Tag: Video Games

Don’t Try To Dig What We All Say: Trey’s Games Of The Generation Pt. 2

Check out Part 1 of the list here.

Metro 2033 (Xbox 360)

While working for GameStop, one upshot was that we sometimes came across titles that might have gone unnoticed. A few examples include Demon’s Souls, The Saboteur, and Metro 2033. Erich gets full credit for checking it out initially, but he quickly brought me into the fold. Metro takes the Eastern post-apoc sensibilities of games like STALKER and streamlines the experience into something more akin to Resistance. The atmosphere is unbelievable, and the story managed a unique twist: There’s a “moral choice” system, but the game literally never offers an explanation on what choices affect the outcome, or even lets on that there are alternate endings.

Mirror’s Edge (Xbox 360)

I’m not going to defend this game against its detractors anymore; it had flaws, and certain gameplay mechanics that made is completely impossible for some gamers to enjoy. For my money, though, few games have ever brought the same rush that comes with getting all the moves on a big run exactly right or reacting on pure instinct during the chase sequences. I’m very excited for the sequel, though my fingers are crossed that the developers will keep firearms far, far away from Faith.

Portal 2 (Xbox 360)

“Oh hi, how are you holding up? …because I’m a potato.”

“*Clap, clap, clap*… oh good, my slow-clap processor made it into this thing. At least we have that.”

“Ha! I like your style; you make up your own rules just like me. Bean-counter said I couldn’t fire a man just for being in a wheelchair – did it anyway. Ramps are expensive!”

“Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I’ve got some good news and some bad news: bad news is we’re postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we’ve got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You’ll know when the test starts.”

Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)

If Grand Theft Auto is Rockstar’s bread-and-butter, then Red Dead is the five-course meal they were preparing that bread as an appetizer for: It is graphically beautiful, exceptionally well-written, with nearly flawless gameplay, and set in an unbelievably detailed world nearly overflowing with features. On top of all that, there’s a free-roam multiplayer mode that to this day is more entertaining than GTA Online. Plus, Red Dead actually had co-op missions at launch!

Rock Band (Xbox 360)

When my friend Adam got his 360 two months ago, one of the first things I did was bust out my Rock Band instruments and haul them over to his place, immediately installed all of the songs from Rock Band onto the drive to play in Rock Band 2, and finally bought a half-dozen of our favorite songs from the marketplace. That game is seven years old at this point, Adam actually plays bass, we’re both South Park fans (you know which episode, don’t even pretend), and yet to this day kicking on the star-power hitting a perfect solo in “Everlong” still feels bad-ass.

Shadow Complex (Xbox 360)

Beth gets all the credit for this one; she downloaded it while I was at work one day, and had it mostly beaten by the time I got back. It’s a Metroid-style 2D explorer, so there were still countless items and upgrades to collect, and secrets to find, and multiple playthroughs to be had. Owing to some fantastic mechanics and genuine graphical prowess, Shadow Complex helped establish that the Xbox Live Arcade was something to be taken seriously.

‘Splosion Man (Xbox 360)

Apparently, my going to work enticed Beth to find all sorts of awesome things on the Live Arcade that summer, as ‘Splosion Man followed right after Shadow Complex. The single-player was challenging and fresh, but it was the seizure-inducing mayhem of co-op that really made this a stand-out title. It’s rare that a game where you and your friends fail so frequently – and often because of each other – only gets more fun as the body count stacks up. Plus, everybody loves doughnuts!

Thomas Was Alone (PC)

I doubt anyone is surprised to see my 2013 Game of the Year on this list, considering how much I raved about the title in two separate articles already. The fact remains that in a generation where annual releases became the norm, “resolution” and “frame-rate” were discussed ad nauseam, and publishers slapped “HD remake” on everything within arm’s reach, Thomas and his friends captured my heart with impeccable gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, and the best narration this side of Bastion.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PlayStation 3)

Uncharted 2 is the single best game I have ever played on my PlayStation 3, and that includes Metal Gear Solid 4. It is inarguably the single best action-adventure title I have ever encountered, and is one of my top ten games ever, period. From the breathtaking opening – dangling off a cliff, clinging to a crashed train car – to the touching ending as Nate comes to grips with his love for Elena and his fear of clowns, Among Thieves delivers the greatest Naughty Dog title to date. Yeah, it’s way better than The Last of Us. Deal with it.

