We’ve seen a ton of great games released in 2015. Everyone I talk to seems to agree that this year was especially good, making the process of deciding on a Game Of The Year list both easier and harder. Before I get into my list, I wanted to share some other recommendations from my year in gaming. Local Multiplayer 2015 was far less successful in the local multiplayer space. My group was all ove...
Today, we had an 11 hour gaming session on our mission to check in on every 2013 release I have. Special thanks to Tom for staying till 1am, we got through 21 games. Here's what we got to: On PC: DmC Devil May Cry Antichamber The Swapper Prison Architect Monaco Rogue Legacy Super Hot Gunpoint Surgeon Simulator 2013 Shadow Warrior Rise of the Triad Outlast On Xbox 360: Anarchy Reigns Dead Space...
I will be putting up a weekly blog post over the next 4 weeks, as I run down each other 2013 releases I played on my quest to work out my Top 10 of 2013. It'll follow a similar format to the one I did last year, but within a shorter time frame. You can check out my list of completed games here , which also includes full lists of the games I played each month. Back soon!
I've spent 2 months thinking about my favourite games of 2012, having played the hot new winter releases, revisited the games I rated highest throughout the year, and also invested some time on 2012 releases that other people seemed to be smitten by but which had passed me by. Right here I've got my final personal Top 10, as well a list of other HIGHLY RECOMMENDED games that I've put the spotli...
With one more week until the end of the year, I've still got quite a few games to get through. Here's my penultimate post, featuring the games I've played enough that are worthy of the spotlight. WEEK 6 Mass Effect 3 Released: March Giant Bomb Score: 4/5 My Score: 5/5 Quick Look Mass Effect 3 is quite an achievement. An end to a sci-fi trilogy is a huge challenge, especially when the series has...
I've had difficulties dedicating time to this, but I still want to reach a conclusion, so here are some more awesome games. WEEK 5 Far Cry 3 Released: December Giant Bomb Score: 5/5 My Score: 5/5 Quick Look I finished up Far Cry 2 less than 6 months ago. After having lived on shelf for a few years, I decided to get through it and ended up having a ton of fun, despite the game's many limitations...
Keeping to this deadline is proving difficult. Will make sure I get these written in the week I plan, but not necessarily at the start of each one. WEEK 4 Borderlands 2 Released: September Giant Bomb Score: 4/5 My Score: 5/5 Quick Look A solid sequel, it knows what made the original a special treat, building on its key tenants: Questin', Shootin' and Lootin'. What can sometimes be monotonous is...
Doing this a little earlier this week as I had a 4-day weekend and had plenty of gaming time to leave Sunday night free. WEEK 3 Forza Horizon Released: October Giant Bomb Score: 5/5 My Score: 5/5 Quick Look Horizon has some real talent behind it. Former employees of Codies, Bizarre, Criterion, Reflections, Slightly Mad and Black Rock all under one roof, developing a game for Turn 10 and Microso...
This week's first featured game, Journey , revealed an obvious though at times forgotten truth about what makes a game a contender for Game of the Year - Those that contain the most memorable experiences, the ones that define your year in gaming, are those deserving of the top spots. That game consists almost completely of emotional moments, and deserves a playthrough if you've not yet done so....
Hello.. So I was looking back on how I handled my Best of 2011 personal debate and eventual final list, and got to thinking about how I'd like to do it better this time around. I wanted to start my own little feature blog that looks at the biggest and brightest games released this year and provide some opinions on them. A great many potentially fantastic titles are due out over the next 2 month...
Spotlight: Ghost Recon Future Soldier About half-way through the campaign, I reckon. Decent experience so far with some really exciting moments, lining up groups of targets, executing, then taking out another group without anyone becoming aware is very cool, especially using the flying drone. Had some stupid bugs, broken scripting and audio glitches which are all tearing at the production value...
Spotlight: Far Cry 2 Got it finished up this weekend. Though it isn't completely successful in its open world aspirations, the way it is set up means that you will continue visiting new locations that are varied in design, whilst also getting to know the gameworld whilst driving along the roads. I picked up a sniper rifle and silenced pistol as I got towards the end which made combat situations...
