Pagoda of Gaming

Yessir! It’s that time again, and it looks like I’ve gotten this all done before the end of the year this time! These games represent not what I believe in the shoes of a game reviewer are the best games of the year (you’ll notice the likes of Left 4 Dead 2 are absent from the list: I simply haven’t had the time to play everything yet)– but from my own personal opinion, the games that I played that define this year of 2009 as a great year for gaming. Let’s start with the Alternative awards, the games that are special/hated for something  - though not necessarily the best/most despicable of the year.

The Bests

The Game We All Remember ‘08 – Fallout 3 (PS3, 360, PC)

No game produced such a stream of quality DLC this year than fallout 3. Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta. Each of them, in addition to some of the things I had left to do from the multitude of things in the main game – kept me coming back month after month. Even as much to get me to buy the PC version of the game also. May New Vegas be as awesome.

Most Fun for a Shitty PC – Plants Vs Zombies (PC)

If your PC can run flash, and it should, you’ll have a smooth time with Plants Vs Zombies. Not to mention that it’s an amazingly addictive, yet simple and charming tower defence game brought to us from Popcap. And what’s better news is that the game is heading the iPhone sometime next year.

Best Character - John "Soap" MacTavish (Modern Warfare 2 – PS3, 360, PC)

One of the best things MW2 was up the intensity of their pre-existing characters to the point that they are basically superheroes. Soap saved my life more than once through the campaign, before everything comes full circle in the end – leading to that fucking awesome Knife throw – he went through a lot of shit. Not to mention that he’s also 100% pure scotch beef and voiced by a dude from Elgin.

Most Appropriate Achievement List – Battlefield 1943 (PS3, 360 – Download Only)

Many Developers ponder over how to make an achievement list for their multiplayer section of their game, in the belief that achievements will sway the player base into playing in an unacceptable way  – Infinity ward believed that so much they left multi achievements out entirely. Personally I believe that an achievement list shouldn’t ask the player to go too far above the call of duty to simply elongate the experience. 1943’s Achievements work perfectly that I was earning them as I play – and not playing to earn them, and it didn’t ask that I not play in a way that I don’t want to (get 3000 kills with weapon you never use “X” – for example). I hope developers learn from this for the future – especially DICE.

Best Online Experience – Team Fortress 2 (PC)

Personally, no other game has had so much positive change to it over this year than TF2 – and yet, most of the game’s core remains the same as it was the day the orange box launched. I had a great time (particularly at the start of the summer) playing TF2 a great deal, but now I go back to it here and there. I suppose the big draw is the new class updates. Many many classes have gotten new weapons and unlockable achievements this year to spur on play – even just this month we had a week long war between the Soldier and the Demoman for a sweet pair of anti-splosion damage boots. Valve sure know what they’re doing.

Best Trailer – Halo 3 O.D.S.T. (360)

It remains a universal constant that Microsoft knows how to market the hell out of a Halo game. In THIS trailer we get a short live-action look at the life of ODST that makes us all go THAT LOOKS AWESOME THOSE DUDES ARE BADASS I SHOULD GO BUY THE HAELOES!

The Worsts

Worst Online Experience – Champions Online (PC)

Someone working on this game thought it was a great idea to not have any region specific servers, instead just plop it all in one country. So when America wakes up and starts to play – you get lagged out. I suppose all the instancing going on was supposed to help this, but I’d place a nice piece of cash on a wager that the entire Champions Online system is still very much broken many months after it’s launch.

Worst Character - Sgt. Rico Velasquez (Killzone 2 – PS3)

I wouldn’t really recommend that anyone play the mess that is Killzone 2’s Single Player campaign. But I did, so I get to complain about it. Sgt. Rico was one hell of a massive tit. At many points in the game his awful personality was used as a plot device to allow a lot of the shit in the campaign to happen. Not to mention his fucking annoying dialogue. The fact that he is even in the inter-planetary army to begin with is suspect. I really hope to never, ever, ever see this character again.

Worst Special Edition - Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3, 360, PC)

The overall point of this special edition was the sweet looking replica batarang. Imagine my disappointment to open up a scratched, plastic piece of shit. There was also no proper game case inside the box, and the accompanying “patient record” book was entirely copied over from info unlocks in the game. Poor show for such a great game.

