I haven't had a burning desire to sit down and play a lot of games recently. I seem to have more competing priorities as my life evolves. However, I probably got 10 games in during 2013. That means basically everything that I played was a "best of 2013," even though some of them came out far before that.
Eric Pope nailed it for me. This is perfect as I like music games, suck at guitar, but am too lazy to go get lessons. This game is probably the only one I've played that actually makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Then I visit my brother and hear how much progress my 13 year old nephew is making and I feel like crap.
I played this game a few times in the arcade, and had no idea what's going on. Still, I loved it. After playing through it on XBL a few times, it amazes me just how deep this game is for an arcade brawler.
I picked this up for free during the Games with Gold promotion. Can't say that I saw it all of the way through, as the overall structure of Dead Rising just doesn't work for me. I also couldn't have cared less about the plight of Chuck and his daughter. I love all of the sluts, though. Stay classy, Japan.
While easy, this game does an excellent job of making you feel like a master of stealthy murder. The visuals are wonderfully done, and the story leaves you with a good question into your character's motivation.
I finally beat this on normal. How I didn't manage to crush all of my Xbox 360 controllers is beyond me.
I interpreted Space Invaders: IG as an attempt to replicate the success of Pac-Man: CE, whereby a classic franchise is reimagined to become something fresh and improved over the original. While it has its charm, and the visuals are complemented well by the techno soundtrack, the overall product is pretty compelling in short bursts, but ultimately isn't engaging enough to see it all of the way through.
OK, so after picking up Space Invaders, I went back and played Pac-Man DX. It's still pretty great.
I learned this year that I cannot stand watching Let's Play videos. I've been following Maximillian's YouTube channel for a bit, as I like his fighting game breakdowns. His Yo! Videogames channel is dedicated to Let's Plays, which really, really suck to watch when you're better at the game than the people playing it. so, after watching Max and Matt stumble their way through half of SoTN, I picked it back up and blasted through it to get it out of my system. I dominate this game.
Naughty Dog deserves every bit of praise that they've received for The Last of Us. The characters are immensely compelling, and the central story of Joel and Ellie put against the backdrop of their depressing, ruined, lonely world touched me like nothing that I've ever played. Like BioShock Infinite, I was more interested in getting to the next cutscene than actually playing the game. Unlike BioShock Infinite, I never seemed to mind, as those cutscenes were always worth the effort.
I found the edges of Columbia - the ruined shops, the out-of-time music, the racism - to be far more interesting than what was going on between Booker, Elizabeth, and Comstock. That I didn't care for the main plot made getting to the next cutscene a small payoff for slogging through the serviceable, if uninteresting, combat.