The Walking Dead: Season One (Xbox 360)

My review should tell you all you need to know if you still haven’t experienced Telltale’s masterwork adventure game for yourself; luckily for everyone, it’s also now available on next-Gen consoles! Similar to Thomas Was Alone, The Walking Dead made player-driven storytelling a priority over everything else, and delivered that story through genuinely emotional voice work and a visually arresting art style. Never has there been a character I’d rather look in the eye and shake hands with than Lee, or one I’d rather give a hug to than Clementine.

Wii Sports (Wii)

Who knew that a single disc, packaged in a simple cardboard sleeve, could lead to the sale of more than One Hundred Million Wii consoles worldwide over the last decade? I realized that Nintendo has the best first-party lineup of any existing console manufacturer, but the fact of the matter remains that Zelda isn’t the reason my grandmother briefly knew how to use a Wii remote. From weekly living-room bowling leagues to some of the most intense doubles tennis matches ever experienced, Wii Sports inserted itself into the social consciousness in a way most AAA titles can only dream of.

Damn, the past eight years have been pretty fantastic for games, and I genuinely hope things only get better from here. If you’re interested in what this new generation has to offer, I highly suggest checking out each contributor’s Game of the Year 2014 picks here on the site. Of course, you could also use this as a checklist and see if there’s anything big you’ve missed; most of these titles should be available for bargain prices. You could also just play Thomas Was Alone.

January 21, 2015
Don’t Try To Dig What We All Say: Trey’s Games Of The Generation Pt. 1

A little over a year ago, the powers-that-be in gaming decided that the time had come, and released the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, bringing to a close the longest console “generation” in gaming history: Seven years for the PlayStation 3, eight for the Xbox 360. This nearly decade-long era saw major shifts in the video game industry and its consumer base: Microsoft rose to new heights thanks to great first-party titles and Xbox Live; Sony handily won the new optical media fight as Blu-ray rose to prominence over HD-DVD; and Nintendo opted to fight on their own terms by releasing the Wii on unsuspecting consumers worldwide.

The “console wars” raged on… sort of. As people who grew up playing games got older, started families, and began earning “grown-up” amounts of money, it became commonplace to have more than just one console in the house. Hell, I can’t think of a single friend with even a passing interest in games who didn’t own at least two systems, and most households had all three present. Exclusives still exist, but the majority of titles (including many of those on this list) are now cross-platform at launch, or “timed exclusives” that eventually ended up on every platform.

Thanks to that, this list is not limited to just one system from the past generation, though I did tend to play more things on the 360. This list is in no way meant to be “comprehensive;” there will be things missing that you might have included, or things I included that you might have hated. I’m not claiming these are the best games from the past generation, or even that these are my absolute favorites. When I think about the last eight years, though, these are the titles that stand out most sharply.

Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360)

No, I don’t mean the entire franchise, though the Ezio trilogy is certainly one for the ages; I mean Assassin’s Creed, the much-maligned, admittedly imperfect first entry in the series. Many people may have forgotten that this blockbuster gaming giant started off as a PS3 exclusive, and after the reveal trailer, I was ready and willing to spend $500 at launch. The mission structure got a little repetitive, but watching Altair go from a real asshole to a real assassin was genuinely moving, and the open-ended free-running inspired greatness in later titles such as Infamous and Sleeping Dogs.

Battlefield: Cad Company 2 (Xbox 360)

Of all the games on that list, I don’t know that any approach the return-on-investment provided by “Bad Co 2.” We played the single-map beta for this game all night, every night while it was active; the full game consumed weeks’ worth of our lives over the next year; and the Vietnam expansion pulled us back in well after the fun should have run out. For me, this game is the standard by which all other multiplayer shooters are judged, and found wanting. Find me another game where “ram the objective building with a tank until it collapses” is a legitimate strategy, and then we’ll talk.

