The Nerd Is The Word

Just before the FemShep trailer hits later on today you need to check out these other fine trailers that focus on various aspects of the game!

Adrenaline-Pumping Gameplay

Ruthless and Intelligent Enemies

Build a Customizable Arsenal

Integrated Co-Op Multiplayer

Interactive Storytelling

So much awesome on show!

brogamer:

Star Wars: The Old Republic has achieved a new Guinness World Record. The game claims top spot for the amount of dialogue!

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Now that we have got the negativity out of the way here are my top five games of the past year!

In at number 5! - Dragon Age II

What kept me into the game and left me with fond memories where things such as:

• The new art style. While a bit rough around the edges it made great strides in making Dragon Age standout from the any other RPG on the market. The different races now look distinctive each with their own unique outline. The aren’t the tweaked variations of the human models you see in DA:O. A Qunari is a huge imposing figure, while an elf is angular and skinny. Kirkwall while becoming sick of it by the end of the game stands out as a setting because it looks unique. DA:O looked like any fantasy world, with its huts and castles. Kirkwall had its own style and feeling. The different districts made it feel like a city too.
• The narrative. I loved the story telling technique of having Varric tell the story of Hawke. His exaggerations and embellishments were entertaining if underused. His character quest were he takes down a whole mansion of enemies single handed is both funny and epic because it is a fun and unique section of gameplay and also complete bollocks at the same time! Also props for taking the choices you make and actually making them mean something. At the end of the game I had to sit and ponder what to do with Anders for a while before making a decision. Ultimately I let him go but it left me with a a feeling of disappointment, in him, not the game. Anders compromised himself as an individual and betrayed my trust. I was this close to killing him for it but in the end I felt sorry for him and let him slink off into hiding. Also at the end of the game my party was pretty much split down the middle too with the choices I made forcing people to chose sides. It had a lot of impact that only worked because the conclusion came from multiple choices made throughout the game.

Throwbacks and reference to DA:O while few and far between, when characters and stories from my DA:O save data popped up it made me smile. Simple but always effective!

Like I always say; a poor BioWare game but still a good game.

Heating things up at number 4! - Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Another game that was brilliant, warts’an’all! Uncharted is a franchise close to my gaming heart. The big set pieces, movie like narrative, and gameplay all sing to me as I play the game. Even with some weird glitches and animation quirks the game is still solid. The glitches and quirks at least show Naughty Dog was trying to do something new with the third game rather than just simply re-treading the same ground as Uncharted 2. The dynamic animation system while imperfect adds and extra “touch” of realism and life to the game. The story while pretty much giving up and aping Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for its themes is still an entertaining and a fun ride. Even if it is a bit by the numbers. The various locations in the game are also impressive too. You have burning buildings, sinking ships, shootouts in ship graveyards (which I enjoyed! Despite popular opinion), horseback chases and an opportunity to play as young Drake. All made the game standout from the previous two for me. Overall I would say it caps off the first set of Drake’s adventures nicely. It rounds everything out, ending with the three characters that started the franchise on its road to glory. The multiplayer is also an improvement over the previous game’s I think. There is a lot more variety and things to do on the maps, the kickbacks and perks all work together nicely to make the fight fair right up until the end of the match. Now though due to the nature of the story and gameplay there is both a need and a wish for Naughty Dog to shake things up for the inevitable Uncharted 4. 

The middle man at number 3! - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Mmmmm…….Skyrim….. Such a grand and epic game that it can be a bit overwhelming at times! There is so much to see and do but so little time in my life to play it! This like every Bethesda game I buy will take me a long time to get though and that is not a bad thing at all. I am getting my moneys worth! Skyrim is a game that you can easily get lost in. Wether it is just exploring the land or working through side-quests and the main story. It all fits together to make a brilliant whole. Bethesda have outdone themselves with Skyrim and I cannot wait to see what additions they make to the game with the upcoming DLC. That’s all I really have to say about Skyrim because it is simply a great game and everyone who has played it knows it and if you haven’t played it; What is wrong with you? :D

Pipped at the post at number 2! - Portal 2

To be honest in the run up to Portal 2 I was excited but I was expecting the final game to just be more of the same as the first. How wrong of me to doubt Valve in such a way! Portal 2 took what was done with Portal and built upon it in every conceivable way. The puzzles were bigger and more varied with the new mechanics and additions. The flow of the game was smoother and moved from the room by room approach to a more subtle variation on the idea. The story was more in-depth and kept me hooked all the way through. It was funnier, darker and masterfully presented. Lots of foreshadowing and laying breadcrumbs early on in the game that pay off further down the line and all that. The co-op is brilliant too even though I have only scratched the surface of it. It is intuitive and well thought out. It isn’t simply tacked on for the sake of having multiplayer, it could have been Portal 2 on its own it is that good! Solving a puzzle with a friend gives the game a stronger positive feedback loop and it keeps you playing just to solve then next one, then the next one and then the one after that. I think it is Valve’s best game to date and it has set the bar for their next game incredibly high.

