able to play the game finally!
 It ran pretty good in Medium-low settings, I was surprised, didn't think it would be possible on my DDR1 Ram using system.
 I completed the game in one sitting in a marathon, took me about 10 hours I guess. The game was pretty enjoyable. I didn't think it would be this varied.
 The fun thing was that I could play the game in any way I wanted. I was playing stealthily in places where I was supposed to RAMBO and vice versa, only realizing the correct way after finishing the part.
 The game went to single digit FPS in the final levels, but oh well, it was worth it and I played it like that, haha. Its like goku training in 10G or something :P
 I didn't like of the exploration levels in the mines where the level design was pretty bad and confusing.
 All round fun and exciting game it was.
11. Crysis Warhead

Completion Date : August 4th 2010 | Completion Time : 7H (marathon) | <a href="http://j.mp/f9LNj2">#crysis</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/20347630291">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Just the day after I beat Crysis, I did another marathon for Crysis Warhead. I got lower frame rates for same setting in this, but it was still good. I liked the character and the story in the game. I dont remember any of it, but I guess that what I felt, because that's what my tweet says. Oh yeah, and I played the game in Hard mode... it wasn't hard.
 Anyhoo, both games were quite good, I really like how they managed an Open World experience thats VERY different from the GTA type open world games.
12. Heavy Rain

Completion Date : August 6th 2010 | Completion Time : 10H | <a href="http://j.mp/ea8Pdu">#HeavyRain</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Reetesh/statuses/20512447868">#ReCoGa Tweet</a> 
 Ah, Heavy Rain... I really like Indigo Prophecy, it was very memorable. And ever since Heavy Rain was announced, I got really hyped and was eagerly waiting to play the game.
 The only thing I knew about the game was there will be many characters, game continues if character dies, and that we walk like a car (control-wise). With only those things known, I started playing the game.
 This would be my final game in my Home Theater, before I leave, I didn't know that when I was playing. But now I know, and I believe, the game deserves having such a distinction.
 Many people who I knew didn't like Heavy Rain, they thought the game made fun of the gamers by assuming they would be stupid. People went nit-picking it left-right and center.
 Well, I know how the game put "red herrings" and stuff all over the place and can understand why some players feel that the game cheated. But still, the game by itself was very good. The way the story branched, and the multiple endings... very nicely executed.
 If you forget for one second about Who the Origami killer is, and if you just think about the mystery and everything else going on in the game, it was really nice.
 Many difficult decisions were made, parts of the body were cut off, many things were done. All these spring up many questions. You start to think, if someone else's life is really worth that much. The question "How far will you go" no longer feels like some cliche nonsense dialogue thrown at the audience. It really makes you think about it.
 When the characters get emotional in the game. The music along with the graphics, their acting and everything, makes to feel the same in real life, at some parts.
 Yeah Yeah, shaving takes a lot of time in this game unlike certain some other game. But that's not the point. You can even think of it as, "things not relevant to the game are added, so that when you perform them, it makes you attached to the character" something like... you are living the daily life just like that character is.
 Sometimes adding simple things that make your experience feel more real, adds a lot more value sub-consciously.
 Well, no matter what you say, this game was pretty good, and it was well worth my time, and I am very happy I got to see all the endings of it too!
13. Wii Sports

Completion Date : ??? | Completion Time : ???
 Well Well WELL, what do we have here??
 Well, its Wii Sports, and why is it here?
 WELL, its because I have a Wii here in Buffalo now (thanks to my brother :D) and It has Wii Sports in it. Whenever Friends gather around and whenever I put the Wii On, we end up playing Wii Sports for hours.
 Well, along with that, my brother also gave me games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and I brought some games with me from home (No More Heroes etc) that I played a little bit. So That I can play and enjoy in free time. I am now playing Metroid Prime on my Wii and its really fun!
 Which reminds me, just like any other year, there were many games that I played for considerable amount of time but didn't complete. Well, yeah they exist every year, but just saying, thats all.
 So, yeah, looking back, I didn't play ANYTHING, I mean, didn't CONQUER anything in the second half of 2010, but I did luckily finish one game per month on an average. Although that was not my primary goal, it feels nice knowing that :D
 Well, that's it for the year recap! I hope I can repeat this for 2011, and play games for a good amount, because I believe a little bit of games goes a long way in keeping my concentration levels and dedication to everything else in check.
 Also, I'll be going to PAX East this year! Might finally meet JeffG and everyone else. Hard to say this, but the 10yrs I've known them (virtually) I learnt a lot from them all. Not just about games, but many, many more things. I am excite!