BioShock Infinite (PC)

I struggled at every turn with which BioShock game to put on this list, and it wasn’t until I was writing these blurbs that Infinite cinched the win. I still think the original has better atmosphere, the supporting characters are stronger, and Rapture still kicks Columbia’s ass in terms of environment. As a representation of this past generation, though, I think Infinite stands above its predecessor, because when you get right down to it, it is a better game. The relationship between Booker and Elizabeth maintains perfection from start to finish, and in my opinion is far more worthy of accolades than the title’s admittedly muddled metaphysical elements.

Borderlands (Xbox 360)

Erich literally had to trick me into playing this; after nearly a week of bugging me about it, he came over under some pretense, installed it on my 360, and shoved a controller in my hands. Six (maybe eight?) hours later, he finally managed to get the disc and leave for home, despite my protestations. For weeks after that, it was almost impossible to get a copy in Tuscaloosa, as anyone with a friend and a console snatched them up. I know the sequel is seen by many as some sort of co-op mecca, but for me Borderlands will always come back to fighting Nine Toes (he also has three balls) in split-screen at 4 am.

Dead Space (Xbox 360)

I have one word: Fear. Few pieces of entertainment have ever instilled in me the fear that the first Dead Space managed. Playing it became a catch-22, trying to balance my desire to keep going with the almost physical dread that came with being in Isaac’s boots. The next two iterations were greeted with mixed feelings and open hostility, respectively, but I don’t think anyone would deny that the original helped break new ground in horror. On some level, games like Amnesia and Outlast owe their success to Dead Space, just as Dead Space built from the foundation established by Resident Evil 4.

Fallout 3 (PC)

I own the collector’s edition of Fallout 3 on the 360, lunchbox, bobble head and all; I even used a friend’s GOTY edition disc to install all of the extra content. It wasn’t until I picked it up this past summer on a Steam sale, though, that I really took the time to appropriately explore the Capitol Wasteland. The game is still captivating: The landscape is simultaneously beautiful and desolate; the characters are appropriately realized; the sheer amount of content is staggering; and finally, the number of nods, homages, and references to all things sci-fi warmed my insides. The moment that still sticks with me the most is when I snuck up behind a feral ghoul sitting near a fire, took him out, and searched him to discover that his only possession was a teddy bear. It was heartbreaking.

Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360)

Beth and I received Far Cry 3 as a very generous gift from her parents, but it came at a cost. After we each unwrapped ours on Christmas morning, her mom sat us down and pointed out that the cover prominently features a man holding a gun, a person buried in the sand, and dead bodies hanging in the trees; she then read the laundry-list of reasons the game is rated Mature by the ESRB. After acknowledging that we were adults, and could make our own choices about what to play, she politely wrapped up with, “I don’t know if there will ever be a ‘Far Cry 4,’ but I can guarantee you it won’t be under this tree.”

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

I knew I would have to buy an Xbox 360 after playing the first Gears of War at a LAN / System Link party in my dorm; I had to be physically restrained from going to Wal-Mart that very instant after my first chainsaw kills. Gears of War 2 only improved upon that formula, with Horde mode being the best inclusion by far. Few cooperative experiences match the thrill getting everyone settled into the right location and rhythm during the early waves, only to have everything fall apart at the claws of a well-placed ticker. It only gets better when one person, alone and out of ammo, manages to finish the wave using nothing but the stock of their shotgun.

Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

There is not a game on this list I am more ambivalent about at times, or one I have said more terrible things about in the heat of the moment. I picked Halo 3 up at midnight, played some multiplayer, and then finished the campaign in one sitting after everyone else had logged off and gone to bed. I hate the story, yet have played the campaign multiple times, and some of the set-pieces still get my heart pumping. The multiplayer options opened up by Forge are staggering, and we still played custom games (Said the Liar!) for hours at a time years after release.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

I had no interest in Mass Effect when it came out. Our friend Oz got a copy the first day, then convinced Erich to play it, and several months after the fact I borrowed it and decided to give it a chance at their insistence. I play for six hours, and the next day was overjoyed to discover that a store nearby still had a collector’s edition in stock. To this day, I feel the Mass Effect series is the closest we’ve gotten to games that genuinely capture the spirit of something like Star Trek, and the vast galaxy exploration still impresses with its sheer size.