Most Disappointing Game –  Brutal Legend (PS3, 360, PC)

What seemingly began as a metal-infused God of War that seemed like a pretty good idea, became an open world metal-infused God of War that seemed like a very very good idea, that finally turned into a open world metal-infused console RTS that didn’t really come together all that well. And all that happened in our eyes (whilst it was how the game was originally envisioned or not) over the course of the marketing campaign. I could’ve really done without all the RTS. Also, rock stars evidently cannot voice-act.

The Game We All Forgot From ‘08 – Little Big Planet (PS3)

Remember when Little Big Planet was going to be like the PS3’s Jesus? That is was going to change gaming forever? LBP just faded away for me as soon as the clock turned January 1st. I’m not really sure what happened there.

The Game From Fucking Hell – Uncharted 2 (PS3)

I just don’t want to play you ok? Why? Oh you know why! Because you keep putting brick wall after brick wall in my way, and I’m the one left to fucking trial-and-error my way all the way through! And no, the controls aren’t better than the first one, I keep fucking dying because when I think I’m pushing forward and hitting the jump button – I’m actually pushing it in some other fucked up dimension that hurtles drake to his death. Oh great what now? A fucking Yeti who’s actually Wolverine in a goddamn snow-ghille. What do you mean shoot it in the head?! I HAVE!! A BILLION FUCKING TIMES ALREADY!! WHY IS THIS BOSS BATTLE TAKING 10 MINUTES!!!!

Most Bullshit Boss – Seth (Street Fighter 4 – PS3, PC, 360)

Street Fighter 4 is probably at this moment the best fighting game on the planet. So it’s a shame that when I play the game, I see characters I’ll never unlock, and achievements I’ll never unlock because the final boss of the arcade mode – the keeper of the proverbial unlocks – is a motherfucking douche. To put it simply, he’s programmed to cheat, and I see no reason for it. I would’ve probably played SF4 a lot more if that hadn’t been the case. When it comes to fighting games I prefer the “let the Wookie win” approach. So that as long as I can sail through the single player – and pick up some skills for multiplayer along the way, then I’ll keep playing. That is not the case because Seth is an unreasonable cunt.

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The Non-Gaming Awards

Now to sting you along, big time award style, here’s the non-gaming awards for 2009. The stuff we do when we’re not gaming.

Top 3 Movies- Star Trek, Watchmen, District 9

Worst Movie - Knowing

Best Album – The Lonely Island - Incredibad

Favourite Internet Phenomena – Boxxy and her Remix

Best New TV Show – Stargate Universe

Best TV Show Season Finale – Lost: Season 5 Episodes 16 & 17 - “The Incident”

Best Old Show that I Discovered This Year – Supernatural

Best Actor Dude – Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)

Hottest Actor Female – Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body)

Best Comic (Series) – Y: The Last Man

Best Comic (Short Series/One-Off) – Batman: Cacophany

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Games of the Year

I think this is how it should go down this time – exclusive titles are so important these days, yet can be easily overshadowed by the multiplatform masses. I could easily say that any one of these games are better than the other, but when I think about 2009 – it wouldn’t be a year of great gaming without all these eight titles together. And I would hope that my words here sway you to go and make sure you experience some, if not all, of these stellar games.

Best PS3 Game – Killzone 2

Looking back, I only still own two of all the few PS3 titles I bought this year. Uncharted 2 I have still to complete, I feel that it is the game that is forcing me away. Leaving the other to be Killzone 2 – my award needs some preface. The single player was overall very annoying – from the characters to the plot holes – and should be avoided at all costs beyond a it of eye candy. The impression that was left on my came from the Multiplayer. Creating a system that merged some of the best of Halo and at the time CoD4. It was all rather impressive, and I hope games in the future can learn from taking these sorts of chances.

Best X-Box 360  Game - Halo 3: O.D.S.T

It always feels good to me to play a Halo game. ODST was an amazing start at branching out the franchise and lore of that universe beyond the Master Chief. In a series of lost-style flashbacks we see the invasion of earth from the eyes of a team of drop-pod specialists and unravel the mystery that surrounds the occupation of New Mombasa. Reach is coming next year, and if ODST is any indication – 360 owners are in for one hell of a ride.

