Category: Awards

My end of the year awards.

Awards of 2012

2012 was a rather mediocre year for computer games. There wasn’t any amazingly good or horribly bad games this year (No Skyrim’s or Duke Nukem Forever’s), because of this I’ve decided to choose a series of generic categories, pick which games of this year are the best of that category and a short description why. Since a game I didn’t play won’t be rewarded, below is a list of games I did play from 2012 and is thus the list of nominees (or in the case of best character, game/s that character was in). 


Assassins Creed 3
Bad Piggies
Borderlands 2
Catherine
Dear Esther
Dishonored
Dragons Dogma
Far Cry 3
Football Manager 2013
Hellfire
Hitman: Absolution
Mass Effect 3
Resident Evil 6
Silent Hill Downpour
Spec Ops: The Line
The Walking Dead


So without further or do lets start with our first award.

Best Story:

And the Winner is:


Spec Ops: The Line

I was originally going give this award to Mass Effect 3, but after playing Spec Ops I couldn’t not give it the award. It really did surprise me how good a story can be for a modern war based tactical shooter. In fairness it’s probably the first modern war based tactical shooter that puts forward the message that war, guns, fighting and killing are a bad thing. This message really being pounded home after a certain incident in the game where Walker fucks up on a colossal scale. All and all the story is well paced, engaging and does leave an impression on you. Which is more than I can say for any of the other games I’ve played

Best Character:
And the Winner is:

Vaas Montenegro – Far Cry 3

In fairness I was expecting more from Vaas, some sort of Tyler Durden-esque relationship going on between him and Jason, but that aside he still stands head and shoulders above most characters this year. He’s just the right amount of psycho that puts him in your face and just the right amount of goofy that makes him likeable. Like a dog licking it’s testicles, it’s disgusting but you can’t help but laugh (that sentence probably says more about me than anything). Anyway, Vaas is pure drug-fueled bonkers and will go to any lengths to make sure you are dead. Set you on fire, drown you or even the plan old just shooting you. Sadly he meets his demise at the hands of a no personality, no faced protagonist. So long Vaas you crazy son-of-a-bitch.

Best Gameplay:
And the Winner is:

Dishonoured

Dishonoured is very much a one trick pony. The story is horribly predictable and has serious pace issues, but the gameplay makes up for all that and then some. The ease and fluidity of the sneaking and assassination is nothing short of spot on. The variety maybe more limited then trailers and previews noted but there’s still more than a good mixture of techniques and abilities to keep you entertained. That is if you even choose to kill anyone, you can have just as much fun sneaking your way past guard after guard. For making assassinations into an art form, Corvo, this ones for you.

Worst Game of 2012:
And the Winner is:

Resident Evil 6

I knew this was going to be bad from the word go. I mean Resident Evil 5 was the computer game equivalent of flogging a dead horse, this however is like selling the rotting carcase. Resident Evil 6 (or as I like to think of it, Resident Evil “Just how far can we push this shit”) suffers from bad everything, the plot is even more bonkers than it’s counterparts, instead of the slow paced puzzle solving psychological survival horror of the first games, instead we get a half-baked, bland, boring 3rd person shooter. Leon’s campaign which is said to be more survival horror based is average at best and although at times does looks promising, in the end though it still becomes the same boring shoot-em-up the other 2 campaigns made no attempt to hide from.

Dishonourable Mention:

Dragon’s Dogma

This really did annoy me. Normally this would be the kind of game I would lap up with no hesitation. Broad sword wielding knights fighting dragons and other manor of nasty beasts followed by a stint at the tavern with a tankard of mead and a wench under each arm, sign me up. Capcom however have other ideas. I wish to clarify now that it’s not a bad game, it’s just boring. I never went into it expecting Skyrim v2.0, but I did go into it expecting to have fun. The game was a chore from the start until I decided that I would have more fun playing something else. Also one thing I noticed that I thought worth mentioning, the graphics look like they’re come straight from the PS2, correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the only PS3 game on my list to not run in 1080 HD. This would be understandable 3-4 years ago, but these days with HD 4000 on it’s way it’s just not acceptable.

