Showing 1-10 of 11 items
This remains the best way to experience the Walking Dead fiction, all mediums considered. The agency (or sometimes lack thereof) the player has in the unravelling of events and the quality of the writing, alongside incredibly memorable characters are all reasons why this game deserves to be the best game of 2012.
While not as strong an entry as Mass Effect 2 in the grand scheme of things, Mass Effect 3 is an undeniably great game. It manages to provide closure to many cases and encounters left opened in the series, but it also refines dramatically the gameplay. In terms of controls, this is the best Mass Effect, although the RPG elements are not as present as they used to. The kerfuffle with the endings matters not: they all give finality to the story, which is what we needed. It is the "Lost" of video games, in that it leaves some wounds open, but still manages to bring it together in a certain manner. The addition of multiplayer was scary for long-time fans, but it ended up being wholly competent, so that's an added perk in favor of the game!
Oh FEZ. Oh you magnificent bastard, you! It took forever for this game to come out, and I was never aware of it until a month or two before the release. It looks like a simple platformer in which you rotate your viewing angle (which is still fairly complex in itself) but the exploration aspect is what makes the game. All the hidden subtext, the devious riddles and the QR codes (fucking QR codes!) make this game worth the wait, no matter how long it's been. I have not been able to finish it, but I have a notepad full of scribbles trying to decipher the various alphabets and codes in the game. This really scratched my investigative itch, let's say. Plus, it has the most mesmerizing soundtrack of... forever. Easily my favourite, which I still listen to every day.
This was unexpected for me. I saw a first trailer and dismissed it as a generic ultraviolent game, a-la Postal. Second encounter, I read half of an article describing the "room-to-room" approach the writer had to go through to complete the level, and I got bored with the reading. Then came the Quick Look: Ryan and Patrick's excitement is what got me to even considering this game, but this soundtrack. Oh this soundtrack, is what got me to buy the game. I figured, if I get the soundtrack by downloading the game, it won't be lost money. In the end, I played the game and got sucked right in. The completionist in me wants to complete every level, find every secret and get the highest ranking every time. The pixelized brutality is satisfying and crazy, and keeps you coming back for more if only to see more brutal ways of killing your enemies. Granted, my favorite Grand Theft Auto is the first one, and Hotline Miami's visual style is fairly reminiscent of that: it is a completely different game. Think of a Super Meat Boy meets GTA's "Kill Frenzy" minigame and aesthetic.
I was not willing to give this game a chance either. It seemed generic and dumb, and the episodic nature threw me off. I gave it a try nonetheless, and I do not regret it. In fact, what I was holding against the game is what I'm enjoying the most about it. Pressing "Right Trigger" has never been so liberating and satisfying as when you BURST and watch the ensuing cutscene. Simple in its controls, Asura's Wrath takes Quick Time Events to a whole new level. Although it is the crux of the game, it is still fantastic all the way through. Haven't finished it, and the idea to put the "real" ending as DLC is incredibly sketchy, but so far it is amazing!