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PlayStation 3)

I bought a PlayStation 3 to play this game; in fact, I bought the system bundle that included the game. I’ll admit that the cutscenes can get both tedious and extraordinarily silly, but the core gameplay and story remain true to the excellence that is Metal Gear Solid. I could write pages about this game, but all that needs to be said is that the opening moments of your return to Shadow Moses brought tears to my eyes. Those tears evaporated shortly thereafter, of course, when I found myself using *(@^ing Metal Gear Rex to fight Metal Gear Ray as building crumbled around us.

January 14, 2015
Nerd Rating’s 2015 Gaming Predictions

Scott

1. Starfox and Zelda Wii U will release in 2015.

Nintendo has said that Starfox will be playable at E3 and set for release this year. Zelda is also supposed to release this year, but I think many doubt Nintendo can make good on that. I think they know what situation the Wii U is in and is making 2015 the make or break year for the console. If Starfox and Zelda can not breathe some life into it, then the Wii U is a lost cause.

2. Resident Evil 7 will be announced. Will drop all unnecessary bullshit and be like Resident Evil.

Resident Evil 6 was the best selling of the franchise (no, you stop buying that!) and yet, I think Resident Evil 7 will go back to its roots and try to recapture the feel of the original. Maybe set in a mansion or large facility. Prediction or just one guy’s wild fantasy?

3. Xbox One will drop to $349 for good at E3.

Microsoft won the holiday season by dropping Xbox One to $349 along with some great bundles. The promotion ended on January 3rd and is now back to $399. While having more holiday sales is great, they still are playing catch up with the PS4. Early year sales should reflect the need to keep the price drop in effect. E3 will be a big stage to announce the new price.

4. Batman: Arkham Knight will lead into Rocksteady’s next unannounced game featuring the Justice League.

I know that the Batman: Arkham Knight collector’s edition statue may have spoiled the end of the game, but this is something I have thought would happen for a while now. Rocksteady said they were ending their Batman story with Arkham Knight, they didn’t say anything about what story they were starting

5. Rockstar will announce their next big release. Will be either Red Dead or Bully sequel.

Please be Red Dead. Please be Red Dead. Please be Red Dead. I will give you what you want. Please!

Trey

1. Nintendo

This is the pivotal year for the house that Miyamoto built as far as the home console market is concerned. I love Zelda and Star Fox as much as the next guy, but those two titles are not going to suddenly move millions of systems. I’m not counting them out yet, but if Wii U sales continue to lag and they continue to lose third-party support, I don’t know what can save them.

2. Multiplayer

Whether you loved Destiny or hated it, the fact remains that it did not permanently alter the gaming landscape as planned. In my opinion, it’s because you can’t plan game-changers like Counter-Strike, Halo, and Modern Warfare. We are due for such a game, though, and I think we will see it this year… it’s probably not Battlefield: Hardline, though. Sorry.

3. “Hardcore” Titles

The Souls series has taken a portion of the gaming world by storm in the past five years and spawned numerous poor copy-cats, along with a few genuinely good titles of the same ilk. Both Bloodborne and Deep Down are slated for release this year, but I think we’ll see a new IP in a different genre than action-fantasy that scratches the hardcore itch and gets the attention of the industry.

4. HD Remakes

Square Enix has already announced a PS4 re-release of their PS3 re-release of Final Fantasy X, which isn’t even a year old as I write this. Capcom is bringing DmC and Devil May Cry 4 to next-Gen, but not until after they bring us a new version of the GameCube version of the original PlayStation game Resident Evil. Considering I will buy all of those from Capcom, this trend is here to stay.

5. Game Journalism

Whether you feel the industry is obsolete, corrupt, out-of-touch, pretentious, or just boring, it all boils down to the same thing: The traditional methods of game reporting and reviewing are dying off, replaced by social media, “let’s play” video, and live-streaming. This year, keep an eye out for ridiculous activity from publishers and existing media outlets as they try to stave off the inevitable.