Best Game of 2012:

Honourable Mentions:

The Walking Dead & Spec Ops: The Line

It was close between these two and the game I finally decided to name my game of the year in the end. In the end the deciding factor was the length of the game. I easily finished both of these games in a single day. My winner I’ve been playing for a week already and I still don’t know how far I am from the end. It’s not entirely a bad thing to have a short game. To use an alcohol based metaphor, both of these games are sambuca, enjoyable for the short period but you couldn’t have a lot of the stuff. About the games however, the stories in both are gripping and exciting. The Walking Dead can look a bit tacky at times but the interactive story experience and character progression will help you forget about that.

And the Winner is:

Far Cry 3

And here we are, game of the year. I couldn’t find any faults with Far Cry 3. The story was well paced kept me wanting to play it that little longer, the game play is crisp and fluid, graphically it’s spectacular. It’s not perfect, animals have a tendency to kill you at the worst possible time, they are also built like brick shit houses, I had a tiger survive a grenade in the face. There are a few other minor niggles like the vehicle physics but that’s all they are. A good game, not exactly another Skyrim but it’s the best of the bunch and my game of 2013.
Exciting wasn’t it? but before I go a look ahead at 2013 and at my

Most Anticipated Game of 2013:
Nominees:

Beyond: Two Souls
BioShock Infinite
Grand Theft Auto V
The Last of Us
Watch Dogs

And the Winner is:


The Last of Us

When the first trailers were released at E3 I was hugely impressed by this game. The general idea of trying to survive the end of civilisation in a lawless, uncaring world. It fascinates me. Then learning that it’s being developed by Naughty Dog, I was excited. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a game release since Heavy Rain, and I was dam excited about that. This doesn’t take merit from any of the other games in that list. I’m anticipating the release of all of them, just The Last of Us more than the others.

Well that’s all from me, I might post a review of a few of these if I can be bothered. So from me and everyone else here (which is still me), Good night.
by Individuo

Best and Worst Games of 2011

I suppose I really should have done this last week but I completely forgot about it before now (now being Sunday 8th at 5pm GMT). 2011 has very much been the year of the sequel. Not alot of original titles being released but I suppose that’s the way of the gaming industry these days. Some big names in the business choosing 2011 to be the year of their series new release. Now lets take an overview of them (btw, if your favourite game isn’t here it’s for one of 2 reasons, 1) I enjoyed it less/more than those mentioned or 2) I didn’t play it). Lets make a start shall we?

3rd Worst Game – Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3


Modern Warfare 3 shows us just how gullible the average gamer can be. Being served the same old shit and calling it sugar. Although the actual game isn’t bad, it’s what the game represents which is why it sits 3rd in this list. The corporate sham that sits atop of the gaming charts because of corporate backhands just so Activision can add another golden toilet to their palace that the unthinking masses paid for. It’s frightening thinking that the same game can be sold many times over with just a new coat of paint and a few minor tweaks  The west is meant to be in a state of economic crisis, although you would never notice given how many copies of Modern Warfare shifted upon it’s release. Come to your senses people!! Modern Warfare isn’t as good as you think it is!!

3rd Best Game – Batman Arkham City



Now I get to talk about someone I like, Batman. It seems every time Rocksteady put their name to something it instantly turns to gold. Arkham Asylum was critically acclaimed and unlike the former mention game, it deserved the credit. It’s dark depiction of everyday life of out caped crusader had everything you wanted from a game, the interesting story, the thick atmosphere, crisp gameplay. Also if my memory doesn’t deceive me, I think it was the first game adaptation of any comic book which was actually any good, one that someone who wasn’t even all that into the Batman comics could pick up, play and still say it was a good game. Now we have the sequel, which tries to take the winning formula of the original and improve it. Although Arkham City doesn’t quite reach the giddy heights of the original it is still to all intents and purposes a good game and worthy of 3rd place. The story may be somewhat lax compared to the original, but it’s still interesting enough to see through to the end and defiantly a game worth picking up, even as I’ve mentioned before if you’re not a big comic geek.