So good it gave me nerd tingles at number 1! - Batman: Arkham City

My love for Arkham City is well known and it deserves to be my number one because for me at least because it is so good! Here are some of the reasons it is my game of the year:

• The bigger game world is something Asylum lacked. Swooping between the buildings and running around the city is something I’ve always wanted to do in a Batman game. I say bring it on with the next game and do the whole of Gotham City! I can’t get enough of it!
• The combat is even more crazy with the new gadgets and moves at your disposal. The enemies on offer are also, thankfully, more varied and require you to use different tactics to take them out. 
• The sheer number of characters is outstanding! Wether they make brief appearances or play a key role in the game’s story each character is pitch perfect. All look and sound unique and you get the feeling that they are in the game out of love rather than a simple need to pad the game with villains and cameos.
• Playing as Catwoman is refreshing. The downside being that it is criminally underused! More Selina would have been awesome but I am happy with what was included in the game. It breaks up the game nicely and brings a different perspective to the game.
• The Challenge Mode is actually interesting this time around. With the use of the other characters and skills not available in the story mode. There is more variety on offer too which is always good in my book!
• The story while a slow burner to begin with builds and builds until you get to the epic finale and surprising conclusion. Lots of twists and turns and wheels within wheels that I like in my Batman tales. 
• It has Batman in it.

In the end I think that it is the perfect blend of two things that I love that does it for me. Comics and Games come together perfectly in this game to create an amazingly rich and deep experience that I am still enjoying months after its initial release. 

What a crazy year it has been! Lots of highs and lows, it was great overall but here’s the stuff that disappointed me. The first two are here for your reading pleasure the rest are after the jump!

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The game started with such promise and the idea that my choices would impact the game further down the line. The gameplay was fun and I liked being able to choose my way through the environments. There was a level of freedom to the game that was refreshing. Then about half way through it all changed. The scope narrowed considerably, you could tell basically the whole of Canada was cut out of the game. The environments started to close in and force you into the various types of gameplay. As for those big impacting choices that change the game and the story considerably? WHERE THE F*&K ARE THEY? In the end it all boiled down to three big red buttons or inaction that where summed up with crappy FMVs, that could easily be reloaded to change the outcome! There was no build up, no sense that one choice was more inline with my actions than another. No feeling that everything had lead up to this moment and that only one course of action seemed right. No feeling that I had effected the world of the game at all because it just became a matter of multiple choice, at least Dragon Age II gives a sense that Hawke means something to the world of the game! The second half of the game is a complete let down.

Dragon Age II

This is in both my Top Five for the year and my disappointments! This is because I maintain my stance that even though this is a disappointing BioWare game it is still a good game! It was still a good game despite having some big failings and omissions such as: 

• The smaller world while providing a more focused story, takes some of the magic away from the world of DA. I wanted to see more of the world in DAII not jus the same streets of Kirkwall, over and over. And over. And over.
• Unimaginative re-use of assets, which is something every game ever made does, it just seems that the people at BioWare forgot how to hide it well or re-use them in unique ways. Even simple things like variation in dungeon layout would have been welcome!
• Distribution of skills among characters. In DA:O you could get away with any mage being your healer if you wished. In DAII, if you want to succeed you have to have Anders permanently in your party, wether you like him or not. There is also little room to make you party members unique to you too. Customisation options are non-existent and the skill trees while an improvement over DA:O’s presentation restrict your freedom to say have your healer decked out in heavy armour to become both damage sponge and life giver. In DAII each character has one job and that is it. No variation or deviation allowed. 
• I both loved and hated the combat. I’m all for making it more streamlined and actiony but while DAII’s combat started of fun it quickly became repetitive as each battle went the same way and boss fights simply turned into ten minuets of hacking away at the enemies health. It was fun but ultimately it broke by not giving it enough depth. You can simplify and keep depth just look at ME2’s combat. Making it more tactical would have gone a long way in breaking up the monotony of it all.

Overall I still enjoyed the game. It was fun to play for the most part. The little problems and rushed feeling to the game let it down but it is still a good game. Here’s hoping DAIII takes the best bits of II and Origins to make an epic game with an equally engaging and fun multiplayer mode. 

See my Top Five of 2011 for my plus points for DAII!

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