Erich

1. More HD remakes

I think the trend of HD remakes is far from over I expect a Mass Effect trilogy HD bundle, Dead Space trilogy HD, and Bioshock HD

2. An evening of the sales floor

I think that the Xbone and the PS4 will find an even sales number as the One picks up speed in China

3. Big Announcements

Red Dead Revolution, Fallout 4, Gears, (The Gears of War Sequel) Mass Effect 4, and a new Volition game will be announced this year

4. Delays

Kingdom Hearts, Last Guardian, Fable Legends, and Doom will all be delayed into at least 2016

5. The Wii U continues to lag

No matter what anyone says about Smash Bros. Or a new Zelda, I genuinely believe that this poor little console needs to be put out of its misery. Come on Wii 3 the search for Wii 2.

January 8, 2015
2014: A Year Of Surprises. Erich’s Game Of The Year

Surprise, your game does not work. Surprise, this game is awesome. Surprise, you bought the rights to a game without faces.

Game Of The Year

Dragon Age: Inquisition

No one who knows me will be surprised by a Bioware game being my GOTY, but this is more than that.

Inquisition checked off almost all of the things I have wanted from the franchise, Epic fights check, Deep conversations with characters who feel like old friends check, Morale ambiguous character missions that leave you feeling cold inside, double check. I will say that the overall story is a little weak, (Aside from philysophical musings on the nature of Life, the Universe, and Everthing) but the character moments are the strongest of the franchise.

Runner-Up

Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition

Yes, this is the second time I beat Sleeping Dogs, and yes it remains the best example of a serious take on the open world GTA style game (The Saints Row franchise being a less than serious take) It is no small thing to say that I enjoy punching people in the face in this game more then I enjoy it in the Arkham franchise. On top of rock solid gameplay, this newer version is simply gorgeous.

Surprise Of The Year

South Park The Stick of Truth

I have a confession to make, I only started watching South Park last year. In that year however I watched the first 16 seasons in a mad dash, of laughter, queasiness, and a vague level of not being sure if I should be offended. All of those things continued to greatness in SoT. Confession number 2, up until SoT I had never really enjoyed turn based RPG’s. Holy $#!+ balls what a way to get into one. I only wish we could get another.

Surprise Runner-Up

Wolfenstein: The New Order

When I watched the first WtNO trailer I was not impressed, and almost immediately wrote it off as a game doomed to fail. Boy, was I wrong. Wolfenstein brought me back to a time when fighting Nazis was cool, and FPS’ were not cursed by short campaigns, and sequalities. Back to the days of Halo: Combat Evolved, and Half Life 2. In short Wolfenstein made me feel young again, and can you ask more from anything?

Biggest Disappointment

Watch Dogs

We all criticize Blizzard for the shiny lies that are their game trailers, but with Watch Dogs I feel that Ubisoft is equally guilty. For a game that promised me freedom, and the ability to hack anything, the number of things I could hack was surprisingly limited. For instance, some police departments are issued guns that can only be fired by the officer the gun is assigned to, why couldn’t I hack guns? I could hack cars to start them, why couldn’t I turn off cars that were chasing me? The year before Ubi gave me Jason Brody and Vas, before that Ezio Auditore De firenzi, and Altiar. For this game they give me Aiden, and boring mob boss number 3 (Irish Pallette). Now I will give them credit for creating the single best Johnny Gat knockoff ever (Jordi) but why was he not in more of the game? In a story that is supposed to make me question the security of my data the only real question I am left with is; was that maybe French chick hot? I am still not sure.

Disappointment Runner-Up

Destiny

The only reason these two are not switched is that Ubisoft lied to me about Watch Dogs, I lied to myself about Destiny. I knew that I had not seen enough content from the trailers, I knew that the beta had looked boring as hell. I knew (breaks into sobbing) I knew…

Honorable Mention

Minecraft (Xbox One)

There is too much. For someone who loved the infinite possibilities of Minecraft, the upgraded version scares me on the inside.

January 7, 2015
Demons, Dragons And Dropships: Trey’s Game Of The Year 2014

It is, of course, that time of year again, when we look at the hours upon hours of time spent in front of our TVs and monitors and try to sift through it all and proclaim “These fourteen hours! These fourteen arbitrary hours were the best!” I played an astonishingly small number of games to completion in the past year, and yet have an admittedly huge slate of things waiting in the wings already this year.