Spotlight: DiRT Showdown I wrapped up the initial playthrough of the main mode at the end of May, but wanted more. The game encourages you to get Silver, and then Gold medals in all events, and also has the Battersea playground mode from DiRT 3, but this time with an additional location - Japanese Dockside. The mode tasks you with collecting hidden packages and completing skill challenges - a d...
GAME OF THE MONTH Max Payne 3 Exactly what I wanted from the game. So many cool moments, and the gameplay is rock solid. Music is great. Looks brilliant, lengthy campaign (for it's type), I instantly feel like going through again. Multiplayer, from what I've played, is great too so I may invest in the Season Pass. MOST PLAYED Max Payne 3 Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Jet Set Radio Future FEATURED...
FEATURED Binary Domain Binary Domain does so much that makes me happy and wishes for more. Once you get to upgrade your weapon, the combat becomes much more enjoyable, and the way in which enemies will come apart as you attack them is really cool. After certain sections, you'll get time to chat with your team members and your responses to them, as well as performance of certain skilful actions...
FEATURED Mass Effect 3 Had my ME2 'perfect save' ready to import, and really enjoyed playing through this. On occasion I'd be stuck without the option to make Paragon choices in conversations which bummed me out, but I decided to push forward rather than attempt to remedy it by loading an earlier save. Not the biggest fan of the ending simply because it doesn't feel fleshed out in a way that fe...
I had a lot of fun playing games this month, each of my Featured games below are quality gaming experiences that I'm glad I spent time having. Top news is of course the PS Vita, my story being slightly unorthodox - I bought the Wi-Fi version, freaked out a little over the OLED black screen issue and decided to go for a 3G version and sell the first console. Turns out that OLED issue is widespre...
Hello all, welcome to another year of buying more games than you can possibly play. I'm now fully platformed up having acquired an iPhone and a mid-high range PC at the start of the month (huge thanks to John for the latter!). This of course opens me up to attacks from Steam and their mischievous sales so I better go kiss my money goodbye before its gone. I'm going to do my best to improve this...
COMPLETED Uncharted 3 (4x) - I don't care what anyone says about it suffering on account of its scripting, but holy crap is this an awesome ride. I love the combat and the difficulty, and it was always exciting and interesting. Toy Soldiers Cold War (3x) - We had great co-op fun, it was consistently entertaining and engaging, highly recommended for couch co-op as a unique base defense style gam...
COMPLETED Batman Arkham City (9x) - Fantastically scripted and atmospheric, with a large variety of villains and gadgets, and combat scenarios that increased in complexity but always left me feeling in control. At least as good as Arkham Asylum but I was never compelled to do any side activities or riddler challenges. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (10x) - Still a fantastic game and such a step up...
COMPLETED THIS MONTH: FEAR 3 I played through the single player in a few short sessions, including one in local co-op. Fear's game engine is fantastic, the feel of shooting difficult to match. I don't mind that the series has become a shooter instead of a horror game as it was always its strength - as long as they do a Condemned 3 and make it fucking terrifying! The co-op is interesting but not...
COMPLETED THIS MONTH: Rock of Ages GiantBomb introduced this one to me with the Quick Look. I decided to buy it after playing through the trial version, and was then made to replay the same levels - good start! I played through all of the single player mode in a few short sessions and had a great time, though I am in agreement with the majority of reviewers that the tower defense aspect isn't e...
A slower month still, but yet more purchases made. The Naked City (DLC - L.A. Noire ) Completed: 7th August 2011 (17:30) Involved: Completed to end of story Summary: Best DLC so far, should have been in the base game. It was complex, lengthy, had lots of characters, sections, moments of action, intrigue, stealth. I still got annoyed durin investigations, but it was overall a much better experie...
I played a whole load of different games this month, but did complete much. Shadows of the Damned Completed: 18th July 2011 (01:10) Involved: Completed story on normal difficulty. Summary: I was lucky enough to not see much of this game past the first few levels (and the ending!) so I wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of quality and how much fun I'd get out of this one. I was surprised...
Slow month, but I was able to play a few games. Moving into busy times in the next few months so it can only go downhill from here. A Slip of the Tongue (DLC - L.A. Noire ) Completed: 5th June 2011 (21:30) Involved: Completed to end of story Summary: My first DLC for this game. It was a little strange to play this type of DLC post-completion, it would have been a better experience slotted into...