Best PC Game- Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2

This was probably the hardest category for me to pick. There were so few PC games that came out this year that I really liked – most of my PC time was spent playing the old Valve classics (TF2 and L4D to name a few). I can’t really pick Left 4 Dead 2 without playing it first either (which I haven’t done so yet – for clarification). It’s really down to Dawn of War 2 to take the throne. Though I admittantly spent more time with the multiplayer beta – I believe Relic has done a great job of modernising the RTS genre to the point that I actually found it to be playable. In the single player they introduced a RPG style of advancement and the overall gameplay felt very much like DOTA – using a small amount of specialist units in most cases would do a much better job than a swarm. Let’s hope that I can get back into it when the game’s first expansion launches next year.

Best Download Only Title – Battlefield 1943 (PS3, 360)

During the time between the holiday rush and the summer slump, BF1943 was a godsend. A modern re-envisioning of the original 1942, set in what turned out to be a rather beautiful pacific. Some may argue that compared to other modern battlefield games – it was simplified – no character unlocks, only three classes. But what came of it was raw distilled battlefield FPS. It’s only shortfall, I believe, is that to this day there hasn’t been more than 4 maps for the game. I would’ve welcomed a map pack as early as a month after release.

Best Handheld Game – The World Ends With You (NDS)

Back in April, I decided to do something horrible and buy a DSi and play nothing but handheld games for a month. There was only really one game that shone through that entire month – only one game who’s soundtrack now sits in my library, and that is the World Ends With You. It wasn’t actually released this year – but this was the year I played it, and so it receives this award. I found it to be the utterly perfect DS game – drawing on all the strengths of the system, and presenting an interesting story that played at an amazing pace. Anyone with a DS out there should seek this out as soon as possible – I suggest you start at eBay.

Top 3 Multiplatform

#3 – Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3, 360, PC)

Part of me always hated the first assassin’s creed for all the utter bullshit it forced on the player. Ubisoft Montreal took all the bullshit and threw it out the window to recreate the idea of assassin’s creed. It was everything a sequel should be but seldom are – better story, better controls, better system of advancement, the whole shebang. The utterly beautiful setting of renascence Italy created the most amazing open world game of this year, in addition to a great “fuck Christianity” story the kind I’m always up for leaving an overall impression on me that is utterly excited for the third instalment.

#2 –Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3, 360, PC)

A game based on a franchise is probably the hardest kind of game to make and still make it a success at the same time. What Rocksteady did with Arkham Asylum was play the Batman licence to it’s strength, not shoehorn it into a predefined gaming genre. What we got was a game that was a little bit stealth action, little bit brawler, little bit Zelda-style adventuring but a whole load Batman. And put together with a style that drew from all sorts of comic inspiration and wonderfully sewn together by the wonderful animated series voice cast. It’s such a fucking amazing game that I’ve bought it twice, and hope to play it all through again on the PC very soon.

#1 – Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, 360, PC)

I suppose the closest comparison to MW2’s reverence would have to be World of Warcraft. Everyone knows someone who plays, except MW2 has it’s expanded appeal with pretty much everyone who owns a next gen console. It’s a weird thing for me to witness the work-time conversations this game creates. The single player campaign is a constant ride of “oh shit” moments that from the outside looking in sound completely absurd. And the Multiplayer runs at a gift a minute – dishing out all kinds of rewards at any given moment  - a mentality flawlessly drawn from a MMORPG mindset. I suppose it’s kind of pointless me writing about Modern Warfare 2 like this – if you’re going to play it, you know you will or you already have.

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So there you have it. I bet some of this wasn’t really a surprise. And for clarification – I wouldn’t necessarily take that final top-3 there in that order – Those three games are so close in quality to be barbarically numbered like that.

So was there anything I missed? Anything you utterly disagree on me with and would like to spew violentness my way? Or would you like to sound off your own picks of the year? – hit up the comments and be heard!

That’s the end of 2009, so now we look ahead – next time you’ll see my predictions for 2010 and what I was right and wrong about in my 2009 predictions of last year. Until then, enjoy your time off.

The Best, The Best, The Best, The Best, The Best, The Best, The Best, The Best…

Wow, the last time I posted was about three weeks ago. Since then I’ve managed to get alot of boring stuff done like finally sorting out my PayPal account (hence why the blog is actually here) and on the other hand I’ve played Modern Warfare 2. Between that and all the Christmas shopping I’ve done – that’s basically it.

The Steam sale began yesterday, and I managed to drop 50 on the following

 

Then about an hour later I went back and bought the Original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – I couldn’t resist, It was only £1.75 FFS. Now I’m so much more excited for my new PC parts to arrive, and moreso afraid that I’m going to cock it all up.

