The games I completed in 2012
Showing 1-10 of 29 items
Completed: 17/02/2012 Catherine is one part puzzle game and one part social management simulation from Atlus - creators of the Persona series. This is a game that is certainly very different from most anything out there on the market. It's like playing an interactive romantic anime with mind numbingly difficult puzzles thrown in to have you screaming swear words at your TV set as you try and fail far too many times. All in all it was the story that kept me interested in this title, however it was a story that perhaps over stayed its welcome. When it should have ended - it continued and left a bit of a bitter test in my mouth as after this continuation it seemed to just fade out with very little in a way of big revolations at the end. There are 5 endings to the story - but based on how agonisingly difficult some of the puzzles are - I think it will be a fair amount of time before I consider venturing back into the crazy world of Catherine.
Completed: 19/02/2012 A solid game but in my opinion a little lacking on the content side of things. I remember in the original game having all kinds of side quests and being able to walk around (all be it very small) New York between missions. Sure it made things a little hard to navigate when you just wanted to get to the main story but it added a bit that in part's feels missing from the sequel. Over all though i was very impressed - a solid story, some fantastic voice work from the cast and a fun game that is certainly up to 11 on the carnage scale.
Completed: 19/02/2012 Finally got around to completing this having had it fall to the way side at the hands of the addictive multiplayer of Battlefield 3 and the puzzles and stress of Catherine. An interesting one with some nice ideas, shame it just feels a little hollow when you realise pretty much every scenerio in the game is near identical except for the location. A little more innovation would have been nice to make this a much more solid game. A great story and some good mo-cap and voice work does mean this is a very impressive game on both a story and character front though.
Completed: 04/03/2012 I wasn't actually going to buy SSX day one - but i'm really glad i did. The relaucnhing of this franchise is fantastic. Sure there are a few issues overall, but a gorgeous game with a great soundtrack and not to mention it's addictive as hell thanks to the ridernet features and global events which could leave you playing this game (on and off) long into 2012.
Completed: 19/03/2012 Say what you will about 'that ending' but you can't deny that Mass Effect is one of the great franchises of this gaming generation. The hours upon hours we've put into the life of Shepard are now sadly at an end. A great game - at times some questionable decisions from bioware - but overall I feel the game came to a satisfactory finale and the book of shepard should remain closed.
Completed: 20/03/2012 I dropped this title in August 2011 when I was one match away from finishing the 'story mode' of game. The reason? Forced narrative of a fight. Instead of allowing me to fight how I want to, I had to go through about 7 rounds of forced goals, the first of which was to 'survive'. So I simply had to move around the ring away from an opponent that was impossible to KO and had dam near max stats. I'm all for having a story in a game, but when it cripples me to the point where it makes the game dam near unplayable - i'm not impressed. I picked it up again and got through the torturous 'do what we say' rules and eventually got to KO the guy to complete the game. Overall the finale having me jump through hoops left a bad taste in my mouth.
Completed: 20/03/2012 With people in uproar about the ending of Mass Effect 3 - I'm surprised they wasn't more outrage for this games conclusion. WTF actually happened at the end of this game? I have no idea :/ This is a game I got for Christmas - its completion was long over due. I just feel the franchise (although great overall) doesn't hold my interest like it used to in its prime (AC2). It's more of the same really - very little has changed between AC Brotherhood and this one. With the series now moving to the American Revolution - I think this might be the stopping point for me with the series...we'll have to wait and see how AC3 comes along in the future.
Completed: 01/04/2012 The third game in the storm series for Naruto. Overall - a great roster of characters from both the original and Shippuden series, a great competitive multiplayer - a must have for Naruto fans. They did however drop the ball on the story mode which feels rushed and lacking in the epic moments found in its predecessor. Still a great offering for anime fans, especially if you have some friends online and they're willing to throw down.
Completed 10/05/2012 A fantastic first game for the Vita (which I got in April). Rayman is a bright, vibrant and beautiful 2d platformer that has some great innovation and is a joy to play. A really amazing game which ticks all the boxes and has a great soundtrack to boot. A must have.
Completed 20/05/2012 A fantastic return for Max Payne. Remedy may have left the drivers seat and let Rockstar take the wheel - but they certainly didn't disappoint. Rockstar's unique brand of game design is apparent and a departure from the last two games, but I feel they did a fantastic job rejuvenating the series and bringing it up to date. Playing on hard had me grinding my teeth at some of the scenarios - and replaying scenes over and over had a poor effect on such a striking cinematic game - but replaying on easy is the next port of call to deal with that. Overall a great shooter which drips atmosphere and is one hell of a ride while it lasts.