I've decided to change the format of my Gaming Blog here, and will be rolling the 'Game Complete' posts into my Monthly Summaries. I never can find the time to post my thoughts on games as I complete them, but always enjoy doing a writeup to talk about the games played at the end of each month. I also feel last's month's summary was too much of a quick name drop on games as I'd already said wha...
Played This Month: Back to the regular amount of games this month, but only 3 completed. Plenty new ones started though: Beyond Good & Evil (Completed!), Red Faction: Battlegrounds (played 2 tutorials levels, watched the quick look), The Dishwasher VS (played one level), Pokemon White (played for 30 minutes), Ghost Trick (played for an hour), de Blob 2 (played 2 full levels), Prince of Persia T...
Completed: 25th April 2011 (23:15) Involved: Completed on normal difficulty. Summary: Enjoyable, visually impressive (though suffering in busy spots on the 360), I had fun with the suit abilities and the crazy places the story takes you. Most of the time, its difficult to follow exactly what is happening but in most cases its probably best just to shoot everyone, jump around, kick a car into a...
Completed: 10th April 2011 (16:20) Involved: Completed episode to end of story. Summary: This episode seemed shorter than the first, but a bit punchier. A like the overlaying of the same characters from slightly different time periods (Marty seeing himself do something he had just finished doing, etc.) Nothing too memorable, but the 3rd episode looks to be a doozy. Also, nothing too challenging...
Completed: 7th April 2011 (03:05) Involved: Completed game and unlocked all achievements Summary: I played the first few hours of this game when it was originally released for the Xbox/Gamecube, but never gave it the time to push to the end. With this XBLA release, I jumped on board immediately and didn't regret it. BG&E holds up well with a solid environment, variety of puzzles, platforming, e...
Played This Month: Less games this month due to work, only a couple of games completed: Bad Company and the first episode of BTTF on PSN. Played a few missions on Bad Company 2 and I'm waiting patiently for BTTF Part 2. Lorena and I continued our co-op gaming with Tales From Space: About a Blob and I played impatient observer for Portal . We also got Kirby's Epic Yarn and we're loving the art s...
Completed: 16th March 2011 (00:10) Involved: Completed episode to end of story, unlocked all trophies. Summary: This is the game I hoped would one day exist - something to continue the story of Back To The Future past the 3rd film. It was certainly easy and shorter than Sam & Max 301 (The Penal Zone), which is what I'm also playing through, but they are different in tone and this one gets me mo...
Completed: 8th March 2011 (22:15) Involved: Completed game on Normal difficulty. Summary: I wanted to get this out of my backlog, so I threw it in and got it done in a couple sessions. The gunplay is fine, and the destructible stuff is good, but they layout of the missions sucks and really doesn't vary. It also gave me the WORST headaches, due to the grainy filter over all the graphics and the...
Played This Month: Started off the month the way the last one finished - with my Halo marathon. Finished Halo 2 and Halo 3 within days of each other, as well as Halo 3: ODST . Halo 3 is my favourite having gone through them all again, due to how it handles the story and how special it feels within that universe to see all the events play out. Put Halo Wars in and played a bit but it obviously w...
Completed: 27th February 2011 (01:30) Involved: Completed game on Normal difficulty. Summary: An early contender for my Game of the Year, its a very professionally produced single player experience that takes you through some unique experiences. Not scary, but at times intense and it kept me wanting to play on to the end. Graphically it is impressive, and the combat is a solid improvement on De...
Completed: 26th February 2011 (18:00) Involved: Completed game through to story completion. Summary: I'm glad I got around to finishing this, because it is REALLY GOOD. The story takes some strange turns at the end and adds to the overall mythos. I had a bad AI issue towards the end that nearly soured the endgame experience, but I got around it and pushed forward. I do think that this game was...