2nd Worst Game – FIFA 2012


Another game that was never going to fair well in my books for all the same reasons Modern Warfare 3 is in my bad books and more. FIFA games have been infecting our consoles since 1993. I remember playing FIFA 1996 on my PSone all those years ago. I had stints on a few FIFA games since then up till about FIFA 2000 then lost track of them until my brother bought FIFA 10, then FIFA 11 and then FIFA 12. To this day I am actually unsure as to what the difference is between the last 3 were. Ok, in fairness Blackpool were only in the Premiership in one of those games I get that much, but past the modernising of Leagues and stuff their isn’t really anything new to add. The problem all FIFA games have is that they are expected to create a game every year to keep their leagues up to date, but with very little that’s new to bring to the table every year means that very little that’s new is added so all anyone can do is tweak and update and hope for the best, which in the end becomes over tweaked and ruined. I remember the game mechanics being alot more controllable and smoother when playing FIFA 98. Also back then you could get actually tackle people, unlike this day and age where you get banned for 8 matches for calling someone black.

2nd Best Game – Portal 2


It’s been 4 years since Portal descended from the heavens and graces us all with it’s presence. Showing us all that Valve weren’t doing what we wanted them to (making Half-Life 3), but we can forgive them for since they gave us Portal. Portal was and still is the most fun I’ve had for £12 ever. It may have been a bit short at maybe 3-4hrs but given that it is at its heart a puzzle game, if it were any longer it wouldn’t have had the same appeal. The gaming mechanics were interesting and to add the icing to the proverbial cake it contained the best use of dark humour in any computer game to date. Now we have Portal 2. Like Arkham City, it may not shine as brightly as Portal but on it’s own it stands up very well. The single player although being more story orientated than fixated on gameplay is still interesting enough to keep you entertained all the way through. True it’s not as puzzle based as the original and does loose it’s charm a little in the single player, it more than makes up for it in the multi-player. Portal showed us how much fun we could have with just a room and 2 portals. Portal 2 in giving us a partner shows us how much more fun it can be when we add another pair of portals, lasers, light platforms, repulsion gel as well as many other weird and wonderful things. A must own. Also I recommend buying the game on the PS3, since you do get a free PC copy with it.

Worst Game of 2011 – Duke Nukem Forever
 


I couldn’t in my right mind give this mark of dishonour to any other game than Duke Nukem Forever. It’s just bad, bad, bad, bad, terrible, rubbish, appalling, dreadful, horrible and bottom line shit. Which is a shame because I love Duke. His quirky one liners and complete disregard for any sexual equality made him cool. Man wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him. That was all well and good back in the 20th century but in this day and age of equality to all races and sexes Duke is just a bit of an embarrassment. It’s like dad dancing. Sure it might have been cool when he was young, now he’s just making a fool of himself. Duke is a relic of years gone by. Duke Nukem Forever is proof of this. For starters the game itself encompasses everything bad about modern First Person shooters. It’s gimmicky, the story flows like a river of bricks and Duke’s snappy one liners now just seem desperate like a child craving attention by breaking his grandma’s porcelain clown just because she wouldn’t let you have any ice cream after dinner… anyway.

Best Game of 2011 – The Elder’s Scroll V: Skyrim


I don’t think I could have possibly given this award to any other game.I must have enjoyed over 100+hrs of gameplay on this game over the past two months, which is a staggering amount of time. Every hour I have enjoyed just as much if not more so than the last. My only complaint about the game is that every 2hrs or so the game will crash to desktop. As annoying as it is. I can’t help but think how many more sleepless nights I would have had if the game hadn’t crashed to desktop at 3am. It is a game of sheer brilliance, beauty and overwhelming enjoyment. If you have to play one game from 2011. Make sure it is this.

Well that was 2011, now we get to look forward to 2012 and what that has to offer us. Some of the bigger titles to grace us through 2012 include Tomb Raider, Hitman Absolution, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Max Payne 3, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Soul Calibre V, Metal Gear Rising and the one I’m looking forward to most Mass Effect 3. As usual, I’m looking forward to the year ahead but at the same time trying not to get my hopes up too much.

by Individuo