There are games missing from this list that may surprise you, especially since the absence of a few surprised me. South Park: The Stick of Truth captivated me, and I spent a solid twelve hours playing it one Sunday so I could finish it before the weekend was over. Yet I completely forgot about it until I saw it on Scott’s list. MGS V: Ground Zeroes was basically Hideo Kojima inviting me to look into the future and see what true next-Gen games have the potential of being, given the right guidance. No matter how much I love it, though, I can’t in good conscience list it here.

The end result is a list that I genuinely put time and consideration into, and games which arguably belong if for no other reason than they made a big enough impression – good or bad – to stand out against 365 days’ worth of gaming, reading, watching, listening, and living. On a side note, Thomas Was Alone is out for next-Gen consoles now. No, the rectangles don’t look any different. Yes, you should play through it again.

…Scott put Skyrim on his list. Was I allowed to put Fallout 3 on mine last year? Nope. Am I bitter? A little. Should he check under his car for homemade bottlecap mines before leaving the house? *Shrug*

Game of the Year

Titanfall (Xbox One)

If I were making a list of games that are the polar opposite of my 2013 Game of the Year (Thomas Was Alone), Titanfall would be pretty high up there. With the second-biggest hype train this year – the first belongs to a game appearing later on the list – this AAA, story-barren, multiplayer-only, glossy-graphics FPS won me over from the very first beta match I played. The wall-running and jetpacking mechanics have changed mobility in shooters for good, and this pilot still hasn’t gotten tired of hearing “Standby for Titanfall,” and then watching several tons of death plummet down from orbit.

I will admit that the longevity of Titanfall has slipped a bit in these later months, though that is in no way the fault of the team at Respawn. The monthly free content updates have brought excellent new features and play-modes, even if the promise of new titans remains unfulfilled. Interestingly enough, I have hated most of the new maps I paid for with the season pass, but don’t consider it a waste of money, because each new release at least got us playing Titanfall again for a while.

Runner-Up #1

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition (Xbox One)

Diablo III has been a flashpoint for gamers over the past few years, largely due to PC-specific issues such as Blizzard requiring an internet connection at all times, the real-world-money auction house, and the genuine lack of endgame content at launch. Constant patches, updates, and the Reaper of Souls expansion have alleviated some of those concerns, none of which were ever a problem with the next-Gen console re-re-release I played.

Diablo III: UEE joins the ranks of Borderlands, Castle Crashers, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance as being a game where the co-op is so well-executed that it’s an integral part of the experience for me; I only played a few brief hours alone, usually just to grind out one more level before logging off, and rarely enjoyed it. If you have two or three friends and an itch for some classic dungeon-crawling, loot-grabbing, “oh shit, this new ability does what?!” action, this is the game for you.

Runner-Up #2

Dragon Age: Inquisition (Xbox One)

For years now, Erich and I have mocked people who tried to sway us toward Final Fantasy XIII with the promise of “If you just get past the first thirty hours, it gets really good!” I am sitting at the twenty-hour mark of DA: Inquisition and have loved every minute of it so far, but I’ll be damned if everyone I trust on games won’t shut up about how “the real game doesn’t even start until the twenty-five-hour mark.” The game offers a staggering amount of content, most of which is well-balanced and evenly-paced by having you participate in side activities as a prerequisite to unlocking main quest missions.

Inquisition manages to do what so many open-world RPGs – looking at you, Elder Scrolls – either can’t or won’t do, in that it never sacrifices “scale” in the name of “scope.” When you decided whether or not to go hunt ten rams in order to help feed and clothe refugees, the end result has a genuine impact on the greater narrative; to the same end, the large-scale, world-changing decisions you make generate real reactions and even consequences within your party, and leave you wondering if saving the world is worth losing a friend.

Biggest Surprise

Wolfenstein: The New Order (Xbox One)

My interest in The New Order was zero from the first trailer, and all the consecutive marketing leading up to launch did little but somehow make me less interested. When Beth told me she was going to pick it up, only our friendship kept me from being overly negative about it. I happened to be off that day, so she brought it over to see if my mind could be changed. The answer was simple: Yes. It could be changed.

The New Order doesn’t do anything particularly new or flashy; instead, it takes mechanics from a generation of solid shooters – Resistance, Half-Life 2, BioShock, Call of Duty, Rage – throws chest-high cover and health regeneration out the window, wraps it all up in a story that’s way better than I could have ever guessed, and loads it into an incredibly detailed double-barrel shotgun for maximum impact. Oh, and you get to shoot lasers at Nazis on the moon, which makes me wonder why you’re even still reading this.