I bought a Windows 7 Upgrade, which arrived this morning. And I’m waiting on the other stuff – One of THESE graphics cards and 8GB worth of THESE Unbuffered bad boys. Oh and, Thanks for the NO HELP public blog reading people.

There was that, and then all the Christmas presents I bought for other people – which was a surprising amount. I really hope they’re happy with what I got them. Outside of my family I’d like to think I’m pretty good at getting a decent gift – maybe my strength comes from not buying something for someone that I haven’t already experienced myself.

Oh, I should probably explain why Arkham Asylum is on that list eh? Well I’ve been meaning to play through it again. But I hear that the Achievement List on the PC version (from GFW Live) doesn’t sync up with the Console version – So now I get the joy of playing through that amazing game all over again AND I’ll get rewarded for it. Good times.

But what about the internets? Well, for starters, I can’t get this song out of my head:

 

In my first official Worldwake related Magic-Gasm I saw the new face of Jace Beleren, with a new card that is bound to be chased all the way up the rare ladder – gnawing at the heels of Baneslayer angel. This guy:

I don’t know about you guys, but that’s really very well balanced for a such a swiss-army Planeswalker. Hopefully I’ll crack one open come the Pre-release, which I’m sure I’ll be attending in Fundee come the end of January. I should also have some spark in me to write some more MTG related articles by then. My enthusiasm often comes like the tide – where the moon is the next to be released set.

The Spike TV VGA’s happened and it bestowed upon us a plentiful bounty of 2010 trailers, all available HERE. There was of course the showing of Halo Reach, which was expectedly awesome, and somewhat unexpectedly the Arkham Asylum Sequel. Medal of Honor looks like it will be pretty fun too – but what really stands out to me was the Spec Ops trailer, take a look:

That’s some really damn pretty sand – and what looks like a decent take on Gears of War’s gameplay. Buuuuuttt…. I’ve been proven wrong before.

Kotaku put up an interesting look on Bioshock 2’s Multiplayer lobby system – I believe that statement to be entirely true. Check it HERE. It was always a bit fishy that the second game in the Bioshock series would have multiplayer, moreso made by the comments that it was supposed to be a prequel to the first game – but after reading that, I’ve got alot more faith in this sequel, and hopefully it’ll come up with some great ideas that other people can therefore steal.

If you’d like some fun – as opposed to what this post has probably given you so far. I suggest you play THIS flash game. Every Day The Same Dream is a little artsy adventure that has some really solid points that it manages to get across – especially to cube drones like myself. It only took me about 10 minutes to play, so the less explaining I do – the more you have to play it. off you go!

Finally I’d like to link you to THIS, it’s a 70-minute, point-by point review of the Phantom Menace that is in every way better, and way more hilarious, than the actual movie – and it makes some points that I couldn’t decipher myself – being the last time I saw that movie was probably over 6 years ago.

So what am I going to be up to this holiday. Well I should have more time on my hands – especially on christmas day. The entire extended family essentially, one-by-one, bailed on christmas dinner – to the point that myself and the parents essentially had christmas dinner last night. On the one hand it’s utterly depressing, but on the other it’s rather liberating.

The Game of the Year Awards post is already underway, as is the Predictions Post – they should be pretty well rounded when I’m done with them – if I take my time completing them. Which is more than I could say for last year’s offering.

I really want to get to the Level Cap in MW2 before I sit down and play anything else. Originally I was going to Prestige there and then, but now I think I should wait until they release their first map pack – planned for the spring I hear – and that way I’ll be able to take a goddamn break from that game.

I suppose I should really go and see Avatar, though I’ve heard mixed reviews from everyone – like it’s The Last Samurai, but with Smurfs. But I’ve never actually seen a proper 3D movie before, and I figure this should be a good enough first experience. Let us not forget the release of the new Sherlock Holms starring Tony Stark. I aim to see that too.

So there you have it. have a great christmas, and I’ll see you on the other side – I’m already there.

because I love your face

So yeah, I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks now. Honestly – there hasn’t been much of anything going on.

On the news front, my personal nod goes to the NEW SCREENSHOTS of the super-secret Warhammer 40K MMO. Nothing to say other than that’s a damn good looking Ultramarine. Good to know the game didn’t get Nukem’d and is still in development.