Completed: 23rd February 2011 (21:00) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: Enjoyable gunplay, stupid characters and story, Bulletstorm never really took off for me and was never as exciting as others are saying they found it to be. Give me Gears of War 3 please. Next: I'll run through the Echoes when I get the chance. Rating: 4
Completed: 3rd February 2011 (01:30) Involved: Completed episode to end of story. Summary: I've never really played adventure games, and was not familiar with the characters of the Sam & Max universe. I did, however, enjoy the quirky humour and crazy solutions to puzzles present here. Max's psychic powers provide some unique solutions and the hint system helped me out when my idiot brain gave o...
Completed: 6th February 2011 (20:45) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: Didn't enjoy this one as much, maybe due to the fact I'm looking for more story and it didn't really provide me with anything substantial. The game is well made, takes the player to some interesting places, but the variety that was present on Halo 3 was missing here. Loved the silenced SMG and the dark...
Completed: 3rd February 2011 (01:30) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: When I originally played through Halo 3, I enjoyed it greatly but never paid much attention to what I was actually doing, what story it was telling. Having played 1 and 2 in quick succession and read half of the books released so far, when it came to this one it really blew me away. The story goes in am...
Completed: 1st February 2011 (23:40) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: Finished in a couple of lengthy sittings, fell in love again. Having played both the first and second games pretty much one after the other, I can conclude that... I still don't have a favourite between them. Halo still feels like a solid package, but Halo 2 builds upon the story in the same kind of way...
Played This Month: First month of the year doing this, and I really didn't think I played much. Xbox.com says otherwise and reminds me that the list isn't too thin. I ended up playing a fair amount of games whilst listening to podcasts, it's becoming a bit of a trend for me. This included playing Borderlands whilst listening to MBMBaM , plenty of DiRT 2 with TNT archives going, and some Undead...
Completed: 31st January 2011 (01:50) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: And so the start of my Halo games marathon begins. Though I'm not playing them all in a single session, I won't be done until they are all done and I'm looking to absorb as much as the story/fiction as I can. Coming back to this with the perspective of having read the first 3 novels (including 'The Floo...
Completed: 19th January 2011 (01:50) Involved: Completed game on normal difficulty. Summary: Had this sitting in my Amazon shopping cart for ages, finally snapped it up and played through it in a few neat sessions. I enjoyed the combat and the weaponry, and the atmosphere got intense in parts but it was never at a scare level that Condemned reached. I recommend it for the price I paid (less tha...
Completed: 12th January 2011 (23:50) Involved: Reached credits by defeating final boss, finished on Level 33. Summary: I've had Borderlands since launch. Got it on PS3 and played for an hour, then gave up. Decided to get it on 360 when it went cheap, and played maybe 2 hours. After months and months of listening to the Bombcast where they talk about it so much, and after them giving it '2010's...
Completed: 11th January 2011 (00:50) Involved: Completing all plot-based missions in DLC area. Summary: I decided to jump into this DLC at around Level 25 of my base game playthrough. It was a nice change of enemy type and location, and I enjoyed the brief detour it provided. Good fun, and made me wanna play further and continue my marathon (been playing it after work every day this week). Next...
Completed: 9th January 2011 (22:20) Involved: Completed Mega Quest mode, reaching end of story until Credits. Summary: This is a unique platform-puzzle-racer the likes of which cannot be found elsewhere on XBLM, taking the central game mechanic (break blocks, fit like-coloured blocks together, don't get crushed by free-falling blocks) from Mr. Driller. It adds plenty of its own ideas, and conai...
Completed: 6th January 2011 (14:30) Involved: Played missions through to the end, explored all content, unlocked all DLC-specific achievements. Summary: Incredible piece of downloadable content. It was around 4 hours long, consisted of a whole story of its own and was more fun than the base game! The characters were enjoyable, the levels were tightly designed which made me want to explore every...
Completed: 4th January 2011 (22:30) Involved: Played missions through to the end, explored all content, unlocked all DLC-specific achievements. Summary: The new locations were all very interesting, taking the action in a different direction from the rest of the game. I thought there was a lot of combat, which was fine, but I'd have liked a little more buildup prior to the shit hitting the fan....
So yeah... At the start of 2010 I decided I'd keep track of the games I complete through the year, and aimed to finish at least 40. It ended with a list of 48 games completed, and a score out of 5 for each one. For 2011, I've chosen to create blog posts for each completion in addition to the List as before. I'll list the Completion Time and Date, an explanation of what that completion means (wh...