Biggest Disappointment

Destiny (Xbox One)

Remember how I said I didn’t feel the Titanfall season pass was a waste of money, because at least it kept us playing Titanfall for a while? Yeah, the $30 I spent on the Destiny season pass might as well have been lit on fire as a sacrifice to Bungie. What fun I had with Destiny was only managed with my friends, and none of them picked up the pass; Hell, several of them don’t even own the game anymore! Those who haven’t traded it in aren’t really chomping at the bit to sacrifice money of their own, and I can hardly blame them.

Out of all the possible complaints, the best example of why Destiny is an abject failure in my mind comes from the fabled “loot cave” that dominated the servers for several weeks. All of the things that Destiny was supposed to deliver – tight shooter mechanics, cool gear, social participation with random strangers, big public events that pulled in everyone on the map – were realized in that small corner of the Cosmodrome for a few genuinely memorable nights. Then, as best any of us can tell, Bungie heard people were having fun, yelled “Hey you kids, get off our lawn!” and turned on the sprinklers.

Honorable Mention

Saints Row IV (Xbox One)

Yeah, yeah, Saints Row IV was on my list last year. You know how many shits I give? Z.E.R.O. You know why? Because it’s getting re-released on next-Gen in three weeks! With new content! So guess what that means, kids?! There’s a really good chance that Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is on my 2015 GOTY list, too! Murder time, fun time!!! FOUR MORE YEARS!!

Dishonorable Mention

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Xbox One)

…*sigh.* This game is on here specifically so that my own, personal shame can be made known. It was 100% my idea to pick it up, and after the disappointment of Destiny, there were several weeks when my mantra was “It’s ok, we’ll have a new Borderlands soon!” It’s not that The Pre-Sequel is a bad game, truthfully. Rather, it’s just… not Borderlands, or even Borderlands 2 (which I thought was inferior to the first one.) We managed… four play sessions? It may have only been three. I don’t care. I’m literally bored from thinking about it.

January 6, 2015
That’s So 2014: Scott’s Game Of The Year (And More) Extravaganza

Game of the Year

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Look at some of the achievements for this game and you know what to expect: shit your pants during a boss battle, find Jesus while playing as a Jew, fart on 100 animals, join the KKK.

South Park fans would not be surprised by this. The surprising thing is that The Stick of Truth is a great turned-based RPG (where did all of those go?) with a script written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker that rivals the best stuff they have done in 18 years on the show. Great time was taken by Obsidian to ensure that this would look and feel like you were playing an actual episode of South Park including every character imaginable from Al Gore to Scott Malkinson (he has diabetes).

I laughed plenty at The Stick of Truth and then I made my way to the abortion clinic and was attacked by Nazi zombie fetuses who squealed “sieg heil” at me. I had to pause the game while I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face. It was one of those laughs that you only have a certain number of times in your life.

Then, I went to Canada.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is the funniest game ever created. In a world of sci-fi/military super-serious, apocalyptic games, it is a breath of fart-filled, shit-throwing air. I loved every bit of it.

Runners-Up

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

While some were disappointed with Peter Jackson’s handling of The Hobbit, few had anything negative to say about Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Creating a new franchise in a world beloved by millions was a bold move that paid off big. From the believable inclusions of Gollum and Sauron to the “nemesis system” that redefines how you approach your enemies, Shadow of Mordor made me want to continue after the story was over if only to play the puppet master of orcs. It is the best representation of Tolkien in the medium. It is also the best Assassin’s Creed game of the year.

Skyrim

Skyrim is three years old. I know this. Why is it in contention for Game of the Year? Because this year, after putting over 100 hours into my first character I decided to start fresh from the start with a new race, new abilities and go to places I either never traversed or went to late in my first playthrough. What I got was a wonderful trip down memory lane while having a new feeling of discovery at the same time. Not many things can give you that. Skyrim did.

Biggest Disappointment

WWE 2K15

It would be easier to just let you read my review of this to show you why this was a move back for the franchise in a year fans were expecting new ideas and forward thinking.