I suppose the greatest WTF of the past couple of weeks comes in the form of the Medal of Honor Reboot as seen HERE. The multiplayer is being developed by DICE which kind of surprises me – given they are working on so many facets of the Battlefield Franchise.

I suppose it’s really weird because we haven’t heard from MoH for so long, it’s fallen off the radar entirely. Does it really matter though? I think we’ve got a nice Holy Quadrology of shooters going at the moment – tailored to any First Personeer. Halo, Counter-Strike, Modern Warfare, and the modern (and future) Battlefield games cover the map when it comes to shooters, each of them home to specific ideals. What I believe the new Medal of Honor will aim to achieve will probably hit somewhere in the middle of Battlefield Bad Company and  Modern Warfare 2.

Speaking of, I’m very much Rank 50 as of this afternoon. There are days I go to work thinking that my bed is going to be the target of my post-5 personal time. But all it takes is a 5 minute conversation about MW2 and there I am fragging until 10:30ish. I’ve been enjoying the Hardcore modes the most, it evokes feelings of the good old CS:S, where everything. Those modes twist every piece of equipment and perk in a totally meaningful – making even mere pistols as deadly as an AK. I feel like goddamn Jack Bauer pimping about with my M9 in Hardcore Team Deathmatch – moreso with a positive KDR, an event that is thankfully becoming more common for myself.

I think one of the games that surprised me the most this year was Assassin’s Creed 2. The first title, I enjoyed, but you really had to wade through the bullshit to get anything done. In AC2, Ubisoft’s done a great job of stripping that out and adding on what is at it’s core an RPG progression system minus the XP. The ending was also much more satisfying than AC1’s – It really pointed as to what the series is going to aim at in future titles. I suppose it gets me especially pumped – obliterating our historic truths and moreso religious opinion and creating an alt-history is just my kind of thing.

I especially urge players to actively seek out the hidden Subject 16 videos before completing the game. The small video clip you receive once complete and even the information gleamed from the puzzles themselves makes sense of a great deal many things and adds so much clarity to the finale of the game. You can check out a bunch of totally spoilerific info on all that HERE.

My PayPal account is still totally fucked. I’ve really got to call them up and sort it out – the email auto-responses I keep receiving to my queries are utterly bullshit, offering no simple answer. It seems that having your account clearly Hacked presents no sympathy from these people. It’s really put me in a corner, especially at this time of year, when special presents require purchase. Like THIS and THIS – though also would-be presents for myself. My own debit card also holds no power outside of PayPal – simply because nowhere accepts Maestro (unless they say they do, then auto-route you to a goddamn unannounced PayPal page) and I utterly refuse to get a Credit Card. That I believe would be the end of me.

I’m rambling. My point is that I can only really buy things from Amazon – because the smart people there see money as money, and not a specific branch of interest inducing money. As such beyond the realm of family I’ve yet to get some people some Christmas presents I think they’d like, and from all weird corners of the internet aswel. Essentially, the hacker killed Christmas. This is a pre-emptive warning to those who believe they may receive from the Nin this holiday.

I asked the public (you guys) a couple of weeks ago about some computer hardware stuff, as usual I received no divination. So I’ve gone and done half the legwork: So will these…

• Nvidia GeForce GT 220 1GB
• 4GB Memory Module Kit

…Work with THIS and not cause the creation of a Cthulugan Portal?  Even moreso, are there any completely obvious better alternatives?

Stage one of the upgrade completed last week with my NEW MONITOR. It is very sexy, and wide. The images are so wonderfully sharp that they nearly cut me like an Emo. Hardware porno pics HERE and HERE. As you can see in the pics, I think an additional phase should be added to the plan – a bigger desk.

In addition to all that, Other highlights include: Law Abiding Citizen, which I saw in Aberdull last weekend – and was very very good, though I wish Mr Butler would get his accent back for future films. I also ate at Aberdull’s newly opened Yo!Sushi – which has left indescribable flavours in my mouth ever since – I crave for more.

So that’s all I’ve got for you today. In the coming month, the one that will end 2009, I’ll be digging into my “best of the year” posts and hopefully getting them out before the clock runs over. I’ll be on holiday from the 24th of December also. Also, don’t expect any regular blog posts until then. And hey would you look at that, an entire post and I didn’t even mention MTG.

Devon lies beyond this portal