This One Time At Wrestling Camp. Scott’s WWE 2K15 Review

Biggest Surprise

Broken Games

Maybe Battlefield 4 was the herald of things to come. With today’s consoles married to the magical online world more and more, developers have taken the opportunity to release games that are not ready to play. Why finish a title when you have a release date to meet and can just patch it until it is fixed? It is a regular slice of gaming life to open your game, put it in your console and have a “day one” patch. Funny how a few years ago, no one (in the console gaming world anyway) hardly knew what a “day one” patch was.

It is simply this: developers (trying to meet publishers release date) could not get everything done during crunch and decided, instead of delaying their game, they would release it and fix it after buyers had already bought it.

No. Bad dog. If you are charging $60 for something, I want a finished product.

Patches do not bother me. If they are for bug fixes and to shore up stability, that is a necessity. But the fact Halo: The Master Chief Collection had to have a 20GB patch containing almost all of the multiplayer when you first put the game in the system is lunacy.

Here is the real enima of it all: even after installing the patch, THE GAME DIDN’T FUCKING WORK! IT IS BARELY WORKING NOW. TWO MONTHS LATER!

This isn’t even getting into detail of missing faces or falling into the world in Assassins Creed: Unity or the fact that DriveClub is just now working. DriveClub was released in October, by the way.

Now there are some who have done the right thing. Batman: Arkham Knight delayed their release eight months. The Witcher 3 was running full-speed into its February release when CD Projekt RED moved the title to May after seeing the carnage of this fall and not wanting their premiere title tarnished by the same thing. Even Battlefield learned its lesson, delaying Hardline to March.

We deserve better as gamers. Most of us have limited resources and have to be careful what we throw our money at. To get home with a game that is not finished is a big “fuck you” to the people who are the lifeblood of the industry. Gamers are the ones who decide what is popular and what is not. We have the ultimate power to say “enough is enough”. Let’s remember that.

January 5, 2015
What If We Lived Out Our Video Games?

The folks at Buzzfeed have answered that question with this new video.

Now we aren’t talking about jumping out of a plane with no parachute or going Carmageddon on everyone but rather what will you do with the 746 wheels of cheese you have stored in one of your Skyrim homes.

Of all of these, the skipping dialogue seems the most usable to me. Mostly because I am a dick.

January 20, 2014
Hey! Buy Games! September 2-8, 2013

Photo courtesy pcgamesn.com

Dungeon crawling and real-time strategy are the name of the game this week. Diablo 3 and Total War: Rome II are the big releases and just in time to occupy your time until GTA V hits in a few weeks. Also, if platforming is more your style, Rayman Legends is out this week on console and Vita.

September 3, 2013

-[amazon_link id=”B00BQZ5EWW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Total War: Rome II[/amazon_link] (PC)

-[amazon_link id=”B00BGA9V2Q” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Diablo 3[/amazon_link] (360, PS3)

-[amazon_link id=”B00BXTKJ94″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Rayman Legends[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, Wii U, PC, Vita)

-[amazon_link id=”B009E42HK4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2[/amazon_link] (PSN)

-[amazon_link id=”B00D9IM0B2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate[/amazon_link] (PS3)

-Disney Castle of Illusion (XBL, PSN)

September 3, 2013
WWE 2K14 Asks You To “Become Immortal” In First Trailer For The Game

Photo courtesy gameinformer.com

If you were watching RAW last night then you probably caught the unveiling of the WWE 2K14 cover which features The Rock (as you can see above). Now take a look at the first trailer for the newly minted 2K Sports title. I hope they can keep the momentum going from last year’s game which we gave a stellar review.

Also, as we reported yesterday, if The Rock is not your favorite choice for cover boy then 2K is giving you a chance to design your own cover and have it be picked as the alternate.

WWE 2K14 releases on October 29th.

June 25, 2013
Trailer For Marvel Super Heroes Teases Galactus

Photo courtesy mtv.com

Lego is expanding their video game empire even more this fall with the release of Lego Marvel Super Heroes. A new teaser trailer has just been released and it shows off the shadow of the main villain which is Galactus. Then Tony Stark makes a quip because well…he’s Tony Stark.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes releases this fall.

May 1, 2013